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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
M A T T H E W.
CHAP. X.
This chapter is an ordination sermon, which our Lord Jesus preached,
when he advanced his twelve disciples to the degree and dignity of
apostles. In the close of the foregoing chapter, he had stirred up them
and others to pray that God would send forth labourers, and here we
have an immediate answer to that prayer: while they are yet speaking he
hears and performs. What we pray for, according to Christ’s direction,
shall be given, Now here we have,
I. The general commission that was given them,
II. The names of the persons to whom this commission was given,
III. The instructions that were given them, which are very full and
particular;
1. Concerning the services they were to do; their preaching; their
working miracles; to whom they must apply themselves; how they must
behave themselves; and in what method they must proceed,
2. Concerning the sufferings they were to undergo. They are told what
they should suffer, and from whom; counsels are given them what course
to take when persecuted, and encouragements to bear up cheerfully under
their sufferings,
These things, though primarily intended for direction to the apostles,
are of use to all Christ’s ministers, with whom, by his word, Christ,
and will be always to end the world.
| The Apostles Sent Forth. |
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1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he
gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and
to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first,
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the
son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican;
James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, whose surname was
Thaddeus;
4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed
him.
Here we are told,
I. Who they were that Christ ordained to be his apostles or
ambassadors; they were his disciples,
v. 1.
He had called them some time before to be disciples, his immediate
followers and constant attendants, and he then told them that they
should be made fishers of men, which promise he now performed. Note,
Christ commonly confers honours and graces by degrees; the light of
both, like that of the morning, shines more and more. All this
while Christ had kept these twelve,
1. In a state of probation. Though he knows what is in man, though he
knew from the first what was in them
(John vi. 70),
yet he took this method to give an example to his church. Note, The
ministry being a great trust, it is fit that men should be tried for a
time, before they are entrusted with it. Let them first be
proved,
1 Tim. iii. 10.
Therefore, hands must not be laid suddenly on any man, but let him
first be observed as a candidate and probationer, a proposant (that is
the term the French churches use), because some men’s sins go before,
others follow,
2. In a state of preparation. All this while he had been fitting them
for this great work. Note, Those whom Christ intends for, and calls to,
any work, he first prepares and qualifies, in some measure, for it. He
prepared them,
(1.) By taking them to be with him. Note, The best preparative
for the work of the ministry, is an acquaintance and communion with
Jesus Christ. They that would serve Christ, must first be
with him
(John xii. 26).
Paul had Christ revealed, not only to him, but in him,
before he went to preach him among the Gentiles,
By the lively acts of faith, and the frequent exercise of prayer and
meditation, that fellowship with Christ must be maintained and kept up,
which is a requisite qualification for the work of the ministry.
(2.) By teaching them; they were with him as scholars or pupils,
and he taught them privately, besides the benefit they derived from his
public preaching; he opened the scriptures to them, and opened their
understandings to understand the scriptures: to them it was given to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and to them they
were made plain. Note, They that design to be teachers must
first be learners; they must receive, that they may give; they must be
able to teach others,
2 Tim. ii. 2.
Gospel truths must be first committed to them, before they be
commissioned to be gospel ministers. To give men authority to
teach others, that have not an ability, is but a mockery to God
and the church; it is sending a message by the hand of a fool,
Prov. xxvi. 6.
Christ taught his disciples before he sent them forth
(ch. v. 2),
and afterwards, when he enlarged their commission, he gave them more
ample instructions,
II. What the commission was that he gave them.
1. He called them to him,
v. 1.
He had called them to come after him before; now he calls them
to come to him, admits them to a greater familiarity, and will
not have them to keep at such a distance as they had hitherto observed.
They that humble themselves shall thus be exalted. The
priests under the law were said to draw near and approach
unto God, nearer than the people; the same may be said of gospel
ministers; they are called to draw near to Christ, which, as it is an
honour, so should strike an awe upon them, remembering that Christ will
be sanctified in those that come nigh unto him. It is
observable, that when the disciples were to be instructed, they
came unto him of their own accord,
But now they were to be ordained, he called them. Note,
It well becomes the disciples of Christ to be more forward to learn
than to teach. In the sense of our own ignorance, we must seek
opportunities to be taught; and in the same sense we must wait for a
call, a clear call, ere we take upon us to teach others; for
no man ought to take this honour to himself.
2. He gave them power, exousian, authority
in his name, to command men to obedience, and for the confirmation of
that authority, to command devils too into a subjection. Note, All
rightful authority is derived from Jesus Christ. All power is given to
him without limitation, and the subordinate powers that be are ordained
of him. Some of his honour he put on his ministers, as Moses put some
of his on Joshua. Note, It is an undeniable proof of the fulness of
power which Christ used as Mediator, that he could impart his power to
those he employed, and enable them to work the same miracles that he
wrought in his name. He gave them power over unclean spirits,
and over all manner of sickness. Note, The design of the gospel
was to conquer the devil and to cure the world. These
preachers were sent out destitute of all external advantages to
recommend them; they had no wealth, nor learning, nor titles of honour,
and they made a very mean figure; it was therefore requisite that they
should have some extraordinary power to advance them above the
scribes.
(1.) He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them
out. Note, The power that is committed to the ministers of Christ,
is directly levelled against the devil and his kingdom. The devil, as
an unclean spirit, is working both in doctrinal errors
(Rev. xvi. 13),
and in practical debauchery
and in both these, ministers have a charge against him. Christ gave
them power to cast him out of the bodies of people; but that was to
signify the destruction of his spiritual kingdom, and all the
works of the devil; for which purpose the Son of God was
manifested.
(2.) He gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. He
authorized them to work miracles for the confirmation of their
doctrine, to prove that it was of God; and they were to work useful
miracles for the illustration of it, to prove that it is not only
faithful, but well worthy of all acceptation; that the design of
the gospel is to heal and save. Moses’s miracles were many of them for
destruction; those Mahomet pretended to, were for ostentation; but the
miracles Christ wrought, and appointed his apostles to work, were all
for edification, and evince him to be, not only the great Teacher and
Ruler, but the great Redeemer, of the world. Observe what an emphasis
is laid upon the extent of their power to all manner of
sickness, and all manner of disease, without the exception
even of those that are reckoned incurable, and the reproach of
physicians. Note, In the grace of the gospel there is a salve for every
sore, a remedy for every malady. There is no spiritual disease so
malignant, so inveterate, but there is a sufficiency of power in
Christ, for the cure of it. Let none therefore say there is no hope, or
that the breach is wide as the sea, that cannot be healed.
III. The number and names of those that were commissioned; they are
made apostles, that is, messengers. An angel, and an apostle, both
signify the same thing–one sent on an errand, an ambassador. All
faithful ministers are sent of Christ, but they that were first, and
immediately, sent by him, are eminently called apostles, the
prime ministers of state in his kingdom. Yet this was but the infancy
of their office; it was when Christ ascended on high that he
gave some apostles,
Eph. iv. 11.
Christ himself is called an apostle
(Heb. iii. 1),
for he was sent by the Father, and so sent them,
The prophets were called God’s messengers.
1. Their number was twelve, referring to the number of the tribes of
Israel, and the sons of Jacob that were the patriarchs of those tribes.
The gospel church must be the Israel of God; the Jews must be first
invited into it; the apostles must be spiritual fathers, to beget a
seed to Christ. Israel after the flesh is to be rejected for their
infidelity; these twelve, therefore, are appointed to be the fathers of
another Israel. These twelve, by their doctrine, were to judge the
twelve tribes of Israel,
These were the twelve stars that made up the church’s crown
(Rev. xii. 1):
the twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem
typified by the twelve precious stones in Aaron’s breast-plate, the
twelve loaves on the table of show-bread, the twelve wells of water at
Elim. This was that famous jury (and to make it a grand jury, Paul was
added to it) that was impanelled to enquire between the King of kings,
and the body of mankind; and, in this chapter, they have their charge
given them, by him to whom all judgment was committed.
2. Their names are here left upon record, and it is their honour; yet
in this they had more reason to rejoice, that their names were
written in heaven
(Luke x. 20),
while the high and mighty names of the great ones of the earth are
buried in the dust. Observe,
(1.) There are some of these twelve apostles, of whom we know no more,
from the scripture, than their names; as Bartholomew, and Simon the
Canaanite; and yet they were faithful servants to Christ and his
church. Note, all the good ministers of Christ are not alike famous,
nor their actions alike celebrated.
(2.) They are names by couples; for at first they were sent forth
two and two, because two are better than one; they would
be serviceable to each other, and the more serviceable jointly to
Christ and souls; what one forgot the other would remember, and out
of the mouth of two witnesses every word would be established.
Three couple of them were brethren; Peter and Andrew, James and John,
and the other James and Lebbeus. Note, Friendship and fellowship ought
to be kept up among relations, and to be made serviceable to religion.
It is an excellent thing, when brethren by nature are brethren by
grace, and those two bonds strengthen each other.
