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Matthew Chapter 24
Commentary by Matthew Henry
Christ's preaching was mostly
practical; but, in this chapter, we have a prophetical
discourse, a prediction of things to come; such however as
had a practical tendency, and was intended, not to gratify
the curiosity of his disciples, but to guide their
consciences and conversations, and it is therefore concluded
with a practical application. The church has always had
particular prophecies, besides general promises, both for
direction and for encouragement to believers; but it is
observable, Christ preached this prophetical sermon in the
close of his ministry, as the Apocalypse is the last book of
the New Testament, and the prophetical books of the Old
Testament are placed last, to intimate to us, that we must
be well grounded in plain truths and duties, and those must
first be well digested, before we dive into those things
that are dark and difficult; many run themselves into
confusion by beginning their Bible at the wrong end. Now, in
this chapter, we have, I. The occasion of this discourse,
verses 1-3. II. The discourse itself, in which we have, 1.
The prophecy of divers events, especially referring to the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter ruin of the Jewish
church and nation, which were not hastening on, and were
completed about forty years after; the prefaces to that
destruction, the concomitants and consequences of it; yet
looking further, to Christ's coming at the end of time, and
the consummation of all things, of which that was a type and
figure, verses 4-31. 2. The practical application of this
prophecy for the awakening and quickening of his disciples
to prepare for these great and awful things, verses 32-51.
Awful Predictions.
Matthew 24:1-3 --
1 And Jesus went out, and departed
from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show
him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them,
See ye not all these things? verily I
say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon
another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of
Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell
us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign
of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Here is,
I. Christ's quitting the temple, and
his public work there. He had said, in the close of the
foregoing chapter, Your house is left unto you desolate; and
here he made his words good; He went out, and departed from
the temple. The manner of expression is observable; he not
only went out of the temple, but departed from it, took his
final farewell of it; he departed from it, never to return
to it any more; and then immediately follows a prediction of
its ruin. Note, That house is left desolate indeed, which
Christ leaves. Woe unto them when I depart, Hosea 9:12;
Jeremiah 6:8. It was now time to groan out their Ichabod,
The glory is departed, their defense is departed. Three days
after this, the veil of the temple was rent; when Christ
left it, all became common and unclean; but Christ departed
not till they drove him away; did not reject them, till they
first rejected him.
II. His private discourse with his
disciples; he left the temple, but he did not leave the
twelve, who were the seed of the gospel church, which the
casting off of the Jews was the enriching of. When he left
the temple, his disciples left it too, and came to him.
Note, It is good being where Christ is, and leaving that
which he leaves. They came to him, to be instructed in
private, when his public preaching was over; for the secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him. He had spoken of the
destruction of the Jewish church to the multitude in
parables, which here, as usual, he explains to his
disciples. Observe,
1. His disciples came to him, to
show him the buildings of the temple, It was a stately and
beautiful structure, one of the wonders of the world; no
cost was spared, no art left untried, to make it sumptuous.
Though it came short of Solomon's temple, and its beginning
was small, yet its latter end did greatly increase. It was
richly furnished with gifts and offerings, to which there
were continual additions made. They showed Christ these
things, and desired him to take notice of them, either,
(1.) As being greatly pleased with
them themselves, and expecting he should be so too. They had
lived mostly in Galilee, at a distance from the temple, had
seldom seen it, and therefore were the more struck with
admiration at it, and thought he should admire as much as
they did all this glory (Genesis 31:1); and they would have
him divert himself (after his preaching, and from his sorrow
which they saw him perhaps almost overwhelmed with) with
looking about him. Note, Even good men are apt to be too
much enamored with outward pomp and gaiety, and to overvalue
it, even in the things of God; whereas we should be, as
Christ was, dead to it, and look upon it with contempt. The
temple was indeed glorious, but, [1.] Its glory was sullied
and stained with the sin of the priests and people; that
wicked doctrine of the Pharisees, which preferred the gold
before the temple that sanctified it, was enough to deface
the beauty of all the ornaments of the temple. [2.] Its
glory was eclipsed and outdone by the presence of Christ in
it, who was the glory of this latter house (Haggai 2:9), so
that the buildings had no glory, in comparison with that
glory which excelled.
Or, (2.) As grieving that this house
should be left desolate; they showed him the buildings, as
if they would move him to Revelation the sentence; "Lord,
let not this holy and beautiful house, where our fathers
praised thee, be made a desolation." They forgot how many
providences, concerning Solomon's temple, had manifested how
little God cared for that outward glory which they had so
much admired, when the people were wicked, 2 Chronicles
7:21. This house, which is high, sin will bring low. Christ
had lately looked upon the precious souls, and wept for
them, Luke 19:41. The disciples look upon the pompous
buildings, and are ready to weep for them. In this, as in
other things, his thoughts are not like ours. It was
weakness, and meanness of spirit, in the disciples, to be so
fond of fine buildings; it was a childish thing. Animo magno
nihil magnum--To a great mind nothing is great. Seneca.
2. Christ, hereupon, foretells the
utter ruin and destruction that were coming upon this place,
verse 2. Note, A believing foresight of the defacing of all
worldly glory will help to take us off from admiring it, and
overvaluing it. The most beautiful body will be shortly
worms' meat, and the most beautiful building a ruinous heap.
And shall we then set our eyes upon that which so soon is
not, and look upon that with so much admiration which ere
long we shall certainly look upon with so much contempt? See
ye not all these things? They would have Christ look upon
them, and be as much in love with them as they were; he
would have them look upon them, and be as dead to them as he
was. There is such a sight of these things as will do us
good; so to see them as to see through them and see to the
end of them.
Christ, instead of reversing the
decree, ratifies it; Verily, I say unto you, there shall not
be left one stone upon another.
(1.) He speaks of it as a certain
ruin; "I say unto you. I, that know what I say, and know how
to make good what I say; take my word for it, it shall be
so; I, the Amen, the true Witness, say it to you." All
judgment being committed to the Son, the threatening, as
well as the promises, are all yea, and amen, in him. Hebrews
6:17, 18.
(2.) He speaks of it as an utter
ruin. The temple shall not only be stripped, and plundered,
and defaced, but utterly demolished and laid waste; Not one
stone shall be left upon another. Notice is taken, in the
building of the second temple, of the laying of one stone
upon another (Haggai 2:15); and here, in the ruin, of not
leaving one stone upon another. History tells us, that this
was fulfilled in the latter; for though Titus, when he took
the city, did all he could to preserve the temple, yet he
could not restrain the enraged soldiers from destroying it
utterly; and it was done to that degree, that Turnus Rufus
ploughed up the ground on which it had stood: thus that
scripture was fulfilled (Micah 3:12), Zion shall, for your
sake, be ploughed as a field. And afterward, in Julian the
Apostate's time, when the Jews were encouraged by him to
rebuild their temple, in opposition to the Christian
religion, what remained of the ruins was quite pulled down,
to level the ground for a new foundation; but the attempt
was defeated by the miraculous eruption of fire out of the
ground, which destroyed the foundation they laid, and
frightened away the builders. Now this prediction of the
final and irreparable ruin of the temple includes a
prediction of the period of the Levitical priesthood and the
ceremonial law.
3. The disciples, not disputing
either the truth or the equity of this sentence, nor
doubting of the accomplishment of it, enquire more
particularly of the time when it should come to pass, and
the signs of its approach, verse 3. Observe,
(1.) Where they made this enquiry;
privately, as he sat upon the mount of Olives; probably, he
was returning to Bethany, and there sat down by the way, to
rest him; the mount of Olives directly faced the temple, and
from thence he might have a full prospect of it at some
distance; there he sat as a Judge upon the bench, the temple
and city being before him as at the bar, and thus he passed
sentence on them. We read (Ezekiel 11:23) of the removing of
the glory of the Lord from the temple to the mountain; so
Christ, the great Shechinah, here removes to this mountain.
(2.) What the enquiry itself was;
When shall these things be; and what shall be the sign of
thy coming, and of the end of the world? Here are three
questions.
[1.] Some think, these questions do
all point at one and the same thing--the destruction of the
temple, and the period of the Jewish church and nation,
which Christ had himself spoken of as his coming (Chapter
16:28), and which would be the consummation of the age (for
so it may be read), the finishing of that dispensation. Or,
they thought the destruction of the temple must needs be the
end of the world. If that house be laid waste, the world
cannot stand; for the Rabbin used to say that the house of
the sanctuary was one of the seven things for the sake of
which the world was made; and they think, if so, the world
will not survive the temple.
[2.] Others think their question,
When shall these things be? refers to the destruction of
Jerusalem, and the other two to the end of the world; or
Christ's coming may refer to his setting up his gospel
kingdom, and the end of the world to the day of judgment. I
rather incline to think that their question looked no
further than the event Christ now foretold; but it appears
by other passages, that they had very confused thoughts of
future events; so that perhaps it is not possible to put any
certain construction upon this question of theirs.
But Christ, in his answer, though he
does not expressly rectify the mistakes of his disciples
(that must be done by the pouring out of the Spirit), yet
looks further than their question, and instructs his church,
not only concerning the great events of that age, the
destruction of Jerusalem, but concerning his second coming
at the end of time, which here he insensibly slides into a
discourse of, and of that it is plain he speaks in the next
chapter, which is a continuation of this sermon.
Awful Predictions.
Matthew 24:4-31 --
4 And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Take heed that no man
deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am
Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars
and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all
these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning
of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all
nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be
offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one
another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love
of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved. 14 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. 15 When ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of
by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso
reads, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in
Judea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take
his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and
to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that
your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath
day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say
unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold,
I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto
you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he
is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the
west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For
wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. 29 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: 30 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.
31 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.
The disciples had asked concerning
the times, When shall these things be? Christ gives them no
answer to that, after what number of days and years his
prediction should be accomplished, for it is not for us to
know the times (Acts 1:7); but they had asked, What shall be
the sign? That question he answers fully, for we are
concerned to understand the signs of the times, Chapter
16:3. Now the prophecy primarily respects the events near at
hand--the destruction of Jerusalem, the period of the Jewish
church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the
setting up of Christ's kingdom in the world; but as the
prophecies of the Old Testament, which have an immediate
reference to the affairs of the Jews and the revolutions of
their state, under the figure of them do certainly look
further, to the gospel church and the kingdom of the
Messiah, and are so expounded in the New Testament, and such
expressions are found in those predictions as are peculiar
thereto and not applicable otherwise; so this prophecy,
under the type of Jerusalem's destruction, looks as far
forward as the general judgment; and, as is usual in
prophecies, some passages are most applicable to the type,
and others to the antitype; and toward the close, as usual,
it points more particularly to the latter. It is observable,
that what Christ here says to his disciples tends more to
engage their caution than to satisfy their curiosity; more
to prepare them for the events that should happen than to
give them a distinct idea of the events themselves. This is
that good understanding of the time which we should all
covet, thence to infer what Israel ought to do: and so this
prophecy is of standing lasting use to the church, and will
be so to the end of time; for the thing that hath been, is
that which shall be (Ecclesiastes 1:5, 6, 7, 9), and the
series, connection, and presages, of events, are much the
same still that they were then; so that upon the prophecy of
this chapter, pointing at that event, moral prognostications
may be made, and such constructions of the signs of the
times as the wise man's heart will know how to improve.
I. Christ here foretells the going
forth of deceivers; he begins with a caution, Take heed that
no man deceive you. They expected to be told when these
things should be, to be let into that secret; but this
caution is a check to their curiosity, "What is that to you?
Mind you your duty, follow me, and be not seduced from
following me." Those that are most inquisitive concerning
the secret things which belong not to them are most easily
imposed upon by seducers, 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The
disciples, when they heard that the Jews, their most
inveterate enemies, should be destroyed, might be in danger
of falling into security; "Nay," says Christ, "you are more
exposed other ways." Seducers are more dangerous enemies to
the church than persecutors.
Three times in this discourse he
mentions the appearing of false prophets, which was, 1. A
presage of Jerusalem's ruin. Justly were they who killed the
true prophets, left to be ensnared by false prophets; and
they who crucified the true Messiah, left to be deceived and
broken by false Christs and pretended Messiahs. The
appearing of these was the occasion of dividing that people
into parties and factions, which made their ruin the more
easy and speedy; and the sin of the many that were led aside
by them, helped to fill the measure. 2. It was a trial to
the disciples of Christ, and therefore agreeable to their
state of probation, that they which are perfect, may be made
manifest.
Now concerning these deceivers,
observe here,
(1.) The pretences they should come
under. Satan acts most mischievously, when he appears as an
angel of light: the color of the greatest good is often the
cover of the greatest evil.
[1.] There should appear false
prophets (verses 11-24); the deceivers would pretend to
divine inspiration, an immediate mission, and a spirit of
prophecy, when it was all a lie. Such they had been formerly
(Jeremiah 23:16; Ezekiel 13:6), as was foretold, Deuteronomy
13:3. Some think, the seducers here pointed to were such as
had been settled teachers in the church, and had gained
reputation as such, but afterward betrayed the truth they
had taught, and revolted to error; and from such the danger
is the greater, because least suspected. One false traitor
in the garrison may do more mischief than a thousand avowed
enemies without.
