(1)
(2)
Entered according to Act of
Congress, in the year 1887, by
J. R. GRAVES,
In the
office of the Librarian of Congress, at
COPYRIGHT, 1928, By
BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Second Edition
403832
PRINTED IN THE
-------
(3)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE Page 7
PART 1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION. THE SCHEME OF CHRISTS
PARABOLIC TEACHINGS, Page 9
CHAPTER 2
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES, Pages 23-30
CHAPTER 3
THE HIDDEN LEAVEN, Pages 33-56
CHAPTER 4
THE MUSTARD TREE AND BIRDS OF
THE AIR, Pages 57-66
CHAPTER 5
THE SOWER AND BIRDS OF THE AIR, Pages 67-74
CHAPTER 6
THE LOST SHEEP, Pages 77-91
CHAPTER 7
THE LOST COIN, Pages 92-98
(4)
CHAPTER 8
THE TREASURE HID IN A FIELD, Pages 99-103
CHAPTER 9
THE
CHAPTER 10
THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Pages 109-115
CHAPTER 11
THE TWO SONS, Pages 116-119
CHAPTER 12
THE ELDER AND YOUNGER BROTHERS, Pages 120-128
CHAPTER 13
THE LABOURERS AND THE HOURS, Pages 129-133
CHAPTER 14
THE GREAT SUPPER, Pages 134-140
CHAPTER 15
THE WICKED HUSBANDMAN, Pages 141-150
CHAPTER 16
THE BARREN FIG TREE, Pages 151-155
CHAPTER 17
THE IMPORTUNATE NEIGHBOUR, Pages 159-163
CHAPTER 18
THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW, Pages 164-171
(5)
CHAPTER 19
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN, PAGES 172-178
CHAPTER 20
THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT, Pages 179-184
CHAPTER 21
THE UNJUST STEWARD, Pages 187-196
CHAPTER 22
THE RICH MAN WHO WAS A FOOL, Pages 197-203
CHAPTER 23
THE LAW OF BENEVOLENCE -
THE GOOD SAMARITAN, Pages 204-215
CHAPTER 24
THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
(HISTORICAL), Pages 216-236
PART 2
CHAPTER 25
REMARKS INTRODUCTORY, Pages 239-243
CHAPTER 26
THE TEN VIRGINS, Pages 244-271
CHAPTER 27
THE ENTRUSTED TALENTS, Pages 272-284
CHAPTER 28
THE ENTRUSTED POUNDS, Pages 285-292
(6)
CHAPTER 29
THE BLADE, THE EAR, AND THE FULL
CORN, Pages 292-300
CHAPTER 30
THE NET, Pages 301-311
CHAPTER 31
A SUMMARY OF THE TEACHINGS OF
THE PARABLES, Pages 312-317
CHAPTER 32
CHRISTS LAST GREAT PROPHECY
THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS, Pages 318-327
APPENDIX
THE FOUR JUDGMENTS
(BY REV. J. F. KENDALL, D.D.), Pages 329-351
NOTE ON THE PARABLE OF THE
LEAVEN, Page 352
* *
*
[Page 7]
PREFACE
THESE Expositions are eminently providential. Had their author not been stricken down by a
severe and protracted affliction,* they doubtless would never have been written. They were mainly thought out to beguile the long, weary
months the Author was confined to his bed, the Scriptures being read to him by
some member of his family. They were written out for his paper in the brief
intervals he was able to sit by a table and use a pencil. They are offered to the public in this more
permanent form at the urgent request of his patrons and the many friends who
had read them in the paper, whose kind partiality he fears has too willingly
condoned their many imperfections.
* He received a stroke of paralysis while preaching In the First
Baptist Church,
The Authors reasons for
Expositions of Our Lords Parables; so variant, in so many particulars, from
the many already before the public, are fully set forth in the introductory
chapter, and if they are not considered satisfactory he can only cast himself
upon the leniency of his judges - his readers.
He can truly say these years
were spent in Beulah, in almost unalloyed spiritual enjoyment of the full assurance of hope, while he rested on the
sunlit river of death for the hourly expected summons to pass over.
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[Page 8 blank. Page 9]
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTORY
THE SCHEME
OF
CHRISTS PARABOLIC TEACHINGS
FROM a careful study of the parabolic and prophetic teachings of
Christ, I am convinced that He designed to unfold to the understanding of His
disciples the whole scheme of His redemption, from its inception onward through
all its progressive stages and its mysteries (Mark
4: 11), as connected with His
visible kingdom of heaven on earth, until
its glorious consummation at the end of the age.
We would therefore naturally
expect to meet with a parable introductory to all that are to follow, revealing
to His disciples how evil was introduced into the world, through the baneful
influences of which, His original design in creating the world and the human
race seems to have
been thwarted, and universal ruin and wreck following as a natural
consequence. Following this revelation
we would naturally look for parables illustrating His redemptive work in
seeking the recovery of a lost world and a lost race - the comprehensiveness of His
redeeming work - whether it [Page 10] extended to one race or nation or embracing all races and all nations. If the malignant opposition of Satan is to be
continued until the end of the Gospel Ages to obstruct the progress of this
merciful work, we should expect that the character of his subtle machinations
and the extent of them
would be also illustrated in His parabolic teachings.
And, then, the Jewish nation,
having been for four thousand years Gods peculiar people, the possessors of
all the covenants and the promises, we should expect He would instruct His
disciples the attitude this ancient people would assume towards the
newly-organized kingdom of Christ and His purposes with reference to them.
If this is a correct scheme of
Christs parabolic teachings, it certainly would not be complete without a full
development of His final dealings with His friends and His foes - the ultimate
rewards of the one and the destiny of the other party, and the ultimate destiny
of this once fair and beautiful, but now wrecked and ruined, earth.
Now, all these features of His gracious
work in connection with His earthly kingdom are fully illustrated by the
parables and prophecies he delivered to His disciples; and, as we have no
certain clue to the order in which He delivered them, I
shall explain them topically, classifying them in the order indicated above.
Remarks on Parabolic
Interpretation
Many readers stumble at the
opening comparisons of the parables, under the impression that they must find a
likeness in the kingdom of heaven to the first
person or object mentioned in the parable, while in most cases there is no
comparison intended; but we must seek the proper likeness between
the principal features of the parable and one or more of the particular phases
in the administration of the kingdom of heaven, and
sometimes the likeness is to be sought between the administration of the
kingdom and the whole parable. I submit the remarks of Dr. Broadus in his
comments on The Net:
The
opening verbal comparison of the several parables is not uniform and essential
to the meaning, but incidental and varying.
In Matt. 5: 5, the kingdom of heaven
is like a man seeking pearls, but in verse
44 it is compared not to the finder, but to the thing found. In verse
24 it is like the owner of a field, i.e. the
Messiah (5: 37), but in verse 47 it is compared
not to the owner of the net, but to the net. So, in 22: 2, the kingdom of heaven
is likened to the king, who gave a marriage feast for his son, but in verse 25 it is likened
not to the bridegroom, but to the virgins who desired to attend the feast. These and other examples show that our Lord
does not in each case carefully assert a special relation between the Messianic
reign and this or that particular object in the parable, but means to say that
something is true of the Messianic reign which resembles the case in the
parable; and, instead of speaking in vague terms of general comparison (as in 25: 14), He often sets out by
saying that the kingdom of heaven is like some leading person or object of the
story, or some feature that readily presents itself at the beginning. (Comp. Matt. 11: 16.) In this parable (i.e. of The Net), then, we
are not at liberty to lay any stress upon the comparison of the kingdom of
heaven to the net itself. The
comparison is to the whole story, and its particular point is given by
our Lord himself in verse 49. - Commentary on Matthew.
[Page 12]
The author, after more than
three years of patient study of the prophetic Scriptures since writing The Seven Dispensations, has modified his views set
forth in that work touching two questions, viz.: 1. Will all Christians of all ages compose the Bride of Christ? and
(2) will all Christians at the advent of Christ be caught away to meet Him in the air? He is now thoroughly satisfied that these
questions should be answered in the negative, and his reasons will be apparent to
all who examine his expositions of The Virgins, The Talents, and The
Pounds. It has been said, A wise man by investigation sometimes changes his opinion,
but a fool never.
If this production of a mind
impaired and a body enfeebled by disease, and prepared for the press in the
midst of pains and great weariness of the flesh, should prove acceptable to his
brethren, stimulating them in studying and aiding them in the better
understanding of the parabolic teachings of Christ, and in any respect
contribute to prepare them for His glorious appearing, the author will feel
that two years of his life of confinement have not been passed in vain.
SOME REASONS FOR OFFERING THESE NEW EXPOSITIONS OF THE PARABLES OF CHRIST
TO THE PUBLIC
It is my conviction that no part
of the word of God, unless
it be the prophecies, has been more
generally misinterpreted by
commentators, and therefore misunderstood by the people, than the parables
of Christ. Most of them have been
interpreted, by even Calvinistic writers, to teach that salvation, or the
kingdom of [Page 13] heaven and its righteousness, can and must be purchased by the personal merits or endeavours
of the sinner himself.
Examine the current expositions of the Hid
Treasure, of the Costly Pearl, and The Labourers, etc.
We are told that the treasure, as well as the pearl, is salvation, or the
blessings connected with the kingdom of heaven; and the sinner must not only
diligently seek to
find, but to sell all and
PURCHASE it. So, by the Parable of the Vineyard Labourers, we are taught that sinners, some
young, some old, enter the vineyard - the service of God - and all work for the same reward, i.e. salvation, as the price of their
work! Take even Christs statement in Matt. 11: 12. It
is universally interpreted as teaching that the sinner can and must obtain
the blessings of the kingdom of heaven
as the result or reward of his own intense
personal exertions; while everywhere
in Gods word it is taught and emphasized that it is Christ himself who came to
seek and to save the lost, and that salvation is of Gods free grace through
Christ, and that not of works, lest any man should boast.
Certainly all Christians who
believe that salvation is by grace, without works or deeds of law, will agree
with me that such interpretations are exceedingly pernicious, because subversive of the fundamental principles of
Christianity, and lead the sinner away
from instead
of to Christ. It is a constant and surpassing wonder that
Calvinistic expositors construe so many of the parables to the support of
Arminianism, and make them teach that a child of God may, by an act of simple
improvidence (as in the case of the
improvident virgins), or slothfulness
(as in the [Page 14] case of the slothful servant, in the Parable of the Talents
and the Pounds), be finally lost.
I think Christ designed to teach
and illustrate by His parables the great fundamental facts that underlie the
covenant of redemption, and His dispensational work in the administration of
His government, and His dealings with sin, until He has consummated His work in
righteousness at the end of the coming or Millennial Age.
While some of His parables had,
without doubt, application to His hearers, and were spoken for their personal
instruction in righteousness, yet we know the principal ones were pregnant with
the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven for the
instruction of His disciples, and all who, with honesty of heart, desired to be
instructed. Christ himself declared
this:
He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. - Matt. 13: 11.
And one of the greatest mysteries of the administration of the kingdom of Christ,* Paul
tells us, was that in the fulness of time the Gentiles were to be made partakers
and fellow-heirs, with the Jews, of Gods grace in Christ Jesus:
[* See Rev. 3: 21. The
How
that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I
wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men
as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles, that
the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the
same body, and partakers of His promise in
Christ by the gospel.- Eph. 3: 3.
From
this standpoint, we see the introduction of Sin into the world, and the world lost through sin, and Christs long
forbearance with a race of sinners, illustrated by the Parable of the Tares;
and from it we learn that sinners will abound in the earth, and oppress the good
until the day of judgment, when they will be judged, and the earth purged of
them and made the glorious abode of the righteous only.
In the Parables of the Wandering Sheep and the Lost Coin we see illustrated Gods love, not only for a lost sinner, and
the lost of the house of Israel, but for a lost world, and the amazing, self-sacrificing, seeking love of Christ in leaving
all that He might seek and save it, and return it in sweet
subjection to the possession and government of the Father. (See 1 Cor. 15: 24-29.) And in
the Parables of the Hid Treasure and the Costly Pearl, what it cost Him to purchase the salvation of
His people, and the redemption of a lost world.
In the Parable of the Labourers we
are taught the sovereignty of God, coupled with His goodness, in calling the nations by His gospel, at different periods, to enter His service, in
connection with the Jews. And we also
see in this, as in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the deep-seated prejudice
and envy of the Jews in seeing Gods favour extended to the Gentiles as well as
to themselves. Our readers are aware
that this parable is universally interpreted to illustrate either the
conversion of a profligate sinner, or the restoration of a backslidden Christian to the divine favour.
But the trouble has ever been to say whom the elder brother represented;
for he is and ever will be quite as important a personage as the younger
son. Christians rejoice with exceeding great joy when they witness [Page 16] the
conversion of a sinner, however old he may be, or however
wicked he may have been; and equally so in witnessing the restoration of a backslidden
Christian. Neither of
these interpretations will do.
From the Parable of the Hidden
Leaven we see the disastrous effect of the introduction of false teachings into
the doctrine of Christ, which is the bread of life, or into a
That the Parables of the Rented
Vineyard (Matt. 21:
33), the Great Supper (Luke 16: 16), the
Barren Tree and the Cursed Fig Tree, generally interpreted as applicable to
sinners or barren Christians, will be found to refer solely to the Jewish nation,
and Gods dealings with it. The
Pharisees saw and felt their force when Christ delivered them, and yet these
have been and indeed are generally applied to individual sinners!
I have intimated enough to
convince the intelligent reader that the parables of Christ demand new and
different interpretations, if it is necessary that their teachings should
accord with the other plain and unfigurative teachings of Christ.
[Page 17]
The candid reader will agree
with me that the parables of Christ, if rightly interpreted, will not conflict
with the unfigurative teachings of
Christ and His apostles. Of this I am confident, however widely my
interpretations may differ from those now before the public, they will be found
by all students of Gods word in perfect harmony with the plain, unfigurative
teachings of the Scriptures. This
certainly will be a great gain over the commonly received interpretations of
the parables and prophecies of Christ.
I only ask an impartial reading
of these Expositions by all Bible students.
* *
*
[Page 18 blank. Page 19 PART 1. Page 20 blank. Page 21]
A
PARABLE ILLUSTRATING
THE INTRODUCTION OF EVIL
INTO THE WORLD
THE
WHEAT-FIELD OVERSOWN BY THE ENEMY - SATAN.
THE PARABLE OF
THE WHEAT AND TARES
[Page 22 blank. Page 23]
CHAPTER 2
THE
WHEAT AND THETARES
IN ENTERING upon the exposition of the parables of
Christ, it is important for the reader to bear in mind that he is not to seek for
the likeness of the kingdom of heaven in the character or peculiar, quality of
the immediate subject of the narrative; as, for example, in the man who sowed the good seed, or in
a mustard seed, in the hid treasure, the lost coin, in leaven, or a fishing net, although it is said the kingdom of heaven is like a man - like a mustard
seed - like a treasure hid - like leaven - like a drag net, and like ten virgins.
Unto a
man. The Messianic reign
resembles not simply a man who sowed, but the parable as a whole; the
comparison is simply affirmed here and elsewhere with reference to the leading
personage of the story or the object it is natural to mention. First comp. [Matt.] 5: 44, 45, 47; 18: 23; 20: 1; 25: 1. - Broadus Commentary in loco.
From the interpretation of
Christ himself we must learn to interpret; and from Him we learn that He
designed to illustrate some one or more of the great and important truths which
He called the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven connected with the administration
of His mediatorial kingdom
on earth by the principle features of His parables. We are therefore not to attempt to find
something in His kingdom to [Page 24] correspond with everything related in the narrative. Some things are thrown in to round out - to
make the relation or allegory more life-like and striking; as, while men slept the enemy sowed tares, or the
number ten in the
Parable of the Ten Virgins, etc.
I will commence with the Parable
of the Tares, said to be the most difficult of all the parables.
THIS IS A HISTORICO-PROPHETICAL PARABLE ILLUSTRATING THE INTRODUCTION OF
EVIL INTO THE WORLD, AND THAT THE EVIL DONE BY SATAN AND EVIL-DOERS WILL NOT
ALWAYS BE TOLERATED, BUT FINALLY THEY WILL BE PUNISHED, AND THE EVIL RECTIFIED.
THE PARABLE - NO. 1
Another parable He put forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven
is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and
went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and
said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath
it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done
this. The
servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we
go and gather them up? But he said,
Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together
until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I
will say to the reapers, Gather ye together
first the tares, and bind them in bundles to
burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.
- Matt. 13:
24-30.
This parable is called by
expositors one of the most difficult of all the parables of Christ; this too in
the face of Christs own explanation of it.* I have studied [Page 25] the various interpretations, and am fully convinced that the
whole difficulty arises from the determination of writers to force it to teach
what Christ never intended it to teach, and to contradict what He did teach; i.e. making the field to symbolize the
kingdom or the church(?) of
Christ on earth, when Christ explicitly tells us that the field represents the
world.
* This is one of the most difficult in
the whole series of our Lords parables.
As Luther remarks, it appears very simple and easy to understand,
especially as the Lord himself has explained it, and told us what the field and
the good seed and the tares are; but there is such a diversity of opinion among
interpreters that much attention is needed to hit the right meaning. -
DR. BRUCE.
CHRISTS INTERPRETATION
He
answered and said unto them, He that soweth the
good seed is the Son of Man; and the field is
the world; the good seed are the children of the
kingdom; but the tares are the children of the
wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the world; [or age, that closes with the final judgment.] The reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of
the [that age] world. The Son of Man shall
send forth His angels, and they shall gather out
of His kingdom all things that offend, and them
which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire.
There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Who hath ears let him hear.
GLOSSARY
The
Sower, The Son of
Good seed;
wheat,
Sons of the kingdom; sinless persons.
The
field, The world.
The
enemy, The Evil One; the Devil.
Tares, Sons of the Wicked One.
Harvest, The end of the age.
The
reapers, The angels of God.
Barn,
Eternal felicity.
This parable, so replete with
rich and important [Page 26] truths relating to the administration of the kingdom of Christ,
all expositors connected with State churches, and those who follow their
leading, unite in wresting by interpretation in the support of those false
churches, by teaching that the field is the visible
State church, in which the notoriously bad must be allowed to grow without
disturbance by healthy discipline, thus using Gods word to defend corrupt
churches and to keep manifestly wicked men in the church. Christ explicitly declares that the field is the world, and not the church, which he
everywhere commands his servants to keep pure by the
prompt expulsion of all classes of evil men.
Christ originally sowed this
world with good seed - His own
children, formed in His own image, which He pronounced good. Pure
and sinless were our first parents in their first estate; and in a beautiful
and fertile field were they placed, in which there was not a noxious weed or a
tare. It was Satan, that old enemy, the
devil, who oversowed this beautiful world with tares, from whence his children
and servants like unto himself. So thickly has he succeeded in seeding the
field with tares that, to all human appearances, they must evidently choke and
shade out the wheat. The wicked far
outnumber the righteous, and they appropriate to themselves the largest and
best part of the field, and materially disturb the increase and well-being of
the children of the kingdom, and even threaten to destroy them from the face of
the earth.
WHAT WE LEARN
1. We learn that the devil is a person,
and not a mere abstract principle of evil.
No man who believes [Page 27] that Christ is a real personality can
reasonably question the personality of the devil.
2. And we learn that, how
numerous soever his demon evil spirits may be, there is but one devil.
3. We learn from this parable
the wonderful long-suffering and forbearance of God in permitting the tares to
grow up with the wheat. Worldly wisdom
would dictate that the tares should be rooted up as fast as they appear, and
that a pure and holy God should not suffer wicked men, the children of the wicked one, to
overbear His own children and overrun the earth to their unhappiness and
detriment; but -
4. We learn that it is only for
a season that the wicked are allowed to dominate this earth. The Psalmist says:
I have
seen the wicked in great power, and spreading
himself like a
The interpreters in Luthers day
all belonged to State churches, and they interpreted in the interest of those
churches. i.e. that the church should
include the entire population of the State, and they therefore interpreted the field in the parable to
symbolize the church.
5. We learn that God denies to
the children of the kingdom the use of force, oppression or persecution. Christian rulers are forbidden the use
of the sword or force to extirpate
heretics. While the
churches of Christ must be kept pure, the wicked must be permitted to exist in
the world, since the attempt to forcibly root
them out of it now would break up the foundations of society and destroy the
[Page 28]
6. We learn, also, that the
world is not to be converted by the children of the kingdom, through the
preaching of the gospel, and thus cleared of the taxes, before the second
coming of Christ, as post-millennialists teach, for the tares are to retain their
hold and grow until the close of the harvest age - until the final judgment.
7. We learn from this that it is
not required of the churches in this age to convert the
world. This is not their mission, but to
preach the gospel as a witness among
all nations, and thus prepare the way for the coming of their Lord. It will be His work to separate, through the agency of His angels. It is then that the words of His herald will
be fulfilled:
Whose
fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor, separate the tares from the
wheat, gather His wheat into the garner, and burn up the chaff (tares) in unquenchable fire.
8. We learn that wicked men will
exist and abound upon this earth not only during all of this dispensation, but
through all the thousand years of the millennial age. Only the incorrigibly wicked - those who have
had the gospel offered to them and rejected it, like the rebellious Israelites
who fell in the desert - and those nations that have persecuted the saints,
will be destroyed at the coming of Christ.
All the sheep nations
- the inoffensive and non-persecuting nations, will be preserved to enjoy the
brighter age to come; and over
these in the flesh will the saints reign with Christ for a thousand years; and from these nations will that vast
multitude be saved which no man can number
[count].
9. We learn that ultimately, at
the close of the [Page 29] harvest age, Christ will thoroughly cleanse His floor. He
will send forth His angels and exterminate the tares, root and branch, out of
His field, and burn them. They will
never more be permitted to infest it.
And the earth, thus cleansed, will forever be occupied by His people alone. Read, in connection with this, Psalm 37. and Rev. 21. and 22. When Christ shall
have fully consummated His work, and the world (His field) has been redeemed
from all the evils wrought by His enemy, and be fully and safely occupied by
His redeemed ones, then will He deliver up His sceptre to the Father, and then
will the Fathers kingdom come, as Christ taught His disciples to pray, when
His Fathers will will be done in all the earth as it
is done in heaven; and then we know this
earth will be a
heaven.
Then shall the righteous shine forth m the sun in the kingdom
of their Father. Who hath ears to hear let him hear. - Matt. 13: 43.
This is a historical parable,
because Christ gives us the history of the introduction of evil into this
world, and tells by whose agency evil was introduced, and that it is by His all-wise
purpose that evil and evil-doers have been allowed to exist on the earth.
Evil
in the human race owes its origin to Satan. As to the reasons
why God permitted its original appearance in the universe speculation has scarcely
proven satisfactory, and Scripture is silent. Broadus
Commentary in loco.
It is prophetical, because
Christ foretells that the children of the wicked
one (sinners) will exist upon this earth and dominate over the righteous until
the [Page 30] end of the harvest age. Finally He foretells the final separation of
the wicked from the righteous, and the fearful, but deserved, doom of the
wicked. This interpretation certainly
harmonizes with all the other teachings of Christ and His apostles touching the
administration of His kingdom on this earth, and the transactions of the final
judgment. It certainly teaches, beyond
reasonable doubt, the pre-millennial advent of Christ - i.e. the coming of Christ before the conversion and subjugation of
the world to Him, since the tares will possess the field until He comes, and
His first act will be to root them out and destroy them. (Rev. 14.)
On this point says Dr. Broadus:
We
learn here that good and bad will both be found intermingled in the world until
the consummation of the present age, at the second coming of Christ, which
seems quite contrary to the notion of a previous millennium, during which all
men, without exception, will be faultless Christians. -
Commentary in loco.
* * *
[Page 31]
PARABLES ILLUSTRATING
THE
WILES AND MACHINATIONS
SATAN WOULD EMPLOY TO OBSTRUCT
AND DESTROY
THE
(PROPHETICAL)
-------
1. THE LEAVEN HIDDEN.
2. THE
MUSTARD TREE AND BIRDS OF THE AIR.
3. THE SOWER AND BIRDS OF THE AIR.
[Page 32 blank. Page
33]
CHAPTER 3
CHRIST undoubtedly,
by the parable of the wheat oversown by tares, taught His disciples the agency
(Satanic) and the manner (stealthily) by which evil was originally introduced
into this world; and by the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Hidden Treasure, He
illustrated the compassionate love that moved Him to undertake, and the
infinite sacrifice it cost Him to achieve, the
redemption of His people, and the restoration of a lost and ruined world to its primitive
perfectness and loveliness as the eternal home and heaven of the joint heirs of
His glory and inheritance.
From this first revelation we are certainly warranted in the
conclusion that through the machinations of His great adversary, who oversowed
the field with tares, a corrupting element, or agency, would be stealthily
infused into the saving doctrine of mans salvation, the bread of life, to corrupt and destroy it, and enemies introduced into the constituencies
of His kingdom to subvert rather than friends to conserve it, and are certainly
warranted in concluding that by parables He would also indicate these facts, so
that His disciples in after ages might not be overtaken by surprise or
overwhelmed by discouragement when they saw their Masters work seemingly
thwarted and frustrated in their hands.
This fact - i.e. the
subsequent corruption of His doctrine of life and the [Page 34] gospel
of our salvation by the influence of soul-destroying error, and the introduction
of evil men and seducers into the constituencies of His kingdom - I think He
has unquestionably set forth by the parables of the leaven hid in the meal, and
the fowls of the air lodging
in the branches of the mustard tree.
With this introduction I address
myself to the exposition of these parables.
THE
HIDDEN LEAVEN
(PROPHETICAL)
ILLUSTRATING THE UNIVERSAL CORRUPTION OF THE
DOCTRINE OF CHRIST BY
THE INJECTION OF FALSE DOCTRINE INTO IT BY A
CORRUPT CHURCH.
GLOSSARY
Leaven False doctrine.
Woman
(pure), A true church.
Woman
(vile), A false church.
To
hide, To surreptitiously
introduce.
Meal,
The saving truth‑the
doctrine of Christ.
Wholly
leavened, Wholly corrupted.
PARABLE
Another
parable spake He unto them: The kingdom of
heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal,
till the whole was leavened. - Matt. 13: 33.
The principal features of this
parable are:
1. The
three measures, or one ephah, of
meal.
2. The
leaven.
3. A woman hiding it.
4. The
effect upon the meal.
[Page 35]
Commentators, so far as my
information extends, most unanimously misinterpret this parable, teaching that
the meal symbolizes this world - the whole mass of
depraved humanity - and the leaven symbolizes
the gospel, which, once planted in it, like leaven
in the meal, will work irresistibly and silently on and on, permeating and
assimilating it thoroughly to itself, until the whole world is
leavened, i.e. Christianized.
Accepting this glaring
misinterpretation of the parable, men who address our great missionary
conventions and convocations urge it upon Christians, as the most potent motive
to plant the gospel in heathen lands, because Christ teaches us that it is the
appointed mission of the church to convert
the whole world by the
gospel, and that this parable contains the promise that the whole world shall
be finally Christianized, brought under sweet subjection to Christ, by the
hallowed influence of the gospel. If
Christ taught this in this parable, then He contradicted what He taught in His
other parables and everywhere else in the New Testament. The wheat did not crowd out or assimilate all
the tares to itself, and occupy the whole field, but the tares held their
place, to the injury of the wheat, until the harvest - the final judgment. (See exposition of the tares.) He also contradicts all of His own plain,
unfigurative teaching concerning the state of the world at the close of this
present gospel dispensation. In Matt. 24: 37, He declares most explicitly that what the
state of society was in the days of Noah it will be at His second coming, thus
teaching that the whole world, with comparatively few exceptions, will have become thoroughly corrupted, and
be in a state of open-handed rebellion to God; [Page 36] and when Christ comes it will be to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of
fire. See also Matt. 25., where
the goat nations are to be judged and punished at the second coming of
Christ. He also plainly contradicts the
express teaching of the Holy Ghost:
Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience scared with a hot iron. - 1Tim. 4: 1, 2.
He also flatly contradicts the
teaching of His holy apostles:
This
know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form
of godliness but denying the power thereof. From such turn away. - 2Tim. 3: 1-5.
And He contradicts His last
revelation to His servant John. See and
read Rev. 19.
What Christ did teach by this
parable we can ascertain, if we give to the symbols Christ employed the same
signification they manifestly have in all His other teachings, and in sacred
Scriptures universally. No one can
reasonably object to this. Let us do
this.
The meal. This term is interpreted to symbolize
human hearts - the whole mass of depraved humanity - the world; but it is
nowhere else in Gods word so used, but to represent saving truth. Meal, of which bread is made, is called the
staff of our temporal life [Page 37] throughout the Scriptures.
Christ called himself the bread of life, the true bread which cometh down from heaven. Of His words (doctrine) He said: The words I have spoken unto you are spirit, and they are life. These
words, this doctrine, corrupted and vitiated, must be but
the savour of death.
The ephah (three
measures) of meal, the usual quantity used for a baking, then, do not symbolize
the world - the three divisions of the then known
world - the whole
mass of depraved humanity - as some teach - but saving
truth - the doctrine of Christ - the
gospel of salvation.
Leaven in this parable must certainly symbolize what it invariably
represents elsewhere throughout the sacred writings - false
doctrine, and anything that
is unholy and corrupting in its nature, since it is the
property of leaven to assimilate a mass of kneaded meal, or flour, however
large, to itself by corrupting
it. Why should its use
in this one passage be so unlike and opposite to its use in every other passage
in Gods word?
It is urged that Christ
expressly said it is the kingdom of heaven that is
like leaven. The objection is not
tenable; for He says, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, and is like unto a merchant, and a treasure hid, a net, a mustard seed, a woman, a king, a householder, etc. The meaning is that there are facts in
connection with the administration of Christs visible kingdom on earth illustrated
by one or more of the features of the parable used - this and nothing
more. (See remarks on parabolic
interpretation in Chapter 1.)
The invariable use of the term
leaven by Christ [Page 38] elsewhere, and of His apostles everywhere, to denote
something vile and unholy in principle or doctrine, that
is corrupting, certainly forbids its
being used here to represent something pure
and holy, as the pure gospel of
Christ- as Christs church. Nowhere
else, if it is here, is anything vile, impure, corrupting, used to represent
that which is pure and holy; and I can not believe it is here. This is an invariable rule unless this be an
exception. And why should it be forced
in as an exception here, when to do so would put a palpable
untruth in the lips of Christ; in fact, would be to make Him contradict what
both He and the Holy Spirit have taught everywhere else? In the first parable He addressed to the
people in this connection, He taught them that the field which He sowed with
good seed was oversown by the enemy with tares,
which worked injury and almost ruin to His crop, and that they continued to do so to the end of
the world. Would He be likely to teach the very opposite in this parable?
Christ nowhere else teaches that
His kingdom, in this dispensation, will continue to increase until it
assimilates all things to itself - that Christianity will spread until the
whole world is converted to Him; but far otherwise. This dispensation closes
with the whole world wondering after the beast
under the influence of the antichrist. He foretold that His followers
would be persecuted to the end of this
age; that evil men and seducers would wax worse and worse; that
abounding iniquity and the love of many growing cold were sure signs of the last
times; that brazen-faced impiety and arrogant skepticism would unblushingly
lift their heads and demand:[Page 39] Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers
fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning. In a word, Christ declared that as it was in
the days of Noah, just before the flood, so would the coming of the Son of Man
be. Did the preaching of Noah convert
the world? If not, are we authorized by
Christs declaration to believe the Christianity preached by ministers of this
age will be able to do it? Christianity
was planted in the city of
Leaven, put into a mass of meal,
leavens it - assimilates it to itself by
corrupting it: so false doctrine,
intermixed with the soul-saving doctrine of Christ, corrupts and destroys it.
Will the reader notice what
leaven is everywhere else used to represent, and how Christians are warned to
treat it?
Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever [Page 40] eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from
No meat
offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire. - Lev. 2: 11.
Then
Jesus said tinto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
- Matt. 16:
6.
Beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy. - Luke 12:
1.
Your glorying
is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore
the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump,
as ye are unleavened. For even Christ,
our passover, is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven
of malice and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Cor. 5: 6-8.
* Should not leavened bread be banished from the Lords table, symbolizing
as it does something impure and vile - a mans works? If its presence would have vitiated a
sin-offering or the passover, will it not the Lords
supper? The Lord used unleavened bread.
Will any one say that Paul
intended to teach that a little Christianity planted in the world would
Christianize the whole mass?
If Christ used leaven to represent the working of His gospel-saving truth - He used
a contradictious figure - a figure that contradicted an established fact. It is not the province of truth to
irresistibly work on, correcting error and permeating corruption, and
assimilating it to itself, but, when brought in contact with error or untruth,
it is ever tainted and corrupted by it.
A sound apple, placed in a barrel of rotten ones, will not correct their
unsoundness, nor will a healthy man, introduced into a hospital filled with
patients dying with smallpox, restore them all to health; but the [Page 41] sound
apple will soon become rotten, and the healthy man infected with the contagious
disease. On the contrary, place one
rotten apple in a barrel or bin of sound ones, and it, like leaven, will infect
all; and one case of smallpox, if left to itself, will infect a whole city. Truth is an exotic, and can only exist and grow by the most assiduous
cultivation.
A handful of wheat or corn sown
in a well ploughed field, if left to itself, will soon die out, being
overshadowed and choked by the grass and noxious weeds, and not a kernel would
be harvested; but lo! if a handful of cockle seed or coco-grass nuts be sowed,
ere long the whole field will be overrun and irredeemably ruined by the
coco. So with truth and error. Deadly error is indigenous to the soil of carnal
hearts, like coco-grass to the natural soil, and will, without the least cultivation,
take full and ineradicable possession of humanity, while saving truth, like an
exotic flower, without the most careful and constant cultivation, will be
overshadowed and die.
Christ never used leaven to
symbolize saving truth - the vile and corrupting to represent His pure and holy
gospel.
If leaven symbolizes the gospel,
or Christianity, then the woman must
symbolize the agent or the agencies that first introduced, and are now
introducing and infusing, it into the world - Christ and His apostles, and
Christians, operating through the true churches of Christ! But this woman evidently symbolizes an enemy, and not a friend. And the
leaven was introduced with an inimical
intent: for it was not
done openly, as the gospel was preached by Christ
and His apostles, but was hid -
stealthily and [Page 42] surreptitiously introduced into the meal, as not the right
thing to do - as something not belonging to the meal, but calculated to injure and destroy it. How very like the enemy
who sowed the tares among the wheat while
the men slept! And, as the tares could not be detected until
they had somewhat grown, so could not the presence of the leaven until its
corrupting effects were observed.
Woman, throughout the Scriptures, with but one solitary exception,
where it represents Christ himself, is used to symbolize a professed church and people of God. A chaste wife, a pure woman, everywhere a
pure church, while an adulterous
or meretricious and vile woman, the opposite.
The deeper significancy than
that upon the surface of this parable, without a doubt in my mind, points to an
apostate church, the very Mother of Harlots and
Abominations of the Earth, secretly hiding insinuating - the leaven of her false
doctrines into the
doctrine of Christ, and thus corrupting the faith of the largest part of the professed Christian world. It is charged against this mother of all
corruptions (Rev. 17:
2) that she made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication - deceived and bewildered them to their ruin by
the subtlety of her false
doctrines. This is the very work the apostate Roman
church has done. She has hid infused - the leaven of her false and abominable doctrines into the doctrine of Christ, which she once received
pure, and has thoroughly leavened it; and the faith received from her by all Protestant communions is corrupted by
the infusion of her deadly leaven, as the communication of saying grace
through [Page 43] the
ordinances, called by them sacraments. Hence the doctrine
of baptismal regeneration and
salvation and all its attendant evils.
And if there is a word of prophecy couched in this parable we may safely
conclude that the world, with the exception of the witnesses of Jesus, will be ultimately
leavened by her false doctrines, until the whole is leavened. Do we not read of the last times, And the whole world wondered after the beast? (Rev. 13: 3.)
Let any intelligent Christian examine
the creeds of the Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist and Campbellite denominations and say if, by strictly following
their teachings, a soul could be saved.
They one and all make baptism a sacrament of the remission of sins - of regeneration, and therefore of
salvation. This is the leaven the woman hid in the meal.
Does leaven, in this parable,
mean the permeating power of the gospel or
rather the diffusive tendency of false
doctrine? I accept the latter alternative,
and proceed to give reasons.
Before doing this, however,
suppose we admit for a moment the other alternative - that leaven means the
gospel pervading the mass of humanity until the whole is leavened. The
mass of humanity can be leavened only as the individuals are thus wrought
upon. But it is a fact that no
individual of the race is wholly leavened with the gospel. Every Christian has two natures - the human and
the divine - but the divine nature never leavens the human nature. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
never becomes anything but flesh. The
Holy Ghost never sanctifies the flesh.
We are to crucify the flesh with the passions
and lusts. Now if no individual is ever [Page 44] leavened, so to speak, by the gospel, no
aggregation of individuals is thus leavened.
Hence, if this interpretation is not true of any one of the parts, it is
not true of the whole.
There are eight reasons in my
mind for interpreting this parable to mean the final and universal prevalence
of false doctrine.
1. My first argument is based on the meaning of the word
leaven. It comes from the Hebrew word seor, the Greek gume, the
Latin fermentum, and the English leaven from levare. The Hebrew word seor has the radical sense of effervescence or fermentation, and
therefore corresponds in point of etymology with the Greek word gume and the Latin fermentum. There
is also another Hebrew word, kahmetz, which signifies fermented or leavened;
literally, sharpened bread. Both Hebrew
words are synonymous, being used for the same object, the only difference being
that kahmetz has a more general
signification, so as to he applicable to both kinds of fermentation - vinous
and acetous. The Greek word gume, corresponding to the Hebrew seor, Dr. Robinson
defines in its metaphorical sense to be anything
which tends to corrupt and pervert any one; for example, false doctrine or
corrupt conduct. The corresponding
Latin word fermentum was
applied by Tacitus and Prudentius
to the manners and conduct of the people as being
corrupt and bad.
It is instructive to show what
the opposite term, unleavened, means.
The Hebrew word is matzzoth,
signifying sweetness or purity. In Ex. 13: 7, we have these three Hebrew words in juxtaposition:
Unleavened bread (matzzoth) shall be eaten seven [Page 45] days; and there shall be
no leavened bread (kahmetz) seen with thee, neither shall
there he leaven (seor) seen with thee in all thy quarters.
Webster says, Leaven is any substance that produces fermentation, as in
dough; anything that makes a general, especially a corrupting, change in
the mass.
With this weight of authority from
Hebrew, Greek, Latin and English lexicographers as to the very meaning of the
word leaven, I do not see how any man can speak of it as a symbol of the
gospel.
2. My second argument is based upon the use of the term in the
Old and New Testaments. I unhesitatingly
affirm that there is not a passage in the Bible which uses the word leaven in a
good sense - it is always the symbol of corruption. Not only was its use forbidden at the
Passover, but its very presence was prohibited.
So imperative was this command that he who violated it was cut off from
all civil and religious rights, if not from life itself. The Passover was a type of Christ, who was
holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners; and hence unleavened
bread, the symbol of purity, sincerity and truth, must be used, and no leaven
whatever. There are two passages in the Old Testament which seem to form an
exception, but they not only confirm the rule, but establish the law that
leaven always means evil. In [Page 46] Lev. 23: 17, two wave loaves are commanded to be baked
with leaven. These two wave loaves baked
with leaven, and offered on the Day of Pentecost, were obvious types of the
church composed of Jew and Gentile, but having evil in it, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles. Hence
a sin-offering was presented with two leavened loaves. There was nothing spotless and pure to be
symbolized here, but rather the depraved and human, and hence leaven was used,
which confirms the rule - yea, more, it establishes the law - that leaven
always represents corruption.
Notwithstanding their offering
of thanksgiving, the leaven of ungodliness and idolatry was already working in
the heart of
Turning now to the New
Testament, we find Christ saying, Take
heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. By
this He meant the doctrines of the Pharisees and
Sadducees. There was the leaven
of Herod - legality; the leaven of the Sadducees - worldliness; and the leaven
of the [Page 47]
Pharisees - ritualism. We never read of
the leaven of the gospel and righteousness, but we do read of leaven of malice and wickedness. We never read of the leaven of the saints,
which is sincerity, but we do read of the
leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. We never read that leaven means good; it
always means evil.
Now it is a sound principle of
interpretation that we must understand a metaphor which is not explained in the
light of a similar metaphor which is explained.
In like manner we are to understand the use of the word leaven in this
parable, where it is not explained, in the light of the nineteen other passages
in the Bible where it is explained. If
everywhere in the Old Testament and New Testament leaven is explained to mean
corruption, is it not a logical inference that in this unexplained parable it
means corruption also? Adam Clark, in
commenting on the other passages where leaven occurs, says: Bad doctrines act in the soul as leaven does in bread: they
assimilate the spirit to its own nature.
Christ well knew that the
Pharisee doctrine and the Sadducee doctrine would invade the kingdom of heaven
and corrupt the truth; hence the need of His warning - Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
There are only two instances of
the word leaven in the New Testament, aside from the parable under
consideration, and in those passages it means moral corruption also. The first is in 1 Cor. 5:
1-8. The church at
3. My third argument is based upon Christs own interpretation
of two preceding parables.
We have appealed to
lexicographers for the meaning of the word leaven; we have searched the Old Testament
and New Testament for the use of the term, and have found it always symbolizes corruption. But
suppose we had no dictionary - Hebrew, Greek, Latin or English - suppose we had
not consulted the Scriptures outside the chapter where the parable of the
leaven is recorded - if Christs own interpretation of two preceding parables
in the immediate context teaches us that the kingdom of heaven has in it a
subtle, mysterious power - corrupting,
perverting, and evermore penetrating it with evil - that fact of itself should
determine the meaning of leaven in its application to the same formula - the kingdom of heaven. Let us also remember Christ is not
illustrating the kingdom of heaven so much as certain mysteries of the kingdom.
In the Parable of the Sower,
three kinds of soil brought forth nothing, and the one-fourth part which did
produce anything was hindered by the tares.
Now, if leaven means the gospel permeating the mass of mankind until the whole is leavened, [Page 50] then the good ground ought to leaven the wayside ground, stony ground, and the thorny ground, or else
the good seed ought finally to grow on all these unproductive soils. Again, to carry out the analogy, the tares
ought to be crowded out by the wheat, whereas it is a fact in natural history
that tares grow faster than the wheat, encroaching upon it more and more until
the harvest.
To make the leaven mean the
gospel permeating mankind is to contradict Christs interpretation of the
Parables of The Sower and of The Wheat and Tares. One parable can not contradict another.
My interpretation of the leaven
harmonizes not only in the preceding parables - that evil is in the kingdom,
evermore subverting the good - but it also agrees with the succeeding parables
in the same chapter. Take the Parable of
the Net for example: They gathered the good into the
vessels, and cast the bad away. Now, unclean or putrid fishes are not a less
befitting illustration of the leavening element than the tares - their characteristic
tendency, like that of leaven, being the putrefaction of the whole mass.
Our interpretation corresponds
with the explained and unexplained parables of Christ.
4. My fourth argument is based upon the testimony of Christ and
His apostles concerning the condition of things at the end of this age. If leaven means the gospel, then the last days will be the best days, since
the whole world is thus to be leavened.
