“Those that seek me early shall find me.” Pro_8:1-21 In this chapter we hear again the pleadings of heavenly wisdom in the person of the Son of God. Let us not be careless when God himself expostulates with us. Pro_8:4 Everywhere, in his word, in providence, by his ministers, and by his Spirit, the Incarnate Wisdom still calls to men. Especially in this land of Bibles and of Sabbaths, the Lord Jesus is everywhere heard pleading with old and young, gentle and simple, that they would consider and turn unto him. Pro_8:5 Jesus invites the foolish to come to him. How condescending is he in this, for the teachers of old sought wise men for pupils, and few masters now-a-days would invite fools to their schools. Jesus is meek and lowly in heart, he condescends to men of low estate, and is ready to be the teacher of the simple. None need stay away from him because of their ignorance; it should even be a reason for coming to him. But some will inquire, Is his teaching worth hearing? Therefore he says— Pro_8:6-7 But does he speak the truth? He does, and he adds Pro_8:8-9 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. But can we understand his teaching? Can poor men comprehend him? Can little children receive his teaching? Yes, his words are simplicity itself. Pro_8:10 Soul-saving knowledge is beyond all price. Pro_8:11-12 Eternal Wisdom found out the witty invention of the Cross. The plan of salvation by a substitute is the very summit of wisdom: let us give diligence to obtain an interest in it. Pro_8:13 And what God hates, we must also hate with all our heart. Pro_8:14-17 This is a portion of meat for the children of our families. Let boys and girls lay hold upon it, and go to Jesus in reliance upon this promise. Pro_8:18-19 Nothing can be so useful, so valuable, so really good for us as to know Christ and to be found in him. Pro_8:20 In the Via Media, the middle way, which is the path of safety. Pro_8:21 They shall be truly rich in grace, even if their earthly goods be few, and they shall be infinitely rich in the world to come, where there is a kingdom for the very least of them. If our ways by thee be order’d, And thy name by us confess’d, Then thy presence shall go with us, And thy peace shall give us rest. If in all the eye be single, Clean the hands, and pure the breast, Then thy presence shall go with us, And thy guidance give us rest.
The first nine chapters are a kind of introduction to the Book of Proverbs; its short, pithy sentences commence at the tenth chapter.
Pro_10:1
This is the first of the proverbs, let each child take great notice of it. Who among us would wish to be a life-long grief to father and mother? Yet such will be the case if we live in sin, and despise the heavenly wisdom.
Pro_10:2
Judas gained his thirty pieces of silver, but what profit had he in them? Paul obtained the righteousness of Christ, and a crown of life was his portion.
Pro_10:3
The godly may hunger, but famish they shall not; the wicked may increase in wealth, but continue in prosperity they cannot.
Pro_10:4
No pains, no gains; no sweat, no sweet.
Pro_10:5
Neglect of timely industry leads into sin. Our idle days are Satan’s busy days. He who will not be thrifty while he may, will find that lost opportunities do not return.
Pro_10:8
Wise men hear more than they speak, and are willing to listen to practical instruction, but foolish persons talk on till they seal their own condemnation.
Pro_10:9-10
Cowardly insinuations, which men dare not utter in words, but covertly express by signs, are the cause of much misery, and no true man will use them. Those who talk much, and are destitute of real religion, will soon make shipwreck of their profession.
Pro_10:11
sending forth refreshing and saving streams
Pro_10:11
Making them like closed wells, full of putrid water, deadly to others, and destructive to themselves.
Pro_10:12
Loving spirits will not take offence, but bear and forbear for Christ’s sake, but evil-disposed persons make the smallest matter a ground of offence, and are for ever fanning the fires of enmity. Let it not be so among us.
Pro_10:14
for they still feel their own want of it;
Pro_10:14
He thinks he knows all, and therefore will not learn, but talks himself to ruin.
Pro_10:15
Alas! how often is this the case, even in our own land. Poor men are despised, and few plead their cause. May the Lord send to us such a just spirit that we may always be ready to take the weaker side, and see that the poor man is not trampled upon.
It is meanness itself to fawn upon the wealthy; true religion lifts us above such littleness.
Pro_10:16
Labour, not idleness, is the stamp of a servant of God. With the wicked, self is always their object and end, and therefore their actions are sinful in the sight of the Lord. O Lord, make thou us to work because of life within us, so that we may have life yet more abundantly.
"The peace of God shall keep your hearts."-- Phi_4:7.
IN MOST of the old castles there is an inner keep, which is protected, not only by mighty walls and bastions, but by the portcullis at the gate, and sentries at every approach, who challenged every one that passed in and out.
So the heart is continually approached by good and evil, by the frivolities and vanities of the world and the insidious suggestions of the flesh. It is like an inn or hostelry, with constant arrivals and departures.
Passengers throng in and out, some of them with evil intent, hoping to find conspirators, or to light fires that will spread until the whole being is swept with passion, consuming in an hour the fabric of years to ashes.
