The Tears of Jesus

Jesus wept— John_11:35

He beheld the city, and wept over it— Luke_19:41


Only Two Occasions of Jesus Weeping Are Recorded

There are but two occasions in the Gospels on which we light upon our Savior weeping; only two instances in which we see His tears. It is true that in the Epistle to the Hebrews we have a glimpse into the inner life of Christ, and there we read that He made supplication with tears and strong crying unto God. But into that interior life of prayer when Father and Son had fellowship together, we cannot enter, for it is holy ground. The point to observe is that in His recorded life we only hear of the tears of Jesus twice; once at the grave of a man who was His friend: once when Jerusalem lay spread out before Him. And both, not in the earlier days of youth when the human heart is susceptible and quivering, but in the later season when the cross was near. Goethe confesses in his autobiography that as he grew older he lost the power of tears, and there are many men who, as experience gathers, are conscious of a hardening like that. But our Savior, to the last moment that He lived, was quick and quivering to joy and sorrow, and His recorded tears are near the end. Never was He so conscious of His joy as in the closing season of His ministry; never did He speak so much about it nor so single it out as His most precious legacy. And so with weeping, which in the human heart is so often the other side of joy—it is under the shadow of His last days that it is recorded.

Both Weepings Prompted Not by Suffering,but by Divine Compassion

I am going to speak on the differences between these two Weepings; but first I ask you to observe one feature in which the two are beautifully kin. There are tears in the world, bitter and scalding tears, which are wrung out by personal affliction; tears of anguish, of intense corporeal anguish; tears caused by cruelty or mockery. And the point to be ever observed is that our Lord, though He suffered intensely in all such ways as that, never, so far as we read, was moved to tears. He was laughed to scorn—He of the sensitive heart—yet it is not then we read that Jesus wept. He was spat upon and scourged and crucified; but it is not then we light upon Him weeping. And even in the garden of Gethsemane where great drops were falling to the ground, drops which would have looked like tears to any prying child among the olives, Scripture tells us, as with a note of warning lest we should misinterpret what was happening there, that they were not tears, but drops of sweat and blood. The tears of our Lord were not wrung out by suffering, however intense and cruel it might be. On the only two occasions when we read of them they are the tears of a divine compassion. And whenever one thinks of that, one is impressed again with the wonder of the figure of the Christ, so infinitely pitiful and tenderhearted; so unswervingly and magnificently brave.

The First Tears Were Shed for the Individual, the Second for Many

Now if we take these two occasions on which the weeping of Jesus is recorded, and if, having found their common element, we go on to note the points on which they differ, what is the difference that first would arrest you? Well, I shall tell you what first impresses me. It is that the former tears were shed for one, and the latter tears were shed for many. Jesus wept beside the grave of Lazarus, for one single solitary friend; for a man who had loved Him with a great devotion and given Him always a welcome in his home. There is no such human touch in all the Gospels, nothing that so betrays the heart of Christ, as to be simply told that Jesus wept when He went out to stand before the grave of Lazarus. Here is a heart that has known the power of friendship, that has known the infinite solace of the one; a heart more deeply moved when that one dies than by all the cruelties which men can hurl at Him. And then, having learned of His infinite compassion for those who have had one heart to love and lose, we read that Jesus wept over the city. Picture Jerusalem on that Sunday morning, densely crowded for the Passover. Every house was full and every street was thronged; there were tens of thousands gathered there. And when our Lord, turning the crest of Olivet, saw before Him that crowded city, then like a summer tempest came His tears. Tears for the one; tears for the twice ten thousand: how typical is that of the Redeemer! Never was there a compassion so discriminative, and never a compassion so inclusive. Our separate sorrows—He understands them all, and our hours of solitary anguish by the grave; but not less the problem of the crowd. There are men who are full of sympathy for personal sorrows, but have never heard the crying of the multitude. There are men who hear the crying of the multitude, but have never been broken-hearted at the tomb. Christ has room for all and room for each. He loves the world with a divine compassion. And yet there is no one here who cannot say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me."

Tears Shed for Death and for Life

The next difference which impresses me is this—and it is a suggestive and profound distinction—it is that the former tears were shed for death, and the latter tears were shed for life. There was something in the death of Lazarus which made a profound impression upon Christ. He was troubled; He groaned in spirit; He wept. Often He had been face to face with death before, with death in some of its most tragic aspects. He had looked on the still, cold face of Jairus' daughter, and had seen the anguish of the widow of Nain. Yet it is only now, upon the road at Bethany, that we see the storm and passion of His soul when faced by the awful ravages of death. Nobody ever fathoms all that death means until its hand has knocked upon his door. It is when someone whom we have loved is taken that we understand its meaning and its misery. And Christ, being tempted like as we are, felt the anguish of it in His soul with intensity. Death had come home to Him—attacked Him at close quarters—carried one of the bastions of His being. How utterly cruel was the last great enemy. The Lord groaned in spirit and was troubled: a storm of passion swept across His soul. He wept for all that death had done and all that death was doing in the world. And so these tears of His are sacramental of all the sorrow of the aching heart when the place is empty, and the grave is tenanted, and the familiar voice is silent.

Now with that dark and dreary scene will you for a moment contrast the other scene? It is a city shimmering in beauty under the radiance of a Sunday morning. Children are playing in the marketplace; women are singing as they rock the cradle; men are at business and regiments are marching—there is movement and there is music everywhere. Friends are meeting who have not met for years for Passover was the great season of reunion, and eyes are bright and hearts are beating bravely in the gladness of these old ties reknit. Out on the Bethany road there had been death; here in the teeming city there was life; life in the crowd—life in the marching soldiery—life in the little children romping merrily; life everywhere, in the indistinguishable murmur which rises where there are ten thousand people who have waked in the sunshine of another morning to the traffic and the concourse of the day. It was all that which swept into the gaze of Christ, and it was that which swept into the heart of Christ that Sunday morning when from the brow of Olivet He looked across the valley to Jerusalem. As a lad of twelve He had looked, and looking wondered, with all the thrilling expectancy of boyhood. Now we read that He looked, and looking, wept. They were not tears for death, but tears for life; tears of divine compassion for the living; tears for the might-have-been—the vanity—the awful judgment that was yet to be; tears for the living who have gone astray and who are hungering for peace and have missed it and who have had their opportunity and failed. There is a sorrow for the dead which may be intense and very tragical. It may wither every flower across the meadow and take all the summer sunshine from the sky. But there is a sorrow deeper than sorrow for the dead—it is the sorrow for the living; and it is much to know that Jesus understood it. The bitterest sorrow has no grave to stand at, no sepulchre to adorn with opening flowers; the bitterest sorrow wears no garb of mourning, and receives no beautiful letters by the post. The bitterest sorrow does not spring from death; it springs from that mystery which we call life; and Jesus felt it to His depths. Thou who art mourning for the dead, for thee there is Jesus by the grave of Lazarus. Thou who art mourning for the living, for thee also is that same compassion. He understands it all. He shares it. Like a great tide it flowed upon Him once, when in the morning from the brow of Olivet, He looked upon Jerusalem and wept.