But how does this accord with other Scriptures? The tares and wheat are to grow together
until the harvest. The wheat is not to
root out the tares. If the whole mass of humanity is thus to be leavened by the
gospel, [Page 51] there
will be nothing left to offend. How,
then, will Christ, at His coming, gather
out of His kingdom all things which offend and them which do iniquity? If all men are to be converted at the end of
the age, what does Christ mean when He says that at the end of this
dispensation He will render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of
fire? Why will He smite the nations with anger, and rule them with a rod of iron? Why will He dash
them in pieces like a potters vessel, and tread them in the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath
of Almighty God? If the whole lump of
humanity is to be leavened with the gospel, what is there left for God to
destroy in His anger? If all men will
finally have faith, what does Christ mean by saying, When the Son of Man cometh, shall
He find the faith on the* earth?
[* Note the
definite article before the word faith. There is a particular faith, in a particular truth, referred to here; and
it is related to a future, prophetic event. See 1 Pet.
1: 5, 9, 11b, R.V.]
According the theory we oppose the last days will be blessed times; but the
apostle says: This know, that in the last days shall come perilous times; that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
etc.; now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the
latter times some shall depart from the faith, etc. All these passages, and many others,
absolutely contradict the idea that the whole mass of humanity is to be leavened by the gospel
in the last days. Instead of Christ
being revealed to all men in the last days, that
wicked shall be revealed, whom the Lord will
destroy with the brightness of His coming. The
fact is, the last days of this dispensation are to end in fearful apostasy: The end shall not come except there be a falling away first, etc.
The interpretation of the leaven
which makes it to mean the gospel permeating the mass of
humanity [Page 52] until the whole is leavened, contradicts the explained and
unexplained parables of Christ; it contradicts what Christ and all the apostles
foretold concerning the last days. On
the other hand, my interpretation harmonizes with all these passages.
5. My fifth argument is based upon the fact that the leaven was
hid in
three measures of meal. There is
something suspicious about that word hid. Are we ever commanded
to hide the gospel? Are we commanded to
hide our light under a bushel? If our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost. If the psalmist hid Gods word in his heart,
he went and told of it, and so confessed Christ before men. It is said of Christ, He could not be hid. Nor can the gospel be hid. It is
like fire shut up in our bones, it will burn through. We can but speak the things which we have seen and heard. This does not look much like hiding the
gospel in the world. The word hid, in
connection with the leaven, looks ominous.
It looks like the enemy who sowed tares while men slept. It looks like the servant who hid his lords
money. It looks like the secret, subtle
influence of error, which loves darkness rather than light.
But who hid the leaven of corruption
in the kingdom? A woman! What woman?
The meritorious one, the bride of Christ, or the meretricious one, the Mother of
Harlots? Evidently the latter committed
the corrupt act, and the former permitted it to spread. A woman hid the leaven! Has this woman ever done any secret, subtle,
Jesuitical work in the world? Has she
ever corrupted the church with false
doctrine? Has she ever worn a
mask? Has she ever done any thing by
stealth? Do you recognize the woman who [Page 53] took
the leaven of corrupt doctrine and hid it in three measures of meal?
6. My sixth argument is based upon the fact that
meal is everywhere in the Bible used as a symbol of truth or doctrine. Bread, the staff of life, is
a symbol of Christ, and His doctrine the bread of life: For man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God. As leaven is meal soured and corrupted, it
would be natural to expect that it would represent corrupt doctrine. Accordingly the disciples understood how He made them not beware of the
leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now if the three measures of pure meal
represent doctrine as uncorrupted, they can not represent the entire mass of humanity.
If meal represents doctrine pure and uncontaminated, it can not
represent depraved humanity. Now a
question arises, Can the doctrine of Christ become corrupted by the leaven of
false doctrine? We answer, it is not
only possible, but certain, that men have
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man. Men have changed the truth of God lie. They have wrested
the Scriptures to their destruction.
The true doctrine has been perverted by its mixture with the leaven of
false doctrine. One thing is worse than
error, and that is truth mixed with it.
Just as men can corrupt Gods pure grain in soil, so can men corrupt the
pure word of God.
7. My seventh argument is based upon the fact that three measures do not represent the whole
world, and therefore if leaven meant the gospel it would not permeate the whole
mass of humanity. Three is never [Page 54] used to represent completeness. Seven is
the number for totality. All divine truth will not become corrupted;
only that which is allowed to come into the domain of the leaven.
The next Step is from corrupt
doctrine to corrupt men who embrace it and live upon it. As the kingdom of heaven does not and will not
embrace the whole world in this
dispensation, although it certainly will in the next, so the three parts
affected by the leaven of perverted doctrine will not embrace the whole world,
but only that part where the kingdom of heaven in its present unorganized
condition may exist. The leaven will not
work in heathenism. Only where the pure
doctrine has been preached will it corrupt creeds and men.
The gospel of the kingdom may be
preached in the world for a witness, and not reach more than three measures out
of seven. The leaven, consisting of
three principles - the leaven of Herod, the leaven of the Pharisees and the
leaven of the Sadducees - is fast leavening Christendom to-day, and the whole
is destined to be leavened after Gods true people have been caught away. Then comes apostasy and the great
tribulations, and then the millennium.
8. My eighth and last argument is based on the fact that the gospel does
not work like leaven. This is
thought to be the strong point in the interpretation which we antagonize. They say the point of analogy is not in the character of the leaven, but in its silent, gradual and accelerated
operation. But this is not true to fact.
The gospel never had any such gradual and accelerated movement. It has advanced in one age and retrograded in
another. It has become totally [Page 55] extinct
in one nation, and has succeeded in another.
On the other hand, the pure doctrines of Christ in part have been more
and more corrupt from the beginning.
Like streams of water, the further they flow from their source the more
impure they become.
The time will come when the
earth will not have a real Christian left in it, nor a pure doctrine taught
from any of its so-called wise men. The whole
fabric of professed Christianity will be leavened and corrupted with false
teaching. But blessed be God, His true
people will be saved out of this tribulation that is to come on the earth!
When men tell us that the gospel
works like leaven we reply, the
assertion is not true to fact.
When they tell us that three measures of meal represent the whole mass of humanity it is not true to fact.
When they tell us that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Christs explained parables, it is not true
to fact.
A scientist was once reminded
that his theory did not correspond with the facts. Then, said
he, so much the worse for the facts.
We believe our interpretation to
be in harmony with all the facts of the Parable of the Leaven and with all other parables and the whole word of God.
The only objection to our
interpretation of the Parable of the Leaven comes to us from an old minister in
Arkansas, who, in sustaining the current but erroneous idea that the leaven
which was hidden in the meal symbolizes the gospel of our salvation, urges the
literal language of the
parable of
Christ the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, etc. The kingdom of heaven [Page 56] is a
visible earthly organization, and he can not for the life of him find anything
in this organization that is like leaven.
To this good brothers theory, held by him in common with the majority
of readers, we submit the very just remarks of a brother editor on the parable
of the drag net, in
answer to one who asks him, if the net does not represent the visible church of
Christ, because Christ said the kingdom of
heaven is like a net: Those who take that position ought to notice that while, in
the present instance, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a net, in the
Parable of the Tares it is compared to a man who sowed seed; and the true idea
is that in neither case is the thing mentioned first as an element in the
comparison the real thing to be contemplated in it. In the one case, the important thing is not
the man sowing the seed, but the field in which it is sown, and the treatment
meted out to the tares at harvest-time; and in the other case, the
important thing is not the net, but the
discrimination which will finally be made.
So in this parable the kingdom
of heaven is not the important idea designed to be compared, but the corrupting
power of leaven in an ephah of meal is compared to the corrupting power of error, or false doctrine, when infused into the saving doctrine of Christ
- the gospel of mans salvation - and prophetically teaches us that a power
inimical to Christ would corrupt the pure gospel of Christ by stealthily introducing soul-destroying error into it, until the whole was
leavened.
* * *
[Page 57]
CHAPTER 4
THE
PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD TREE
AND
BIRDS OF THE AIR
THE
MUSTARD TREE
THIS is one of the four parables delivered in connection to teach
and illustrate the same sad fact - the malignant, subtle and persistent opposition
of Satan, the great adversary, to the work Christ undertook to accomplish. In the Parable of the Tares we see how stealthily Satan oversowed with tares the field which Christ sowed with
good seed. In the Parable of the Leaven
we see a false [or deceived] church,
under the symbol of a woman, hiding, stealthily infusing, false doctrine into the true doctrine of
Christ, to corrupt and
thereby pervert it. In the Parable of
the Mustard Tree and the Birds of the Air, which is prophetical, we learn how
His kingdom, when it became large and prosperous, would be injured by the
introduction into it of foreign, hostile influences.
The principal features of this
parable are:
1. The
insignificant seed sown.
2. The
sower.
3. The
tree.
4. The fowls
of the air.
5. Their
work - lodgement in the branches.
1. By the small seed sown it is
evident the
The sower of the seed was the
same personage who is represented as sowing the good seed in the Parable of the
Tares, and in the subsequent parable, and He it was who founded His kingdom by
His own personal efforts, and not through the agency of others; for the stone
was cut out without hands - human agency.
Let this vital fact be constantly borne in mind that Christ has but one
kingdom, and that this He set up,
organized Himself, during His personal ministry on this earth, and not through
the agency of others before His advent or subsequent to His ascension. It was a part of the work that was given Him
to do, and which made it necessary for Him to come to this earth.
Religious organizations set up
by men since the ascension of Christ, though called churches, certainly are not
churches, nor do they compose in whole or in part the kingdom of Christ. As He never set up but one kingdom, and never
has had but one, so from the day He set it up He has always had one. From the day He constituted it, although the malignant
enemy has done all in his power to impede its growth, and to [Page 59] destroy
it, nevertheless, like the stone of the mountain, it has never ceased for one
hour to roll, and, like the mustard tree, for one moment to grow; and, blessed
be God, it will roll on, and grow on, until under the personal administration
and reign of Christ it shall become a great
mountain and fill the whole earth.*
* With this prophecy (Dan. 2: 44) and this
parable before his eyes, how can a candid interpreter of Gods word say that
this kingdom has for ages together ceased to exist, or deny that there has been
an unbroken succession of the true churches of Christ since as the constituents
of His kingdom? The kingdom could not exist
for one day or an hour without the existence of one or more true churches of
Christ.
The mustard tree symbolizes the
THE BIRDS OF THE AIR
It is important that we
ascertain who are represented by these.
It is as true as it is an old
adage that the Scriptures are their own
interpreters. It is certainly
a doubtful procedure to explain one part of the Scriptures independent of other
Scriptures, since no Scripture is of private - i.e. separate - interpretation.
As in algebra, although we make
several [Page 60]
independent equations in working out a given problem, if we find the value of x
or y in one we can safely substitute that value for the x or y in each of the
other equations.
In the Parable of the Leaven and
Meal we found that leaven in both the Old and New Testaments represented that which is corrupt, false doctrine, and therefore this must
be its true meaning in the Parable of the Leaven and Meal. Let us apply this rule. In the following Parable of the Sower, they
were fowls, the birds of the air, that
caught away the seed that was sown by the wayside.
Christ interprets these to
represent the agencies Satan employs to catch away the good seed of the gospel [of the kingdom], which
was sown in the hearts of the class of men represented by the wayside.
Satan employs
a variety of agents, as wicked men,* and other evil spirits.
Williams Commentary in loco.
[*NOTE. He also is in the business of the employment of regenerate
men whom he has duped! We draw this
conclusion from Post-millennialist and Anti-Millennialist Christians.]
We are safe, therefore, in
interpreting fowls of the air as representing wicked [or deceived] men.
What is done by the emissaries
and men under the instigation and influence of the wicked one, is properly said
to be done by himself. Here the fowls of
the air are doubtless wicked men moved by Satan. They appertain to his kingdom; and he is the
prince of the powers of the air - the spirit that worketh in the children of
disobedience.
This tree was cultivated for its seed, and when ripe
vast quantities of it were destroyed by the birds of the air. They did the tree no good, but injury.
Every orchardist knows how
destructive the birds are to his fruit trees, and several kinds of fruit, as
cherries, of which birds are peculiarly fond, have to [Page 61] be
constantly guarded, and the birds driven out, to secure anything like a crop.
These fowls of the air did not come to sing, but to lodge - to roost - in the branches. If any one doubts the result of this use of a
tree, or a forest of trees, let him examine a pigeon or turkey roost, where
they do, in multitudes, congregate at night to lodge. The limbs are broken down and
the tree defiled with their excrescences; its beauty and symmetry defaced, its
growth impeded; and, unless the lodge or roost is soon broken up, the tree is
destroyed. This was a prophetic parable, pointing forward
to the time when the kingdom of Christ would become so extensive and popular
that the [duped regenerate and]
unregenerate and wicked - worldly men and women - would flock into it, not to
succour and cultivate, but simply to lodge in it -
use it for their own advantage. The
result of the gathering of the children of this world into any
[* See 1 Cor.
5: 13,
R.V.]
The
teaching of this parable agrees with that of the apostles everywhere that,
unless unregenerate and wicked men and women are strictly kept out of, and [Page 62]
excluded, when found in, the churches of Christ, they will be corrupted and
their moral and spiritual influence destroyed.
This Scripture is being
fulfilled before our eyes in this age.
The churches have become so conformed to the world that they have become
popular with the world; all persecution for Christs sake has ceased, and
worldly, wicked men and women are flocking into the churches. In fact, it has become fashionable to be an
active and much respected member of some
church - of some religious organization called a church.
It is
also a fact, owing to the multitude of those lodgers -
unregenerate worldly men and women - in our churches, that scriptural
discipline has become impossible, and the spiritual life and moral power of our
churches are paralyzed.
An aged and thoughtful pastor
not long since remarked in our hearing that he feared that not more than half
of the members of his church were truly regenerated men and women.
I have heard several pastors in
the last five years make substantially the same remark. Verily, verily, the fowls of the air are
flocking to lodge in the branches of the symbolized Mustard Tree.
There can nothing be gathered
from this parable to favour the theory that the whole world will be truly
converted and gathered into the kingdom of Christ before His second
coming. If by the fowls of the air
wicked men are represented, then the parable teaches that the kingdom of heaven - the true churches of
Christ that constitute it - in the latter days, will be filled with unregenerate men, and the last phase of [Page 63] Christianity
in this dispensation will be worse than the first - the field overcrowded with
tares, the pure doctrine of Christ perverted by the infusion of deadly error, and the kingdom of Christ
demoralized by a worldly, unregenerate membership.
The advocates of that theory
known as the Church-Branch Theory refer to this parable,
and to this alone, for its support.
I suppose the misunderstanding
and misconstruction of the parable originated the theory. The mustard tree, they claim, represents the
one true church of Christ; and, as the tree is composed of many branches, so the church is composed of many denominations; indeed, that all
the so-called denominations claiming to be churches that have existed, or that
now exist, on this earth, taken together, have constituted, and do now constitute,
the church.
There are many and insuperable
difficulties in the way of this most irrational and absurd theory.
1. Christ has no visible or invisible organization called the church. There is no visible
or invisible organization on earth known in the word of God as the church, composed of all existing churches. It is a mere conception, not a reality. Whenever the phrase the
2. Christ did not say that His church was like
a mustard tree, but that His kingdom was. And the branches of this
tree would therefore represent the constituents of which the kingdom is
composed - all of Christs true local churches.
3. The branches of this mustard tree, like the [Page 64] branches of any other tree, were identically
of the same wood, and not each of a different kind of wood. And these branches were organically united
with the one body, and therefore with each other, like the members of our
bodies, and each branch bore identically the same seed.
But in the conceptional tree of the church-branch theory
the tree is all
branches, without any trunk or body. And, stranger yet, if it is
indeed possible for anything to be stranger, each branch is of a widely
different species of wood, and bears radically different doctrines, having no
organic connection with each other, and of course not with its body or trunk,
for it has none. Most wonderful freak of
nature! Most wonderful monstrosity! Nothing more monstrously absurd, save the
church theory built upon the idea!
The kingdom of heaven, of God,
of Christ, is composed, as I have said, of all Christs true local churches.
These are the only executives of His kingdom, and they alone give it visibility. These churches are not heterogeneous and
radically diverse, and therefore antagonistic bodies, but homogeneous -
essentially alike - and therefore harmonious.
Christ himself said that a house
divided against itself could not stand, and a kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation. Christ,
therefore, did not build His church, which He calls
His house, or
constitute His kingdom, of diverse and antagonistic organizations, like the
various existing denominations - that must conflict with each other because
holding different, contradictious doctrines, and, from the very nature of the
case, as one prevails in a given section all the others are exterminated by
it. Built of [Page 65] such heterogeneous material, His house
would soon fall and His kingdom be brought to desolation.
Surely what a flagrant
perversion of Christs teachings is this gross travesty of this parable, by
which it is wrested so as to contradict the unfigurative teachings of Christ
and his apostles!
If I do no more by these
expositions than to rescue this one parable from such misleading teachings, my
humble effort will not be altogether in vain.
But by another and a large class of expositors it is claimed that Christ
intended to teach by this parable that ultimately the whole world will be
Christianized and gathered into His church or kingdom, because He said, The fowls of the air lodged in the branches of this tree. But, unfortunately for this theory, Christ in
the next parable tells us that the fowls
of the air represent the devil - i.e.
evil spirits or wicked men - since he used these to accomplish his wicked
purposes, and in this case his purpose is certainly not to help the kingdom of
Christ, but to injure it by the introduction of wicked men into it.
I can not doubt that this
parable is a prophecy foreshadowing the fact that in after years Christianity
would become so extended and popular that His churches - which compose His
kingdom - would be demoralized by the introduction of masses of unregenerate
members.
The thoughtful student of church
history is impressed with no fact more forcibly than that the great apostasy of
the primitive churches which occurred in the third, fourth and fifth centuries
was brought about by the introduction of the world - unregenerate men - those
churches and this was effected by [Page 66] corrupting the true doctrine of Christ by the introduction of
the leaven of false doctrine, sacramental salvation,
viz: teaching that the grace of remission of sins and
regeneration, and consequently salvation, was communicated alone through the
ordinances of the church.
Hence the Catholic aphorism, No salvation out of the church - a doctrine still held by the
Catholics and all
A willingness to join the church
and be baptized is, alas! too generally accounted a satisfactory qualification
for the rite and church membership.
Unless this tendency is speedily and effectively checked, a second and
general apostasy will follow, as certainly as one sun-set follows another, from
the same cause.
This parable should impress both
the ministry and membership of our churches with the sacred duty of guarding
with holy vigilance against the entrance of the unregenerate into our churches,
and, by the exercise of a strict gospel discipline, driving out all the fowls of the air that are now lodging in them.
* * *
[Page 67]
CHAPTER 5
THE
SOWER AND BIRDS OF THE AIR
PARABLE
AND He spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds
fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and
devoured them.
Some fell upon stony places, where they
had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth; and when the sun was up they were scorched, and, because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. But others fell into
good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. - Matt. 13: 3-8.
DIVINE INTERPRETATION
Hear ye, therefore, the Parable of the
Sower.
When any one heareth the word of
the kingdom, and understandeth it not,* then cometh
the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received
the seed into stony places, the same is he that
heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the
word, by and by,
he is offended. He [Page 68] also that received seed among the
thorns is he that heareth the word, and
the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good
ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and
bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. - Matt.
13: 18-23.
* It has been said there are four different kinds of hearers of
the word [of the KINGDOM]: Those like a sponge, that suck up
good and bad together, and let both run out immediately - having ears and hearing not; those like a sand-glass, that let what enters in at one ear pass out at the other - hearing
without thinking; those like a strainer,
letting go the good and retaining the bad; and those like the sieve, letting go the chaff and
retaining the good grain.
This parable is so specifically
interpreted by Christ that no extended exposition is needed, and I shall
therefore only call attention to its general scope and dispensational teaching.
I think the first great fact
taught by this parable is, that the whole field - i.e. the whole world, for He has told us the field is the world (Matt. 13.) - is,
by the ministry of His disciples to be
sown with the good seed of the gospel of salvation, notwithstanding its size or
its apparent hard or stony or thorny parts (unpromising parts), and not here
and there a patch only to be put in the highest state of cultivation. This was the duty Christ enjoined upon His
apostles, and commanded them to teach all those discipled by them to observe all
things He had commanded them - His apostles.
If, then, it was the duty of the apostles and the primitive churches to
preach the gospel [of the kingdom as well as the grace of God] to all nations, it is manifestly the duty
of every one who hears the gospel to receive it, and obey its requirements; and
if any are unable, by natural defects, to do so, it certainly can not
rightfully be made their duty to do so.
I will illustrate to the reader.
Suppose a benevolent
agriculturist should propose to plant for you, a farmer, one acre of your land
with an exceedingly rare and
valuable variety of cotton-seed, each seed fruiting being worth to you five or ten
dollars. What would be your conduct?
[Page 69]
1. Would you not put
a good fence around that acre that would
effectually close up any neighbourhood road leading over it, and shut off any
foot-paths leading through it, and this for the most obvious purposes?
2. Would you not thoroughly plow up
the hard soil, and put it in good tilth for the proposed planting?
3. If there were briar or thorn patches on this acre, would you
not carefully grub them up, root and branch and
burn them, and gather up the stones, if any, and carry them off? So teach the Scriptures. Break up the fallow ground of your hearts,
and sow not among thorns (Jer.
4: 3). And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof.
4. If there was a glady or barren spot
on it, where the soil was thin and poor, would you not treat it with a few loads of richer earth, and
enrich it with manure? You would do all
these things, and give that acre the most diligent cultivation most certainly,
and not think them either too hard or unreasonable; and you would give that
acre, while that crop was growing, the most diligent cultivation, and allow nothing of minor
importance to divert your attention until that crop was made, and the rich
results secured.
Is it not a gospel truth that
sinners are in a great measure responsible for the hardness and thorny
condition of their hearts, and their inconsiderateness and trifling with divine
things?
5. By this parable Christ further taught His disciples how
subtle and successful
and constant would the efforts of Satan to abort and render
ineffectual the good
seed of the gospel [of the kingdom] sown by
their ministry, and all spiritual influences exerted on the hearts of their
hearers. And He doubtless gave them this
[Page 70] instruction
to the end that they might not be discouraged or overwhelmed with
disappointment when they saw how very few of all the multitudes they
preached to would receive and be benefited by their preaching. In this parable only one-fourth of all who heard
the word [of the kingdom] brought
forth any fruit. This would be a very
large estimate when applied to the ministry of His disciples during this gospel
dispensation. Not one in a hundred -
nay, not even in a thousand - of those who heard the gospel preached by Christ
and His apostles in the demonstration of the Spirit
and in power by manifold and wonderful
miracles. Indeed, of all that vast throng
then before Him, and of the throng at one time of five thousand, and another of
seven thousand, all went back save the twelve apostles, and followed Him no
more, because they were displeased with His teachings!
6. By the manifest teachings of this parable we are justified
and warranted in the belief - aye forced to conclude - that this will be
the case during the entire gospel, or Gentile, dispensation as it was during
the ministry of Christ and His apostles, and as we see it is at this present
time. How confirmatory of this sad fact
is the express declaration of Christ, which will be as true the day before His
second advent as it was in His day, and we see it is in our day:
Enter
ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. - Matt. 7: 13.
Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
- Matt. 7:
14.
This will be true to the very
close of this dispensation, until the law that shall go forth from
Think of seventy-two ministers and seventy-two Baptist
churches with their twenty thousand members who have for years been labouring
to Christianize one hundred inhabited square miles of Pennsylvania, at a cost
of $117,284 per
annum for
preaching, and an outlay of $2,642,580 already made for houses of worship to
preach the gospel in, and yet the number of non-professors is increasing
yearly! How long will it take to
Christianize this small area? and how many millions of money? and so of
It is not for this purpose that
Christ commanded the gospel to he preached to all nations. He leaves us not to speculate about this, but
expressly tells us, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come. (Matt. 24: 14.) And to the intent that all nations might be
judged by it, and to take out of them a people for His name. Simeon
hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a
people for His name. (Acts 15: 14.)
The churches have been taught,
and are now being taught, that Christ has imposed the duty upon them to Christianize all men
of all nations, which He certainly has nowhere done, or intimated that such is
their duty. That it is the duty of the churches of this age to preach the
gospel to every nation under the whole heaven to the extent of their ability no
one has a right for one moment to doubt.
It was for this purpose His churches were organized. This duty He [Page 72] enjoined upon them in His first
sermon on the mount. This duty He
commanded His apostles to enjoin upon all those who should be discipled by
them, and this duty He enjoined in His farewell address to His disciples on the
We are spending millions of
money and scores of lives
in attempting to Christianize
all the inhabitants dwelling upon a few square miles, high farming on a few patches, and
leaving the great field unsown.
This is not the age of universal conversion. That
can not be even comparatively effected until Satan is bound, and cast out of
the earth, so that he can deceive the nations no more. Hear what Christ says:
Verily
the strong man armed [Satan] keepeth his palace [this
world] and his goods in peace, and he will keep it until the stronger than he cometh and he
will first bind him and cast him out and take possession of his goods.
(See Rev. 20:
l.)
This is the age of universal evangelization, and not for the conversion of every
creature. We are not left to speculate
as to Christs design in this. He has
most explicitly informed us:
And this GOSPEL [i.e., the good news or glad tidings] of THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end [of this evil age - not of this world] come. - Matt. 26: 14.
As we would hasten that end, and, as lovers of the Saviour, hasten His glorious
coming, to dethrone Satan, and enthrone Himself and His saints as rulers [Page 73] of this
world, we should do all in our power, by effort, by prayer, and by our means, to aid in preaching the gospel [of
Messiahs coming kingdom] to all nations for a witness.
The apostles clearly understood
that it was their duty to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature, and they as clearly understood that but comparatively few of earths population would be
saved.
Let us then, as churches of the
living Christ, clearly understand the duty He enjoins on us. When He gave His marching orders He did not
say, All will be born at once, or All will be converted before you, or before My second advent - no
such thought is ever found in all His teachings. The command is, Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. The only promise is, Lo, I am with you alway. He knew how much we would need His
presence. He knew that the messenger
would be rejected as His Master had been.
His presence, not our success, was to
be our comfort.
He is a
poor servant who goes merely by success.
At the day of the Lord the word will not be, Well
done good and successful servant, but, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. We can not command
success. But we can all aim at
faithfulness; we can...all, by relying upon His grace and presence, be faithful
unto death. Be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life, the Master said to those who
were to be His witnesses, not to be received but to be murdered. Faithful in the little,
we shall be rewarded with the crown He will give, for, If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him We
shall be glorified together.
To-day is the day [Page 74] of the Cross, and our witnessing to Him, to the uttermost ends of the earth. The glory, the crown, the reward, will soon be there, and above all
Himself. The Man of Calvary, the Man
whom Stephen saw standing at the right hand of God, whom Saul saw on the way to
Damascus, will appear in royal glory to put down all the wrong, to exalt all
the right - to put down all rule and authority opposed to God, and reign in
righteousness over a sin-blighted world.
Let us, then, cheerfully labour,
and sacrifice liberally of the means He himself has given us, to hasten His
coming by aiding in sending forth the missionaries of the Cross to sow the
whole field, by preaching the gospel to the nations now sitting in darkness,
and to the isles that are waiting for His law.
* * *
[Page 75]
PARABLES ILLUSTRATING
CHRIST
SEEKING, FINDING AND REDEEMING
A LOST WORLD
AND
A LOST RACE.
-------
1. THE LOST SHEEP.
2. THE LOST COIN.
3. THE PURCHASED FIELD.
4. THE PURCHASED
[Page 76 blank Page 77]
CHAPTER 6
CHRIST
SEEKING, FINDING AND
REDEEMING
THE LOST
THE Saviour having taught His disciples how sin was introduced
into the world through the personal machinations of His Arch Adversary, the
devil, and its disastrous consequences to the world and a wicked race, we would
naturally expect that He would reveal to them, and through them to us, His own
gracious mission to this earth, His own amazing, wondrous love in seeking to
save a lost world, and restore it to its primitive relation to the unfallen
worlds of Gods universe, since a failure to recover what was lost would be a
reflection upon His care or His honour.
This I think He has done. By
referring to Lukes record of His teachings (chapter 15.), we
find He makes the murmuring of the Pharisees because He received sinners, and
ate with them, the occasion of teaching them that His mission was to seek and
save the lost - lost men and the lost world. This He does in three
striking parabolic illustrations, in which the careful reader will discover an
advance in the thought from the care of a shepherd for a wandering sheep to the
anxiety of a woman for a lost ornament, reaching its climax in the deeper love
of a father for his banished and lost son.
These parables of Christ were
designedly constructed [Page 78] by Him, He tells us (Matt. 3: 10, 18), so as to convey a sense that the Jews
seeing could see, and yet not
perceive, and hearing could
hear, and yet not understand. Does
not this language imply that there was a primary or superficial sense and
application of them that the Jews could readily see, as the tender care and responsibility of a good shepherd for
all his sheep, the anxiety of a woman for a lost ornament coin - which is a
part of a valuable ornament - and the deeper love of a fond father for a lost son; and yet does it not imply that
there was a broader and deeper meaning which they
did not and could not perceive or understand, embracing, as it did, the great
truths of His redeeming love, and the mysteries of His mediatorial kingdom on
earth - i.e. His equal love for all
men, and His merciful provision of salvation for the Gentiles as well
as the Jews?
If I am right in this, the
primary sense or application of the parables bears the same relation to their
deeper and real meaning as the hull or shell does to the luscious meat of the kernel or nut.
With this key in hand let us examine the three parables recorded
together by Luke (chapter 15.) in their order.
I call attention to the first:
THE LOST SHEEP
Then
drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and
scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with them. And He spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you
having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go
after that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home he calleth together
his [Page 79] friends and neighbours,
saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over
ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance. - Luke 16: 1-7.
The Saviour undoubtedly designed
by this parable primarily to teach these self-righteous and scornful Pharisees
that all which the Father had given to Him were equally dear to Him, and that
among those were the poor and the degraded and the outcasts of earth, the lightly esteemed of men, and He came to seek and
save these very persons because they were lost. Upon another occasion He shows that, by
dining with Zacchaeus, who was a publican, He came not to call the
self-righteous, but sinners, to repentance. In this parable, then, we have:
1. The
shepherd.
2. The
lost sheep.
3. The
long and painful search.
4. The
joy upon the discovery.
5. The
Father as the owner of the sheep.
Christ is the Shepherd, He of
whom David sang in that sweetest of his pastoral songs: The Lord is my Shepherd; I
shall not want. Christ assumes this
character towards all whom the Father gave Him to save in the covenant of
redemption. He says:
I am
the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose
own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth
because he is a hireling, and careth not for the
sheep. I
am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know [Page 80] I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I
have, which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and
they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one
fold and one shepherd. - John 10: 11-16.
The lost sheep in its lowest
parabolic symbolism, then, represents lost sinners given to the Son in the
covenant of redemption to save, and therefore the obligation upon Him to seek
and save it. Used in this sense, His
leaving the ninety-nine in the wilderness while he goes to seek the lost one
would be but the more striking and true to life. I submit the following account of what a
traveller saw upon the
One
day we were making our way, with ice-axe and alpenstock, down the Aletusch
Glacier, when we observed a flock of sheep following their shepherds over the
intricate windings between crevasses, and so passing from the pastures on the
one side of the glacier to the pastures on the other. The flock had numbered two hundred all told;
but on the way one sheep had got lost.
One of the shepherds, in his German patois, appealed to us if we had
seen it. Fortunately, one of the party
had a field-glass. With its aid we
discovered the lost sheep far up amid a tangle of brushwood, on the rocky
mountain side. It was beautiful to see
how the shepherd, without a word, left his hundred and ninety-nine sheep out on
the glacier waste (knowing that they would stand there perfectly still and
safe), and went clambering back after the lost sheep until he found it. And he actually put it on his shoulder and returned rejoicing. Here was our Lords parable enacted before
our eyes, though the shepherd was all unconscious of it, and it brought our
Lords teaching home to us with a vividness which none can realize but those
who saw the incident.
For a
shepherd to lose a sheep would be a severe [Page 81] reflection upon his qualifications as a
good shepherd.
These in
all countries are:
1.
Ability to defend them.
2.
Fidelity.
3.
Tenderness.
4.
Responsibility.
He said in the sheep-raising
countries (shepherds are professional characters - they make it a life
business) these qualifications are always required, and especially the last,
for the shepherd is made responsible for all he takes the care of, and the life
and welfare, therefore, of one
sheep is as
important to him, and as much the subject of his care, as of another. It was so from the earliest times in the
East. Jacob said to Laban that while he
had served him in the capacity of shepherd or herdsman -
This
twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and
thy she goats have not cast their young, and the
rams of thy flock have I not eaten. That which was torn of beasts I brought not
unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hands didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. - Gen. 31: 38, 39.
It is the joy of every Christian
that our Shepherd-Redeemer possesses these qualifications in an infinite
degree. 1. He is omnipotent to save. 2.
He is omniscient to see all that can possibly happen to the least of His sheep.
3. He is all-merciful, and His
tender mercies are over all committed to His care. 4. He is infinitely responsible, and has made Himself so to the
Father in an Everlasting Covenant. It is impossible, therefore, for one of His
to be lost. It would be an everlasting
dishonour to the Shepherd of Israel to lose the least lamb of His flock:
All
that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and
Him [Page 82] that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him
that sent me.
And this is the Fathers will which hath sent Me, that all of which He
hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. - John 6:
37-39.
But ye
believe not, because ye are not of My sheep,
as I said unto you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they
follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My band. My Father, which
gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Fathers hand.
- John 10: 26-29.
Of them
which Thou gavest Me have I lost none. - John
18: 9.
Well has the poet expressed it:
His honour is engaged to save
The weakest of His sheep;
All whom the heavenly Father gave,
His hands securely keep.
Upon such a firm foundation,
then, does the preservation of His people rest.
Let this lost sheep, in its primary application, therefore, represent
lost sinners for whom Christ died, and whom He came to seek that He might save,
and these are generally among the very publicans and sinners in the
estimation of the world and the self-righteous,
His leaving the ninety-nine and
going after that which was lost, represents all that He did and suffered in His
life and in His death, as well as all the agencies He now inspires and employs
in connection with His church in the recovery of lost men. In the wilderness of this world will He
prosecute this mission until all given Him - every sheep - shall have been found and brought into the fold.
Not the least feature of this
parable is the joy [Page 83] manifested upon the recovery of the lost sheep. The Saviour manifestly emphasized the fact,
that He might impress those Pharisees with the inestimable value God placed
upon the soul of one of the wickedest and most degraded of those publicans who
gathered around Him, and whom He sought to save. There is joy in heaven over the least one of
them more than over ninety and nine, or nine hundred and ninety-nine, sinless
angels who need no repentance.
There is another thought that a
teacher in
With the following song, based
on this interpretation, Mr. Sankey moved all
THE NINETY AND NINE
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold;
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold -
Away on the mountains wild and bare -
Away from the tender Shepherds care.
Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine,
Are they not enough for Thee?
But the Shepherd made answer: Tis of Mine
Has wandered away from Me,
And, although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep the waters crossed,
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry -
Sick and helpless and ready to die.
Lord, whence are those blood drops, all the way,
That mark out the mountains track?
They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.
Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?
They are pierced to-night by many a thorn.
But all through the mountains, thunder-riven,
And up from the rocky steep,
There rose a cry to the gate of heaven
Rejoice! I have found My sheep!
And the angels echoed around the throne,
Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own!
I think this
parable may safely be interpreted, in its deeper and broader significance, so
as to supplement that of the tares, revealing to His disciples of that age, and
through them to the world of all ages, the wonderful self-sacrificing love that
moved the Son of God to engage to seek and to save one of the lost worlds of
Gods universe - lost through the machinations of Satan. If we may so understand it, the lost sheep,
the original and rightful property of the Father, symbolizes this lost world of
ours, alienated by reason of [Page 85] sin, and rolling far away from God, into the blackness of
hopeless darkness forever - lost without the merciful intervention of a
compassionate and an almighty and merciful Redeemer. In this sense the good shepherd beautifully
symbolizes the Son of God, who, moved by compassionate love, left all the
sinless, unfallen worlds of the many-mansioned universe of God, and came down
from the heights of His heavenly glory to seek and to save the one that was
lost.
This would be the history of the redemptive scheme.
The prophecy is its glorious and jewelled setting.
The world, despite the powers of
darkness, is ultimately to be found and restored to its pristine
condition. This sin-cursed, this wicked
and ruined, world is to be redeemed, and brought back and
safely folded again with the worlds of light that have never fallen. Or still more explicitly, that Christs
redemptive work, already begun, will go on and on, until it is consummated in
the redemption of this physical
earth, on which Gods curse now rests for mans sin - when it shall
be renovated and refashioned to become what God originally intended it to be -
the glorious residence of sinless beings, and, prospectively, the eternal
habitation and heaven of Christs redeemed saints.
That this literal earth is
ultimately to be redeemed from the curse and ruinous effects of sin, which, for
mans sake, were visited upon it, is a matter of undoubted revelation:
For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but
by reason of Him who hath [Page 86] subjected the same in hope, because the creation itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only it, but ourselves also, which
have the first fruits of the spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. - Rom. 8: 18-23.
This is a striking example of
personification. This earth is
represented as a person unwillingly and innocently suffering for the
wrong-doing of another; and, having heard the promise of ultimate deliverance
made in Eden, that the seed of the woman shall bruise - i.e. crush - the serpents head, and that the power and works of
Satan shall ultimately be exterminated and obliterated, it impatiently suffers
on in expectancy, groaning and waiting in hopeful expectation of its ultimate
perfect deliverance from its bondage of corruption, all the manifold evils it
has for so many ages suffered, and receive honour for its long disgrace; and it
is represented as recognizing that its deliverance will be coetaneous with the
full and completed redemption of the children of God.
That this literal earth is
ultimately to become the eternal habitation, home and heaven of all the
redeemed is also undoubtedly and expressly revealed in both the Old and New
Covenants:
Trust
in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the earth, and
verily thou shalt be fed. ... For evildoers
shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the
Lord, they shall inherit the earth. - Ps. 37: 3, 9.
Evil-doers (the tares) have
never yet been rooted up and cut off from the earth, and this earth given
solely to the righteous; nor, as we learned from the Parable [Page 87] of the
Tares, will they be destroyed from the field (the face of the earth) until the
end of the harvest age, but that then they will be utterly cut off; so that
however diligently one wicked man might he sought for he could not be found on
the face of the whole earth; and when this takes place the earth will be the eternal abode of the
righteous only:
For yet
a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea,
thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
... the Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be forever. ... But the wicked shall perish; and
the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume, into
smoke shall they consume away. ... The righteous shall inherit the
earth, and dwell therein forever. - Ps. 37: 10, 11, 18, 20, 29.
Without referring to other
passages in the Old Covenant, let my readers consider the explicit promises and
prophecies of Christ:
Blessed
are the meek; for they shall inherit the
earth. - Matt. 5: 5.
And this, which the apostles
refer to with the greatest confidence:
In my
Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you unto Myself;
that where I am there ye may be also. - John
14: 2, 3.
Peter, referring to this
promise, tells us plainly where this place, prepared by Christ for the future
and eternal home and heaven of the redeemed, will be: [Page 88] Nevertheless we, according to
His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. - 2 Peter 3: 13.
He learned the fact that this
earth was to be the place Christ would prepare for His disciples either from
the lips of Christ himself or it was revealed to him by the Spirit.
In the last revelation Christ
made to His beloved disciple, He showed him a new
heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and there was
no more sea. (Rev. 21: 1)
Neither the firmament above nor
the economy of the face of the earth itself will bear the appearance of the
present earth while under the curse of its Maker; for He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
But why is this material earth to
be regenerated, refashioned and adorned with such care, and furnished and
embellished with such unparalleled munificence beyond any other spot in the
universe? Certainly not to be
annihilated, or to be left desolate and un-inhabited. But well may it thus be made new and
inconceivably glorious, if it is to be, more than any other place, the special
abode of the glorified Saviour with His people.
It is to be prepared for His redeemed:
And I
heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold the tabernacle [i.e. the dwelling, the abode] of God is with men [on the new earth]; and He
will dwell with them, and they shall he His
people; and GOD-WITH-MEN himself shall he their God. - Rev.
21: 3, R.
V.
Read all
that Christ reveals to us concerning our [Page 89] final heaven-made home in His last
revelation, commencing at the twenty-first chapter, after the last judgment has
been held and the new earth
prepared:
And I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there
was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold the
tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell
with them, and they shall be His people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the
former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto
me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the
fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he
shall be My son.
But the fearful and unbelieving, and the
abominable and murderers, and whoremongers and
sorcerers, and idolaters and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death.
- Rev. 21:
1-8.
Here, for the first time since the
fall, do we find the whole earth freed from the curse of sin and sinners the
tares having all been gathered out of it and burned, and the righteous in full
and sole possession of it, to dwell therein
forever. Here, for the first
time, the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, which for long ages has
welled up from the hearts and been breathed from the lips of so many thousands,
will be answered, Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as in heaven. Now, for the first time, Christs redemptive
work will have been completely [Page 90] consummated, all enemies having been put under His feet, and
uncounted millions of the once ruined race redeemed, and the wrecked world
restored. Now will He, as Messiah,
according to covenant stipulations, having abrogated all anti-Christian
governments, organizations, authorities and opposing powers, abrogate all
governments and all authority and power, give up His kingdom (the absolute
government and authority and power vested in Him as King of this world - Matt. 28: 18) to God and the Father - that God (i.e. the Godhead) may from henceforth be
all in all.
Then
cometh the end, when He shall give up the
kingdom to God and the Father, when He shall
abrogate all government and all authority and power. For He must reign
till He has placed all enemies under His feet. Even death, the
last enemy, will be rendered powerless.
(1 Cor. 3: 24, 28.) - Seven
Dispensations, pp. 550-552.
This last quotation contains the
announcement of the full and final consummation of the work of Christ - of His
long seeking, crowned with His finding, and saving the lost, and His bringing
back and restoring a lost and ruined world, symbolized by the lost sheep, to
God, even the Father. There will indeed
be greater joy in heaven over this one world saved than over all the countless
worlds that never needed deliverance.
Their inhabitants will be summoned to rejoice over the consummated work
of Christ when the Son shall return it to the Father.*
* I refer the reader
to The Seven Dispensations, last chapter, for the full development of this earth the home and heaven of the redeemed.
The lofty peerage of the
heavens, with all their mighty principalities and powers and dominions, will [Page 91] be
assembled in their most resplendent holiday pageantry to celebrate and make
forever illustrious this grand and most glorious event of all the eternities
past. Surely the returning Shepherd,
with His precious treasure found - a world redeemed and saved - will be hailed
with loftier songs and louder shouts of joy than those which once shook the
universe and caused the heaven of heavens to vibrate with thrills of ecstasy
when the morning stars first sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy over
its creation.
Surely this parable, in this
extended sense, should encourage and inspire every Christians heart. This world is not always to be left under the
power of the evil one. A most glorious
destiny awaits it. It is to be emancipated
and disenthralled, and made the most glorious orb of all the countless worlds - the palatial mansion of the Lambs wife, His redeemed saints.
* *
*
[Page 92]
CHAPTER 7
THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN
COMPANION to and spoken in connection with the last is
the Parable of THE LOST
COIN.
PARABLE
Either
what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth
not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath
found it, she calleth her friends and her
neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have
found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I
say unto you, there is joy in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. - Luke 15: 8-10.
This parable is generally
preached as illustrating one of two things:
1. That the lost coin represents
a lost soul - i.e. a sinner awakened
to the fact that his soul is lost, and that no efforts should be spared by him
to find it, and thus secure
its salvation - that he
should seek and seek, and never give over the search until he finds it.