[2.] There should appear false
Christs, coming in Christ's name (verse 5), assuming to
themselves the name peculiar to him, and saying, I am
Christ, pseudo-christs, verse 24. There was at that time a
general expectation of the appearing of the Messiah; they
spoke of him; as he that should come; but when he did come,
the body of the nation rejected him; which those who were
ambitious of making themselves a name, took advantage of,
and set up for Christ. Josephus speaks of several such
impostors between this and the destruction of Jerusalem; one
Theudas, that was defeated by Cospius Fadus; another by
Felix, another by Festus. Dosetheus said he was the Christ
foretold by Moses. Origen adversus Celsum. See Acts 5:36, 37. Simon Magus pretended to be the great power of God,
Acts 8:10. In after-ages there have been such pretenders;
one about a hundred years after Christ, that called himself
Bar-cochobas--The son of a star, but proved Bar-cosba--The
son of a lie. About fifty years ago Sabbati-Levi set up for
a Messiah in the Turkish empire, and was greatly caressed by
the Jews; but in a short time his folly was made manifest.
See Sir Paul Rycaut's History. The popish religion doth, in
effect, set up a false Christ; the Pope comes, in Christ's
name, as his vicar, but invades and usurps all his offices,
and so is a rival with him, and, as such, an enemy to him, a
deceiver, and an antichrist.
[3.] These false-christs and false
prophets would have their agents and emissaries busy in all
places to draw people in to them, verse 23. Then when public
troubles are great and threatening, and people will be
catching at any thing that looks like deliverance, then
Satan will take the advantage of imposing on them; they will
say, Lo, here is a Christ, or there is one; but do not mind
them: the true Christ did not strive, nor cry; nor was it
said of him, Lo, here! or Lo, there! (Luke 17:21), therefore
if any man say so concerning him, look upon it as a
temptation. The hermits, who place religion in a monastic
life, say, He is in the desert; the priests, who made the
consecrated wafer to be Christ, say, "He is en tois tameiois--in
the cupboards, in the secret chambers: lo, he is in this
shrine, in that image." Thus some appropriate Christ's
spiritual presence to one party or persuasion, as if they
had the monopoly of Christ and Christianity; and the kingdom
of Christ must stand and fall, must live and die, with them;
"Lo, he is in this church, in that council:" whereas Christ
is All in all, not here or there, but meets his people with
a blessing in every place where he records his name.
(2.) The proof they should offer for
the making good of these pretences; They shall show great
signs and wonders (verse 24), not true miracles, those are a
divine seal, and with those the doctrine of Christ stands
confirmed; and therefore if any offer to draw us from that
by signs and wonders, we must have recourse to that rule
given of old (Deuteronomy 13:1-3), If the sign or wonder
come to pass, yet follow not him that would draw you to
serve other gods, or believe in other christs, for the Lord
your God proves you. But these were lying wonders (2
Thessalonians 2:9), wrought by Satan (God permitting him),
who is the prince of the power of the air. It is not said,
They shall work miracles, but, They shall show great signs;
they are but a show; either they impose upon men's credulity
by false narratives, or deceive their senses by tricks of
legerdemain, or arts of divination, as the magicians of
Egypt by their enchantments.
(3.) The success they should have in
these attempts,
[1.] They shall deceive many (verse
5), and again, verse 11. Note, The devil and his instruments
may prevail far in deceiving poor souls; few find the strait
gate, but many are drawn into the broad way; many will be
imposed upon by their signs and wonders, and many drawn in
by the hopes of deliverance from their oppressions. Note,
Neither miracles nor multitudes are certain signs of a true
church; for all the world wonders after the beast,
Revelation 13:3.
[2.] They shall deceive, if it were
possible, the very elect, verse 24. This bespeaks, First,
The strength of the delusion; it is such as many shall be
carried away by (so strong shall the stream be), even those
that were thought to stand fast. Men's knowledge, gifts,
learning, eminent station, and long profession, will not
secure them; but, notwithstanding these, many will be
deceived; nothing but the almighty grace of God, pursuant to
his eternal purpose, will be a protection. Secondly, The
safety of the elect in the midst of this danger, which is
taken for granted in that parenthesis, If it were possible,
plainly implying that it is not possible, for they are kept
by the power of God, that the purpose of God, according to
the election, may stand. It is possible for those that have
been enlightened to fall away (Hebrews 6:4, 5, 6), but not
for those that were elected. If God's chosen ones should be
deceived, God's choice would be defeated, which is not to be
imagined, for whom he did predestinate, he called,
justified, and glorified, Romans 8:30. They were given to
Christ; and of all that were given to him, he will lose
none, John 10:28. Grotius will have this to be meant of the
great difficulty of drawing the primitive Christians from
their religion, and quotes it as used proverbially by Galen;
when he would express a thing very difficult and morally
impossible, he says, "You may sooner draw away a Christian
from Christ."
(4.) The repeated cautions which our
Savior gives to his disciples to stand upon their guard
against them; therefore he gave them warning, that they
might watch (verse 25); Behold, I have told you before. He
that is told before where he will be assaulted, may save
himself, as the king of Israel did, 2 Kings 6:9, 10. Note,
Christ's warnings are designed to engage our watchfulness;
and though the elect shall be preserved from delusion, yet
they shall be preserved by the use of appointed means, and a
due regard to the cautions of the word; we are kept through
faith, faith in Christ's word, which he has told us before.
[1.] We must not believe those who
say, Lo, here is Christ; or, Lo, he is there, verse 23. We
believe that the true Christ is at the right hand of God,
and that his spiritual presence is where two or three are
gathered together in his name; believe not those therefore
who would draw you off from a Christ in heaven, by telling
you he is any where on earth; or draw you off from the
catholic church on earth, by telling you he is here, or he
is there; believe it not. Note, There is not a greater enemy
to true faith than vain credulity. The simple believeth
every word, and runs after every cry. Memneso apistein--Beware
of believing.
[2.] We must not go forth after
those that say, He is in the desert, or, He is in the secret
chambers, verse 26. We must not hearken to every empiric and
pretender, nor follow every one that puts up the finger to
point us to a new Christ, and a new gospel; "Go not forth,
for if you do, you are in danger of being taken by them;
therefore keep out of harm's way, be not carried about with
every wind; many a man's vain curiosity to go forth hath led
him into a fatal apostasy; your strength at such a time is
to sit still, to have the heart established with grace."
II. He foretells wars and great
commotions among the nations, verses 6, 7. When Christ was
born, there was a universal peace in the empire, the temple
of Janus was shut; but think not that Christ came to send,
or continue such a peace (Luke 12:51); no, his city and his
wall are to be built even in troublesome times, and even
wars shall forward his work. From the time that the Jews
rejected Christ, and he left their house desolate, the sword
did never depart from their house, the sword of the Lord was
never quiet, because he had given it a charge against a
hypocritical nation and the people of his wrath, and by it
brought ruin upon them.
Here is, 1. A prediction of the
event of the day; You will now shortly hear of wars, and
rumors of wars. When wars are, they will be heard; for every
battle of the warrior is with confused noise, Isaiah 9.
5. See how terrible it is (Jeremiah
4:19), Thou hast heard, O my soul, the alarm of war! Even
the quiet in the land, and the least inquisitive after new
things, cannot but hear the rumors of war. See what comes of
refusing the gospel! Those that will not hear the messengers
of peace, shall be made to hear the messengers of war. God
has a sword ready to avenge the quarrel of his covenant, his
new covenant. Nation shall rise up against nation, that is,
one part or province of the Jewish nation against another,
one city against another (2 Chronicles 15:5, 6); and in the
same province and city one party or faction shall rise up
against another, so that they shall be devoured by, and
dashed in pieces against one another, Isaiah 9:19-21.
2. A prescription of the duty of the
day; See that ye be not troubled. Is it possible to hear
such sad news, and not be troubled? Yet, where the heart is
fixed, trusting in God, it is kept in peace, and is not
afraid, no not of the evil tidings of wars, and rumors of
wars; no not the noise of Arm, arm. Be not troubled; Me
throeithe--Be not put into confusion or commotion; not put
into throes, as a woman with child by a fright; see that ye
be not orate. Note, There is need of constant care and
watchfulness to keep trouble from the heart when there are
wars abroad; and it is against the mind of Christ, that his
people should have troubled hearts even in troublous times.
We must not be troubled, for two
reasons.
(1.) Because we are bid to expect
this: the Jews must be punished, ruin must be brought upon
them; by this the justice of God and the honor of the
Redeemer must be asserted; and therefore all those things
must come to pass; the word is gone out of God's mouth, and
it shall be accomplished in its season. Note, The
consideration of the unchangeableness of the divine
counsels, which govern all events, should compose and quiet
our spirits, whatever happens. God is but performing the
thing that is appointed for us, and our inordinate trouble
is an interpretative quarrel with that appointment. Let us
therefore acquiesce, because these things must come to pass;
not only necessitate decreti--as the product of the divine
counsel, but necessitate medii--as a means in order to a
further end. The old house must be taken down (though it
cannot be done without noise, and dust, and danger), ere the
new fabric can be erected: the things that are shaken (and
ill shaken they were) must be removed, that the things which
cannot be shaken may remain, Hebrews 12:27.
(2.) Because we are still to expect
worse; The end is not yet; the end of time is not, and,
while time lasts, we must expect trouble, and that the end
of one affliction will be but the beginning of another; or,
"The end of these troubles is not yet; there must be more
judgments that one made use of to bring down the Jewish
power; more vials of wrath must yet be poured out; there is
but one woe past, more woes are yet to come, more arrows are
yet to be spent upon them out of God's quiver; therefore be
not troubled, do not give way to fear and trouble, sink not
under the present burthen, but rather gather in all the
strength and spirit you have, to encounter what is yet
before you. Be not troubled to hear of wars and rumors of
wars; for then what will become of you when the famines and
pestilences come?" If it be to us a vexation but to
understand the report (Isaiah 28:19), what will it be to
feel the stroke when it touches the bone and the flesh? If
running with the footmen weary us, how shall we contend with
horses? And if we be frightened at a little brook in our
way, what shall we do in the swellings of Jordan? Jeremiah
12:5.
III. He foretells other judgments
more immediately sent of God--famines, pestilences, and
earthquakes. Famine is often the effect of war, and
pestilence of famine. These were the three judgments which
David was to choose one out of; and he was in a great
strait, for he knew not which was the worst: but what
dreadful desolations will they make, when they all pour in
together upon a people! Beside war (and that is enough)
there shall be,
1. Famine, signified by the black
horse under the third seal, Revelation 6:5, 6. We read of a
famine in Judea, not long after Christ's time, which was
very impoverishing (Acts 11:28); but the sorest famine was
in Jerusalem during the siege. See Lamentations 4:9, 10.
2. Pestilences, signified by the
pale horse, and death upon him, and the grave at his heels,
under the fourth seal, Revelation 6:7, 8. This destroys
without distinction, and in a little time lays heaps upon
heaps.
3. Earthquakes in divers places, or
from place to place, pursuing those that flee from them, as
they did from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah,
Zechariah 14:5. Great desolations have sometimes been made
by earthquakes, of late and formerly; they have been the
death of many, and the terror of more. In the apocalyptic
visions, it is observable, that earthquakes bode good, and
no evil, to the church, Revelation 6:12. Compare Revelation
6:15; 11:12, 13, 19; 16:17-19. When God shakes terribly the
earth (Isaiah 2:21), it is to shake the wicked out of it
(Job 38:13), and to introduce the desire of all nations,
Haggai 2:6, 7. But here they are spoken of as dreadful
judgments, and yet but the beginning of sorrows, odinon--of
travailing pains, quick, violent, yet tedious too. Note,
When God judges, he will overcome; when he begins in wrath,
he will make a full end, 1 Samuel 3:12. When we look forward
to the eternity of misery that is before the obstinate
refusers of Christ and his gospel, we may truly say,
concerning the greatest temporal judgments, "They are but
the beginning of sorrows; bad as things are with them, there
are worse behind."
IV. He foretells the persecution of
his own people and ministers, and a general apostasy and
decay in religion thereupon, verses 9, 10, 12. Observe,
1. The cross itself foretold, verse
9. Note, Of all future events we are as much concerned,
though commonly as little desirous, to know of our own
sufferings as of any thing else. Then, when famines and
pestilences prevail, then they shall impute them to the
Christians, and make that a pretence for persecuting them;
Christianos ad leones--Away with Christians to the lions.
Christ had told his disciples, when he first sent them out,
what hard things they should suffer; but they had hitherto
experienced little of it, and therefore he reminds them
again, that the less they had suffered, the more there was
behind to be filled up, Colossians 1:24.
