Right-hand Sins
(No. 3415)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1914.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE
27, 1868.
"And if your hand offends you, cut it off." Mark 9:43.
SALVATION is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not of works,
neither can it be procured by human merit. It is the free gift of God
through the atoning Sacrifice of Christ to every soul that believes.
But what is salvation? Salvation is, in short, deliverance from sin,
deliverance from the guilt of it, from the punishment of it, from the
power of it. If, then, any man is saved, he is delivered from the
reigning power of sin. It is not possible, therefore, that any man
should have salvation and yet continue in the indulgence of sin. Jesus
Christ came to open a hospital for sin-sick souls, not that they might
remain sick in a hospital but might go out of it healed. He came not to
take men to Heaven with their sins about them, but to purge them from
their sins and so make them fit to enter Heaven! Hence, Jesus Christ is
the severest of all moralists and while He and His followers denounce
all trust for salvation in merit, they equally declare that no man is a
saved soul who tolerates any known sin. All the Gospel declares this.
In all its parts it implies this and that man cannot and ought not to
consider himself to be saved and cannot truly be said to be saved while
he lives in the indulgence of evil propensities as he did before. We
shall not at all, therefore, come into conflict with the Doctrines of
Grace while we preach to you the strongest claims of Christ upon our
hearts and lives through His Word. We shall have to urge upon you the
most strenuous giving up of sin and that which leads to sin–but this,
not as a means of salvation–but as a result of faith and as an
evidence that salvation is truly possessed–as the sign and token, the
proof and the earnest of the good work of the Holy Spirit within the
soul. We shall begin, therefore, with this short assertion which will
serve as our first point of thought–
I. EVERYTHING WHICH OFFENDS GOD OUGHT TO OFFEND US.
You notice the text says, "If your hand offends you." We might read it,
"Makes you to offend God." The two expressions ought, in our
experience, mean the same thing, for everything which offends God does
offend every truly gracious heart. That short statement will serve as a
touchstone for us all to know whether we are reconciled to God or not.
Remember, if you truly love God, it must be so–that that which is
hateful to Him will be hateful to you. Where two hearts are bound
together in the bonds of love, they are quite sure to endeavor to
remove everything out of the way that would cause pain to either. You
cannot love me if you favor my enemies. You can have no affection for
me if you delight to thrust before me that which vexes my spirit and
grieves my heart. True love feels a sympathy with the person loved and
learns to put away that which is obnoxious. Now say, Heart, do you put
away from yourself that which God hates? Do you hate it because He
hates it–not so much because your fellow Christians dislike it, or
because the public judgment would go against it–but do you hate evil
because it is detestable in the sight of God? If so, then you have a
clear mark that you love God and you should be thankful for the Divine
Grace which has put your heart into such a state.
Again, if that which offends God offends us, then we may congratulate
ourselves that there is some degree of conformity between God and us.
All the saints are to be made like unto God. It was in God's image that
man was first made– he lost that image by his sin–but that image is
to be restored by the work of the Holy Spirit. If you do, even now, in
your soul war against that which God loathes–if you strive and cry
after that which God loves–then there is between God and you some
degree of likeness. You are like He in your hatred of evil–like, not
in degree, but yet still in substance. You are like God in your love
towards that which is lovely and good and pure–not like He in degree,
I say again, yet still in the matter of fact there is some likeness
between God and your soul.
Then there is one other thought that ought to cheer you. If you can
honestly answer this question–If that which offends God offends you,
then there is some communion between God and your soul–and though it
may be a questionwith you and you say, "Will God in very deed speak
with such a one as I am? Will He reveal Himself to His servant and show
Himself gracious to such a worm as I?"–He has done it and He is
doingit and this practical proof of His communion is far better than
half the raptures and the joys which may be but the fruit of men's
carnal excitement! This solid gold of holiness is full and true proof
that the hand of the Lord has been laid upon you. Settle this, then, my
beloved Brother or Sister, in your heart from this day forth! If there
is a good man in this world, if God loves him, I must love him. If
there is a good Doctrine preached anywhere, though I may scarcely
understand it, yet if God loves it, I must believe it and rejoice in
it! If there is any Providential dispensation that is really of God's
mind, then let it be of my mind. Oh, Spirit of God, bring me to love
what God loves, not only to acquiesce in His will, but to rejoice in
His will! And Lord, teach me to hate what You hate. If there are those
in this world whose company You would not have, for they blaspheme and
rail and speak lightly of holy things, help me to shun their company!