Keep it Clean. Just as the eye of the body is perpetually washed with tear-water, so let us ask that the precious blood of Christ may cleanse away any speck of impurity.
Remember how delicate a thing the heart is, and how susceptible to the dust of an evil thought, which would instantly prevent it becoming the organ of spiritual vision.
Sursum Corda!
Lift up your hearts!
We lift them up unto the Lord!
The Sentinel of Peace. Then the Peace of God will become the warden or sentry of the heart, and it passes understanding!
We can understand the apparent peace of some men. They have made money, and their gold-bags are piled around them as a fortress; they have rich and influential friends, within whose protection they imagine they will be sheltered and defended; they enjoy good health, and are held in high esteem.
We can understand such peace, though it often proves ephemeral! But there is a peace that passes understanding! It is to this that our Lord refers when He says, "My Peace I give unto you; not as the world gives." "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
PRAYER
Keep me, Heavenly Father, as the apple of Thine eye; defend me by Thine Almighty power; hide me from this strife of tongues and the fiery darts of the wicked one. May my heart be as the palace which the Stronger than the strong man keeps in perfect peace. AMEN.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, reflecting as a minor the glory of the Lord—the Lord Christ,—are transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit. In the 12th verse the apostle had said, “We are not as Moses, who put a veil on his face, that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly to the end of that which was passing away.” And we naturally expect he will next tell us what we are in contrast with Moses, in his veiled and transitory economy. And here at length, after several parenthetical explanations, we have it. Moses’ face was veiled, but ours is unveiled. And as Moses was in this but the visible expression of the economy he represented, and of all under it, so the “we” here are all who, believing, see this veil “done away in Christ.” [1] But the next clause involves some difficulty. For it must be admitted that the Authorised Version, “beholding,” gives the classical sense of the Greek word, when used, as here, in the middle voice; and some of the best interpreters (as Meyer) not only insist on this here, but judge any other to be unsuitable to the context. But if this last test is to decide the question, we think Dean Stanley has shown that “beholding” here is quite unsuitable. Certainly Chrysostom, who takes “reflecting as a mirror” to be the true sense here, and who knew Greek usage, was not deterred from so taking it on account of the customary usage of the word; and since the word is used nowhere else either in the LXX. or N. T., we ought to be guided by what suits the context: so Erasmus, Luther, Bengel, Olshausen, Billroth, take it,—are transformed (as in Rom_12:2; in Mat_17:2, “transfigured”) into the same image from glory to glory. If anything could justify the rendering we have adopted, of “reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord,” it seems to be this. The allusion plainly is to Moses, whose face, beholding without a veil the glory of Jehovah, shone with such brightness that the people were afraid to come near him, and he had to veil himself when he spoke to them. He “mirrored” the glory which he beheld; he was “transformed” into it. But that was a purely visible and transitory glory, whereas we who believe, beholding with unveiled face the glory of Christ—“in whom it hath pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, and in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”—mirror forth that glory; we are transformed into His image,—not, however, all at once: it proceeds from stage to stage; the assimilation is a progressive one, until the transformation is complete. [2] But how is it carried on? The answer follows; even as from the Lord the Spirit. The “even as” here is not that of similitude, but of congruity; it is not ‘like what the Lord the Spirit effects,’ but ‘this transformation advances majestically in a style befitting the Lord the Spirit to effect in us.’ Compare 2Co_2:17, “as of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ;” and John_1:14, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of (such as became) the only begotten of the Father.” [3] [1] Many expositors take the “we” here to mean the preachers of Christ, as contrasted with Moses personally as the giver forth of the law (so Erasmus, Estius, Bengel). But the fatal objection to this is, that in the very next clause the same “we” are said to be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” and this surely will not be restricted to the preachers of Christ [2] The Greek expositors, followed by Estius. Bengel, Meyer, etc., take this to mean ‘from the glory of Christ to its imprint on us,’ which to us teems tame. [3] Excellent interpreters vindicate the rendering of our Authorized Version—“even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (the Vulgate, Erasmus, Calvin, Bengel). But this is not the usual sense of two genitives, neither having the article. Another rendering—“the Lord of the Spirit” makes good Greek, and is advocated by Meyer, De Wette, Ostander, etc. But, as a title of Christ, it is totally unexampled; and though an appeal is made in support of it to Christ’s being the Giver or the Spirit, the two phrases are not similar, and it is incongruous with N. T. usage. The only other rendering, “the Lord the Spirit,” while it is the usual sense of two nouns so placed (such as “from God the Father,” Gal_1:3, Gr.), is in more strict consistency with the immediate context than the others.