(1.) They shall be afflicted with
bonds and imprisonments, cruel mocking and scourging, as
blessed Paul (2 Corinthians 11:23-25); not killed outright,
but killed all the day long, in deaths often, killed so as
to feel themselves die, made a spectacle to the world, 1
Corinthians 4:9, 11.
(2.) They shall be killed; so cruel
are the church's enemies, that nothing less will satisfy
them than the blood of the saints, which they thirst after,
suck, and shed, like water.
(3.) They shall be hated of all
nations for Christ's name's sake, as he had told them
before, Chapter 10:22. The world was generally leavened with
enmity and malignity to Christians: the Jews, though
spiteful to the Heathen, were never persecuted by them as
the Christians were; they were hated by the Jews that were
dispersed among the nations, were the common butt of the
world's malice. What shall we think of this world, when the
best men had the worst usage in it? It is the cause that
makes the martyr, and comforts him; it was for Christ's sake
that they were thus hated; their professing and preaching
his name incensed the nations so much against them; the
devil, finding a fatal shock thereby given to his kingdom,
and that his time was likely to be short, came down, having
great wrath.
2. The offence of the cross, verses
10-12. Satan thus carries on his interest by force of arms,
though Christ, at length, will bring glory to himself out of
the sufferings of his people and ministers. Three ill
effects of persecution are here foretold.
(1.) The apostasy of some. When the
profession of Christianity begins to cost men dear, then
shall many be offended, shall first fall out with, and then
fall off from, their profession; they will begin to pick
quarrels with their religion, sit loose to it, grow weary of
it, and at length revolt from it. Note, [1.] It is no new
thing (though it is a strange thing) for those that have
known the way of righteousness, to turn aside out of it.
Paul often complains of deserters, who began well, but
something hindered them. They were with us, but went out
from us, because never truly of us, 1 John 2:19. We are told
of it before. [2.] Suffering times are shaking times; and
those fall in the storm, that stood in fair weather, like
the stony ground hearers, Chapter 13:21. Many will follow
Christ in the sunshine, who will shift for themselves, and
leave him to do so to, in the cloudy dark day. They like
their religion while they can have it cheap, and sleep with
it in a whole skin; but, if their profession cost them any
thing, they quit it presently.
(2.) The malignity of others. When
persecution is in fashion, envy, enmity, and malice, are
strangely diffused into the minds of men by contagion: and
charity, tenderness, and moderation, are looked upon as
singularities, which make a man like a speckled bird. Then
they shall betray one another, that is, "Those that have
treacherously deserted their religion, shall hate and betray
those who adhere to it, for whom they have pretended
friendship." Apostates have commonly been the most bitter
and violent persecutors. Note, Persecuting times are
discovering times. Wolves in sheep's clothing will then
throw off their disguise, and appear wolves: they shall
betray one another, and hate one another. The times must
needs be perilous, when treachery and hatred, two of the
worst things that can be, because directly contrary to two
of the best (truth and love), shall have the ascendant. This
seems to refer to the barbarous treatment which the several
contending factions among the Jews gave to one another; and
justly were they who ate up God's people as they ate bread,
left thus to bite and devour one another till they were
consumed one of another; or, it may refer to the mischief
done to Christ's disciples by those that were nearest to
them, as Chapter 10:21. The brother shall deliver up the
brother to death.
(3.) The general declining and
cooling of most, verse 12. In seducing times, when false
prophets arise, in persecuting times, when the saints are
hated, expect these two things,
[1.] The abounding of iniquity;
though the world always lies in wickedness, yet there are
some times in which it may be said, that iniquity doth in a
special manner abound; as when it is more extensive than
ordinary, as in the old world, when all flesh had corrupted
their way; and when it is more excessive than ordinary, when
violence is risen up to a rod of wickedness (Ezekiel 7:11)
so that hell seems to be broke loose in blasphemies against
God, and enmities to the saints.
[2.] The abating of love; this is
the consequence of the former; Because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Understand it in
general of true serious godliness, which is all summed up in
love; it is too common for professors of religion to grow
cool in their profession, when the wicked are hot in their
wickedness; as the church of Ephesus in bad times left her
first love, Revelation 2:2-4. Or, it may be understood more
particularly of brotherly love. When iniquity abounds,
seducing iniquity, persecuting iniquity, this grace commonly
waxes cold. Christians begin to be shy and suspicious one of
another, affections are alienated, distances created,
parties made, and so love comes to nothing. The devil is the
accuser of the brethren, not only to their enemies, which
makes persecuting iniquity abound, but one to another, which
makes the love of many to wax cold.
This gives a melancholy prospect of
the times, that there shall be such a great decay of love;
but, First, It is of the love of many, not of all. In the
worst of times, God has his remnant that hold fast their
integrity, and retain their zeal, as in Elijah's days, when
he thought himself left alone. Secondly, This love is grown
cold, but not dead; it abates, but is not quite cast off.
There is life in the root, which will show itself when the
winter is past. The new nature may wax cold, but shall not
wax old, for then it would decay and vanish away.
3. Comfort administered in reference
to this offence of the cross, for the support of the Lord's
people under it (verse 13); He that endures to the end,
shall be saved. (1.) It is comfortable to those who wish
well to the cause of Christ in general, that, though many
are offended, yet some shall endure to the end. When we see
so many drawing back, we are ready to fear that the cause of
Christ will sink for want of supporters, and his name be
left and forgotten for want of some to make profession of
it; but even at this time there is a remnant according to
the election of grace, Romans 11:5. It is spoken of the same
time that this prophecy has reference to; a remnant who are
not of them that draw back unto perdition, but believe and
persevere to the saving of the soul; they endure to the end,
to the end of their lives, to the end of their present state
of probation, or to the end of these suffering trying times,
to the last encounter, though they should be called to
resist unto blood. (2.) It is comfortable to those who do
thus endure to the end, and suffer for their constancy, that
they shall be saved. Perseverance wins the crown, through
free grace, and shall wear it. They shall be saved: perhaps
they may be delivered out of their troubles, and comfortably
survive them in this world; but it is eternal salvation that
is here intended. They that endure to the end of their days,
shall then receive the end of their faith and hope, even the
salvation of their souls, 1 Peter 1:9; Romans 2:7;
Revelation 3:20. The crown of glory will make amends for
all; and a believing regard to that will enable us to choose
rather to die at a stake with the persecuted, than to live
in a palace with the persecutors.
VERSE He foretells the preaching of
the gospel in all the world (verse 14); This gospel shall be
preached, and then shall the end come. Observe here, 1. It
is called the gospel of the kingdom, because it reveals the
kingdom of grace, which leads to the kingdom of glory; sets
up Christ's kingdom in this world; and secures ours in the
other world. 2. This gospel, sooner or later, is to be
preached in all the world, to every creature, and all
nations are to be discipled by it; for in it Christ is to be
Salvation to the ends of the earth; for this end the gift of
tongues was the first-fruits of the Spirit. 3. The gospel is
preached for a witness to all nations, that is, a faithful
declaration of the mind and will of God concerning the duty
which God requires from man, and the recompense which man
may expect from God. It is a record (1 John 5:11), it is a
witness, for those who believe, that they shall be saved,
and against those who persist in unbelief, that they shall
be damned. See Mark 16:16. But how does this come in here?
(1.) It is intimated that the gospel
should be, if not heard, yet at least heard of, throughout
the then known world, before the destruction of Jerusalem;
that the Old-Testament church should not be quite dissolved
till the New Testament was pretty well settled, had got
considerable footing, and began to make some figure. Better
is the face of a corrupt degenerate church than none at all.
Within forty years after Christ's death, the sound of the
gospel was gone forth to the ends of the earth, Romans
10:18. St. Paul fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem,
and round about unto Illyricum; and the other apostles were
not idle. The persecuting of the saints at Jerusalem helped
to disperse them, so that they went every where, preaching
the word, Acts 8:1-4. And when the tidings of the Redeemer
are sent over all parts of the world, then shall come the
end of the Jewish state. Thus, that which they thought to
prevent, by putting Christ to death, they thereby procured;
all men believed on him, and the Romans came, and took away
their place and nation, John 11:48. Paul speaks of the
gospel being come to all the world, and preached to every
creature, Colossians 1:6-23.
(2.) It is likewise intimated that
even in times of temptation, trouble, and persecution, the
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached and propagated, and
shall force its way through the greatest opposition. Though
the enemies of the church grow very hot, and many of her
friends very cool, yet the gospel shall be preached. And
even then, when many fall by the sword and by flame, and
many do wickedly, and are corrupted by flatteries, yet then
the people that do know their God, shall be strengthened to
do the greatest exploits of all, in instructing many; see
Daniel 11:32, 33; and see an instance, Philippians 1:12-14.
(3.) That which seems chiefly
intended here, is, that the end of the world shall be then,
and not till then, when the gospel has done its work in the
world. The gospel shall be preached, and that work carried
on, when you are dead; so that all nations, first or last,
shall have either the enjoyment, or the refusal, of the
gospel; and then cometh the end, when the kingdom shall be
delivered up to God, even the Father; when the mystery of
God shall be finished, the mystical body completed, and the
nations either converted and saved, or convicted and
silenced, by the gospel; then shall the end come, of which
he had said before (verses 6, 7), not yet, not till those
intermediate counsels be fulfilled. The world shall stand as
long as any of God's chosen ones remain uncalled; but, when
they are all gathered in, it will be set on fire
immediately.
VI. He foretells more particularly
the ruin that was coming upon the people of the Jews, their
city, temple, and nation, verse 15 & context. Here he comes
more closely to answer their questions concerning the
desolation of the temple; and what he said here, would be of
use to his disciples, both for their conduct and for their
comfort, in reference to that great event; he describes the
several steps of that calamity, such as are usual in war.
1. The Romans setting up the
abomination of desolation in the holy place, verse 15. Now,
(1.) Some understand by this an image, or statue, set up in
the temple by some of the Roman governors, which was very
offensive to the Jews, provoked them to rebel, and so
brought the desolation upon them. The image of Jupiter
Olympius, which Antiochus caused to be set upon the altar of
God, is called Bdelygma eremoseos--The abomination of
desolation, the very word here used by the historian, 1
Maccabees 1:54. Since the captivity in Babylon, nothing was,
nor could be, more distasteful to the Jews than an image in
the holy place, as appeared by the mighty opposition they
made when Caligula offered to set up his statue there, which
had been of fatal consequence, if it had not been prevented,
and the matter accommodated, by the conduct of Petronius;
but Herod did set up an eagle over the temple-gate; and,
some say, the statue of Titus was set up in the temple. (2.)
Others choose to expound it by the parallel place (Luke
21:20), when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies.
Jerusalem was the holy city, Canaan the holy land, the Mount
Moriah, which lay about Jerusalem, for its nearness to the
temple was, they thought in a particular manner holy ground;
on the country lying round about Jerusalem the Roman army
was encamped, that was the abomination that made desolate.
The land of an enemy is said to be the land which thou
abhors (Isaiah 7:16); so an enemy's army to a weak but
willful people may well be called the abomination. Now this
is said to be spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, who spoke
more plainly of the Messiah and his kingdom than any of the
Old-Testament prophets did. He speaks of an abomination
making desolate, which should be set up by Antiochus (Daniel
11:31; 12:11); but this that our Savior refers to, we have
in the message that the angel brought him (Daniel 9:27), of
what should come at the end of seventy weeks, long after the
former; for the overspreading of abominations, or, as the
margin reads it, with the abominable armies (which comes
home to the prophecy here), he shall make it desolate.
Armies of idolaters may well be called abominable armies;
and some think, the tumults, insurrections, and abominable
factions and seditions, in the city and temple, may at least
be taken in as part of the abomination making desolate.
Christ refers them to that prophecy of Daniel, that they
might see how the ruin of their city and temple was spoken
of in the Old Testament, which would both confirm his
prediction, and take off the odium of it. They might
likewise from thence gather the time of it--soon after the
cutting off of Messiah the prince; the sin that procured
it--their rejecting him, and the certainty of it--it is a
desolation determined. As Christ by his precepts confirmed
the law, so by his predictions he confirmed the prophecies
of the Old Testament, and it will be of good use to compare
both together.
Reference being here had to a
prophecy, which is commonly dark and obscure, Christ inserts
this memorandum, "Whoso reads, let him understand; whoso
reads the prophecy of Daniel, let him understand that it is
to have its accomplishment now shortly in the desolations of
Jerusalem." Note, Those that read the scriptures, should
labor to understand the scriptures, else their reading is to
little purpose; we cannot use that which we do not
understand. See John 5:39; Acts 8:30. The angel that
delivered this prophecy to Daniel, stirred him up to know
and understand, Daniel 9:25. And we must not despair of
understanding even dark prophecies; the great New-Testament
prophecy is called a revelation, not a secret. Now things
revealed belong to us, and therefore must be humbly and
diligently searched into. Or, Let him understand, not only
the scriptures which speak of those things, but by the
scriptures let him understand the times, 1 Chronicles 12:32.