(3.) Peter is named first, because he was first called; or because he
was the most forward among them, and upon all occasions made himself
the mouth of the rest, and because he was to be the apostle of the
circumcision; but that gave him no power over the rest of the apostles,
nor is there the least mark of any supremacy that was given to him, or
ever claimed by him, in this sacred college.
(4.) Matthew, the penman of this gospel, is here joined with Thomas
(v. 3),
but in two things there is a variation from the accounts of Mark and
Luke,
There, Matthew is put first; in that order it appears he was ordained
before Thomas; but here, in his own catalogue, Thomas is put first.
Note, It well becomes the disciples of Christ in honour to prefer one
another. There, he is only called Matthew, here Matthew the publican,
the toll-gatherer or collector of the customs, who was called from that
infamous employment to be an apostle. Note, It is good for those who
are advanced to honour with Christ, to look unto the rock whence
they were hewn; often to remember what they were before Christ
called them, that thereby they may be kept humble, and divine grace may
be the more glorified. Matthew the apostle was Matthew the
publican.
(5.) Simon is called the Canaanite, or rather the Canite, from Cana of
Galilee, where probably he was born; or Simon the Zealot, which some
make to be the signification of Kananites.
(6.) Judas Iscariot is always named last, and with that black brand
upon his name, who also betrayed him; which intimates that from
the first, Christ knew what a wretch he was, that he had a devil, and
would prove a traitor; yet Christ took him among the apostles, that it
might not be a surprise and discouragement to his church, if, at any
time, the vilest scandals should break out in the best societies. Such
spots there have been in our feasts of charity; tares among the wheat,
wolves among the sheep; but there is a day of discovery and separation
coming, where hypocrites shall be unmasked and discarded. Neither the
apostleship, nor the rest of the apostles, were ever the worse for
Judas’s being one of the twelve, while his wickedness was concealed and
did not break out.
| Instructions to the Apostles. |
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5 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:
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out
devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither
shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who
in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
12 And when ye come into a house, salute it.
13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but
if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words,
when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of
your feet.
15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the
land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that
city.
We have here the instructions that Christ gave to his disciples, when
he gave them their commission. Whether this charge was given them in a
continued discourse, or the several articles of it hinted to them at
several times, is not material; in this he commanded them.
Jacob’s blessing his sons, is called his commanding them, and
with these commands Christ commanded a blessing. Observe,
I. The people to whom he sent them. These ambassadors are directed what
places to go to.
1. Not to the Gentiles nor the Samaritans. They must not go into the
way of the Gentiles, nor into any road out of the land of Israel,
whatever temptations they might have. The Gentiles must not have the
gospel brought them, till the Jews have first refused it. As to the
Samaritans, who were the posterity of the mongrel people that the king
of Assyria planted about Samaria, their country lay between Judea and
Galilee, so that they could not avoid going into the way of the
Samaritans, but they must not enter into any of their cities.
Christ had declined manifesting himself to the Gentiles or Samaritans,
and therefore the apostles must not preach to them. If the gospel be
hid from any place, Christ thereby hides himself from that place. This
restraint was upon them only in their first mission, afterwards they
were appointed to go into all the world, and teach all
nations.
2. But to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. To them Christ
appropriated his own ministry
(ch. xv. 24),
for he was a minister of the circumcision
(Rom. xv. 8):
and, therefore, to them the apostles, who were but his attendants and
agents, must be confined. The first offer of salvation must be made to
the Jews,
Note, Christ had a particular and very tender concern for the house
of Israel; they were beloved for the fathers’ sakes,
Rom. xi. 28.
He looked with compassion upon them as lost sheep, whom he, as a
shepherd, was to gather out of the by-paths of sin and error, into
which they were gone astray, and in which, if not brought back, they
would wander endlessly; see
The Gentiles also had been as lost sheep,
Christ gives this description of those to whom they were sent, to
quicken them to diligence in their work, they were sent to the house of
Israel (of which number they themselves lately were), whom they could
not but pity, and be desirous to help.
II. The preaching work which he appointed them. He did not send them
forth without an errand; no, As ye go, preach,
v. 7.
They were to be itinerant preachers: wherever they come they must
proclaim the beginning of the gospel, saying, The kingdom of heaven
is at hand. Not that they must say nothing else, but this must be
their text; on this subject they must enlarge: let people know, that
the kingdom of the Messiah, who is the Lord from heaven, is now to be
set up according to the scriptures; from whence it follows, that men
must repent of their sins and forsake them, that they might be
admitted to the privileges of that kingdom. It is said
(Mark vi. 12),
they went out, and preached that men should repent; which was
the proper use and application of this doctrine, concerning the
approach of the kingdom of heaven. They must, therefore, expect
to hear more of this long-looked-for Messiah shortly, and must be ready
to receive his doctrine, to believe in him, and to submit to his yoke.
The preaching of this was like the morning light, to give notice of the
approach of the rising sun. How unlike was this to the preaching of
Jonah, which proclaimed ruin at hand!
This proclaims salvation at hand, nigh them that fear God; mercy and
truth meet together
that is, the kingdom of heaven at hand: not so much the personal
presence of the king; that must not be doated upon; but a spiritual
kingdom which is to be set up, when his bodily presence is removed, in
the hearts of men.
Now this was the same that John the Baptist and Christ had preached
before. Note, People need to have good truths pressed again and again
upon them, and if they be preached and heard with new affections, they
are as if they were fresh to us. Christ, in the gospel, is the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever,
Heb. xiii. 8.
Afterwards, indeed, when the Spirit was poured out, and the Christian
church was formed, this kingdom of heaven came, which was now
spoken of as at hand; but the kingdom of heaven must
still be the subject of our preaching: now it is come, we must tell
people it is come to them, and must lay before them the precepts and
privileges of it; and there is a kingdom of glory yet to come, which we
must speak of as at hand, and quicken people to diligence from the
consideration of that.
III. The power he gave them to work miracles for the confirmation of
their doctrine,
v. 8.
When he sent them to preach the same doctrine that he had preached, he
empowered them to confirm it, by the same divine seals, which could
never be set to a lie. This is not necessary now the kingdom of God is
come; to call for miracles now is to lay again the foundation when the
building is reared. The point being settled, and the doctrine of Christ
sufficiently attested, by the miracles which Christ and his apostles
wrought, it is tempting God to ask for more signs. They are directed
here,
1. To use their power in doing good: not “Go and remove mountains,” or
“fetch fire from heaven,” but, Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers. They are sent abroad as public blessings, to intimate to
the world, that love and goodness were the spirit and genius of that
gospel which they came to preach, and of that kingdom which they were
employed to set up. By this it would appear, that they were the
servants of that God who is good and does good, and whose mercy is
over all his works; and that the intention of the doctrine they
preached, was to heal sick souls, and to raise those that were
dead in sin; and therefore, perhaps, that of raising the
dead is mentioned; for though we read not of their raising any to
life before the resurrection of Christ, yet they were
instrumental to raise many to spiritual life.
2. In doing good freely; Freely ye heave received, freely give.
Those that had power to heal all diseases, had an opportunity to enrich
themselves; who would not purchase such easy certain cures at any rate?
Therefore they are cautioned not to make a gain of the power they had
to work miracles: they must cure gratis, further to exemplify
the nature and complexion of the gospel kingdom, which is made up, not
only of grace, but of free grace. Gratia gratis data
(Rom. iii. 24),
freely by his grace, Buy medicines without money, and without
price,
Isa. lv. 1.
And the reason is, because freely you have received. Their power
to heal the sick cost them nothing, and, therefore, they must not make
any secular advantage to themselves of it. Simon Magus would not have
offered money for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, if he had not hoped to
get money by them;
Note, The consideration of Christ’s freeness in doing good to us,
should make us free in doing good to others.
IV. The provision that must be made for them in this expedition; it is
a thing to be considered in sending an ambassador, who must bear the
charge of the embassy. As to that,
1. They must make no provision for it themselves,
Provide neither gold nor silver. As, on the one hand, they shall
not raise estates by their work, so, on the other hand, they shall not
spend what little they have of their own upon it. This was confined to
the present mission, and Christ would teach them,
(1.) To act under the conduct of human prudence. They were now
to make but a short excursion, and were soon to return to their Master,
and to their head-quarters again, and, therefore, why should they
burthen themselves with that which they would have no occasion for?
(2.) To act in dependence upon Divine Providence. They must be
taught to live, without taking thought for life,
ch. vi. 25,
&c. Note, They who go upon Christ’s errand, have, of all people, most
reason to trust him for food convenient. Doubtless he will not
be wanting to those that are working for him. Those whom he employs, as
they are taken under special protection, so they are entitled to
special provisions. Christ’s hired servants shall have bread enough
and to spare; while we abide faithful to God and our duty, and are
in care to do our work well, we may cast all our other care upon God;
Jehovah-jireh, let the Lord provide for us and ours as he thinks
fit.