There is at least one
insuperable difficulty opposed to this interpretation. The woman would symbolize the sinner, dead in
trespasses and in sin, discovering that he has lost his soul, and, awakening to
a sense of his loss, setting about to recover it by his own efforts and labour;
and that at last, by his own unaided efforts (for the woman had no aid), he
does find it - [Page 93] secures its
salvation. The reader can see that there
is no Christly Saviour in all this - no grace - no help from above or without
himself, but it is all works. It
is not in harmony with the other teachings of the Scriptures. They everywhere represent that it is Christ
who seeks after the lost sinner, and not the lost sinner after Christ. See the preceding Parable of the Lost
Sheep. It was the shepherd who sought
after the sheep, and not the sheep after the shepherd. He himself says:
The Son
of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. - Luke 19: 10.
2. The second sense in which it
is so often preached is, that the woman who lost her valuable coin represents a
Christian who has lost his hope of salvation - has
fallen from grace; and, of course, unless he finds it, he is forever lost. The efforts of the woman to find her coin
illustrates the diligent and persistent efforts the awakened apostate should
make in recovering his hope, in becoming renewed again to repentance and
spiritual life and hope. The rejoicing
falls in naturally.
I can not accept this
interpretation for two good and sufficient reasons:
1. It is evidently out of harmony with the teachings of the
other parables spoken at the same time; and we can not think that Christ
intended to teach any such doctrine here.
It manifestly contradicts the other teachings of Christ* and His apostles. This [Page 94]
interpretation represents the Christian as intrusted with the keeping of his
own souls salvation - of his Christian hope, and that he may lose it, and,
indeed, is in constant danger of losing it; and that, having lost it (the grace
of salvation), he may, by his own diligent and persistent efforts, find and
recover it again, which is contrary to the teachings of Christ and His apostles
elsewhere.
* The so often quoted promise, Seek and
ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto
you, was addressed to His disciples to encourage them to pray, and has
no application to sinners dead in sin. The
sinner, convicted of sin, and deeply sorrowing for sin, and weary of sin, is invited to come to Christ for rest.
The Christian is not intrusted
with the keeping of his own souls salvation, but this is and can be the work
of an Almighty One only:
The Lord loveth judgment, and
forsaketh not His saints; they are PRESERVED FOREVER. - Psalms 37: 28.
And not only are they themselves
preserved from falling, but their inheritance of life and glory eternal reserved for them in heaven:
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy. - Jude 24.
Now, if
Christ alone is able to keep His children from falling and perishing, will He
not do it?
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1: 3-5.
It is
said by those who teach apostasy that it is [Page 95] through faith - the Christians faith -
that he is kept; but that if this fails in the day of severe trial, as it may, he is lost. But will his faith ever perish and fail him
however severely tried, even as though by fire?
Peters faith did not fail him, for Christ had prayed for him that it should
not fail; and, in like manner, Christ prays for
every one of His tempted and sorely tried saints. Peters faith did not keep him from sin, but
it did keep him from final apostasy. And
now hear him strengthen his brethren, as Christ commanded him, after he was converted from his self-trust -
Arminianism:
Who are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready
to be revealed in the last time; wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 1:
5-7.
Pure gold can not be destroyed
or lessened in value by exposure to the fiercest fire, but is only purified by
it; and so it is with the Christians faith.
Again, the interpretation I
oppose takes it for granted that the Christian must keep his hope of salvation,
while the Scriptures teach that it is the Christians hope that keeps him:
Which hope we have as anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth to that within the vail. - Heb. 7: 19.
While I might continue these objections
to the Arminian interpretation, I will notice but one more, which must to every
candid Christian mind be a [Page 96] conclusive one. It
assumes not only that a Christian - a truly regenerated man - can so fall away
and apostatize as to lose his regeneration and Christian hope, but that
he may renew himself again, or be renewed again, to repentance, and be
regenerated and saved, which doctrine is in palpable contradiction to the
express declaration of Gods word. Paul says
if these might, could or should fall
away - i.e. fall from the grace of regeneration
- it is impossible to renew them
again to repentance. (Heb. 6: 6.)
There
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a
certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. - Heb. 10: 26, 27.
For
these and many other reasons, I can not accept either of the above
interpretations.
THE EXPOSITION
The superficial sense clearly illustrated the natural anxiety of
a Judean woman to recover a coin lost from her head-dress, and, therefore, the
unreasonableness of the murmuring of the Pharisees because He would save a lost
sinner, who, though a publican, was of
so much greater value in the eyes of God.
But may it not, like the Parable
of the Lost Sheep, have a deeper and more comprehensive signification? That the reader may the more clearly see
this, they should know how highly this piece of coin might have been valued by
the woman, and how great the loss to her. And this we have in the remarks of an Eastern
traveller that no commentator that I have seen alludes to. He says:
The
women of
Had Aaron lost but one of the least valuable stones
from his breastplate, the breastplate itself would have been marred and rendered
useless, and the value of that one gem was that of the breastplate. So it was not the essential value of that one
piece of silver which gave that woman anxiety, but it was the value of the
beautiful head-dress itself, while its loss would be a reflection upon her
carefulness, etc. And so, in the
possible broader and higher sense, the loss of one [Page 98] of the bright worlds that make resplendent
the crown of Gods declarative glory would not only mar the beauty and dim the
lustre of that crown, but be a continual reflection upon the all-wisdom and
all-power of the Creator himself.
The woman in this parable
represents the same person the good shepherd did in the former one, and I can
but think that in its higher sense is intended to illustrate the persistent
anxiety and unremitting diligence of Christ in seeking to find and recover a lost world.
The prophecy of the parable,
then, is that His redemptive work will not for one moment cease until this
world, this physical earth, once so
bright and beautiful, like that lost coin, though all blurred and tarnished now
it be, but still bearing the image and superscription of its divine Maker and
Owner, is found and cleansed, refurnished and reset in more than its pristine
resplendency in that diadem which shall ultimately encircle the brow of the
worlds Redeemer.
* * *
[Page 99]
CHAPTER 8
THE COST
OF THE
WORLDS
REDEMPTION
IN the
Parable of the Tares we learn how sin was first introduced into the world and its
disastrous effects; in the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, the
diligent seeking and searching on the part of the shepherd in the one case, and
the woman in the other, to find and regain that which was lost. From the two I now propose to examine in
their order, we learn what the redemption of the world, under the figure of a
hid treasure and a pearl of great price, cost the worlds Redeemer.
THE
TREASURE HID IN A FIELD
PARABLE
Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a
field, the which when a man hath found he hideth,
and for joy, thereof
goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
that field. - Matt. 13: 44.
The principal symbols of this parable are:
1. The field.
2 The
hid treasure.
3. The finder
and buyer.
As
generally preached and interpreted by commentators, the man is made to
represent a sinner seeking religion or a hope
of salvation, which, when he [Page 100] finds, or where and when it may be obtained, gladly goes and sells all he has, and
exchanges it for the inestimable treasure of eternal life and glory. (See
Scott, and others.)
This
hidden treasure represents the
invaluable blessings of the gospel, and these are contained in the Scriptures. - Scott.
To this generally received
theory of interpretation 1 oppose insuperable objections:
1. It makes the field the Scriptures, when Christ
declares the field is the world.
2. It teaches that salvation can and is to be purchased by the sinner, which is
contrary to and subversive of the teachings of Christ and His apostles
throughout the Scriptures. I understand
the field to represent this world (see Chapter I.); and that the fact that Christ uses the
term field in another
parable in the same chapter, and explains it to mean this world, I think should determine what He designed it to mean in this. It is, I think, safe to say, in interpreting
the parables representing the kingdom of heaven, that each of these
parables must harmonize with all, and all with each, for in each there are
things in common, inasmuch as they are like
unto the kingdom of heaven, and if like unto the same thing
they must, in one or two respects, be like unto each other.
It is a well-known rule of
interpretation that figures must not be made to go
on all fours, i.e. force a
meaning on every part - upon the mere accidents - of the parable, but only the
most important features are representative.
The field in this parable is an important feature, and must mean
something, and I can [Page 101] refer it to nothing else to make sense; and it does not only
make sense, but harmonizes with the teachings of Christ to understand it of this world. That the people of God, the seed of Abraham, are the
treasures hid in this field, is amply sustained by the teachings of the Word.
The saints are called the riches
of the glory of Christs inheritance. (Eph.
1: 18.) They are a peculiar
treasure to Him:
For the
Lord has chosen Jacob unto Himself, and
The
people of God are expressly designated as His hidden ones.
The universal exposition of this
text makes [eternal] salvation
the treasure which, upon the sinner finding, he gives and exchanges all he has,
and adds a life of righteousness to obtain it.
If this were so, then [this] salvation can be purchased by the sinners
works and righteousness.
The travail of the Saviours soul was
contained in the world, hidden to the eyes of men and angels, and known or
found by Christ himself, (Isaiah 52.) He had hid their names in His own breast from
all, though it may be considered an accidental feature of the parable.
3. Christ was the purchaser
of the field.
He purchased the world and the
treasure He discovered in it by the stipulations of the covenant of redemption.
He purchased the earth and His people by His own blood. The Father, in that covenant, made over to His
Son this earth as His purchased possession:
[Page 102]
Ask of
Me and I shall give the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thine inheritance. - Psalms 2:
8.
Remember
thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which
thou hast redeemed. - Psalms 74: 2.
Paul refers (Eph. 1: 14) to both the earth and the saints as the
purchased possession of Christ.
4. Christ paid a great price for His treasure - His people.
He surrendered the throne of
heaven, gave up the glory He had with the Father, the adoration of angels, and
emptied himself, so that He might become incarnated in our flesh, and Brother to our souls become.
He condescended to become a
servant and debtor to the law, that He might become our substitute. He paid a life of privation and disgrace,
suffered the contradiction of sinners against Himself, and finally laid down
His own life, paid the infinite claims that eternal justice demanded for the
redemption of His people, and it was no less than the price of His own blood.
Thus it may be truly said of
Christ, He sold all He had and gave it for
that field. What more could He
have given than He did give? For our sakes He became poor. He is throughout the Scriptures
represented as the Purchaser, the Buyer, the Redeemer, of His people, and they are represented as the purchased, the bought, the redeemed:
The
For ye are bought with a price.
[Page 103]
Even
denying the Lord who bought them.
Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us.
And
surely it was with great price - all
that He had:
Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood
of Christ. - 1 Peter 1: 18.
It is a deep mystery, yet a
great fact, that an usurper has still possession of the field as tenant at will; but we find a glorious fact
against this mystery, that the usurper will one day be bound hand and foot and
cast out, and that Christ, the Purchaser, will take possession of His own field, and bring to light the hid treasure it contains.
Christ will never regret the
purchase of this field, nor will He be disappointed in the treasure it
contains:
He shall see the travail of His soul, and he satisfied. - Isaiah.
* * *
[Page 104]
CHAPTER 9
THE
AGAIN, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one
pearl of great price, went and sold all that he
had, and bought it.* - Matt. 13: 45, 46.
* Pliny tells us that Cleopatras two famous
pearls were valued at about four hundred thousand dollars of our money, and the
purchasing power of money was then ten or fifteen times as great as now.-
Bruce.
This parable was designed to
inculcate the same great truths that were taught in the parable interpreted in
the last chapter, but in language to attract and impress another and a large
class of His hearers - merchantmen.
We have here the three leading
features of the former parable:
1. The
pearl of vast value.
2. The
buyer.
3. The price
paid.
1. The pearl of great price represents the same object that the
hid treasure did in the preceding parable - the seed, the people, the sheep, contemplated to be saved in the
covenant of redemption. It was in the
light of the provisions of that covenant that the hid treasure and the
pearl were
discovered, found and brought to light.
[Page 105]
2. The merchantman seeking goodly pearls represents the Son of
God, who came to this world to seek and to save
the lost. This
3. For this pearl He did indeed pay a great price. He gave all that He had for it. He became poor that we, through His poverty, might become rich; that we might be brought up from the deep
darkness and filth of sin and polished for His crown, as the pearl from the
deep, dark waters and slime of the ocean to adorn the diadem of a monarch, and
to receive the admiration of all beholders.
4. We see the priceless value of human souls in the estimation
of Jesus.
5. We see what it cost Him to redeem us from the possession of
Satan, and from the curse of the law, and to save us.
6. We see in this the matchless love and compassion of Christ,
so loving us as to be willing to pay such an infinite price for us.
7. We see the infinite
obligations we are
under to Him for our redemption.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small
-
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
8. We see, in the light of this,
that we are not our own, but are bought with a price; hence arises the obligation
and reasonable duty to honour and serve Him with our bodies and our spirits,
which are His.
9. We see that to interpret this,
as it generally is preached, to
mean that when a sinner, after diligent search, has found salvation, or when it can be
obtained, and the price for which it can be purchased, [the regenerate believer] must go and sell all that he has, and buy
it, is to teach that [Gods initial and eternal] salvation is a marketable commodity - [which] can and is to be purchased with what the [regenerate] sinner
has or can command by his own
sacrifices, or by works of
righteousness which his own hands can do, which doctrine is contrary to all
the teachings of the Word of God.
Nothing either great or small
Remains for me to do;
Jesus died and paid it all -
Yes, all the debt I owe.
When He, from His lofty throne,
Stooped down to do and die,
Everything was fully done -
Yes, finished was the cry.
Weary, working, plodding one,
Oh, wherefore toil you so?
Cease your doing - all was done -
Yes, ages long ago.
Till to Jesus work you cling
Alone by simple faith,
Doing is a deadly thing -
All doing wnds in death.
Cast your deadly doing down
Down all at Jesus feet;
Stand in Him - in Him alone -
All glorious and complete.
[Page 107]
PARABLES UNFOLDING
THE
MYSTERIES
OF
THE
Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
THE MYSTERIES CONSIST OF TWO
FACTS:
1. That
the Gentiles were to share in the salvation of the gospel on equal terms with
the Jews.
2. That
as a nation the Jews were to be rejected, because of their rejection of Christ,
until
the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in.
PARABLES
1. THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
2. THE TWO SONS.
3. THE ELDER AND YOUNGER BROTHERS.
4. THE LABORERS AND THE HOURS.
5. THE GREAT SUPPER.
6. THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN.
7. THE BARREN FIG TREE.
8. THE CURSED AND WITHERED
FIG TREE.
[Page 108 blank. Page 109]
CHAPTER 10
EXPOSITION
OF THE PARABLE OF THE
GOOD SHEPHERD
BY
REV. C. C. Mc DANIEL.
-------
BY REQUEST OF THE AUTHOR
IN the treatment of this parable, which the Saviour spoke to the
Pharisees, we feel that what we shall write will be original, for we have not
been able in our research to find anything that has been written upon it
showing that it is a parable. We might
say it is a neglected parable. Here it
is (John, tenth
chapter):
PARABLE
(1) Indeed,
I truly say to you, he
who enters not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up another way, he
is a thief and a robber; (2) but
he who comes in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) The door-keeper (porter) opens to him: and the sheep hear his voice;
and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he puts forth his own (sheep), he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because
they know his voice. (5) But a stranger they
will not follow, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers. (6) This parable spoke Jesus to them, but
they knew not what things they were which he spoke to them.
The fifth verse closes that part of the parable which alludes to the fold in which
the shepherd had sheep [Page 110] shut up, into which the shepherd must enter by the door, in order to call
them by name and lead them out.
1. The
fold.
2. The
door.
3. The
shepherd.
4. The
door-keeper. (Porter.)
5. The sheep
called and led out.
6. Other
sheep.
7. Going
in and out.
1. The fold, in the first verse, represents the house of
The God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, by His promises to them, His leadings of their posterity through the
wilderness and establishment of them in the Land of Promise, and His choice of
them as His own peculiar nation, and His preservation of them in all their
vicissitudes, had made them as a flock of sheep enclosed. They were indeed said to be His flock. They had been enclosed by His law from all
other people, because they were entrusted with the
oracles of God. Their government was a
theocracy. Their form of worship was
God-given, and proclaimed by its types the Mighty One of Jacob, the Stone of
Israels faith, the true Shepherd, who would bless them with the blessings of the heavens above. Their prophets built their faith on this
foundation, and, guided by the [Holy] Spirit, foretold His coming.
And thousands of this chosen
nation in all the centuries before His advent saw Him by faith, and adored Him,
as the true Shepherd, and were led by Him.
Such [Page 111] were the true
But as the day approached when
the Shepherd of Israel should appear, there was a decline. The prophets were all dead. The teachers in
Into this fold the Good Shepherd
must enter to call out His sheep who were hungering
and thirsting after righteousness, but could not be filled,
because there was no pasture for the soul in the cold ritual of the Judaistic
fold.
To enter this fold as the Chief Shepherd,
to call and lead out the sheep into a good pasture, He must enter by the door
into the fold.
2. The door. What is it?
A false shepherd would be known
at once by failing to come in at the door.
There was but one door through which Christ, the Good Shepherd, could [Page 112] come,
and that was the door of fulfilment, or all
righteousness. He was to come saying,
Lo, I come to do
Thy will, O God, as
it is written in the volume of the book concerning me. He must come in
the days of these kings - the Caesars. He must be born of a Jewish virgin. He must come before the septre departs from
By consulting, also, John 1: 31-33, we find all this was the will of the
Father. He [Jesus] said: I came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil.
When He was manifested to
The rich and haughty scribes and
Pharisees, with all the rulers, had fleeced and starved the sheep to that
extent that they were poor indeed, and so burdened and harassed by oppression
that they were broken-hearted, and, like prisoners shut up
in the dark prison-house, so the true Israel were longing and desiring to be
freed, and to enjoy the light and liberty of the sons of God, which they felt
the coming of Christ, the true
Shepherd, would afford.
[Page 113]
The rulers and teachers of the Judaistic fold had taken away the key of
knowledge, had thrust themselves into Moses seat, set aside the law by him,
and substituted tradition therefor, and, by teaching and example, exalted
ritualism for or instead of faith and spiritual obedience. Hence they were the destroyers, thieves and robbers, who had over-riden the law - climbed over, instead of fulfilling, the
requirements of the law. The time had
come when the Shepherd should be made manifest to
3. The Shepherd is Christ.
He had a legal right to be such.
In the covenant of grace, the Father gave them unto Him for and in
consideration of the redemptive price which His Son was to and did pay for
them. He had the right to call and lead
the sheep as His own. He had a right to
enclose all His sheep within His own enclosure or fold. This He did, as we will subsequently show.
4. The porter, or door-keeper, is pre-eminently the Holy
Spirit.
Christ
was begotten by the Spirit. John the
Baptist was begotten by an earthly father, but filled with the Spirit from his
mothers womb. He was sent to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He preached repentance and faith
in Him who was to
be manifested. He said he did not know Him. He only knew of Him. It was the duty of the porter to keep the
door, and open the door to the Shepherd when He came for the sheep, hence must
know the Shepherd. John was only one of
the sheep in the fold, who proclaimed to his fellows, by the aid of the [Holy] Spirit,
or porter, that the Shepherd was about to appear in their midst, to call and
lead them out. And [Page 114] the [Holy] Spirit
regenerated the hearts of all those who believed on Him by Johns preaching.
All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out. (John 6: 37. Also see thirty-ninth verse. This giving
is the opening of the door to Him.
5. The sheep are those who hear His voice and follow Him, as
Matthew did.
6. Other sheep from another fold are those from among the
Gentiles. He
came to His own, and as many as received Him, believed on Him, were
denominated the sons of God. These were those He led out from the Jewish
fold. Again it is written: It shall come to pass that in the place where it is
said unto them, ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, ye are
the sons of the living God. (Hos. 1: 10.)
These are those from the Gentile fold.
Thus the Good Shepherd leads both Jews and Gentiles alike out of their
respective folds into one new flock. In
entering this flock they pass through the door Christ; for He says in the ninth verse, I am the door. These are all fenced by one law, the law of
Christ, and hence are said to be one fold.
In this dispensation the visible
Any person who claims to be of
Christs flock who [Page 115] has not come in by the door is not of the flock. They will not hear His voice, nor do they
permit Him to lead them. They are, if in
an organized capacity, the synagogue of Satan.
7. Go in and out and find pasture. This may refer to those of the flock who have
been fenced by Christs law, and, by disobedience, broken out of the fold, been
excluded from the church, yet, if sheep, will find pasturage, divine
sustenance, and, after having been chastised for awhile, are brought back to
the fold again. It may also allude to
going out of the flock here on earth by death, yet his soul shall find
pasturage, divine sustenance in life, unto the resurrection. Then shall all such hear His voice, and come
forth, and be led by the Good Shepherd into the fold, or city, which has
everlasting foundations, whose maker and builder is God.
There they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more,
neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Rev. 7: 16, 17.) Even so come,
Lord Jesus. Amen.
* *
*
[Page
116]
CHAPTER
11
THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS
I PLACE the
Parable of The Two Sons before that of The Elder and Younger
Brothers, since the true interpretation of this is a quite
satisfactory exposition of the latter, which seems to follow it in natural
topical order.
PARABLE
But
what think ye? A certain man had two sons;
and he came to the first and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he
repented and went. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and
said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his
father?
They say unto him, The first.
Jesus saith unto them, Verily, I say unto you,
that the publicans and the harlots go into the
This is the briefest of all the
parables of Christ - all of it being condensed into two simple statements with
one correct answer. Brief as it is, it
is a historical-prophetical parable, and has a purely national application. Its primary sense needs no comment to
elucidate it. The Jews, to whom it was
addressed, answered it correctly, [Page 117]
although they had an indefinite impression, as at other times, that they
thereby condemned themselves.
In its deeper and broader
meaning, I think the son who was called, and promised to work, but refused,
represents the Jews as a nation. This
nation, as we have seen, God called His son - His first-born.
God did twice specifically call
His son, [redeemed]
And if
it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose
you this day whom ye will serve; whether the
gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord. And the people
answered and said, God forbid that we should
forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; for the Lord our God, He it
is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and
which did those great signs in our sight, and
preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and
among all the people through whom we passed; and
the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God. - Josh.
24: 15-18.
Let the reader read the whole
chapter.
To both calls
Limiting the vineyard service to
the gospel dispensation, the Jewish nation was specifically called of God, by
John the Baptist and Christ and the apostles, to enter His service; and the
crowds that at first thronged the Jordan and received baptism at the hands of
John, and the still larger numbers baptized by the seventy evangelists during
their ministry, and the thousands that gladly received the word at Pentecost
and in the second great revival that followed (Acts 4.),
seemed to be the answer of the Jews, We will
go; but still they [Page 118] went not; and for now eighteen hundred years they still
persistently refuse to enter the vineyard.
If any one who reads this knows of one Jewish church in
On the refusal of the Jews to
obey this call, the apostles turned away from them, leaving them in
disobedience to await their sad and awful punishment, and made the call upon
the other son - the Gentiles:
And the
next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw
the multitudes they were filled with envy, and
spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting* life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. - Acts 13: 44-46.
[* NOTE. When the context is one of WORKS, as appears to be the case here, then the word translated everlasting
should be aionian i.e., age-lasting life. Only
those who are redeemed, are called by God to work in His vineyard.]
The cruel treatment they at
first received seemed to be their answer - We will
not go into the vineyard. But
age after age this second son has been repenting, and more and more fully
entering the vineyard of service.
The prophecy of this parable is
the encouraging part of it to all the friends of missions. The son repented and went, from which we know
that the fullness of the Gentiles will be brought in. We also learn that the son who promised and
went not will not enter the vineyard during the continuance of the gospel
dispensation.
THE IMPORTANT FACTS WE LEARN
FROM THIS PARABLE
1. The son that at first refused to go afterwards repented and
went, from which we learn, most encouraging to the friends of missions, that,
despite all the [Page 119] opposition and discouraging obstacles, nevertheless the fullness
of the Gentiles will be brought into the service of God.
2. That the Jews are not, in any considerable number, to be
converted to Christianity by the preaching of the gospel, or by any human
means, during this present dispensation or before Christ comes. The first called, they will be the last to
accept of Christ as their Saviour and Redeemer; but then not by missionary
effort, but, as Paul was, by a personal appearing of Christ. Paul declares, with respect to himself, that
he was one born out of due time - a premature birth - born before the rest of
his nation, and yet in the same way as his nation, that is to be born in a day
- i.e. by the personal appearing of
Christ at His second advent.
3. We learn that the Jews, as a race or people, will not be
converted, or accept Christ as their Saviour and Redeemer, until after Christs
Second Advent. Until then the elder
brother (see Parable of the Prodigal Son) will remain without, and this son,
referring to the same nation, will refuse to come in.
[4. NOTE. When ones repentance for entrance into the Kingdom is an absolute necessity, then it is always
the Messiahs
* * *
[Page 120]
CHAPTERR 12
THE
ELDER AND YOUNGER BROTHERS
THE Saviour
closed His rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees, who murmured because He
received sinners and ate with them, with this
parable. It is introductory to His
teachings concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven - i.e. that the Gentiles are to be made
fellow-heirs with the Jews in all the privileges and blessings of the gospel
dispensation, and their final restoration to their forfeited heirship in the kingdom of Gods dear Son.
PARABLE
And He
said, A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion
of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days
after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent
all, there arose a mighty famine in that land,
and he began to be in want. And he went and joined
himself to a citizen of that country; and he
sent him into the fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with
the husks that the swine did eat; and no man
gave unto him.
And when he came to himself he said, How
many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came
to his father.
But when he was yet a great way off his father saw him, and had [Page 121] compassion, and ran and fell on his neck,
and kissed him. And
the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy fight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said
to his servants, Bring forth the best robe and
put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and
shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted
calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry:
for this my son was
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was
in the field; and as he came and drew nigh to
the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of
the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him,
Thy brother is
come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his
father out and entreated him. And he answering, said to his father, Lo these
many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed
I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou
never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends; but as soon as this thy son was come which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hast killed for him
the fatted calf.
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and
all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be
glad; for this thy brother was dead and
is alive again, * and was lost and is
found. - Luke 15: 11-32.
[* NOTE. This is a parable teaching RESTORATION: it is not one of REGENERATION as it is commonly believed to be! See Rev. 3: 1-3, R.V. ]
The principal features to be interpreted
in this parable are:
1. The
elder brother.
2. The
younger son.
3. His
voluntary alienation and self-banishment from
4. His
reckless prodigality.
5. The
utter degradation and ruin to which he brought him.
6. His
reflections and resolution.
7. His
return and reception by his father and the servants.
8. The
unbrotherly conduct of the elder brother.
[Page 122]
The superficial sense or
application of this parable, which the Jews seeing could see, and hearing could hear, was that a son, however un-filial, and even though ruined by his own extreme sinfulness,
was still a son, and
dear to his father; and his recovery should be sought and considered just cause
of rejoicing; and from this fact they could see that a son of Abraham, though
deep sunk in sin and degradation, as they regarded the
publicans and sinners of
their own nation to be, were still the objects of Gods compassionate love, and
should not be despised by them; and that even Roman publicans, being members of the human family and Gods creatures, were not altogether beyond His
compassionate and loving favour, and, should they turn unto Him, they would be
accepted. This lesson, notwithstanding
the obdurate prejudices that blinded their eyes and deafened their ears, they
could see,
although its deeper and broader sense they could neither perceive nor understand.
The general interpretations are
two:
1. That by this younger and prodigal son Christ intended to
represent the sinner of that and of every age, who,
instigated by his own innate depravity of heart, alienates himself from God by
his own wickedness and plunges himself into utter degradation, at length,
convicted of his own extreme sinfulness, and fully awakened to a sense of his
utter ruin, arises and returns to the God from whom he had departed.
His being seen by his father a
long way off, and being met, pardoned and received as a son by his father,
indeed most beautifully and touchingly represents the freeness of Gods love
and His abounding grace extended to every penitent sinner who seeks His [Page 123] face and
favour; and the joy of the servant falls in very naturally.
This interpretation appears
complete so long as the elder
brother and his conduct
are wholly ignored, and he certainly is quite as important a personage in the
parable as the younger son.* But so
soon as the question is asked, whom does the elder brother represent?
insuperable difficulties arise, two or three of which only I notice here.
* This parable is generally
spoken of as The Parable of the Prodigal Son,
as though the younger son is the main or only feature in the narrative. This is misleading. I have denominated it as The Parable of the
Elder and Younger Brothers, which introduces the brothers as
equally important persons.
If the younger son represents sinners, the elder brother, who was ever with the father, certainly
represents Christians. But
who ever heard of Christians becoming offended because God extended His
pardoning grace and love to a poor, self-ruined sinner, and refusing to rejoice
over the conversion of the most wicked prodigal, and refuse to own him as a
fellow-heir with Gods children? But
then these Christians were not always with the Father as sons, but were each of
them once the children of wrath, even as others. Again, this prodigal, as Major Whittle, the
great revivalist, expressed it, was not so much influenced to return through
unfeigned repentance as by an empty stomach and a longing for the abundance of
food which his fathers servants enjoyed, and one of which he was willing to
be, so that his appetite might be satisfied.
Still another difficulty: The
prodigal son in the midst of his wanton riotings, and even [Page 124] while
in filth and rags he was feeding the swine as he was before he left his
fathers house which can in no sense be predicated of an unregenerate sinner.
This so plausible and universal interpretation breaks down
under the weight of any one of these difficulties,
and the
-
Second interpretation is at once
resorted to, and certainly with but little examination: viz., that the prodigal son is
intended to represent a backslidden
Christian - a son of God by
regeneration, who, awakened from his self-alienated and degraded condition,
arises and turns himself to
Seek an injured Fathers face,
and a place, at least, among the
servants in his Fathers house and at his Fathers table. All the parts of the parable fall in
naturally and beautifully with this theory until the question again arises,
Whom does the elder brother represent who is so offended by the return and
reinstatement of his younger brother in the family, and refuses to recognize
him as a brother or take any part in the rejoicing? He certainly can not represent Christians;
for who ever heard of old church-members -
Christians - becoming offended at the reclamation of a backslidden
brother, or refusing to rejoice with exceeding great joy, when such an one,
however far he may have wandered from his God and from duty, returned with
every manifestation of godly sorrow and humble penitence of heart, and
confessed all his sin? Who, I say, ever
heard of Christians becoming offended at the return of such a prodigal son, and refusing to rejoice over him,
and opposing his being reinstated as a son and heir among them? [Page 125] They
universally rejoice with exceeding
great joy. This interpretation, like the
former one, although so long accepted as true, must be abandoned as untenable.
The question then arises, What, then, is the fuller and deeper meaning of this
parable, which those scribes and Pharisees to whom it was addressed did not
fully perceive or understand?
With our pass-key in hand - viz., that this, as many of the other parables, contains
the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, that is,
that the Gentiles are to be made fellow-heirs with the Jews in the full
enjoyment of the blessings of the [millennial] kingdom of Christ we
boldly approach to open the door of the deeper, fuller meaning.
The elder son unquestionably
represents the Jewish nation. Of this we
need be in no doubt with Gods word before us.
God expressly said to Moses, Thou
shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord,
This elder brother
The Gentiles were of a common
parentage with the Jews, being the descendants of Noah, and originally [Page 126] members of the same family, and participants
of the same blessing - the true knowledge of God. But they sadly and voluntarily departed from
God, and the extreme depth of sinfulness and moral degradation into which they
fell can be learned from Pauls letter to the Romans (chapter 1: 21-32) :
Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed
beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth
of God into a lie, and worshiped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile
affections: for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature:
and likewise also the men, leaving the natural
use of women, burned in their lust, one toward another; men with
men working that which is unseemly, and
receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those
things which are not convenient; being filled
with unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,
murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without
natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the
judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
The first awakening of the
Gentiles, and the first step of their return, and the first token of Gods loving
favour, was at Caesarea, in the house of Cornelius; and the first note of joy
ever heard in the household over this event was heard in the church at
When
they heard these things they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to
the Gentiles granted repentance unto life*. - Acts 11: 18.
[* NOTE. The life here, is not synonymous with the life in Rom. 6: 23: the
former is based on repentance i.e.,
a turning away from sin unto God (a believers WORKS of righteousness); and the
latter is life received (at the time of
regeneration) as a free GIFT, because of the
WORKS of Another our Lord Jesus Christ.]
From the prophecy of this parable
we learn that the Gentiles are ultimately to come to the light and love of Him
who will be the glory of His people
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. - Isaiah 60: 3.
This returning of this prodigal
son commenced, as I have said, the day the gospel was preached in the house of
Cornelius, and from that day the elder brother has been offended; and as the
feasting and joy have been going on in the family, the elder brother
has been standing without, refusing to come in and refusing to acknowledge the
prodigal as his brother, and even charging the father with lack of equity and
positive injustice in being willing to reinstate the squanderer of his parental
estate and the disgracer of the family name, and he is still standing without, and still the halls of the old mansion are resounding with louder
and still louder shouts of joy over him who was lost but now is found, and
these glad shouts will go on and on, with increasing gladness, until the very fullness of the Gentiles shall have been
brought in.*
[* That is, brought in as first-born
sons of God. See Firstborn
Sons Their Rights and Risks, by G. H. Lang.]
The morning light is breaking;
The darkness disappears;
The sons of earth are waking
To penitential tears:
[Page 128] Each breeze that sweeps the ocean
Brings tidings from afar
Of nations in commotion,
Prepared for
See heathen
nations bending
Before the God we love,
And thousand hearts ascending
In gratitude above;
While sinners, now confessing,
The gospel call obey,
And seek the Saviours blessing -
A nation in a day.
Blest river of salvation,
Pursue thy onward way;
Flow thou to every nation,
Nor in thy richness stay:
Stay not till all the lowly
Triumphant reach their home;
Stay not till all the holy
Proclaim, The Lord is come.
* * *
[Page 129]
CHAPTER 13
THE
LABORERS AND THE HOURS
FOR the kingdom of heaven is like unto
a man that is an householder which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed
with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them
into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market-place, and said unto them, Go ye also
into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I
will give you; and they went their way. Again he went out
about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went
out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why
stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right that shall ye receive. So, when the
even was come the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the
labourers and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came
that were hired about the eleventh hour, they
received every man a penny. But when the first came they supposed that
they should have received more; and they
likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it they murmured against
the good man of the house, saying, These last have
wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them
equal unto us which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of
them and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst not
thou agree with me for a penny? Take that is thine and go thy way: I will give unto this last even as unto you. Is it not lawful for
me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be
first and the first last; for many be called but
few chosen. - Matt. 20: 1-16.
[Page 130]
This parable is generally
interpreted from the pulpit as applicable to individuals, the unemployed
labourers representing sinners only, and the vineyard the service of God in
connection with His church; those who entered early in the morning representing
persons brought in in early youth, and the penny
received for their labour, salvation; those who were hired at the third, sixth
and ninth hours representing those brought in along later in life; while those
hired at the eleventh hour represent old sinners of sixty, seventy or eighty
years. Who is not familiar with the
expressions that such and such a person was brought
in at the eleventh hour, and he was an eleventh-hour sinner? Those who claimed to have borne the burden
and heat of the day, according to this theory, are then the old fathers and
mothers in the churches.
There are insuperable
difficulties opposing this interpretation:
1. The excuse of these labourers for standing all the day idle
in the market-place can in no sense be rendered by sinners. These labourers wished to work, and went, as
it was then and is still the custom in Oriental lands, to the usual place where
day labourers went to be hired, and patiently waited for an offer. Why all did not go to work in the morning was
because no man came to hire them, and not because they refused to work. Can the sinner of thirty, forty, or fifty, or
any old grey-headed sinner of seventy or eighty, in gospel lands, plead this excuse
for refusing to enter the Masters service - because no man has hired, or
offered to hire? Have not all sinners,
from their earliest youth, heard the gospel offer, and been repeatedly pressed
to enter the Masters vineyard? But,
instead of [Page 131] cheerfully and promptly accepting it, as did these labourers
the offer of work, have they not persistently rejected the proffer of
salvation, and refused to enter the service of God?
2. Then who ever heard of the old brethren and sisters of a
church becoming angry with and murmuring against God, and charging Him with
injustice, when they see an old
sinner of
eighty converted, and rejoicing with as great joy as they themselves ever
experienced in the hope of salvation? No
one ever heard of such an occurrence, and no one ever will. The oldest members always rejoice over such
an one with joy even exceeding that which they express when a
young person of ten or fifteen years enters the service.
3. This interpretation is Arminian throughout. Salvation is not the offered reward for work
in Gods service; and we dismiss it, trusting no Baptist minister will ever
again preach or exhort it in his ministrations, or Baptist Sunday-school
teacher so teach it to his class.
Salvation is the gift of God through His all-abounding grace in Christ
Jesus, and not of works, lest any one should boast. But the Master will reward every servant according
to his works. And
so faithful is He in this that no one can give a cup of cold water to one of
His disciples, in the name of a disciple, and lose his reward.
In the parable of the supper the
king made on the marriage of his son, we saw that those who were first bidden, who were undoubtedly the Jews, were
accounted unworthy because of their treatment of the kings invitation, and of
his servants who bore it; and that he sent his servants forthwith out into the
highways and hedges to persuade all they found to come [Page 132] in, and
to pursue this course until his wedding should be fully furnished with guests.
The last bidden I interpret as referring to the Gentiles. This prophetical parable of the labourers I
understand as referring to the self-same two classes of people - the Jews and
Gentiles - but more especially illustrating the fact that the Gentile nations
would be, as they have been, called at different periods in the gospel
dispensation.
Those who were first called, and
entered, represent the Jews, to whom the gospel was first preached. They (a portion of them) did answer its call,
and entered the Masters service. They
were the first to hear it, and were the first to answer its call. The first church that was formed was composed
entirely of Jews. Paul alludes to this
when he says: If the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if
the root be holy, so are
the branches. (Rom. 11: 16.)
The hiring of the labourers at
different hours of the day represents the calling of the Gentile nations at
different periods in the gospel dispensation.
The Gentile nations are well represented as standing ready to hear the
gospel call; and they have been hearing and accepting it all through the gospel
age, and been received into the Masters service; and it is true that some have
been waiting all the day long uncalled.
How true is it that
From the prophecy of this
parable we learn that the last one of the
waiting nations will be visited by the [Page 133] missionaries of the cross, and that
representatives of all
nations will ultimately be found engaged in the Masters
service. The blessings granted to one
nation will be the same as those bestowed upon the others, irrespective of the
earliness or lateness of the hour in which they embraced them.
It is true also that the Jews,
as a people, always claimed superiority over their Gentile brethren, and to be
deserving of superior consideration; but how true is it that the first called
are to-day last, and the last first, in the service of the Master!
* *
*
[Page134]
CHAPTER 14
THE
PARABLE OF THE GREAT SUPPER
THAT I may
more forcibly impress my readers with my conviction that in all the principal
parables, beyond their apparent meaning and application, are taught the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven - viz., that the Gentiles are to be brought
into the full enjoyment of the blessings of the gospel kingdom as well as the
Jews - I present here several additional ones, which none will deny as having,
in their deeper meaning, reference to Gods intended dealing with the Jews and
Gentiles. One parable rightly
interpreted throws a flood of light upon others.
I present first the Parable of
the Great Supper, as related by Luke:
Then said He unto him, A
certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were
bidden, Come; for
all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make
excuse.
The first said unto him, I have bought a
piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee have rue excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray
thee have me excused. And another said, I have married me a wife, and
therefore I can not come. So that servant came and shewed his lord
these things. Then the master of the house being angry said
to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the
poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
And the servant
said, Lord, it is
done [Page 135] as thou hast commanded,
and yet there is room. And the lord said unto his servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in,
that my house may he filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper. - Luke 14: 16-24.
Also the
same parable as given in its more extended form by Matthew:
And
Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a
marriage for his son, and sent forth his
servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent
forth another servant, saying, Tell them which
are bidden, Behold I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come
unto the marriage. But they made light of
it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to
his merchandise: and the remnant took his
servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof he was wroth:
and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Then saith he to his
servants, The wedding is ready, but they which
were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into
the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants
went out into the highways, and gathered
together all as many as they found, both bad and
good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king
came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment; and he saith unto him, Friend,
how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding
garment?
And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and
take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. - Matt. 22: 1-14.
If not the same parable, it is
certain that a correct interpretation of the one given by Matthew will fully
interpret the briefer one recorded by Luke.
[Page 136]
EXPOSITION
The great supper and marriage
feast represent the [Millennial]
It will be remembered that
during the entire ministry of Christ the invitation to the great supper was
confined [at that time]
to the Jews only by special command of Christ:
These
twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go
not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any
city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of
The Jews were undoubtedly those
who were first bidden. But after His
resurrection Christ commanded His heralds to go into all the world, and
make the offer of salvation to every rational creature, however high and good,
and however degraded, low, mean and vile in the worlds estimation, and, by all
the [Page 137]
persuasive power and drawing influences of Gods love, influence (morally
compel) them to come in and enjoy the gracious feast, and so honour the
King. And this commission the servants
have been doing from the day that Peter gave the invitation to the Roman nation
in the house of Cornelius. And to-day
the devoted missionaries of the cross are stepping upon the shores of every
known nation of earth to bid the poor, the lowly and the lost to come; and the
prophecy of the parable will be fulfilled despite the opposition of the
opposers of missions, who thereby prove themselves the opposers of the will of
the King who has made the marriage
supper for His Son. The
faithful servants of the King will still go out; and they will, by Gods
favouring aid, continue to gather together of all they find, until the fullness
of the Gentiles shall be brought in, and the wedding, bless God, will be
furnished with guests.
The question Who are represented by the man found by the king among the
guests without a wedding garment? has ever been the most
perplexing one connected with this parable.
That it is not essential to the integrity of this parable, is evident
from the fact that Luke omits it altogether.
That there is a lesson to be learned from it touching the great
doctrines connected with the administration of Christs [coming millennial] kingdom, we equally learn from the fact that it is mentioned
by Matthew. A
knowledge of Eastern customs will help us in the understanding of this
as well as the other parables.
The wealth of individuals, as
well as the riches of kings and princely men, consisted largely of the number
of costly garments possessed by them.
These were [Page 138] not cut to the form and sewed up to fit the person as
garments are made by us, but cloth of the proper width, cut to the proper
length, to wrap in folds gracefully over the shoulders and about the
person. The garment that was suitable
for one person would fit every other one of the same height.
The wealthy possessed these
garments by the hundreds, and kings and princes by the thousands. These were
the hoarded treasures that,
without the greatest care, the moth would consume and render useless.
The presents of kings, and of
the wealthy, usually consisted in part, if not largely, of changes of raiment.
(See 2 Kings 5: 5.) On occasions of princely and kingly feasts,
and especially upon marriage feasts, the guests were presented with a festal or
wedding garment befitting the occasion, and, in richness, the rank of the
guest. In the case under consideration the man had evidently declined to accept
the garment, or had been overlooked through the carelessness of the servants,
and his unadorned person arrested the attention of the king when he came in to
see if the guests were suitably arrayed to go into the supper, so as to do
honour to the occasion. It was because
the wedding garment was provided and freely offered to each guest that he might
do honour to the king and his son, can we see, that the man was speechless when
asked the reason for not having on the wedding garment.
The question then returns, Who were designed to be represented by this man who offered
this indignity to the king, and suffered such condign punishment? We think the same class of persons as those
represented by the children of the kingdom who
were denied the right to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom:
He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath,
to him shall he given,
and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever
hath not, from him shall be taken away even that
he hath. - Matt. 8: 11, 12.
Who are these but the
self-righteous scribes and Pharisees who claimed a right to all the
immunities of the
Who are represented by this man
but those who will at the last day plead their right to enter into the supper
of the Lamb because of the good works they have done in this world in the name
of the Christ?
Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have
cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. - Matt.
7: 21-23.
In a word, then, this wedding
garment is [NOT] the righteousness of Christ with which [ALL] the saints are clothed, and which is given to them: And white robes were given
unto every one of them. (Rev. 6: 11.)*
[* See Rev. 19: 7, 8. cf.
Matt. 5: 20, R.V.]