Let him observe, and take notice; so some read it; let him
be assured, that, notwithstanding the vain hopes with which
the deluded people feed themselves, the abominable armies
will make desolate.
2. The means of preservation which
thinking men should betake themselves to (verses 16, 20);
Then let them which are in Judea, flee. Then conclude there
is no other way to help yourselves than by flying for the
same. We may take this,
(1.) As a prediction of the ruin
itself; that it should be irresistible; that it would be
impossible for the stoutest hearts to make head against it,
or contend with it, but they must have recourse to the last
shift, getting out of the way. It bespeaks that which
Jeremiah so much insisted upon, but in vain, when Jerusalem
was besieged by the Chaldeans, that it would be to no
purpose to resist, but that it was their wisdom to yield and
capitulate; so Christ here, to show how fruitless it would
be to stand it out, bids every one make the best of his way.
(2.) We may take it as a direction
to the followers of Christ what to do, not to say, A
confederacy with those who fought and warred against the
Romans for the preservation of their city and nation, only
that they might consume the wealth of both upon their lusts
(for to this very affair, the struggles of the Jews against
the Roman power, some years before their final overthrow,
the apostle refers, James 4:1-3); but let them acquiesce in
the decree that was gone forth, and with all speed quit the
city and country, as they would quit a falling house or a
sinking ship, as Lot quitted Sodom, and Israel the tents of
Dathan and Abiram; he shows them,
[1.] Whither they must flee--from
Judea to the mountains; not the mountains round about
Jerusalem, but those in the remote corners of the land,
which would be some shelter to them, not so much by their
strength as by their secrecy. Israel is said to be scattered
upon the mountains (2 Chronicles 18:16); and see Hebrews
11:38. It would be safer among the lions' dens, and the
mountains of the leopards, than among the seditious Jews or
the enraged Romans. Note, In times of imminent peril and
danger, it is not only lawful, but our duty, to seek our own
preservation by all good and honest means; and if God opens
a door of escape, we ought to make our escape, otherwise we
do not trust God but tempt him. There may be a time when
even those that are in Judea, where God is known, and his
name is great, must flee to the mountains; and while we only
go out of the way of danger, not out of the way of duty, we
may trust God to provide a dwelling for his outcasts, Isaiah
16:4, 5. In times of public calamity, when it is manifest
that we cannot be serviceable at home and may be safe
abroad, Providence calls us to make our escape. He that
flees, may fight again.
[2.] What haste they must make,
verses 17, 18. The life will be in danger, in imminent
danger, the scourge will slay suddenly; and therefore he
that is on the house-top, when the alarm comes, let him not
come down into the house, to look after his effects there,
but go the nearest way down, to make his escape; and so he
that shall be in the field, will find it his wisest course
to run immediately, and not return to fetch his clothes or
the wealth of his house, for two reasons, First, Because the
time which would be taken up in packing up his things, would
delay his flight. Note, When death is at the door, delays
are dangerous; it was the charge to Lot, Look not behind
thee. Those that are convinced of the misery of a sinful
state, and the ruin that attends them in that state, and,
consequently, of the necessity of their fleeing to Christ,
must take heed, lest, after all these convictions, they
perish eternally by delays. Secondly, Because the carrying
of his clothes, and his other movables and valuables with
him, would but burthen him, and clog his flight. The
Syrians, in their flight, cast away their garments, 2 Kings
7:15. At such a time, we must be thankful if our lives be
given us for a prey, though we can save nothing, Jeremiah
45:4, 5. For the life is more than meat, Chapter 6:25. Those
who carried off least, were safest in their flight. Cantabit
vacuus coram latrone viator--The pennyless traveller can
lose nothing by robbers. It was to his own disciples that
Christ recommended this forgetfulness of their house and
clothes, who had a habitation in heaven, treasure there, and
durable clothing, which the enemy could not plunder them of.
Omnia mea mecum porto--I have all my property with me, said
Bias the philosopher in his flight, empty-handed. He that
has grace in his heart carries his all along with him, when
tripped of all.
Now those to whom Christ said this
immediately, did not live to see this dismal day, none of
all the twelve but John only; they needed not to be hidden
in the mountains (Christ hid them in heaven), but they left
the direction to their successors in profession, who pursued
it, and it was of use to them; for when the Christians in
Jerusalem and Judea saw the ruin coming on, they all retired
to a town called Pella, on the other side Jordan, where they
were safe; so that of the many thousands that perished in
the destruction of Jerusalem, there was not so much as one
Christian. See Euseb. Ecclesiastes Hist. lib. 3, cap. 5.
Thus the prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself,
Proverbs 22:3; Hebrews 11:7. This warning was not kept
private. St. Matthew's gospel was published long before that
destruction, so that others might have taken the advantage
of it; but their perishing through their unbelief of this,
was a figure of their eternal perishing through their
unbelief of the warnings Christ gave concerning the wrath to
come.
[3.] Whom it would go hard with at
that time (verse 19); Woe to them that are with child, and
to them that give suck. To this same event that saying of
Christ at his death refers (Luke 23:29), They shall say,
Blessed are the wombs that never bare, and the paps that
never gave suck. Happy are they that have no children to see
the murder of; but most unhappy they whose wombs are then
bearing, their paps then giving suck: they of all others
will be in the most melancholy circumstances. First, To them
the famine would be most grievous, when they should see the
tongue of the sucking child cleaving to the roof of his
mouth for thirst, and themselves by the calamity made more
cruel than the sea monsters, Lamentations 4:3, 4. Secondly,
To them the sword would be most terrible, when in the hand
of worse than brutal rage. It is a direful midwifery, when
the women with child come to be ripped up by the enraged
conqueror (2 Kings 15:16; Hosea 13:16; Amos 1:13), or the
children brought forth to their murderer, Hosea 9:13.
Thirdly, To them also the flight would be most afflictive,;
the women with child cannot make haste, or go far; the
sucking child cannot be left behind, or, if it should, can a
woman forget it, that she should not have compassion on it?
If it be carried along, it retards the mother's flight, and
so exposes her life, and is in danger of Mephibosheth's
fate, who was lamed by a fall he got in his nurse's flight.
2 Samuel 4:4.
[4.] What they should pray against
at that time--that your flight be not in the winter, nor on
the Sabbath day, verse 20. Observe, in general, it becomes
Christ's disciples, in times of public trouble and calamity,
to be much in prayer; that is a salve for every sore, never
out of season, but in a special manner seasonable when we
are distressed on every side. There is no remedy but you
must flee, the decree is gone forth, so that God will not be
entreated to take away his wrath, no, not if Noah, Daniel,
and Job, stood before him. Let it suffice thee, speak no
more of that matter, but labor to make the best of that
which is; and when you cannot in faith pray that you may not
be forced to flee, yet pray that the circumstances of it may
be graciously ordered, that, though the cup may not pass
from you, yet the extremity of the judgment may be
prevented. Note, God has the disposing of the circumstances
of events, which sometimes make a great alteration one way
or other; and therefore in those our eyes must be ever
toward him. Christ's bidding them pray for this favor,
intimates his purpose of granting it to them; and in a
general calamity we must not overlook a circumstantial
kindness, but see and own wherein it might have been worse.
Christ still bids his disciples to pray for themselves and
their friends, that, whenever they were forced to flee, it
might be in the most convenient time. Note, When trouble is
in prospect, at a great distance, it is good to lay in a
stock of prayers beforehand; they must pray, First, That
their flight, if it were the will of God, might not be in
the winter, when the days are short, the weather cold, the
ways dirty, and therefore traveling very uncomfortable,
especially for whole families. Paul hastens Timothy to come
to him before winter, 2 Timothy 4:21. Note, Though the ease
of the body is not to be mainly consulted, it ought to be
duly considered; though we must take what God sends, and
when he sends it, yet we may pray against bodily
inconveniences, and are encouraged to do so, in that the
Lord is for the body. Secondly, That it might not be on the
Sabbath day; not on the Jewish Sabbath, because traveling
then would give offence to them who were angry with the
disciples for plucking the ears of corn on the day; not on
the Christian Sabbath, because being forced to travel on the
day would be a grief to themselves. This intimates Christ's
design, that a weekly Sabbath should be observed in his
church after the preaching of the gospel to all the world.
We read not of any of the ordinances of the Jewish church,
which were purely ceremonial, that Christ ever expressed any
care about, because they were all to vanish; but for the
Sabbath he often showed a concern. It intimates likewise
that the Sabbath is ordinarily to be observed as a day of
rest from travel and worldly labor; but that, according to
his own explication of the fourth commandment, works of
necessity were lawful on the Sabbath day, as this of fleeing
from an enemy to save our lives: had it not been lawful, he
would have said, "Whatever becomes of you, do not flee on
the Sabbath day, but abide by it, though you die by it." For
we must not commit the least sin, to escape the greatest
trouble. But it intimates, likewise, that it is very uneasy
and uncomfortable to a good man, to be taken off by any work
of necessity from the solemn service and worship of God on
the Sabbath day. We should pray that we may have quiet
undisturbed Sabbaths, and may have no other work than
Sabbath work to do on Sabbath days; that we may attend upon
the Lord without distraction. It was desirable, that, if
they must flee, they might have the benefit and comfort of
one Sabbath more to help to bear their charges. To flee in
the winter is uncomfortable to the body; but to flee on the
Sabbath day is so to the soul, and the more so when it
remembers former Sabbaths, as Psalm 42:4.
3. The greatness of the troubles
which should immediately ensue (verse 21); Then shall be
great tribulation; then when the measure of iniquity is
full; then when the servants of God are sealed and secured,
then come the troubles; nothing can be done against Sodom
till Lot is entered into Zoar, and then look for fire and
brimstone immediately. There shall be great tribulation.
Great, indeed, when within the city plague and famine raged,
and (worse than either) faction and division, so that every
man's sword was against his fellow; then and there it was
that the hands of the pitiful women flayed their own
children. Without the city was the Roman army ready to
swallow them up, with a particular rage against them, not
only as Jews, but as rebellious Jews. War was the only one
of the three sore judgments that David excepted against; but
that was it by which the Jews were ruined; and there were
famine and pestilence in extremity besides. Josephus's
History of the Wars of the Jews, has in it more tragic
passages than perhaps any history whatsoever.
(1.) It was a desolation
unparalleled, such as was not since the beginning of the
world, nor ever shall be. Many a city and kingdom has been
made desolate, but never any with a desolation like this.
Let not daring sinners think that God has done his worst, he
can heat the furnace seven times and yet seven times hotter,
and will, when he sees greater and still greater
abominations. The Romans, when they destroyed Jerusalem,
were degenerated from the honor and virtue of their
ancestors, which had made even their victories easy to the
vanquished. And the willfulness and obstinacy of the Jews
themselves contributed much to the increase of the
tribulation. No wonder that the ruin of Jerusalem was an
unparalleled ruin, when the sin of Jerusalem was an
unparalleled sin--even their crucifying Christ. The nearer
any people are to God in profession and privileges, the
greater and heavier will his judgments be upon them, if they
abuse those privileges, and be false to that profession,
Amos 3:2.
(2.) It was a desolation which, if
it should continue long, would be intolerable, so that no
flesh should be saved, verse 22. So triumphantly would death
ride, in so many dismal shapes, and with such attendants,
that there would be no escaping, but, first or last, all
would be cut off. He that escaped one sword, would fall by
another, Isaiah 24:17, 18. The computation which Josephus
makes of those that were slain in several places, amounts to
above two millions. No flesh shall be saved; he doth not
say, "No soul shall be saved," for the destruction of the
flesh may be for the saving of the spirit in the day of the
Lord Jesus; but temporal lives will be sacrificed so
profusely, that one would think, if it last awhile, it would
make a full end.
But here is one word of comfort in
the midst of all this terror--that for the elects' sake
these days shall be shortened, not made shorter than what
God had determined (for that which is determined, shall be
poured upon the desolate, Daniel 9:27), but shorter than
what he might have decreed, if he had dealt with them
according to their sins; shorter than what the enemy
designed, who would have cut all off, if God who made use of
them to serve his own purpose, had not set bounds to their
wrath; shorter than one who judged by human probabilities
would have imagined. Note, [1.] In times of common calamity
God manifests his favor to the elect remnant; his jewels,
which he will then make up; his peculiar treasure, which he
will secure when the lumber is abandoned to the spoiler.
[2.] The shortening of calamities is a kindness God often
grants for the elects' sake. Instead of complaining that our
afflictions last so long, if we consider our defects, we
shall see reason to be thankful that they do not last
always; when it is bad with us, it becomes us to say,
"Blessed be God that it is no worse; blessed be God that it
is not hell, endless and remediless misery." It was a
lamenting church that said, It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed; and it is for the sake of the elect,
lest their spirit should fail before them, if he should
contend for ever, and lest they should be tempted to put
forth, if not their heart, yet their hand, to iniquity.