If there is a song that Christ's ear would not hear, let my ears refuse
to hear it. If there is any sight that a holy God would not gaze upon,
let not me gaze upon it. May I seek only to love that which would
approve itself to the pure mind of Christ and to be offended, heartily
and naturally–without any twisting of myself towards it–at everything
that is at enmity with God. That stands as the first thought. Now, let
us pass on.
II. EVERY SAVED MAN WILL FIND THAT THERE ARE MANY SINS WHICH OFFEND GOD
WHICH
MUST BE VERY SUMMARILY DEALT WITH.
That which offends God, offends the soul. That is the first step. Then
the next step is–deal with it as an offense, deal with it with vigor,
deal with it in a summary manner–as the text puts it, "If your hand
offends you, cut it off." There are sins which are very dear to men. I
shall not attempt to give a catalog of them. We are so differently
constituted that the sin which might bewitch you, might not fascinate
me, and the sin into which I should be likely to fall might not be that
to which you would be so liable. We all have some besetting sins. We
may fall into all sins, but some men are more disposed to certain
offenses than others.
Now, if you have any wrong thing that has hitherto been dear to you,
like your right hand, your right eye, your right foot, you are,
according to this text to deal with it–and to deal with it at once!
Some sins appear to men to be necessary to them. "What shall I do
without my right hand?" In certain trades and lines of business, the
habit of telling white lies, or the indulgence of certain company, may
seem as if it were absolutely necessary. "How can I get my daily bread
unless I do such-and-such as others do? We must live," and so on. Well,
if the thing is wrong, even though it appears to be necessary to your
livelihood, as the right hand is to the body, yet you are still to deal
with it, for you and your sins must part, or God and you must part!
There can be no salvation to one that harbors sin, and if sin is not
given up, hope must be given up, for into Heaven no man shall come who
hugs his sins! Some sins, then, are dear and some sins seem useful.
Some sins, again, seem to be parts of our very selves. "I give up that
habit?" says one, "If that were relinquished, I should be, indeed, a
very different man from what I am, but I cannot give it up–it is
impossible! The Ethiopian might sooner change his skin, or the leopard
his spots." And yet, Friend, even if it is impossible, it must be done!
Another power than yours must come to the rescue, for that sin of your
must go, and the sooner, the better, if you are to be saved!
Now, observe Christ's word about this right-hand sin which seems so
dear, so necessary and so much a part of the man, himself. What does He
say? "If your hand offends you"–strap it up? Well, some have said, "I
will take a vow not to fall into such a sin as that." "If your hand
offends you"–secure it within certain bounds and limits, so that it
shall only act up to a certain extent, but shall go no farther–fetter
it, chain it? "If your hand offends you"–swathe it in bands, keep it
from doing mischief? No! But hear the Master's sharp and, at its first
sound, cruel words–"Cut it off!" In the Gospel according to Matthew,
He puts it, "Cut it off and cast it from you," as though even after it
were cut off and the vital union were dissolved, yet still even the
thought of it becomes detestable! "Cut it off and cast it from you."
You perceive it is a thorough-going action! It is a vigorous action! It
is a final action, for, after the man has cut off his hand, he cannot
put it on again! After he has plucked out his right eye and cast it
from him, he cannot have it restored again! And after the right foot
has been cut off, it cannot grow there again. It is a final sentence of
separation between the man and his sin!