2Co 3:18 All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of His face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all with open face,.... We are not like Moses, who had a veil on his face; nor like the Jews, who have one on their hearts: "but we all"; not ministers and preachers of the Gospel only, but all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, greater or lesser believers, who are enlightened by the Spirit of God, and are converted to Christ: "with open face"; which may regard the object beheld, the glory of Christ unveiled, that has no veil on it, as Moses had on his face, when he delivered the law; or the persons beholding, who are rid of Jewish darkness; the veil of the ceremonial law, and of natural darkness and blindness of mind; and so clearly and fully, comparatively speaking, beholding as in a glass; not of the law, but of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it; not with the eyes of their bodies, but with the eyes of their understandings, with the eye of faith; which sight is spiritual, delightful, and very endearing; throws a veil over all other objects, and makes souls long to be with Christ: the object beheld is the glory of the Lord; Jesus Christ: not the glory of his human nature, which lies in its union to the Son of God, and in its names which it has by virtue of it; and in its being the curious workmanship of the Spirit of God, and so is pure and holy, and free from all sin; and was outwardly beautiful and glorious, and is so at the right hand of God, where we see him by faith, crowned with glory and honour; and shall behold him with the eyes of our bodies, and which will be fashioned like to his glorious body; but this sight and change are not yet: rather the glory of his divine nature is meant, which is essential and underived, the same with his Father's; is ineffable, and incomprehensible; it appears in the perfections he is possessed of, and in the worship given to him; it was manifested in the doctrines taught, and in the miracles wrought by him; there were some breaking forth of this glory in his state of humiliation, and were beheld by the apostles, and other believers, who saw his glory, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Though the glory of Christ as Mediator, being full of grace and truth, seems to be chiefly designed; this he has from God, and had it from everlasting; this he gives to his people, and is what makes him so glorious, lovely, and desirable in their eye: and whilst this delightful object is beheld by them, they are changed into the same image; there was a divine image in man, in his first creation; this image was defaced by sin, and a different one took place; now in regeneration another distinct from them both is stamped, and this is the image of Christ; he himself is formed in the soul, his grace is wrought there; so that it is no wonder there is a likeness between them; which lies in righteousness and holiness, and shows itself in acts of grace, and a discharge of duty. The gradual motion of the change into this image is expressed by this phrase, from glory to glory: not from the glory of the law to the glory of the Gospel; or from the glory of Moses to the glory of Christ; rather from the glory that is in Christ, to a glory derived in believers from him; or which seems most agreeable, from one degree of grace to another, grace here being signified by glory; or from glory begun here to glory perfect hereafter; when this image will be completed, both in soul and body; and the saints will be as perfectly like to Christ, as they are capable of, and see him as he is: now the efficient cause of all this, "is the Spirit of the Lord". It is he that takes off the veil from the heart, that we may, with open face unveiled, behold all this glory; it is he that regenerates, stamps the image of Christ, and conforms the soul to his likeness; it is he that gradually carries on the work of grace upon the soul, increases faith, enlarges the views of the glory of Christ, and the spiritual light, knowledge, and experience of the saints, and will perfect all that which concerns them; will quicken their mortal bodies, and make them like to Christ; and will for ever rest as a spirit of glory on them, both in soul and body: some read these words, by the Lord of the Spirit, and understand them of Christ, others read them, "by the Lord the Spirit", as they very well may be rendered; and so are a proof of the true and proper deity of the Holy Spirit, who is the one Jehovah with the Father and the Son. The ancient Jews owned this; "the Spirit of the living God, (say (k) they,) היינו הבורא, this is the Creator himself, from him all spirits are produced; blessed be he, and blessed be his name, because his name is he himself, for his name is Jehovah.'' (k) R. Moses Botril in Sepher Jetzirah, p. 40. Ed. Rittangel.
Original praise & worship song by The Destinysong Project
The cross stands as witness
To the power of love so complete
By this love we are covered
By Your grace our hearts set free
This is our hope/Jesus our hope
This is our peace/Jesus our peace
Savior of the World
Your blood bought my freedom
A body broken atoned for my sin
You gave it all for love
So that I might know you
Jesus our hope You are salvation
Savior of the World
Great is the mercy flowing
From the wounds in Your hands and Your feet
All of my sin is now washed away
By the cleansing blood of the Lamb
Love and Courage And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and they were sore afraid— Luke_2:9 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping and saw two angels and she turned herself back, and saw Jesus— John_20:11, John_20:12, John_20:14 The Shepherds Were Afraid We do not like to associate fear with Bethlehem. Fear seems to be banished from the picture. We associate Bethlehem with joy and singing, and with the springing up of glad and glorious hope. Our Christmas hymns are among the gladdest hymns to be found in the whole range of Christian praise. Even waifs and strays, and desolate, lonely people are conscious of an inward warmth at Christmas. And yet these shepherds, out on the hillside, and "simply chatting in a rustic row," were (as Moffatt puts it) terribly afraid. They were not careless nor irreligious men. Eastern shepherds were very rarely that. Their converse with the solitudes of nature kept their hearts alive to awe and wonder. Yet when the angel of the Lord appeared, in some sudden and overwhelming flash of glory, these hardy men were terribly afraid. The unseen world was breaking in on them. Invisible presences were near. That hidden realm which lies beyond the grave was revealing its mysterious