And now comes in the repeated
caution, which was opened before, to take heed of being
ensnared by false-christs, and false prophets; (verse 23 &
context), who would promise them deliverance, as the lying
prophets in Jeremiah's time (Jeremiah 14:13; 23:16, 17;
27:16; 28:2), but would delude them. Times of great trouble
are times of great temptation, and therefore we have need to
double our guard then. If they shall say, Here is a Christ,
or there is one, that shall deliver us from the Romans, do
not heed them, it is all but talk; such a deliverance is not
to be expected, and therefore not such a deliverer.
VII. He foretells the sudden
spreading of the gospel in the world, about the time of
these great events (verses 27, 28); As the lightning comes
out of the east, so shall the coming of the Son of man be.
It comes in here as an antidote against the poison of those
seducers, that said, Lo, here is Christ, or, Lo, he is
there; compare Luke 17:23, 24. Hearken not to them, for the
coming of the Son of man will be as the lightning.
1. It seems primarily to be meant of
his coming to set up his spiritual kingdom in the world;
where the gospel came in its light and power, there the Son
of man came, and in a way quite contrary to the fashion of
the seducers and false-christs, who came creeping in the
desert, or the secret chambers (2 Timothy 3:6); whereas
Christ comes not with such a spirit of fear, but of power,
and of love, and of a sound mind. The gospel would be
remarkable for two things.
(1.) Its swift spreading; it shall
fly as the lightning; so shall the gospel be preached and
propagated. The gospel is light (John 3:19); and it is not
in this as the lightning, that it is a sudden flash, and
away, for it is sun-light, and day-light; but it is as
lightning in these respects:
[1.] It is light from heaven, as the
lightning. It is God, and not man, that sends the lightning,
and summons them, that they may go, and say, Here we are,
Job 38:35. It is God that directs it (Job 37:3); to man it
is one of nature's miracles, above his power to effect, and
of nature's mysteries, above his skill to account for: but
it is from above; his lightning enlightens the world, Psalm
97:4.
[2.] It is visible and conspicuous
as the lightning. The seducers carried on their depths of
Satan in the desert and the secret chambers, shunning the
light; heretics were called lucifugć--light-shunners. But
truth seeks no corners, however it may sometimes be forced
into them, as the woman in the wilderness, though clothed
with the sun, Revelation 12:1, 6. Christ preached his gospel
openly (John 18:20), and his apostles on the housetop
(Chapter 10:27), not in a corner, Acts 26:26. See Psalm
98:2.
[3.] It was sudden and surprising to
the world as the lightning; the Jews indeed had predictions
of it, but to the Gentiles it was altogether unlooked for,
and came upon them with unaccountable energy, or ever they
were aware. It was light out of darkness, Chapter 4:16; 2
Corinthians 4:6. We read of the discomfiting of armies by
lightning, 2 Samuel 22:15; Psalm 144:6. The powers of
darkness were dispersed and vanquished by the gospel
lightning.
[4.] It spread far and wide, and
that quickly and irresistibly, like the lightning, which
comes, suppose, out of the east (Christ is said to ascend
from the east, Revelation 7:2; Isaiah 41:2), and lightens to
the west. The propagating of Christianity to so many distant
countries, of divers languages, by such unlikely
instruments, destitute of all secular advantages, and in the
face of so much opposition, and this in so short a time, was
one of the greatest miracles that was ever wrought for the
confirmation of it; here was Christ upon his white horse,
denoting speed as well as strength, and going on conquering
and to conquer, Revelation 6:2. Gospel light rose with the
sun, and went with the same, so that the beams of it reached
to the ends of the earth, Romans 10:18. Compare with Psalm
19:3, 4. Though it was fought against, it could never be
cooped up in a desert, or in a secret place, as the seducers
were; but by this, according to Gamaliel's rule, proved
itself to be of God, that it could not be overthrown, Acts
5:38, 39. Christ speaks of shining into the west, because it
spread most effectually into those countries which lay west
from Jerusalem, as Mr. Herbert observes in his
Church-militant. How soon did the gospel lightning reach
this island of Great Britain! Tertullian, who wrote in the
second century, takes notice of it, Britannorum in accessa
Romanis loca, Christo tamen subdita--The fastnesses of
Britain, though inaccessible to the Romans, were occupied by
Jesus Christ. This was the Lord's doing.
(2.) Another thing remarkable
concerning the gospel, was, its strange success in those
places to which is was spread; it gathered in multitudes,
not by external compulsion, but as it were by such a natural
instinct and inclination, as brings the birds of prey to
their prey; for wherever the carcass is, there will the
eagles be gathered together (verse 28), where Christ is
preached, souls will be gathered in to him. The lifting up
of Christ from the earth, that is, the preaching of Christ
crucified, which, one would think, should drive all men from
him, will draw all men to him (John 12:32), according to
Jacob's prophecy, that to him shall the gathering of the
people be, Genesis 49:10. See Isaiah 60:8. The eagles will
be where the carcass is, for it is food for them, it is a
feast for them; where the slain are, there is she, Job
39:30. Eagles are said to have a strange sagacity and
quickness of scent to find out the prey, and they fly
swiftly to it, Job 9:26. So those whose spirits God shall
stir up, will be effectually drawn to Jesus Christ, to feed
upon him; whither should the eagle go but to the prey?
Whither should the soul go but to Jesus Christ, who has the
words of eternal life? The eagles will distinguish what is
proper for them from that which is not; so those who have
spiritual senses exercised, will know the voice of the good
Shepherd from that of a thief and a robber. Saints will be
where the true Christ is, not the false-christs. This is
applicable to the desires that are wrought in every gracious
soul after Christ, and communion with him. Where he is in
his ordinances, there will his servants choose to be. A
living principle of grace is a kind of natural instinct in
all the saints, drawing them to Christ to live upon him.
2. Some understand these verses of
the coming of the Son of man to destroy Jerusalem, Malachi
3:1, 2, 5. So much was there of an extraordinary display of
divine power and justice in that event, that it is called
the coming of Christ.
Now here are two things intimated
concerning it.
(1.) That to the most it would be as
unexpected as a flash of lightning, which indeed gives
warning of the clap of thunder which follows, but is itself
surprising. The seducers say, Lo, here is Christ to deliver
us; or there is one, a creature of their own fancies; but
ere they are aware, the wrath of the Lamb, the true Christ,
will arrest them, and they shall not escape.
(2.) That it might be as justly
expected as that the eagle should fly to the carcasses;
though they put far from them the evil day, yet the
desolation will come as certainly as the birds of prey to a
dead carcass, that lies exposed in the open field. [1.] The
Jews were so corrupt and degenerate, so vile and vicious,
that they were become a carcass, obnoxious to the righteous
judgment of God; they were also so factious and seditious,
and every way so provoking to the Romans, that they had made
themselves obnoxious to their resentments, and an inviting
prey to them. [2.] The Romans were as an eagle, and the
ensign of their armies was an eagle. The army of the
Chaldeans is said to fly as the eagle that hastens to eat,
Habakkuk 1:8. The ruin of the New-Testament Babylon is
represented by a call to the birds of prey to come and feast
upon the slain, Revelation 19:17, 18. Notorious malefactors
have their eyes eaten out by the young eagles (Proverbs
30:17); the Jews were hung up in chains, Jeremiah 7:33;
16:4. [3.] The Jews can no more preserve themselves from the
Romans than the carcass can secure itself from the eagles.
[4.] The destruction shall find out the Jews wherever they
are, as the eagle scents the prey. Note, When a people do by
their sin make themselves carcasses, putrid and loathsome,
nothing can be expected but that God should send eagles
among them, to devour and destroy them.
3. It is very applicable to the day
of judgment, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in that
day, and our gathering together unto him, 2 Thessalonians
2:1. Now see here,
(1.) How he shall come; as the
lightning, The time was now at hand, when he should depart
out of the world, to go to the Father. Therefore those that
enquire after Christ must not go into the desert or the
secret place, nor listen to every one that will put up the
finger to invite them to a sight of Christ; but let them
look upward, for the heavens must contain him, and thence we
look for the Savior (Philippians 3:20); he shall come in the
clouds, as the lightning doth, and every eye shall see him,
as they say it is natural for all living creatures to turn
their faces towards the lightning, Revelation 1:7. Christ
will appear to all the world, from one end of heaven to the
other; nor shall any thing be hid from the light and heat of
that day.
(2.) How the saints shall be
gathered to him; as the eagles are to the carcass by natural
instinct, and with the greatest swiftness and alacrity
imaginable. Saints, when they shall be fetched to glory,
will be carried as on eagles' wings (Exodus 19:4), as on
angels' wings. They shall mount up with wings, like eagles,
and like them renew their youth.
VIII. He foretells his second coming
at the end of time, verses 29-31. The sun shall be darkened
& context.
1. Some think this is to be understood only of the
destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation; the
darkening of the sun, moon, and stars, denotes the eclipse
of the glory of that state, its convulsions, and the general
confusion that attended that desolation. Great slaughter and
devastation are in the Old Testament thus set forth (as
Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31); or by the sun,
moon, and stars, may be meant the temple, Jerusalem, and the
cities of Judah, which should all come to ruin. The sign of
the Son of man (verse 30) means a signal appearance of the
power and justice of the Lord Jesus in it, avenging his own
blood on them that imprecated the guilt of it upon
themselves and their children; and the gathering of his
elect (verse 31) signifies the delivering of a remnant from
this sin and ruin.
2. It seems rather to refer to
Christ's second coming. The destruction of the particular
enemies of the church was typical of the complete conquest
of them all; and therefore what will be done really at the
great day, may be applied metaphorically to those
destructions: but still we must attend to the principal
scope of them; and while we are all agreed to expect
Christ's second coming, what need is there to put such
strained constructions as some do, upon these verses, which
speak of it so clearly, and so agreeably to other
scriptures, especially when Christ is here answering an
enquiry concerning his coming at the end of the world, which
Christ was never shy of speaking of to his disciples?
The only objection against this, is,
that it is said to be immediately after the tribulation of
those days; but as to that, (1.) It is usual in the
prophetical style to speak of things great and certain as
near and just at hand, only to express the greatness and
certainty of them. Enoch spoke of Christ's second coming as
within ken, Behold, the Lord cometh, Jude 14. (2.) A
thousand years are in God's sight but as one day, 2 Peter
3:8. It is there urged, with reference to this very thing,
and so it might be said to be immediately after. The
tribulation of those days includes not only the destruction
of Jerusalem, but all the other tribulations which the
church must pass through; not only its share in the
calamities of the nations, but the tribulations peculiar to
itself; while the nations are torn with wars, and the church
with schisms, delusions, and persecutions, we cannot say
that the tribulation of those days is over; the whole state
of the church on earth is militant, we must count upon that;
but when the church's tribulation is over, her warfare
accomplished, and what is behind of the sufferings of Christ
filled up, then look for the end.
Now concerning Christ's second
coming, it is here foretold,
[1.] That there shall be then a
great and amazing change of the creatures, and particularly
the heavenly bodies (verse 29). The sun shall be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light. The moon shines with
a borrowed light, and therefore if the sun, from whom she
borrows her light, is turned into darkness, she must fail of
course, and become bankrupt. The stars shall fall; they
shall lose their light, and disappear, and be as if they
were fallen; and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. This
intimates,
First, That there shall be a great
change, in order to the making of all things new. Then shall
be the restitution of all things, when the heavens shall not
be cast away as a rag, but changed as a vesture, to be worn
in a better fashion, Psalm 102:26. They shall pass away with
a great noise, that there may be new heavens, 2 Peter
3:10-13.
Secondly, It shall be a visible
change, and such as all the world must take notice of; for
such the darkening of the sun and moon cannot but be: and it
would be an amazing change; for the heavenly bodies are not
so liable to alteration as the creatures of this lower world
are. The days of heaven, and the continuance of the sun and
moon, are used to express that which is lasting and
unchangeable (As Psalm 89:29; 36:37); yet they shall thus be
shaken.
Thirdly, It shall be a universal
change. If the sun be turned into darkness, and the powers
of heaven be shaken, the earth cannot but be turned into a
dungeon, and its foundation made to tremble. Howl, fir
trees, if the cedars be shaken. When the stars of heaven
drop, no marvel if the everlasting mountains melt, and the
perpetual hills bow. Nature shall sustain a general shock
and convulsion, which yet shall be no hindrance to the joy
and rejoicing of heaven and earth before the Lord, when he
cometh to judge the world (Psalm 96:11, 13); they shall as
it were glory in the tribulation.
Fourthly, The darkening of the sun,
moon, and stars, which were made to rule over the day, and
over the night (which is the first dominion we find of any
creature, Genesis 1:16-18), signifies the putting down of
all rule, authority, and power (even that which seems of the
greatest antiquity and usefulness), that the kingdom may be
delivered up to God, even the Father, and he may be All in
all, 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28. The sun was darkened at the
death of Christ, for then was in one sense the judgment of
this world (John 12:31), an indication of what would be at
the general judgment.