Tears Others Shared in and Tears None Could Understand

I close by pointing out one other difference that stands out very clearly in the Scripture. The former tears were such as others shared in; the latter were tears that no one understood. Read that chapter in the Gospel of John again, and you find that Christ was not alone in weeping. Martha and Mary were there, and they were weeping also, and the Jews who had known Lazarus and loved him. There was a kinship in a common sorrow there, a fellow feeling which united hearts, a sense of common loss and ache and loneliness. Now turn to the other scene, and what a difference! It is a pageantry of enthusiastic gladness. The cry goes ringing along the country road, "Hosanna to the Son of David." And it is amid these shouting voices of men beside themselves with wild enthusiasm that the Scripture tells us Jesus wept. At the grave of Lazarus many an eye was wet. Here every eye was dancing with excitement. No one was weeping here; nobody thought of weeping; it was the triumph of the Lord—Hosanna! And all alone, amid that welcoming tumult, in a grief which nobody could pierce or penetrate, the tears came welling from our Savior's eyes. In this our mortal life there are common griefs, touches of nature which make the whole world kin. But how endlessly true is the old saying of Scripture that the heart knows its own bitterness. And in those bitterness's which words can never utter and which lie too deep for any human help, what a comfort to know that our Savior understands! In all the common sorrows of humanity He is our Brother, and He weeps with us. He stands beside the grave of Lazarus still, clothed in the beauty of His resurrection. But in that lonely unutterable sorrow, which is the price and the penalty of personality, we may be sure He understands us also.

on the cross, when he was nailed to it, had the weight of his people's sins, and his Father's wrath, on him;

Yet it pleased the Lord [Father God] to bruise him,.... The sufferings of Christ are signified by his being "bruised"; See Gill on Isa_53:5, and as it was foretold he should have his heel bruised by the serpent, Gen_3:15, but here it is ascribed to the Lord: he was bruised in body, when buffeted and scourged, and nailed to the cross; and was bruised and broken in spirit, when the sins of his people were laid on him, and the wrath of God came upon him for them: the Lord had a hand in his sufferings; he not only permitted them, but they were according to the counsel of his will; they were predetermined by him, Act_2:23, yea, they were pleasing to him, he took a kind of delight and pleasure in them; not in them simply considered as sufferings, but as they were an accomplishment of his purposes, a fulfillment of his covenant and promises, and of the prophecies in his word; and, particularly, as hereby the salvation of his people was brought about; see John_10:17, 


he hath put him to grief; when he awoke the sword of justice against him; when he spared him not, but delivered him up into the hands of wicked men, and unto death: he was put to grief in the garden, when his soul was exceeding sorrowful; and on the cross, when he was nailed to it, had the weight of his people's sins, and his Father's wrath, on him; and when he hid his face from him, which made him cry out, "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" or, "hath put him to pain": suffered him to be put to pain, both in body and mind: 


when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin: not his soul only, but his body also, even his whole human nature, as in union with his divine Person; for it was he himself that was offered up in the room and stead of his people, to make atonement and satisfaction for their sins,  Heb_9:14 or, "when thou shalt make his soul sin"; so Christ was made by imputation, 2Co_5:21, and when he was so made, or had the sins of his people imputed to him, then was he bruised, and put to pain and grief, in order to finish them, and make an end of them, and make reconciliation for them: or, "when his soul shall make an offering" "for sin", or "sin" itself; make itself an offering; for Christ offered up himself freely and voluntarily; he gave himself an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savour, Eph_5:2, he was altar, sacrifice, and priest. 


He shall see his seed; or, "a seed"; a spiritual seed and offspring; a large number of souls, that shall be born again, of incorruptible seed, as the fruit of his sufferings and death; see John_12:24, this he presently began to see after his resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven; when great numbers were converted among the Jews, and after that multitudes in the Gentile world, and more or less in all ages; ever since has he had a seed to serve him; and so he will in the latter day, and to the end of time: 



he shall prolong his days: live long, throughout all ages, to all eternity; though he was dead, he is alive, and lives for evermore; lives to see all the children that the Father gave him, and he has gathered together by his death, when scattered abroad, and see them all born again, and brought to glory. Some connect this with the preceding clause, "he shall see a seed that shall prolong its days"; for Christ will never want issue, his church will never fail, his seed will endure for ever, Psa_89:29. So the Targum, paraphrasing the words of Christ and his seed, 


"they shall see the kingdom of their Messiah; they shall multiply sons and daughters; they shall prolong their days:'' 


and so Aben Ezra says these words are spoken of the generation that shall return to God, and to the true religion, at the coming of the Messiah. 


And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; the work of man's redemption, put into the hands of Christ, which he undertook to accomplish; which was with him and before him, when he came into this world, and was his meat and drink to do; this he never left till he had finished it; so that it succeeded and prospered with him: and this may well be called "the pleasure of the Lord"; it was the good pleasure of his will; it was what he purposed and resolved; what his heart was set upon, and was well pleasing to him, as effected by his Son. 


Likewise the setting up of the kingdom and interest of Christ in the world, and the continuance and increase of it; the ministry of the word, and the success of that as the means thereof, may be also meant; for the Gospel will be preached, and a Gospel church still continued, until all the elect of God are gathered in. 

The promised Messiah,

Matthew 1:1

The book of the generation (or, birth, the same word in Greek as in Mat_1:18). Literally, ‘book of birth, birth-book,’ i.e., pedigree, genealogy. The title of the genealogical table, Mat_1:1-17, not of the whole Gospel, nor of the first two chapters, nor of chap. 1. Possibly the title of an original (Hebrew) document, used by the Evangelist.

Jesus Christ. This combination is the Gospel in a nutshell, a declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah, the great truth, which the following narrative is to establish.

Jesus. The human name (Mat_1:21) = the Hebrew Joshua (comp. Heb_4:8) = the Lord is Helper, Saviour (Exo_24:13; Num_13:16; Neh_7:7).—Christ = The Messiah, the Anointed One; the official title. Applied to the three officers of the Old Testament theocracy: prophets (1Ki_19:16), priests (Lev_4:3; Lev_5:16; Psa_105:15), and kings (1Sa_24:7; 1Sa_24:11; Psa_2:2; Dan_9:25-26). Here all three offices are combined and perfected. Christ is our Anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. That of ‘King ‘was most prominent in the expectations of the Jews.

The Son of David. ‘David the king,’ Mat_1:6. From him descended One ‘born King of the Jews’ (Mat_2:2).

His Son of Abraham. The genealogy is traced back thus far, because ‘to Abraham and his seed were the promises made’ (Gal_2:16). The Epistle to the Galatians shows the connection of the gospel and the covenant with Abraham. ‘Son ‘here is almost = ‘seed’ there; both refer to Christ.