Now, I put it to some of you, tonight, who have been thinking about
going to Heaven but you will never get there, while you are what you
are. You are accustomed to drink, perhaps. Now, it is no use your
dallying with that sin, saying, "I will keep it within bounds!" Off
with it, Sirs! And cast it from you! Those pots of yours must be turned
upside down! The damnable habit must be relinquished, or it will
certainly be your destruction. It is of no use for a man to say, "I
have been unchaste but I will keep that sin within limits." There is no
such thing as keeping the devil in a cage. Cut it off andcast it from
you! Then there is your pride. It is in vain for you to say, "I will be
somewhat humble. I will be somewhat resigned," and so on. Cut it off,
Man, cut it off and cast it from you! It must be thorough work–a clean
severance between you and sin. Ah, these are hard tidings and many will
turn on their heels and go their way, and say, "We cannot endure this!"
But as the Lord lives, the pearly gates can never open to any of you
who keep your sins. All your iniquities shall be forgiven you–though
you have blasphemed and have even committed murder, there is pardon for
you if you hate those sins and leave them–and Christ will help you to
hate them if you trust Him! He will give you Grace to quit them, but if
you hug those sins, you may prate about faith in Christ, and you may
lie about experience in Grace, but to such things as real faith and
true experience, you are and must be utter strangers unless sin, with
stern resolution, is given up–not so much as onesin hugged, or
indulged, or loved. "Must a man be perfect then?" Sir, a man must
desireto be perfect. "But he cannot be perfect." Sir, he can be perfect
in intention, if not in fact, and there is a deal of difference between
the sin of misadventure, and of infirmity, and the willfully wicked sin
of some men! Alas, there are always men who can excuse their sins by
the sins of God's people. They eat up the sins of God's people as they
eat up bread–they make a sweet morsel of it! But the genuine child of
God, if he sins, hates himself for it. The evil that he would not, that
he does, but his heart is right. He would do good perfectly if he
could, and he pants and longs to be delivered from sin. His heart does
not go after his idols–he has given them up, cast them away, by God's
Grace and, if he could, he would never take their names upon his lips
again.
Let that second point sink deep into the souls of all who would be
saved. Sins that offend must be given up, and given up at once. Now, in
the next place–
III. THERE ARE SOME THINGS WHICH CAUSE US TO OFFEND, and if we are true
Christians, we shall not hesitate to give them up. Now, I am about to
address those who are really in Christ Jesus. There are certain matters
which to Believers are very risky and dangerous, and if they love
Christ, they must give them up.
I think I know some who, I trust, are the Lord's people, but they are
very fond of a certain class of company. There are attractions to them
in certain pleasures. Now, if they would but look at their own hearts,
they would find that this company is a snare to them. They are kept
from weeknight services. They have little zeal for God's Glory. Prayer
is not kept up as it ought to be, kept up after such meetings as they
sometimes hold. And yet the society is very fascinating and not
altogether in itself to be condemned–but the tendencies are, to this
soul at any rate, exceedingly detrimental. The man is backsliding and
he certainly gets nothing to help his growth in Grace in that society.
All he gets there is evidently to the bad and has an evil tendency. Now
what ought the Christian in such a case do? He ought without hesitation
to give up such society! I have no right to be constantly found where I
cannot grow in Grace. I have no right to find happiness in associations
which are dangerous to my soul, which drive away the Holy Spirit and
break my communion with Christ. Off with that right hand, then! "Oh,
but it will seem so painful to give up that society! It would be like
losing a right hand!" Well, but it would be a grand thing to lose a
hand for Christ. They are not altogether the most ignoble soldiers who
come back from battle maimed–no, their scars are their honor–and for
a Christian to have to sacrifice some dear connection, to have to give
up standing and position, to receive the cold shoulder, to have the
wink of the eye, to have the unkind word for Christ should be counted
for an honor! We should be willing to do and bear it. No, without the
slightest hesitation, we should feel that there is no connection to be
compared with communion with Christ, no society for a single second to
be put in the scales with walking near to Him! And so, off with the
right hand and stay close to Christ.
