me. But the wicked shall be punished for neglecting him. 265 clxvi. Mat. much as ye have done around you; and verily I say unto you, In as SECT. it unto one of the least much as ye did [it] unto one of the least and of these my brethren, ye have done it unto poorest of these my dear brethren, who now stand with you in this happy company, ye XXV.40 in effect did [it] to me: and I declare it in the face of all the world, That I take and reward it as if I had been relieved in person, and joyfully welcome you to that blessed world, where you shall be for ever reaping the harvest of these labours of love. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left-hand, Depart 42 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me ΠΟ ye 42 Then when his faithful servants are thus ao-41. quitted and honoured, he shall turn and say also from me, ye cursed, to them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye into everlasting fire, cursed and detestable creatures, into the prepared for the devil of that everlasting and unquenchable fire, which agonies and his angels: was originally prepared for the devil and his angels, whose companions you must for ever be in the regions of horror and despair. And cannot but know in your own consciences that well deserve it; for I was hungry, and ye did not give me so much as bread to eat; I was 43 45 I was a stranger, thirsty, and ye did not give me so much as water and ye took me not in: to drink; I was wandering among you as a me not: sick, and in poor helpless stranger, and ye did not take me prison, and ye visited in among your domestics and guests; I was naked, and ye did not clothe me; I was sick, and in prison, and ye did not look after me, or do any thing at all for my relief. drink. naked, and ye clothed me not. 41 Then shall they ing, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or sick, or in pri ye Then shall they also answer and say unto him3, 44 also answer him, say. Lord, we are surprised at so strange a charge, and cannot apprehend ourselves liable to it; for when did we ever see thee hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not to the best of our abilities minister to thee? If we had ever seen thee in distress, we would not have neglected to relieve thee; but we had never any opportunity of doing it. son, and did not minister unto thee? e Ye did it to me.] That alms-deeds should be remembered with peculiar regard in the day of judgment was a notion that early prevailed among the Jews, as appears by the Chaldee Paraphrase on Eccles. ix. 7. which bears a remarkable resemblance to these words of Christ, and might perhaps be an imitation of them. See Mede's Works, p. 81. Prepared for the devil and his angels.] There is a remarkable difference between our Lord's expression here and in ver. 34. There the kingdom is said to have been prepared for the righteous from the foundation of the world; whereas here the everlasting And fire is not said to have been prepared for Then shall they also answer, &c.] Per- h Everlasting 266 SECT. Reflections on the sentence he will pass on the wicked. And then shall he answer them, saying, Verily clxvi. I say unto you, and declare it in the most solemn Mat. manner, That inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one XXV.45 of the least of these once necessitous, though now triumphant saints, who dwelt among you on earth, and needed your assistance, ye did [it] not to me; and I justly thought myself neglected and injured when you shut up the bowels of your compassion towards them. 46 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the not to me. least of these, ye did it eternal. but And so, to conclude all, these miserable 46 And these shall wretches, notwithstanding all the excuses they ing punishment: go away into everlastcan urge, shall go areay into a most dreadful the righteous into life state of everlasting punishment; but the righteous, through the abundant grace of God manifested by his Son, shall enter into everlasting life and thus the great scene shall close in the eternal happiness or misery of every human creature who has ever lived on the face of the earth. Mat. IMPROVEMENT. LET us now behold, with an attentive eye and a solicitous heart, XXV.31 the end of all the living; that awful scene, in which the various 32 dispensations of God to mankind shall terminate in the solemn day, when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and sit on his magnificent throne. All nations and people shall be assembled before him, and we must make up a part of the assembly. The sheep and 33 the goats must then be separated: and, O my soul, amongst which wilt thou then be numbered? Is there an inquiry, is there a care, of greater, of equal, of comparable importance? 