Matthew 1:1-17

The genealogy of Christ. Two lists of the human ancestors of Christ are given in the New Testament: Matthew, writing for Jewish Christians, begins with Abraham; Luke (Luke_3:23-38), writing for Gentile Christians, goes back to Adam the father of all men (for other points of difference, see on Mat_1:16). According to his human nature, Christ was the descendant of Abraham, David, and Mary; according to his divine nature He was the eternal and only-begot-ten Son of God, begotten from the essence of the Father. John (John_1:1-18) begins his Gospel by setting forth his divine genealogy. In Him, the God-man, all the ascending aspirations of human nature towards God, and all the descending revelations of God to man meet in perfect harmony. Matthew begins at Abraham: 1. to prove to Jewish Christians that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah; 2. to show the connection between the Old and New Testaments through a succession of living persons ending in Jesus Christ, who is the subject of the Gospel and the object of the faith it requires.

Christ is the fulfilment of all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, the heir of all its blessings and promises, the dividing line and connecting link of ages, the end of the old and the beginning of the new history of mankind. In the long list of his human ancestors, we have a cloud of witnesses, a compend of the history of preparation for the coming of Christ down to the Virgin Mary, in whom culminated the longing and hope of Israel for redemption. It is a history of divine promises and their fulfilment, of human faith and hope for the ‘desire of all nations.’ In the list are named illustrious heroes of faith, but also obscure persons, written in the secret book of God, as well as gross sinners redeemed by grace, which reaches the lowest depths as well as the most exalted heights of society. Matthew’s table is divided into three parts, corresponding to three periods of Jewish preparation for the coming of Christ (see on Mat_1:17).

Matthew 1:1

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,.... This is the genuine title of the book, which was put to it by the Evangelist himself; for the former seems to be done by another hand. This book is an account, not of the divine, but human generation of Christ; and not merely of his birth, which lies in a very little compass; nor of his genealogy, which is contained in this chapter; but also of his whole life and actions, of what was said, done, and suffered by him. It is an Hebrew way of speaking, much like that in Gen_5:1 and which the Septuagint render by the same phrase as here; and as that was the book of the generation of the first Adam; this is the book of the generation of the second Adam. The Jews call their blasphemous history of the life of Jesus, ספר תולדות ישו "The book of the generations of Jesus" (o). This account of Christ begins with the name of the Messiah, well known to the Jews, 



the son of David; not only to the Scribes and Pharisees, the more learned part of the nation, but to the common people, even to persons of the meanest rank and figure among them. See Mat_9:27. Nothing is more common in the Jewish writings, than for בן דוד "the son of David" to stand alone for the Messiah; it would be endless to cite or refer to all the testimonies of this kind; only take the following (p), 



"R. Jochanan says, in the generation in which בן דוד "the son of David" comes, the disciples of the wise men shall be lessened, and the rest, their eyes shall fail with grief and sorrow, and many calamities and severe decrees shall be renewed; when the first visitation is gone, a second will hasten to come. It is a tradition of the Rabbins (about) the week (of years) in which בן דוד "the son of David" comes, that in the first year this scripture will be fulfilled, Amo_4:7. "I will rain upon one city", &c. in the second, arrows of famine will be sent forth; in the third there will be a great famine, and men, women and children, holy men and men of business will die, and the law will be forgotten by those who learn it; in the fourth there will be plenty and not plenty; in the fifth there will be great plenty, and they shall eat and drink and rejoice, and the law shall return to them that learn it; in the sixth there will be voices (or thunders;) in the seventh there will be wars; and in the going out of the seventh בן דוד the "son of David" comes. The tradition of R. Judah says, In the generation in which בן דוד "the son of David" comes, the house of the congregation (the school or synagogue) shall become a brothel house, Galilee shall be destroyed, and Gabalene shall become desolate; and the men of Gabul (or the border) shall go about from city to city, and shall find no mercy; and the wisdom of the scribes shall stink; and they that are afraid to sin shall be despised; and the face of that generation shall be as the face of a dog, and truth shall fail, as it is said, Isa_59:15 --The tradition of R. Nehorai says, In the generation in which בן דוד "the son of David" comes, young men shall make ashamed the faces of old men, and old men shall stand before young men, the daughter shall rise up against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; nor will a son reverence his father. The tradition of R. Nehemiah says, In the generation in which בן דוד "the son of David" comes, impudence will increase, and the honourable will deal wickedly, and the whole kingdom will return to the opinion of the Sadducees, and there will be no reproof. --It is a tradition of the Rabbins, that בן דוד "the son of David" will not come, until traitorous practices are increased, or the disciples are lessened or until the smallest piece of money fails from the purse, or until redemption is despaired of.'' 



In which passage, besides the proof for which it is cited, may be observed, how exactly the description of the age of the Messiah, as given by the Jews themselves, agrees with the generation in which Jesus the true Messiah came; who as he was promised to David, and it was expected he should descend from him, so he did according to the flesh; God raised him up of his seed, Rom_1:3 it follows, 



The son of Abraham. Abraham was the first to whom a particular promise was made, that the Messiah should spring from, Gen_22:18. The first promise in Gen_3:15 only signified that he should be the seed of the woman; and it would have been sufficient for the fulfillment of it, if he had been born of any woman, in whatsoever nation, tribe, or family; but by the promise made to Abraham he was to descend from him, as Jesus did; who took upon him the seed of Abraham, Heb_2:16 or assumed an human nature which sprung from him, and is therefore truly the son of Abraham. The reason why Christ is first called the son of David, and then the son of Abraham, is partly because the former was a more known name of the Messiah; and partly that the transition to the genealogy of Christ might be more easy and natural, beginning with Abraham, whom the Jews call (q) ראש היחס the "head of the genealogy", and the root and foundation of it, as Matthew here makes him to be; wherefore a Jew cannot be displeased with the Evangelist for beginning the genealogy of our Lord at, Abraham. 



(o) Apud Wagenseil. Tela Ignea. (p) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 97. 1. Shir Hashirim Rabba, fol. 11. 4. (q) Juchasin, fol. 8. 1. Tzeror Hammor. fol. 29. 3. & 154. 4.

Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary

Mat 1:19  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 

Mat 1:20  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.


 Matthew 1:18

The birth of Jesus Christ. Same word as in Mat_1:1 (‘generation’). Here it means ‘origin.’ The more usual word implies a ‘begetting’; the choice of this word indicates something peculiar in this birth, as does the form: ‘Abraham begat Isaac,’ etc., etc.; ‘the birth of Jesus Christ, however, was in this wise.’ ‘For,’ in the next clause, implies: there is need of a particular account, for the circumstances were peculiar. The best critics, however, omit the word.

His Mother Mary having been betrothed to Joseph. ‘Betrothed,’ not yet ‘espoused.’ The betrothal was previous to the discovery. After betrothal unfaithfulness on the part of the woman was deemed adultery.