This wedding garment is the
righteousness which Paul so much desired to possess in that day, and without
which no one will be allowed to enter in to the wedding supper of the Lamb:
And be
found in Him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith. - Phil.
3: 9.*
[* The imputed
righteousness of Christ is common to ALL the regenerate; but for entrance
into Christs coming millennial
kingdom, more than this will required, before the time of the
resurrection, at His Judgment Seat (Heb. 9: 27. cf. Luke 20: 35; Rev. 2: 25, 26; 3: 21) from
those who are justified by faith, as
Paul, in the following
verses 11- 21 makes perfectly clear. SEE NOTE
at end of the Appendix.]
[Page 140]
Bunyan, the peerless allegorist, says this is of the professed Christian, destitute of this righteousness, whom
he names Ignorance - i.e. ignorant of spiritual things:
Now,
while I was gazing upon all these things, I turned my head to look back, and
saw Ignorance come up to the riverside.
But he soon got over, and without half that difficulty which the other
two men met with; for it happened that there was then in that place one
Vainhope, a ferryman, that with his boat helped him over. So he, as the others I saw, did ascend the
hill to come up to the gate, only he came alone; neither did any man meet him
with the least encouragement. When he
was come up to the gate he looked up to the writing that was above, and then
began to knock, supposing that entrance should have been quickly administered
to him; but he was asked by the men that looked over the top of the gate,
Whence came you? and what would you have? He answered, I have ate
and drank in the presence of the King, and he has taught in our streets. Then they asked him for his certificate, that
they might go in and show it to the King; so he fumbled in his bosom for one,
and found none. Then said they, Have you
none? But the man answered never a
word. So they told the King, but he
would not come down to see him, but commanded the two Shining Ones that
conducted Christian and Hopeful to the city to go out and take Ignorance and bind
him hand and foot, and have him away. Then they took him up, and carried him
through the air, to the door that I saw in the side of the hill, and put him in
there. Then I saw that there was a way
to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of
* * *
[Page 141]
PARABLE
OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN
(HISTORICO-PROPHETICAL)
THERE was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and
hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in
it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near,
he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen
took his servants, and beat one and killed
another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he
sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen
saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures,
The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lords doing, and
it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore I say unto you, The
[Page 142]
The interpretation and
application of this parable is
clearly learned from the forty-second and forty-third verses. The only possible
question that can arise is, What institution did
Christ refer to by the phrase the
1. It must be a visible
local institution, or it could
not be visibly removed from one locality to another, or from one nation to
another, and such a removal or change of place be seen to have taken place; otherwise the Jews, nor others, could not have known whether the
prophecy of its removal had ever been fulfilled.
This kingdom, then, could not
have been the ideal conceptional invisible
2. This kingdom can not refer to that peculiar system of
religion known as the Jewish economy, because that was intended for the Jews
only, and never has been, and never will be, transferred to another
nation. Its design has been consummated,
and that economy has been forever abolished from the earth.
3. Nor can it refer to the Jewish commonwealth, called into
existence by the covenant of circumcision God made with Abraham, because that
is an everlasting covenant; and its promised blessings,
and the token and seal of that covenant (circumcision), can never, by the
express declaration of God, be transferred to any other nation or people, save
the natural descendants of Abraham.*
* If it can be supposed that,
in after ages, anything, as water baptism, has been substituted for circumcision, it remains equally true that no other people,
or persons, save the Jews, can receive water baptism.
The kingdom, therefore, which
Christ refers to in this parable must be that kingdom
which Christ, by His prophet Daniel, foretold He himself would set up on this earth in the
days of the kings or emperors of the fourth and last universal empire, which
was the Roman. (Dan. 2:
44.) It must be the kingdom which He sent His
herald, John the Baptist, to proclaim as at hand in the days of Tiberius Caesar (Luke
3: 1), [Page 144] and which Christ himself, in His first
public proclamation, also declared was at hand.
It was a visible and therefore local kingdom, which, according to the word spoken by Daniel, He
came to this earth to set up - an institution that He could remove from one nation to another. A
kingdom is composed of parts constituents - integers. Nebuchadnezzars
kingdom, we learn from Daniel, was constituted of provinces as its parts, or
integers - one hundred and twenty; and these provinces were the only executives of the laws of the kingdom, and were the only visible form of his kingdom. These provinces
were composed of peoples in professed subjection and loyalty to the one supreme
head of that kingdom. This
The most authoritative writers
on ecclesiology indorse this position.
A. P. Williams,
Jesus Christ
has a kingdom on earth, and He has churches.
No one of His churches is His kingdom, but each one is an integral
portion of His kingdom. - Work on Commentaries.
Then it follows that the
aggregate of Christ's true churches constitute His kingdom.
[Page 145]
E. J. Fish, D. R:
The churches
are the executives of the laws of
the kingdom. - Ecclesiology.
H. Harvey,
The
church [i.e. churches] is the visible, earthly form of the
As one province may constitute a
kingdom, and so long as there is but one, that province and kingdom would be
synonymous terms, indicate and refer to the same institution; and as one State
may constitute a republic, so one church could, and did, represent the kingdom
of Christ so long as there was but one body; but when the churches were
multiplied, then the kingdom was no longer represented by one organization, but
by the sum total of all of them.
A
So Christ sent John the Baptist before His face to make ready
a people prepared for Him - the proper [Page 146] materials for a church were to be the nucleus of His kingdom. John prepared these by preaching the doctrine
of repentance towards God, and faith in the Christ to come, and baptizing them
upon this profession, and satisfactory
evidence given him of it.
This people, so prepared, Christ
received, and they constituted this perfect church on earth, and it alone
represented His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, so long
as He had but one church. This was at
first, and during the ministry of Christ, given to and confined to the Jewish
nation only. Its subjects and officers
were Jews only. Its privileges and
honours were offered to Jews only.
As some teach that the kingdom
of heaven was not in existence during Christs ministry, I submit the following
Scriptures demonstratively proving that it was, so that only a mere caviller
will dispute it.
1. Both John and Christ declared
in their first proclamations that the
kingdom of heaven was at hand.*
* In answering a letter we often
say, Your letter of the 1st inst. is at hand. What do we mean?
2. Mark tells us that Johns preaching was the beginning of the
gospel of Christ. (Mark 1: l.)
3. Matthew 11: 12:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence [i.e. is assailed, assaulted or opposed], and the violent take it by force [i.e. seek to destroy it]. An
invisible or non-existing kingdom could neither be assaulted, nor would its
enemies, if it could be conceived to have any, seek to destroy it.
The kingdom of heaven is here (Matt. 11: 12) conceived of as not
simply near, but as in actual existence, [Page 147] and as having begun to exist
with the beginning of Johns ministry. Broadus Commentary in loco.
It was, therefore, a visible,
real kingdom composed of His true
churches.
4. The law and the prophets were until
John; since
that time the kingdom of heaven is preached, and [the correct rendering is] every one [all
men] assault [or
oppose] it.
This rendering agrees with Matt. 11: 12, while the common rendering would contradict
it. The kingdom could not be assaulted
or opposed, and, at the same time, all men so love it as to press into it.*
* We submitted, some years since,
our translations (i.e. Matt. 11: 12; Luke 16: 14) to Prof. J. R. Boise, D. D., LL. D., of Morgan
Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, and this was his reply: Your questions suggest a new and, to my mind, more
satisfactory interpretation of Matt. 11: 12.
1 think the clause may be rendered literally: The kingdom of heaven is treated with [hostile] violence; and violent persons are
trying to ravage it [harposonsin, used de conatu]. This meaning is certainly in keeping with the
classic use of the words, and also with the verses following. Touching
the passage in Luke 16: 14, he says: The
ordinary use of the words does seem to me more naturally to denote the violence of hostile forces - that of the scribes
and Pharisees, which resulted in the crucifixion of our Lord. Nor can I see that this interpretation is
inconsistent with the context, particularly that which follows in Matthew. That eis, with the accusative, may mean against is
unquestionable. Kai pas eis auteen biazetai
(Luke 16:
16) may
certainly, so far as the Greek is concerned, be rendered, Every one is violently opposing it. In this remark our
Lord may have had in mind the rich and powerful - the leaders of society; and
this thought may naturally have suggested the Parable of the Rich Man. (Vs. 19-31). This view of the
verses in question is adopted by Lightfoot, Scheekenberger
and Hilgenfeld.
5. Matthew 21: 31, 32: Verily I say unto you, [Page 148] that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto
you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed
him not; but the publicans and harlots believed
him: and ye, when
ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. And it was by faith and obedience they entered.
They certainly could not enter
the kingdom before it was set up - in existence. But how did those publicans enter the
kingdom? And
the people that heard Him, and the publicans,
justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
But the
Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized
of Him. (Luke 7: 29, 30.)
6. Luke 17: 20, 21: And when He was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of
God should come, He answered them and said,
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo
here! or, lo there! for,
behold, the
The
7. Luke 11: 20:
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils,
no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. Christ did cast out devils by
the finger of God, for He himself was the very God; and who will presume to
doubt that the
THE PROPHECY
Christ foretold that His
kingdom, which was given to the Jews at its first establishment on earth, and
had continued solely with them during the ministry of John, His own and that of
His seventy disciples, should be taken from them. This was literally fulfilled a few years
after His crucifixion, by taking the
gospel of the kingdom from
them and giving it to the Gentiles, and thus transferring His kingdom from them
to the Gentiles: Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold,
and said, It was
necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting [i.e., Gk. aionian or age-lasting] life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
(Acts 13: 46)
When during the ministry of
Christ it belonged to the Jews only, in no sense can the kingdom now be said to
belong to them or any considerable number of them, to be members of His
kingdom; nor am I warranted by Christs
own declaration in believing that the kingdom will in any degree be restored to
them, or they brought into it during this gospel dispensation, and therefore I
do not consider that Gentile Christians are in duty bound to expend their time
and means in preaching the gospel to them.
Mark also the statement of Paul:
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
Let us read a few prophecies as
to the manner of their conversion to Christ.
They, as a people, are again to
see His face in the midst of great affliction:
Ye
shall see me henceforth no more till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matt. 23: 23, 39.
And His
feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst
thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a great valley;
and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward
the south.- Zech. 14: 4.
And I
will pour out upon the house of David,
and upon the inhabitants of
In that
day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the
inhabitants of
Thus those who fall on this
stone in sorrowful penitence are broken to be healed and lifted up, but the
rebellious and impenitent upon whom it falls will be ground to powder. How could the Jews who heard Him fail to
perceive that He spoke of them?
* * *
[Page 151]
CHAPTER 16
PARABLE
OF THE BARREN FIG TREE
HE SPAKE also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon and
found none.
Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig
tree and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year
also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that
thou shalt cut it down. - Luke 13: 6-9.
This parable is generally
interpreted from the pulpit to refer to the probation offered to impenitent sinners
or the fate that awaits the barren Christian.
I can not think that Christ
intended it to be applied to impenitent sinners,
for reasons, viz.:
1. This was not a thistle or a thorn bush, but a fig tree, in
itself a good tree. It needed no change in its nature for it to bear good fruit, as every impenitent sinner does.
2. Nor can I think Christ intended it to be applied to
individual Christians, since He would by it teach that Christians are under the
covenant of works, and their [eternal] salvation depends upon the fruit they bear -
their good works. But Christians are not
under the law, but under grace. With
them it is not do and live; but Christ says to His children, Because I live ye shall
live also. And the inspired
apostle said [Page 152] to Christians in his day: Ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God;
and when He who is your life shall appear, ye shall appear with Him in glory. (Col. 3: 3.)
The Christians [eternal] life is
secured - depends not upon his bearing fruit, much or little - good works - but
upon the existence of Christ, who is his life.
He must therefore live so long as Christ lives.
Nor can it be supposed that a
Christian can live here all his life without bearing some fruit to the glory of
his God. His very existence as an
illustrious example of Gods love and redeeming grace is fruit to the glory of
Gods saving grace; and his very life is an evangel. But that Christian never yet lived, nor ever
will live, who did not or will not bear those richest and most excellent fruits
of the Spirit - faith, hope, love, the spirit of obedience, etc.
Christ says: If ye love me, keep my
commandments; and if any man
love me he will keep my commandments. The spirit of Christ was the spirit of
obedience; and he that hath not the spirit of Christ
is none of His.
Love for the children of God is an inseparable mark of the child of
God, as good works are of the existence of saving faith; for faith without
works is dead - i.e. not a living,
but a dead, false faith.
With these and many other
considerations that might be mentioned, I dismiss the idea that this fig tree
was intended to represent a child of God; and to so teach and preach it is to
make this parable misteach Gods word.
I think Christ referred to the
Jewish nation. God was the planter of
this fig tree. The dresser and
intercessor represents Christ.
[Page 153]
The Jewish nation was, as a vine
or fig tree, brought up out of
God would have been just in the
sight of all His angels had He dealt with the Jews as He did with the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and Nineveh, when they rejected His counsels
against themselves, by rejecting, as they did, the ministry of John the
Baptist; but the Dresser interceded for Gods forbearance for one more year -
yet a little while longer - consenting that if at the end of that time the tree
did not bear fruit it should be cut down without a word of remonstrance. We have a right to conclude that the fig tree
was spared another year. The Jewish
nation was likewise spared, and the gospel preached in all their cities and
villages with the demonstration of the Spirit, in the performance of untold and
most convincing miracles, wrought before their eyes, until they wilfully
rejected it, and crucified Christ himself.
This
parable is fully pre-interpreted by Isaiah:
Now
will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very
fruitful hill; and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants
of
THE CURSED
FIG TREE WITHERED
THE
SENTENCE OF DEATH AGAINST THE JEWISH NATION EXECUTED
We see the prefigured execution
of the sentence of the owner of the vineyard upon the barren fig tree in
Christs treatment of a barren fig tree that mocked His hunger with leaves
only, as He and His disciples were returning one morning from
And
when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it,
and found nothing thereon but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no
fruit grow on thee henceforward forever [Gk. to the age]. And when the disciples saw it they marveled, saying, How
soon is the fig tree withered away! - Matt
21: 19, 20.
[Page 155]
The fate of the Jews and their
proud city,
And
when He was come near He beheld the city, and
wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto thy peace - but now are
they hid from thine eyes! For the days shall come upon thee that thine
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee round, and keep thee in on every
side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee;
and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
- Luke 19: 41-44.
This prophecy was literally
fulfilled in less than forty years afterwards in the complete destruction of
* *
*
[Page 156 blank.
Page 157]
PARABLES
ILLUSTRATING
THE
MATTER AND MANNER
OF
ACCEPTABLE PRAYER
-------
1. THE IMPORTUNATE NEIGHBOUR
2. THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW
3. THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN
4 THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT
[Page 158 blank Page 159]
CHAPTER 17
THE
IMPORTUNATE NEIGHBOUR
WHAT TO
PRAY FOR AND HOW TO PRAY
AND it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a
certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John
also taught his disciples. And He said unto them, When ye pray, say:
Our Father which art
in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
Give us day by
day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into
temptation; but deliver us from evil.
PARABLE
And He
said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a
friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before
him? And he
from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not;
the door is now shut,
and my children are with me in bed; I can not
rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall he opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that
is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an
egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your [Page 160] children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask Him? - Luke 11:
1-13.
I have placed not the parable
only but the whole context before the eyes of the reader for his better understanding
of its true scope.
While Jesus was praying in a
certain place, a little apart from His disciples, and they doubtless looking on
and impressed with His whole manner, and wishing to be instructed as to what to pray for and how to pray acceptably, and
remembering that John taught his disciples to pray, one of them came to Him and
said Lord, teach
us to pray as John taught his disciples. He immediately complied by giving them both
the form and matter of acceptable prayer.
This I call not the Lords prayer, but a
Christians prayer. Christ never prayed
it. He could not. For the Lords prayer see John 17.
This prayer was not intended for
all men, but for Christians only- the children of God - because none but such
can pray it. To say, Our Father, is to assert a claim to spiritual relationship, and there is no such relationship existing
between God and a sinner; it would be a falsehood in his mouth. Christ said:
Ye are
of your father the devil, and the works of your
father ye do.
Our
Father is an expression of filial love, and no unregenerate person
possesses such an emotion, and it would be a falsehood on his lips. The common Fatherhood of God is a
delusion. He is the Father of only those
who are His children by faith in Christ Jesus.
It is as true of all the unregenerate as it was of the unbelieving Jews.
[Page 161]
But of children Paul said:
And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba Father (i.e. Our Father). - Gal. 4: 6.
Hallowed be Thy name. No
sinner, young or old, can say this. No
sinner ever hallows or adores the name of God, or can truly or acceptably
worship Him.
Thy kingdom come, and Thy will be
done in earth as in heaven. No sinner ever prayed this, or can pray
this. He does not want the will of God
to be done with himself or on the earth as it is in heaven. This language would be little less than
blasphemy against God on the lips of sinners.
But in this prayer Christ taught
His apostles and His disciples, to the end of time, what to pray for.
Of this prayer it has been
eloquently said: It is a remarkable collection of petitions, and
Scriptures which contain within themselves the elements of every true prayer that can ever be offered by
the faithful heart to our Father in heaven.
Each want of the renewed soul, each object of its most anxious desire,
everything for which it can pray aright, lies enfolded in some one or other of
the petitions of this prayer as the majestic oak lies wrapped up in the
acorn. The more we meditate upon the
paragraphs of this prayer the more profound and comprehensive do they appear;
no human mind can grasp the full meaning of any one of the sentences of this
prayer, or sound the depths of its spiritual mysteries. It carries in itself the proof that Christ is
divine; for only a mind possessing divinity could frame a prayer that should
concentrate every possible aspiration of the soul, and every known attribute of
the Godhead.
[Page 162]
Having taught His disciples what they should pray for, He next proceeds to teach them by
parables and illustrations occurring in His daily ministrations how to pray, and commencing with
the parable before us.
In
The
key-word to this parable, as brought out by Christ, is importunity in prayer: I say unto you, [Page 163] though he will not rise and give
him, because he is his friend, yet because of
his importunity he will rise and
give him as many as he needeth. And for the encouragement of His disciples
then around Him, for all to the end of the dispensation, he adds:
And I
say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you.
For every one that asketh receiveth; and
he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that
is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an
egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? -
Luke 11: 9-13.
From this parable we learn:
1. That it is the duty of all Christians to pray daily. Give
us this day, is to be daily prayed.
2. That this prayer, called the Lords prayer,
was intended for Christians only, and can and should be prayed by Christians
only; and, therefore, our children should not be taught to say it over - for pray it they can
not - and it is but a vain repetition on their tongues and a mockery.
3. We learn that it is right to pray for others;
And,
4. For our prayers to be acceptable, and prevailing in the
sight of God, we should feel our need, and be,
5. Importunate.
* *
*
[Page 164]
CHAPTER 18
THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW
AND He spake a parable
unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to
faint; saying,
There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a
widow in that city; and she came unto him,
saying, Avenge me of
mine adversary. And he would not for awhile: but afterward he
said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard
man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by
her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God
avenge His own elect, which cry day and night
unto Him, though He bear
long with them?
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the
Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
- Luke 18: 1-8.
The scope of this parable is
simple and clearly stated by Christ before uttering it, viz.:
1. That men ought always to pray.
2. To pray, and not to
faint.
It was spoken to His disciples,
and for the comfort and encouragement of His elect ones in all ages until
prayers and tears are no more. Prayer
has ever characterized the children of God in every age. It is as natural to a Christian as his vital
breath. It is the breath of his
soul. That His disciples might be
encouraged to pray, although their prayers were not immediately answered, Christ relates this parable.
[Page 165]
The two characters introduced
into this parable are -
1. An unjust judge.
Of this judge two things are
said: He feared not God, neither regarded man.
Both Homer and Euripides use
this as a proverbial expression in their day, denoting consummate and
unblushing wickedness - a man totally abandoned to all evil, capable of any
injustice or atrocity. It has been said,
Take away the fear of God, and you fill the soul
with every inward sin, and make it a cage of unclean birds.
Take away from a man a regard for man, a proper respect for human opinion, when
sound and wholesome, and you surround him with every outward sin, and make him
a selfish despot, grinding out from his fellow-men whatever may contribute to
his own lusts or aggrandizement, reckless of their happiness, and solicitous
only for his own. Strike from the heart
of a man both these elements, and you make him a monster with a human shape but
a devils heart.
With such a moral monster in the
seat of law and equity, and the people will be forced to take up the
lamentation of Isaiah: Judgment is turned away backward, and justice
standeth afar off, for truth is fallen in the
streets and equity can not enter.
2. The other personage is a widow.
Bereavement, friendlessness and
poverty naturally cast their cold, dark shadows over the word. Oh! how like a vine
torn from its tree by a rude blast, or a stroke from the passing storm-cloud,
is woman when death writes widow upon her broken heart! What heart is not moved to sympathy and
kindness at the very word? It gives to
this parable its peculiar [Page 166] interest and pathos, that touches every heart, and at once enlists
all our sympathies in behalf of this woman.
That she was without friends, true and strong, we gather from the
fact that she comes in person and alone to plead her cause, instead of through
a powerful friend or advocate. That she
was poor, we
gather from the fact that oft-coming and urgent prayer was her only recourse, and not a full purse, which was the
only thing that could move this judge to give a favourable hearing. It was for the glittering bribe he waited, but in this instance waited in vain. Had he feared God, the curse uttered from
Ye
shall not afflict any widow or
fatherless. Cursed be he
that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless
and widow. And all the people
shall say, Amen!
This widow did not come to
entreat this judge to revenge her upon, or to punish, her adversary - some one who had wronged her.
The word here translated avenge means obtain
justice for me from my opponent. It was justice, not revenge - simple justice from her opponent - she came so often and
sought so earnestly from this judge. She
only besought him to do his simple duty - the duty that he had taken a solemn
oath in the name of God and before men to do when he entered into his
office. This act of simple justice he
refused to grant. But not to be easily
put off, and so confident of the justness of her cause, she came oft, again and again, and each rebuff only
served to increase the urgency and persistency of her appeals. She was not compelled [Page 167] to urge
her case in his regular office hours, but she could, and doubtless did, in the
public concourse, and wherever she met with him, until she positively annoyed him;
until he was moved by purely selfish considerations to listen to her. And he reasoned thus with himself: Though I fear not God, neither
regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me I shall give her justice,
lest by her continual coming she weary me;
literally wear me out [or pester me.] Tyndale, in his version made three hundred
years ago, translates this lest at least she
come and hagge on me. Hagge, in old
Anglo-Saxon, means a witch-fury, goblin or enchantress. To hagge any one was
to harass, torment one. And, moved by
pure selfishness and fear of some indefinable evil she might bring upon him,
he, at last, granted her request.
Christ makes the application of
His parable:
And the
Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God
avenge His own elect, which cry day and night
unto Him, though He bear
long with them?
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the
Son of man cometh, shall He find [the]* faith on the earth? - Luke 18: 6-8.
[* NOTE. The
definite article the, is shown in the Greek
text.]
God, for an all-wise purpose,
often bears long with the earnest supplications of His children - delays until
it seems to them that He does not hear, or is unwilling to answer their
petitions. Is it not that they may fully
realize their necessity, and so the more fully appreciate and enjoy the
blessing sought? Is it not that He may
increase their faith by a severe trial of it?
This parable only serves to
emphasize the last one we considered; and both this
and that give force to the declaration of the apostle: The earnest, wrought out of
prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
[Page 168]
There are two striking instances
in the ministry of Christ that illustrate how pleasing to God is importunate
prayer when offered for others, and encourage Gods children to be importunate
in their petitions when offered for others, and disprove the teachings of those
who say that prayer to God is only availing for good by its reflex influence
upon the petitioner, which reduces it to a mere spiritual gymnasium.
1. The first is the case of the
Syrophenician woman:
And, behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coasts, and cried unto Him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David;
my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But He answered her
not a word.
And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Had she asked but once, and ceased
to ask, we are not authorized to believe that her daughter would have been
relieved.
2. The second notable case is
that of the Roman centurion, or captain, related by Luke:
And a
certain centurions servant, who was dear unto
him, was sick and ready to die. And when he heard of
Jesus he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews,
beseeching Him that He would come and heal his servant. And when they came to
Jesus they besought Him instantly, saying that
he was worthy for whom He should do this: For he
loveth our nation, and he hath built us a
synagogue.
Then Jesus went with them. And when He was now not far from the house the centurion sent [Page 169] friends to Him, saying unto Him, Lord, trouble not Thyself,
for I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my
roof; wherefore neither thought I myself worthy
to come unto Thee, but say in a word and my
servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority,
having under me soldiers; and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things He marvelled at
him, and turned Him about and said unto the
people that followed Him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were
sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. - Luke 7: 2-10.
From the parable, and these
illustrations from the ministry of Christ, we learn that importunity,
conjoined with faith, are two essential elements of
prevailing prayer.
The reader will readily call to
mind the most noteworthy instances of such prayers. Jacob, when he was aware that on the morrow he
would meet his deeply injured brother, Esau, who had come out with an armed
band with the intent, doubtless, to avenge himself upon him, went apart from
his family, and spent the whole night wrestling in earnest prayer with the
angel, who was none other than the Lord Jesus himself, seeking from Him the
blessing of pardon for his sin against his brother Esau, and protection from
his just indignation; and, when the day was dawning, and the angel would have
left him, saying, Let me go, for the day breaketh, Jacob replied, I will
not let thee go unless thou bless me.
And thus, by his faith and importunity, he prevailed with
God and obtained the blessing sought; and this Jehovah-angel then and there
changed his name from Jacob to
The case of Elijah is familiar
with every Bible reader. He knew that it
was Gods intention to send the rain which had been withheld for more than
three years, but he equally knew that it was Gods will that the rain should be
given in answer to his prayer: that he, as Gods prophet, might be honoured in
the sight of all the people. Elijah,
therefore, went out upon the mount and prayed for the rain, and sent his
servant to look upon the heavens for an indication of an answer in gathering
clouds; but he saw none. The prophet
prayed again and again, each time sending his servant out upon the brow of the
mountain to look for a sign of coming rain with like results. But Elijah was not disheartened. He renewed his prayer still more earnestly,
until the seventh time the servant came and reported he saw gathering
over the western sea a cloud about the size of a mans hand. It was enough. The prophet knew that his prayers were
answered. His faith and importunity are
left upon record for the encouragement of Gods people in all ages, as were
these parables and the instances alluded to in the ministry of Jesus.
The lesson taught in this
parable is:
That importunity and
implicit faith are two inseparable elements of
prevailing prayer.
[Page 171]
The encouragement to Gods
children to pray is in this:
If an unjust judge, who had not
the least kind feeling for this poor widow, would grant her request merely to
escape her importunity, how much more will a just and all-merciful Father
listen to the prayers of His own children who incessantly cry unto Him, and
avenge them of their adversaries, though He seems to defer a long while to move
to redress their wrongs, and restore to them their inheritance (this earth
wrested from them by Satan, their great adversary) and the enjoyment of their
rights (i.e. to inherit and reign over it) now in the possession
of their enemies! Yea, verily, He will
do it. Shall
not the Lord of the whole earth do right by them? Very soon will their Kinsman-Redeemer take
the title book, with its seven seals now broken, and, placing His right foot on
the sea and His left on the land, take possession of the whole earth, and
dispossess it of all its usurpers, and restore it to His [good, faithful and obedient] people,
avenging them of all their wrongs and restoring to them all their rights, when,
with Him, they will reign over it forever.*
[* That is, for as long as He has decreed it should remain,
before replacing it with a new heaven and a new
earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth are passed away...:
(Rev. 21:
1, R.V.).
cf. 1 Cor.
15: 22-25; Rom. 8: 17-25, R.V.]
Well did Christ prophetically
ask, When the Lord cometh will he find this
[the] faith on the earth? How few
hold it to-day! And as the years go by
it is more and more rejected, even by professed Christians themselves. (See 2 Peter 3., 2 Thess. 2., and let the thoughtful Christian read Rev. 6. - 20.)
This feature of the parable will
be more fully developed in the expositions of the Eschatological Parables.
* *
*
[Page 172]
CHAPTER 19
THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN
TWO men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other
a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican,
standing afar off, would
not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a
sinner. I
tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. - Luke 18: 10-14.
I do not regard this as a race, or even as a caste, parable,
as some do - i.e. that the Pharisee in it was intended to represent the Jews as
a race, and the publican the Gentiles, who were regarded by the Jews as
heathens and publicans; nor that He intended by the Pharisee to represent the
Jewish Pharisees as the religious patricians
of the nation, and by the publican the lowest and vilest class
- the plebeians of Jewish society - but as a rebuke to religious Phariseeism, and teach the elements of acceptable
and prevailing prayer among all people and in all ages.
Let us carefully notice the
characteristics of the two men whom Christ puts before
us so prominently, and their acts, and the results, by
which He would teach [Page 173] us these important
lessons, wherein they were alike and diverse.
1. In the sight of
men.
The Pharisee, in the estimation
of men, was in every respect far superior to the publican.
The Pharisees, as a class,
represented the wealthy and aristocratic, the cultivated and pre-eminently religious portion of the Jewish
nation. It was indeed peculiarly
characteristic of them that they trusted
in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. The publicans, as a class, belonged to the
poorer, and to the lowest, class of society.
They were the officers of the Romans, by whom the Jewish nation were
held in subjection and oppressed, and their business occupation was to collect
the heavy taxes imposed upon them, and were looked upon as the aiders and
abettors of their enemies in degrading and oppressing the nation. As a class the publicans were extortioners,
exacting and collecting more than the law required, and appropriating it to
their own use. They were regarded by
their countrymen as the very lowest class in vice, and no better than the
heathen - who were without the circumference of the covenanted mercies -
without God, and without hope in the world.
2. In the sight of
God.
This Pharisee and publican were
equal - equally sinners and depraved in heart, and doubtless equally guilty, and certainly equally
in need of His compassionate mercy and salvation.
3. In their own sight they were unlike.
The Pharisee, in his
self-examination, found nothing but what was meritorious and deserving the
approbation of God.
[Page 174]
The publican, taking a juster view
of himself, saw nothing to approve; saw and felt himself a sinner in act and intent; saw nothing that he considered entitled him to Gods merciful
regard; saw and felt himself a sinner above all men.
The one was a boastful,
self-confident, self-justified, impenitent sinner; the other a self-convicted,
self-condemned, but deeply penitent sinner.
Their several actions, as
well as their words, indicate their real spiritual conditions.
They both went up into the
temple, as the Jews, when in the vicinity, were wont to do at the hours of
prayer (9 and 3 oclock).
They both stood when they prayed, as the
worshiper was not allowed to take any other position in prayer according to the
temple rules.
Touching the proper posture in
prayer, an old divine has, as quaintly as appropriately, said, I will either stand as a servant before my Master, or kneel
as a suppliant to my King; but I will not dare sit as my equal.*
* The true feeling of the heart will indicate the posture of the
body in prayer. The
humble and contrite spirit, the broken heart that feels its helplessness, and
in pleading for Gods favour, invariably assumes the kneeling or prostrate
position.
Contrast their respective
prayers.
The Pharisee, doubtless, with lofty eyes, complacent and self-satisfied
mien, instead of imploring Gods pardon for his sins, or thanking Him for His
many undeserved mercies, thanks Him that he is more righteous than all other
men, and pronounces a eulogy upon himself in the ear of God and hearing of
men. With ostentatious pride he recounts
his own pre-eminent [Page 175] merits, his abstemious devotion - even more than the law
required. The law only required one fast
the whole year - on the day of atonement - but this man, like other Pharisees,
fasted twice in the week (on Mondays and Thursdays). He boasted of his liberality: I pay tithes of all I acquire, not as
our version, of all I possess. No Jew
paid tithes of all he possessed, but of all his income, not subtracting the expenses of his business. And he concludes not his prayer without
expressing his supreme contempt for the publican.
By examining this prayer it will
be found to lack every element of acceptable prayer. It was, therefore, not heard.
The publican, standing afar off,
as though too vile to associate with others, and so self-abased that he lifted
not up his eyes, but smote on his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. (See original.)
His was the outward manifestation of profound
humility, and a penitential
confession of conscious guilt, and a most earnest petition for
Gods undeserved mercy - for mercy was his only plea, and this
indicates that he felt deserving only of Gods judgment and righteous displeasure. This publican, although a great sinner, was a
true penitent. Analyze his prayer, and
it will be found to contain every element of genuine prayer which God has
promised to answer.
Notice the result of these two
prayers. The Pharisee asked for nothing
and obtained nothing. He carried home
what he brought, and doubtless died as he lived, a proud, censorious Pharisee,
who trusted in his own righteousness for his salvation and despised others.
The publican left in the courts
of Gods house all he brought - the open record-book of his confessed guilt [Page 176] and his
troubled heart - and went down to his house justified, having asked, and received all he had asked for.
Did he not know that he had
obtained the mercy he so sincerely and earnestly sought? How can we doubt it with Gods word in our
hand, which says: Therefore, being justified by faith, we
have peace with God? ... Yes, he
did know it, because he felt the sweetness of this heavenly peace. As he went up to the temple was not his soul harrassed and burdened with conscious guilt? He certainly knew this, because he felt it. When the light of
Gods countenance beamed into his soul, and a sweet and heavenly peace took
possession of it, did he not know it for the same reason - because he
felt it as every pardoned sinner to-day knows when his
sins are forgiven, by the peaceful joy that takes possession of his inmost
soul? And it is certain that if we love
Him who begat us, we shall love all those begotten of Him; and therefore it is written:
Hereby we know
that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
What is there we better know than
whom we love? David knew when God heard
and answered his prayer for mercy, and administered the grace of salvation to
his soul.
The twofold design of this
parable we can not fail to learn from both the introductory and concluding
remarks of its author:
And He spake this parable unto certain who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and despised others. ... For every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and every one that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.
1. To point
out religious Phariseeism and rebuke it.
[Page 177]
2. The essential elements of prevailing prayer. The marks of Phariseeism in all lands and in
all ages are: 1. Trusting in themselves that they are
righteous. 2. Despising all others
inferior to them. 3. Ostentatious piety.
4. Self-praise; and, 5. Boasting of ones goodness. and 6. Ambitious for the chief seats in the synagogues.
This sin is not confined to any
nation, race or age, and
this parable is therefore as applicable to-day as it was when spoken by
Christ. His disciples will do well to
heed His admonition - Beware of the leaven of Phariseeism.
3. The parable teaches the essential elements of acceptable
prayer, and offers the greatest encouragement for the greatest of sinners to
pray. One has said of it:
How
great is the encouragement which it offers to the truly penitent and believing
to come to Jesus! What though, like the
publican, they be regarded as the off-scouring of all things? Christ came to save sinners. What though
they feel their vileness, so as to cause them to smite upon their breast in
anguish, and be afraid to lift up so much as their eyes to heaven? The deeper the consciousness of guilt, the
more they feel the need of a Saviour, and the more precious becomes His
salvation. We can not be too humble, for
He resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
humble.
We can not be too full in
confessions, for He that confesseth and forsaketh his
sins shall find mercy.
We can not be too penitential for our
transgression, for it is the broken and contrite heart with
which God is well pleased. We can not be
too strong in our own faith, for without
faith it is impossible to please God. We can not be too importunate in our [Page 178]
supplication, for it is they who seek Him earnestly that find
Him. Come, then, in
humility, in godly sorrow, in true repentance, in simple faith, in earnest
prayer, to the throne of grace, and, like the publican, we shall find
acceptance with God, and go down to our house justified before Him.
* *
*
[Page 179]
CHAPTER 20
THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT
THEREFORE is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take
account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was
brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had,
and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped
him, saying, Lord
have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Then the lord of
that servant was moved with compassion, and
loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant
went out and found one of his fellow-servants,
which owed him an hundred pence; and he laid
hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou
owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying,
Have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. And he would not; but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the
debt. So
when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they
were very sorry, and came and told unto their
lord all that was done. Then his lord,
after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I
forgave thee all that debt, because thou
desiredst me; shouldst not thou also have had
compassion on thy follow-servant, even as I had
pity on thee?
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him
to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my
heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. - Matt. 18: 23-35.
Bishop Porteus of this parable says:
It is one of the most interesting and affective
that is to be [Page 180] found either in Scripture or in any of the most
admired writers of antiquity.
It was drawn forth by the question
of Peter, Lord,
how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say unto thee, not seven
times, but until seventy times seven. And then He relates this parable as
illustrative of the divine condition
of pardon - prevailing prayer.
Peters attention to this
subject had been arrested by the instructions just given by Christ with
reference to trespasses, and the course to be pursued when we had a matter of
grievance with our brethren. The directions
were altogether new and striking. Peter
evidently wished for some specific rule.
The Rabbinical law of forgiveness, with which he was doubtless familiar,
said that three offences are to be
remitted, but not the fourth. Peter, in his question, more than doubles this
number as an extreme limit. Nor did the
Saviour intend to fix a definite limit to the number of offences His disciples
should forgive.
Seven, among the Jews, is the
number of fullness, completeness, and seventy times seven then, indicating indefiniteness, unlimited forgiveness of wrongs, offences and injuries, is the
heaven-born law, where the divine condition is manifested, which this
parable was given to teach and illustrate.
A certain king is represented as
making a settlement with his
servants, or fiscal ministers, to whom the collection of his royal revenues was
entrusted. One, a tributary prince, or
treasurer, is brought unto him, who was found behind in his accounts ten
thousand talents, and had misappropriated or squandered them, for he [Page 181] as
found to be utterly bankrupt. Taking the
talent at its lowest value, this amount was enormous even for a treasurer of
the royal revenues to default in, not less than fifteen million dollars. It evinces the dignity of the treasurer, and
the great confidence the king had placed in his integrity, and the boldness of
the peculation.
The defaulter offered no excuse,
but frankly confessed his inability to pay.
The severe penalty for
insolvency often used in the East, as is testified to by writers, sacred and
profane, and even in Roman law, was that the wife and children, as well as the
slaves, being considered the property of the father, were sold with him into
slavery. This penalty the king
pronounced upon this bold defaulter, and that the proceeds of the sale should
be applied toward the payment of the debt.
The wretched servant,
overwhelmed with the fearfulness of his punishment, now prostrates himself upon
his face before his lord, and entreats him, saying, Have patience with me, and I
will pay thee all. It
was not that the lord believed that it was possible for him to pay the debt
that his heart was touched with sympathy and compassion for the miserable
suppliant, and ordered his chains to be knocked off, and, instead of sending
him to the auction mart to be sold into hopeless slavery, magnanimously
restored him to his liberty and his family and children and goods, and forgave
him the debt.
What a surprising change in the
situation of this servant! and what a profound impression for good must it, and
must not his lord have intended and expected it to, have made upon the moral
character of [Page 182] his servant, to reclaim him from his dishonest practices, and teach him an enduring lesson of
compassionate leniency and forgiveness toward his fellow-servants! But it did not. He was evidently the heartless slave of
avarice and greed.
Going forth from the presence of
his lord he met a fellow-servant who owed him a hundred pence - the trifling
sum of fifteen dollars - and, instead of being softened by the mercy he had
himself experienced, he seized him by the throat and demanded, Pay me that thou owest. The debtor prostrated himself before him as
he had before his lord, and urged the self-same plea, Have patience with me and I will pay thee all, which
he doubtless would have been able to have done; but this so recently pardoned
bankrupt was untouched with pity or compassion, and ordered him cast into
prison until he should pay the debt, thus depriving him of the slightest
opportunity to do it. How cruel! How unfeeling! The abasement and plea that had found mercy
for him found no mercy from him. Well
has it been said: Avarice is deaf and can not hear,
blind and can not see, heartless and can not feel. It has no bowels of mercy, no finely strung
sympathies. It is relentless in its
grasp, cruel in its aims; and the horse-leech cry of its insatiable appetite
is, Give, give!
To get gain, it will steal from the
treasuries of kings, or grind the face of the poor; it will wrench open the
clenched hand of penury for its uttermost farthing, and wring from the hand of
the widowed mother the pittance which gives her children their daily bread. Of all such oppressions God declares they have swallowed down riches and shall vomit them up again;
he [Page 183] shall suck the poison of asps; the vipers tongue shall slay him. This unmerciful conduct was at once reported
to the king, and he straightway ordered him into his presence and thus rebuked
and punished him:
O thou
wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou
desiredst me; shouldst not thou also have had
compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and well he might be,
and, with a justice that is commended by everyone who has read the narrative,
he revoked the forgiveness he had extended and the cancellation of the debt,
and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due him. He
richly merited his doom by his avarice,
and brought it upon himself by his extortion. Christ
brings out and applies this parable.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye forgive not from your hearts every one his brother their
trespasses.
We have here illustrated the
essential element of acceptable, prevailing prayer. The forgiveness of all who trespass against us as we hope for the forgiveness
of God. This is clearly stated
in the form of prayer Christ gave His disciples: Forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. If we do not from our hearts forgive others,
we ask God in this prayer not to forgive us.
What a solemn prayer! But should
we not use these words, we may know that to harbour in our breasts
an unforgiving spirit God will not hear our prayers. May not this be the reason so few of our
prayers are answered - prayers for the forgiveness of our own sins, prayers for
our children, prayers for others? The
reason why so many meetings, [Page 184] intended to be meetings for the revival of our church and the
conversion of sinners, fail to accomplish anything for the glory of the Master
or the salvation of men? One of the
first meetings that should be held
to secure a revival should be a confessing and forgiving meeting, so that church members could effectively pray for
themselves and for sinners.
We can now review the lessons we
have learned from these four parables, the essential elements of acceptable and
prevailing prayer.
1. We must realize in our hearts the need of that for which we ask.
2. We should earnestly and importunately ask for it.
3. We should ask in faith, nothing doubting.
4. Satisfied that our request is in accord with Gods will and for His glory we should
continue our
Supplications
always and not faint. Daniel fasted and prayed for three weeks
before the answer came.
5. We must pray humbly, confessing our sins.
6. We must seek forgiveness in a forgiving spirit, freely forgiving all who have offended or
injured us.
* *
*
[Page
185]
PARABLES ILLUSTRATING
GENERAL
SUBJECTS
-------
THE WISDOM OF WORLDLY
1. THE UNJUST STEWARD
THE FOLLY OF SPIRITUAL IMPROVIDENCE
2 THE RICH FARMER
THE LAW OF BENEVOLENCE
3 THE GOOD SAMARITAN
THE THREE EXTREMES:
1. IN
LIFE. 2. IN DEATH. 3. BEYOND THE GBAVE.
4. THE RICE MAN AND LAZARUS
5. SUMMARY
[Page 186 blank.
Page 187]
CHAPTER 21
THE
UNJUST STEWARD
AND He said also unto His disciples, There was a certain rich man which
had a steward; and the same was accused unto him
that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear
this of thee?
Give an account of thy stewardship; for
thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the
stewardship.
I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed.
I am resolved
what to do, that,
when I am put out of the stewardship, they may
receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lords debtors
unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
And he said,
An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him Take thy bill, and sit down
quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to
another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred
measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write
fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely:
for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children
of light. - Luke 16: 1-8.
Dr.
Stephens, in his Explanation of the Parables, says: Commentators,
while they have done much to explain the parables, have also done much to obscure them. They have sometimes created more obstacles than they have removed, and,
by their multifarious explanations and hypercritical emendations, have involved
passages in perplexity which before were clear and simple. With no little force do these remarks [Page 188] apply
to the Parable of the Unjust Steward, which some of the ancient fathers looked
upon as the most difficult and obscure of all, and the learned Cajetan even
declared not only difficult but impossible to give its true meaning, so as to be in harmony with the
moral teachings of Christ in the other Sacred Scriptures.
Archbishop Trench says: This parable, of which the difficulties are exceeding great,
has been the subject of manifold, and those of the most opposite,
interpretations.