Fifthly, The glorious appearance of
our Lord Jesus, who will then show himself as the Brightness
of his Father's glory, and the express Image of his person,
will darken the sun and moon, as a candle is darkened in the
beams of the noon-day sun; they will have no glory, by
reason of the glory that excels, 2 Corinthians 3:10. Then
the sun shall be ashamed, and the moon confounded, when God
shall appear, Isaiah 24:23.
Sixthly, The sun and moon shall be
then darkened, because there will be no more occasion for
them. To sinners, that choose their portion in this life,
all comfort will be eternally denied; as they shall not have
a drop of water, so not a ray of light. Now God causes his
sun to rise on the earth, but then Interdico tib sole et
luna--I forbid thee the light of the sun and the moon.
Darkness must be their portion. To the saints that had their
treasure above, such light of joy and comfort will be given
as shall supersede that of the sun and moon, and render it
useless. What need is there of vessels of light, when we
come to the Fountain and Father of light? See Isaiah 60:19;
Revelation 22:5.
[2.] That then shall appear the sign
of the Son of man in heaven (verse 30), the Son of man
himself, as it follows here, They shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds. At his first coming, he was set for a
Sign that should be spoken against (Luke 2:34), but at his
second coming, a sign that should be admired. Ezekiel was a
son of man set for a sign, Ezekiel 12:6. Some make this a
prediction of the harbingers and forerunners of his coming,
giving notice of his approach; a light shining before him,
and the fire devouring (Psalm 1:3; 1 Kings 19:11, 12), the
beams coming out of his hand, where had long been the hiding
of his power, Habakkuk 3:4. It is a groundless conceit of
some of the ancients, that this sign of the Son of man, will
be the sign of the cross displayed as a banner. It will
certainly be such a clear convincing sign as will dash
infidelity quite out of countenance, and fill their faces
with shame, who said, Where is the promise of his coming?
[3.] That then all the tribes of the
earth shall mourn, verse 30. See Revelation 1:7. All the
kindred of the earth shall then wail because of him; some of
all the tribes and kindred of the earth shall mourn; for the
greater part will tremble at his approach, while the chosen
remnant, one of a family and two of a tribe, shall lift up
their heads with joy, knowing that their redemption draws
nigh, and their Redeemer. Note, Sooner or later, all sinners
will be mourners; penitent sinners look to Christ, and mourn
after a godly sort; and they who sow in those tears, shall
shortly reap in joy; impenitent sinners shall look unto him
whom they have pierced, and, though they laugh now, shall
mourn and weep after a devilish sort, in endless horror and
despair.
[4.] That then they shall see the
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and
great glory. Note, First, The judgment of the great day will
be committed to the Son of man, both in pursuance and in
recompense of his great undertaking for us as Mediator, John
5:22, 27. Secondly, The Son of man will at that day come in
the clouds of heaven. Much of the sensible intercourse
between heaven and earth is by the clouds; they are betwixt
them, as it were, the medium participation is - the medium
of participation, drawn by heaven from the earth, distilled
by heaven upon the earth. Christ went to heaven in a cloud,
and will in like manner come again, Acts 1:9, 11. Behold, he
cometh in the clouds, Revelation 1:7. A cloud will be the
Judge's chariot (Psalm 104:3), his robe (Revelation 10:1),
his pavilion (Psalm 18:11), his throne, Revelation 14:14.
When the world was destroyed by water, the judgment came in
the clouds of heaven, for the windows of heaven were opened;
so shall it be when it shall be destroyed by fire. Christ
went before Israel in a cloud, which had a bright side and a
dark side; so will the cloud have in which Christ will come
at the great day, it will bring both comfort and terror.
Thirdly, He will come with power and great glory: his first
coming was in weakness and great meanness (2 Corinthians
13:4); but his second coming will be with power and glory,
agreeable both to the dignity of his person and to the
purposes of his coming. Fourthly, He will be seen with
bodily eyes in his coming: therefore the Son of man will be
the Judge, that he may be seen, that sinners thereby may be
the more confounded, who shall see him as Balaam did, but
not nigh (Numbers 24:17), see him, but not as theirs. It
added to the torment of that damned sinner, that he saw
Abraham afar off. "Is this he whom we have slighted, and
rejected, and rebelled against; whom we have crucified to
ourselves afresh; who might have been our Savior, but is our
Judge, and will be our enemy for ever?" The Desire of all
nations will then be their dread.
[5.] That he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, verse 31. Note, First, The
angels shall be attendants upon Christ at his second coming;
they are called his angels, which proves him to be God, and
Lord of the angels; they shall be obliged to wait upon him.
Secondly, These attendants shall be employed by him as
officers of the court in the judgment of that day; they are
now ministering spirits sent forth by him (Hebrews 1:14),
and will be so then. Thirdly, Their ministration will be
ushered in with a great sound of a trumpet, to awaken and
alarm a sleeping world. This trumpet is spoken of, 1
Corinthians 15:52, and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. At the giving
of the law on mount Sinai, the sound of the trumpet was
remarkably terrible (Exodus 19:13, 16); but much more will
it be so in the great day. By the law, trumpets were to be
sounded for the calling of assemblies (Numbers 10:2), in
praising God (Psalm 81:3), in offering sacrifices (Numbers
10:10), and in proclaiming the year of jubilee, Leviticus
25:9. Very fitly therefore shall there be the sound of a
trumpet at the last day, when the general assembly shall be
called, when the praises of God shall be gloriously
celebrated, when sinners shall fall as sacrifices to divine
justice, and when the saints shall enter upon their eternal
jubilee.
[6.] That they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds. Note, At the second coming of
Jesus Christ, there will be a general meeting of all the
saints. First, The elect only will be gathered, the chosen
remnant, who are but few in comparison with the many that
are only called. This is the foundation of the saints'
eternal happiness, that they are God's elect. The gifts of
love to eternity follow the thought of love from eternity;
and the Lord knows them that are his. Secondly, The angels
shall be employed to bring them together, as Christ's
servants, and as the saints' friends; we have the commission
given them, Psalm 1:5. Gather my saints together unto me;
nay, it will be said to them, Habetis fratres--These are
your brethren; for the elect will then be equal to the
angels, Luke 20:36. Thirdly, They shall be gathered from one
end of heaven to the other; the elect of God are scattered
abroad (John 6:52), there are some in all places, in all
nations (Revelation 7:9); but when that great gathering day
comes, there shall not one of them be missing; distance of
place shall keep none out of heaven, if distance of
affection do not. Undique ad cœlos tantundem est vić--Heaven
is equally accessible from every place. See Chapter 8:11;
Isaiah 43:6; 49:12.
Parable of the Fig-Tree; Awful
Predictions; The Duty of Watchfulness; The Good and Evil
Steward.
Matthew 24:32-51 --
32 Now learn a parable of the fig
tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth
leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when
ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at
the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels
of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noe
were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 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, 39 And knew not until the
flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming
of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall
be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the
other left. 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour
your Lord doth come. 43 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. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such
an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then
is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made
ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh
shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall
make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat
and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant
shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an
hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder,
and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We have here the practical
application of the foregoing prediction; in general, we must
expect and prepare for the events here foretold.
I. We must expect them; "Now learn a
parable of the fig-tree, verses 32, 33. Now learn what use
to make of the things you have heard; so observe and
understand the signs of the times, and compare them with the
predictions of the word, as from thence to foresee what is
at the door, that you may provide accordingly." The parable
of the fig-tree is no more than this, that its budding and
blossoming are a presage of summer; for as the stork in the
heaven, so the trees of the field, know their appointed
time. The beginning of the working of second causes assures
us of the progress and perfection of it. Thus when God
begins to fulfill prophecies, he will make an end. There is
a certain series in the works of providence, as there is in
the works of nature. The signs of the times are compared
with the prognostics of the face of the sky (Chapter 16:3),
so here with those of the face of the earth; when that is
renewed, we foresee that summer is coming, not immediately,
but at some distance; after the branch grows tender, we
expect the March winds, and the April showers, before the
summer comes; however, we are sure it is coming; "so
likewise ye, when the gospel day shall dawn, count upon it,
that through this variety of events which I have told you
of, the perfect day will come. The things revealed must
shortly come to pass (Revelation 1:1); they must come in
their own order, in the order appointed for them. Know that
it is near." He does not here say what, but it is that which
the hearts of his disciples are upon, and which they are
inquisitive after, and long for; the kingdom of God is near,
so it is expressed in the parallel place, Luke 21:31. Note,
When the trees of righteousness begin to bud and blossom,
when God's people promise faithfulness, it is a happy
presage of good times. In them God begins his work, first
prepares their heart, and then he will go on with it; for,
as for God, his work is perfect; and he will revive it in
the midst of their years.
Now touching the events foretold
here, which we are to expect,
1. Christ here assures us of the
certainty of them (verse 35); Heaven and earth shall pass
away; they continue this day indeed, according to God's
ordinance, but they shall not continue for ever (Psalm
102:25, 26; 2 Peter 3:10); but my words shall not pass away.
Note, The word of Christ is more sure and lasting than
heaven and earth. Hath he spoken? And shall he not do it? We
may build with more assurance upon the word of Christ than
we can upon the pillars of heaven, or the strong foundations
of the earth; for, when they shall be made to tremble and
totter, and shall be no more, the word of Christ shall
remain, and be in full force, power, and virtue. See 1 Peter
1:24, 25. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than
the word of Christ; so it is expressed, Luke 16:17. Compare
Isaiah 54:10. The accomplishment of these prophecies might
seem to be delayed, and intervening events might seem to
disagree with them, but do not think that therefore the word
of Christ is fallen to the ground, for that shall never pass
away: though it be not fulfilled, either in the time or in
the way that we have prescribed; yet, in God's time, which
is the best time, and in God's way, which is the best way,
it shall certainly be fulfilled. Every word of Christ is
very pure, and therefore very sure.
2. He here instructs us as to the
time of them, verses 34, 36. As to this, it is well observed
by the learned Grotius, that there is a manifest distinction
made between the tauta (verse 34), and the ekeine (verse
36), these things, and that day and hour; which will help to
clear this prophecy.
(1.) As to these things, the wars,
seductions, and persecutions, here foretold, and especially
the ruin of the Jewish nation; "This generation shall not
pass away, till all these things be fulfilled (verse 34);
there are those now alive, that shall see Jerusalem
destroyed, and the Jewish church brought to an end." Because
it might seem strange, he backs it with a solemn
asseveration; "Verily, I say unto you. You may take my word
for it, these things are at the door." Christ often speaks
of the nearness of that desolation, the more to affect
people, and quicken them to prepare for it. Note, There may
be greater trials and troubles yet before us, in our own
day, than we are aware of. They that are old, know not what
sons of Anak may be reserved for their last encounters.
(2.) But as to that day and hour
which will put a period to time, that knows no man, verse
36. Therefore take heed of confounding these two, as they
did, who, from the words of Christ and the apostles;
letters, inferred that the day of Christ was at hand, 2
Thessalonians 2:2. No, it was not; this generation, and many
another, shall pass, before that day and hour come. Note,
[1.] There is a certain day and hour fixed for the judgment
to come; it is called the day of the Lord, because so
unalterably fixed. None of God's judgments are adjourned
sine die--without the appointment of a certain day. [2.]
That day and hour are a great secret.
Prudens futuri temporis exitum
Caliginosa nocte premit Deus.
But Heaven has wisely hid from human
sight
The dark decrees of future fate,
And sown their seeds in depth of nights.--HORACE.
No man knows it; not the wisest by
their sagacity, not the best by any divine discovery. We all
know that there shall be such a day; but none knows when it
shall be, no, not the angels; though their capacities for
knowledge are great, and their opportunities of knowing this
advantageous (they dwell at the fountain-head of light), and
though they are to be employed in the solemnity of that day,
yet they are not told when it shall be: none knows but my
Father only. This is one of those secret things which belong
to the Lord our God. The uncertainty of the time of Christ's
coming, is, to those who are watchful, a savor of life unto
life, and makes them more watchful; but to those who are
careless, it is a savor of death unto death, and makes them
more careless.
II. To this end we must expect these
events, that we may prepare for them; and here we have a
caution against security and sensuality, which will make it
a dismal day indeed to us, verses 37-41. In these verses we
have such an idea given us of the judgment day, as may serve
to startle and awaken us, that we may not sleep as others
do.
It will be a surprising day, and a
separating day.
1. It will be a surprising day, as
the deluge was to the old world, verses 37-39. That which he
here intends to describe, is, the posture of the world at
the coming of the Son of man; besides his first coming, to
save, he has other comings to judge. He says (John 9:39),
For judgment I am come; and for judgment he will come; for
all judgment is committed to him, both that of the word, and
that of the sword.