Before they came together, lived together in one house as man and wife.

She was found. Perhaps by herself according to the revelation made to her (Luke_1:26 ff.). If this verse points to a time after her return from visiting Elizabeth (see notes on Luke_1:39 ff.), her condition would soon be apparent.

Of the Holy Ghost. A statement of fact, not a part of the discovery, or Joseph would not have been perplexed. The Third Person of the Trinity is meant. Comp. Luke_1:35. ‘Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,’ is an article not only in our Apostles’ creed, but in nearly all other creeds of the ancient Church. On the other hand, neither the Scriptures nor the early Church know anything of the supernatural, immaculate conception of Mary. Christ is the sole, the absolute exception to the universal rule of sinfulness; a miracle in history.

Matthew 1:18-25

The circumstances preceding the Nativity; Mary, doubted by her betrothed husband; his design of putting her away privately; her vindication by means of a dream; Joseph’s faith; the name in accordance with prophecy; the actual birth. As the sinless second Adam, and as the Saviour of men, Jesus could not come into the world by ordinary human generation, but by a new creative act of God, or the supernatural agency of the Holy Ghost. Sin is propagated by generation, the active agency of man; and what is born of the flesh is flesh. 


God formed the first Adam of the mother earth, the Holy Ghost formed the second Adam out of the flesh of a pure virgin. Even the heathen had a dim conception that the ideal of the race could not be realized without supernatural generations of sages and heroes from a pure virgin (Buddha, Zoroaster, Romulus, Pythagoras, Plato). The heathen myths are carnal anticipations of the mystery of the Incarnation.

He shall save His people from their sins

Mat 1:22  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 

Mat 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 

Matthew 1:21

And she shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Jesus. For though she was with child, it could not be known any otherwise than by prediction or divine revelation, that she should have a son, whose name should be called Jesus; a name of the same signification with Joshua and Hosea, and may be interpreted a "Saviour", Act_13:23 for the word ישוע Jesus, comes from ישע which signifies "to save." And to this agrees the reason of the name given by the Angel, 

for HE shall save his people from their sins. The salvation here ascribed to him, and for which he is every way fit, being God as well as man, and which he is the sole author of, is to be understood, not of a temporal, but of a spiritual and everlasting salvation; such as was prophesied of, Isa_45:17 and which old Jacob had in his view, when he said, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord", Gen_49:18 which by the Jewish (f) Targumist is paraphrased thus: 

"Jacob said when he saw Gideon the son of Joash, and Samson the son of Manoah, that they would rise up to be saviours, not for the salvation of Gideon do I wait, nor for the salvation of Samson do I look, for their salvation is דשעתא פורקן "a temporary salvation"; but for thy salvation, O Lord, do I wait and look, for thy salvation is פורקן עלמין "an everlasting salvation", or (according to another copy) but for the salvation of Messiah the son of David, who shall save the children of Israel, and bring them out of captivity, for thy salvation my soul waiteth.'' 

By "his people" whom he is said to save are meant, not all mankind, though they are his by creation and preservation, yet they are not, nor will they be all saved by him spiritually and eternally; nor also the people of the Jews, for though they were his nation, his kinsmen, and so his own people according to the flesh, yet they were not all saved by him; many of them died in their sins, and in the disbelief of him as the Messiah: but by them are meant all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, who were given to him by his Father, as a peculiar people, and who are made willing in the day of his power upon them, to be saved by him in his own way. And these he saves from "their sins", from all their sins, original and actual; from secret and open sins; from sins of heart, lip and life; from sins of omission and commission; from all that is in sin, and omission upon it; from the guilt, punishment, and damning power of it, by his sufferings and death; and from the tyrannical government of it by his Spirit and grace; and will at last save them from the being of it, though not in this life, yet hereafter, in the other world, when they shall be without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. 

(f) Targum Jon. Ben Uzziel in loc.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ 

Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, or anointed prophet, priest, and king, sent from heaven. To what has already been said on the important name Jesus, (See Mat_1:21 (note), and the places there referred to), I shall add the following explanation, chiefly taken from Professor Schultens, who has given a better view of the ideal meaning of the root ישע  yasha, than any other divine or critic.
He observes that this root, in its true force, meaning, and majesty, both in Hebrew and Arabic, includes the ideas of amplitude, expansion, and space, and should be translated, he was spacious-open-ample; and, particularly, he possessed a spacious or extensive degree or rank: and is applied,
1. To a person possessing abundance of riches.
2. To one possessing abundant power.
3. To one possessing abundant or extensive knowledge.
4. To one possessing abundance of happiness, beatitude, and glory.
Hence we may learn the true meaning of Zec_9:9 : Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion - behold, thy king comes unto thee; he is Just, and having Salvation: - הושיע - 
he is possessed of all power to enrich, strengthen, teach, enlarge, and raise to glory and happiness, them who trust in him. Man by nature is in want and poverty: in abjectness and weakness: in darkness and ignorance: in straits and captivity: in wretchedness and infamy. His Redeemer is called ישועה Jesus - he who looses, enlarges, and endows with salvation.
1. He enriches man’s poverty:
2. strengthens his weakness:
3. teaches his ignorance:
4. brings him out of straits and difficulties: and
5. raises him to happiness, beatitude, and glory.

And the aggregate of these is Salvation. Hence that saying, 
His name shall be called Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. See Schultens Origines Hebraeae, p. 15.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion - See this prophecy explained on Mat_21:5 (note).
Behold, thy King cometh - Not Zerubbabel, for he was never king; nor have they had a king, except Jesus the Christ, from the days of Zedekiah to the present time.
He is just - The righteous One, and the Fountain of righteousness.
Having salvation - He alone can save from sin, Satan, death, and hell.
Lowly - Without worldly pomp or splendor; for neither his kingdom, nor that of his followers, is of this world.

Riding upon an ass - God had commanded the kings of Israel not to multiply horses. The kings who broke this command were miserable themselves, and scourgers to their people. 
Jesus came to fulfill the law. Had he in his title of king rode upon a horse, it would have been a breach of a positive command of God; therefore, he rode upon an ass, and thus fulfilled the prophecy, and kept the precept unbroken. Hence it is immediately added: - 

Matthew 1:21

Jesus - The same as Joshua, יהושע  Yehoshua, from ישע  yasha, he saved, delivered, put in a state of safety. See on Exo_13:9 (note); Num_13:16 (note), and in the preface to Joshua.

He shall save his people from their sins - This shall be his great business in the world: the great errand on which he is come, viz. to make an atonement for, and to destroy, sin: deliverance from all the power, guilt, and pollution of sin, is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. Less than this is not spoken of in the Gospel; and less than this would be unbecoming the Gospel. The perfection of the Gospel system is not that it makes allowances for sin, but that it makes an atonement for it: not that it tolerates sin, but that it destroys it. In Mat_1:1, he is called Jesus Christ, on which Dr. Lightfoot properly remarks, “That the name of Jesus, so often added to the name of Christ in the New Testament, is not only that Christ might be thereby pointed out as the Savior, but also that Jesus might be pointed out as the true Christ or Messiah, against the unbelief of the Jews.” This observation will be of great use in numberless places of the New Testament. See Act_2:36; Act_8:35; 1Co_16:22; 1Jo_2:22; 1Jo_4:15, etc.