The difficulty of those expositors who, like Cajetan, stumble at this parable,
arises from two evident misconceptions, which will appear to the reader who
will follow me in a careful examination of the allegory.
It is strikingly oriental in its
construction. An extensive land owner
(lord) entrusts the rentals of his lands and dwellings to his steward, who
receives the rents from the tenants in the produce of the lands - wine, oil, wheat - as is done to this day in oriental countries. Through the steward the contracts were made,
and to him the rents were paid. The
contracts or obligations were in the handwriting of the tenants and
countersigned by the steward, and, in his accounts, were his bills receivable.
This steward had so long
unjustly managed his business, and overdrawn his salary, and reports from so
many had reached his lords ears, that he had decided to discharge him, and
therefore called upon him to render an account of his stewardship. The steward was conscious that his books
would not bear an examination, and that he would, as he deserved, be discharged
in disgrace, so that it would be impossible for [Page 189] him to get an engagement as a
steward with any other landlord, and, as a rational, forethoughted man, said to
himself, What shall I do? I am unused to
manual labour. I can not dig and so make
a support. I have been reared and lived
a gentleman in good society, and to beg I am ashamed. What shall I do? Disgrace was sure, and starvation stared him
in the face. It only remained for him to
add open fraud to dishonesty; and he adopts his plan, comforting himself that
his course will at least secure him a home when ejected from his lords
service. He summons all the debtors to
the estate for an examination of their accounts. To the first he said, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. This was
about one thousand gallons of olive oil, which was a commercial article and
valuable. He said, Take your bill, or
contract, and rewrite it, inserting fifty. This can the better be understood when we
remember the obligation was in the debtors own handwriting. To another he said, How much owest thou?
And he said, An
hundred measures of wheat.
This was somewhat more than fourteen hundred of our bushels, and also
both easily marketable and valuable. And he said, Take back your contract and
rewrite it eighty.
Although such like reductions
are mentioned in only two cases, we are left to understand that similar
reductions were made in the bills of all the debtors, graduating their
indebtedness according to their ability to pay easily; and thus he placed each
one and all under obligation to himself, so that, when turned out of office, he
would find a welcome and home with his masters debtors, fondly hoping that,
although they [Page 190] knew that he was unfaithful to his lord, they would not prove
faithless to him.
Now here comes in the difficulty
of Cajetan and those expositors who, with him, interpret the next sentence as
spoken by our Lord Jesus instead of the lord of the steward.
It was by attributing the
commendation of the unjust steward to our Lord rather than to the lord of the
steward that the emperor Julian the Apostate made it the ground for vilifying
the character of Christ; and, from his time down to the geological interpreters
of the present age, it has been made the instrument of assailing the character
of Christ, or of claiming a divine warrant for knavery and fraud. Such eminent scholars and commentators as
Matthew Henry and
On this supposition, then, our
Lord, as infidels claim, indeed seems to commend the dishonest conduct of the
steward, and advise His disciples to imitate, in some sense, his rascality, and
seek to purchase homes in heaven [or
positions of rulership in the coming Kingdom of Messiah] by the
use of their unjust gains - money unrighteously obtained. Such an interpretation no friend of Christ
can, for one moment, countenance. We
know there must be a grave mistaking of the statement of the narrative, and it
evidently is attributing the commendation to our Lord rather than to the master
of the steward. Our Received Version
favours, doubtless gave rise to, this mistake.
It reads, the lord commended the unjust steward, etc.,
which leaves it uncertain which lord did this, our Lord or [Page 191] that of
the steward. But the Revised Version
clears this uncertainty, rendering it thus, and his
lord - i.e. the lord, or
master, of the steward. Nor did the
landlord who had been so egregiously defrauded praise the servant for his cunning
rascality, but he simply commended him because he had acted wisely.
This removes the charge of
infidels and the enemies of Gods word from Christ; and, if there is anything
in this that can be charged as immoral, it fixes it upon the landlord who had
been defrauded.
But the difficulty, in the
second place, arises from the misinterpretation of the term phronimoos - rendered in our version wisely - which they take in the sense
of correctly, commendably, but which should be rendered sagaciously, providently,
forethoughtedly. In no other sense is it
used in the Sacred Scriptures. In the sense of justly, correctly - never. In this sense, then, let us read it: And his master commended the unjust steward because he had
acted prudently, not because he had
acted fraudulently. He commended his
ingenuity and consummate forethoughtedness in providing friends and a support
for the future - this and nothing more.
This expression will not appear
so strange to a business man as to a strict moralist. How often is the business
forethought of a speculator commended who secures, by deed and gifts,
valuable real estate and bonds to his wife against impending bankruptcy - so
that when the inevitable foreseen crash does come he has a sure home and
support for himself and family, although his creditors suffer by his acting
with such forethought or business prudence.
It is not the very questionable morality that men commend, but the [Page 192]
forethought, the sagacity, the wise providence, of the bankrupt.
Nor does Christ advise His
disciples to make friends on earth or in heaven with their unjust gains, unrighteous mammon, as His enemies so
urgently charge.
Wealth riches - are here
termed the mammon of unrighteousness.
Riches in themselves have no moral character,
are neither good nor evil, but in their tendency only.
They
are, so long as unused, passive and innocuous; it is riches in motion which give them a definite character; and here they are under two laws and under two directions - the law of selfishness and the law of love
- the direction towards God and whatever tends to advance His glory, and the
direction toward earth and whatever abets its lusts and pleasures.
In what sense, then, can we make
to ourselves friends of our wealth or earthly goods, of which we
are but stewards, and what connected with the conduct of the unjust steward
would our Lord have us imitate? In a
word, what is the scope of this parable?
It certainly is not to teach us
to waste property intrusted to us, or to defraud our employers, or to make our
fellow men accomplices in our crimes. Certainly not to commend injustice in any sense.
We learn:
1. That we should exercise a sagacious forethought with
reference to our souls future welfare and happiness, as this steward
did to his earthly wealth.
2. That we can, as our Lords [faithful
and obedient] stewards, so use our
earthly goods in the support and extension of His cause - in sending the gospel
to the heathen and the relief of human misery - not by a mere figure of speech,
[Page 193] but by
a glad and joyous reality, make to ourselves friends who, going before us to
the saints [millennial* and] everlasting
rest, will, more than others there, welcome us on our approach to their
everlasting joys.
[* See Heb. 4: 1, 6-11, R.V.]
No better can we convey our
understanding of this than by this fact:
One of our missionaries in China,
some months since, reported that a native from the far interior came into his
chapel and asked him if he was a Jesus-Christ-man, and, on being answered in
the affirmative, he said, Then I want to be
baptized. And, on being asked
why, he said, Because I believe on the Lord Jesus,
who came into the world to save sinners. I love Him because He loved me, and
has saved me from my sins, and His book tells me that all who believe and love
Him should be baptized, and there is no one in my province to baptize me, and I
have come to you. Conversing with him,
the missionary learned that the year before, when he came down the river with a
boat-load of tea, tracts and copies of the New Testament had been distributed
to the boatmen, as is the custom with our missionaries, and a copy of the New
Testament, in Chinese, had fallen into his hands. This new book he had read during his long
journey back and during the year, and its blessed good news had been fastened upon his heart, and the Holy Spirit had
graciously enlightened his dark mind and taken the things of Christ and shown
them unto him, and by its influences had enabled him to accept the Lord Jesus
as his Saviour, and to rejoice in His love.
Having drank of the waters of life, he had read the precious book to
others, and been enabled by his own experience to lead his family and several
of his idolatrous countrymen to drink and [Page 194] live.
These he had brought with him, and the joyous company were baptized by
the missionary, and he returned home rejoicing in the Lord with all his house.
Suppose these heathen friends
should die years before that Christian brother or
sister in
Think, ye missionaries of the
cross on heathen lands, of the thousands of Karens,
converted by his labours, who received Carey into their Sweet Rest when he
passed over the River, and read again these words of Christ: Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,
that when ye fail [die] they
may receive [welcome] you into everlasting [Gk. aionian] habitations.* Ye
missionaries of the cross, read this! Ye
lovers of Christ, who sacrifice of your limited means to send the gospel to the
destitute at home and the heathen abroad, read this! Ye toiling, self-sacrificing pastors, even
more sacrificing than our foreign missionaries, read these words of Christ, and
think of the reception that awaits you by the hundreds,
and perhaps thousands, of
those you have instructed and led to Christ, who may have passed before you to Paradise,** and be [Page 195] encouraged to preach on, notwithstanding all your
discouragements and self-sacrificing labours!
Surely, one hour amid that throng will more than repay all the years of
your toils and sacrifices, prayers and tears.
[* NOTE. The last
clause of verse 9 has been translated thus:
they may receive you into AIONIAN (i.e., age-lasting)
mansions.
** See Chapter 24.]
We can testify that the sweet glimpses
we had the past year of The Bright Beyond,
while our trembling footsteps lingered upon the banks of the River, a thousand
times repaid us for the arduous labours, bitter opposition and persecutions of
more than half a century in the service of the blessed Christ.
We can not intelligently read
this parable and not be impressed with the fact that our future happiness will
be materially enhanced by the proper use of our earthly goods, as well as our
time and toil and influence, expended upon others.
From this parable Sunday-school
superintendents and teachers will find encouragement to sacrifice ease, time
and money in their sphere of labour.
Some months since we saw an
intelligent, well-dressed stranger take the hand of the old superintendent* of our church, at the close of
a morning service, and this was about what he said:
* R. G. Craig.
You do not
recognize me, but I know you. Years ago
I was a godless boy in this city. No one
took any particular interest in me, or looked after my religious training. I was an habitual
Sabbath-breaker, and seldom heard a sermon.
You sought my acquaintance, invited me to attend your Sabbath-school,
and interested me in it, and then to attend church. Moral principles and religious truths were in
this way implanted, which, in after years, God blessed to my salvation. I feel, Brother C., that
I owe all I am, under [Page 196] God, to you, as my Sunday-school superintendent, and to my teacher in your
school.
That man is to-day a prominent,
wealthy business man in a Western city, and an active member in a Baptist
church.
Should he pass over the River
before his old superintendent and teacher, would he not with most grateful joy meet
their approach, and welcome them to his everlasting Rest?
We also learn from this parable the conscious existence of
disembodied saints, between their death
and resurrection, denied by so many, and even by so eminent a name as
Archbishop Whately.
And another most pleasing doctrine, the recognition of our sainted
friends in the
We also learn that we may so use
our worldly mammon-money - as to enhance our [millennial
and] eternal joy as well as that of
others benefited by us here.
I close with the words of Dr.
French:
I can
not doubt, however, that we have here a parable of Christian prudence - Christ
exhorting us to use the world and the worlds goods in a manner against itself
and for God.
Whether I have done more to
obscure than to explain this parable, I leave to my readers to judge.
* * *
[Page 197]
CHAPTER 22
THE RICH FARMER WHO WAS A FOOL
AND He spake a parable unto them,
saying, The ground
of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull
down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my
soul, Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee: then whose shall
those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth
up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward
God. - Luke 12: 16-21.
This is a companion parable to
the selfish sensualist and the poor beggar.
It is so realistic and so strikingly befitting the circumstances in
which Christ was placed as to command our admiration. In this respect it is unlike that of the rich
man and the beggar, which is so suddenly injected into His discourse without the
least connection with what precedes or follows as to raise suspicion that it is
out of its place in the narrative.
Christ was constantly watched by
the scribes and Pharisees and Herodians, or beset by detectives, employed by
them to watch His acts, and by propounding questions and making requests, to
find some ground for a charge against Him on which to put Him to death. [Page 198] Laying wait for Him, and
seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that
they might accuse Him. - Luke 11: 54.
The reader will readily recall
the questions of the Herodians concerning the tribute money, and the efforts of
the scribes and Pharisees to influence Him to exercise civil jurisdiction in the case of the woman professedly
taken in adultery - doubtless only a feint to entrap Him - and here in the
midst of an address to His disciples, a man, doubtless a detective, breaks in with the request that He would only speak to his brother
that he should divide
the paternal inheritance with him, tempting Him to exercise judicial authority! Christ revealed this point by the question, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? He used this circumstance to impress upon His
hearers the sin of covetousness, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the
things he possesses, and then He sealed His admonition with this
striking parable.
The principal points of it are:
1. The
character of the man.
2. His prosperity,
and its effects on him.
3. His
trust in riches.
4. The
uncertainty of the heirship of earthly possessions.
5. In
what respects he was a fool.
6. His
sudden and fearful death.
Let us then consider:
1. The character of the man.
He was a rich man, but this is not charged upon him as a folly or a
crime. It is clearly inferable from the
narrative that he came honestly by his wealth - that he did not make it by
usurious practices, [Page 199] oppressing the needy and unfortunate, or in grinding the face
of the poor, or by speculating and sharp trading at the expense of others; nor
is there the least intimation that he was otherwise than a moral, upright and honourable man.
2. He was a saying farmer.
His
accumulations were the products of his well cultivated fields, the fruits of an
honest and diligent industry. His fields brought forth plentifully; they were
therefore thoroughly cultivated, and his well directed efforts were crowned
with the blessing of Him
Who maketh the earth bring forth abundantly,
And the clouds to drop fatness.
That His hearers should be
impressed that the rich mans wealth was honestly acquired, was
necessary in order that Christs rebuke might rest upon the folly of trusting in
great riches, rather than in the manner of their acquisition.
The man was an honest, saving
farmer, accustomed to carefully husband closely his income.
3. The effect of prosperity upon him.
Gods abundant liberality
towards him did not have the effect to either open his heart in gratitude
towards God or his hands in liberality or charity towards the poor and needy
around him. He was a cold-hearted,
selfish miser.
4. Mark the effect of his great prosperity upon him. It but the more tempted him to trust in his riches - that in them he would find a
guard from all the ills, and a shield against even death itself, thus lulling
him into perfect self-security.
It only served to increase his
propensity to hoard up, and fix his thoughts more intently upon his gains [Page 200] and how to secure them. He turned the matter over and over in his own
mind, and the only question was, what shall I do for
want of room to store up my goods? Mark
the expressive working of covetousness.
He thought within himself, did not
consult or deliberate with others what might be done by a corporative act for
the good of the community, or to relieve the unfortunate; did not once
acknowledge to himself that he was, in any sense, Gods steward, and
responsible to Him for the proper use of his great riches, the gift of Gods
providence. He thought within himself, and his
conclusion was soon reached, and according with the principle of pure, cold
selfishness, This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build larger, and there bestow my goods.
The good old Father Ambrose thus
beautifully comments on the rich mans soliloquy: No room! Thou hast
barns - the bosoms of the needy, the houses of the widows, the
mouths of the orphans.
5. The uncertainty
of the heirship of his mighty possessions is forcibly indicated by the emphatic question of his Maker: Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? He toiled to gather what others will scatter. He
laboured to save and lay up in store what others
will lay out in waste. As
the Psalmist says, He heapeth
up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
How often heirs, and even
children, waste their inheritance in wrangling over its division, and become
enemies and forever alienated, and thus their fathers hoarded wealth proves a
curse to them. Hoarded gains are far
oftener a curse than a blessing to those
who heir them.
[Page 210]
6. This rich, world-wise farmer was a fool.
He was a fool -
1. For thinking that ease and wealth and worldly pleasure would
satisfy his soul.
2. To
live and act for this transient, present life, without a thought for the
unending future
pampering the
present and bankrupting the [millennial and] eternal future.
He was a
fool -
3. For believing that life had no other purpose than for
self-gratification
and sensual
delights.
He was a
fool -
4. For thinking that his riches were his own, and he was not
accountable to God
for their
proper use or for their abuse.
He was a
fool -
5. For supposing that his soul needed no preparation to meet
its God.
He was a
fool -
6. To
hoard up his riches in barns and storehouses, not knowing who would scatter and
waste them,
rather than to
have used them for beneficent purposes: So is
he who
layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
The man who layeth up treasure
for himself is the selfish man, who lives for himself alone - who hoards for
himself - who, in everything, regards alone his own interests; he toils for and
lays up treasure because wealth brings him honour and position in society, and
multiplies friends and influence and pleasures.
The rich man, says Solomon, hath many friends [those
who call themselves friends]. The rich mans wealth is his strong city. Such a man hoards riches for what they will
do for him. If born in poverty, his ambition is to [Page 202] rank among the rich. If born to
fortune, he seeks to excel his ancestral wealth. If he sprang from ignominy, he wishes to
throw a mantle of gold over his mothers shame.
If a scion of rank, he longs to quarter the arms of mammon on the
heraldic shield of a noble lineage. If
ignorant, wealth will atone for stupidity.
If learned, wealth can ennoble knowledge - for the crown of the wise is
their riches.
What is it to be rich toward God?
It is to be rich with respect to
God. The child of Gould or Vanderbilt is
rich with respect to his father, because heir of his mighty possessions.
A child of God is an heir of God
and [if so be that we suffer
with Him a] joint
heir with His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: For
if children, then heirs: heirs of God. (Rom.
8: 17.)
[* That is,
joint-heirs during the age to come, only for those whom the
condition qualifies!]
It is by faith in Christ alone
as our sole Saviour and Redeemer that we become the children of God and heirs
of an eternal inheritance: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
(Gal. 3: 22)
When a child of God accumulates wealth,
he recognizes the fact that he is but the steward of Gods bounty, and that it
is his duty to use it, as not abusing it, for Gods glory and the good of his
fellow men, or he will be treated as an unprofitable servant.
7. It is only left for us to notice his sudden and fearful
death.
Job graphically describes the
suddenness of the death of the wicked:
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out;
And the spark of his fire shall not shine;
And his lamp above him shall be put out.
The steps of his strength shall be straitened
[Page 203] And
his own counsel shall cast him down:
For he is cast into a net by his own feet.
He not only describes the
suddenness, but the terrors, of the death of the rich sinner, as though he were
forecasting the end of the subject of this parable:
The rich man shall lie down, and he is not.
Terrors take hold on him as waters.
A tempest stealeth him away in the night,
And, as a storm,
hurleth him out of his place;
For God shall cast upon him and not spare.
And lastly:
His sudden death.
So absorbed was he in the
schemes of hoarding, so secure he felt against all adverse circumstances, such visions
of years of ease and pleasures so entranced his senses, that he wholly forgot
God, his souls great need and all concern for the future. As a thunderbolt out of a cloudless sky came
the astonishing summons from heaven, Thou
fool, this night is thy soul required of thee;
and the things thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?
Oh, what an awful
annunciation! It was the curfew bell of
his soul, extinguishing in an instant every light of hope and joy, and leaving,
to settle down over his soul, the unbroken darkness of blackness forever! What a fearful end of life! The last words he heard on earth from the
lips of his Maker, Thou fool! And those words, without one redeeming
memory, will reverberate in his ears, and echo and
re-echo through his soul, forever and forevermore, constituting the undying
worm that will gnaw and the stings that will unceasingly transpierce it, THOU FOOL!
* *
*
[Page 204]
CHAPTER 23
THE LAW
OF BENEVOLENCE
THE GOOD
SAMARITAN
AND Jesus answering, said, A certain man went down from
It has been said that the law of
benevolence never received a more beautiful illustration than by the Parable of
the Good Samaritan, and that the tact with which it was introduced and the
judicious selection of its circumstances are only equalled by the felicity of
its similitude and the force of its appeal.
It could be as truthfully added that no one of Christs parables has
been more fancifully interpreted
by the most [Page 205] learned and most sober or matter-of-fact commentators.
Let us briefly notice the
circumstances that called it forth.
A certain lawyer, one of the
detectives of the scribes and Pharisees, standing up to tempt Him, perhaps to
expose the ignorance
of Christ before the multitude, or to put Him in antagonism
with the teachings of the Pharisees, asked Him this profound and most important
question, which equally engaged the attention of all classes: Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal [Gk. aionian
= age-lasting in this context] life? Christ referred him to the law for His answer
- What saith the law? He promptly
answered:
And he
answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him,
Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. - Luke10: 27, 28.
Conscious of his own remissness
in fulfilling the demands of the law - the last item, at least - and desiring
to justify himself, he asked: And who is my
neighbour? This also was a much
mooted question among the scribes.
The Pharisees, who constantly
made the law of God of none effect by their traditions, taught the people that none
were to be considered their neighbours but those of their own nation and
faith. Instead of answering this lawyer,
who was a Pharisee, as most of his class were, directly, he relates the case of
a man - a Jew, doubtless - who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, a town
on the river Jordan, fifteen miles to the southwest, and fell among thieves,
who, at that time, made that road dangerous to travel. The thieves [Page 206] not only
robbed him of his money, but they stripped
him of his raiment, and wounded him, and left him half dead.
While lying in this helpless
condition a certain priest came that way, for many priests lived in Jericho,
and this one may have been returning home from Jerusalem, having finished his
course of service in the temple, and, seeing the wounded man, instead of
practicing what he in a higher degree taught the people out of the law -Thou shalt not see
thy brothers ass or his ox fall down by the way and hide thyself from them;
thou shalt
surely help him to lift them up again;- he passed by on the other side.
Shortly a Levite came to the
same place, and, moved by curiosity alone, he came and looked on him; but,
unmoved by pity, or the requirements of the divine law, he passed by on the other side, leaving him to the mercy of the wild beasts. But a certain Samaritan, a traveller, and
far from home, came where the poor unfortunate Jew lay weltering in his blood,
and when he saw him he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and thus stanching the blood and allaying the
pain of his wounds. Nor
did his kindness and generosity stop here. He placed him on his own beast, and walked
himself by his side to keep him from falling, and to guide the beast, and
brought him to an inn, and there tarried over the night, and tenderly nursed
him. On the morrow, when it became
necessary for him to depart, he paid his score, and advanced a sum (two pence)
for the care of the wounded man until he should return - two denarii, equal to twenty-eight
cents of our money, the price of the pay of a labourer [Page 207] for two
days - and promising to pay on his return all expenses over and above this that might be incurred. Portraying this touching and realistic scene
before the eyes of the lawyer, Christ asked him, Which
one of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? The lawyer promptly answered, He who showed mercy on him. Rightly answered, and thus this Pharisee enunciated
and forever settled the great law of benevolence for all nations and for all times. Says a forcible writer, commenting on this
parable:
It was
not possible for our Lord to take stronger antagonistic elements whereby to
illustrate the fusing power of neighbourly affection than the Jew and the
Samaritan. There existed between the two
people a natural hatred of the most implacable kind. The Samaritans had built on
When, therefore, Jesus selected,
as the representative of that love which He would inculcate, the deeds of a
despised Samaritan, and when He compelled Jewish [Page 208] lips to utter praises to the compassion and
kindness of this alien and stranger to the
commonwealth of Israel, He gave expression, in the most forcible
form possible, to the broad, binding, universal nature of that second table of
the law which He himself had summed up in the command, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
In proof of our statement that
no parable, unless it be that of the hidden leaven, had been more
egregiously martyred - had been so fancifully misinterpreted, and that by the
most learned and sober-minded, matter-of-fact expositors and commentators - than
this simple, realistic of all the parables, they have made the word of God, the
instruction intended to be imparted by this parable, of none effect by their traditions.
From the days of Origen expositors, following his most vicious theory,
to search for a mysterious sense under the plain text, they have quite
generally interpreted this narrative with reference to the fall and recovery of
man. So, following Origen, Luther and
Melancthon treated it; so Dr. Gill, the Baptist commentator; so the great learned
Jones, of Nayland; and even so the sober-minded Trench, in his recent work on
the parables. About this will represent
their views:
The certain man represents Adam, the head representative of the race. The going
down from
Such substance is the ingenious but baneful and trifling interpretation of this
parable by these [Page 210] great minds, which lead us away from the real and manifest
intent of our Lord when He spake this parable, which unquestionably was the elucidation and enforcement of the
second great command, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself, as the universal law of benevolence.
THE
LESSONS OF THIS PARABLE
1. That benevolence is not to be
circumscribed by national boundaries.
The Jews were commanded not to
be familiar with idolatrous nations, lest they should affiliate with them in their
idolatrous practices, and they were enjoined to maintain a perpetual enmity
with Amalek and the seven idolatrous nations of Canaan, whom God had cast out before them, and had devoted to ruin;
but prohibition did not warrant them, as they came to believe, to hate all
mankind, save their own nation, and confine all their intercourse and regard
and love to their own kindred and people.
The Jews being in an especial
manner the chosen people of God, they were required to shun and hate the wicked
ways, and uproot the idolatries of the Canaanites, who were ever seeking to
seduce them from the worship of the true God into their abominable wickedness,
but they interpreted this that they should hate their persons also. While these injunctions were most explicit
and rigorous, yet the laws which God enjoined upon them with respect to
strangers within their gates, and travellers who might pass through their land,
or who came to sojourn among them, were of the most lenient, protective
character.
[Page 211]
Thou
shalt not oppress the stranger, for ye know the
heart of a stranger, seeing ye were once
strangers in the
It has been truly said:
Christianity
knows no geographical boundaries, no treaty limits, no
barriers of language, customs or climes.
It recognizes no distinctions of sex or colour, of estate, of education;
it represents us all of one blood, the offspring of a common father, for to
him is provided one common Redeemer, and before whom lies a common death, a
common judgment, and a common eternity.
The parable teaches us:
2. That our benevolence must not be limited
by our SYMPATHIES.
That those of our own nation,
kindred and faith have the
first claims upon our benevolence, is a matter of our own consciousness, and is
clearly recognized by Christ:
Ye
shall be witnesses unto me [first] in
As we
have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. - Gal. 6: 10.
This parable teaches us:
[Page 212]
3. That we should not limit our benevolence
by our PERSONAL FRIENDSHIPS.
Between the Samaritans and the
Jews there was the most implacable hatred.
There was no social intercourse. The Jews cursed the Samaritans publicly
in the synagogue - declared that he who received one into his house was laying
up curses for his children; would no more eat of their food than they would eat
swines flesh. All this animosity was
fully reciprocated by the Samaritan, who sought in every way to vex and annoy
the Jew. But all this weighed as nothing in the case before us, nor should it
with us in the administration of our benevolence. It is enough for us to know that our
fellow-beings are in want, or perishing for lack of our
assistance. We should, if the children
of light, be actuated by the sublime unselfishness of the
gospel.
Christ, in His sermon on the
mount, reinstated, in clearest light, Gods law, perverted by Talmudic
traditions: Ye have heard that it hath been said
by them of old time [the scribes and Pharisees], Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do
good unto them that hate you, and pray for them
that despitefully use you and persecute you. This sublime morality is not of earth earthy;
it was never conceived by man, and it can never be practiced by one born of the
earth only.
It is related of an Indian
chief, whom David Brainard had taught to read, and to
whom he gave a New Testament, after reading this passage, and walking the room
for some time in deepest thought, he gave the Testament back to the missionary,
shaking his head, [Page 213] saying, This book was never made for Indian. Nor was it made for a Jew, but for Christians
only.
Christ adds the reason for the
exercise of this unselfish God-like spirit, That ye
may be [may show yourselves to be] the children of
your Father who is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust.
I repeat,
this true spirit of love and Christ-like benevolence can be found only in
the hearts of those born of God. It is only as we are imbued with the spirit
and love of Christ that we can love like Christ.
What a great argument for
missions is furnished by this parable, not indeed by a real precept, but by
clear induction.
As the soul is of transcendently more value than the body, and the eternal of more
importance than the temporal, how much weightier the obligations laid upon us to administer to the wants of the soul than of
the body. Shall we imitate the part of
the priest and Levite, and pass by on the other side, and leave our own
countrymen to perish by the wayside without administering to their wants? Shall we refuse to act the part of a
neighbour to perishing nations that are going down to death before our eyes,
unblessed with gospel light and uninvited by the offers of salvation? I see not how he can be a true lover of his
race who refuses to aid in the great missionary work of giving the gospel of
mans salvation to the millions of our race in heathen lands, lying not half dead, but wholly dead, in trespasses and
sins for the want of those means of grace that we have in our power to give
without being [Page 214] impoverished by the giving.
I can not understand how one can have the spirit of Christ, and the heart of Christ, without possessing an
active missionary spirit.
The heart of Christ was a missionary heart. The
spirit of Christ was an intensely missionary
spirit. To be a missionary to this lost world He impoverished Himself. He who
was rich for our sake became poor, that we,
through His poverty, might become rich. To be a missionary to us, who lay helpless and
dying under the curse of Gods violated law, He sacrificed Himself - gave Himself to death - even the death of
the cross - that He might place thrones under our bodies and
crowns upon our brows; and
yet we refuse to give, even
to a sacrifice, to send living preachers and
spirit-speaking Bibles into all the corners of the earth, thus obeying the last
command of our Redeemer: Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Oh, how should the example and love of Christ constrain us!
While I can but condemn the fanciful
interpretation of this parable I have noticed above, yet I am willing to accept
it in one of its aspects as illustrative of the unspeakable love of the Lord
Jesus for us as lost, miserable sinners.
If we admire the conduct of the
Samaritan, infinitely more must we admire the love of Christ. He beheld us robbed of the image of God,
wounded by sin, lying helpless in our fallen humanity; and when we were so dead
in iniquity that we could not help ourselves, when the Patriarchal dispensation
stalked by on the other side and deigned no help; when the Levitical
dispensation came and looked on us through its shadowy [Page 215] ceremonies,
and then, leaving us in our blood, passed by also on the other side; then
Christ came, and, though we were His enemies, He pitied us, bound up, by the
oil and wine of divine grace, our ghastly wounds; Himself bare our infirmities,
took the whole charge of our cure, and healed us - not like the Samaritan, by
giving money from His
scrip, but blood from His heart, riven by the soldiers spear;
blood from His head, drawn out by His acanthine crown; blood from His hands and
feet, started by the spikes of the accursed tree; and by this precious
blood-shedding He obtained for us relief from our enemies, spiritual health
here, and life eternal beyond the grave.
Oh, for such love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break!
And all harmonious human tongues
Our Saviours praises speak.
Angels, assist our mighty joys
Strike all your harps of gold!
But when you reach your highest notes,
His love can neer be told.
* * *
[Page 216]
CHAPTER 24
THE RICH
MAN AND LAZARUS*
(HISTORICAL)
* It is denied by some that this is a parable, since names are
not given in parabolic instruction.
In Middle Life I have treated it as a
historical statement; used it in refuting spiritism.
THERE was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen,
and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a
certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his
gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the
rich mans table: moreover the dogs come and
licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was
carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom: the
rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of
his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in
they life-time receivedst thy good things, and
likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is
comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you can not - neither can they pass to us that would come from hence. Then he said, I pray you therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my fathers house: for I have five brethren; that
he may testify unto them, lest they also come
into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets;
let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, Father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. - Luke 16: 19-31.
It is, in one respect, the most
remarkable of all the parables. It draws
the veil and gives us a clear view of the state of the just and the wicked
dead, between death and resurrection.
It answers those ever-present
questions, which we can not dismiss, and which are proper for us to know:-
1. Do
the righteous and the wicked go to their eternal rewards
when they leave their bodies here?
2. Are
they in a state of consciousness?
3. Will
they recognize those they knew here?
4. Can
they communicate with each other?
5. Will
the good and evil done here enhance their happiness or misery
in the intermediate state?
6. Can
disembodied souls return to earth and communicate with the living?
7. The
nature of the punishment suffered by the wicked? etc.
It is urged that it is only a parable, an allegory - something only
supposed. The force of the parable is
not broken by this, for, in this case, it teaches what
may be. We can not conceive that Christ
built a parable upon a falsehood. More than any other parable - if this indeed
be one - this comes to us as a plain narration of past facts, and by some
authors it is claimed as a plain statement of facts that had transpired. Be it parable or narrative, it is to us a
divine revelation of what has and will transpire in the intermediate state in like
circumstances.
It presents to our consideration
six extremes:-
The two
extremes of life,
The two
extremes of death, and
The two
extremes of existence beyond the grave.
Each of these are
acts in the parabolic drama. The [Page 218]
characters are a supremely selfish rich man, and an extremely poor man (an afflicted beggar),
angels, the sainted Abraham. The scenes
are laid on earth and in hades.
From a consideration and
examination of these several acts and characters, let us learn the scope of
this parable.
1. The two extremes of life - an extremely selfish rich man and
an extremely afflicted poor man.
Nothing could better indicate
the formers great wealth and splendour than the statement that he was clothed in purple, a
luxury that kings and the very rich alone could indulge in. Robes
of purple were very costly, because of the scarcity of the shell-fish (musex trunculus),
from which the Tyrians obtained their celebrated purple dye, or from the
rareness of the purpura,
from which, according to Pliny, the Phoenicians extracted their rich varieties
of purple. (Dr Stevens.) The very
rich and the favourites in the courts of kings and princes are often termed by
Cicero and Livy purpurati. But only the very rich could afford to wear tunics,
or undervests, of fine linen, which was of so soft a texture as to cost its
weight in gold. Nothing could better
indicate the magnificence and costliness of his attire. One more circumstance is mentioned in proof
of his extreme wealth - He fared sumptuously every day.
He not only dressed royally, but fared sumptuously: not occasionally,
but every day. His whole life was one
round of extravagant luxury and sensuous pleasure, having all or more than
heart could wish. His house was, no
doubt, a palace, and furnished in a manner to correspond with his dress and his
table. All that worldly [Page 219] men ever
possessed or wished of gorgeous splendour and luxury he possessed. But his name is not given.
2. The
other extreme of life.
There was an extremely poor
man. He was not only a beggar, but he
was extremely afflicted with a loathsome disease. His name was Lazarus, signifying, in Hebrew,
a helpless person, or from a word signifying God is my helper. (The name of the rich man is not even
given.) This man was extremely
friendless. He had no one to give him a
home, or even a shelter or a crumb of bread.
Some one or ones were known
though, perhaps (and to escape his further beggary), to bring and lay him at
the rich mans gate, where he begged, not to be taken into his house, or to the
rich mans table, but only for the crumbs, or pieces of meat, and broken bread,
which fell from the rich mans table - the refuse accustomed to be swept out to
the dogs of the street (Matt 15: 27); moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
Can we imagine a condition of
life more wretched - without a house, or shelter from the heated summer or the
extreme cold of winter, without food or clothing, degraded, wallowed with the
dogs of the street, afflicted with a painful and disgusting disease, and, to
crown all, without aid, or one to sympathise with him? Can one imagine a condition more extremely
wretched and degraded?
The next
scene shows an advance.
THEIR
RESPECTIVE DEATHS
It came to pass that the beggar
died. He doubtless starved to
death. It is not intimated that the rich
[Page 220] man even
allowed him the food of the dogs, for which alone he begged. He was doubtless coffined in his filthy rags by
the public scavengers, and buried into the potters field, and no one missed
him, save, perhaps, the dogs at the rich mans gate. But this was not all connected with his
death. It may have been at the midnight
hour, and his requiem the cold, bleak and stormy winds; but it was not dark to
his eyes; nor was his pillow hard, although a bit of stone.
The Father sent a convoy of
angels from His throne for His child, and they took his head upon their arms
and sang their sweetest songs as his soul left its tenement [i.e., dwelling-house], and he was not merely accompanied, but
carried, by the angels and laid in Abrahams bosom.
How extremely glorious was the
death of the child of God, and his reception among the nobility of heaven [in the underworld of Hades*]! But the rich man also
died. Death is no respecter of
persons. He blends the sceptre and the
spade, and knocks with equal force and pace at the gates of the palace and the
hovels of the poor. He died in his glorious palace in the
midst of his officers, attendants and physicians, and was buried with every
insignia of courtly pomp and splendour, borne and laid in a costly tomb. But was this all connected with the rich
mans death? If heavenly angels of light
hover over the bed of the good man, receive and, amid light and songs carry
their souls to the
realm of rest, is it unreasonable to conclude that the dying hours of wicked men are made dreadful by
the presence of angels of darkness sent to convey their departing souls into
the darkness of [millennial** and] eternal death? The dying statements of hundreds of both good
and bad men warrant us in believing this.
[* See Psa. 16: 10a. cf.
Acts 2: 34, R.V. ** See Num. 16:
26. cf. 1 Cor. 5: 13, R.V.]
[Page 221]
The curtain that hides the world
of disembodied souls from our view, and the future with its unchangeable
conditions, is opened, and the rich man and Lazarus are again presented to our
view. But how changed their conditions! We see in their case -
3. The two extremes of existence beyond
the grave. Where now is the rich
man?
In
hades, being in torments; and he lifted up his eyes and sees Abraham a great way off,
and Lazarus (en tois kloptois)
in the folds of his mantle, and, crying out, he said, Father Abraham,
pity me, and send
Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son,
remember that thou in thy life didst receive thy good
things, and Lazarus in like manner his evil
things; but now here he is comforted and thou
art tormented.
THEIR
CONDITION AFTER DEATH
And the
rich man also died, and was buried; and in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments; and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. - Luke
16: 22, 23.
They were both in hades, but the
beggar highly honoured and comforted, and the rich man degraded and tormented.
To understand the true intent and
scope of this parable we must understand what place is meant by hades. It is evident that
it can not be heaven, or the
rich man would not have been in torments; nor can it mean hell - the lake of
fire, the place of final punishment - or Abraham would not have been there, or
the [Page 222] beggar comforted. From this we learn that it is a place into
which the spirits* of both good and wicked pass after death, and abide for a
season at least.
[* NOTE. The
word spirits here, must be distinguished from
our animating (life-giving) spirit, which will
return to God at the time of Death. Luke 23: 46. cf.
Acts 7: 59;
Luke 8: 55,
etc.
It must therefore be understood
in the sense shown in Num. 14: 24: But my servant Caleb, because
he had another spirit with him, and hath
followed be fully, him will I bring into
the land. Compare this with
Christian behaviour described in 1 Cor. ch.
5 and the Apostles command: Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, that the spirit may be saved -
(i.e., given to realise what will be
lost) in the day of the Lord Jesus. See Heb. 12: 17. ]
Let us now inquire for the
classical meaning of the word itself, and the sense in which it is used in the Sacred
Scriptures, and universally understood by the Jews.
Let us
then ascertain the meaning and use of the term hades in the Old and New
Testaments.
The translator and editor of the
Emphatic Diaglott gives this
extended note on Hell and Hades:
Hades occurs
eleven times in the Greek Testament, and is improperly translated in the Common
Version ten times by the word HELL. It is the word used in the Septuagint as a
translation of the Hebrew word Sheol, denoting the abode or world of the dead,
and means, literally, that which is in
darkness, hidden, invisible, or obscure. As the word Hades did not come to the Hebrew from any classical source, or with
any classical meanings, but through the Septuagint as a translation of their
own word sheol,
therefore, in order to properly define its meaning, recourse must be had to the
various passages where it is found. The
Hebrew word sheol is translated by hades in the Septuagint sixty times out
of sixty-three; and though sheol in
many places - such as Gen. 35: 35, 42: 38; 1 Sam 2: 7; 1 Kings 2: 6; Job 14: 13, 17: 13-16 - may signify keber, the grave, as the common receptacle of the [bodies
of the]
dead, yet it has the more general
meaning of death -a state of death, the dominion of death. To translate hades by the word hell,
as it is done ten times out of eleven in the New Testament, is very improper, unless it has the Saxon
meaning helan,
to cover, attached to it. The primitive signification of Hell, only
denoting what was secret, or concealed, perfectly corresponds with the Greek
term hades, and its Hebrew
equivalent sheol;
but the theological [Page 223] definition given to it at the present day by no
means expresses it.
Dr Seiss, doubtless the ablest expounder
of the Book of Revelation that has written in this country or this age, says on
Hades in Revelation:
There is a word used sixty-five times in the
original Hebrew of the Old Testament which our English translators in
thirty-one instances render hell, in thirty-one instances grave, and in three
instances the pit.
That word is Sheol, uniformly rendered Hades in the
Greek of the Old Testament, and wherever the New Testament quotes the passages
in which it occurs. By common consent
the Greek word hades is the exact
equivalent of the Hebrew sheol. It occurs eleven times in the New Testament,
and always in the same sense as the Old Testament SHEOL.
To all intents and purposes, therefore, sheol and hades denote one and the same thing. But sheol or hades is
never used to denote the hell of final punishment. Neither is it used to denote the mere
receptacle of the body after death - the grave.
Nor yet is it ever used to denote the mere state of being dead as to the
body, and still less to denote the pit or abyss, as such.
A careful inventory of all the passages
conclusively proves that sheol or hades is the name of a place in the unseen world, altogether distinct from the hell of final
punishment, or the heaven of final
glory. Its true and ONLY MEANING is the place of departed spirits* - the receptacle of souls which have left the body. To this place all departed souls, good and
bad went. In it there was a department for
the good - called paradise by the Saviour on the cross - and another department
for the bad. Thus, both the rich man and
Lazarus went to hades when they
died; for the word is in hades he lifted up his eyes, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. Lazarus
was then, too, in hades, as well as [Page 224] Abraham, and the only difference between them and
Dives was, that the good were separated from the bad by an impassable gulf, and
that Lazarus was comforted and Dives tormented.
[* NOTE. Here the word spirits
refers to angelic creatures. It is
important to keep this fact in mind as both disembodied souls and angelic creatures are never
synonymous. Jesus says we are to be like angels after
resurrection: Those accounted worthy to obtain to that
age
(the millennium), and the resurrection out of dead ones,
neither marry, nor are
given in marriage, for they can die no more
(because being) like angels they are sons of the God, (and) of the
resurrection sons being. (Luke 20: 35, 36, Lit. Greek.)]
So the dying Saviour told the penitent malefactor
that they would yet that day be together in paradise; that is, in the more
favourable part of Hades. There they were neither in heaven proper nor
in Hell proper, but simply in hades.
To this hades all departed souls went - the good with the good and the
bad with the bad. There was comfort
there for the pious, and privation and torment for the wicked; and they of the
one part could not pass over to the other part, but still they could see and
converse with each other, and none of them were yet in their final happiness or
misery.
That
this is the proper meaning of hades, since
it accords with all the other teachings of the word of God, and will readily
occur to the thoughtful reader of the Sacred Scriptures.
Abraham and the patriarchs at
their death went to sheol, which is the same with hades. Now, if hades means hell, the lake of fire and
brimstone, from which there is no escape, then he and all the righteous dead of
the Old Testament are to-day in the lake of fire! But Christ, while His body was in the
sepulchre, went to hades and
preached to the spirits in that place of safe-keeping: My which also He (Christ) went and preached unto the spirits* in prison. (1 Peter 3:
19.)
But He was not left there: Thou
wilt not leave My soul in hades, etc. (Acts 2:
27).
Will any one say that Christ went into the lake of fire and brimstone -
which is the second death - and preached to spirits there?
[* Who were these spirits? We are not told. Could this be a reference to those born from
the sons of God taking wives of all they chose (i.e., fallen angels, leaving their first estate): the result being
the Nephilim (or Giants)
who were destroyed by the Flood? See Gen. 6: 2, 4.]
He said to the dying thief, To-day shalt thou be [Page 225] with me in
If
This passage, and 2 Cor. 12:
2, 4, and Rev. 2: 7, are the ones confidently urged by some in support of the
idea that paradise and heaven, the abode of God, are synonymous terms, and one
and the same place.
Let us give these passages a
moments attention.
I knew
a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether
in the body, I can not tell; or whether out of the body, I
can not tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the
third heaven.
How that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which is
not lawful for a man to utter. - 2 Cor. 12: 2, 4.
Paul distinctly tells us that he
had dad visions and revelations - more
than one vision - and he describes two of them.