It sometimes happens that things which are right, and good, and
desirable, may be causes of offense. Yes, there may come a time when a
man's good name and reputation may have to be given up. I believe that
a Christian minister had better, once and for all, as soon as ever he
sets out earnestly preaching the Gospel, make up his mind to give up
his reputation. It is very hard to be accused of this, and that, and
the other–some unknown crime to which you were never tempted–to have
your words wrested and your motives misconstrued! But every faithful
servant of Christ ought to go in for that, and reckon upon that and
settle it at first. Mr. John Wesley, I think, once said in the pulpit
that he had been accused of every crime in the whole catalog of sin,
except drunkenness, and he did not know that anyone had accused him of
that–whereas some wicked blasphemer in the crowd accused him of it to
his face, and Mr. Wesley lifted up his hands and said–"Now this day is
fulfilled the Word of the Master wherein He said, 'Woe is unto you when
men shall speak well of you, but blessed are you when they shall say
all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake and the Gospel's.'"
Why, in the old times, the old days of the Covenanters, the old times
of the Puritans, there were found plenty of the followers of Christ who
would keep close to Him if they could keep their reputations and their
characters! But those werethe brave men who would be counted the
offscouring of all things, be set down for fanatics and I know not what
besides, but who declared that for the Truth of God, for Christ and for
His cause, they could bear it all! I was reading yesterday the famous
sentence of excommunication which Cargill declared against Charles the
Second, in which he cast him out of the Church of God and brought all
his crimes against him–and went to the block for having done so! He
and Alexander Petrie and such were known to say that they would die a
thousand deaths, sooner than admit that any king could be head of the
Church, or put the crown on any head, except the head of Christ Jesus
the Lord! In such times, and in other times as well, the most of men
are cowards–they must keep a reputation–they must not oppose
themselves too much to popular opinion. They must, if they can, sail
with the current. Oh, child of God, if your reputation is ever a snare
to you, off with that right hand of yours and be willing to be called a
dog or a devil, if Christ can get the greater honor out of you!
To some professors, their love of profit becomes a snare. I need not
say many things about that. If there are any profits that you get in
business that are not honest profits, I charge you before the living
God, have nothing to do with them! But let the Christian's business be
conducted with such uprightness that he could afford to have it
proclaimed as with the sound of a trumpet at the market, for only such
business is fit for a Christian! So if there is anything about your
trading that would not stand the test of the most searching
investigation, cut it off! Cast it from you–what have you to do with
it, you child of God?
So, too, with very much besides, which I have not time to mention.
There are a thousand things we might plead for concerning which much
might be said, but if these things, though they may be indifferent in
themselves, should to any of us prove a preventive of our serving
Christ, they become sins to us. Even if they are allowable to others,
we have no right to touch these doubtful things. That which is not of
faith, is sin–that is to say, that which you cannot do, believing it
to be right, even if it is right, is sin to you. You have got to know
in your own soul that it is according to the commandment, or else, as a
child of God, you have no right to touch it, or go near it.
May I urge upon my dear Brothers and Sisters, the members of this
Church, to avoid all places where they give Satan the advantage. In a
battle it is a great thing for a general to fix his position. I do not
think I should be inclined to often expose myself to the fire of a
battery across a plain where the shots were constantly flying. And I
pray you young people, and old people, too, never to be afraid of being
too precise, but to be afraid of being too lax. This is a day in which
the stern regulations of the Puritans are cast overboard and, perhaps,
rightly so, some of them–but let us not go to the opposite extreme,
but rather when we feel that anything comes to be a temptation to us,
let us away with it and away with it without a moment's hesitation–off
with the right foot, the right foot, and out with the right eye!