The God Who Can Handle It

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The God Who Can Handle It



“The LORD is sitting in His sacred temple on His throne in heaven. He knows everything we do because He sees us all.” (Psa_11:4, CEV).



There is no snooze button anywhere in the proximity of God – and that’s everywhere! He is the Unsleeping God; He never dozes off in slumber, nor drifts away in idle daydreams. He is always on the job, and always in charge. He is the God who can handle it.



He is both all powerful and intimately personal. He holds the universe in His hand, and yet knows the number of hairs that are on your head. He calls each and every star by name, and yet feels pain each time a sparrow falls to the ground.



He is the God who can handle it.

The Psalm goes on to tells us, “He’s in charge, as always, His eyes taking everything in, His eyelids unblinking, examining Adam’s unruly brood inside and out, not missing a thing.” (Psa_11:4, The Message).

God does not sit in heaven wringing His hands in anxious concern over the alarming state of affairs in our baffled world — He’s in charge. He is not clueless to the scheming of godless people who seek to build a society without His blessings – He’s in charge. And He is not rattled by the bloated plans of overheated brains for how we here can save ourselves, needing no help from heaven whatsoever. He’s in charge – and He can handle it.

So, whatever it is that’s going on in your life, know this for certain – it is well within His reach. He can handle it. That’s why you need to let Him.

When doubts arise and fears dismay, when foes oppose you and friends forsake you; when the bottom drops out and you are left holding an empty bag, and your castles all crumble while your dreams turn to ashes – He is the God who can handle it.

Trust Him, and hold tight to your faith in His faithfulness – for He will see you through it all. And when the storm passes, as it surely will, the new day will be filled with His presence, and with the endless possibilities He provides for you.

While others around you are falling in fear – you stand firm, trusting the Lord. He is the God who can handle it.

THE SON OF GOD'S FIRST YEAR OF MINISTRY

John 1:19-34


II. THE SON OF GOD'S FIRST YEAR OF MINISTRY (1:19-4:54)

A. The Testimony of John the Baptist (1:19-34)
1:19   When news reached Jerusalem that a man named John was telling the nation to repent because the Messiah was coming, the Jews sent a committee of priests and Levites to find out who this was. The priests were those who carried on the important services in the temple, while the Levites were servants who attended to common duties there. “Who are you?” they asked. “Are you the long-awaited Messiah?”
1:20   Other men might have seized this opportunity for fame by claiming to be the Christ. But John was a faithful witness. His testimony was that he was not the Christ (the Messiah).
1:21, 22   The Jews expected Elijah to return to the earth prior to the coming of Christ (Mal_4:5). So they reasoned that if John was not the Messiah, then perhaps he was Elijah. But John assured them that he was not. In Deu_18:15, Moses had said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” The Jews remembered this prediction and thought that John might be the Prophet mentioned by Moses. But again John said that it was not so. The delegation would have been embarrassed to go back to Jerusalem without a definite answer, and so they asked John for a statement as to who he was.
1:23   He said, “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness.’” In answer to their query, the Baptist quoted from Isa_40:3, where it was prophesied that a forerunner would appear to announce the coming of Christ. In other words, John stated that he was the forerunner who was predicted. He was the voice, and Israel was the wilderness. Because of their sin and departure from God, the people had become dry and barren, like a desert. John spoke of himself simply as a voice. He did not pose as a great man to be praised and admired, but as a voice—not to be seen, but only to be heard. John was the voice but Christ was the Word. The word needs a voice to make it known and the voice is of no value without a word. The Word is infinitely greater than the voice but it can be our privilege, too, to be a voice for Him.
John's message was, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” In other words, “The Messiah is coming. Remove everything in your life that would hinder you from receiving Him. Repent of your sins, so that He can come and reign over you as the King of Israel.”
1:24, 25   The Pharisees formed a strict sect of the Jews who prided themselves on their superior knowledge of the law and on their efforts to carry out the most minute details of the instructions of the OT. Actually, many of them were hypocrites who tried to appear religious but who lived very sinful lives. They wanted to know what authority John had for baptizing if he was not one of the important persons they named.
1:26, 27   “I baptize with water,” said John. He did not want anyone to think that he was important. His task was simply to prepare men for Christ. Whenever his hearers repented of their sins, he baptized them in water as an outward symbol of their inward change. “There stands One among you, whom you do not know,” John continued, referring, of course, to Jesus. The Pharisees did not recognize Him as the long looked-for Messiah. In effect John was saying to the Pharisees, “Do not think of me as a great man. The One you should be paying attention to is the Lord Jesus; yet you do not know who He really is.” He is the One who is worthy. He came after John the Baptist, yet He deserves all the praise and preeminence. It was the duty of a slave or servant to untie his master's sandals. But John did not consider himself worthy to perform such a humble, lowly service for Christ.
1:28   The exact location of Bethabara (or Bethany, NKJV margin), is not known. But we do know that it was a place on the east side of the Jordan River. If we accept the reading Bethany, it cannot be the Bethany near Jerusalem.
1:29   The next day after the visit of the Pharisees from Jerusalem, John looked up and saw Jesus coming toward him. In the thrill and excitement of that moment, he cried out, “Behold! The Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world!” The lamb was a sacrificial animal among the Jews. God had taught His chosen people to slay a lamb and to sprinkle its blood as a sacrifice. The lamb was killed as a substitute and its blood shed so that sins might be forgiven.
However, the blood of the lambs slain during the OT period did not put away sin. Those lambs were pictures or types, pointing forward to the fact that God would one day provide a Lamb who would actually take away the sin. All down through the years, godly Jews had waited for the coming of this Lamb. Now at last the time had come, and John the Baptist triumphantly announced the arrival of the true Lamb of God.
When he said that Jesus bears the sin of the world, he did not mean that everyone's sins are therefore forgiven. The death of Christ was great enough in value to pay for the sins of the whole world, but only those sinners who receive the Lord Jesus as Savior are forgiven.
J. C. Jones points out that this verse sets forth the excellency of the Christian atonement:
1. It excels in the NATURE of the victim. Whereas the sacrifices of Judaism were irrational lambs, the sacrifice of Christianity is the Lamb of God.
2. It excels in the EFFICACY of the work. Whereas the sacrifices of Judaism only brought sin to remembrance every year, the sacrifice of Christianity took sin away. “He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
3. It excels in the SCOPE of its operation. Whereas the Jewish sacrifices were intended for the benefit of one nation only, the sacrifice of Christianity is intended for all nations; “it takes away the sin of the world.”
1:30, 31   John never grew weary of reminding people that he was only preparing the way for Someone greater than himself who was coming. Jesus was greater than John to the same extent that God is greater than man. John was born a few months before Jesus, but Jesus had existed from all eternity. When John said, “I did not know Him,” he did not necessarily mean that he had never seen Him before.
Since they were cousins, it is probable that John and Jesus were well acquainted. But John had not recognized his Cousin as being the Messiah until the time of His baptism. John's mission was to prepare the way of the Lord, and then to point Him out to the people of Israel when He appeared. It was for this reason that John baptized people in water—to prepare them for the coming of Christ. It was not for the purpose of attracting disciples to himself.
1:32   The reference here was to the time John baptized Jesus in the Jordan. After the Lord went up out of the water, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and remained upon Him (cf. Mat_3:16). The writer goes on to explain the meaning of this.
1:33   God had revealed to John that the Messiah was coming and that when He came, the Spirit would descend upon Him and stay on Him. Therefore, when this happened to Jesus, John realized that this was the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person, one of the three Persons in the Godhead. He is equal with God the Father and God the Son.
Whereas John baptized with water, Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. The baptism with the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost (Act_1:5; Act_2:4, Act_2:38). At that time, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to dwell in the body of every believer and also to make each believer a member of the church, the Body of Christ (1Co_12:13).
1:34   
On the basis of what he saw at the baptism of Jesus, John testified positively to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God who was foretold as coming into the world. When John said that Christ was the Son of God, he meant that He was God the Son.