2. They might expect that those to whom they were sent would provide
for them what was necessary,
The workman is worthy of his meat. They must not expect to be
fed by miracles, as Elijah was: but they might depend upon God to
incline the hearts of those they went among, to be kind to them, and
provide for them. Though they who serve at the altar may not
expect to grow rich by the altar, yet they may expect to live, and to
live comfortably upon it,
It is fit they should have
their maintenance from their work. Ministers are, and must be,
workmen, labourers, and they that are so are worthy of their
meat, so as not to be forced to any other labour for the earning of
it. Christ would have his disciples, as not to distrust their God, so
not to distrust their countrymen, so far as to doubt of a comfortable
subsistence among them. If you preach to them, and endeavour to do good
among them, surely they will give you meat and drink enough for your
necessities: and if they do, never desire dainties; God will pay you
your wages hereafter, and it will be running on in the mean time.
V. The proceedings they were to observe in dealing with any place,
They went abroad they knew not whither, uninvited, unexpected, knowing
none, and known of none; the land of their nativity was to them a
strange land; what rule must they go by? what course must they take?
Christ would not send them out without full instructions, and here they
are.
1. They are here directed how to conduct themselves toward those that
were strangers to them; How to do,
(1.) In strange towns and cities: when you come to a town,
enquire who in it is worthy.
[1.] It is supposed that there were some such in every place, as were
better disposed than others to receive the gospel, and the preachers of
it; though it was a time of general corruption and apostasy. Note, In
the worst of times and places, we may charitably hope that there are
some who distinguish themselves, and are better than their neighbours;
some who swim against the stream, and are as wheat among the chaff.
There were saints in Nero’s household. Enquire who is worthy, who there
are that have some fear of God before their eyes, and have made a good
improvement of the light and knowledge they have. The best are far from
meriting the favour of a gospel offer; but some would be more likely
than others to give the apostles and their message a favourable
entertainment, and would not trample these pearls under their feet.
Note, Previous dispositions to that which is good, are both directions
and encouragements to ministers, in dealing with people. There is most
hope of the word being profitable to those who are already so well
inclined, as that it is acceptable to them; and there is here and there
one such.
[2.] They must enquire out such; not enquire for the best inns; public
houses were no proper places for them that neither took money with them
(v. 9),
nor expected to receive any
(v. 8);
but they must look out for accommodations in private houses, with those
that would entertain them well, and expect no other recompence for it
but a prophet’s reward, an apostle’s reward, their praying and
preaching. Note, They that entertain the gospel, must neither grudge
the expense of it, nor promise themselves to get by it in this world.
They must enquire, not who is rich, but who is worthy; not who is the
best gentleman, but who is the best man. Note, Christ’s disciples,
wherever they come, should ask for the good people of the place, and be
acquainted with them; when we took God for our God, we took his people
for our people, and like will rejoice in its like. Paul in all his
travels found out the brethren, if there were any,
It is implied, that if they did enquire who was worthy, they might
discover them. They that were better than their neighbours would be
taken notice of, and any one could tell them, there lives an honest,
sober, good man; for this is a character which, like the ointment of
the right hand, betrays itself and fills the house with its odours.
Every body knew where the seer’s house was,
[3.] In the house of those they found worthy, they must continue; which
intimates that they were to make so short a stay at each town, that
they needed not change their lodging, but whatever house providence
brought them to at first, there they must continue till they left that
town. They are justly suspected, as having no good design, that are
often changing their quarters. Note, It becomes the disciples of Christ
to make the best of that which is, to abide by it, and not be for
shifting upon every dislike or inconvenience.
(2.) In strange houses. When they had found the house of one they
thought worthy, they must at their entrance salute it. “In those common
civilities, be beforehand with people, in token of your humility. Think
it not a disparagement, to invite yourselves into a house, nor stand
upon the punctilio of being invited. Salute the family,
[1.] To draw on further discourse, and so to introduce your message.”
(From matters of common conversation, we may insensibly pass into that
communication which is good to the use of edifying.)
[2.] “To try whether you are welcome or not; you will take notice
whether the salutation be received with shyness and coldness, or with a
ready return. He that will not receive your salutation kindly, will not
receive your message kindly; for he that is unskilful and unfaithful in
a little, will also be in much,
[3.] To insinuate yourselves into their good opinion. Salute the
family, that they may see that though you are serious, you are not
morose.” Note, Religion teaches us to be courteous and civil, and
obliging to all with whom we have to do. Though the apostles went out
backed with the authority of the Son of God himself, yet their
instructions were, when they came into a house, not to command
it, but to salute it; for love’s sake rather to
beseech, is the evangelical way,
Souls are first drawn to Christ with the cords of a man, and
kept to him by the bands of love,
Hos. xi. 4.
When Peter made the first offer of the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile,
Peter was first saluted; see
for the Gentiles courted that which the Jews were courted to.
When they had saluted the family after a godly sort, they must by the
return, judge concerning the family, and proceed accordingly. Note, The
eye of God is upon us, to observe what entertainment we give to good
people and good ministers; if the house be worthy, let your peace
come and rest upon it; if not, let it return to you,
v. 13.
It seems then, that after they had enquired for the most worthy
(v. 11),
it was possible they might light upon those that were unworthy. Note,
Though it is wisdom to hearken to, yet it is folly to rely upon, common
report and opinion; we ought to use a judgment of discretion, and to
see with our own eyes. The wisdom of the prudent is himself to
understand his own way. Now this rule is intended,
First, For satisfaction to the apostles. The common salutation
was, Peace be unto you; this, as they used it, was turned into
gospel; it was the peace of God, the peace of the kingdom of
heaven, that they wished. Now lest they should make a scruple of
pronouncing this blessing upon all promiscuously, because many were
utterly unworthy of it, this is to clear them of that scruple; Christ
tells them that this gospel prayer (for so it was now become) should be
put up for all, as the gospel proffer was made to all indefinitely, and
that they should leave it to God who knows the heart, and every man’s
true character, to determine the issue of it. If the house be worthy,
it will reap the benefit of your blessing; if now, there is no harm
done, you will not lose the benefit of it; it shall return to
you, as David’s prayers for his ungrateful enemies did,
Note, It becomes us to judge charitably of all, to pray heartily
for all, and to conduct ourselves courteously to all, for
that is our part, and then to leave it with God to determine what
effect it shall have upon them, for that is his part.
Secondly, For direction to them. “If, upon your salutation, it
appear that they are indeed worthy, let them have more of your company,
and so let your peace come upon them; preach the gospel to them,
peace by Jesus Christ; but if otherwise, if they carry it rudely to
you, and shut their doors against you, let your peace, as much
as in you lies, return to you. Retract what you have said, and
turn your backs upon them; by slighting this, they have made themselves
unworthy of the rest of your favours, and cut themselves short of
them.” Note, Great blessings are often lost by a neglect seemingly
small and inconsiderable, when men are in their probation and upon
their behaviour. Thus Esau lost his birthright
(Gen. xxv. 34),
and Saul his kingdom,
2. They are here directed how to carry it towards those that were
refusers of them. The case is put
(v. 14)
of those that would not receive them, nor hear their words. The
apostles might think, that now they had such a doctrine to preach, and
such a power to work miracles for the confirmation of it, no doubt but
they should be universally entertained and made welcome: they are,
therefore, told before, that there would be those that would slight
them, and put contempt on them and their message. Note, The best and
most powerful preachers of the gospel must expect to meet with some,
that will not so much as give them the hearing, nor show them any token
of respect. Many turn a deaf ear, even to the joyful
sound, and will not hearken to the voice of the charmers, charm
they never so wisely. Observe, “They will not receive you,
and they will not hear your words.” Note, Contempt of the
gospel, and contempt of gospel ministers, commonly go together, and
they will either of them be construed into a contempt of Christ, and
will be reckoned for accordingly.
Now in this case we have here,
(1.) The directions given to the apostles what to do. They must
depart out of that house or city. Note, The gospel will not
tarry long with those that put it away from them. At their departure
they must shake off the dust of their feet,
[1.] In detestation of their wickedness; it was so abominable, that it
did even pollute the ground they went upon, which must therefore be
shaken off as a filthy thing. The apostles must have no
fellowship nor communion with them; must not so much as carry away the
dust of their city with them. The work of them that turn aside
shall not cleave to me,
Ps. ci. 3.
The prophet was not to eat or drink in Bethel,
[2.] As a denunciation of wrath against them. It was to signify, that
they were base and vile as dust, and that God would shake them
off. The dust of the apostles’ feet, which they left behind them,
would witness against them, and be brought in as evidence, that the
gospel had been preached to them,
Compare Jam. v. 3.
See this practised,
Note, They who despise God
and his gospel shall be lightly esteemed.
(2.) The doom passed upon such wilful recusants,
v. 15.