The first was of his being caught up into the third heaven, the
highest heaven, and the understood dwelling place of God. Of what he saw and heard he says nothing -
does not even intimate that he heard anything in this vision. But not seeing the souls of the patriarchs, prophets
and saints, was [Page 226] doubtless the reason a second vision, distinct from the first
one, was given him; and this he says: And I
knew such a man, etc., how that he was caught
up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Here we know he saw the soul of Lazarus, and
of the thief, and of Abraham, and of all the righteous dead, but he was not
allowed to reveal what he heard. His
statement is proof conclusive that paradise and heaven are two separate and
distinct places. If one and the same,
why was Paul twice
caught up? What is the
necessity of two visions?
He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches; To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. - Rev. 2: 7.
This is a highly figurative
passage, and its figures are founded upon a mans condition in the first
age. He was placed in an earthly
paradise, especially prepared for him, in which was a tree of life, of which he
was permitted to eat and live.
But all this he forfeited, and
lost, and from this earthly paradise he was driven forth, and forbidden to eat
of the tree of life, and left to die.
Now this promise of Christ looks forward to the time when this entire
earth, defaced and wicked by sin, shall be restored and made one glorious
paradise indeed - the paradise of God, for He will dwell in it with His people,
and in it will be the tree of life - Christ, the Redeemed - of which its
glorious and glorified inhabitants may eat, by being made partakers of His
life, and live forever. (See Rev. 20. & 21., where this promise
is to be literally fulfilled upon this earth, after it shall have [Page 227] been
renewed and become the beautiful abode of Christ and His bride - His redeemed
people.) This passage, therefore,
sustains instead of militates against my position.
The view of hades and intermediate state I
have here presented, is supported by a consensus of all Greek writers, and
of all the ancient Christian fathers, and the latest and best scholarship of
this century. The English and American
revisers agree in rejecting hell as the
proper translation of hades, and in
no instance have they translated paradiseos heaven.
The true meaning of hades, then,
is the place of disembodied [human souls and angelic] spirits, the world of [both souls and] spirits, both good and bad.
The ancient Hebrews and the Jews in Christs day and the Greeks so
understood. That part of hades occupied
by the righteous alone they called paradise, and far separated from this was
the abode of the wicked.*
* Any one wishing to see this question more fully discussed, I
refer him to The Bible Doctrine of the Middle Life,
price seventy-five cents; and to The Intermediate
State of the Dead, by Dr. Hovey, price
one dollar: Baptist Book House,
This is the most remarkable of
all parables, as well as the most interesting.
It is as a door opened into the Just
Beyond, through which we may look and see the state of all
disembodied [souls and angelic] spirits between death and the resurrection.
While in this parable we learn
the condition and restful enjoyments of all saints in the period between death
and the resurrection of their bodies, we can even find this knowledge
supplemented by a revelation of the condition and employments of the saints
during the entire period from the time of their resurrection and the
translation of the living, watchful and worthy until the final judgment. This knowledge we must believe, although not
enough to satisfy our curiosity, is certainly enough for our profit.
To attempt to force an insight
into the secret things of God is as the sin of witchcraft and rebellion.
Let us
now consider what we undoubtedly learn from this parable:
1. That there is an intermediate
abode occupied by all
disembodied souls between death and resurrection, and that this place is called
by the Holy Spirit, which inspired the writers of the New Testament, hades (and, as we have seen by the
writers of the Old Testament, sheol),
meaning neither hell nor heaven, but simply the unseen, the world of
departed spirits, irrespective of character.
2. That in this abode the souls
of the righteous are gathered to the good alone, in a delightful part of hades called paradise, and by
the Jews known as Abrahams bosom, while
the souls of the wicked are gathered to their own place and company, far
separated from the righteous in a state of great anguish.
3 That
4. That
5. That hades is not purgatory, since no one can ever
pass from it to the abode of the blest.
6. That hades is not hell, since it is ultimately to be
cast into hell. Where hades is, in which
paradise is located, as the first paradise or garden of the Lord was in
7. That disembodied [souls and] spirits
are ever in a conscious
state. (a) From the place itself,
paradise means a park, or garden, of delights.
The paradise God made in
The rich
man was conscious of the torment he suffered.
We can not predicate torment, suffering or unhappiness of an
unconsciousness, which is but another word for nonentity - NOTHINGNESS! Lazarus was both honoured and comforted, and, therefore, must have
possessed a conscious existence. It was
the spirit* [Page 230]
designated the Rich Man, that
enjoyed and suffered, for the bodies of these persons were in their graves, and
the bodies of the living, no more than the dead, can be said to enjoy or
suffer.
* It is our spirits here that enjoy pleasure and
suffering pain, and not our material bodies.
Matter, organized or unorganized, can not suffer. Sentience
alone can suffer and enjoy. How say some
that Christs body alone suffered!
We Learn
-
8. In paradise all Christians,
like Lazarus, will not only be honoured and comforted, but they will rest from all the toils, woes and
anxieties of mortal life, although they will not be in a state of absolute satisfaction and fruition of enjoyment, but of rest - sweet rest of the soul. David is today in paradise, where Abraham and
Lazarus are; but he is not perfectly happy - satisfied. He declared that he
would not be satisfied until he awoke in the likeness of his Christly Lord; nor
will any other saint. But this will only
be at the resurrection of the just.
David then, is not in heaven; and
paradise, therefore, is not heaven itself!
9. We
learn -
That
paradise will not only be a place of such surpassing beauty and loveliness as
to ravish the soul, and of sweetest rest from
lifes distracting anxieties, toils, and woes, but also a place where our souls
will enjoy the most delightful companionship and personal and spiritual associations that
earth or heaven can afford. For -
10. We shall carry with us all our
affinities and memories into the future life.
Since our memories and
affinities are essential parts of ourselves, we can not conceive of ourselves
as existing dispossessed of them any more than without our personal
consciousness. Therefore, where the word
of God is silent upon this, we would know that if we enjoyed a conscious
existence after death we would [Page 231] know that we shall carry our memories and affinities with
us. All we have known and loved in this
life we shall recognize and love in our disembodied life. We have only to refer to our text.
The rich man, from the far-off
abode of the wicked, not only recognized the one resting in the bosom of
Abraham as the hapless beggar that starved unpitied at his gate, but he
instinctively knew Abraham. That Dives
was in the full exercise of his memory, we learn from the answer of Abraham: Son, remember that thou in thy life-time
receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus his evil things. Here he is comforted
and thou art in anguish.
That the rich man was still
possessed of his natural
affinities, we learn from his intense anxiety for the personal welfare
of his five brethren above that of all others.
In the full exercise of our
memories and affinities, how unspeakably delightful must our associations - our
social and spiritual enjoyments - be in paradise!
Lazarus was in intimate
companionship with Abraham, the spiritual father and representative of the
saints of all ages. If
with Abraham, then with Adam and Abel and Seth and Enoch and Noah. From these he could learn circumstantially
the history of the worlds creation, of the beauties of the first paradise of
God, the particulars of the fall, of the ruin, of the closing scenes of the
dread deluge. What shall I say of the
long communions with all that cloud of faithful witnesses referred to by the
Paul in Hebrews 11, and what of the longer list,
were it but made out, reaching from the days of
John the Baptist until now?
Would an age be sufficient to satisfy us with the companionship of Paul?
[Page 232] What
shall I say of the intimate associations with our own sainted relatives? What of the sweet communing with those tried
and faithful ministers and brethren with whom we have laboured and won signal
victories for Christ and His truth over sin and error here? What shall I say of our bliss enhanced by the
fruitage of our labours that will follow, on and on, as the years of time roll
by, until our redemption is fully accomplished by the coming of Christ, and our
glorification with Him? In addition to
all this, can we doubt for a moment that Christ, who walked at the cool
eventide in the first paradise, and conversed with its sinless occupants, does
not often visit and gladden the souls of his waiting saints in paradise
now? So often is he with them, that
Paul, referring to their condition, calls it being
present with the Lord. (Psalm 139: 8).
Could not this be said of our first parents, while they abode in
innocence, that they enjoyed the very presence of the Lord?
The wife speaks of her husband
as at home with her, although he attends his regular business, at his office
during business hours, and is only by her side, and immediately wioth his family, enlivening the hearth-stone, when the
business of the day is over.
11. We
learn that the good can not, if they would, administer to the comfort of the
lost.
It is a
fundamental article in the faith of Spiritualists that the good in the future state
are constantly employed in ameliorating the condition of the bad - those
spirits who were wicked in life, and are therefore occupying a far lower plane
of existence and enjoyment in the future life.
12. From this we learn that all
that we can do [Page 223] for the spiritual good of others, we must do in this life;
that with all our toils and prayers for others forever cease, both with respect
to the living and the dead.
13. We learn that the good souls
can not pass out of paradise to succour the self-ruined souls in hades, much
less do they pass out of paradise and hades to instruct* or comfort the living on this
earth. David
recognized the fact that his child could not return to him in any capacity,
and, therefore, we know that no good soul will return to instruct or comfort
the living.
[* Samuel the prophet of God, being a notable exception. - 1 Sam. 28: 8-20.]
14. From
this parable we also learn the conditions that govern the souls of wicked men
in Hades.
That they are far separated from
the righteous. Not only are the
saints guarded from intrusion on the part of evil spirits (the devil and his
angels) from without - so that they cannot enter to tempt and trouble, as they
do the righteous here - but the spirits [and
souls] of bad men are not allowed to
enter the peaceful rest of paradise, or to come near. Were they permitted to do so,
the wicked there could disturb the repose and enjoyment of the friends of Jesus
as they do here. Blessed
rest, indeed, where emphatically the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.
If the
spirits in Hades cannot trouble the just, much less can the living on earth
trouble them by bringing them down into sιances at their pleasure.
15. We learn that the wicked in the
world of despair do not wish the companionship of their wicked friends and
relatives. We can not conceive that such
companionship would in the least alleviate their [Page 234] sufferings, but we can conceive how such
association would immeasurably intensify them, and especially if, as it
doubtless was in the case of the rich man, their example and influence in this
life had encouraged them in a course of sin and rejection of God and salvation.
16. We learn that if lost souls
could return to this earth and communicate with the living they would do so, to
induce them to
believe the Bible, forsake sin and return to God and be saved.
17. If Dives could have returned
to earth, and, through any conceivable way - in spirit form and by spirit
voice, or by the voice of an earthly
medium - have communicated with his brethren, would he not have done
so? We are bound to answer this in the
affirmative. But he had not returned,
and did not return, and, therefore, it is conclusive that he could not do so. We learn -
18. If Dives could not return to earth to communicate with the living, no disembodied spirit ever did or ever can
do so. They are in prison,
under guard. The gates of hades are locked upon them, as well
as upon the righteous; neither can they depart thence until He who has the key
of hades opens
and brings them forth to glory or to shame.
But then there is this difference between the righteous and the wicked:
the former desire not to go forth to be again troubled and worn, tempted or distressed
by the wicked without, and though the wicked would escape they can not.
19. We learn also that if Dives could have returned and
communicated with his brethren, he would have told them that
there is an endless
hell - [Page 235] a state of indescribable misery and anguish like to being tormented in flames - and have warned them if they lived on as
he had lived, they would come to the same awful punishment. But spirits (?) controlled by mediums do not
so testify, but that all are comfortably happy, and daily becoming more
so. Therefore, we are justifiable in
concluding that a leave of absence has never yet been granted to a disembodied
spirit.
All
communications that have been claimed as coming from the spirits of the dead,
whether good or bad, are spurious.
20. Our conduct in this life will
immeasurably enhance our joys or our wretchedness in the life to come.
We also
learn -
21. The nature of the
punishment suffered by the wicked in hades - the fires unquenchable, that will
torment, will be those they have kindled here. The remorseful
memories of his conduct in this life, not so much, perhaps, for what he had
done - for it is not intimated that he was an outbreaking sinner - but of what
he had neglected to do, were the scorpion stings that lacerated his soul as
flames of real fire would torment the body.
The anguish of remorse, begloomed by the total and everlasting eclipse
of all hope, is all a deathless spirit can suffer.
We learn -
22. That our relationship to a
pious ancestry, or Christian parents, will neither secure our salvation nor
mitigate our wretchedness and anguish if lost, but will doubtless enhance.
Better a thousand times to have
lived and died a heathen, and never to have heard a prayer or heard a [Page 236] sermon,
than to have heard the gospel and rejected it, and to have been blessed with
the instruction and prayers of Christian parents and have despised them.
Let the case of the rich man be
a warning to the children of Christian parents.
He believed that he would
be saved because he was the son of righteous Abraham.
* *
*
[Page 237]
PART 2
ESCHATOLOGICAL PARABLES
1
THE TEN VIRGINS
2
THE ENTRUSTED TALENTS
3
THE ENTRUSTED POUNDS
4
THE
BLADE, THE EAR, AND THE FULL CORN
5
THE NET
6
THE
JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
(A
PROPHECY)
[Page 238 blank.
Page 239]
CHAPTER 25
REMARKS
INTRODUCTORY TO THE ESCHATOLOGICAL PARABLES
THESE (see preceding page) will complete the Expositions of the
Parables and Prophecies of Christ. I call
them Eschatological, because they find their interpretations in events
connected with the last
times of this
dispensation, and the second coming of Christ, which grand event will prepare
the way for, and introduce, the millennium.
These parables can be readily understood only by those who hold
Scriptural views of Eschatology, or the
doctrine of the last things.
All orthodox Christian writers,
from the first century down, have held and taught, and all living orthodox
writers do now hold and teach, that there is to be a second coming of Christ;
but they are divided upon the manner and the time of it:
1. Whether it will be a bodily and visible or a spiritual coming; and
2. Whether it will be pre- or post-millennial
- i.e. whether it will take place before or subsequent
to the
conversion of the whole world, or the millennial age.
Those
holding the former view are known and called Pre-millennialists, or Literalists; those holding the
latter, Post-millennialists, or Spiritualists.*
[* NOTE. Since this book was first
published, another group of Spiritualists
have emerged known as A-millennialists. The A
denotes Anti or Against all millennial teachings. This amazing feat of prophetical deception is
being achieved today by the same spiritualizing method used by the Spiritualists to undermine Gods unfulfilled
prophecies, which can only be literally fulfilled during the coming Age - the six times mentioned: thousand years (Rev.
20: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).]
But the four parables to be
explained [Page 240]
unquestionably proceed upon the admitted fact that the coming of Christ will be
a visible and instantaneous event; For, said Christ, as
the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth unto the west, so the parousia [presence]
of the Son of Man will be, which
means the bodily coming of Christ.
All these parables expressly
teach that His coming will be sudden and at any moment, the day and the hour
being unrevealed. As suddenly and
unexpectedly as came the flood upon the world, Christ taught His coming will
be:
But as
the days of Noe were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood
they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and
knew not until the flood came, and took them all
away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man
be. Then
shall two be in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other left. Two women shall be
grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman
of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and
would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such
an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. -Matt. 24: 37-44.
This teaching is emphatically
opposed to the idea that the gradual conversion of the world is the coming of
Christ, and the entire conversion of the world is His parousia - His presence - and the millennium. Has Christ been coming since John preached
his first sermon - two thousand years?
The emphatic lesson of each of
these four parables, also, is that only those servants will receive the chief
honours and highest rewards who are ready, watchful [Page 241] and in earnest, prayerful expectancy of His
coming: otherwise they will be left to live on and suffer the terrible ills and
tribulations that await all who remain on the earth until the close of this
dispensation, while the ready, faithful and watchful servants only will be
taken away from the evils to come - caught
up, without seeing death, to meet the coming Lord in the air:
Then we
that are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. - 1 Thess. 4: 17.*
[* NOTE. See
also Luke 21: 34-36 and Rev. 3: 10, R.V.
These texts (and their contexts) indicate a pre-tribulation rapture of reward
by living saints, shown as conditional. Whereas the rapture mentioned by Mr. Graves
(in 1 Thess. 4: 17), appears
to take place after the Great Tribulation, (for those who will be left unto the presence
of the Lord i.e., left after
others had previously been removed via rapture): and after the resurrection out of dead ones Phil. 3: 11, Gk. See
also Luke 14: 14;
20: 35; Heb. 11: 35b, etc. R.V. Both are selective; and both depend upon an
undisclosed standard of ones personal righteousness, - Except your righteousness shall exceed
(Matt. 5: 20; 7: 21, R.V.).]
These four parables, as well as
this last prophecy, of Christ proceed upon the assumed fact that the second
coming of Christ will take place before the conversion of the world, or the
millennium.
The reader must see that it is not until after His coming
that He judges and utterly destroys these wicked nations from the face of the
earth; and by reference to Revelations 19: 19-20 it will
be seen that it is after
His coming that he crushes the anti-Christian confederacies and wicked
potencies of earth, and casts the beast and false prophet, who inspire and
direct their rebellious assault, into the lake
of fire. It is then, and not till then,
by His righteous judgments, He rids the earth of the wicked, as the chaff is
separated and driven away from the wheat, by the wind, on the summer threshing
floor:
Whose
fan is in His hand; and he shall thoroughly
purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the
garner; but He will burn up the chaff in
unquenchable fire.
If the
world will be converted to Christ before the end
of the world (of this age), not only the [Page 242] above four, but several of the principal,
parables, as those of The Tares and of The Drag-net, will be made worse than
meaningless - be made to flatly contradict all the Scriptures that have an
admitted reference to the state of the world at His coming.
Notice, it was not until after
the bridegroom had returned that the foolish virgins became aware of their
un-preparedness to meet him. It was not
until after the nobleman returned
that he summoned before him his enemies and destroyed them. It
was until the harvest, the very end of the
dispensation [this evil age], that
the tares grew rankly among the wheat, and not until then were
they gathered out and burned - not converted. It was not until
the same time that the drag-net was hauled to the shore and the bad fishes separated
from the good.
To teach that the world will be
converted before Christs coming, is to teach that the chaff and the tares are
not to be burned, but will be converted into wheat; and that the bad fishes in
the net will not be thrown away, but converted into good ones.
These parables and the whole
eschatological teachings of our Sacred Scriptures can be interpreted
consistently with themselves only upon the admitted fact that Christs coming
is to be personal and visible, and before the conversion of the world and the millennial age.
Another fact must be admitted if
we would understand these parables that remain to be considered: viz., that the
second coming of Christ will be in two stages, and that there will be a short period or rest between them.
He will come into the air,
unseen by mortal eye, [Page 243] to gather unto Himself, from the earth, all His faithful and
true witnesses - His ready and watchful servants, His overcomers (see Rev. 3: 4-5) - to be
His bride, preparatory to the marriage and her enthronement with Him, to reign
with Him over the nations.
Only those eminent saints who are ready and watching to receive Him will constitute
His bride, and will be the Lambs wife.
* * *
CHAPTER 26
THE TEN
VIRGINS
PARABLE
THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten
virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were
wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish
took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there
was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye
out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not
so; lest there be not enough for us and you:
but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they
that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and
said, Verily, I
say unto you, I know you not. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. - Matt. 25: 1-13.
This has been pronounced the
most graphic and touchingly beautiful and impressive of all our Lords
parables. No one, perhaps, has received more attention from expositors and
commentators from the days of Augustine and Luther down to the present. Dr. Seiss, who himself has devoted an entire
book to its explanation, says of it:
Books
and commentators for its explanation are not few. It seems to me, however, that it is not
understood as it ought to be. It touches
upon fields of doctrine, experience and hope, concerning which the popular mind needs more instruction than it
receives.
While it is true that the
popular mind has not received the amount of instruction it needs, it is equally
true that it has not received the character of instruction it needs, not only
upon this parable, but upon its companions - i.e. those of The Talents, The Pounds, and The Judgment of the
Nations. Commentators and expositors
widely disagree among themselves in their interpretations, and the result is
natural - the popular mind is left in a confused and inquiring attitude,
looking earnestly for interpretations that will at least convey important
truths and harmonize with the other teachings of Gods word.
It is the fixed conviction of
the writer that to do this they must be interpreted dispensationally, and in strict
connection with the time and events connected
with the second coming of Christ to receive His bride, and her favoured
companions, preparatory to her marriage and introduction into the beautiful
habitation of the Bridegroom, which shall have been prepared for her everlasting
and glorious abode, according to His promise.
This is the work I have
undertaken in great weakness, and a felt disqualification to
accomplish; but, in the language of another, Should
I even fail to establish the conclusions which the terms and implications of
the parable appear to me to require, the cause of truth may nevertheless be the
gainer by the reopening of the
questions involved, and a resurvey of the field.
[Page 246]
This is the first of the last
three and most remarkable parables which Jesus spake to His disciples as His
feet pressed for the last time the brow of Mount Olivet, where for so many ages
above all other places piety had felt itself nearer to heaven. As these were His last teachings, so their main
scope had
exclusive reference to the last
events, in which, at the
end of the ages, His [coming millennial] kingdom will find its long promised and glorious consummation.
This
parable, unlike any other, is introduced by then, clearly
implying that the kingdom of heaven is not now, and never has been, but is only at some future time, to be
likened unto ten virgins, and that time is clearly designated - i.e. when the Son of Man cometh, then
will the events that will take place
in connection with His coming be like unto those related in this parable, which
is built upon the ordinary circumstances and events connected with a wedding
scene not uncommon among the Jews, and still not unfrequent in Oriental
countries.
An eye-witness of a Hindoo marriage
gives the following illustration of this custom:
The
bride lived at Serampore, to which place the bridegroom was to come by
water. After waiting two or three hours,
at length, near midnight, it was announced in the very words of Scripture, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye
out to meet him. All the persons
employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their hands to fill up
their stations in the procession. Some
of them had lost their lights, and were unprepared, but it was then too late to
seek them, and the cavalcade moved forward to the house of the bride, at which
place the company entered a large and splendidly-illuminated area before the
house, covered with an warning, where a great multitude of [Page 247] friends, dressed in their best apparel, were seated upon mats. The bridegroom was carried in the arms of a
friend, and placed in a superb seat in the midst of the company, where he sat a
short time, and then went into the house, the door of which was immediately
shut and guarded by sepoys. I and others
expostulated with the door-keepers, but in vain. Never was I so struck with our
Lords beautiful parable as at this moment.
And the door was shut.
The principal features designed,
I think, to convey specific instruction to His disciples, then and to the end
of the age, are:
1. The
Bridegroom.
2. His
coming.
3. The
time and the manner of it.
4. The
bride.
5. Her
virgin companions.
6. The
guests of the marriage supper.
7. The
class or classes of persons represented by these virgins -
the five provident - the five unwise or improvident.
8. What
is implied by the door being shut,
and the
expression, I know you not?
9. What
constituted the punishment of their improvidence?
1. That the bridegroom represents Christ all interpreters are
agreed. David, Solomon, Isaiah and John
the Baptist, and the apostles, all refer to Him as the Bridegroom of His chaste
and pure bride, to whom He is now betrothed, and for His marriage to her the day is
fixed in the Councils of Eternity.
2. His Coming; about
this, both as to the time and manner of it, there is a wide diversity of views.
(1). It can not be the
destruction by war of some [Page 248] important city, as Jerusalem, Babylon or Rome, as many teach,
since in no sense can their destruction be thought of as the joyous coming of
the Bridegroom to receive His bride, preparatory to the marriage ceremony and
the feasting.
His
coming as a Bridegroom is spoken of as a
coming event, long after these cities had been destroyed.
(2). Nor
can it be interpreted of the descent of the Holy Spirit, or of a spiritual
coming or presence of Christ, for in this sense He has ever been with His
people.
(3). Nor
can it be interpreted of that providential event to which all are subject -
death. Death is not a glorious, loving
bridegroom, for whose coming the bride (Christians) wait, and hope, and pray
for, in loving and impatient expectancy.
Death is, throughout the Sacred Scriptures, represented as the enemy of
our race, from whose approach we shrink and recoil. Nor is the language consistent, applied to
any one of these events Behold (a
joyous exclamation) the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet
him!
This Coming of the Bridegroom
unquestionably refers to the second, personal, bodily, visible, coming of
Christ to gather unto himself His elect, choice and eminently
faithful saints,
whom He will honour before His Father and the holy angels, the world and the universe,
by making them His bride - the Lambs wife. His first coming was in two stages. For thirty years He was present, yet
unrecognized by the world, and even by His relatives and His own harbinger, John,
while He was gathering and preparing a people for Him; but at His baptism He
was bodily [Page 249] and gloriously manifested to Israel by the opening of the
heavens, the voice of the Father, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, as the
divine Son of God: so will His second coming be in two stages. He will come into the air unseen by the
dwellers on the earth, and unrecognized by even His friends, where He will
gather unto Himself, out of all nations, all His saints, those ready and waiting to
receive Him, whom He will make His bride; and when this shall have been fully
accomplished, He will make Himself manifest to His people and to the world as
the all-glorious Son of God, coming on the clouds of heaven with all His holy
angels, with power and great glory, when every eye shall see Him. The marriage will then take place, after
which He will introduce His bride into her now prepared and glorious habitation
- the re-Edenized earth, with its paradise restored.
The question which has so long
perplexed commentators I will now consider, viz.:
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
Who will
constitute the bride?
1. None but real Christians,
pure and chaste virgins, will constitute His bride, the Lambs wife. All interpreters are also agreed in this:
2. But not all Christians, nor even all virgins, will constitute His bride.
This must be so evident to all
Bible readers, on a moments reflection, as to need no discussion here. We all know that the bride, among all
virgins, in the eyes of the bridegroom, is the one most beautiful, and
the one altogether
lovely. As an apple tree among the common trees of the wood, so is His beloved among [Page 250] women the virgins. He loves them all, but He loves His betrothed
one above all.
In all ages the Lord has had His
choice and best beloved ones. They were and are of that class of faithful
Christians typified by Abel, Enoch, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samuel,
Jephthae, David, and that great cloud of
witnesses for God in the ages before the coming of Christ alluded to by
Paul:
And
what shall I more say? for the time would fail
me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life
again: others were tortured, not accepting deliverance;
that they might obtain a better resurrection:
and others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and of
imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were
tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: of whom the world
was not worthy: they wandered in deserts,
and in mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth. And these all,
having obtained a good report through faith, received
not the promise: God having provided some better
thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect. - Heb. 11: 32-40.
And the largest cloud of faithful and true witnesses, not
spectators, but witnesses who testify what they know, have experienced, who have lived and laboured, and suffered
for Christ since, and the faithful ones, though few, living and testifying now - these, and only these - will
receive the highest honour when Christ comes; i.e. that of being the nearest to the person of [Page 251] Him to
whose heart they have been the dearest here. All Christians are loved by
Christ, and will he saved and rewarded according to what they have done and suffered for Him, but all will not constitute
His bride - be enthroned and crowned and reign with Him. Not to all Christians can He say, Well done, good and faithful servants. etc.
When the Kings daughter, the
betrothed bride of His Son, is brought unto the Kings palace, all glorious in
her robes of beaten gold, these are her virgin attendants who follow to grace her presence:
And the
Kings daughter is all glorious within [i.e. the palace]: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought
unto the King in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her
shall be brought unto Thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be
brought: they shall enter into the Kings palace. - Psalms 45: 13-15.
Who are these virgin
companions? They certainly represent Christians; but they are not the bride, and never will be, although next in
honour to her. In the parable under
consideration, the wise
virgins, whom all admit represent Christians, chaste and pure,
were not the bride, nor a part of her.
The kings daughter was already within, and awaiting the coming of the
bridegroom before they entered. They
were the virgin attendants of the bride - the invited guests of the marriage;
and in this were highly honoured and blessed:
Let us
be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. And He saith unto me, Write,
Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
- Rev. 19: 7-9.
[Page 252]
If all Christians constitute the
bride, why did not the angel say, Blessed are those
who are chosen to be the bride, and not, Blessed
are those who are called to the marriage
supper of the
Lamb? None but Christians will enjoy the
honour of being the guests of this supper.
John saw those who symbolized
the class of Christians who will constitute the Lambs wife:
And I
looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the
These represent the
comparatively few Choice ones of the earth, the first-born
ones, the first fruits unto God and the Lamb; and these, and those like
these alone, will be honoured with being made the Lambs wife.
Notice the peculiar
characteristics of these Christians:
1. They had not while living on earth defiled themselves
with women - i.e. committed
spiritual fornication. God charged
2. They were virgins. They had, while living here, kept themselves pure and chaste - intact from the
sinful and demoralizing pleasures of this world. I can not believe that they found sweet
pleasures in the ballroom, the opera and the theatre, which are peculiarly the pleasures of sin, and of the children of this
world. They kept their garments unspotted from the world.
3. These, when here, were
the followers of the Lamb; not professedly, nor in a
general sense; not in a great
many things; but these followed Christ whithersoever He went. Where He went
in the paths of obedience, they
followed Him. They obeyed, from the
heart, all His
commandments. As willing or wilfully disobedient Christians, they were without
fault before God.*
* I can not believe that those Christian
ministers [Page 254] or members who, while they profess to love Christ, refuse to do
what He commands them, because of the opposition of their own flesh and blood -
their own friends and family - or of the world, will ever constitute any part
of the glorious bride of Christ. Those
Christian ministers who refuse to obey the least of Christs requirements, and
teach others so, certainly will not be made the greatest in Christs kingdom,
but Christ says they shall be the least:
Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matt. 5:
19.
How many of our brethren,
ministers whom we love, will far miss this highest honour, refusing or failing, through fear of losing
the smiles and favours of men - errorists - to teach men all things, even those accounted
the least - non-essentials - and to teach them to do them. These are solemn and eternal [age-lasting]
verities.
These one hundred and forty-four
thousand were certainly not the
representatives of all the saved, as some
teach, for all who have been saved did not possess these characteristics; nor
will any one presume to say that all living Christians to-day possess these
distinguishing marks of consecration to Christ, but they do represent all those
Christians who will be honoured and rewarded by being made the bride of Christ.
In the day when Christ comes to
elect from the earth and receive His bride unto Himself, then will His faithful ones be rewarded for all they have
sacrificed and suffered for Him here.
John was shown a countless
multitude of palm-bearers of all nations, who were Christians; but they were no part
of the bride; nor were they honoured, or even blessed, with even an invitation
to the marriage supper, and yet they were saved, but never attained higher
positions of honour than that of servants:
After
this I beheld, and, 1o, a great multitude, which no
man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and [Page 255] tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb, And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What
are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and serve Him day and
night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat. For
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. - Rev. 7:
9-17.
Who, at
the coming of Christ, will be represented by the wise virgins? Who by the foolish?
Were the latter finally saved?
What class of persons are the five
virgins intended to represent? Christians undoubtedly, as the name indicates
and implies. Virgin signifies persons
morally chaste and pure, and is applied equally
to both sexes in the Scriptures (see Rev. 14: 4), and
is never applied to the unregenerate, or enemies of Christ. All expositors are agreed that these five virgins represent Christians.
But, as we have noticed, they
were not, for some reason, chosen to be the bride, or any part of her, but they
will attain to the next place of honour and blessedness; i.e. that of being
the nearest to her person - [Page 256] companions and
attendants, and called to go into the marriage supper. (Rev. 19: 9)
What class will the foolish virgins represent?
Though called foolish, they were as certainly virgins as the five wise
ones. The term virgin as certainly
designates Christian as the terms elect,
saints, and is never applied to the
morally impure, or the unregenerate, any more than the term leaven is applied to something pure and holy.
These five unwise virgins were not enemies
of Christ - hypocrites under the guise and profession of friends. All that is
said of them implies that they represent Christians as certainly as the wise ones. For -
1. They are called virgins by Christ.
2. They went forth with lighted torches, as did the wise, to honour and welcome the coming
bridegroom.
3. They waited as watchfully, and as earnestly desired the coming of the bridegroom, as
did the wise virgins. Christ would not intimate that the unregenerate - His enemies - will be earnestly watching for and desiring His speedy coming, as did these five virgins. His enemies - all hypocrites and mere nominal
Christians - will dread and recoil from the very
announcement of His coming.
The foolish virgins also represent
a class of Christians at the coming of Christ.
Arminians,
with great avidity and confidence, bring forward this parable in support of
their doctrine of the possibility of the final apostasy of Christians. They rightfully claim that these foolish
virgins represent Christians, who, on account of the lack of something [Page 257] which they should have done, will at last be forever shut out of heaven, as these virgins were shut
out of the marriage supper.
To break the force of this
argument, the advocates of the salvation of all saints adopt the opposite and
quite as untenable a position, viz.: that they were not intended to represent
Christians, but sinners, hypocrites, Christians only in profession, whom the coming of Christ will
reveal in their true characters.
Those
adopting this interpretation claim that the oil
symbolizes the saving grace of regeneration, and
that these foolish virgins never had any oil even in
their lamps, but wicks only, thus making them not merely unwise and improvident, but
very idiots! for, if
possessed of any sense, they would have known that their lamps would not have
burned for a moment with only wicks, and would have served them no purpose had
the procession actually been in sight the moment they went out!
But against this it can be
conclusively urged that these were not only called virgins, which is a
misleading term, unless, like the others, they represent Christians, and they voluntarily went forth to welcome and honour the coming bridegroom, but
that they as earnestly
desired and
awaited his coming as did the wise virgins, which could not be said of
hypocrites or unregenerate persons. The
enemies of Christ do not desire, but with mortal fear dread, the hour
of His coming, and will call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on them
to hide them from His face. It is, with
conclusive force, further urged:
1. That these virgins did go forth with oil in their lamps, or the cups
of their torches, and, for [Page 258] all ordinary, occasions, they had quite enough. Had it not been for the long, and to these virgins unexpected, tarrying of the
bridegroom, the oil in their lamps would have been sufficient; for, even at
midnight, when the cry was heard, their
lamps were still burning, but burning low so that they said unto their fellows,
Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
I give the literal translation
from the Diaglott:
And the
foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of
your oil, for our lamps - sbennuntai - are going out - are being extinguished; so
I can not conceive how we can
avoid the conclusion that these foolish virgins were intended to represent
Christians, otherwise the parable is quite meaningless. It was addressed to the disciples
of Christ Christians - it was intended for Christians, and Christians only,
and has application only for those Christians living at the time of Christs
coming to gather unto Himself His bride and her virgin companions.
Granting, as we must, that they
represent a class of Christians, some of which will be taken in, and some left
out, let us proceed to notice:
In what respects the foolish resembled and
differed from the wise.
1. They as voluntarily went forth to welcome his
coming.
2. They equally provided themselves with torches, or lamps, to
honour his coming.
3. They equally had oil
in their lamps.
[Page 259]
4. They were as watchful
and as desirous
of his coming as the wise.
5. They equally slumbered and slept with the wise. And -
6. They awakened as promptly as did the wise, and when they
awoke their lamps were still burning.
But they found they had not sufficient oil to go forward in the procession
to the house.
Now, the only thing the wise had which the others did not
have was a supply
of oil in addition to what was in their lamps.
A literal translation of the passage
will make this evident: For the improvident took their lamps,
but carried no oil with them* [i.e.
besides what was in their lamps.] The prudent or provident, however, besides their own lamps, took oil in vessels. (Diaglott.) This oil, then, can not represent saving
grace or regeneration of heart, but a requisite faith in what was needful to be
known touching the movements of the bridegroom, and especially that there would
be a delay on his part, and probably a long one.
[* See Acts 5: 32, cf. Luke
11: 13, R.V.]
The fact that the wise virgins
had made themselves acquainted with this fact, or the probability of its
occurrence, and thoughtfully provided for it by carrying oil in their vessels, besides what their lamps contained,
that they might refill their lamps, was what constituted them wise or prudent. It was because of the failure of the
foolish virgins, through apathy or inexcusable negligence, to properly inform themselves touching the
movements of the bridegroom - movements that might be known, that it was their
duty to know, especially the fact
that there might or would
be a tarrying, and
possibly a long one, against which [Page 260] it was their duty to provide.
Were not this the case, how could they justly have been punished? It was simply for the lack of this provision
that they lost their place in the procession, and failed to be admitted to the
marriage supper. They were punished for
willing and inexcusable ignorance of the movements of the bridegroom.
The urgent application of the
foolish to the wise for a portion of their oil is but too natural;
the refusal of the wise ones, but too significant to have
been omitted. Whatever the oil is
intended to signify, it was something of which the wise had not too much, and something they
could not upon that occasion part with.
Some able expositors hold that
the foolish virgins did go forth at that late hour and obtain a supply of oil,
else, say they, they would not have returned and applied for admission with
those who were so provided; this is held on the supposition that a lighted
torch was an essential qualification of a guest. Grant this; yet they were too late to be recognized
or received in as guests, and given the places they had justly forfeited.
The door was shut, not of friendship certainly, or of love, but of a present
blessing and enjoyment i.e.
participation as guests in the wedding supper.
I know you not. He does
not say, as He will to another class upon another occasion, I never knew you; but I
know you not as my bride. I do not recognize you as worthy, in the
circumstances, to be the companions
of my bride on this occasion. I do
not recognize you as worthy to be blessed and honoured by being allowed to be
guests at my wedding supper.
[Page 261]
They were not treated as enemies; for they are friends, but improvident ones. He does not order
them to be destroyed, but refuses to let them come in to the
supper.
With the above understood symbolisms
of the parable, their application to persons and events they will represent at
the coming of Christ will not be difficult of understanding.
Christ is the Bridegroom, who is
coming at the close of this dispensation to gather unto Himself in the air, or
into paradise, all the very choice ones of His
saints - the precious stones, His jewels; and to these will He accord the
highest reward and honour i.e. that
of being made His queen-bride - who, as His wife, will sit with Him on His
throne, and jointly rule with Him over the nations. This most distinguished honour will all this
pre-eminent class of His saints enjoy.
At this stage of His coming He
will also gather a second class, or band - those saints worthy to enjoy the
second honour, that of being the companions and followers of His
bride, or the especially invited
guests of His
marriage supper. This class I understand
both the wise and foolish virgins represent.
It will be incumbent upon them to be ready and waiting His coming, with
lamps trimmed and burning, to welcome His approach, and, with rejoicing, go
with Him into the palace and grace His marriage.
It will be incumbent upon all
Christians who wish to be accepted of Him to be ready and waiting ready
and watchful.
It is said of the bride, the
Lambs wife, that she
hath made herself ready.
As it is the privilege of [Page 262] all
Christians, by lives of holy consecration and fidelity, to His service to attain
the highest rewards and honours Christ has to bestow at His coming - even to be
gathered among His choice ones, His jewels, and become His bride - so is it
not only the privilege, but duty, of all Christians to be prepared and ready to honour and welcome His coming, and enter with Him
into the marriage feast and sup with Him.
For Christians to be prepared
and ready for this glad event, certainly implies that they should make
themselves acquainted with the instructions He has left them with respect to
His movements, and the duties required of them in connection with this
important event (Rev. 1: 3), and
that by diligent inquiry they should constantly look for the signs of His coming, which
He has given them, indicative of His near approach.
While it may be true that we all
may not be able to understand all the Scriptures bearing upon the coming of
Christ, yet if, with prayerful diligence, we read and hear, we can
not fail, with His promised blessing, to learn and understand enough so that we
can readily recognize the cry, and have our lamps trimmed and burning, and well
supplied with oil.
Let us find encouragement in His
promise, Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy of this book, which
is the Apocalypse Revelation - of
Jesus Christ - a book which reveals the events that must transpire before, and in immediate connection with, His coming, which are the signs He has given of His coming, and reveals the events. We all can read and hear, and study all of it, if we can not fully understand all of
it. We can obtain the [Page 263] blessing, and that day will not overtake us as a
thief and find us unprepared.
But if, through sinful apathy and negligence like the foolish virgins, who
will represent a countless multitude of Christians, we fail to inform ourselves
so as to be found prepared to meet Him, we will be found standing at the shut
door of the marriage supper, vainly knocking for admittance.
By this Christ did not teach
that those of His servants who have not made themselves ready to receive Him
will be finally rejected
and lost. He
will not close the door of salvation against them, but only the door
of a present distinguished honour and blessing.
Those who, through their negligence, refuse to improve the opportunities
He gives them will lose the
rewards He
promises to the faithful and watchful.
When He comes to receive His elect
ones to Himself, the unfaithful and unwatchful will be left to suffer with hypocrites and unbelievers those
terrible years of afflictions, trials and tribulations on this earth, which
will close this present dispensation, called the
great tribulation, such as never was suffered by men on earth
from the beginning of time, and such as never will again be suffered.
This is
the period when the seven judgment seals will be opened (see Rev. 6. onward), and the seven vials of Gods wrath will be poured out without mixture of mercy
upon all those dwelling on the earth (see Rev. 5. - 20.); when
men will gnaw their tongues for pain, and their hearts fail for fear of the
things still to come; when men will wish to die, and will seek death, and it
will flee from them. This state of
things is well compared to outer darkness,
where [Page 264] there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Blessed, thrice blessed, will
those Christians be who are accounted worthy to escape these things. Of this Christ warns His disciples:
Take
heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts
be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and
so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that
dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray ye always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. - Luke 21: 34-36.
Only those who do take heed to
themselves - only the ready and watchful ones represented by the bride and the
five wise virgins - will
be accounted worthy to escape those things, and to stand before the Son of man.
These will escape by being taken
away from the evils to come. It is to
this that Christ alludes:
I tell you, in that night there
shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be
taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be
grinding together; the one shall be taken,
and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and
the other left.
And they answered and said unto Him,
Where, Lord? And He said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. - Luke 18: 34-37.
Paul tells us to whom these ready Christians will be taken:
Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,
to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. - 1 Thess. 4: 17.*
[* See The Pre-tribulation Rapture in G. H. Langs
Firstfruits and Harvest.]
But those Christians who are left because accounted unworthy to escape the
chastening trials and [Page 265] sufferings of the
great tribulation, will pass through them, and learn obedience through suffering, will
finally come safely out, some receiving a few and others many stripes,
and still others saved yet as by fire, with the loss of all honours and all rewards promised to the diligent and
faithful. These
chastisements take place on this earth, and before this [evil] age closes.
The final state of all those represented
by the five foolish virgins can be seen by reading Revelations (7: 9, to the
end). While they became servants in the temple of their God, they
never become the bride - never are honoured with thrones and crowns, as the
faithful and, therefore, chosen or choice, ones are.
How sad to think the large
proportion of Christians, through sinful negligence, will lose the highest
honours, and only through the greatest tribulation will enter the kingdom! Will it not be as one hundred and forty-four
thousand to a multitude that no man can number?
Reader, in what company will you be?
Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matt. 5:
19.
Are there not those who are now
very large in their own eves, and in the estimation of the multitudes they seek
to please, who will be very small and insignificant when Christ
comes to reward His servants? Will not
some Christians actually be ashamed before Christ at His
coming? Ashamed
of what?
And now,
little children, abide
in Him, that when He shall appear we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His
coming. - 1 John 2: 28.
Behold, I come as a thief.
Blessed is he
that watcheth, and [Page 266] keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame. - Rev. 16: 15.
Will all Christians be found ready
and watching the coming of Christ? Paul
clearly implies that only those Christians who love His
appearing will receive crowns of righteousness - i.e. for doing as good and faithful
servants. Do all Christians love His
appearing? Would they,
if they could, have their wish - have Him come to-day? Not one in a thousand of all who profess to
be Christians would have Christ come to-day if their prayers could prevent His
coming. Will such constitute any part of
His bride? Have such the spirit and desire
of His bride? Her prayer is, Even so, come Lord Jesus;
COME QUICKLY. Will
my readers turn and read, in this connection, Luke 12: 35-49?
From all this we learn that it
is one thing to be barely saved, which every Christian will ultimately be, but quite
another thing to be honoured with the prize
of our high calling - i.e.
to sit as a crowned king with Christ on His throne. (Rev. 3: 2.)
The second stage, or the concluding act of His coming, will be when He appears
in His own glory, and the glory of His holy angels, with ten thousand of His
saints (see Jude), with the called ones, the chosen ones, and the faithful ones (see Rev. 19: 14), to take vengeance on His enemies and put His faithful saints in full
possession of the redeemed earth, who, as His wife, will share with
Him the joint regency of it, when His enemies will have been cut off out of it.