One thing there is which I have often to preach a little sermon about
to myself. There is a tendency in some of us, especially those of us to
who have heavy constitutions, to have a love of ease–and we have to
drive ourselves on with a whip to constant industry. But it must be
done, we must do it! Whitfield used to call out against the gouty
doctor. That minister who takes things easily will be cursed of God at
the last. I believe there is no man whose condemnation will be more
dreadful than that of an easy-living minister. We are bound to be the
best of men, to spend and be spent in the Master's cause. The love of
ease is the temptation of many, many Christians. Their love of
retirement is really indolence. They get into the back ranks of the
Christian army and enjoy all the good things of the Church out of a
love of self. I am sure many do. We, ourselves, like spiritual ease. We
do not like being stirred up too much. We do not like a little
self-examination. Are there not hundreds of Christians who do not dare
to look at their own souls? They are obliged to live at secondhand,
hoping it is all right, but as to a thorough ransacking of their
spirits, they have not gone through that by the year together! It won't
do, my Brothers and Sisters! We must cut off this easy kind of
Christianity. The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and only the
violent will win it! A heart-searching contention against sin–and
revenge against iniquity in our own souls must be carried out–for men
will not go to Heaven sleeping! These are not times in which you will
be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease. He that would win the
heavenly race must run for it. He that would get to Heaven must fight
for it. The Lord stir us up and deliver us from this right-hand sin of
self-confidence and love of carnal ease! The Lord help us to work for
His cause while we have any strength left, and to rest in the rest
which He has prepared for us on the other side of Jordan! Now I come to
a close.
IV. WHAT ARE THE REASONS WHY THERE SHOULD BE A CUTTING OFF OF RIGHT
HANDS?
I shall speak first to you unconverted people about the giving up of
sin.
"It is not a very pleasant operation, that of cutting off the right
hand," says one. "I cannot do it. I do not like that amputation."
Listen awhile, Man! Did you never have a friend that had a broken leg?
Did you never go to see him in the hospital? You recollect that the
doctor told you that the leg would mortify, and when the man heard
that, what did he say? Did he object to have it taken off just above
where it was mortifying? He was told that if it were not taken off,
thewhole body would perish–and was he not very thankful, indeed, when
the surgeons came and removed the diseasedlimb?
There may be some here who have even passed through that
themselves–you were glad enough to lose the arm or leg to save your
life. But, Man, that sin of yours is a mortified part of your soul,
your spiritual manhood! It must be given up–it will send mortification
through your whole self if it is not cut off. Is there anything cruel
in Christ's demanding that it should be removed? No, it is the dictate
of generous and kindly Wisdom. Submit yourself to it and ask the Holy
Spirit to take away your darling sin and make it distasteful to you.
You will soon die, and if you die with that sin un-repented of, you can
have no question about where you will go! If you have any question
about it, our Lord's words that I read to you told you three times over
that you will be cast "into Hell fire, where their worm dies not and
their fire is not quenched." I am not going to dwell on those words by
way of explaining them. What they mean I trust you never may know, but
if you ever should begin to know, you will continue to know forever and
ever–"where their worm dies not, and their fire is not quenched," as
some say it is. Oh, beware lest you run that risk! Now Man, suppose you
should keep your cups, keep your bad company, keep your lusts, keep
your self-righteousness–and find yourself in Hell? It will be poor
consolation to you! Ah, instead of consolation, it will be another
tongue for remorse, another tooth for the adder of despair. What? Did
you sell your soul for that little dance, for that night of revelry,
for that week's debauchery? What? Would you sell your soul for that
unchaste delight or for that wild maniac shriek of pleasure? Ah, how
you will curse yourselves and tear your hair and wish that you had
never been born, and played the fool so horribly with your immortal
soul! Let the sin go! Let the sin go! If a man were drowning with a
golden belt about his loins, and could not swim because the gold was
heavy, how quickly would he seek to unbind the belt! How gladly would
he feel it sink in the flood, and himself begin to strike out and swim.
Man, may God's Grace help you to unbuckle that belt of sin, or,
pleasure, or whatever it may be–and give up all, that you might swim
for eternal life through Jesus Christ!
And now, Christians, this word to you. I have hinted that there are
some things that you will have to give up in order that you may grow in
Grace and serve your Master. I will not keep you, but there are two or
three things I have to say to you. Remember, that what you ever have to
give up for Christ, it will be sweet to give up, and His precious
society and approval will be a perfect recompense! No man ever lost by
Christ in the long run. No, talk of giving up–are not those things
most our own that we give up to Him? Have we not felt it to be far
sweeter to drink the gall-cup than to drink the wine-cup if we have
made the exchange to glorify His name? Ah, if the love is right,
sacrifice will be the truest gain!