secrets. And though their trust, as simple faithful shepherds, was in the God of Abraham and Isaac, an awful dread fell upon their hearts. But Mary Magdalene Was Not Afraid When the Angels Spoke to Her at Jesus' Grave Now the singular thing is that when we come to Mary there is not a trace of that commanding terror. And yet if it struck into the shepherds' hearts we should expect to find it here intensified. They were hardy and courageous men; she was a delicate and shrinking woman. They were together, in strengthening companionship; she was all by herself in the dim dawn. They were out on the hills, where sheep were bleating, and where every bush and stream let was familiar; she was in the presence of a grave. Fear falls upon the heart more readily when some intense experience has exhausted it. No such experience had reached the shepherds; Mary had come through Calvary. Yet there is not a trace in Mary's instance of that gripping and overpowering fear which seized the shepherds when they saw the angels. She did not flee. She did not faint. She saw them, and she continued weeping. The angels spoke to her and Mary answered, as if she were talking with some village friend. And so little did they disturb her heart that she did not even continue gazing at them, but, having spoken, turned herself about. One could not imagine the shepherds doing that. Terror held their eyes. Had a wolf howled, and any sheep cried piteously, I question if they would have even heard it. What, then, had happened? What made the difference? What banished that overwhelming dread in the intrusion of the realm unseen? Mary's Love for Jesus' Made the Difference The difference lies in Mary's love for Jesus, a love of which the shepherds were quite ignorant. They came to the innumerable company of angels; she to the Mediator of the better covenant. We all know how love can banish fear. The Apostle tells us there is no fear in love. In the strength and passion of her mother-love, the timidest of mothers will grow brave. And the love of Jesus had so mastered Mary, and captured every tendril of her heart, that fear took to itself wings and flew away. it was a fearful thing to be out in the dim dawn, beside a grave, and near those Roman soldiers, it was a fearful thing within a sepulchre lo be confronted with these unearthly presences. But just as mother-love will drill out fear when a beloved baby is in peril, so the love of Jesus drove out fear from Mary. To have known Jesus had made all the difference. To have loved Him had slain a hundred terrors. To be perfectly certain of His love for her had swallowed up her womanly timidity's. A woman with a woman's heart, she was stronger than these hardy sons of shepherding, because Christ had come into her life. Haunting and Mysterious Fears Can Be Banished in Your Life And that is what always happens in a life, amid the presences of the unseen and the unknown. To banish haunting and mysterious fears takes more than the natural courage of the heart. No one would charge these shepherds with being cowards. They would have laid down their lives for the sheep. Amid familiar and expected dangers they were easily equal to their problem. But let unseen and mysterious fingers touch them, and flashes betray the nearness of eternity—and dread awakes, and sudden pangs of fear, and piercing terrors in the stoutest heart. No natural courage can keep such fears at bay. They haunt and darken every human heart. We all move through a mysterious universe, and from irruptions we are never safe. But one thing we do know, and even Mary was not sure of this, that neither height nor depth nor life nor death can separate us from the love of Christ. in that love, given and returned, lies the dismissal of a thousand fears. We do not tremble now when the unknown assails us, nor when the finger of death is on the latch. We are like Mary, very near a sepulchre, in the dim dawn, amid unearthly things, but undisturbed, untroubled, unafraid—because Christ has come into the life.
THE SECRET OF THE QUIET HEART "Be still, and know that I am God."-- Psa_46:10. "Sit still, my daughter, for the man will not rest, until he have finished the thing this day."-- Rth_3:18. PARADISE HAS vanished from our world, as the picture of a landscape vanishes when swept by storm. And our race stands in much the same plight as did Naomi and Ruth in this old-world story. We have lost our inheritance, and the one barrier which stands between us and despair is the Person and Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. But, thank God, we need have no doubt as to the sequel. For as Boaz claimed back the estate for Ruth, so may we be confident that Jesus Christ will never be at rest till this sin-stained and distracted world is restored to her primitive order and beauty, as when the morning-stars sang for joy. Jesus is our near Kinsman by His assumption of our nature. He is the nearest and dearest Friend of our race, who stooped to die for our redemption. And the fact that He carried our nature in Himself to heaven, and wears it there, is an indissoluble bond between us. Sit still! do not fret! He will never fail, as He will certainly never forsake! Let us seek the quiet heart in our prayers. Prayer must arise within us as a fountain from unknown depths. But we must leave it to God to answer in His own wisest way. We are so impatient, and think that God does not answer. A child asked God for fine weather on her birthday, and it rained! Some one said, "God didn't answer your prayer." "Oh yes," she replied, "He did, God always answers, but He said No!" God always answers! He never fails! Be still! If we abide in Him, and He abides in us, we ask what we will, and it is done. As a sound may dislodge an avalanche, so the prayer of faith sets in motion the power of God. In times of difficulty--be still! Thine enemies are plotting thine overthrow! They laugh at thy strong confidence! But hast thou not heard His voice saying: "This is the way, walk ye in it"? Then leave Him to deal with thy foes from whatever quarter they come. He is thy Rock, and rocks do not shake. He is thy High Tower, and a high tower cannot be flooded. Thou need mercy, and to Him belong mercy. Do not run hither and thither in panic! Just quietly wait, hushing thy soul, as He did the fears of His friends on the eve of Gethsemane and Calvary. "Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him." "Be still, for He will not rest, until He hath finished the thing this day." PRAYER If this day I should get lost amid the perplexities of life and the rush of many duties, do Thou search me out, gracious Lord, and bring me back into the quiet of Thy presence. AMEN.