(Ps. 37.)
If the world will be converted [as
Post-millennialists believe] before Christ comes, where will He find enemies to take
vengeance upon?
[Page 267]
Will the reader stop long enough
to read Revelations 17. and 19., and decide if the world is to be converted before the
coming of Christ?
TRIBULATIONS
There
are special periods of tribulations and perilous times, recognized in the Sacred
Scriptures, which must transpire before the second coming of Christ and the
close of this dispensation, and
which the coming of Christ will conclude.
The whole period of Satans
dominancy on this earth, from the day the curse was pronounced in Eden for
mans sin, until Satan is bound and cast into the abyss, and the tares (the
wicked) and all anti-Christian organizations and powers are crushed and removed
from the earth, to afflict and persecute the children of God no more, is, to
all true and faithful Christians, one long period of tribulation:
These
things I have spoken unto you, that ye might
have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
- John 16: 33.
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter the
Yea, and all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution. - 2 Tim. 3: 12.
How very
few professed Christians are faithful enough to suffer persecution! How few ministers can brook the least
persecution for the truths sake! Will
such ever enter the [coming millennial] kingdom
or wear a crown?
To no faithful Christian is there a
surcease of afflictions and persecutions from the enemies of Christ until [Page 268] His
second coming to rid the earth of His enemies.
So there can not be a millennium - a thousand years of peace, rest and
glory - before He comes.
The first of these especially
troublous times is, in the Old Testament, denominated the
TIME OF JACOBS TROUBLE
This period commenced with the
conquest and subjugation of the Jewish nation by the Romans, and will continue with
more or less intensity until the commencement of the second.
Jeremiah foretold this period in
these words:
Alas!
for that day is great, so that
none is like it; it is even the time of Jacobs
trouble.
Daniel thus:
And at
that time shall Michael stand up, the great
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there ever was a nation even to that
same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, everyone that shall be found written
in the book. Dan. 12: 1.
Christ predicts it in these
words, which seem to include the whole time from the destruction of
For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened,
there should be no flesh saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened.
- Matt. 24:
21-22.
When Christ wept for the last
time over Jerusalem, He pronounced the bitter and long-continued doom and desolation of that city and nation: [Page 269] Your house is left unto you desolate, and ye shall see
my face no more until the day ye shall say, Blessed
is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.
That is, to deliver them; for
after His coming all
Bear it in mind, these three
tribulation periods continue with increasing
intensity until
the very hour of His appearing; for it will be immediately after
and concluding the time of
Immediately
after the tribulation of
those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: and then shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other. - Matt. 24: 29-31.
THE MANNER OF HIS COMING
The angels told the disciples,
on the
Which
also said, Ye men of
Christ ascended from the
[Page 270]
From these passages we see His
coming, in its last act, will be a bodily and visible coming.
But there is, also, a tribulation period, which is for the
Gentiles and for all those
Christians who are not ready, faithful and watchful, and therefore not accounted
worthy to be taken away with the choice
and faithful ones who will constitute the bride, but are left to experience the
terrible trials and afflictions of this period.
This is called
THE GREAT TRIBULATION,
and is included in the time of Jacobs trouble,
and ends with it.
There will be multitudes of Christians, which no man can number, of all nations, who will be left in this outer
darkness, as was the slothful
servant, to pass through a part or the whole of this great tribulation period; and,
while they never attain to the honour of being the bride, or a part of the
bride, of Christ, never obtain crowns and thrones, will, nevertheless, be
blessed in being either the companions and followers and attendants of the
bride or the invited guests to the marriage supper, and even in being servants
of the King, to wait and serve Him in His temple:
And He
saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of
the Lamb. - Rev. 19: 9.
The time and length of this,
the great tribulation.
It commences with the first
stage of Christs coming, and after all the eminent and choice Christians have
been taken - caught up to meet the Lord in the air - and will continue until Christ appears with His bride.
[Page 271]
Commentators are not agreed as
to the length of this period. Some think
it is indicated by the time that elapsed between the translation of Enoch and
the flood (seven hundred and eighty-one years), which swept the wicked from the
earth; others, the number of days (taken for years) that intervene between the
time Noah entered the ark and the opening of the windows of heaven and breaking
up of the fountains of the great deep, which was seven days = seven years.
But we have no satisfying data
by which to determine the exact length of this period; and we need not to know
how long it will continue:
And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. - Acts 1: 7.
* * *
[Page 272]
CHAPTER 27
THE
ENTRUSTED TALENTS
FOR the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country,
who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave
five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every
man according to his several ability;
and straightway took his journey. Then he that had
received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that
had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had
received one went and digged in the earth, and
hid his lords money. After a long time the lord of those servants
cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought
other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me
five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto
him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had
received two talents came and said, Lord,
thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two
other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant;
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I
will make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent
came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went
and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto
him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knowest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the
exchangers, and then at my coming I should have
received mine own with usury. Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give
it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given,
and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that
which he hath.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. - Matt. 25: 14-30.
The Saviour follows the Parable
of the Wise and Foolish Virgins with this of the Entrusted Talents, and evidently
to teach other and important truths in connection with His coming and the end
of this age. The great lesson which He
emphasized in the former parable was the necessity of a watchful readiness to meet Him at His coming. He closed it with the injunction, Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
Man cometh. (Matt. 25: 13.)
The instructive features of the
parable before us are:
1. The lord whose business or pleasure called him into a far
country, to be gone a long time.
2. The division of his goods among his own servants, and the
manner of it.
3. The slothful servant, and his
punishment.
4. The principle on which the lord reckoned with his servants.
THE APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE
This parable, in all its
features, is eminently realistic. It was
not uncommon for the Greeks and Romans to employ the better class of their
slaves in trading with the means entrusted to them. Their slaves were principally prisoners of
war who had been sold into [Page 274] slavery, and many of them were men of intelligence - of
eminent ability as tradesmen and in the various professions. The most renowned fabulist of
[* Romans 1: 1, literally translated
from the Greek reads: Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called an
apostle having been separated to {the} gospel of God.]
The lord in our parable about to
travel to a far country to be absent a long time, instead of making a sale of all
he possessed, called his own servants unto him, and divided his goods among
them. To one he gave five talents
($6,000 of our currency), to another two talents ($2,500), and to another one
($1,200), and so on. Mark the just
principle that governed him in this distribution - to each according to his
ability. The one to whom he gave but one talent had ability to use,
trade with this sum, and make a reasonable profit, but did not have business
capacity to manage six thousand dollars, or even twenty-five hundred.
Napoleon said no general could
handle ten thousand men more easily or effectively than General Berthier, but he could do nothing with twenty
thousand. The great gift of Napoleon was
in understanding the capacity of his generals, and to entrust them with
commands according to their several abilities.
These were,
one and all, his own servants. He had a right to their faithful service -
their best endeavours in using his means - so that upon his return he could
have his own with a proper increase.
This we see in the epithets applied to the servant who failed to
profitably use the one talent entrusted to him, [Page 275] slothful,
unprofitable, showing that the master
required that all his servants should be diligent and profitable, not sluggards.
THE RETURN AND RECKONING
Since the slothful servant is
made the most prominent character in the parable, and since so many expositors
misteach and destroy its whole scope and true intent, I will give him my first
and special attention:
1. He was, like the rest, his masters own servant.
In this he differed not from his fellow servants. The lord only entrusted his goods to his own servants. He had no claims upon other than his own servants.
If his other servants represent Christians, so must this servant
also. He differed from his fellows in
this: He formed a false conception of his lords real character, and,
influenced by this, he fell into inexcusable slothfulness, and failed to work
for him - use to any advantage the talent entrusted to him - and thereby justly
incurred his masters displeasure and punishment.
When his lord called him to
account he brought forward the talent only, with this excuse for not having
used it:
Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard
man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and
hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and
said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. - Matt. 25: 24-26.
[Page 276]
How groundless and absurd his
excuse, will be seen by slightly paraphrasing his lords answer:
Grant that
I am the hard, exacting, unreasonable master you think I am; so unreasonable
and pitiless that you were afraid that had you invested my money in trade and lost it, I
would have punished you without mercy, and therefore you preferred to suffer my
displeasure for its non-use than my greater anger for its loss - grant that
your fears were well grounded - why did you not go and deposit my money with
the exchangers; then there would have been no hazard about it, and when I came
I could have demanded mine own with a proper interest, which is my just due?
The mouth of the servant was
stopped. He could frame no answer. There were in Palestine, then, as here,
bankers, exchangers, who allowed interest on all sums deposited with them for
any considerable length of time, and this the slothful servant well knew - and
his conduct was therefore inexcusable in any light we may view it.
HIS SIN AND PUNISHMENT
Since he was his lords own servant,
as were the other servants, like them he represented Christians, but as a
slothful servant he represented slothful ones.
He had not rashly squandered his
lord money, but he had, wickedly disobediently - refused to use it for his
masters benefit, and, therefore, deserved to be sorely chastened with the rod
of affliction, as Jonah was, that he might learn obedience through suffering,
which, in his case, was spoken of as outer
darkness, in contrast with the resplendent honours and joys [Page 277]
rewarded to his faithful fellow servants.
To suppose that the heavenly Father would utterly destroy His own child for slothfulness is not only
contrary to His revealed paternal character, but to the manifold and explicit
teachings of His word.
1. He was made ashamed before his fellow servants by the
condemnation of his lord.
2. All that had been entrusted to him was taken from him and
given to the one who had evinced the largest ability and faithfulness in using
his masters money.
3. He was denied the resplendent honours and joys awarded to
the faithful ones, and suffered grievous chastisement, which is indicated by
the phrases outer darkness and gnashing of teeth. (See Parable of the
Virgins for the punishment of the improvident virgins.) No one can find the least fault with the
demands or conduct of the lord toward this servant.
But the servant who had received
five talents came and returned them with other five talents he gained by
diligent use of them; and he received from his lord this commendation and
reward: Well done, good and faithful servant: thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee ruler over many things [exalt thee to a higher trust
and honour]. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord [share in the festivities
prepared to welcome his return]. It was
the fidelity the lord commended, and not the
large amount he had gained.
The one who received two talents
came and returned them with two other talents beside them, which he had made by
the faithful use of them; and the lord said unto him: Well done, good and faithful [Page 278] servant: thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee ruler over many things.
Enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Here we see the amounts entrusted and gained by
service were unequal, but the fidelity
being equal the lord equally commended and rewarded them.
The servants represent all true Christians, including the unfaithful, for to no sinner
can we properly apply the term which Paul applies to himself, a bond servant -
i.e. slave of Jesus Christ. The
Scriptures nowhere apply this term to the unregenerate. The unfaithful servant represents the
large class of Christians in the churches of Christ who may be said to do
nothing, or so little, and that with the feeling of this servant, that by the
Master it is accounted as nothing.
But this parable being spoken to
His apostles, we will not far misapply it by interpreting it mainly with
reference to those endowed with the requisite gift to preach His gospel. Then this
slothful and unprofitable servant peculiarly represents that class who are disobedient to the heavenly calling,
refusing to use the gifts entrusted to them in the Masters service, regarding
it as too hard a service, and requiring too
much of them; and they hide their talents in the earth, in farms, merchandise,
or other secular professions, to laying up earthly gains.
That the Saviour intended the lord in this parable to represent Himself no expositor has doubted. He left to go into a far country when He left
this world after his ascension. The
servants to whom the lord entrusted his goods represent the apostles and His
ministers and witnesses of all subsequent time.
Jonah was well represented by this servant. He was called [Page 279] and qualified of God to go and preach to
the city of Nineveh; but he regarded it as an unreasonable duty laid upon him,
evincing the same spirit illustrated by this slothful servant who refused to use the talent for the Masters
benefit: and he sought to hide himself, with his talent, from God in the
far-off land of Tarshish. But God
hastened to reason with him; and he was cast into outer darkness, from which we
hear his cries for relief:
Then
Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishs belly, and said, I cried by reason
of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard
me; out of the belly of hell [Heb. Sheol] cried I, and thou heardest my
voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and
the floods compassed me about: all thy billows
and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I
am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again
toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth
closed me round about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me forever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered
the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake
their own mercy.
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation
is of the Lord.
And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. - Jonah 2: 1-10.
He was sorely chastened in the
deep darkness, but God did not cast him off forever, for he was His servant, but gave him repentance, and taught
him obedience through suffering.
Had not Jonah truly repented of his
disobedience, and cried out unto the Lord, resolving to pay what he had vowed,
can we believe that he would have been brought forth again to light?
[Page 280]
During the late war a case was
brought under my observation strikingly illustrated by this slothful servant:
A young physician was brought
down from the camp of
Although every room and bed but
one was then occupied by similar cases, I yielded to the solicitations of his
friend, and took him in, calling on my own family physician to attend him, and
divided time with him and the rest as a nurse.
With every attention, day by day he grew worse and worse, and ere long
became the only doubtful case, and before a week had passed the old doctor gave
him up to die. I rested upon a couch in
his room to give him prompt attention.
It was between twelve and one oclock one night that he called me to his
bedside, not to ask for water to moisten his lips, but to ask me to tell him
what I regarded as a call to the ministry.
I gave him my views of it, and related what I regarded as my own call.
After a pause he said: Shortly after my conversion and baptism I became similarly impressed, and,
notwithstanding all my resistance and endeavours to throw off the impression,
it grew upon me, and has continued to grow upon me; but I have felt that in my
case it involved too great a sacrifice - that it is an unreasonable
demand. I would have to give up my [Page 281] plans of life - plans to achieve
eminence in my profession, and to secure a competency and even an ample fortune
for myself and wife. To become a
minister I would have to consent to be a poor man all the days of my life, and
subject my wife and family to dependence and poverty. I have never felt that I could do it; and I
have kept my convictions a secret in my own bosom - have not whispered them
even to my wife - and now I am here, and about to die; for I realize that I am
daily and hourly sinking. And he asked me if I
really thought his convictions, as he had stated them, were a call of God to
preach the gospel. I answered him
affirmatively, and told him I believed that God had brought him under my roof,
and had laid him upon that bed of affliction, and brought him under the shadow
of death, as he did Jonah, that he might decide this question in the light of
eternity. He asked me to pray for him, which I did, and for God to give him grace to overcome all
his temptations to disobedience. When I
rose he grasped my hand, and said, as the tears burst from his eyes, I have decided, if God will raise me up from this bed, I
will give my life to Him; I will give up the world and preach.
He soon became calm, and sank
into a gentle slumber, and I returned to my couch. When the physician called at nine in the
morning he pronounced the symptoms favourable.
At night the improvement was marked.
In three or four days the last trace of fever had disappeared.
I well remember the evening he
sat in his chair, and examined with the doctor his pulse and tongue, and both
agreed that he was convalescent, and they counted the days when it would be
safe for him to start home. [Page 282] I had moved my couch below, leaving
a bell within his reach should he need my services in the night. At midnight I heard the bell, and hastened to
his bedside, and asked what he wished of me.
Tell me, he said,
did I promise to preach if I recovered from this
sickness? I answered, Yes, Brother - you did. Did I positively
promise? Most certainly and solemnly you did. Well, I can not - I
will not. It is more than I am willing
to do. The sacrifice is too great.
I reasoned with him, and told
him I believed he imperilled his life should he violate his vow unto the Lord, and
tried to pray for him, but he closed the interview with, I can not, I will not, preach.
Before the sun set the next day
the doctor reported an unfavourable symptom; the next morning a rise of fever,
which, despite all efforts, steadily increased, and in less than one week from
that dread night he died - died in great darkness of soul. His tongue had shrivelled, and turned black
as a coal, and seemed drawn into his throat, choking him.
I have witnessed many a death,
but never one like that! The old doctor
said it was a fearfully strange case, and seemed to him like a judgment of God.
Was he a Christian? I have never doubted it. The evidence he gave of regeneration, his
religious life, his deep and lasting conviction that it was his duty to preach
the gospel, all attested that he was a servant of God; but he was a disobedient
servant. He hid his talent, refusing to
use it, although convinced that it was a duty required of him, but an
unreasonable one. He was sorely but
justly punished, and his talent [Page 283] taken from him. Saved, yet as by fire! Saved, but without a reward!
Ministers endowed with five
talents, who use them with becoming diligence, will be both approbated and
raised from servants to rulers over many things. And ministers entrusted with fewer talents,
if they evince equal diligence, will be equally rewarded with those who
faithfully use larger trusts.
From this parable we learn these
important lessons:
1. That the King imperatively demands work from every citizen of His
kingdom.
2. That He entrusts to each one the means with which to work,
and means according to his ability.
3. That the absence of the Lord will give ample time for each
one to work, and to work effectually.
4. That the work done by each one will be valued and rewarded
according to the principle illustrated in the reckoning made with these
servants: viz., equal
diligence in the use of unequal endowments equally rewarded.
5. From the case of the slothful servant, that the law of divine
jurisprudence is that they who employ well what they have shall retain it all
and receive more in addition, whereas they who do not rightly employ what they
have will be deprived of that which they possess but do not use.
6. That our Master will pronounce the encomium good and faithful on many whom the world has
regarded as comparative failures. The
widows mite is more to Him than the large gifts of the wealthy, because it is
the offering of a devoted spirit.
How blessed to serve a Master
who is utterly superior to the
vulgar worship of success and quantity!
How blessed, moreover, to serve
One who is as generous as He is equitable! [Page 284] For that
any servant should be praised as both these were, is no less noteworthy than
that one is as much praised as the other.
In this respect, also, the parable is faithful to the spirit of God and
of Christ as exhibited in the Bible.
* * *
[Page 285]
CHAPTER 28
THE
ENTRUSTED POUNDS
AND as they heard these things, He added and spake
a parable, because He was nigh to
This parable is only recorded by
Luke, and is a companion of the last, that of The Talents, and probably was
related in connection with that.
The veri-similitudes
are so great, and meet in so many points, that some expositors* are of the opinion that this is
Lukes version of the Parable of the Talents recorded by Matthew, of which
admission the enemies of inspiration are not slow to avail themselves.
* The man who can not perceive, or
will not own, that these are two distinct
cases, with different though co-equal lessons, is not fit to be an expositor of
any writing, either sacred or profane. - ARNOT.
I can not for a moment entertain
this opinion.
1. Because it gravely militates against the inspiration of the
Scriptures, and -
2. Because it was evidently given to illustrate another
principle in the administration of rewards in the
3. To dispossess the minds of His disciples, and the
multitudes, of the impression that the
The Parable of the Talents was
manifestly given to illustrate that, in the administration of the rewards in
the
In this parable, another equally
important principle, viz.: that equal endowments used
with unequal diligence will be unequally rewarded.
[Page 287]
Both alike exhibit
the grand cardinal distinction between the faithful and faithless; but in
pointing out also the diversities that obtain among true disciples, they view
the subject on opposite sides, each presenting that aspect of it which the
other omits.
The Parable of the Talents
teaches us that Christians differ from each other in the amount of gifts which
they receive; and the Parable of the Pounds teaches us that they differ from
each other in the diligence they display.
The third reason is stated by
the evangelist:
And as
they heard these things, He added and spake a
parable, because He was nigh to
The disciples became fully occupied
with the thought that upon Christ entering Jerusalem He would publicly proclaim
Himself king and set up a temporal kingdom, and deliver them from the power of
the Romans, and at this time fulfil the prophecies concerning their Messiahs
kingdom and reign. To disabuse their
minds of this idea - i.e. that this
millennial kingdom was immediately to appear - was the prime reason
for speaking this parable.
The representative characters or
events in this allegory are:
1. The nobleman.
2. His journey and its cause.
3. His dividing of his goods
among his servants.
4. The principle by which he was
governed in settling with them.
5. The idle servant.
6. The conduct and punishment of
his enemies.
[Page 288]
This nobleman was doubtless the hereditary
heir of this kingdom, and it was but the formal investiture of kingship he went
to receive from the supreme head of the empire.
This feature had a historical basis in the political condition of the
Jews under the Roman power.
Judea had
been conquered by the Romans, under Pompey, 63 B. C., and though it was still
governed in part by native princes, yet they ruled as deputies of
That it
was not the kingship of a far distant country he sought, but of his native
land, else the conduct of his citizens would have been incongruous.
This feature of the parable was based
upon the conduct of the Jews towards Archelaus, as stated above.
The
nobleman called his ten servants and delivered [Page 289] unto them ten pounds (two hundred dollars),
from which two statements - i.e. the
number of his servants (only ten) and the
smallness of the amount (twenty dollars) entrusted to each - some expositors
infer the poverty of the nobleman. His
command was, Occupy till I come -
trade, use, with intelligence, to the best of your discretion, until I return,
which they knew could not be soon, for it was into a far country he was going,
and upon an important mission to the imperial court, and both the time and the
business at court would require time, and, therefore, they knew they would have
ample time to engage in business. Let it
be noted that all those to whom he entrusted his goods were, as in The Talents,
his own servants, not his enemies. The
years roll on, and after a long time, as Matthew expresses it, the lord
returned, and commanded those servants to whom he had given the money that he
might know how much each man had gained by trading. They promptly responded and each rendered his
account, and it was found that some had increased their trusts more than
others.
The first came and said, Lord, with thy pounds, by trading, I have gained ten
pounds. And the lord said unto
him, Well done, thou
good and faithful servant; because thou hast
been faithful with a very little, have thou
authority over ten cities. And the second servant came, saying, Lord,
with thy one pound I have traded, and made five pounds. And the lord said unto him, Well done, thou good servant; be thou over five cities. These nine good and faithful servants, all
expositors and reasoners agree, represent Christians of this age; and to each one Christ, [Page 290]
represented by the hereditary nobleman, has entrusted a gift with which to
serve Him.
Touching the last servant there
is a diversity of views. He, like the
servant entrusted with the one talent, was an idle servant, and had done nothing
with his pound. Bringing it back, he
said, Behold, here is thy pound, which I
have kept laid up in a napkin - sudarium, sweat-cloth - which, not working, he
needed not use. His judgment was like
that of the slothful servant in the Parable of the Talents.
What we may learn from this
parable:
1. That every child of God is created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, and are His servants douloi - slaves, bond servants - having been purchased with His own
precious blood. Paul delighted to call
himself a slave-bound servant of Jesus Christ.
2. That to teach one of His servants, He commits a trust - a
pound - with which to serve Him; we may call this personal influence, which
we can augment in proportion to our diligence
in His service, and for this we are responsible, not for its safe keeping only, but for its diligent use.
3. That Christ our Lord has left this earth, and ascended into
the court of heaven, to be formally invested with royal power and prerogatives over
this entire earth as the reward of His redemptive work. God the Father has said, Sit thou on my throne until I make thy foes thy footstool. Christ has been formally
invested with the supreme government and judgeship of this earth. He so declared this fact when He said, All power in heaven and in earth; Go ye therefore into all the earth, and preach the gospel to every nation.
[Page 291]
4. We learn that He will return to this earth to reign over
this kingdom He has received.
5. That His enemies will remain defiant and protesting on this
earth until He does return, and then they will all be brought before Him and
miserably slain, as saith the Scriptures:
Why do
the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against
His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in
the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have
them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set my
king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me,
Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee.
Ask of me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them
with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in
pieces like a potters vessel. - Ps.
2: 1-9.
And I
saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse:
and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that
no man knew, but He
himself. And He was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood: and His name is
called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed
Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword,
that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God.
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a
loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in
the midst of heaven, Come and gather
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. - Rev. 19:
11-17.
[Page 292]
6. And finally -
The disproportion
between fidelity in the use of a single pound of Hebrew money (twenty dollars)
and the reward consequent thereon, of being made a ruler over five or ten
cities, can not fail to arrest attention; and yet how beautifully does this
apparent disproportion illustrate a marked feature of the divine economy,
whereby God rewards not deeds, but motives; not results, but principles! So here the principles of faithful zeal to
the humblest trust is requited by transferring that lowly labourer to a broader
field of action, where this principle, so fully tested in small matters, has
now scope for noble and efficient development.
And a blessed thought it is, that we are not rewarded so much for the
outward and visible ministrations of duty as for the inward and spiritual
principles which guide our souls, which principles indeed are not of our own
getting, but are implanted in us by the Holy Ghost. Hence it follows that the humblest servant of
God may attain to heights in glory and reaches of power far above what may be
accorded to the more seemingly active and fruitful professor, because of the
different principles which were the motive power in each.
The
theory that they will all be converted, and made His friends, and welcome Him
back to reign over them, is delusive to the mind by this parable.
* * *
[Page 293]
CHAPTER 29
THE
BLADE, AND THE EAR, AND THE FULL CORN
THE
GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTS KINGDOM
AND He said, So is
the
That this parabolic gem, so
natural and so significant, should be recorded only by Mark is one of the surprises of gospel history; but it does not militate
either its genuineness or importance.
Of this parable Dr. Bruce, of
* Parabolic Teachings, p. 120.
This expositor verifies the
truth of his own assertion by interpreting this parable, at great length, as [Page 294]
teaching the growth of grace in the souls of Christians: in other words, that
sanctification is a gradual growth, and, in trying to conform it to the laws of
growth in the natural world, he altogether misses, I think, what Christ
intended and does manifestly teach by this parable. Indeed, Dr. Bruce frankly confesses that he
has limited its application to the individual Christians experience rather
than to the history of the
And
here we shall confine ourselves to the experience of the individual, though
sensible that the history of the kingdom of God at large is a far greater theme
than that of any individual Christian, and ready to admit that it was probably the former which our Lord had chiefly in His thoughts when He uttered the
parable. Our apology for restricting our
inquiry to the minor subject is, first, that we understand it better. - BRUCE, P. 133.
Let the reader mark this
writers statement, which I accept as true, viz.: that our Lord had the history of His kingdom at large chiefly in His thoughts when He uttered this
parable. Had he said wholly
in His thoughts, it would have been nearer the exact truth; for this is what He
explicitly declared the parable was intended to illustrate, viz.: that the
growth of His kingdom would be slow and by marked stages from its
origin to its final and glorious consummation, like unto that of a seed of corn
from its planting to its final development - the full corn in the ear. Put, [Page 295]
amazingly strange, although this is
so clearly stated by Christ as the true and only scope of the parable,
commentators so generally, Dr. Bruce not excepted, ignore it, and even base
their interpretations upon a single and confessedly mistranslated text of
Scripture! (Luke 17: 20.) Christs kingdom, composed, as it is, of His
visible local churches, could not be, in the hearts of those wicked and
murderous Pharisees, either in its literal or spiritual, its physical or
figurative, senses. It was among them or
in their midst, although they did not discern the fact - and this is
undoubtedly what Christ said. At another
time He said, But if I, by the finger of God, cast out
devils, then has the
I regret to say that one of our
own recent and valued commentators of the New Testament thus briefly explains
the scope of this parable: The
* Dr.
George Clarks Notes, published by the
American Baptist Publication Society.
A SUGGESTED INTERPRETATION
Analogous to the three noted
stages in the growth of a seed of corn - viz.: 1. From the appearance of the blade to
that of the stalk. 2. From the stalk to the appearance of the ear. 3. From the earing to the full corn in
the ear - its complete and ripened development - is the growth of the kingdom
of heaven.
These stages of growth would be
the three marked periods in the growth of His kingdom on earth:
1. Its inceptive or organizing period.
2. Its development.
3. Its full and glorious consummation.
1. The Inceptive Period includes the time from the planting of
the first church (the setting up of the kingdom) until the ascension of Christ
and the descent of the Holy Spirit - i.e.
the period of the personal administration of it by Christ himself.
As in the case of the blade
stage of the corn, the, casual and unintelligent observer could not discern the
real character of the plant, or distinguish it from the common grass of the
field, and certainly not discover anything that bore the appearance of an ear
of corn, so many casual readers and partisan interpreters profess to see
nothing in the history of Christianity from the days of John the Baptist until
Pentecost that indicates the existence of the kingdom of Christ; but,
nevertheless, it was as certainly there, in its [Page 297] elementary form, as the undeveloped ear is
in the corn blade. Christ himself
expressly and repeatedly asserted its actual existence:
The law
and the prophets were until John, since which
time the
This
agrees with Matt. 11:
12.
And
when He was demanded of the Pharisees when the
That is,
it was there present among them.
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then
is the
It was an actual existence. Publicans and harlots entered into it by
baptism. The scribes and Pharisees
assailed it. Christ informed Nicodemus
that except a man were born of the spirit he could not see it, and, unless born
of water (baptized) in addition to the spiritual birth,
he could not enter it, which implies its existence.
During this, the Organizing
Period, the kingdom was under the direct personal administration of its King
and Founder. He was building, setting up
and establishing it. Its laws were both
enacted and executed by Him in person.
This period was represented by the cutting of the stone out of the
mountain without hands - i.e. human
or angelic agency.
2. The Second Period in the
progress of Christ kingdom embraces all the time from His ascension [Page 298] until
His return - the Regeneration. (Matt. 19: 28.) This period is analogous to the earing time
of the corn blade or stalk, and, in Daniels prophecy, is the time between the cutting
out of the stone from the mountain and its smiting the great image. (Dan. 2: 44.)
During the blade, or stalk,
period of the corn, as I have said, there was nothing, to the inexperienced
eye, that looked like an ear of corn; yet, during this period, after the form
of an ear and the green, imperfect and scattered grains of corn appeared, no
one questioned that it was indeed corn; so, in this age, few can be found to
deny that the kingdom, in one
of its phases, is in
existence. The kernels of corn are fast
multiplying in the ear; and the signs of its fullness and maturity are manifold
and evident to every Scripturally intelligent
observer.
3. The Third Period in the progressive growth of the kingdom,
represented by the first appearance of the green ear on the stalk, and the
scattering kernels of unripe corn upon it, to the FULL CORN IN THE EAR, represents
all the time in the history of the kingdom from the return of Christ - when
commences the Regeneration - until the close of the Millennial Age.
(1.) At the commencement of this Third Period
Christ will return with all His now glorified saints, gathered from their
graves and caught up and out of the living populations of earth.
(2.) Then will take place, in
their presence, the judgment of nations, as nations, and the avenging
of their blood upon those that dwell upon the earth - those goat nations that oppressed and persecuted them.
[Page 299]
(3.) Then Antichrist himself will
be destroyed, and all Antichristian organizations, civil and religious (and at
this time the whole world, with its kings and rulers, will be under his
control, and in open rebellion to Christ), will be crushed into dust by Christ
as King of His saints, as the symbolic stone cut out of the mountain, and their
very dust driven from the earth like the chaff by the wind of a summers
threshing floor.
Thus and then will the prophecies of Daniel (2: 44), and
David (Ps. 2.), and John (Rev. 20.), be fulfilled
when the stone-kingdom will smite the image and break it in pieces. But this is not all of it. It was to become a great mountain and fill
the whole earth.
Then will Christ, as the
antitype of David, by His almighty power, subdue all His enemies, overcome and
bind and cast out Satan, the strong man armed; will spoil his goods (Luke 11: 21-23) and take possession of all the kingdoms of
this earth.
The
Regeneration will be the constituting of all these kingdoms into His one
now universal kingdom, over which, with His saints as joint heirs, He
will reign on this earth for one thousand years in undisputed sway, as King of
kings and Lord of lords, and all men shall see and fear His glory from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof.
This Millennial Period, during
which the full corn in the ear will
appear in its ripened state - its full glory - I call
The Consummation of the Kingdom.
I refer to the following
Scriptures in support of these positions, which I trust the reader will carefully
read:
[Page 300]
Dan. 2: 34-45, 7: 26-28; Luke 22: 29-31; Matt. 19: 28; Acts 3: 20, 22; Rev. 19: 11, 20: 1-7, 5: 10; 2 Tim. 2:12.
* * *
[Page 301]
CHAPTER 30
PARABLE OF THE NET
AGAIN, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to
shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and
sever the wicked from among the just, and shall
cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth. - Matt.
13: 47-50.
Although this is one of the
three briefest of Christs parables, containing but four verses and eighty-four
words, Christ clearly explained its scope to His disciples, as He did the
Parable of the Tares, yet, like that, it has given rise to diverse
interpretations to sustain a false church theory and called forth no little
discussion.
The principal figures of this
parable are:
. The
net.
2. The
fishers.
3. The
fishes.
4. The
sea.
5. The
separation of the fishes.
6. The
great truths taught by it.
For a clearer understanding of this
parable we must understand what these figures or symbols were designed by the
great Teacher to represent. So much [Page 302] that is
false has been put forth that I must
be allowed a little space to remove the rubbish, that the reader
can better understand its true teachings.
1. The net.
There are two principal views
put forth as to what the net was intended to represent, which, I think, are
equally unscriptural and absurd.
(a) The great majority of
commentators and interpreters maintain that it represents the church, which means as near nothing as
can be conceived of; since, as an entity, visible or invisible, it does not
exist, save in the exuberant imaginations of a certain class of
ecclesiologists. Whenever we meet with the
phrase in the New Testament, not referring to a local organization, it is only
a figurative expression, one being
used for all - a collective noun. The word of God knows no such organization as
the church, composed of many or all
of the churches of Christ.
Those who use this phrase can
not claim they mean Christs invisible
spiritual church, for two good reasons: (1) It can not be
shown that He has such a church. (2)
None but true believers, saints, the really saved, could belong to such a body,
if it existed, as the very name indicates; but in this net were many bad fishes, and doubtless more
bad than good ones.
This interpretation of the net
is evidently advanced in the interest of what is called the universal visible church theory - i.e. religious bodies like the Greek,
Roman, Anglican and Protestant state organizations -which forcibly gathers all
the population of the state, good and bad, infants and adults, into their
world-wide folds, who will not enter voluntarily, and retain them [Page 303] in
church fellowship, knowing them to be notoriously bad and worthless.
These commentators belong to
such worldly organizations, and, as I have suggested, their interpretations of
Gods word are influenced by their peculiar views of what they consider a
But Christ, in His
interpretation of the Parable of the Tares, tells us that the field is the world, and
therefore it can not mean the church in that
parable; and if the net signifies the
church in this, then a figure can represent a figure, which is
contrary to the laws of figurative language, and so this theory must be
abandoned, and this parable is rescued from being construed to support an
unscriptural and pernicious church theory and practice.
But the significations put
forward by some Baptist commentators and writers are no less absurd. So anxious to avoid the rock of a world-embracing church
theory, they perish in Charybdis.
E.g.: Dr. Williams * teaches us that by the net
Christ meant the Christian dispensation!! and [Page 304] says it can not signify the church, because its members were once
fishes themselves! (See Commentary in loco.)
* His Commentary on
Matthew is published by the American Baptist
Publication Society,
We can by the same parity of
reasoning say that the fishers could not represent the apostles
in Christs day, and all the true ministers of Christ in all after ages,
because they were once fishes
themselves.
It is evident there should be some similarity between the things compared, or the design used, or the manner or results of their
operation, to suggest the idea of a comparison or analogy. But what conceivable likeness in any respect
there is between a fishermans net and the Christian dispensation, or between
the world and a net, I have not an imagination sufficiently fanciful to
suggest.
By the net, in this parable, I
understand is meant the kingdom of
Christ, composed, as it is, of all His true churches; not, primarily,
because Christ says the kingdom is like a net, but
because in some of the above-mentioned respects it is like a fishermans net,
and, secondarily, because it is like nothing else mentioned in the
parable. It is analogous in some
respects to a net, or there is no analogy, no parable. But granting that fishes represent men, there
is a striking analogy between the administration of the kingdom by the
ministers and servants of Christ (which is composed of all His true churches),
and the management and operation of a net by fishermen, those who use it, and
in the final results of the operation, in separating
the worthless from the good, as we learn from Christ himself.
There is even a closer
likeness. A fishers net is an organism, a definitely constructed implement
for a definite
purpose, made of peculiar material - heavy twine with meshes of different sizes.
So is the
But what conceivable likeness is
there between a fishers net and the Christian dispensation, a period of time,
or the world, the physical earth or the race of mankind?
2. Who do the fishers, the men who manage the net, represent?
Christ has answered this
question for us:
And He saith unto them, Follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men.
- Matt. 4:
19.
What His apostles were in their
days all the true ministers of Christ are called to be
- fishermen - fishers of men.
We can readily see the analogy
between the operations of Christs ministers and expert fishermen. The latter, by all judicious means, endeavour
to get all the good fishes possible into their nets. They certainly do not seek to gather in worthless ones. They
fish and secure good fishes, if servants, for the use of those
who employ them.
So Christ makes it the duty of
His ministers to disciple, by the preaching of the gospel, so as to gather as
many believers as possible into His kingdom (which is constituted of His true
churches), and this for His own glory.
But how can this rationally be
said of the Christian dispensation, or of the
world?
[Page 306]
If the advocates of this theory
claim that it gathers the race of mankind into eternity, and before the angels
who separate the good from the bad, etc., I reply that it does so no more than
any preceding one did, or the subsequent dispensation
will do, and therefore the figure fails.
3. The fishes, we know, represent men. The good, which, in the final separation, are
gathered into vessels, are those who savingly receive the gospel preached -
Christians. The bad are hypocrites.*
[* They might be hypocrites,
but the question begging to be asked is: Were they regenerate? See for example 1
Cor. 5: 9-13. cf. Numbers 16: 26
and 1 Cor. 10: 1-11, R.V.]
4. The sea
undoubtedly represents the world - the masses
of mankind to whom the gospel is to be preached, and upon whom the influences
of the kingdom of heaven are brought to bear for their salvation.
5. The separation (gathering
the good fishes into vessels and casting the worthless ones away), as Christ
clearly teaches, points forward to the final judgment which will take place,
not at the close of this, but of the millennial, age.
THE
GREAT TRUTHS TAUGHT BY THIS PARABLE
1. From the peculiar kind of implement
used - the net - we learn a lesson and a prophecy.
It was not a hook and line -
hand-pole arrangement nor even a common dip net (diktuon), that could only be used in pools along the shore or cast over the
side of a boat (John 21: 6), but a
drag net (sagene),
with which the whole Sea of Galilee could, by repeated efforts, be dragged
over. Dr. Trench thus describes it:
It is
called a draw net, and the particular kind is specified by the word in the
original [sagene]. On [Page 307] the coast of
* This kind of net is now
used all along the
Launch
out into the deep was the reproving command of Christ to His unsuccessful
disciples, who had fished all night and caught nothing (John 5: 4); and the
result of their obedience was, both boats were filled to sinking with the
fishes taken at the one draught.
Is not this meagre success of
the disciples - skimming along the
The Saviour, by this parable,
evidently taught His [Page 308] disciples that during His absence they were to act like discreet
and energetic men fishing, not with rod and line along the shore, but with a
capacious drag net, sweeping every part of the lake or sea.
Most respectfully would I submit
my long-settled convictions, confirmed by the careful study of this parable, in
connection with that of the invitations to the great supper, and that of the
sower, that we, the Christians of this age, are gravely mistaking the true
purport of the great commission, and consequently the duty it imposes upon us. We are directing
our foreign missionary enterprise, it seems to me, as though Christs command
read, Go into some of the
nations of the earth, and remain in those you do enter until you Christianize
and educate, and so elevate, them morally and socially. Are we not concentrating and settling our
foreign missionaries as residents in local habitations in a few favoured spots,
to remain for fifteen or twenty or forty years, building for them permanent
residences and costly church edifices and school buildings, and even high schools
and colleges, for the secular education of the heathen, instead of devoting
every dollar of our means raised for missions to the support of missionaries
while they go forth, as did the apostles and the seventy under the eye of
Christ, and as did the missionaries of the apostolic age, preaching from
province to province, and from city to city?
By this active itineracy, before the death of the last apostle less than
a score of foreign missionaries preached the gospel for a witness to every
known nation of the earth. Must we not
believe that they adopted the policy Christ intended them to pursue, and for us
also in this age? We must believe
it. Let us then study the map of [Page 309] the
three missionary journeys of Paul, Christs first called and sent missionary to
the Gentiles.* Did he
stop at any point and send back an appeal or an agent to collect thousands and
tens of thousands of dollars from the poor churches to build school-houses, or
even a meeting-house, in Ephesus, Corinth or the great city of Rome, the
metropolis of the world?
* Jonah was the first and only foreign missionary I read of in
the Old Testament sent to the Gentiles, but nowhere can I find an intimation
that he sent back to Judea for funds to build a synagogue or school-houses in the
great city of
Brethren, bear with me. I can nowhere find where Christ, our only
Law-giver and Guide in this work, has made it our duty to build school-houses
in order to educate the heathen, or to erect costly or un-costly church
edifices in their great cities or towns for them to worship in. Nor do I anywhere read that Paul or Peter, in
their life-time missionary work, ever built a church edifice, much less a
school-house, and supplied teachers to educate the heathen; and until I am
better informed I must be excused for saying, Millions for the evangelization, but not a cent for the [the spiritual] education, of the heathen. It is my serious fear that if we continue
this mistaken policy of expending tens and scores of thousands of dollars in
building school-houses and high schools, and supporting teachers for them, to
educate the heathen, we shall ere long break down our whole foreign missionary
enterprise. The churches will recoil
from the whole work as infinitely beyond their ability to accomplish.
The evangelical Christians of
America can do what they are called upon to do‑preach the gospel
to [Page 310] (evangelize) every nation on earth, and do it
in one generation - the next thirty or fifty years - if they will only adopt
and rigidly pursue the missionary policy pursued by the apostles and
missionaries of the first age of Christianity.
2. The second lesson, which is a prophecy, clearly taught by this
parable, is that in the whole work of evangelizing the nations Christ did not
contemplate or warrant us in entertaining the thought that His kingdom would be
free from hypocrites and wicked men any more than a drag net, however skilfully
cast and hauled to the shore, would be free of worthless and bad fishes. His ministers can not read the hearts of men,
and it is the subtle policy of Satan, His great adversary, to corrupt and work
detriment to His kingdom. Although he
can not prevail against it so as to destroy it, he can persecute and wear down, but not wear out or exterminate, His saints.
This kingdom of heaven enclosed
a Judas during the administration of Christ himself. During the first revivals under the
administration of the apostles, it enclosed an Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon
Magus.
The church at
3. We also learn that there will not be a pure or converted
citizenship in His kingdom even, much less a [Page 311] converted world, before Christs second
coming and therefore the theory known as post-millennialism must be unscriptural and false.
4. We learn that there will be an ultimate and final separation of the righteous from the wicked, and this at the
end of the millennial dispensation,* when the net will be hauled to the shore, which
is in perfect harmony with the teachings of both the old and new covenants.
[* And also at the end of this evil age,
and therefore before the commencement of the millennial
dispensation.]
Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. - Psalms 1:
5.
For evil-doers shall be cut off;
but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. - Psalms 37: 9.
And
many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt. - Daniel
12: 2.
Whose
fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge
His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner;
but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. - Matt. 3: 12. (See Parable
of the Tares.)
And
death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And
whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of
fire. - Rev. 20: 14, 15.
5. That there will be no second probation for those who reject
the gospel in this age.
The net was pulled to the shore
but once, and there was only one
separation of the good from the bad
fishes.
* * *
[Page 312]
CHAPTER 31
A
SUMMARY OF THE TEACHINGS OF
THE
PARABLES EXPLAINED
BEFORE dismissing the cluster of parables I have noticed, it seems
to me a brief summary of their teachings will be acceptable and profitable to
my readers.
There is to my mind a striking
theological connection and order between the parables I have
explained, which, taken together, illustrate the doctrines bearing upon THE RUIN and REDEMPTION of the RACE.
They may not have been spoken at
the same time, or to the same audience, or in the order I have treated them, or the
evangelists have recorded them.
They were given, we know, to
make known to the apostles the great facts constituting
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which had not been heretofore revealed
to patriarch or prophet:
Whereby,
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in
the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. - Eph. 3: 4, 5.
And
first made known by these parables to the apostles:
[Page 313]
How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery;
as I wrote afore in few words. - Eph. 3: 3.