Besides, reflect–Christians are losers to be gainers. The farmer loses
his wheat as he scatters it abroad upon the soil, but then he expects
the harvest. The money that is invested and put out, the merchant has
it not, but then it is making gain for him and he expects to receive it
with its interest! So whatever we give up for Christ will come back to
us with blessed interest in that land where to have been maimed for
Christ will be nobility, where to have suffered for Christ will enroll
us among the peerage of the skies, where to have died for Christ will
make us brightest of the bright, amidst the fair ones, fairest of the
fair! Oh, never stand questioning and parleying about anything in which
Christ is concerned, but pray the Holy Spirit to keep you, from this
day forward, close at the heels of the Master, casting aside every
weight and every sin that besets you, and every earthly thing that
attracts you–only desiring His name to be sweet upon your tongue, and
His praise to be reflected in your whole character! God grant it may be
so with you, my dear Brothers and Sisters, until Christ comes. Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW 18:1-22.
Verse 1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is
the greatest in the Kingdom ofHeaven?The question we have sometimes
heard asked in other forms, "Which is the highest office–which form of
service shall have the greatest honor?" As if we were courtiers and
were to take our positions according to precedent.
2. And Jesus called a little child unto Him and set him in the midst of
them. They all wondered what He was going to do. The little child was,
no doubt, pleased to find itself in such happy company.
3. And said, Verily I say unto you– "And said, Verily I say unto
you"–to you men or women who think no small things of yourselves and
are wanting to know which is greatest–implying that you, each one,
think yourself pretty good as it is.
3. Except you are converted and become as little children, you shall
not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Someone said to me this morning,
"This is a growing day." "Ah," I said, "I hope we shall all grow
spiritually." "Which way?" he asked, "smaller or larger?" Let it be
smaller, Brothers and Sisters–that will certainly be the surest way of
growth! If we can become much less, today, we shall be growing. We have
grown up, as we call it– today let us grow down and become as little
children, or else we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!
4. Whoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the
same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. The lower down, the higher
up! In a certain sense the way to Heaven is downward in our own esteem.
"He must increase. I must decrease." And when that straight-backed
letter, "I," which often becomes so prominent, vanishes altogether,
till there is not an iota of it left, then we shall become like our
Lord!
5. And whoever shall receive one such little childin My name, receives
Me. The humblest and the least in the family of Divine Love, if
received, brings with that reception the same blessing as the reception
of Christ.
6. But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in
Me–It does not mean put him out of temper by his taking his silly
offense–but shall cause him to sin, shall make him stumble, shall
scandalize him–whoever shall do that.
6. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.If you have the
revised version, you will see in the margin that it is a donkey
millstone–not a common millstone which women used to turn–but a
bigger stone which was turned by a donkey in a mill which thus was of a
larger kind altogether. The very heaviest conceivable doom were better
than to be a stumbling block in the way of the very least of God's
people. Yet I have known some say, "Well, the thing is lawful, and if a
weak Brother does not like it, I cannot help it–he should not be so
weak." No, my dear Brother, but that is not the way Christ would have
you talk! You must consider the weakness of your Brother–all things
may be lawful to you, but all things are not expedient–and if meat
offends your Brother–eat no meat while the world stands! Remember, we
must, after all, measure the pace which the flock can travel by the
weakest in the flock–or else we shall have to leave behind us many of
the sheep of Christ! The pace at which a company must go, must depend
upon how fast the weak and the sick can travel–is it not so? Unless we
are willing to part company with them, which I trust we are not willing
to do. So let us take care that we cause not even the weakest to
stumble by anything that we can do without harm to ourselves, but which
would bring harm to them! But I am not sure if it would harm the
weakest, whether it would not harm us, also, because we are not as
strong as we think we are. And, perhaps, if we took a better measure,
we might put ourselves among the weakest, too!