It shall be more tolerable, in the day of judgment, for the land
of Sodom, as wicked a place as it was. Note,
[1.] There is a day of judgment coming, when all those that refused the
gospel will certainly be called to account for it; however they now
make a jest of it. They that would not hear the doctrine that would
save them, shall be made to hear the sentence that will ruin them.
Their judgment is respited till that day.
[2.] There are different degrees of punishment in that day. All the
pains of hell will be intolerable; but some will be more so than
others. Some sinners sink deeper into hell than others, and are beaten
with more stripes.
[3.] The condemnation of those that reject the gospel, will in that day
be severer and heavier than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom is said
to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire,
But that vengeance will come with an aggravation upon those that
despise the great salvation. Sodom and Gomorrah were exceedingly wicked
and that which filled up the measure of their iniquity was, that they
received not the angels that were sent to them, but abused them
and hearkened not to their words,
v. 14.
And yet it will be more tolerable for them than for those who receive
not Christ’s ministers and hearken not to their words. God’s wrath
against them will be more flaming, and their own reflections upon
themselves more cutting. Son, remember I will sound most
dreadfully in the ears of such as had a fair offer made them of
eternal life, and chose death rather. The iniquity of Israel,
when God sent them his servants the prophets, is represented as, upon
that account, more heinous than the iniquity of Sodom
much more now he sent them his Son, the great Prophet.
| Instructions to the Apostles. |
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16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be
ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the
councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my
sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye
shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye
shall speak.
20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father
which speaketh in you.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and
the father the child: and the children shall rise up against
their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but
he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into
another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over
the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant
above his lord.
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and
the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the
house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his
household?
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that
shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and
what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to
kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them
shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many
sparrows.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny
before my Father which is in heaven.
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not
to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father,
and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law
against her mother in law.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy
of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is
not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth
his life for my sake shall find it.
40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me
receiveth him that sent me.
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall
receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man
in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s
reward.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little
ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily
I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
All these verses relate to the sufferings of Christ’s ministers in
their work, which they are here taught to expect, and prepare for; they
are directed also how to bear them, and how to go on with their work in
the midst of them. This part of the sermon looks further than to their
present mission; for we find not that they met with any great hardships
or persecutions while Christ was with them, nor were they well able to
bear them; but they are here forewarned of the troubles they should
meet with, when after Christ’s resurrection, their commission should be
enlarged, and the kingdom of heaven, which was not at
hand, should be actually set up; they dreamed of nothing then, but
outward pomp and power; but Christ tells them, they must expect greater
sufferings than they were yet called to; that they should then be made
prisoners, when they expected to be made princes. It is good to be told
what troubles we may hereafter meet with, that we may provide
accordingly, and may not boast, as if we had put off the harness, when
we are yet but girding it on.
We have here intermixed,
I. Predictions of trouble: and,
II. Prescriptions of counsel and comfort, with reference to it.
I. We have here predictions of trouble; which the disciples should meet
with in their work: Christ foresaw their sufferings as well as
his own, and yet will have them go on, as he went on himself; and he
foretold them, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise to
them, and so a shock to their faith, but that, being the accomplishment
of a prediction, they might be a confirmation to their faith.
He tells them what they should suffer, and from whom.
1. What they should suffer: hard things to be sure; for,
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,
v. 16.
And what may a flock of poor, helpless, unguarded sheep expect, in the
midst of a herd of ravenous wolves, but to be worried and torn? Note,
Wicked men are like wolves, in whose nature it is to devour and
destroy. God’s people, and especially his ministers, are like sheep
among them, of a contrary nature and disposition, exposed to them, and
commonly an easy prey to them. It looked unkind in Christ to expose
them to so much danger, who had left all to follow him; but he knew
that the glory reserved for his sheep, when in the great day they shall
be set on his right hand, would be a recompence sufficient for
sufferings as well as services. They are as sheep among wolves,
that is frightful; but Christ sends them forth, that is comfortable;
for he that sends them forth will protect them, and bear them out. But
that they might know the worst, he tells them particularly what they
must expect.
(1.) They must expect to be hated,
Ye shall be hated for my name’s sake: that is the root of all
the rest, and a bitter root it is. Note, Those whom Christ loves, the
world hates; as whom the court blesses the country curses. If the
world hated Christ without a cause
(John xv. 25),
no marvel if it hated those that bore his image and served his
interests. We hate what is nauseous, and they are counted as the
offscouring of all things,
1 Cor. iv. 13.
We hate what is noxious, and they are counted the troublers of the
land
and the tormentors of their neighbours,
It is grievous to be hated, and to be the object of so much
ill-will, but it is for thy name’s sake; which, as it speaks the
true reason of the hatred, whatever is pretended, so it speaks comfort
to them who are thus hated; it is for a good cause, and they have a
good friend that shares with them in it, and takes it to himself.
(2.) They must expect to be apprehended and arraigned as malefactors.
Their restless malice is resistless malice, and they will not only
attempt, but will prevail, to deliver you up to the councils
(v. 17, 18),
to the bench of aldermen or justices, that take care of the public
peace. Note, A deal of mischief is often done to good men, under colour
of law and justice. In the place of judgment there is
wickedness, persecuting wickedness,
They must look for trouble, not only from inferior magistrates in the
councils, but from governors and kings, the supreme magistrates. To be
brought before them, under such black representations as were commonly
made of Christ’s disciples, was dreadful and dangerous; for the
wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion. We find this often
fulfilled in the acts of the apostles.
(3.) They must expect to be put to death
(v. 21);
They shall deliver them to death, to death in state, with pomp
and solemnity, when it shows itself most as the king of terrors.
The malice of the enemies rages so high as to inflict this; it is
the blood of the saints that they thirst after: the faith and
patience of the saints stand so firm as to expect this; Neither
count I my life dear to myself: the wisdom of Christ permits it,
knowing how to make the blood of the martyrs the seal of the
truth, and the seed of the church. By this noble army’s not
loving their lives to the death, Satan has been vanquished, and
the kingdom of Christ and its interests greatly advanced,
They were put to death as criminals, so the enemies meant it, but
really as sacrifices
as burnt offerings, sacrifices of acknowledgement to the honour of God,
and in his truth and cause.
(4.) They must expect, in the midst of these sufferings, to be branded
with the most odious and ignominious names and characters that could
be. Persecutors would be ashamed in this world, if they did not first
dress up those in bear-skins whom they thus bait, and represent them in
such colours as may serve to justify such cruelties. The blackest of
all the ill characters they give them is here stated; they call them
Beelzebub, the name of the prince of the devils,
They represent them as ringleaders of the interest of the kingdom of
darkness, and since every one thinks he hates the devil, thus they
endeavour to make them odious to all mankind. See, and be amazed to
see, how this world is imposed upon:
[1.] Satan’s sworn enemies are represented as his friends; the
apostles, who pulled down the devil’s kingdom, were called devils. Thus
men laid to their charge, not only things which they knew
not, but things which they abhorred, and were directly
contrary to, and the reverse of.
[2.] Satan’s sworn servants would be thought to be his enemies, and
they never more effectually do his work, than when they pretend to be
fighting against him. Many times they who themselves are nearest akin
to the devil, are most apt to father others upon him; and those that
paint him on others’ clothes have him reigning in their own hearts. It
is well there is a day coming, when (as it follows here,
that which is hid will be brought to light.
(5.) These sufferings are here represented by a sword and division,
Think not that I am come to send peace, temporal peace and
outward prosperity; they thought Christ came to give all his followers
wealth and power in the world; “no,” says Christ, “I did not come with
a view to give them peace; peace in heaven they may be sure of,
but not peace on earth.” Christ came to give us peace
with God, peace in our consciences, peace with our
brethren, but in the world ye shall have tribulation. Note, They
mistake the design of the gospel, who think their profession of it will
secure them from, for it will certainly expose them to, trouble in this
world. If all the world would receive Christ, there would then follow a
universal peace, but while there are and will be so many that
reject him (and those not only the children of this world, but
the seed of the serpent), the children of God, that are called
out of the world, must expect to feel the fruits of their enmity.
[1.] Look not for peace, but a sword, Christ came to give the
sword of the word, with which his disciples fight against the
world, and conquering work this sword has made
and the sword of persecution, with which the world fights
against the disciples, being cut to the heart with the sword
of the word
(Acts vii. 54),
and tormented by the testimony of Christ’s witnesses
(Rev. xi. 10),
and cruel work this sword made. Christ sent that gospel, which
gives occasion for the drawing of this sword, and so may be said to
send this sword; he orders his church into a suffering state for the
trial and praise of his people’s graces, and the filling up of the
measure of their enemies’ sins.