Some of these facts are:
1. That by Satan, the great adversary of God and enemy of man,
sin was introduced into the world, and by sin death and the ruin of the race,
and of the world. That the effects
filled this world with wickedness, which state would continue until the end of
the [present] age,
when, and not before, there would be a final separation between the righteous
and the wicked, and that the wicked would be punished; and, by implication, we
learn from this that the field, which is the world, will then be restored to
its primitive state.
These facts we learn from the
Parable of the Wheat-field oversown with Tares, etc.
2. The parables of the finding of the treasure hidden in a
field, and the purchase of that field, and the merchantman finding and
purchasing the pearl with all he had
- of the lost coin sought for and recovered - of the lost sheep sought after
and restored to its fold - illustrate the compassionate love of Christ for a
lost and ruined world, and the infinite
price He was willing to pay for its redemption, all that He had - Although
He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we, through His poverty,
might become rich.
3. From the parable of the prodigal son restored to his
fathers love and house and forfeited inheritance, from the invitations to the
great supper being extended to all [upon
repentance], by
that of the sower over-sowing the whole field, and of the drag-net and the good
shepherd, we learn that the religion of Christ is not a race religion, to be confined to the Jews only, but that the [Page 314]
blessings of Christs redemptive work [during
the age yet to come] are intended
for all people, kindreds, tribes and nations - the Gentiles as well as the Jews
- and this great and glorious fact Paul denominates the mystery of Christ:
Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit, that
the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same
body, and partakers of
His promise in Christ by the gospel. - Eph. 3: 5, 6.
That the Jews, on account of their
persistent and wicked rejection of Christ and His authority and saving work,
would themselves be denied the blessings of His grace and honours of His
kingdom in this age, and that it would be taken from them and given to the
Gentiles, was also a great mystery, revealed for the first time in the Parables
of the Wicked Husbandmen, the Great Supper, and the Wedding Feast.
The continued, subtle and
successful opposition of Satan to the progress of Christs redemptive work, in
every phase of it, is also forcibly illustrated in the parables I have thus far
examined.
The ruin he brought upon the
world by the introduction of sin we have already noticed.
That the gospel of mans
salvation - the doctrine of Christ, the bread of eternal life - introduced by
Christ as the antidote of sin and its maladies, Satan would stealthily corrupt
by the introduction of the leaven of
deadly error, is taught us by the parable of the leaven which a
woman hid in the
meal until the whole was leavened.
That His kingdom, which He
designed should be composed of saints - the saved only (Acts 2: 47) - would
be demoralized and suffer detriment by being [Page 315] filled with hypocrites, worldly and wicked
men, who are the emissaries of Satan, we learn from the Parable of the Mustard
Tree, into whose branches the birds of the air flocked
to lodge, and of
the Drag-net, which gathered the bad and worthless fishes as well as the good.
And we learn the saddening fact
that, through the deceitful and baneful influence of Satan on the hearts of
men, the saying influences of the gospel preached will be successfully resisted
and aborted in the case of the vast majority of those who hear and profess to
receive it: so that if the field, being the world, were all
carefully oversown with the good seed of the gospel, as the sower sowed all
parts of his field, but a fractional part of it would so receive it as to bring
forth the saving fruits of it. So long
as this powerful, malignant and subtle antagonism of Satan is allowed to be
exerted upon the race, how can we expect, as the friends of Christ, to
successfully oppose and counteract it, when his success was so signal during the personal ministry of Christ and His
apostles?
In this connection, and in answer
to this question, and to cheer the despondency of Christians, I submit the
Parable of
THE STRONG MAN ARMED.
When a
strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods
are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall
come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusteth,
and divideth his spoils. - Luke 11: 21, 23.
Satan is forcibly represented by
a strong man, and
a strong man armed. And
Christ is the only one stronger than he.
Satan is in himself a powerful
being - the prince of demons and powers of darkness - and he is armed with all
the deceivableness of unrighteousness, and his influence over the hearts and
persons of the wicked is almost irresistible.
That he is the possessor of this
world, of all its kingdoms and their glory, he boldly asserted in the face of
Christ on the mount of temptation, and Christ did not contradict him:
And the
devil, taking Him up
into a high mountain, shewed unto Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou therefore
wilt worship me, all shall be thine. - Luke 4: 5-7.
And he will continue to possess and
rule this world until the close of this dispensation, when he will be
dethroned, bound and cast out of it, and his kingdoms and their glory possessed
and ruled over by Christ and His saints, not by the preaching of the gospel,
but by omnipotent external
force, we find clearly
revealed by Christ by His servant John:
And I saw
heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written,
that no man knew, but He
himself.
And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in
blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were
in heaven followed Him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God.
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, [Page 317] KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel
standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the
midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God; that
ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and
of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all
men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth,
and their armies, gathered together to make war
against Him that sat on the horse, and against
His army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him,
with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast
alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant
were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. - Rev. 19:
11-21.
And I
saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in
his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand
years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled: and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment
was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had
not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.- Rev. 20:
1-5.
The
post-millennial theory - i.e. that all nations are to be Christainized and subdued to the reign of
Christ by the preaching of the gospel before Christs
second coming - is certainly unscriptural.
* * *
[Page 318]
CHAPTER 32
CHRISTS
LAST PROPHECY
WHEN the Son of Man shall come in His
glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right
hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
me in: naked, and
ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in
prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous
answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
Thee? And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall He say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave unto me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
me not in: naked,
and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not
minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as
ye did it not to one of the [Page 319] least of these, ye did
it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. - Matt. 25: 31-46.
This is justly called Our Lords Great Prophecy. It is the greatest of all He uttered while on
this earth. Of all His prophecies or
teachings, none have been more largely written upon or more generally wrested
and misinterpreted by commentators, and consequently misunderstood by the
people, than this. The cause of this,
manifestly, is the substitution of men for nations, and confounding this judgment with that of The Great White Throne recorded in Revelation 20. - the final, although falsely called the general, judgment. They are certainly not the same events. There is scarcely a feature common to
both. Let us carefully examine them:
1. They do not take place at the same time. They are more than one
thousand years apart.
This judgment of the living
nations will take place immediately upon the second coming of Christ before the
millennial age. Christ says:
When
the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all
the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon
the throne of His glory.
- Matt. 25:
31.
The final judgment recorded in Revelation 20. will take place at the close of the
thousand years of the reign of Christ on this earth with His saints, and it
does not say that all His angels will then be with Him. Being more than a thousand years subsequent
to His second advent, and the judgment of the then living nations, they can not
be one and the same event.
2. This judgment is that of the nations as nations, [Page 320] not of individuals as individuals, then living on the earth at the coming of Christ, while the final
judgment recorded in Revelation 20. will
be a judgment of individuals.
3. While the first judgment is of the living only, the last or final
one is of the dead only, who have been raised out of their graves to be
judged. And
I saw the dead, small and great [i.e. all those
amenable to a judgment for sin] standing before the
throne. Every one then and
there judged had been raised from the dead for this purpose. And the sea gave up
the dead [i.e. bodies] which were in it; and death
and hades gave up the dead [i.e. the
spirits (or disembodied souls)] of all the dead which were in them; i.e. death is here put for the graves which held the bodies
of all the victims of death, and hades for the place that at this time
will only hold the spirits [and disembodied souls]* of all the wicked dead, since it had already
given up all the spirits [i.e., the disembodied souls] of the righteous dead at the second coming
of Christ, and they - these dead ones - were judged each one according to their
works. This, then, was exclusively a
personal judgment for sin, and of the wicked only, for all who were in their
graves at this time were the ungodly and wicked only. This day is expressly characterized, not as
the day of the judgment of the quick [living] and dead, but
as the day of Gods wrath, the great day of
His wrath, and the day of the judgment and
destruction of ungodly men. (2
Peter 3: 7.) All [with the exception of those whose names
will be found written in the book of life (Rev. 21: 15, R.V.)] who are judged at this time will
be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20: 15.)
[*NOTE. The spirits
in Hades refers to angelic creatures and also their human offspring called the Nephilim. See Gen. 6: 4, R.V.
cf.
1 Pet. 3:
19, 20,
R.V. These, together with the souls
of the wicked dead, are held in the Underworld of Hades until the FINAL resurrection, when death and Hades will gave up the dead which were in them: to be judged according to their works: (Rev. 20: 13, R.V.).]
Nations sin as nations, and not
as individuals; therefore, as nations, are judged, and, as nations, are
punished. There is no future hell for nations, and [Page 321] therefore they ever have been, are now, and will be, punished in time with national
calamities, as war, famine, pestilence, wasting desolations and everlasting
destruction - i.e.
denationalization. God has never yet
failed to judge the nations that have sinned against Him with a high and
long-continued hand.
4. This judgment of the great white throne is not a judgment of
the then living nations
or living individuals, but of the dead only.
And I saw the dead, small and great [all those amenable to a
judgment for sin], standing before the throne. Every one then and there judged had been raised from the dead for this
expressed purpose. And the sea gave up the dead [bodies]
that were in it, and
death and hades gave up the dead which were in them [i.e. the graves yielded up the bodies of
the dead in them, and hades - the place of departed spirits {and
souls} - gave up the spirits of the dead that still remained in it],
and they [these raised ones] were judged each one
according to their works. (Rev. 20: 13.) This, then, will not be a national, but a personal, judgment for sin, and
of the wicked* only.
[* Keep in mind: The word wicked
is used throughout the Scriptures to describe some of the regenerate!
I wrote
unto you in my epistle to have no company with fornicators; not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then
ye must needs go out of the world: but now I
write unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler,
or a drunkard, or an
extortioner: with such a one, not to eat. For what have I to do with judging them that are without?
Do not ye judge
them that are within, whereas them that are without God
judgeth?
Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.
Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not INHERIT the
5. There will be only one class present at the last judgment; while at the judgment of
the nations there will be three classes, although only two will be judged: (1)
The sheep nations; (2) the goat nations ‑ and (3) those whom Christ will
call these my brethren.
6. In the final judgment there will be no separation, while in
that of the nations there will be. The
sheep nations will be placed on the right hand, and the goat nations on the
left.
7. In the judgment of the nations the verdicts will be radically different. The one class will be blessed, the [Page 322] other cursed, while on the final
judgment the same verdict of eternal punishment will be pronounced upon all.
This last, then, can not be a general judgment of the righteous and
the unrighteous - saints and sinners - but of the ungodly only. This judgment day is throughout the Bible
spoken of as the day of wrath; the great day of God's wrath; the day
of the revelation of the judgment and perdition destruction - of ungodly men to
which the devil and his angels are in chains reserved unto the judgment of the
great day. (Jude 6.) Job says that all the
wicked are reserved unto this day of destruction:
Do ye
not know, that the wicked is reserved unto the day of
destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. Job 21: 29, 30.
I have said that none but wicked
(ungodly) men will be judged at the judgment of the great white throne or
final judgment, because none but the dead - those men raised up out of their graves - will then be
judged, and that all the wicked from Adam until the close of the millennial age
will, at this time, be in their graves.
I scarce think any intelligent reader of Gods word, unless wedded to a
false theory, will deny this. A few
facts will make this evident:
(l.) All the wicked from Adam to
the second advent of Christ will be left in their graves at the first
resurrection, which will be of the righteous dead only, for the dead in Christ will rise first. (2.) The
wicked only will die during the millennial age.
The sinner, although a hundred years old, will
die accursed. (3.) At the close of the thousand years all the wicked then
living, so soon as Satan is unchained and set at liberty, will [Page 323] join him
in the predicted universal revolt against the government of Christ and His
saints, and will come up on the face of the whole earth, to invest the holy
city and the camp of the saints, to put Christ and His saints to death, and
repossess themselves of the rule of the earth; but fire will come down from
heaven and destroy them. All the wicked,
then, that have ever lived on the earth will at this time be dead and in their
graves, and all the righteous, from Abel, will be alive and on the earth. The dead, small and great,
that will be raised to be judged will be the ungodly and wicked, while the
judgment of nations, as I have said, will be of the then living only. They must, then, be two widely different
judgments - if more need be said to demonstrate that the judgment of the living
nations (Matt. 25.) and the judgment of the raised dead (Rev. 20.) are not
records of one and the same general judgment.
8. The criteria of the judgments are not the
same, but radically different.
The nations are judged by their
treatment of those whom Christ will call these my brethren.
Those nations that have treated
them kindly will be blessed with a continuance of existence, composing, as they will, the kingdoms over which Christ and His saints will
reign in glory for one thousand years.
All those nations that have been
unkind to Christs brethren will be cursed by an everlasting punishment as nations, as the cities of the plains
were forever swept from the earth with fire and brimstone.
If it is urged that the sentence
pronounced upon the goats can not be
executed upon nations as such, but only upon individual sinners, I remark that
nations [Page 324] can and
do sin as nations, and they must be judged and punished as nations, and
individuals are not held responsible for national sins,
but for personal transgressions. There is no future hell for nations; they
must be punished in time, and with temporal punishments, national calamities,
desolating wars and wasting pestilences, and plagues and famines, and
denationalization - i.e. by being
swept from the earth as nations.
Gods dealing with the nations
that persecuted, oppressed, carried into captivity and afflicted His ancient
people
Let us notice this for a
moment. God declared with respect to His
ancient people, The nation that shall not serve thee shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly wasted. How
much more those that persecuted and oppressed His people? Look
carefully over the history of those nations and point out one that has not - is
not suffering to-day the identical punishment that will be pronounced upon the
goat nations for their mistreatment of the brethren of Christ.
Where is
If the reader wishes to pursue,
the history further, let him read Joel (chap. 3.), and
then say if God will pour such dire and desolating calamities and wasting
desolation upon the nations that have afflicted and mistreated His ancient
people Israel, what will be the judgments with which He will desolate and
destroy and utterly waste those nations who did for ages so mistreat His brethren?
The most pious heart, when their
sufferings are recalled, can not but join in their cry from under the
altar, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood upon those that dwell upon the earth? And with the greatest Christian poet:
Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered
saints whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old,
[Page 326]
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones,
Forget not; in Thy book record their groans
Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the cruel Piedmentese, that rolled
Mother and infant down the rocks.
Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they to heaven.
And Christ, the holy and the
true, will judge those nations, and avenge the blood of His martyred brethren.
To sheep nations on His right
hand He will say, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared [prospectively] for you from the
foundation of the world.
These nations will be those
referred to by John (in Rev. 21: 24) as the nations saved - saved from the desolations
and calamities that destroyed the goat nations from the earth; that shall walk
in the light of the New Jerusalem - the metropolis of the new earth; and their
kings, the redeemed saints, who will reign with Christ for one thousand years
over these saved nations on the earth, will bring the honour and the glory of
these saved nations onto it.
What I have said above, taken in
connection with Dr. Kendalls able essay on The
Four Judgments in the Appendix, will be a sufficient explanation of this
great prophecy of Christ.
It must be evident, we think, to
every candid student of Gods word, that this prophecy can not, without the
most violent wresting, be made to teach otherwise than that the second coming
of Christ will be pre-millennial.
Before closing, I will notice and
remove the most plausible and conclusive proof-text brought by the advocates of
post-millennialism in support of their theory.
It is from the Common Version, and reads thus:
[Page 327]
I
charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the quick [living]
and the dead at His appearing and his kingdom: preach the word. - 2 Tim.
4: 1.
All the aid and comfort
post-millennialists can get out of this passage they get from the
mistranslation of it. This will be seen when I place beside it that of the
Revised Version, viz.:
I
charge thee in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom; preach the word.
The former translation teaches
that the living and the dead will be judged at the appearing and coming of
Christ, and, therefore, the judgment recorded by Matthew (chap. 25.) will be
a general judgment - making Paul
contradict Matthew, since he clearly teaches that only the living nations will be judged, and rewarded and
punished as nations for their national acts, good or bad.
And now, if the ever-blessed God
will bless these pages to the edification of my brethren who may read them in
the most holy faith, and strengthen them in the blessed
hope of the speedy coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, my
prayer will be answered and my labours rewarded.
* *
*
[Page
329]
APPENDIX
THE FOUR
JUDGMENTS
BY
REV. J. F. KENDALL,
READ BEFORE
THE PROPHETIC CONFERENCE, HELD IN
QUESTIONS concerning what theologians term the final or the general judgment
often arise in, and often greatly perplex, the mind of the ordinary
believer. It is the purpose of this
study to answer these questions, and thereby give comfort to many a perplexed
spirit.
VARIOUS
VIEWS
1. Immediately after death the soul is placed at the bar of God
and judged. Individuals are treated according to their desert, and this is done immediately after death. (Dr. Dick, Theology, p. 339.) The
soul, at death, goes immediately to its place of eternal happiness or misery,
according to its moral character. (Ms. Lects. of Dr. L. P. Hickok.) Hence -
2. The sentence of God assigns the righteous to heaven, and
they enter at once on an everlasting inheritance.
[Page 330]
3. The same sentence assigns the wicked to everlasting fire.
4. At the resurrection, both the righteous and the wicked are brought
from their respective abodes, when they are judged a second time, and are
returned to the place whence they were brought, to remain forever. The judgment passed
upon each individual at the termination of his life will be solemnly ratified
at the end of the world. (Dr. Dick.) It thus
appears, and this is the accepted orthodox view, that the final judgment is
merely confirmatory of that which was passed at death, and not that there has
been another chance. This is no scheme
of an Eternal Hope.
A general judgment seems necessary to the display of the justice of God - to
such a manifestation of it as will vindicate His government from all the
charges which impiety has brought against it. (Dr. Dick, p. 38g.)
1. Such a judgment will be a more
glorious display of Gods majesty and dominion.
2. The end of judgment will be more
fully answered by a public and general than only by a particular and private
judgment.
3. It is very agreeable to reason that
the irregularities which are so open and manifest in the world should, when the
world comes to an end, be publicly rectified by the Supreme Governor. (Edwards Works, Vol.
iv., pp. 205, 206.)
There will be
such a revelation of the character of every man, to all around him, or to all
who know him, as shall render the justice of the sentence of condemnation or
acquittal apparent. (Hodge, Theology, Vol. iii., p. 849,)
[Page 331]
At the
judgment of the last day, the destiny of the righteous and of the wicked shall
be unalterably determined. (Idem, p. 850)
The
grand end of the judgment is therefore to stop every mouth, satisfy every
conscience, and make every knee bow to Gods authority, either willingly in
love, or necessarily in absolute conviction. (Dr. Hickok.)
The sum and substance of all
reasons for a general judgment is, in some way, a vindication of God. God would show Himself holy and righteous in all His functions of
sovereignty. (Dr. Hickok.)
The marked absence of Scripture
quotations, or even reference, is worthy of note, in all these reasons for a
general judgment.
That it may appear how
unsatisfactory, to their own minds, are their supposed vindications of the
divine dealings, I add one or two quotations from themselves:
Dr. Hodge, Vol. iii., p. 849: Every man will see
himself as he appears in the sight of God.
His memory will probably prove an indelible register of all his sinful
acts, thoughts and feelings. His
conscience will be so enlightened as to recognize the justice of the sentence
which the righteous Judge shall pronounce upon him. These things being so, we may ask, What possible need of vindication can there be?
Dr. Dick: Among the multitude of the condemned, however severe may be their
punishment, and however impatiently they may bear it, there will not be one who
will dare to accuse his Judge of injustice.
In the mind of every man a consciousness of guilt will be deeply fixed;
he will be compelled to blame himself [Page 332] alone and to justify the
sentence which has rendered him forever miserable. The declaration of
the Judge concerning those on His right hand that they are righteous, and
concerning those on His left hand that they are wicked, will be sufficient to
convince all in the immense assembly that the sentence pronounced upon each
individual is just.
Thus, while these writers
maintain the necessity of a general judgment for the vindication of the divine
character, they themselves proceed to show that no such vindication is
necessary.
Dick: The proceedings will take place in the sight of angels and men. Countless millions
will be assembled to hear their final doom.
All nations shall be gathered before the Son of Man.
Edwards: In the great and general judgment, all men shall together
appear before the judgment seat to be judged; the
whole world, both angels and men, being present to behold.
Hodge: The
persons to be judged are men and angels. This judgment,
therefore, is absolutely universal; it includes both small and great, and all
the generations of men.
Hickok: All fallen angels are to be publicly judged; also, all the human family.
On the disclosures of the
judgment, opinions seriously differ.
Thus Edwards: The works of both righteous and wicked will be
rehearsed. The evil works of the wicked shall then be brought forth to light. But then he adds: The good works of the saints will also be brought forth as evidences of
their sincerity, and of their interest in the righteousness of Christ. As to
their evil works, they will not be [Page 333] brought forth against them on that day; for the
guilt of them will not lie upon them, they being clothed with the righteousness
of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, Hickok, as we think, well insists that the sins of Christians will be brought to light in the judgment, for
various reasons; and, as if answering this thought of Edwards, on the ground
that the grace of Christ in their final sanctification
can not be fully exhibited without it.
If there is to be such a general
judgment, as is generally supposed, then there would seem to be no good reason
to doubt that all the deeds, both good and evil, of all who have lived, both
good and evil, must then be disclosed.
The physical phenomena of a general judgment are a source of no little
trouble. Dr. Hodge avoids it by utterly
ignoring questions which will force themselves upon the reader of
Scripture. Dr. Dicks troubles appear in
the following quotations: The place where the judgment will
be held is this world; and, as it is said that the saints shall be caught up in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, it should seem that the wicked should
be left standing upon the earth. The saints being caught up into the clouds by the ministry of angels to
meet the Lord in the air, and the wicked being left on the earth, the judgment
will proceed.
And Dr. Edwards: They shall all be brought to appear before Christ, the godly being placed
on the right hand, the wicked on the left. Besides the one
standing on the right hand, and the other on the left, there seems to be this
difference between them: that when the dead in Christ shall be raised, they
will all be caught up in the air, where Christ shall [Page 334] be, and shall be there at His right hand during the judgment, nevermore to
set their feet on this earth; whereas, the wicked shall be left standing on the
earth, there to abide the judgment.
According to this
representation, the righteous have been judged before the judgment begins, for
they have been assigned to the right hand, where they remain during the judgment, while, only the wicked really abide the judgment. Now, according to
the Scriptures upon which these writers depend to prove their general judgment
- viz., Matt. 25: 31-46 - the
assemblage of the universe is to be a promiscuous assemblage, whom, after they
shall be gathered, the Son of Man shall separate one from another; whereas, they both agree that
the separation takes place in the process of gathering. But certainly it does not. The result, according to their view, is a
most singular physical phenomenon, viz.: the saints on His right hand in the air, the lost on the left standing upon the earth. It is no quibble which makes
these suggestions. They deserve to be
considered.
One other declaration of Dr.
Hodge deserves a moments notice: At the judgment of
the last day, he says, the destiny of the righteous and
of the wicked shall be unalterably determined. By destiny he
must mean ultimate fate. Webster defines determined as ended, concluded, decided, limited, fixed, settled,
resolved, directed. Which does Dr. Hodge mean? In truth, his proposition can in nowise be
maintained. All orthodox theologians
agree that for the believer to die is to depart and be with Christ, and for
the unbeliever it is to go away into everlasting punishment; but
the destiny may be fixed [Page 335] long
before that, and, so far as we have experience or knowledge, is never fixed at the judgment. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not is condemned already. (John 3: 36, 18.) The destiny of
every soul is unalterably determined on the
moment of his final acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ as a Saviour.
What is the meaning of the term
judgment? Webster answers: Theologically, the final punishment of the wicked; the last sentence. It should arrest our thought that, in
Websters mind, only the wicked have
place in judgment.
Cremers answer
(in Theological
Lexicon, under krisis):
Specially in judicial procedure, and primarily without
particular regard to the character of the decision. Then of a definite
accusation or prosecution, guilt of some sort being presupposed by the judicial
procedure. This precise use of the term,
as equal to judicial process, judgment directed against the guilty, and leading
on to condemnation, is comparatively rare in profane Greek, whereas it is
almost the only one in the New Testament. And he cites (Matt.
5: 21, 22): Whosoever shall kill, or is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and (Mark 3: 29) the blasphemer against the Holy Ghost is in danger of eternal judgment. Further:
It is characteristic
of judicial process, especially of the divine judgment to which krisis mostly relates, that it is directed
against the guilty. 1 John iv.17: Hemera, kriseos. In Mark 5: 15, 11: 22-24, 12: 36 (and others), krisis denotes the final judgment of the
world, which is to bring destruction upon the guilty. In Rev. 14: 7, 16: 7, 19: 2, the word [Page 337] likewise denotes the judgment,
the act of judging, which discerns and condemns the guilty. And again, under krima, the decision of a judge, judgment (Rev. 20: 4), the
judgment concerning them is given in what follows. ... Elsewhere in the New Testament throughout, as in later Greek, the word
always denotes a judgment unfavourable to those concerned - a punitive judgment,
involving punishment, as a matter of course. And he cites 2 Peter 2:
3, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, with Rom. 3: 8, whose judgment is just, and Rom. 5: 16, for the judgment was by one to
condemnation. For the cognizance of the judge, continued Cremer,
to say nothing of his judgment, implies a coming short.
This is a very vital point in
our discussion. If the New Testament
usage of the term judgment implies guilt, and has but one natural sequence -
condemnation - then we effect at once a very large exclusion from the numbers
of those for whom a final judgment is intended; no righteous can be there, and
such a thing as a general judgment must be forever unknown. It is easy to show, by citation of numerous
passages, that Cremer is right, both as the term is
used in reference to man and God.
1. The use of judge when applied to man.
Doth our law judge any man before it hear him? (John 7: 51.) Pilate said: Take
Him yourselves and judge Him according to your law. The Jews said unto
him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death (John 18: 31), as if
that were the only possible sentence. (See Acts 13: 27-46, 23: 3-6, 24: 6-21.) Festus said to Paul: Let them go up to [Page 337]
2. The use of judge when applied to God.
Luke 19: 22: Out of thine own
mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.
Acts 7: 7: The nation to whom
they shall be in bondage will I judge, saith God.
Rom. 2: 12, 16: As many as have sinned
in the law shall be judged by the law ... in the
day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.
2 Thess. 2: 12: That they all might
be judged who ... had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
Hebrews 9: 27, 28: As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear ... unto salvation. Manifestly judgment and salvation stand over against each other. The world was under judgment, and this meant
condemnation, for in judgment they were judged every man
according to his works. Justice is
inexorable, and, since all have sinned, no one who comes into judgment can
escape. Hence the divine mercy interposed,
and, as judgment was the original doom, so - that is, to meet [Page 338] this very exigency of their case; to arrest judgment and offer
salvation - Christ was offered.
Those that look
for Him are, of course, believers, who, though by nature children of wrath, have been quickened
together with Christ, raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
(Eph. 2: 5, 6), and
that certainly is far above fear of death and judgment. For such there remaineth no fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour
the adversaries. (Heb. 10: 7). Not to quote a burdensome number of passages,
the reader will find the term judge used
in the sense of condemnation in John 3: 17, 18, 5: 22, 24, 27, 29, 30, 12: 31, 47, 48, 16: 8, 11 (see Greek and R. V.); also,
numerously in the Apocalypse: Rev. 6: 9, 10, 11: 18, 16: 5, 7, 18: 8, 10, 20, 19: 2, 11, 20: 12, 13. James 2: 13: For judgment is without mercy to him that showeth
no mercy; mercy glorieth against judgment. Very striking are the passages (Pet. 2: 4, 9): God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and the Lord knoweth how ... to
reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished, and (3: 7) the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. See also Jude 6, 15.
To sum up, under the term krisis, or judgment, it occurs forty-eight
times in the New Testament. In forty-one
instances it is translated judgment, three
times damnation. In more than thirty places it may refer to
what we term the last judgment; and, in [Page 339] every one of these cases, it does not
appear that any but the guilty are involved in the judgment, and, in nearly
every instance, it is evident that the righteous are positively excluded. In
those instances in which other than the last judgment is spoken of, the
judgment is still only that of the ungodly, and in no case can it be shown that
the godly are brought into judgment. And
if we look at the close-related word krima, which is also translated judgment and damnation, it is evident, in every
instance in which it can be applied to the last judgment, that only the ungodly
are included, and judgment is to condemnation.
These facts are very striking, and throw a flood of light upon the
question of the judgment, which is a terror to so many of the Lords people.
But then the question arises,
What is to be said of those texts which, upon their face, seem to teach that
there is to be a general judgment at which all shall be gathered, such as: (Acts 17: 31) He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world;
(Matt. 25:
32).
Before Him shall be gathered all nations;
and especially (2 Cor.
5: 10) We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ? This first: When we find the true
interpretation, these Scriptures with the others, there will be no
contradiction.
What, then, are all the facts
concerning the believer? For 2 Cor. 5:
10 refers to him. It is said, then, We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The Greek for judgment-seat is bema, and occurs twelve times in the New Testament. It is derived from baivo, to go, walk, tread, step. The first definition, both in the classical
and New Testament [Page 240] lexicon, is a step. In this sense it is used but once: viz. (in Acts 7: 5), Gave him none inheritance in it, not even a bema of
a foot- a step of a foot, a foot breadth; or, Authorized Version, not so much as to set his foot on.
The secondary meaning is an
elevated place ascended by steps. (a) A tribune, to speak or read from. In this sense (Acts 12: 21), Herod sat upon his throne, and made
an oration unto them. (b) The tribunal of a magistrate or ruler.
In this sense it is used of
Pilate, (Matt. 27: 19) when he sat down on the judgment-seat; (John 19: 13) Pilate sat down on the judgment-seat: of Gallio,
(Acts 18: 12) the
Jews made insurrection against Paul, and brought
him to the judgment-seat. (18: 16) he drave them from
the judgment-seat; (18: 17) they beat Sosthenes
before the judgment-seat: of Festus, (Acts 25: 6) the next day,
sitting on the judgment-seat, commanded Paul to be
brought; (25: 10) I stand at Caesars
judgment-seat; (25: 17) sat on the
judgment-seat. The other instances of
its use are in this connection: We
shall all stand (Rom. 14: 10); we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ
(2 Cor. 5: 10).
In ten of these twelve cases the
Greek word is rendered in the Authorized Version judgment-seat,
and the Revised Version agrees in every instance. In one case the word, both in the Authorized
Version and the Revised Version, is rendered throne, while
even here the Revised Version gives the marginal reading judgment-seat. In every instance
Alford agrees with the Authorized Version.
It is
worthy of note, in this connection, that in not [Page 341] one instance in which persons are
represented as brought before the judgment-seat is any one of them found
guilty, or condemned, by the one who occupies the bema. This, of itself,
might suggest the more consistent rendering of
Now, it is affirmed of the believer
that he must appear before the bema of
Jesus Christ. For what
purpose? Paul has answered: That
everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Cor. 5: 10). All this said concerning those who know (verse 1) that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God, eternal in the heavens - i.e. believers, and
believers only. What does it
signify? Precisely what is set forth in 1 Cor. 3: 12-15: Every mans work
shall be tried. If any mans work abide ... he shall receive a reward. This is said only of the believing man, for
only such a one is a labourer together with God (3: 9); and of
the one thus tested, it is affirmed that though his work shall be burned, he
himself shall be saved (3: 15).
All works of the believer are to be tried, that it be made manifest
whether or not they are wrought in God (John 3: 21). For this trial all are gathered before the bema - the ungodly [and unregenerate] are not
there, but they are all believers. Some
will receive a great reward for
efficient service and many good works; some a less reward; others less still;
and some none at all, their works being done only in the energy of the flesh,
being [Page 342] counted
utterly worthless and cast into the fire; yet, by reason of a true, though it
may be feeble, faith, they do not miss [eternal] salvation; and thus it is that every mans work shall he made manifest, and its true value be determined. But of judgment, of which we have seen that
it leads on to condemnation [and ultimately the lake of
fire], into any such scene the
believer shall not come. This is
the very word of our divine Lord: He that
... believeth ... hath
everlasting life, and shall not Come into
judgment, where the word is the very same which Paul uses when he says,
after death judgment.
It is not difficult to show by
irresistible Scripture proof that no believer shall ever stand in other judgment than this. Because:
1. The general idea of the judgment supposes that the sins of
the believer are to be brought there and judged. But this is certainly a mistake. For, though all
we like sheep have gone astray. the Lord hath laid on
Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53: 6), and He
bore our sins in His own body on the tree
(1 Peter 2: 24). When Christ thus bore our sins, He condemned sin in the flesh. (Rom.
8: 3). He put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Heb.
9: 26.) The believers sins have, therefore, been
judged and condemned already.
Thy sin
was judged in His flesh.
For He died unto sin once. (Rom. 6: 10.) He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. (Isaiah 53: 5.) Hence, so far as his
sins [of ignorance]* are
concerned, the believer looks back to his judgment, and not forward.
[* See Heb. 10: 26, 27, R.V.]
2. The oneness of Christ and the believer testifies [Page 343] to the
same fact. Every believer can truly say,
I was crucified with Christ. (Gal. 2: 20.)
I was buried with Him by the baptism unto
death (Rom. 6:
4); hence what Christs death
expressed, it expressed for me. If one died for all, then all died. (2 Cor. 5:
14) Under the old dispensation, the
sins of the Jews were dealt with on the day of atonement. God dealt with the sin, and sins of all time,
on
3. Expose the believer to be judged according to his deeds, and
you insure his condemnation. Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, prays the Psalmist (Ps. 143: 2), for in Thy sight
shall no man living be justified.
No one with whom God enters into judgment can be saved, for justice is
inexorable. And not only have all
sinned, but they continue to sin, and, therefore, if sins were brought into
judgment, ones doom would be inevitable.
No one will be safe who is to have his eternal
destiny determined by his own deeds.
(Albert Barnes, Commentary on Rev. 20: 12.)
There remains a further
consideration of most serious and solemn moment, viz.:
4. To bring the believer into judgment would make the judge the
accused. The judge is Christ. The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also. (John 5: 22, 27.) It is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick
and dead. (Acts 10:
42.) But Christ, the Judge, [Page 344] has
stood for us. To bring the believer into
judgment, therefore, would be to question the worth of what Christ has done to
bring an accusation against Him. It
would bring Him down from the place of judgment, strip from Him the ermine of
the Judge, and place Him before the bar as a culprit. He died for us, for our sins. Did He make sufficient propitiation? Did His work meet the demand? If so - if His offering was adequate to the
purpose - then the believer is justified; and how can one be brought into
judgment of whom the divine testimony already is - there is therefore now no condemnation (Rom. 8: 1); he is justified from
all things (Acts 13: 39)?
And, further, what greater
insult could be offered to Jesus than to bring into judgment one for whom He
has stood? To judge such would be but to
judge Himself. Who shall lay anything to the charge of Gods elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is He that
condemneth? Is it Christ that died? (Rom.
8: 33, 34.)
The judgment must, therefore,
deal with Him before it can reach them.
Consider, too, the incongruity
of Christ judging His own bride. Many of
them will have been saints in heaven for thousands of years, and how can such
ever be put on trial? No; all believers
will be gathered at the judgment-seat of Christ for one sole purpose, to
receive the reward for their works, each according
as his work shall be. (Rev. 22: 12.) And a
reward is not a gift. The believer
has [already] received the latter; the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
(Rom. 6: 23.)
The former awaits him at the bema. And it should be noted for the comfort of [Page 345] every
believer that the bema is not set to determine, or even consider, the question
of [eternal] salvation. That is
forever settled, when, as one believeth, so he hath everlasting life. (John
3: 36). But it is set to determine the value of Christian
service and the reward therefor. The
judgment-seat of Christ is not for the judgment of the person, but of his
works. There is to be determined the
value of a cup of cold water given in the name of
Christ. For
God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister,
(Heb. 6: 10.)
Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, he shall receive a reward. (Eph.
6: 8.) Oh, pity to him who, though he himself shall be saved, shall
yet suffer loss (1 Cor. 3: 15) at the judgment-seat of Christ,
for such loss will be [millennial (Lk.
20: 35) or, in
the case of the unregenerate,] eternal!
It is a solemn thought that what we lose here, in the matter of
Christian service and good works, eternity can never make good. The voice of him who is barely saved, yet so as by fire,
will never sound so loud, his harp will never be strung so rapturously, nor
his palm be waved so victoriously [by the overcomer (Rev. 3: 21, cf.
Rev. 2: 10, 11, R.V.)] in [the coming kingdom or in] heaven, as will fall to the blessed lot of
him who has abundant entrance.
Oh, joy to him on whose labour,
when the fire shall try every mans work
of what sort it is (1 Cor.
3: 13), there
shall be no smell of fire, but all his work, either gold, silver or precious stones, shall
abide the test, and whose reward shall
be great. It is surely worth an effort to stand well at the judgment-seat of
Christ.
The
considerations above urged are opposed
to the common idea of a general judgment.
What then, shall we say to Matt. 25: 31-33? When the Son of Man shall come in His
glory. ... before Him shall be gathered
all nations, and He shall separate them from one
another, and He shall set the sheep on His right
hand, but the goats on the left.
This passage is constantly
quoted and relied on in proof of a general judgment, and is supposed to be
parallel with Rev. 20: 11-15: And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it.
... And I saw the dead, small
and great, stand before God; ... and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books. ... And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it, and death and hades
delivered up the dead which were in them, etc. The sound of the two italicized phrases in
the last two quotations will easily mislead one who is careless respecting
details, when a careful consideration of them will show that these passages can
not be parallel, and must, therefore, refer to entirely different events. The following facts stand in proof of the
last statement:
1. The passage from Matthew contains not one word to indicate a
resurrection; that from Revelation plainly declares a resurrection (20: 13).
2. In Matthew the dealing is with nations.
What nations? The answer is in Matt. 24: 14: This gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all the nations. Then, When
the Son of Man shall come, ...
before Him shall be gathered all the nations before
specified. They come as nations. In Revelation the
dealing is with individuals. They were judged every man [Page 347] according to their works (20: 13). Coupled with this there follows the third
fact, viz.:
3. Matthew evidently speaks of nations living when the Son of Man appears, as in Zech. 14: 2. Revelation specially designates the nations of the dead.
4. In Matthew we find among the gathered nations two distinct classes, viz.: the sheep and the goats; and apart from them a third
class, viz.: the brethren (25: 40-45). The two former classes are separated on one
sole ground, viz.: their treatment of the third class - the brethren. It were absurd to suppose that the sheep were
rewarded for what they had done to themselves, or the goats punished for what
they had done to the sheep, in the face of the distinct affirmation that the
one class is rewarded and the other punished for their treatment of a class
entirely distinct from either of themselves.
Evidently, then, to constitute them either praiseworthy or blameworthy,
they must have known them as the brethren of Christ.
In Revelation we find but one class - no separation, but all judged out of those things which were written in the books
(20: 12),
not the book -
consigned to the lake of fire, and among them are many who never heard of
Christ, and to whom the language in Matthew could
not apply.
Now, certainly, it is most remarkable
and unaccountable that, if the church, or believers, are to have a place in
this stupendous scene, not one word is said concerning them, and the doom of
the lost alone appears as the result of the grand assize.
Our study of these passages
reveals, therefore, the following facts, viz.: that there is to be a judgment
of the living nations, and a judgment of the great [Page 348] white throne, and these are distinct
and separate in time and place.
Where, then, will be the church
while these judgments proceed? With the Lord. Their case is set forth in 1 Thess. 4:
16, 17. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout;
... and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
... to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This is the first signal of Christs second
coming. Hence these great events, which
have so often been regarded with nothing less than terror by the Lords dear people,
will not concern them in the least, save as spectators of what their Lord and
Master does.
One other inquiry - partly
curious - will prepare the way for the general conclusion.
When will the judgment-seat of Christ be set?
We may not dogmatize, as we have scarcely more than hints upon which to
base a conclusion. This much is sure:
when the Lord comes with a shout, the dead saints will be raised; the living
saints will all be changed in a moment (1 Cor. 15: 51, 52); the corruptible will put on
incorruption - the mortal, immortality.
This, of course, marks the resurrection - sown
in dishonour, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in
power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. (1
Cor. 15: 43, 44.) Now, in the Revelation (22: 12), we
find Jesus saying, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to
give every man according as his work shall be. (1 Cor. 3:
13, 14.) And in Luke 14: 13, 14, He
says, When thou makest a feast, call the poor. ... the blind,
and thou shalt be blessed for thou shalt be [Page 349] recompensed at the resurrection of the just. These passages may indicate that the time of
the churchs reward is
quickly to succeed their resurrection.
Bunyan: Now when the saints that sleep shall be raised, thus
incorruptible, powerful, glorious and spiritual, and also those that then shall
be found alive, made like them; then forthwith, before the unjust are raised,
the saints shall appear before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, there
to give an account to their Lord, the Judge of all the things they have done,
and to receive a reward for their good according to their labour.
It is evident from all that has
been said that the only judgment of the believer is that which attaches to his
works, wherefore he receives greater or less reward, or may be none.
The final doom of the wicked is
also according to his works. (Rom. 2: 6; Gal. 6: 7; 2 Pet. 2: 12, 13. Rev. 2: 23, 11: 18, 20: 12.) There is,
however, a worldwide distinction in the two classes of works. Then
said they unto Him, What shall we do that we
might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. (John 6: 28, 29). Eject this special work of God from the lives of the ungodly,
the work of faith and labour of love
(1 Thess. 1: 3), and
there is left but a harvest of whirlwind from the sowing of the wind.
To set down our general
conclusion in a word, the Scriptures teach that there are four judgments:
1. A judgment already passed of the sins of the Lords [redeemed] people.
These have been judged condemned and the sentence upon them executed in the
person of [Page 350] our
substitute on
2. A coming tribunal of Christ, before which all believers must
stand, for the testing of all their works and service. If any are present, other than saints, they
can be only the angels of God.
3. A coming tribunal of Christ, when He sits upon the throne of His glory. (Matt.
25: 31). Before Him shall be gathered at that tribunal
all the nations then living, for His final adjudication
concerning their treatment of Him in the persons of His brethren.*
* They will be gathered as nations, representatively; they will
he judged as nations for what they have done as nations; they will be punished
as nations, with national calamities and ruin, and be destroyed as nations. J.
R. G.
4. A coming judgment of the Great
White Throne. This is the only
proper judgment, in the sense of the Scripture, viz.: guilt being present and
leading on to condemnation. There are
present at this scene only the rest of the
dead. (Rev. 20:
5.)
Previously to this the [accounted worthy (Lk. 20: 35)] saints have been gathered in the
out-resurrection, that from among the dead (Phil. 3: 11), to be forever with
the Lord; and now the remaining dead [including
those named in another book the book of life (Rev. 20: 12, R.V.)] are raised for judgment. This is the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (2
Peter 3: 7), into
which the unjust have
bee reserved - to be punished (2 Peter 2:
9). Then shall the Son of Man, to whom all judgment is
Committed, execute judgment upon all ... that are ungodly. (Jude
15). Then, too, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance
on them [Page 351] that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of His Son, who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of His power, shall He come
to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe ... in that day.
(2 Thess. 1: 7-10.)
The saints will be there, but neither as culprits nor accused. Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father
(Matt. 13:
43), and this will be the day of judgment of many Scriptures. Amen.
* *
*
[Page 352]
NOTE
ON
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN
Dr. Parsons, in his
Development of Antichrist, says:
The Parable of the Leaven represents the results which will be manifested in the
All the parables of Christ illustrating the mystery
of the administration of His kingdom
plainly betoken a mixed and corrupted state of things to the end of this
dispensation, and the Spirit confirms
this in the revelation of this great apostasy:
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines
of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created
to he received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. - 1 Tim. 4: 1-3.
Also that times of great
peril shall be in the last days; that formality
and hypocrisy will abound; that all
who adhere to godliness shall suffer persecution; and that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving and being deceived.