7. 8. Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that
offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offenses come! If your
hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut them off and cast them from
you. Get rid of that which is most useful to you, most necessary to
you, rather than be led astray by it and made to sin!
8. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than
having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. Remember
those are the Words of Jesus–"everlasting fire"–not the words of some
of those coarse, cruel theologians that you hear a great deal about
now-a-days, but the Words of Jesus Christ, the Master Himself! You
cannot be more tender than He! To pretend to be so will only prove us
to be very foolish!
9. And if your eye causes you to sin. So necessary to your pleasure, to
your knowledge and to your guidance, yet if it make you sin–
9. Pluck it out and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter
into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into
Hell fire.Better to be but a maimed Believer than to be an accomplished
unbeliever! Better to be an uncultured saint than a cultured modern
thinker! Better that you lose an eye, or lose a hand, than lose your
faith in God and His Word–and so lose your soul and be cast into Hell
fire!
10. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones.So apt to
do so, when a man appears to have no perfect knowledge, no large
pretentions, we are so apt to think, "Oh, he is a nobody!"
10. For I say unto you, That in Heaven their angels do always behold
the face of My Father who is in Heaven. There is an angel to watch over
each child of God! The heirs of Heaven have those holy spirits to keep
watch and ward over them. These sacred intelligences who watch over the
people of God, do at the same time, behold God's face! They do His
commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word and beholding His
face all the while. And if these little ones are thus honorably
attended by the angels of God, never despise them! They may be dressed
in fustian, they may wear the very poorest of print, but they are
attended like princes–therefore treat them as such.
11. For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.Another
reason why you must not despise them. "What do you think?" Put on your
considering cap and think a minute.
12-14. What do you think? If a man has an hundred sheep, and one of
them is gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes
into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? And if he
finds it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than
of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the
will of your Father who is in Heaven, that one of these little ones
should perish. Nor shall they! Christ has come on purpose that He may
find them–and find them He will! And having an hundred whom his Father
gave Him, He will not be satisfied with ni-nety-and-nine, but the whole
hundred shall be there. Now, as if to show us that we are not to
despise the very least in the family, nor even the most erring, He
brings it personally home to us.
15. Moreover, if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell
him his fault, between you and him alone. If he shall hear you, you
have gained your brother. Do not say, "You must come to me." Go to
him–he has trespassed against you. It is a personal affair–go and
seek him. It is useless to expect the person who does the injury to try
and make peace. It is the injuredone who always has to forgive, though
he has nothing to be forgiven! It always comes to that and it is the
injured one who should, if he is of the mind of Christ, be the one to
commence the reconciliation.
16, 17. But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two
more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be
established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the
Church: but if he neglects to hear the Church, let him be unto you as
an heathen and a publican. Quit his company. He has despised the last
tribunal. Now you must leave him. Be not angry with him. Freely forgive
him, but leave him.
18. Verily I say unto you, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be
bound in Heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed
in Heaven. Where the Church acts rightly, it has the solemn sanction of
God. This lesser tribunal on earth shall have its decrease sanctioned
by the great tribunal above. Hence it becomes a very serious matter,
this binding and loosing which Christ has given to His Church.
19-20. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth,
as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of
My Father who is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. It is not a large
Church, therefore, that is girded with the wonderful power of prayer,
but even two or three! Christ will not have us despise one. He will not
have us despise two or three. Who has despised the day of small things?
On the contrary, measure by quality rather than by quantity–and even
if the quality fails–measure by love rather than by some rule
ofjustice that you have set up!
21. Then came Peter to Him andsaid, Lord, how often shallmy brother sin
against me andI forgive him? Tillseven times?He thought he had opened
his mouth very wide when he said that.
22. Jesus said unto him, I say not unto you, Until seven times, but,
Unto seventy times seven. I do not wonder that we read in another place
that the disciples said, "Lord, increase our faith." For it needs much
faith to have so much patience and to still continue to forgive.