Now this here is applicable,
(1.) To temporal judgments,
particularly that which was now hastening upon the nation
and people of the Jews; though they had fair warning given
them of it, and there were many prodigies that were presages
of it, yet it found them secure, crying, Peace and safety, 1
Thessalonians 5:3. The siege was laid to Jerusalem by Titus
Vespasian, when they were met at the Passover in the midst
of their mirth; like the men of Laish, they dwelt careless
when the ruin arrested them, Judges 18:7, 27. The
destruction of Babylon, both that in the Old Testament and
that in the New, comes when she says, I shall be a lady for
ever, Isaiah 45:2:7-9; Revelation 18:7. Therefore the
plagues come in a moment, in one day. Note, Men's unbelief
shall not make God's threatening of no effect.
(2.) To the eternal judgment; so the
judgment of the great day is called, Hebrews vi. 2. Though
notice has been given of it from Enoch, yet, when it comes,
it will be unlooked for by the most of men; the latter days,
which are nearest to that day, will produce scoffers, that
say, Where is the promise of his coming? 2 Peter 3:3, 4;
Luke 18:8. Thus it will be when the world that now is shall
be destroyed by fire; for thus it was when the old world,
being overflowed by water, perished, 2 Peter 3:6, 7. Now
Christ here shows what were the temper and posture of the
old world when the deluge came.
[1.] They were sensual and worldly;
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage. It is not said, They were killing and stealing,
and whoring and swearing (these were indeed the horrid
crimes of some of the worst of them; the earth was full of
violence); but they were all of them, except Noah, over head
and ears in the world, and regardless of the word of God,
and this ruined them. Note, Universal neglect of religion is
a more dangerous symptom to any people than particular
instances here and there of daring irreligion. Eating and
drinking are necessary to the preservation of man's life;
marrying and giving in marriage are necessary to the
preservation of mankind; but, Licitus perimus omnes--These
lawful things undo us, unlawfully managed. First, They were
unreasonable in it, inordinate and entire in the pursuit of
the delights of sense, and the gains of the world; they were
wholly taken up with these things, esan trogontes--they were
eating; they were in these things as in their element, as if
they had their being for no other end than to eat and drink,
Isaiah 56:12. Secondly, They were unreasonable in it; they
were entire and intent upon the world and the flesh, when
the destruction was at the door, which they had had such
fair warning of. They were eating and drinking, when they
should have been repenting and praying; when God, by the
ministry of Noah, called to weeping and mourning, then joy
and gladness. This was to them, as it was to Israel
afterwards, the unpardonable sin (Isaiah 22:12, 14),
especially, because it was in defiance of those warnings by
which they should have been awakened. "Let us eat and drink,
for to-morrow we die; if it must be a short life, let it be
a merry one." The apostle James speaks of this as the
general practice of the wealthy Jews before the destruction
of Jerusalem; when they should have been weeping for the
miseries that were coming upon them, they were living in
pleasure, and nourishing their hearts as in a day of
slaughter, James 5:1, 5.
[2.] They were secure and careless;
they knew not, until the flood came, verse 39. Knew not!
Surely they could not but know. Did not God, by Noah, give
them fair warning of it? Did he not call them to repentance,
while his long-suffering waited? 1 Peter 3:19, 20. But they
knew not, that is, they believed not; they might have known,
but would not know. Note, What we know of the things that
belong to our everlasting peace, if we do not mix faith with
it, and improve it, is all one as if we did not know it at
all. Their not knowing is joined with their eating, and
drinking, and marrying; for, First, Therefore they were
sensual, because they were secure. Note, the reason why
people are so eager in the pursuit, and so entangled in the
pleasures of this world, is, because they do not know, and
believe, and consider, the eternity which they are upon the
brink of. Did we know aright that all these things must
shortly be dissolved, and we must certainly survive them, we
should not set our eyes and hearts so much upon them as we
do. Secondly, Therefore they were secure, because they were
sensual; therefore they knew not that the flood was coming,
because they were eating and drinking; were so taken up with
things seen and present, that they had neither time nor
heart to mind the things not seen as yet, which they were
warned of. Note, As security bolsters men up in their brutal
sensuality; so sensuality rocks them asleep in their carnal
security. The knew not, until the flood came. 1. The flood
did come, though they would not foresee it. Note, Those that
will not know by faith, shall be made to know by feeling,
the wrath of God revealed from heaven against their
ungodliness and unrighteousness. The evil day is never the
further off for men's putting it far off from them. 2. They
did not know it till it was too late to prevent it, as they
might have done if they had known it in time, which made it
so much the more grievous. Judgments are most terrible and
amazing to the secure, and those that have made a jest of
them.
The application of this, concerning
the old world, we have in these words; So shall the coming
of the Son of man be; that is, (1.) In such a posture shall
he find people, eating and drinking, and not expecting him.
Note, Security and sensuality are likely to be the
epidemical diseases of the latter days. All slumber and
sleep, and at midnight the bridegroom comes. All are off
their watch, and at their ease. (2.) With such a power, and
for such a purpose, will he come upon them. As the flood
took away the sinners of the old world, irresistibly and
irrecoverably; so shall secure sinners, that mocked at
Christ and his coming, be taken away by the wrath of the
Lamb, when the great day of his wrath comes, which will be
like the coming of the deluge, a destruction which there is
no fleeing.
2. It will be a separating day
(verses 40, 41); Then shall two be in the field. Two ways
this may be applied.
(1.) We may apply it to the success
of the gospel, especially at the first preaching of it; it
divided the world; some believed the things which were
spoken, and were taken to Christ; others believed not, and
were left to perish in their unbelief. Those of the same
age, place, capacity, employment, and condition, in the
world, grinding in the same mill, those of the same family,
nay, those that were joined in the same bond of marriage,
were, one effectually called, the other passed by, and left
in the gall of bitterness. This is that division, that
separating fire, which Christ came to send, Luke 12:49, 51.
This renders free grace the more obliging, that it is
distinguishing; to us, and not to the world (John 14:22),
nay to us, and not to those in the same field, the same
mill, the same house.
When ruin came upon Jerusalem, a
distinction was made by Divine Providence, according to that
which had been before made by divine grace; for all the
Christians among them were saved from perishing in that
calamity, by the special care of Heaven. If two were at work
in the field together, and one of them was a Christian, he
was taken into a place of shelter, and had his life given
him for a prey, while the other was left to the sword of the
enemy. Nay, if but two women were grinding at the mill, if
one of them belonged to Christ, though but a woman, a poor
woman, a servant, she was taken to a place of safety, and
the other abandoned. Thus the meek of the earth are hid in
the day of the Lord's anger (Zephaniah 2:3), either in
heaven, or under heaven. Note, Distinguishing preservations,
in times of general destruction, are special tokens of God's
favor, and ought so to be acknowledged. If we are safe when
thousands fall on our right hand and our left, are not
consumed when others are consumed round about us, so that we
are as brands plucked out of the fire, we have reason to
say, It is of the Lord's mercies, and it is a great mercy.
(2.) We may apply it to the second
coming of Jesus Christ, and the separation which will be
made in that day. He had said before (verse 31), that the
elect will be gathered together. Here he tells us, that, in
order to that, they will be distinguished from those who
were nearest to them in this world; the choice and chosen
ones taken to glory, the other left to perish eternally.
Those who sleep in the dust of the earth, two in the same
grave, their ashes mixed, shall yet arise, one to be taken
to everlasting life, the other left to shame and everlasting
contempt, Daniel 12:2. Here it is applied to them who shall
be found alive. Christ will come unlooked for, will find
people busy at their usual occupations, in the field, at the
mill; and then, according as they are vessels of mercy
prepared for glory, or vessels of wrath prepared for ruin,
accordingly it will be with them; the one taken to meet the
Lord and his angels in the air, to be for ever with him and
them; the other left to the devil and his angels, who, when
Christ has gathered out his own, will sweep up the residue.
This will aggravate the condemnation of sinners that others
shall be taken from the midst of them to glory, and they
left behind. And it speaks abundance of comfort to the
Lord's people. [1.] Are they mean and despised in the world,
as the man-servant in the field, or the maid at the mill
(Exodus 11:5)? Yet they shall not be forgotten or overlooked
in that day. The poor in the world, if rich in faith, are
heirs of the kingdom. [2.] Are they dispersed in distant and
unlikely places, where one would not expect to find the
heirs of glory, in the field, at the mill? Yet the angels
will find them there (hidden as Saul among the stuff, when
they are to be enthroned), and fetch them thence; and well
may they be said to be changed, for a very great change it
will be to go to heaven from plowing and grinding. [3.] Are
they weak, and unable of themselves to move heavenward? They
shall be taken, or laid hold of, as Lot was taken out of
Sodom by a gracious violence, Genesis 19:16. Those whom
Christ has once apprehended and laid hold on, he will never
lose his hold of. [4.] Are they intermixed with others,
linked with them in the same habitations, societies,
employments? Let not that discourage any true Christian; God
knows how to separate between the precious and the vile, the
gold and dross in the same lump, the wheat and chaff in the
same floor.
III. Here is a general exhortation
to us, to watch, and be ready against that day comes,
enforced by divers weighty considerations, verse 42 &
context. Observe,
1. The duty required; Watch, and be
ready, verses 42, 44.
(1.) Watch therefore, verse 42. Note, It is the great duty
and interest of all the disciples of Christ to watch, to be
awake and keep awake, that they may mind their business. As
a sinful state or way is compared to sleep, senseless and
inactive (1 Thessalonians 5:6), so a gracious state or way
is compared to watching and waking. We must watch for our
Lord's coming, to us in particular at our death, after which
is the judgment, that is the great day with us, the end of
our time; and his coming at the end of all time to judge the
world, the great day with all mankind. To watch implies not
only to believe that our Lord will come, but to desire that
he would come, to be often thinking of his coming, and
always looking for it as sure and near, and the time of it
uncertain. To watch for Christ's coming, is to maintain that
gracious temper and disposition of mind which we should be
willing that our Lord, when he comes, should find us in. To
watch is to be aware of the first notices of his approach,
that we may immediately attend his motions, and address
ourselves to the duty of meeting him. Watching is supposed
to be in the night, which is sleeping time; while we are in
this world, it is night with us, and we must take pains to
keep ourselves awake.
(2.) Be ye also ready. We wake in
vain, if we do not get ready. It is not enough to look for
such things; but we must therefore give diligence, 2 Peter
3:11, 14. We have then our Lord to attend upon, and we must
have our lamps ready trimmed; a cause to be tried, and we
must have our plea ready drawn and signed by our Advocate; a
reckoning to make up, and we must have our accounts ready
stated and balanced; there is an inheritance which we then
hope to enter upon, and we must have ourselves ready, made
meet to partake of it, Colossians 1:12.
2. The reasons to induce us to this
watchfulness and diligent preparation for that day; which
are two.
(1.) Because the time of our Lord's
coming is very uncertain. This is the reason immediately
annexed to the double exhortation (verses 42, 44); and it is
illustrated by a comparison, verse 43. Let us consider then,
[1.] That we know not what hour he
will come, verse 42. We know not the day of our death,
Genesis 27:2. We may know that we have but a little time to
live (The time of my departure is at hand, 2 Timothy 4:6);
but we cannot know that we have a long time to live, for our
souls are continually in our hands; nor can we know how
little a time we have to live, for it may prove less than we
expect; much less do we know the time fixed for the general
judgment. Concerning both we are kept at uncertainty, that
we may, every day, expect that which may come any day; may
never boast of a year's continuance (James 4:13), no, nor of
tomorrow's return, as if it were ours, Proverbs 27:1; Luke
12:20.
[2.] That he may come at such an
hour as we think not, verse 44. Though there be such
uncertainty in the time, there is none in the thing itself:
though we know not when he will come, we are sure he will
come. His parting word was, Surely I come quickly; his
saying, "I come surely," obliges us to expect him: his
saying "I come quickly." obliges us to be always expecting
him; for it keeps us in a state of expectancy. In such an
hour as you think not, that is, such an hour as they who are
unready and unprepared, think not (verse 50); nay, such an
hour as the most lively expectants perhaps thought least
likely. The bridegroom came when the wise were slumbering.
It is agreeable to our present state, that we should be
under the influence of a constant and general expectation,
rather than that of particular presages and
prognostications, which we are sometimes tempted vainly to
desire and wish for.