Proven In the Eyes of God

Proven In the Eyes of God

“The LORD tests honest people.”
 (Psa_11:5, Contemporary English Version).

Think about it: There is nothing in your life worth having if it has not first been tested and approved. Every single thing that now functions well in its place, making your life what it is, had its beginnings in an idea, that became a prototype, which was tested until it became proven. Then it was manufactured and marketed. And now you use it regularly, and are happy with its performance.
you think that maybe God might be doing the same with you?

The Bible tells us that “God tests honest people.” His purpose in this is prove them, so that He can use them. And the test is more than fair. For He has promised that He would never let us be tested above what we were able to bear. In other words, He doesn’t stack the test against us, but actually tempers it to our ability to pass it.

He has equipped us for every good work, and He must show us that the equipment works. He does this by testing us. The Apostle Paul said, “God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message.” (1Th_2:3, The Message).

Remember the wise man who built his house on the rock? The rain and wind hammered his house just as it did that of the foolish man. The purpose of the storm was to prove the worth of his structure. In the same manner, then, the testing of the Lord in our lives only proves that the equipment He has given us to handle great and difficult challenges — works!

In another place Paul told young Timothy, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. He has given me the strength for my work because he knew that he could trust me.” (1Ti_1:12).

Can the Lord trust you? He can if you weather the storm, and pass the test!

Remember what happened to Joseph of old? He was sold into slavery by his own brothers! The Egyptians “hurt his feet with fetters; he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.” (Psa_105:17-19).

God had given great dreams to Joseph as a young man, but he had to wait for several years before his dreams came true. The waiting was not in vain. God used the time to refine Joseph as gold in a furnace. The harsh years were not for the sake of proving the dreams true, but for proving Joseph to be true.

The Lord’s refining process does the same in our lives today. It may be, my fellow traveler, that you are undergoing a test from the Lord, which is applied in love to insure that when your dream comes true — you will be true as well.

You will be proven in the eyes of God!

LIFE'S BALANCE SHEET

LIFE'S BALANCE SHEET
"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"-- Mar_8:36.


Mar 8:36  What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? [Message Bible]

 Mark 8:36
For what shall it profit a man,.... In the long run, in the issue of things, who by denying Christ, and his Gospel, may not only save his life for the present, but procure for himself great riches and wealth: 

if he shall gain the whole world; were that possible to be done, and which the ambitious, worldly man is desirous of; yet supposing he: had his desire, of what avail would this be in the upshot of things, should the following be his case, as it will, 

and lose his own soul? which is immortal and everlasting, when the world, and the glory of it pass away, and so is of more worth than the whole world. The world can only be enjoyed for a season, and that with a great deal of fatigue and trouble; but the soul continues for ever; and if it is lost and damned, its torment always abides, and the smoke of it ascends for ever, its worm never dies, and its fire is never quenched; See Gill on Mat_16:26.

SIMON PETER had been urging our Lord to spare Himself the suffering to which He had referred, but He answered that this could not be for Himself, or for any other who would follow in His footsteps. Proceeding from His own deep experience, He went on to show that in the same measure every one must deny his own choice and will and pleasure, in order that he may reach the highest life for himself and others.
It is not necessary for any man to make a cross; it is our part simply to take up that which God has laid down for us. The cross is no exceptional piece of asceticism, but it is the constant refusal to gratify our self-life; the perpetual dying to pride and self-indulgence, in order to follow Christ in His redemptive mission for the salvation of men. And it is in proportion as men live like this that they realize the deepest and truest and highest meaning of life. When we live only to save ourselves, to build warm nests, to avoid every discomfort and annoyance, to make money entirely for our own use and enjoyment, to invent schemes for our own pleasure, we become the most discontented and miserable of mankind. How many there are who have given themselves up to a life of selfishness and pleasure-seeking, only to find their capacity for joy has shrivelled, and their lives plunged into gloom and despair. They have lost their souls!
If a fire is raging, and a millionaire saves his palace from destruction, but in so doing loses his own life, does it pay? And are there not many who are building for themselves palaces of wealth and pleasure, but are losing the power of enjoyment because they are destroying all the finest sensibilities of their nature. Our Lord asks, what does it profit to gain the whole world, and forfeit one's own soul?
But not to adopt the policy of the world is certain to bring upon us dislike and hatred, before which many have been daunted; and yet to refuse Christ's policy of life, and to be ashamed of acknowledging that we are His followers, will mean ultimately our rejection. For how can our Lord use us in any great schemes of the future, if we have failed Him in the limited sphere of our human life?