[2.] Look not for peace, but division
(v. 35),
I am come to set men at variance. This effect of the preaching
of the gospel is not the fault of the gospel, but of those who do not
receive it. When some believe the things that are spoken, and others
believe them not, the faith of those that believe condemns those
that believe not, and, therefore, they have an enmity against them that
believe. Note, the most violent and implacable feuds have ever been
those that have arisen from difference in religion; no enmity like that
of the persecutors, no resolution like that of the persecuted. Thus
Christ tells his disciples what they should suffer, and these were hard
sayings; if they could bear these, they could bear any thing. Note,
Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst
we can meet with in his service; and he would have us deal so with
ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost.
2. They are here told from whom, and by whom, they should suffer these
hard things. Surely hell itself must be let loose, and devils, those
desperate and despairing spirits, that have no part nor lot in
the great salvation, must become incarnate, ere such spiteful enemies
could be found to a doctrine, the substance of which was good will
toward men, and the reconciling of the world to God; no,
would you think it? all this mischief arises to the preachers of the
gospel, from those to whom they came to preach salvation. Thus the
blood-thirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his soul
and therefore heaven is so much opposed on earth, because earth is so
much under the power of hell,
These hard things Christ’s disciples must suffer,
(1.) From men
(v. 17).
“Beware of men; you will have need to stand upon your guard,
even against those who are of the same nature with you”–such is the
depravity and degeneracy of that nature (homo homini lupus,–man is
a wolf to man), crafty and politic as men, but cruel and barbarous
as beasts, and wholly divested of the thing called humanity. Note,
Persecuting rage and enmity turn men into brutes, into devils. Paul at
Ephesus fought with beasts in the shape of men,
It is a sad pass that the world is come to, when the best friends it
has, have need to beware of men. It aggravates the troubles of
Christ’s suffering servants, that they arise from those who are bone
of their bone, made of the same blood. Persecutors are, in this
respect, worse than beasts, that they prey upon those of their own
kind: Sævis inter se convenit ursis–Even savage bears agree
among themselves. It is very grievous to have men rise up
against us
(Ps. cxxiv.),
from whom we might expect protection and sympathy; men, and no
more: mere men; men, and not saints; natural men
men of this world,
Ps. xvii. 14.
Saints are more than men, and are redeemed from among
men, and therefore are hated by them. The nature of man, if
it be not sanctified, is the worst nature in the world next to that of
devils. They are men, and therefore subordinate, dependent,
dying creatures; they are men, but they are but men
(Ps. ix. 20),
and who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall
die?
Isa. li. 12.
Beware of the men, so Dr. Hammond; those you are acquainted
with, the men of the Jewish sanhedrim, which disallowed Christ,
(2.) From professing men, men that have a form of godliness, and
make a show of religion. They will scourge you in their
synagogues, their places of meeting for the worship of God, and for
the exercise of their church-discipline: so that they looked upon the
scourging of Christ’s ministers to be a branch of their religion. Paul
was five times scourged in the synagogues,
2 Cor. xi. 24.
The Jews, under colour of zeal for Moses, were the most bitter
persecutors of Christ and Christianity, and placed those outrages to
the score of their religion. Note, Christ’s disciples have suffered
much from conscientious persecutors, that scourge them in their
synagogues, cast them out and kill them, and think they do God
good service
(John xvi. 2),
and say, Let the Lord be glorified,
Isa. lxvi. 5; Zech. xi. 4, 5.
But the synagogue will be so far from consecrating the persecution,
that the persecution, doubtless, profanes and desecrates the
synagogue.
(3.) From great men, and men in authority. The Jews did not only
scourge them, which was the utmost their remaining power extended to,
but when they could go no further themselves, they delivered them up to
the Roman powers, as they did Christ,
Ye shall be brought before governors and kings
(v. 18),
who, having more power, are in a capacity of doing the more mischief.
Governors and kings receive their power from Christ
and should be his servants, and his church’s protectors and
nursing-fathers, but they often use their power against him, and are
rebels to Christ, and oppressors of his church. The kings of the
earth set themselves against his kingdom,
Ps. ii. 1, 2; Acts iv. 25, 26.
Note, It has often been the lot of good men to have great men for their
enemies.
(4.) From all men
(v. 22).
Ye shall be hated of all men, of all wicked men, and these are
the generality of men, for the whole world lies in wickedness.
So few are there that love, and own, and countenance Christ’s righteous
cause, that we may say, the friends of it are hated of all men;
they are all gone astray, and, therefore, eat up my
people,
Ps. xiv. 3.
As far as the apostasy from God goes, so far the enmity against the
saints goes; sometimes it appears more general than at other times, but
there is something of this poison lurking in the hearts of all the
children of disobedience. The world hates you, for it wonders
after the beast,
Rev. xiii. 3.
Every man is a liar, and therefore a hater of truth.
(5.) From those of their own kindred. The brother shall deliver up
the brother to death,
v. 21.
A man shall be, upon this account, at variance with his own
father; nay, and those of the weaker and tenderer sex too shall
become persecutors and persecuted; the persecuting daughter will be
against the believing mother, where natural affection and filial
duty, one would think, should prevent or soon extinguish the quarrel;
and then, no marvel if the daughter-in-law be against the
mother-in-law; where, too often, the coldness of love seeks
occasion of contention,
In general, a man’s foes shall be they of his own household
(v. 36).
They who should be his friends will be incensed against him for
embracing Christianity, and especially for adhering to it when it comes
to be persecuted, and will join with his persecutors against him. Note,
The strongest bonds of relative love and duty have often been broken
through, by an enmity against Christ and his doctrine. Such has been
the power of prejudice against the true religion, and zeal for a false
one, that all other regards, the most natural and sacred, the most
engaging and endearing, have been sacrificed to these Molochs. They who
rage against the Lord, and his anointed ones, break even
these bonds in sunder, and cast away even these cords from
them,
Ps. ii. 2, 3.
Christ’s spouse suffers hard things from the anger of her own
mother’s children,
Cant. i. 6.
Sufferings from such are more grievous; nothing cuts more than this,
It was thou, a man, mine equal
and the enmity of such is commonly most implacable; a brother
offended is harder to be won than a strong city,
Prov. xviii. 19.
The martyrologies, both ancient and modern, are full of instances of
this. Upon the whole matter, it appears, that all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution; and through many
tribulations we must expect to enter into the kingdom of
God.
II. With these predictions of trouble, we have here prescriptions of
counsels and comforts for a time of trial. He sends them out exposed to
danger indeed, and expecting it, but well armed with instructions and
encouragements, sufficient to bear them up, and bear them out, in all
these trials. Let us gather up what he says,
1. By way of counsel and direction in several things.
(1.) Be ye wise as serpents,
v. 16.
“You may be so” (so some take it, only as a permission); “you may be as
wary as you please, provided you be harmless as doves.” But it is
rather to be taken as a precept, recommending to us that wisdom of the
prudent, which is to understand his way, as useful at all times, but
especially in suffering times. “Therefore, because you are
exposed, as sheep among wolves; be ye wise as serpents; not wise
as foxes, whose cunning is to deceive others; but as serpents,
whose policy is only to defend themselves, and to shift for their own
safety.” The disciples of Christ are hated and persecuted as
serpents, and their ruin is sought, and, therefore, they need
the serpent’s wisdom. Note, It is the will of Christ that his
people and ministers, being so much exposed to troubles in this world,
as they usually are, should not needlessly expose themselves, but use
all fair and lawful means for their own preservation. Christ gave us an
example of this wisdom,
xxii. 17, 18, 19; John vii. 6, 7;
besides the many escapes he made out of the hands of his enemies, till
his hour was come. See an instance of Paul’s wisdom,
In the cause of Christ we must sit loose to life and all its comforts,
but must not be prodigal of them. It is the wisdom of the
serpent to secure his head, that it may not be broken, to
stop his ear to the voice of the charmer
and to take shelter in the clefts of the rocks; and herein we
may be wise as serpents. We must be wise, not to pull
trouble upon our own heads; wise to keep silence in an evil
time, and not to give offence, if we can help it.
(2.) Be ye harmless as doves. “Be mild, and meek, and
dispassionate; not only do nobody any hurt, but bear nobody any ill
will; be without gall, as doves are; this must always go along
with the former.” They are sent forth among wolves, therefore
must be as wise as serpents, but they are sent forth as
sheep, therefore must be harmless as doves. We must be
wise, not to wrong ourselves, but rather so than wrong any one
else; must use the harmlessness of the dove to bear twenty
injuries, rather than the subtlety of the serpent to offer or to
return one. Note, It must be the continual care of all Christ’s
disciples, to be innocent and inoffensive in word and deed, especially
in consideration of the enemies they are in the midst of. We have need
of a dove-like spirit, when we are beset with birds of prey,
that we may neither provoke them nor be provoked by them: David coveted
the wings of a dove, on which to fly away and be at rest, rather
than the wings of a hawk. The Spirit descended on Christ as a
dove, and all believers partake of the Spirit of Christ, a
dove-like spirit, made for love, not for war.
(3.) Beware of men,
v. 17.