[3.] That the children of this world
are thus wise in their generation, that, when they know of a
danger approaching, they will keep awake, and stand on their
guard against it. This he shows in a particular instance,
verse 43. If the master of a house had notice that a thief
would come such a night, and such a watch of the night (for
they divided the night into four watches, allowing three
hours to each), and would make an attempt upon his house,
though it were the midnight-watch, when he was most sleepy,
yet he would be up, and listen to every noise in every
corner, and be ready to give him a warm reception. Now,
though we know not just when our Lord will come, yet,
knowing that he will come, and come quickly, and without any
other warning than what he hath given in his word, it
concerns us to watch always. Note, First, We have every one
of us a house to keep, which lies exposed, in which all we
are worth is laid up: that house is our own souls, which we
must keep with all diligence. Secondly, The day of the Lord
comes by surprise, as a thief in the night. Christ chooses
to come when he is least expected, that the triumphs of his
enemies may be turned into the greater shame, and the fears
of his friends into the greater joy. Thirdly, If Christ,
when he comes, finds us asleep and unready, our house will
be broken up, and we shall lose all we are worth, not as by
a thief unjustly, but as by a just and legal process; death
and judgment will seize upon all we have, to our irreparable
damage and utter undoing. Therefore be ready, be ye also
ready; as ready at all times as the good man of the house
would be at the hour when he expected the thief: we must put
on the armor of God, that we may not only stand in that evil
day, but, as more than conquerors, may divide the spoil.
(2.) Because the issue of our Lord's
coming will be very happy and comfortable to those that
shall be found ready, but very dismal and dreadful to those
that shall not, verse 45 & context. This is represented by
the different state of good and bad servants, when their
lord comes to reckon with them. It is likely to be well or
ill with us to eternity, according as we are found ready or
unready at that day; for Christ comes to render to every man
according to his works. Now this parable, with which the
chapter closes, is applicable to all Christians, who are in
profession and obligation God's servants; but it seems
especially intended as a warning to ministers; for the
servant spoken of is a steward. Now observe what Christ here
says,
[1.] Concerning the good servant; he
shows here what he is--a ruler of the household; what, being
so, he should be--faithful and wise; and what, if he be so,
he shall be eternally-blessed. Here are good instructions
and encouragements to the ministers of Christ.
First, We have here his place and
office. He is one whom the Lord has made ruler over his
household, to give them meat in due season. Note, 1. The
church of Christ is his household, or family, standing in
relation to him as the Father and Master of it. It is the
household of God, a family named from Christ, Ephesians
3:15. 2. Gospel ministers are appointed rulers in this
household; not at princes (Christ has entered a caveat
against that), but as stewards, or other subordinate
officers; not as lords, but as guides; not to prescribe new
ways, but to show and lead in the ways that Christ has
appointed: that is the signification of the hegoumenoi,
which we translate, having rule over you (Hebrews 13:17); as
overseers, not to cut out new work, but to direct in, and
quicken to, the work which Christ has ordered; that is the
signification of episkopoi—bishop. They are rulers by
Christ; what power they have is derived from him, and none
may take it from them, or abridge it to them; he is one whom
the Lord has made ruler; Christ has the making of ministers.
They are rulers under Christ, and act in subordination to
him; and rulers for Christ, for the advancement of his
kingdom. 3. The work of gospel ministers is to give to
Christ's household their meat in due season, as stewards,
and therefore they have the keys delivered to them. (1.)
Their work is to give, not take to themselves (Ezekiel
34:8), but give to the family what the Master has bought, to
dispense what Christ has purchased. And to ministers it is
said, that it is more blessed to give than to receive, Acts
20:35. (2.) It is to give meat; not to give law (that is
Christ's work), but to deliver those doctrines to the church
which, if duly digested, will be nourishment to souls. They
must give, not the poison of false doctrines, not the stones
of hard and unprofitable doctrines, but the meat that is
sound and wholesome. (3.) It must be given in due season, en
kairo--while there is time for it; when eternity comes, it
will be too late; we must work while it is day: or in time,
that is, whenever any opportunity offers itself; or in the
stated time, time after time, according as the duty of every
day requires.
Secondly, His right discharge of
this office. The good servant, if thus preferred, will be a
good steward; for,
1. He is faithful; stewards must be
so, 1 Corinthians 4:2. He that is trusted, must be trusty;
and the greater the trust is, the more is expected from
them. It is a great good thing that is committed to
ministers (2 Timothy 1:14); and they must be faithful, as
Moses was, Hebrews 3:2. Christ counts those ministers, and
those only, that are faithful, 1 Timothy 1:12. A faithful
minister of Jesus Christ is one that sincerely designs his
master's honor, not his own; delivers the whole counsel of
God, not his own fancies and conceits; follows Christ's
institutions and adheres to them; regards the meanest,
reproves the greatest, and doth not respect persons.
2. He is wise to understand his duty
and the proper season of it; and in guiding of the flock
there is need, not only of the integrity of the heart, but
the skillfulness of the hands. Honesty may suffice for a
good servant, but wisdom is necessary to a good steward; for
it is profitable to direct.
3. He is doing; so doing as his
office requires. The ministry is a good work, and they whose
office it is, have always something to do; they must not
indulge themselves in ease, nor leave the work undone, or
carelessly turn it off to others, but be doing, and doing to
the purpose--so doing, giving meat to the household, minding
their own business, and not meddling with that which is
foreign; so doing as the Master has appointed, as the office
imports, and as the case of the family requires; not
talking, but doing. It was the motto Mr. Perkins used,
Minister verbi es--You are a minister of the word. Not only
Age--Be doing; but Hoc age--Be so doing.
4. He is found doing when his Master
comes; which intimates, (1.) Constancy at his work. At what
hour whenever his Master comes, he is found busy at the work
of the day. Ministers should not leave empty spaces in their
time, lest their Lord should come in one of those empty
spaces. As with a good God the end of one mercy is the
beginning of another, so with a good man, a good minister,
the end of one duty is the beginning of another. When Calvin
was persuaded to remit his ministerial labors, he answered,
with some resentment, "What, would you have my Master find
me idle?" (2.) Perseverance in his work till the Lord come.
Hold fast till then, Revelation 2:25. Continue in these
things, 1 Timothy 4:16; 6:14. Endure to the end.
Thirdly, The recompense of reward
intended him for this, in three things.
1. He shall be taken notice of. This
is intimated in these words, Who then is that faithful and
wise servant? Which supposes that there are but few who
answer this character; such an interpreter is one of a
thousand, such a faithful and wise steward. Those who thus
distinguish themselves now by humility, diligence, and
sincerity in their work, Christ will in the great day both
dignify and distinguish by the glory conferred on them.
2. He shall be blessed? Blessed is
that servant; and Christ's pronouncing him blessed makes him
so. All the dead that die in the Lord are blessed,
Revelation 14:13. But there is a peculiar blessedness
secured to them that approve themselves faithful stewards,
and are found so doing. Next to the honor of those who die
in the field of battle, suffering for Christ as the martyrs,
is the honor of those that die in the field of service,
plowing, and sowing, and reaping, for Christ.
3. He shall be preferred (verse 47);
He shall make him ruler over all his goods. The allusion is
to the way of great men, who, if the stewards of their house
conduct themselves well in that place, commonly prefer them
to be the managers of their estates; thus Joseph was
preferred in the house of Potiphar, Genesis 24:4, 6. But the
greatest honor which the kindest master ever did to his most
tried servants in this world, is nothing to that weight of
glory which the Lord Jesus will confer upon his faithful
watchful servants in the world to come. What is here said by
a similitude, is the same that is said more plainly, John
11:26, Him will my Father honor. And God's servants, when
thus preferred; shall be perfect in wisdom and holiness to
bear that weight of glory, so that there is no danger from
these servants when they reign.
[2.] Concerning the evil servant.
Here we have,
First, His description given (verses
48, 49); where we have the wretch drawn in his own colors.
The vilest of creatures is a wicked man, the vilest of men
is a wicked Christian, and the vilest of them a wicked
minister. Corruptio optimi est pessima--What is best, when
corrupted, becomes the worst. Wickedness in the prophets of
Jerusalem is a horrible thing indeed, Jeremiah 23:14. Here
is,
1. The cause of his wickedness; and
that is, a practical disbelief of Christ's second coming; He
hath said in his heart, My Lord delays his coming; and
therefore he begins to think he will never come, but has
quite forsaken his church. Observe, (1.) Christ knows that
they say in their hearts, who with their lips cry, Lord,
Lord, as this servant here. (2.) The delay of Christ's
coming, though it is a gracious instance of his patience, is
greatly abused by wicked people, whose hearts are thereby
hardened in their wicked ways. When Christ's coming is
looked upon as doubtful, or a thing at an immense distance,
the hearts of men are fully set to do evil, Ecclesiastes
8:11. See Ezekiel 12:27. They that walk by sense, are ready
to say of the unseen Jesus, as the people did of Moses when
he tarried in the mount upon their errand, We don’t know
what has become of him, and therefore up, make us gods, the
world a god, the belly a god, any thing but him that should
be.
2. The particulars of his
wickedness; and they are sins of the first magnitude; he is
a slave to his passions and his appetites.
(1.) Persecution is here charged
upon him. He begins to smite his fellow servants. Note, [1.]
Even the stewards of the house are to look upon all the
servants of the house as their fellow servants, and
therefore are forbidden to lord it over them. If the angel
call himself fellow servant to John (Revelation 19:10), no
marvel if John have learned to call himself brother to the
Christians of the churches of Asia, Revelation 1:9. [2.] It
is no new thing to see evil servants smiting their fellow
servants; both private Christians and faithful ministers. He
smites them, either because they reprove him, or because
they will not bow, and do him reverence; will not say as he
says, and do as he doeth, against their consciences: he
smites them with the tongue, as they smote the prophet,
Jeremiah 18:18. And if he get power into his hand, or
can press those into his service that have, as the ten horns
upon the head of the beast, it goes further. Pashur the
priest smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, Jeremiah
20:2. The revolters have often been of all others most
profound to make slaughter, Hosea verse 2. The steward, when
he smites his fellow servants, does it under color of his
Master's authority, and in his name; he says, Let the Lord
be glorified (Isaiah 66:5); but he shall know that he could
not put a greater affront upon his Master.
(2.) Profaneness and immorality; He begins to eat and drink
with the drunken. [1.] He associates with the worst of
sinners, has fellowship with them, is intimate with them; he
walks in their counsel, stands in their way, sits in their
seat, and sings their songs. The drunken are the merry and
jovial company, and those he is for, and thus he hardens
them in their wickedness. [2.] He does like them; eats, and
drinks, and is drunken; so it is in Luke. This is an inlet
to all manner of sin. Drunkenness is a leading wickedness;
they who are slaves to that, are never masters of themselves
in any thing else. The persecutors of God's people have
commonly been the most vicious and immoral men. Persecuting
consciences, whatever the pretensions be, are commonly the
most profligate and debauched consciences. What will not
they be drunk with, that will be drunk with the blood of the
saints? Well, this is the description of a wicked minister,
who yet may have the common gifts of learning and utterance
above others; and, as hath been said of some, may preach so
well in the pulpit, that it is a pity he should ever come
out, and yet live so ill out of the pulpit, that it is a
pity he should ever come in.
Secondly, His doom read, verses 50,
51. The coat and character of wicked ministers will not only
not secure them from condemnation, but will greatly
aggravate it. They can plead no exemption from Christ's
jurisdiction, whatever they pretend to, in the church of
Rome, from that of the civil magistrate; there is no benefit
of clergy at Christ's bar. Observe,
1. The surprise that will accompany
his doom (verse 50); The Lord of that servant will come.
Note, (1.) Our putting off the thoughts of Christ's coming
will not put off his coming. Whatever fancy he deludes
himself with, his Lord will come. The unbelief of man shall
not make that great promise, or threatening (call it which
you will), of no effect. (2.) The coming of Christ will be a
most dreadful surprise to secure and careless sinners,
especially to wicked ministers; He shall come in a day when
he looks not for him. Note, Those that have slighted the
warnings of the word, and silenced those of their own
consciences concerning the judgment to come, cannot expect
any other warnings; these will be adjudged sufficient legal
notice given, whether taken or no; and no unfairness can be
charged on Christ, if he come suddenly, without giving other
notice. Behold, he has told us before.
2. The severity of his doom, verse
51. It is not more severe than righteous, but it is a doom
that carries in it utter ruin, wrapped up in two dreadful
words, death and damnation.
(1.) Death. His Lord shall cut him
asunder, dikotomesei auton, "he shall cut him off from the
land of the living," from the congregation of the righteous,
shall separate him unto evil; which is the definition of a
curse (Deuteronomy 29:21), shall cut him down, as a tree
that cumbers the ground; perhaps it alludes to the sentence
often used in the law, That soul shall be cut off from his
people; denoting an utter extirpation. Death cuts off a good
man, as a choice imp is cut off to be grafted in a better
stock; but it cuts off a wicked man, as a withered branch is
cut off for the fire-cuts him off from this world, which he
set his heart so much upon, and was, as it were, one with.
Or, as we read it, shall cut him asunder, that is, part body
and soul, send the body to the grave to be a prey for worms,
and the soul to hell to be a prey for devils, and there is
the sinner cut asunder. The soul and body of a godly man at
death part fairly, the one cheerfully lifted up to God, the
other left to the dust; but the soul and body of a wicked
man at death are cut asunder, torn asunder, for to them
death is the king of terrors, Job 18:14. The wicked servant
divided himself between God and the world, Christ and
Belial, his profession and his lust; justly therefore will
he thus be divided.
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