PRAYER
O God, we have been disappointed because the cisterns that we have hewn out for ourselves have not given the water needed to quench our thirst. Fountain of Living Water, of Thee may we drink! Bread of Life, of Thee may we eat! Light of Life, shine upon our hearts, that we may walk in Thy light. AMEN.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.”
Nahum 1
Somewhere about this time the prophet Nahum was called to speak for the Lord: we will read his declaration against Assyria.
Nah_1:2
He loves his people too well to see them trampled upon and not avenge their wrongs. Assyria had carried away the ten tribes, and now threatened Judah, and therefore God in love to his people interposed;
Nah_1:2
He had borne patiently with the insolence of Sennacherib, but he was not insensible, and would ere long pour out his indignation.
Nah_1:3-4
His long-suffering is often misunderstood, and the wicked dream that their crimes are overlooked, but they will speedily be undeceived.
Nah_1:3-4
Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
He can withhold the clouds, and then the most fruitful lands will be barren with drought.
Nah_1:5-6
Lightning and earthquake are his servants, and none can stand against them.
Nah_1:7
This is a note of soft, sweet music, amid the thunder of divine power, falling most refreshingly upon the ear of faith.
Nah_1:9
His one stroke would be enough to break Assyria once for all.
Nah_1:10
While gathered together as thorns in a heap, a single flame from heaven would be enough to consume them.
Nah_1:11
Sennacherib is here described and denounced.
Nah_1:12-13
In one night the deed was done, and Judah was delivered. Therefore the Lord says to his people:
As for the foe, he declares—
Nah_1:14
Once had Nineveh been warned, and it for a while repented; but since it had returned to its old ways its doom was sealed, and as a city it would soon be dead and buried. Let travellers tell how fully this threatening has been fulfilled.
Nah_1:15
Joyful obedience was required of Judah on account of such a deliverance. We have been set free from a worse tyrant than Sennacherib, therefore let us rejoice in the Lord our God, and magnify his Son Jesus, the angel which redeemed us out of all evil.

Sinners, with joy look up!
The herald’s feet appear;
He comes from Zion’s sacred top,
A gospel-messenger.

The end of war and sin,
In Christ, your peace, obtain:
And when his kingdom reigns within,
It shall for ever reign.

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord Jesus

“Wherewith shall I come before the Lord Jesus.”
Micah 4
Micah also came forward to support Isaiah’s testimony. Quite a company of holy seers shone forth like stars in the evening of Judah’s history. In the chapter which we are about to read, Micah’s far-seeing eye beheld the Lord Jesus in the glory of the latter days.
Mic_4:1-2
God reserves his best things to the last. In Messiah’s days the true faith and the true church will have wide dominion; that which the material temple typified shall be fully revealed and reverenced far and wide.
Mic_4:4
For this unbroken peace we sigh; it will not come by means of civilization, commerce and moral advancement: Jesus alone is the world’s Peacemaker.
Mic_4:7
From the poor relics of the Jewish nation we have received the gospel, and so in a spiritual sense mount Zion triumphs in her reigning Lord.
Mic_4:9-10
Jerusalem was troubled sorely, but good would come of it; the people would be carried into Babylon, but God would deliver them. While Jesus lives, his church is safe.
Mic_4:11-12
Faith beholds her enemies as sheaves for her to thresh, and by divine help she treads them down. We are more than conquerors, through our loving God.

No strife shall vex Messiah’s reign
Or mar those peaceful years;
To ploughshares men shall beat their swords,
To pruning-hooks their spears.

No longer hosts encountering hosts,
Their millions slain deplore;
They hang the trumpet in the hall,
And study war no more.

Come, then! oh come from every land,
To worship at his shrine,
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauties shine.

Christ the Bright and Morning Star Himself.

Rev 2:28  and I will give him the morning star. 
Rev 2:29  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' 

Revelation 2:28
 And I will give him the morning star. Very various opinions have been entertained with regard to the meaning of this ‘star.’ It has been supposed to be the devil, or the king of Babylon, or the glorified body, or the heavenly glory, or the earnest of the sovereignty of light over darkness. We must gather the meaning from the Apocalypse itself; and from chap. Rev_22:16 we shall be led to the belief that the morning star is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is ‘the bright and morning star,’ and He gives Himself to His people, that in Him they may find their victory and joy. There is a peculiar propriety in the mention of this reward for the Church at the moment when she is thought of as set on high over all her enemies. When she is secretly nourished in the Tabernacle of God she is a candlestick: when she has met and conquered the world she is a star,—the Lord Himself being in the first instance both the one and the other. With this idea of the morning star no thought of bringing in those who have rejected Jesus ought to be combined. Whether or not they shall be brought in lies in the secret purposes of God unrevealed to us (comp. on Rev_2:27)

And I will give him the morning star. So Christ is called, Rev_22:16; and here it designs an illustrious appearance of Christ at the close of this church state, and a communication of much light and grace from him, which introduced the Sardian church state, or the reformation by Luther, Calvin, &c. which is the phosphorus, or morning star, to the spiritual reign of Christ under the Philadelphian church state; which will be the bright, clear, day of the Gospel, when the present twilight, which is between the appearance of the morning star and that glorious day, will be removed: for by this morning star is not meant the glory that shall be put upon the bodies of the saints in the resurrection morn; nor the heavenly glory itself, or the hope of it; but the dawning of the latter day glory, which began at the Reformation, and is promised the faithful professors in the Thyatirian church state, who lived in the darkness of Popery.

Rev 2:29  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Comp. on Rev_2:7.

In the church at Thyatira we seem to pass for the first time to the Church considered in her widest aspect and as brought into positive relations with the powers of the heathen world. These powers have penetrated within her, and she has in part yielded to their influence. God’s people have allied themselves with a heathen princess, and she has tempted them to sin. The first Epistle of the second group thus corresponds to the first of the first group, although with a difference in harmony with the general nature of the two groups as wholes. In the first Epistle of the first group the evil is wholly from within; the church has forsaken her first love. In the first Epistle of the second group the evil enters from without; the world tempts, and the church yields, at least in part, to the temptation in order that she may have a share in the world’s glory. In the one case she has forgotten Him who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and whose love never fails: in the other the power of the present and the seen has led too many of her members to break their covenant with Him who is the Son of God, whose kingdom is not of this world, and whose rewards are future and unseen.