Encouragement for Others, Glory for God So then death is working in us, but life in you . . . For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. (2Co_4:12 and 2Co_4:15) We who live under the new covenant of grace are earthen vessels. We have no true spiritual life in ourselves. "You have no life in you" (John_6:53). The treasure who lives within us (Jesus) is our daily source of spiritual life: "Christ who is our life" (Col_3:4). Consequently, we must always be dying in order to live. We must be embracing the cross of Christ so that our bankrupt self-life will not be our resource for living. We must look to the Lord as our sufficiency. The Lord helps us in this process by putting us into impossible situations that necessitate our dependence upon Him. He faithfully responds to our trust and manifests Himself through us. "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2Co_4:11). Others observing this receive encouragement to look to the Lord for the life they need. Thus, Paul could write to the Corinthians (who were aware of this process in his life): "So then death is working in us, but life in you." Every difficulty that God brings into our lives not only has significance for us, but it can also have an impact on those to whom we are ministering. "For all things are for your sake's." How important it is to have a perspective on life that includes God working in us that He might touch others. Paul certainly viewed life and ministry in this manner. "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you . . . Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all . . . Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory" (Col_1:24; Phi_2:17; Eph_3:13). As the Lord works His grace into and through our lives, grace can be spreading to many other lives: "that grace, having spread through the many." When God's grace is at work in people's hearts, thanksgiving is so often the beautiful fruit that results. Such thanksgiving brings much glory and honor to God: "may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God." My God and Father, teach me to handle trials in a way that will encourage people to trust in You. I want to touch others with life, as I am dying circumstantially. Please make my life a vessel through which You cause Your grace to spread to many lives. May much thanksgiving result, all to Your honor and glory, Amen.
"The Lost Years of Jesus" looks at the nearly 30-year gap in the Gospels regarding the life of Christ. Included is speculation on whether Jesus may have traveled outside of Palestine during those three decades.
Donations are welcome... http://goo.gl/IX5oo John 14
1.Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me.
[Let not your heart be troubled.] They could not but be exceedingly concerned at the departure of their Master drawing on so very near. But there were other things beside His departure that grieved and perplexed their minds.
I. They had run along with their whole nation in that common expectation, that the kingdom should be restored unto Israel through the Messiah, Acts 1:8. They had hoped to have been rescued by Him from the Gentile yoke, Luke 24:21.
They had expected He would have entertained His followers with all imaginable pomp and magnificence, splendour and triumph, Matthew 20:20. But they found, alas! all things fall out directly contrary; they had got little hitherto by following Him but poverty, contempt, reproach, and persecution: and now that their Master was to leave them so suddenly, they could have no prospect or hope of better things. Is this the kingdom of the Messiah?
Against this depression and despondency of mind He endeavoured to comfort them, by letting them know that in His Father's house in heaven, not in these earthly regions below, their mansions were prepared for them; and there it was that He would receive and entertain them indeed.
II. Christ had introduced a new rule and face of religion, which His disciples embracing did in a great measure renounce their old Judaism; and therefore they could not but awaken the hatred of the Jews, and a great deal of danger to themselves, which now (they thought) would fall severely upon them when left to themselves, and their Master was snatched from them.
That was dreadful, if true, which we find denounced: "Epicurus" (that is, one that despises the disciples and doctrine of the wise men) "has no part in the world to come, and those that separate themselves from the customs of the synagogue go down into hell, and are there condemned for all eternity."
These are direful things, and might strangely affright the minds of the disciples, who had in so great a measure bid adieu to the customs of the synagogues and the whole Jewish religion: and for him that had led them into all this now to leave them! What could they think in this matter?
To support the disciples against discouragements of this nature:
I. He lays before them His authority, that they ought equally to believe in Him as in God Himself: where he lays down two of the chief articles of the Christian faith:
1. Of the divinity of the Messiah, which the Jews denied:
2. As to true and saving faith, wherein they were blind and ignorant.
II. He tells them that in His Father's house were many mansions; and that there was place and admission into heaven for all saints that had lived under different economies and administrations of things. Let not your heart be troubled for this great change brought upon the Judaic dispensation, nor let it disquiet you that you are putting yourselves under a new economy of religion so contrary to what you have been hitherto bred up in; for "in my Father's house are many mansions"; and you may expect admission under this new administration of things, as well as any others, either before or under the law.
2. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
[I go to prepare a place for you.] Compare this with Numbers 10:33; "And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, to search out a resting place for them."
6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
[I am the way, the truth, and the life.] Why is this super-added of truth and the life, when the question was only about the way?