“Be always upon your guard, and avoid dangerous company; take heed what
you say and do, and presume not too far upon any man’s fidelity; be
jealous of the most plausible pretensions; trust not in a
friend, no, not in the wife of thy bosom,”
Note, It becomes those who are gracious to be cautious, for we are
taught to cease from man. Such a wretched world do we live in,
that we know not whom to trust. Ever since our Master was betrayed with
a kiss, by one of his own disciples, we have need to beware of men,
of false brethren.
(4.) Take no thought how or what ye shall speak,
v. 19.
“When you are brought before magistrates, conduct yourselves decently,
but afflict not yourselves with care how you shall come off. A prudent
thought there must be, but not an anxious, perplexing, disquieting
thought; let this care be cast upon God, as well as
that–what you shall eat and what you shall drink. Do not study
to make fine speeches, ad captandam benevolentiam–to ingratiate
yourselves; affect not quaint expressions, flourishes of wit, and
laboured periods, which only serve to gild a bad cause; the gold of a
good one needs it not. It argues a diffidence of your cause, to be
solicitous in this matter, as if it were not sufficient to speak for
itself. You know upon what grounds you go, and then verbaque
prævisam rem non invita sequentur–suitable expressions will
readily occur.” Never any spoke better before governors and kings
than those three champions, who took no thought before, what they
should speak: O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in
this matter,
Dan. iii. 16.
See
Note, The disciples of Christ must be more thoughtful how to do
well than how to speak well; how to keep their integrity
than how to vindicate it. Non magna loquimur, sed
vivimus–Our lives, not boasting words, form the best apology.
(5.) When they persecute you in this city, flee to another,
v. 23.
“Thus reject them who reject you and your doctrine, and try whether
others will not receive you and it. Thus shift for your own safety.”
Note, In case of imminent peril, the disciples of Christ may and must
secure themselves by flight, when God, in his providence, opens to
them a door of escape. He that flies may fight again. It is no
inglorious thing for Christ’s soldiers to quit their ground, provided
they do not quit their colours: they may go out of the way of
danger, though they must not go out of the way of duty.
Observe Christ’s care of his disciples, in providing places of retreat
and shelter for them; ordering it so, that persecution rages not in all
places at the same time; but when one city is made too hot for
them, another is reserved for a cooler shade, and a little
sanctuary; a favour to be used and not to be slighted; yet always
with this proviso, that no sinful, unlawful means be used to make the
escape; for then it is not a door of God’s opening. We have many
examples to this rule in the history both of Christ and his apostles,
in the application of all which to particular cases wisdom and
integrity are profitable to direct.
(6.) Fear them not
(v. 26),
because they can but kill the body
(v. 28).
Note, it is the duty and interest of Christ’s disciples, not to fear
the greatest of their adversaries. They who truly fear God, need not
fear man; and they who are afraid of the least sin, need not be afraid
of the greatest trouble. The fear of man brings a snare, a
perplexing snare, that disturbs our peace; an entangling snare, by
which we are drawn into sin; and, therefore, it must be carefully
watched, and striven, and prayed against. Be the times never so
difficult, enemies never so outrageous, and events never so
threatening, yet need we not fear, yet will we not fear, though the
earth be removed, while we have so good a God, so good a cause, and
so good a hope through grace.
Yes, this is soon said; but when it comes to the trial, racks and
tortures, dungeons and galleys, axes and gibbets, fire and faggot, are
terrible things, enough to make the stoutest heart to tremble, and to
start back, especially when it is plain, that they may be avoided by a
few declining steps; and therefore, to fortify us against this
temptation, we have here,
[1.] A good reason against this fear, taken from the limited power of
the enemies; they kill the body, that is the utmost their rage
can extend to; hitherto they can go, if God permit them, but no
further; they are not able to kill the soul, nor to do it any
hurt, and the soul is the man. By this it appears, that the soul does
not (as some dream) fall asleep at death, nor is deprived of thought
and perception; for then the killing of the body would be the killing
of the soul too. The soul is killed when it is separated from God and
his love, which is its life, and is made a vessel of his wrath; now
this is out of the reach of their power. Tribulation, distress, and
persecution may separate us from all the world, but cannot part
between us and God, cannot make us either not to love him, or not to be
loved by him,
If, therefore, we were more concerned about our souls, as our jewels,
we should be less afraid of men, whose power cannot rob us of them;
they can but kill the body, which would quickly die of itself,
not the soul, which will enjoy itself and its God in spite of
them. They can but crush the cabinet: a heathen set the tyrant at
defiance with this, Tunde capsam Anaxarchi, Anaxarchum nom
lædis–you may abuse the case of Anaxarchus, you cannot injure
Anaxarchus himself. The pearl of price is untouched. Seneca
undertakes to make it out, that you cannot hurt a wise and good man,
because death itself is no real evil to him. Si maximum illud ultra
quod nihil habent iratæ leges, aut sævissimi domini
minantur, in quo imperium suum fortuna consumit, æquo placidoque
animo accipimus, et scimus mortem malum non esse ob hoc, ne injuriam
quidem–If with calmness and composure we meet that last extremity,
beyond which injured laws and merciless tyrants have nothing to
inflict, and in which fortune terminates her dominion, we know that
death is not an evil, because it does not occasion the slightest
injury. Seneca De Constantid.
[2.] A good remedy against it, and that is, to fear God. Fear him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Note, First,
Hell is the destruction both of soul and body; not of the
being of either, but the well–being of both; it is the
ruin of the whole man; if the soul be lost, the body is lost too. They
sinned together; the body was the soul’s tempter to sin, and its tool
in sin, and they must eternally suffer together. Secondly, This
destruction comes from the power of God: he is able to destroy;
it is a destruction from his glorious power
he will in it make his power known; not only his
authority to sentence, but his ability to execute the sentence,
Thirdly, God is therefore to be feared, even by the best
saints in this world. Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade
men to stand in awe of him. If according to his fear so is his
wrath, then according to his wrath so should his fear
be, especially because none knows the power of his anger,
Ps. xc. 11.
When Adam, in innocency, was awed by a threatening, let none of
Christ’s disciples think that they need not the restraint of a holy
fear. Happy is the man that fears always. The God of
Abraham, who was then dead, is called the Fear of Isaac, who
was yet alive,
Fourthly, The fear of God, and of his power reigning in the
soul, will be a sovereign antidote against the fear of man. It is
better to fall under the frowns of all the world, than under God’s
frowns, and therefore, as it is most right in itself, so it is most
safe for us, to obey God rather than men,
Acts iv. 19.
They who are afraid of a man that shall die, forget the Lord their
Maker,
Isa. li. 12, 13; Neh. iv. 14.
(7.) What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light
(v. 27);
“whatever hazards you run, go on with your work, publishing and
proclaiming the everlasting gospel to all the world; that is your
business, mind that. The design of the enemies is not merely to destroy
you, but to suppress that, and, therefore, whatever be
the consequence, publish that.” What I tell you, that speak ye.
Note, That which the apostles have delivered to us is the same that
they received from Jesus Christ,
Heb. ii. 3.
They spake what he told them–that, all that, and nothing but
that. Those ambassadors received their instructions in private,
in darkness, in the ear, in corners, in parables. Many
things Christ spake openly, and nothing in secret varying from what
he preached in public,
But the particular instructions which he gave his disciples after his
resurrection, concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God, were whispered in the ear
(Acts i. 3),
for then he never showed himself openly. But they must deliver
their embassy publicly, in the light, and upon the
house-tops; for the doctrine of the gospel is what all are
concerned in
(Prov. i. 20, 21; viii. 2, 3),
therefore he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. The first
indication of the reception of the Gentiles into the church, was
upon a house-top,
Acts x. 9.
Note, There is no part of Christ’s gospel that needs, upon any account,
to be concealed; the whole counsel of God must be revealed,
Acts xx. 27.
In never so mixed a multitude let it be plainly and fully
delivered.
2. By way of comfort and encouragement. Here is very much said to that
purpose, and all little enough, considering the many hardships they
were to grapple with, throughout the course of their ministry, and
their present weakness, which was such, as that, without some powerful
support, they could scarcely bear even the prospect of such usage;
Christ therefore shows them why they should be of good cheer.
(1.) Here is one word peculiar to their present mission,
Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of
man be come. They were to preach that the kingdom of the Son of
man, the Messiah, was at hand; they were to pray, Thy
kingdom come: now they should not have gone over all the cities
of Israel, thus praying and thus preaching, before that kingdom
should come, in the exaltation of Christ, and the pouring out of the
Spirit. It was a comfort,
[1.] That what they said should be made good: they said the Son of
man is coming, and behold, he comes. Christ will confirm
the word of his messengers,
Isa. xlvi. 26.
[2.] That it should be made good quickly. Note, It is matter of comfort
to Christ’s labourers, that their working time will be short, and soon
over; the hireling has his day; the work and warfare will in a little
time be accomplished.