41 Let us view the sentence we must shortly hear, as he who will himself pronounce it has been [pleased to give us a copy of it.Can we conceive any thing more dreadful than that which shall be passed on those on the left-hand; To be driven from the presence of Christ as accursed, and to be consigned over to a devouring fire! and this not only to the tortures of a moment, or an hour (as in some painful executions that have been known here,) but to everlasting fire, yea, to fire prepared for the devil and his angels, where they will be perpetual companions, and perpetual tormentors! should not the thought that he is in danger, in hourly danger, of being scaled up under this sentence, awaken the most stupid sinner, and engage him eagerly to cry out, What shall I do h Everlasting punishment, — everlasting life.] As the original word amoy is the same in both places, I thought it proper to use the same word in the translation of both; and miserable are they that dare venture their souls on its signifying a lentited duration in either. Reflections on the sentence he will pass on the wicked. 267 clxvi. Mat. XXV. do to be saved?-And on whom is this sentence passed? Let us at. SECT. tentively observe it! Not merely on the most gross and abandoned sinners, but on those who have lived in an habitual neglect of their duty not merely on those who have ravaged and persecuted the saints (though surely their furnace will be heated seven times hotter than that of others), but even on those who have neglected to relieve them. 42, 43 On the other hand, let us seriously reflect what it will be to be owned by Christ before the assembled world; and to hear him saying with a sweet smile, and with a voice of harmony and love, Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 34 from the foundation of the world. How infinite is the love that prepared that kingdom for us before we had a being! how rich the blood that purchased it! how overflowing the grace that bestows it on such mean, such undeserving creatures! Bless the Lord, O our souls, in the prospect of it! Let men curse, O Lord, if thou wilt thus bless; (Psal. cix. 28.) Let them load our names with infamy if thou wilt adorn them with such glory: let all the kingdoms of the earth, and all the pomp of them, be despised and trampled under foot, when offered as an equivalent for this infinitely more glorious kingdom. Let us attentively observe the character of those who are to re- 35, 36 ceive it. They are the useful and benevolent souls: such as have loved the Lord Jesus Christ, not only in his name, and ordinances, and promises, but have loved him in his laws, and in his people too; and have known him in those humble forms in which he has been pleased, as it were by proxy, to appear among us. 140 was hungry, and ye fed me; thirsty, and ye gave me drink, &c.; for in as much as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me. Amazing words! that the meanest saint should be owned by the King of glory as one of his brethren! Irresistible argument to those that do indeed believe these words, to stir them up to abound in every good word and work Under this impression, methinks, instead of hiding ourselves from those who should be to us as our own flesh by virtue of our common union to him, we should not only hearken to their intreaties, but even search them out in those corners to which modest want may sometimes retire, and cast about in our thoughts how we may secure any happy opportunity of relieving some poor saint, for their sakes, and for their Master's, and even for our own. What if Christ came to us in person as a poor helpless stranger? What if we saw him destitute of food and raiment, or in want of any other necessaries of life? Should we not contend for it as an honour, which of us should receive him into our houses, which of us should entertain him at our table, which of us should even strip ourselves VOL. VII. LI of 268 clxvi. The passover was now within two days. SECT. of our cloathing to give it to him? And yet he tells us that he is in effect with us in his poor members; and we invent a thousand Ver, cold excuses for neglecting to assist him, and send our compas40 sionate Saviour away empty. Is this the temper of a Christian? Is this the temper in which we should wish to be found at the judgment day? 44, 45 But we know not Christ in this disguise. Neither did these unhappy creatures on the left-hand know him: they are surprised to be told of such a thing; and yet are represented as perishing for it. Away therefore will all those religious hopes (vainly so called) which leave the heart hardened, and the hand contracted from good works! If we shut up the bowels of compassion from our bre thren, how dwelleth the love of God in us? (1 John iii. 17.) Orto what doth the love of Christ constrain us, if it be not to the exercise of gratitude to him, and the offices of cheerful and