I. It may be answered that this was perhaps by a Hebrew idiosyncrasy; by which the way, the truth, and the life, may be the same with the true and living way.
Jeremiah 29:11: To give you an end and hope, or expectation: that is, a hoped or expected end. So Kimchi in loc.; "A good end even as you expect."
II. Our Saviour seems to refute that opinion of the Jews concerning their law, as if it were the way, the truth, and the life, and indeed every thing: and to assert his own authority and power of introducing a new rule of religion, because himself is the way, the truth, and the life, in a sense much more proper and more sublime than the law could be said to be.
It had been happier for the Jew if he could have discerned more judiciously concerning the law; if he could have distinguished between coming to God in the law and coming to God by the law: as also between living in the law and living by the law. It is beyond all doubt, there is no way of coming to God but in his law: for what outlaw, or one that still wanders out of the paths of God's commandments, can come unto him? So also it is impossible that any one should have life but in the law of God. For who is it can have life that doth not walk according to the rule of his laws? But to obtain admission to the favour of God by the law, and to have life by the law; that is, to be justified by the works of the law; this sounds quite another thing: for it is by Christ only that we live and are justified; by him alone that we have access to God.
These are the fictions of the Rabbins: "There was one shewed a certain Rabbin the place where Corah and his company were swallowed up, and, 'Listen,' saith he, 'what they say.' So they heard them saying, Moses and his law are the truth. Upon the calends of every month hell rolls them about, as flesh rolls in the caldron, hell still saying, Moses and his law are truth."
It is, indeed, a great truth, what is uttered in this most false and ridiculous legend, that "the law of Moses is truth." But the Jews might (if they would) attain to a much more sound way of judging concerning the truth of it, and consider that the law is not the sum and ultimate of all truth, but that Christ is the very truth of the truth of Moses John 1:17:, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
7. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
[If ye had known me, &c.] It was a very difficult thing to spell out the knowledge of the Messiah from the law and the prophets under the first Temple; but it was doubly more difficult under the second. For, under the first Temple, Moses had only his own veil over him, and the prophets only their own proper and original obscurity: but under the second Temple, the obscurity is doubled by the darkness and smoke of traditions; which had not only beclouded the true doctrines of faith and religion, but had also brought in other doctrines diametrically contrary to the chief and principal articles of faith: those for instance concerning justification, the person, reign, and office of the Messiah, &c.
With what measures of darkness these mists of tradition had covered the minds of the apostles, it is both difficult, and might be presumptuous, to determine. They did indeed own Jesus for the true Messiah, John 1:41; Matthew 16:16: but if in some things they judged amiss concerning his office, undertaking, and government, we must put it upon the score of that epidemical distemper of the whole nation which they still did in some measure labour under. And to this may this clause have some reference, "If ye had known me, and had judged aright concerning the office, undertaking, and authority of the Messiah, ye would, in all these things which I teach and do, have known the will, command, and authority of the Father."
[And from henceforth ye know him.] We may render it, Henceforward therefore know him: "Henceforward acknowledge the Father in all that I have done, brought in, and am to introduce still, and set your hearts to rest in it: believing that you see the Father in me, and in the things that I do."
8. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
[Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.] "When the law was given to Moses, the Israelites saw God in his glory: do thou, therefore, now that thou art bringing in a new law and economy among us, do thou shew us the Father, and his glory, and it will suffice us; so that we will have no more doubt about it."
16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[He shall give you another Comforter.]
I. Amongst all the names and titles given to the Messiah in the Jewish writers, that of Menahem, or the Comforter, hath chiefly obtained; and the days of the Messiah amongst them are styled the days of 'consolation.' The names of Messiah are reckoned up, viz. Shiloh, Jinnon, Chaninah, Menahem. And in Jerusalem Berac. we are told how the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem under the name of Menahem.
Luke 2:25; "Waiting for the consolation of Israel." Targumist upon Jeremiah 31:6: "Those that desire or long for the years of consolation to come." This they were wont to swear by, viz. the desire they had of seeing this consolation. So let me see the consolation.
Now, therefore, bring these words of our Saviour to what hath been said: q.d. "You expect, with the rest of this nation, the consolation in the Messiah and in his presence. Well; I must depart, and withdraw my presence from you; but I will send you in my stead 'another Comforter.'"
II. The minds of the disciples at present were greatly distressed and troubled, so that the promise of a Comforter seems more suitable than that of an Advocate, to their present state and circumstances.
17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
[The Spirit of truth.] Let us but observe how the whole world at this time lay in falsehood and error: the Gentiles under a spirit of delusion; the Jews under the cheat and imposture of traditions: and then the reason of this title of the Spirit of truth will appear; as also how seasonable and necessary a thing it was that such a Spirit should be sent into the world.
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
[He shall teach you all things.] So chapter 16:13: "He shall lead you into all truth." Here it might be very fitly inquired, whether any ever, besides the apostles themselves, were "taught all things," or "led into all truth." It is no question but that every believer is led into all truth necessary for himself and his own happiness; but it was the apostles' lot only to be led into all truth necessary both for themselves and the whole church.
30. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
[The prince of this world cometh.] Seeing this kind of phrase, the prince of this world, was, in the common acceptation of the Jewish nation, expressive of the devil ruling among the Gentiles, it may very well be understood so in these words; because the very moment of time was almost come about, wherein Christ and the devil were to enter the lists for the dominion and government, which of those two should have the rule over the Gentiles.
31. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
[Arise, let us go hence.] These words plainly set out the time and place wherein our Saviour had the discourse which is contained in this fourteenth chapter. The place was Bethany; the time, the very day of the Passover, when they were now about to walk to Jerusalem.
Those things which Christ had discoursed in chapter 13 were said two nights before the Passover; and that at Bethany, where Christ supped at the house of 'Simon the leper.' He abode there the day following, and the night after; and now, when the feast day was come, and it was time for them to be making towards Jerusalem to the Passover, he saith, Arise, let us go hence. What he did or said the day before the Passover, while he stayed at Bethany, the evangelist makes no mention. He only relates what was said in his last farewell before the paschal supper, and upon his departure from Bethany. All that we have recorded in chapters 15, 16, and 17, was discoursed to them after the paschal supper, and after that he had instituted the holy eucharist.
< John 13 John 15 >
Read John 14
Deu 18:15 GOD, your God, is going to raise up a prophet for you. GOD will raise Him up from among your kinsmen, a prophet like me. Listen obediently to him.
Deuteronomy 18:15
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet,.... Not Joshua, as Aben Ezra, not Jeremiah, as Baal Haturim, nor David (o), as others; nor a succession of prophets, as Jarchi; for a single person is only spoken of; and there is a dissimilitude between Moses and anyone of the prophets, and all of them in succession, Deu_34:10,but the Messiah, with whom the whole agrees; and upon this the expectation of a prophet among the Jews was raised,John_6:14and is applied to Him, and referred to as belonging to Him in Act_3:22,who was a prophet mighty in word and deed, and not only foretold future events, as His own sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead, the destruction of Jerusalem, and other things; but taught and instructed men in the knowledge of divine things, spake as never man did, preached the Gospel fully and faithfully, so that as the law came by Moses, the doctrine of grace and truth came by him; and he was raised up of God, called, sent, commissioned and qualified by Him for the office of a prophet, as well as was raised from the dead as a confirmation of His being that extraordinary person:
from the midst of thee; He was of Israel, according to the flesh, of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, preached only in Judea, and was raised from the dead in the midst of them, and of which they were witnesses:
of thy brethren; the Israelites, of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, and to whom He was sent as a prophet, and among whom He only preached:
like unto me; the Targum of Jonathan adds,
"in the Holy Spirit;''which
He received without measure, and in respect of which was superior to Moses, or any of the prophets: He was like to Moses in the faithful discharge of His office, in His familiar converse with God, in the miracles which He wrought; as well as in His being a Mediator, and the Redeemer of His people,
as Moses was a mediator between God and the people of Israel, and the deliverer of them out of Egypt; and it is a saying of the Jews (p) themselves,"as was the first redeemer, so is the second:"
unto Him you shall hearken; externally attend on His ministry, internally receive His doctrine, embrace and profess it; do what is heard from Him, hear Him, and not another, always and in all things; seeMat_17:5.
(Deu_18:15) in God's name.
[1.] That there should come a prophet, great above all the prophets, by whom God would make known himself and his will to the children of men more fully and clearly than ever he had done before. He is the light of the world, as prophecy was of the Jewish church, John_8:12. He is the Word, by whom God speaks to us, John_1:1; Heb_1:2.
[2.] That God would raise him up from the midst of them. In his birth he should be one of that nation, should live among them and be sent to them. In his resurrection he should be raised up at Jerusalem, and thence his doctrine should go forth to all the world: thus God, having raised up his Son Christ Jesus, sent him to bless us.
[3.] That he should be like unto Moses, only as much above him as the other prophets came short of him. Moses was such a prophet as was a law-giver to Israel and their deliverer out of Egypt, and so was Christ: he not only teaches, but rules and saves. Moses was the founder of a new dispensation by signs and wonders and mighty deeds, and so was Christ, by which He proved himself a teacher come from God. Was Moses faithful? So was Christ; Moses as a servant, but Christ as a Son.
[4.] That God would put His words in His mouth, Deu_18:18. What messages God had to send to the children of men he would send them by Him, and give Him full instructions what to say and do as a prophet. Hence our Saviour says, My doctrine is not mine originally, but His that sent me, John_7:16. So that this great promise is performed; this Prophet has come, even Jesus; it is He that should come, and we are to look for no other.