[3.] That then they should be advanced to a higher station. When the
Son of man comes, they shall be endued with greater power from on
high; now they were sent forth as agents and envoys, but in a
little time their commission should be enlarged, and they should be
sent forth as plenipotentiaries into all the world.
(2.) Here are many words that relate to their work in general, and the
troubles they were to meet with in it; and they are good words and
comfortable words.
[1.] That their sufferings were for a testimony against them and the
Gentiles,
v. 18.
When the Jewish consistories transfer you to the Roman governors, that
they may have you put to death, your being hurried thus from one
judgment-seat to another, will help to make your testimony the more
public, and will give you an opportunity of bringing the gospel to the
Gentiles, as well as to the Jews; nay, you will testify to them, and
against them, by the very troubles you undergo. Note, God’s people,
and especially God’s ministers, are his witnesses
not only in their doing work, but in their suffering
work. Hence they are called martyrs–witnesses for Christ, that
his truths are of undoubted certainty and value; and, being witnesses
for him, they are witnesses against those who oppose him and his
gospel. The sufferings of the martyrs, as they witness to the truth of
the gospel they profess, so they are testimonies of the enmity of their
persecutors, and both ways they are a testimony against them, and will
be produced in evidence in the great day, when the saints shall
judge the world; and the reason of the sentence will be,
Inasmuch as ye did it unto these, ye did it unto me. Now if
their sufferings be a testimony, how cheerfully should they be borne!
for the testimony is not finished till those come,
If they be Christ’s witnesses, they shall be sure to have their charges
borne.
[2.] That upon all occasions they should have God’s special presence
with them, and the immediate assistance of his Holy Spirit,
particularly when they should be called out to bear their testimony
before governors and kings; it shall be given you (said Christ)
in that same hour what ye shall speak. Christ’s disciples were
chosen from among the foolish of the world, unlearned and
ignorant men, and, therefore, might justly distrust their own
abilities, especially when they were called before great men. When
Moses was sent to Pharaoh, he complained, I am not eloquent,
Exod. iv. 10.
When Jeremiah was set over the kingdoms, he objected, I am but a
child,
Jer. i. 6, 10.
Now, in answer to this suggestion, First, they are here promised
that it should be given them, nor some time before, but in
that same hour, what they should speak. They shall speak
extempore, and yet shall speak as much to the purpose, as if it
had been never so well studied. Note, When God calls us out to speak
for him, we may depend upon him to teach us what to say; even then,
when we labour under the greatest disadvantages and discouragements.
Secondly, They are here assured, that the blessed Spirit should
draw up their plea for them. It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit
of your Father, which speaketh in you,
v. 20.
They were not left to themselves upon such an occasion, but God
undertook for them; his Spirit of wisdom spoke in them, as
sometimes his providence wonderfully spoke for them, and by both
together they were manifested in the consciences even of their
persecutors. God gave them an ability, not only to speak to the
purpose, but what they did say, to say it with holy zeal. The same
Spirit that assisted them in the pulpit, assisted them at the bar. They
cannot but come off well, who have such an advocate; to whom God says,
as he did to Moses
(Exod. iv. 12),
Go, and I will be with thy mouth, and with thy heart.
[3.] That he that endures to the end shall be saved,
v. 22.
Here it is very comfortable to consider, First, that there will
be an end of these troubles; they may last long, but will not
last always. Christ comforted himself with this, and so may his
followers; The things concerning me have an end,
Luke xxii. 37.
Dabit Deus his quoque finem–These also will God bring to a
termination. Note, A believing prospect of the period of our
troubles, will be of great use to support us under them. The weary
will be at rest, when the wicked cease from troubling,
Job iii. 17.
God will give an expected end,
Jer. xxix. 11.
The troubles may seem tedious, like the days of a hireling, but,
blessed be God, they are not everlasting. Secondly, That while
they continue, they may be endured; as they are not
eternal, so they are not intolerable; they may be borne,
and borne to the end, because the sufferers shall be borne up
under them, in everlasting arms: The strength shall be according to
the day,
1 Cor. x. 13.
Thirdly, Salvation will be the eternal recompence of all those
that endure to the end. The weather stormy, and the way foul,
but the pleasure of home will make amends for all. A believing regard
to the crown of glory has been in all ages the cordial and support of
suffering saints,
2 Cor. iv. 16; 17, 18; Heb. x. 34.
This is not only an encouragement to us to endure, but an
engagement to endure to the end. They who endure but awhile,
and in time of temptation fall away, have run in vain, and lose all
that they have attained; but they who persevere, are sure of the prize,
and they only. Be faithful unto death, and then thou shalt have
the crown of life.
[4.] That whatever hard usage the disciples of Christ meet with, it is
no more than what their Master met with before
(v. 24, 25).
The disciple is not above his master. We find this given them as
a reason, why they should not hesitate to perform the meanest duties,
no, not washing one another’s feet.
Here it is given as a reason, why they should not stumble at the
hardest sufferings. They are reminded of this saying,
It is a proverbial expression, The servant is not better than his
master, and, therefore, let him not expect to fare better.
Note, First, Jesus Christ is our Master, our teaching
Master, and we are his disciples, to learn of him; our ruling
master, and we are his servants to obey him: He is Master
of the house, oikodespotes, has a despotic power in the
church, which is his family. Secondly, Jesus Christ our Lord and
Master met with very hard usage from the world; they called him
Beelzebub, the god of flies, the name of the chief of the devils, with
whom they said he was in league. It is hard to say which is here more
to be wondered at, the wickedness of men who thus abused Christ, or the
patience of Christ, who suffered himself to be thus abused; that he who
was the God of glory should be stigmatized as the god of flies; the
King of Israel, as the god of Ekron; the Prince of light and life, as
the prince of the powers of death and darkness; that Satan’s greatest
Enemy and Destroyer should be run down as his confederate, and yet
endure such contradiction of sinners. Thirdly, The consideration
of the ill treatment which Christ met with in the world, should engage
us to expect and prepare for the like, and to bear it patiently. Let us
not think it strange, if they who hated him hate his followers, for his
sake; nor think it hard if they who are shortly to be made like him
in glory, be now made like him in sufferings. Christ began
in the bitter cup, let us be willing to pledge him; his bearing
the cross made it easy for us.
[5.] That there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed,
v. 26.
We understand this, First, Of the revealing of the gospel to all
the world. “Do you publish it
(v. 27),
for it shall be published. The truths which are now, as mysteries, hid
from the children of men, shall all be made known, to all nations, in
their own language,”
The ends of the earth must see this salvation. Note, It is a
great encouragement to those who are doing Christ’s work, that it is a
work which shall certainly be done. It is a plough which God will
speed. Or, Secondly, Of the clearing up of the innocency of
Christ’s suffering servants, that are called Beelzebub; their true
character is now invidiously disguised with false colours, but however
their innocency and excellency are now covered, they shall be
revealed; sometimes it is in a great measure done in this world,
when the righteousness of the saints is made, by subsequent events, to
shine forth as the light: however it will be done at the great
day, when their glory shall be manifested to all the world, angels and
men, to whom they are now made spectacles,
1 Cor. iv. 9.
All their reproach shall be rolled away, and their graces and services,
that are now covered, shall be revealed,
1 Cor. iv. 5.
Note, It is matter of comfort to the people of God, under all the
calumnies and censures of men, that there will be a resurrection of
names as well as of bodies, at the last day, when the
righteous shall shine forth as the sun. Let Christ’s ministers
faithfully reveal his truths, and then leave it to him, in due time, to
reveal their integrity.
[6.] That the providence of God is in a special manner conversant about
the saints, in their suffering,
It is good to have recourse to our first principles, and particularly
to the doctrine of God’s universal providence, extending itself to all
the creatures, and all their actions, even the smallest and most
minute. The light of nature teaches us this, and it is comfortable to
all men, but especially to all good men, who can in faith call this God
their Father, and for whom he has a tender concern. See here,
First, The general extent of providence to all the creatures,
even the least, and least considerable, to the sparrows,
v. 29.
These little animals are of so small account, that one of them is not
valued; there must go two to be worth a farthing (nay, you shall
have five for a halfpenny,
and yet they are not shut out of the divine care; One of them shall
not fall to the ground without your Father: That is,
1. They do not light on the ground for food, to pick up a grain
of corn, but your heavenly Father, by his providence,
laid it ready for them. In the parallel place,
it is thus expressed, Not one of them is forgotten before God,
forgotten to be provided for; he feedeth them,
ch. vi. 26.
Now he that feeds the sparrows, will not starve the saints.
2. They do not fall to the ground by death, either a natural or
a violent death, without the notice of God: though they are so small a
part of the creation, yet even their death comes within the notice of
the divine providence; much more does the death of his disciples.