Revelation 2:1-29

The first great fact is, that the assembly in this world is subject to judgment, and to have its whole existence and place before God as light-bearer in the world set aside; secondly, that God will do this if it departs from its first spiritual energy. This is an immense principle. He has set the assembly to be a true witness of what He has manifested in Jesus; of what He is when Jesus is gone on high. If it be not this, it is a false witness, and it will be set aside. God may have patience, and has blessedly so. He may propose to her to return to her first love, and does; but, if this do not take place, the candlestick is removed, the assembly ceases to be God's light-bearer in the world. The first estate must be maintained, or God's glory and the truth are falsified; and the creature must be set aside. But no mere un-sustained creature does this, none as such. Hence all fails and is judged, save as in, or upheld by, the Son of God, the second Man. Ephesus had gone on well in maintaining consistency, but that forgetfulness of self and thinking only of Christ, which are the first fruits of grace, were gone. As heretofore remarked, there were works of labour and patience; but the faith, hope, and love had in their true energy disappeared. They had rejected the pretension of false teachers, and laboured and not fainted. All that can be said of them is said to shew Christ's love, and that He is not forgetful of them, or of the good manifested in them. Still they had left their first love; and this unless repented of and the first works done, involved the taking away of the candlestick.
Another important principle is found here, that when the assembly had departed from faithfulness when collectively it had ceased to be the expression of the love in which God has visited the world, God throws back individuals on the word of God for themselves: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." The assembly is judged, and thus cannot be the security for faith; the individual is called to hear what the Spirit says. The warning of taking away the candlestick here is specially worthy of notice, because there was a great deal the Lord highly approved of — encouraged them by shewing He did; but, for all that, if first love was departed from, the candlestick would be removed.
The character of Christ and promises are general, as the assembly is characteristic of the whole principle on which the assembly stands. Christ has the stars in His right hand and walks amidst the candlesticks. It is not a special character applicable to a special state, but the whole bearing of His position in the midst of the assemblies. The assembly, viewed as having left its first love, is never promised anything. It cannot direct a believer when it comes under reproof and judgment itself. The promise is then to the individual 'over-comer': a very important principle. The promise given to him that overcomes is the general one — is the contrast to Adam's ruin, but in a higher and better way than that in which he enjoyed the good which he lost. He that overcomes shall eat of the tree of life. But this is not the tree of life in man's paradise in this world, but the paradise of God Himself. We must remark, too, that it is not as the first Adam now, individually keeping one's first estate, but overcoming. And what is before us to overcome in is, not only the world and its hostilities (though that may be), but within the sphere of the assembly itself. It is the call to hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies which gives occasion to the speaking of overcoming. This, in respect of the claim of the assembly to be heard, is an immensely important truth. The message is addressed to the assembly, not by it to individuals, and she is warned of her delinquency, and the individual saint is called to overcome.
The word to Smyrna is short. Whatever the malice and power of Satan, at the utmost, if permitted, he has but the power of death. Christ is First and Last, beyond as before death, God Himself; but more than that, has met and gone through its power. The saints were not to fear. Satan would work, be allowed to sift, to imprison. Let the saints only be faithful to the extreme point of his power; all beyond was beyond him, was Christ's; and the faithful one would receive from Him the crown of life. Tribulation, poverty, the contempt of those who pretended to have the legitimate hereditary claim to be God's people — always the persecutors, be they Jews or Christians — was the portion of the assembly here; and God suffered it. It was really mercy to the declining assembly. Their hope was beyond it all when Christ gave the crown of life. This made the assembly, sliding into the world, or about to do it insensibly through decline of its first love, sensible that the world was in Satan's hands — was not the rest of saints. But, if the Lord permitted, He limited the tribulation. All was in His hands. Not only was there the crown for the sufferers but whoever overcame, his portion was secure: the death of judgment, the second death, would not hurt him.
We now need a closer judgment. Christ appears as the One having the two-edged sword of the word proceeding out of His mouth. It will be remarked here, that, in Smyrna and Pergamos, a special character of Christ applies to a special state. There is no general result for the assembly. In Ephesus we have Christ's position as Judge in the midst of the candlesticks, and the assembly threatened with removal from its place of witness upon earth. In Thyatira He takes His place as Son of God, Son over His own house, and, as things are (as to the assembly) got to the worst, is revealed in all-piercing and immutable judgement, and the whole blessing of the new state is promised to the over-comer. In Pergamos we have faithfulness found in its previous path, Christ's name and faith held- fast in spite of persecution. It differs from Philadelphia, that His word is not said to be held fast as that of Christ's patience (that the assembly, in its Pergamos state, did not do), but it did hold fast the confession of Christ in the midst of persecution. 
But another kind of evil came in — seduction to fall in with the world's ways by evil teaching within. The doctrine of Balaam was there. Idolatry flowed in. There were also sects within, which taught pretended sanctity but evil practice. These the Lord would judge.
The general truth of removing the candlestick had no place here, neither as a general truth, when the assembly could be called on to keep its first love, nor as fiery judgment, because it was gone wholly astray; but there were corrupter's, and Christ's servants led into idolatry and evil. Individual approbation by Christ, communion with Himself in future blessing (in spirit then), as the once humbled and rejected One (which the assembly was ceasing to be), a name given by Christ, and so of tenderness on His part, a link known only to him who had it. In a word, individual association and individual blessing of secret delight — this was the promise to the over-comer when corruption was advancing, not yet dominant and unhindered in the assembly.
In Thyatira the assembly reaches to the close. There was found, in what Christ owned in this state of things, increasing devotedness. But Jezebel was allowed; and both connection with the world, idolatry, and children begotten to it in the assembly itself. All would be judged, great tribulation fall on Jezebel, and her children be killed. Christ searched the heart and reins, and applied judgment in unchangeable righteousness. The faithful ones of this epoch, the "you" that Christ specially addresses, are but a "rest," a remnant, but specially and growingly devoted. It is, we may remark here, what the assemblies are towards Christ, which is especially in view. What Jezebel did towards the faithful ones is not noted. The Lord's coming is the time looked to; and the whole millennial blessing is promised to him that overcomes; both the reign with Christ, and Christ the Bright Morning Star Himself. "He that hath an ear" is now put after the overcoming; not said in connection with the assembly, but with those who overcome in it. The state is the state characterized by this. Thyatira may go on to the end, but does not characterize the witness of God to the end; other states must be brought in to do that. It is, I have no doubt. the Popery of the middle ages, say to the Reformation; Romanism itself goes on to the end. The judgement on Jezebel is final. The Lord had given her space to repent, and she had not repented. It would be a forced association with those whom she had once seduced to the ruin of them all. The whole character here is piercing judgment according to God's own nature and requirements; special trial and judgment, yet the blessing not special, but the portion of the saints at large in that which they have with Christ; as the departure and judgment were complete — adultery, not merely failure in first love.
We have seen the close at the Lord's coming contemplated in Thyatira. Sardis begins a new collateral phase of the assembly's history. Save the having the seven stars, none of the ecclesiastical characters of Christ, none of those noticed in Him as walking in the midst of the assemblies, are noticed. Still the assembly is noticed as such. It is still the history of the assembly. But, the Lord's coming having been noticed, all characteristics of Christ refer to what He will have in the kingdom. Still He has yet the seven stars — supreme authority over the assembly. It is nothing peculiar to this assembly. He has it over, and as to, all. It is in this character He has to do with Sardis. He has the seven spirits, the fullness of the perfection in which He will govern the earth. Thus He is competent to bless in the assembly, though there is no regular ecclesiastical connection. He has power over all, and the fullness of the Spirit; both in perfection. Whatever the assembly is, He is all this. This is a great comfort. The assembly cannot fail in the place of witness through want of fullness of grace in Him. Nor can He fail him who has ears to hear.

But the state of the assembly shewed that it was far from availing itself of it. It had indeed a name to live; it was superior in its pretensions to the evil of Thyatira; nor were there Jezebels and corruption. But there was practically death. There was no completeness in her works before God. It was not evil here, but lack of spiritual energy. But this did leave individuals to defile their garments in the world. She was called to remember, not her first works, but what she had received and heard, the truth committed to her, the gospel and word of God; if not, she would be treated as the world. 
The Lord [Christ the Bright Morning Star Himself] would come as a thief; for the Lord's coming is now always in view.