(2.) The agreeableness of this designed dispensation to the people's avowed choice and desire at Mount Sinai, Deu_18:16, Deu_18:17. There God had spoken to them in thunder and lightning, out of the midst of the fire and thick darkness. Every word made their ears tingle and their hearts tremble, so that the whole congregation was ready to die with fear. In this fright, they begged hard that God would not speak to them in this manner any more (they could not bear it, it would overwhelm and distract them), but that he would speak to them by men like themselves, by Moses now, and afterwards by other prophets like unto him. “Well,” says God, “it shall be so; they shall be spoken to by men, whose terrors shall not make them afraid;” and, to crown the favour beyond what they were able to ask or think, in the fullness of time the Word itself was made flesh, and they saw his glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, not, as at Mount Sinai, full of majesty and terror, but full of grace and truth, John_1:14. Thus, in answer to the request of those who were struck with amazement by the law, God promised the incarnation of His Son, though we may suppose it far from the thoughts of those that made that request.
(3.) A charge and command given to all people to hear and believe, hear and obey, this great prophet here promised: Unto him you shall hearken (Deu_18:15); and whoever will not hearken to him shall be surely and severely reckoned with for his contempt (Deu_18:19): I will require it of him. God himself applied this to our Lord Jesus in the voice that came out of the excellent glory, Mat_17:5, Hear you Him, that is, this is He concerning whom it was said by Moses of old, Unto Him you shall hearken; and Moses and Elias then stood by and assented to it. The sentence here passed on those that hearken not to this prophet is repeated and ratified in the New Testament. He that believes not the Son, the wrath of God abides on him, John_3:36. And how shall we escape if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven? Heb_12:25. The Chaldee paraphrase here reads it, My Word shall require it of him, which can be no other than a divine person, Christ the eternal Word, to whom the Father has committed all judgement, and by whom He will at the last day judge the world. Whoever turns a deaf ear to Jesus Christ shall find that it is at his peril; the same that is the prophet is to be his judge, John_12:48.
II. Here is a caution against false prophets,
1. By way of threatening against the pretenders themselves, Deu_18:20. Whoever sets up for a prophet, and produces either a commission from the true God, shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of high treason against the crown and dignity of the King of kings, and that traitor shall be put to death (Deu_18:20), namely, by the judgement of the great sanhedrim, which, in process of time, sat at Jerusalem; and therefore our Saviour says that a prophet could not perish but at Jerusalem, and lays the blood of the prophets at Jerusalem's door (Luke_13:33, Luke_13:34), whom therefore God Himself would punish; yet there false prophets were supported.
2. By way of direction to the people, that they might not be imposed upon by pretenders, of which there were many, as appears, Jer_23:25; Eze_13:6; 1Ki_22:6. It is a very proper question which they are supposed to ask, Deu_18:21. Since it is so great a duty to hearken to the true prophets, and yet there is so much danger of being misled by false prophets, how shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? By what marks may we discover a cheat? Note, It highly concerns us to have a right touchstone wherewith to try the word we hear, that we may know what that word is which the Lord has not spoken. Whatever is directly repugnant to sense, to the light and law of nature, and to the plain meaning of the written word, we may be sure is not that which the Lord has spoken; nor that which gives countenance and encouragement to sin, or has a manifest tendency to the destruction of piety or charity: far be it from God that he should contradict himself. The rule here given in answer to this inquiry was adapted chiefly to that state, Deu_18:22. If there was any cause to suspect the sincerity of a prophet, let them observe that if he gave them any sign, or foretold something to come, and the event was not according to his prediction, they might be sure he was not sent of God. This does not refer so much to the foretelling of mercies and judgments (though as to these, and the difference between the predictions of mercies and judgments, there is a rule of discerning between truth and falsehood laid down by the prophet, Jer_28:8, Jer_28:9), but rather to the giving of signs on purpose to confirm their mission. Though the sign did come to pass, yet this would not serve to prove their mission if they called them to serve other gods; this point had been already settled, Deu_13:1-3. But, if the sign did not come to pass, this would serve to disprove their mission. “When Moses cast his rod upon the ground (it is bishop Patrick's explanation of this), and said it would become a serpent, if it had not accordingly been turned into a serpent, Moses had been a false prophet: if, when Elijah called for fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, none had come, he had been no better than the prophets of Baal.” Samuel's mission was proved by this, that God let none of his words fall to the ground, 1Sa_3:19, 1Sa_3:20. And by the miracles Christ wrought, especially by that great sign He gave of His resurrection the third day, which came to pass as He foretold, it appeared that He was a teacher come from God. Lastly, They are directed not to be afraid of a false prophet; that is, not to be afraid of the judgments such a one might denounce to amuse people and strike terror upon them; nor to be afraid of executing the law upon him when, upon a strict and impartial scrutiny, it appeared that he was a false prophet. This command not to fear a false prophet implies that a true prophet, who proved his commission by clear and undeniable proofs, was to be feared, and it was at their peril if they offered him any violence or put any slight upon him.
Deuteronomy 18:15
a Prophet: Deu_18:18-19; John_1:45; Act_3:22-23, Act_7:37
like unto me: Deu_5:5, Deu_34:10; Luke_24:19; 1Ti_2:5; Heb_1:1-2, Heb_2:1-3, Heb_3:2-6