Observe, The birds that soar above, when they die, fall to the
ground; death brings the highest to the earth. Some think that
Christ here alludes to the two sparrows that were used in
cleansing the leper
the two birds in the margin are called sparrows; of these one
was killed, and so fell to the ground, the other was let go. Now
it seemed a casual thing which of the two was killed; the persons
employed took which they pleased, but God’s providence designed, and
determined which. Now this God, who has such an eye to the sparrows,
because they are his creatures, much more will have an eye to you, who
are his children. If a sparrow die not without your Father,
surely a man does not,–a Christian,–a minister,–my friend, my child.
A bird falls not into the fowler’s net, nor by the fowler’s shot, and
so comes not to be sold in the market, but according to the direction
of providence; your enemies, like subtle fowlers, lay snares for
you, and privily shoot at you, but they cannot take you, they
cannot hit you, unless God give them leave. Therefore be not afraid of
death, for your enemies have no power against you, but what is given
them from above. God can break their bows and snares
(Ps. xxxviii. 12-15; lxiv. 4, 7),
and make our souls to escape as a bird
(Ps. cxxiv. 7);
Fear ye not, therefore,
v. 31.
Note, There is enough in the doctrine of God’s providence to silence
all the fears of God’s people: Ye are of more value than many
sparrows. All men are so, for the other creatures were made for
man, and put under his feet
much more the disciples of Jesus Christ, who are the excellent ones of
the earth, however contemned, as if not worth one sparrow.
Secondly, The particular cognizance which providence takes of
the disciples of Christ, especially in their sufferings
(v. 30),
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. This is a
proverbial expression, denoting the account which God takes and keeps
of all the concernments of his people, even of those that are most
minute, and least regarded. This is not to be made a matter of curious
enquiry, but of encouragement to live in a continual dependence upon
God’s providential care, which extends itself to all occurrences, yet
without disparagement to the infinite glory, or disturbance to the
infinite rest, of the Eternal Mind. If God numbers their hairs, much
more does he number their heads, and take care of their lives, their
comforts, their souls. It intimates, that God takes more care of them,
than they do of themselves. They who are solicitous to number their
money, and goods, and cattle, yet were never careful to number their
hairs, which fall and are lost, and they never miss them: but God
numbers the hairs of his people, and not a hair of their head
shall perish
(Luke xxi. 18);
not the least hurt shall be done them, but upon a valuable
consideration: so precious to God are his saints, and their lives and
deaths!
[7.] That he will shortly, in the day of triumph, own those who now own
him, in the day of trial, when those who deny him shall be for ever
disowned and rejected by him,
Note, First, It is our duty, and if we do it, it will hereafter
be our unspeakable honour and happiness, to confess Christ before
men.
1. It is our duty, not only to believe in Christ, but to profess that
faith, in suffering for him, when we are called to it, as well as in
serving him. We must never be ashamed of our relation to Christ, our
attendance on him, and our expectations from him: hereby the sincerity
of our faith, is evidenced, his name glorified, and others edified.
2. However this may expose us to reproach and trouble now, we shall be
abundantly recompensed for that, in the resurrection of the
just, when it will be our unspeakable honour and happiness to hear
Christ say (what would we more?) “Him will I confess, though a
poor worthless worm of the earth; this is one of mine, one of my
friends and favourites, who loved me and was beloved by me; the
purchase of my blood, the workmanship of my Spirit; I will confess
him before my Father, when it will do him the most service; I will
speak a good word for him, when he appears before my Father to
receive his doom; I will present him, will represent him to my
Father.” Those who honour Christ he will thus honour. They honour
him before men; that is a poor thing: he will honour them
before his Father; that is a great thing.
Secondly, It is a dangerous thing for any to deny and disown
Christ before men; for they who so do will be disowned by him
in the great day, when they have most need of him: he will not
own them for his servants who would not own him for their master: I
tell you, I know you not,
ch. vii. 23.
In the first ages of Christianity, when for a man to confess
Christ was to venture all that was dear to him in this world, it
was more a trial of sincerity, than it was afterwards, when it had
secular advantages attending it.
[8.] That the foundation of their discipleship was laid in such a
temper and disposition, as would make sufferings very light and easy to
them; and it was upon the condition of a preparedness for suffering,
that Christ took them to be his followers,
He told them at first, that they were not worthy of him, if they
were not willing to part with all for him. Men hesitate not at those
difficulties which necessarily attend their profession, and which they
counted upon, when they undertook that profession; and they will either
cheerfully submit to those fatigues and troubles, or disclaim the
privileges and advantages of their profession. Now, in the Christian
profession, they are reckoned unworthy the dignity and felicity of it,
that put not such a value upon their interest in Christ, as to prefer
that before any other interests. They cannot expect the gains of a
bargain, who will not come up to the terms of it. Now thus the terms
are settled; if religion be worth any thing, it is worth
every thing: and, therefore, all who believe the truth of it,
will soon come up to the price of it; and they who make it their
business and bliss, will make every thing else to yield to it. They who
like not Christ on these terms, may leave him at their peril. Note, It
is very encouraging to think, that whatever we leave, or lose, or
suffer for Christ, we do not make a hard bargain for ourselves.
Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves
with this persuasion, that it is well worth what we give for it. The
terms are, that we must prefer Christ.
First, Before our nearest and dearest relations; father or
mother, son or daughter. Between these relations, because there is
little room left for envy, there is commonly more room for love, and,
therefore, these are instanced, as relations which are most likely to
affect us. Children must love their parents, and parents must love
their children; but if they love them better than Christ, they are
unworthy of him. As we must not be deterred from Christ by the
hatred of our relations which he spoke of
so we must not be drawn from him, by their love. Christians must
be as Levi, who said to his father, I have not seen him,
Deut. xxxiii. 9.
Secondly, Before our ease and safety. We must take up our cross
and follow him, else we are not worthy of him. Here
observe,
1. They who would follow Christ, must expect their cross
and take it up.
2. In taking up the cross, we must follow Christ’s
example, and bear it as he did.
3. It is a great encouragement to us, when we meet with crosses, that
in bearing them we follow Christ, who has showed us the way; and
that if we follow him faithfully, he will lead us through sufferings
like him, to glory with him.
Thirdly, Before life itself,
He that findeth his life shall lose it; he that thinks he had
found it when he has saved it, and kept it, by denying Christ, shall
lose it in an eternal death; but he that loseth his life for
Christ’s sake, that will part with it rather than deny Christ,
shall find it, to his unspeakable advantage, an eternal life.
They are best prepared for the life to come, that sit most loose to
this present life.
[9.] That Christ himself would so heartily espouse their cause, as to
show himself a friend to all their friends, and to repay all the
kindnesses that should at any time be bestowed upon them,
He that receiveth you, receiveth me.
First, It is here implied, that though the generality would
reject them, yet they should meet with some who would receive and
entertain them, would bid the message welcome to their hearts, and the
messengers to their houses, for the sake of it. Why was the gospel
market made, but that if some will not, others will. In the worst of
times there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Christ’s
ministers shall not labour in vain.
Secondly, Jesus Christ takes what is done to his faithful ministers,
whether in kindness or in unkindness, as done to himself, and reckons
himself treated as they are treated. He that receiveth you,
receiveth me. Honour or contempt put upon an ambassador reflects
honour or contempt upon the prince that sends him, and ministers are
ambassadors for Christ. See how Christ may still be entertained
by those who would testify their respects to him; his people and
ministers we have always with us; and he is with them always,
even to the end of the world. Nay, the honour rises higher, He that
receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. Not only Christ takes it
as done to himself, but through Christ God does so too. By entertaining
Christ’s ministers, they entertain not angels unawares, but
Christ, nay, and God himself, and unawares too, as appears,
When saw we thee an hungered?
Thirdly, That though the kindness done to Christ’s disciples be
never so small, yet if there be occasion for it, and ability to do no
more, it shall be accepted, though it be but a cup of cold water
given to one of these little ones,
v. 42.
They are little ones, poor and weak, and often stand in need of
refreshment, and glad of the least. The extremity may be such, that a
cup of cold water may be a great favour. Note, Kindnesses shown
to Christ’s disciples are valued in Christ’s books, not according to
the cost of the gift, but according to the love and affection of the
giver. On that score the widow’s mite not only passed current, but was
stamped high,
Thus they who are truly rich in graces may be rich in good works,
though poor in the world.
Fourthly, That kindness to Christ’s disciples which he will
accept, must b done with an eye to Christ, and for his sake. A prophet
must be received in the name of a prophet, and a righteous
man in the name of a righteous man, and one of those
little ones in the name of a disciple; not because they
are learned, or witty, nor because they are our relations or
neighbours, but because they are righteous, and so bear Christ’s image;
because they are prophets and disciples, and so are sent on Christ’s
errand. It is a believing regard to Christ that puts an acceptable
value upon the kindnesses done to his ministers. Christ does not
interest himself in the matter, unless we first interest him in it.
Ut tibi debeam aliquid pro eo quod præstas, debes non tantum
mihi præstare, sed tanquam mihi–If you wish me to feel an
obligation to you for any service you render, you must not only perform
the service, but you must convince me that you do it for my sake.
Seneca.
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