active friendship to those whom he now owns as his brethren, and whom he will not be ashamed to call so in the midst of his highest triumph? Blessed Jesus, how munificent art thou! and what a fund of cha◄ rity didst thou lay up in the very words which are now before us! In all ages since they were spoken, how many hungry hast thou fed, how many naked hast thou clothed, how many calamitous creatures hast thou relieved by them! May they be written deep in our hearts, that the joy with which we shall finally meet thee may be increased by the happy effect of this day's meditation! SECT. clxvii. Luke SECT. CLXVII. The Jewish rulers consult how they might take Christ, and Judas agrees with them to deliver him privately into their hands. Mat. XXVI. 1-5, 14-16. Mark XIV. 1, 2, 10, 11. Luke XXI. 37, to the end. XXII. 1—6. LULE XXI. 37. LUKE XXI. 37. time he was teach at night he went out, that is called the mount THUS HUS our Lord ended his discourses on this AND in the daysubject on the third day of the week in ing in the temple, and which he suffered; and thus he was generally XXI. 37 employed from the time of his public entry into and abode in the mount Jerusalem to his last passover: he was teaching of Olives. by day in the temple, and at night he went out of the city, and lodged at the mount called [the mount] of Olives, in the neighbourhood of which Bethany lay; in the retirement of which, particularly in the garden of Gethsemane, he often spent a considerable part of the night; being desirous to secure that only season of solitude, that he might prepare himself for his approaching suf 269 clxvii. Luke And the Jewish rulers consult how they might take Christ. sufferings by a proper series of extraordinary SECT. 38 And all the peo- devotion. And as soon as it was light, he returnple came early in the ed to the city; and all the people came early in morning to him in the temple, for to hear the morning to him in the temple, that they might XXI. 38 thus lay hold of every opportunity to hear him; and he was solicitous not to lose any time that might be improved for so profitable a purpose. him. LUKE XXII. 1. leavened bread drew XXII. 1 Now it may not be improper here to observe, Luke Now the feast of un- that the feast of unleavened bread, which was nigh, which is called commonly called the passover, drew near, [and] the passover, [and was was celebrated within two days after our Lord after two days. [MARK had delivered the prophecies and admonitions so XIV. 1.] largely recorded above". when Jesus had finish 2 Ye know that alter two days is the feast of the passover, and the MAT. XXVI. 1. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finish- Mat. And it came to pass, ed all these discourses, and the appointed hour XXVI.1 ed all these saying, he for his sufferings was now at hand, he said to his said unto his disciples, disciples. Ye know that after two days the pass- 2 over cometh; and in the painest terms I now assure you the Son of man is then to be betrayed Son of man is betrayed to his inveterate enemies, that, according to what I have often told you (Mat. xvi. 21, and xx. 18, 19), he may be put into the hands of sinful men to be crucified: prepare yourselves therefore for that trying season, that you may not be hurried into any thing which you may afterwards have reason to repent. to be crucified. 3 Then assembled together the chief was called Caiaphas ; [MARK LUKE XXI. 2.-] Then that very evening the chief priests of 3 priests, and the scribes, every class, and others employed in distinguished and the elders of the services in the temple, together with the scribes, people, unto the palace and the other elders of the people, who were memof the high-priest, who bers of the grand sanhedrim, assembled together XIV-1 not indeed in the temple, where they usually met, but at the palace of the high-priest, who was then called Caiaphas; (as was observed be4 And consulted fore, John xi. 40, p. 127.) And there they 4 [how] they might entered into a secret conspiracy, and consulted take Jesus by subtilty, [and put him to death.] how they might privately take Jesus by some ar[MARK XIV.-I. tifice, without giving an alarm to his friends, LUKE XXII.-2.-] and might put him to death as soon as possible, which one way or other they were determined 5 But they said, Not to do. But they had such an apprehension of 5 on the feast-day, lest his interest in the people, that some of them among the people: were rather for delaying it, and said, It will be [LUKE more advisable to wait till after the passover, there be an uproar a Two days after.] I apprehend that the preceding discourses (from sect. cli.) were delivered on the Tuesday of the week in which he suffered; and he probably uttered the following words that evening, and which was just two days before the paschal L12 b One |