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The mouth will speak from the abundance of the heart.

SECT. LXII.

Our Lord goes on to caution the Pharisees of the danger of such sinful words; and answers to the exclamation of the woman who extolled the happiness of his mother. Mat. XII. 33-37. Luke XI. 27, 28.

MAT. XII. 33.

EITHER make the tree good, and his or else

WH

MAT. XII. 33.

327

Ixii.

HEN our Lord had thus faithfully warned SECT. fruit good; the Pharisees of the danger they were in make the tree corrupt, of incurring unpardonable guilt, by blasphemy Mat. and his fruit corrupt: against the Holy Spirit, he proceeded to enforce XII. 33. for the tree is known the admonition in the following manner: At

by his fruit.

tentively consider what I have offered to you, and either lay aside your vain and hypocritical pretences to religion, or quit that malignity and wickedness which render these pretences insolent and odious; either make the tree good, and shew it to be so by making its fruit also good; or else make, and allow the tree to be corrupt, and its fruit also corrupt, if it in fact appear to be so: for the tree is to be known by the fruit it produces, which is an infallible proof of what quality it is. (Compare Mat. vii 17, 18, sect. 34 O generation of xlii.) O ye abominable brood of vipers, ve per- 34 being evil, speak goud verse, venomous, deceitful creatures, how can things? for out of the you, who are so wicked yourselves, speak good abundance of the heart things? It is surely a force upon nature whenthe mouth speaketh.

vipers, how can ye,

35 A good man,

ever you do it; and you will easily return to such uncharitable and impious language as we have now been hearing from you; for the mouth naturally speaks out of the overflowing abundance of the heart. And thus, on the one hand a 35 out of the good treasure good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, forth good things: and freely and abundantly produces good things, and an evil man out of the scatters the seeds of wisdom and piety in the evil treasure, bringeth minds of all with whom he converses; and on forth evil things.

of the heart, bringeth

the other hand, a wicked man, being full of cor-
rupt affections and a secret malignity against
religion, out of the evil treasure of his heart, as
naturally brings forth evil things; and, even when

he

a Make the tree good, &c.] The sense I man. Zegerus and Grotius understand it as have chosen is that which seems to agree if our Lord had said, "Snce you cannot best with what follows. I could not acquiesce in that of Mr. L'Enfant, who supposes it as if he should have said, Either allow me to be good, or prove the casting out devils to be evil; for that would suppose every one who cast out devils to be a good

but allow that my life and the tendency of my doctrine are good, be not so inconsistent with yourselves as to suppose I am a confe derate with Beelzebub." And it is indeed very possible that this may be the sense. ૨૧ ૩

b For

328

The woman's exclamatian upon hearing Christ.

SECT. he labours most artfully to disguise himself and I his character, breaks out like you, in some unMat. guarded moment, into such language as betrays Xil. 35. the shame he would conceal. (Compare Luke vi. 43-45, sect. liv.)

36

and

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

36 But I say unto But take heed, how you suffer your tongues you, That every idle to run on in this profane and licentious nan word that men shall ner; for I solemnly declare unto you, That in the speak, they shall give awful day of the final and universal judgment, account thereof in the men shall give strict and impartial account for day of judgment. every unprofitable, and much more for every pernicious word which they shall speak wo be to them who have used that noble faculty of speech only to vain or to wicked purposes. 37 For let every particular hearer apply it to himself: it is not by thine actions alone, but in some degree by thy words, thou shalt at last be justified, or by thy words thou shalt be then condemned,c as by the tenor of these, the disposition of thy heart is shewn and thy true character discovered. And while he was speaking these things, a cerX1.27 tain pious woman was so transported with a mixture of pleasure at hearing his words, and certain woman of the indignation at the unworthy treatment he met company lift up her with from his adversaries, that she could not voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the forbear lifting up her voice, and crying out from womb that bare thee, amidst the crowd, she said unto him, O thou and the paps which Divine thou hast sucked!

Luke

с

h For every unprofitable, and much more for every pernicious word.] Though the terms inconvenient and unprofitable are of sometimes applied to things capable much worse epithets (compare Rom. i. 28. Eph. v. 4, 11. Tit. iii. 9. and Heb. xiii. 17,) yet I cannot think that our Lord here uses apyou, idle, merely to signify mischievous. We are certainly accountable for useless as well as wicked discourses, and they will be taken into that last survey which is to determine our character and state; which they, whose life is one continued scene of tehim or sneering raillery, would do well seriously to consider. And it was to our Lord's purpose to observe it here, as it inferred, by the strongest consequence, the danger of such vile and criminal discourses as those of the Pharisees in this case. But discourse tending, by innocent mirth, to exhilarate the spirits, is not idle discourse, as the time spent in necessary recreation is not idie time; nor does a wise and gracious God expect from men the life of angels. The Jews about Kimchi's time had a proverb among them. That a scholar may be improved even by the ide words of his master; but I think Heinsins had no reason to value himself so much as he seems to do, on his attempt to explain these words of Christ as an allusion to that.

LUKE XI. 27. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a

If any, on the whole, are dissatisfied with the account of things here given, I would beg leave to ask them, whether unprofitable tulk be not a sinful wasting of time? and whether that must not render a man in some degree criminal before God?

c Or by thy words thou shalt be condemned.] Since both the clauses in this verse cannot belong to the same person, it is plain that xat here, as the Hebrew particle Ve in many places, is put for the alternative Or: and agreeably to this we find that instead of xa, the particle is here inserted in many ancient copies,

dWhile he was speaking these things.] Luke brings in this story at the end of the parable of the relapsing demoniar, which was delivered just at the conclusion of the discourse before related. And though it is uncertain at what exact time this exciamation was made, yet what was now said might be a proper occasion for it; or, if it be a little transposed, the reader will excuse it, as it serves for a fit appendix to this short section, and likewise prevents the more unequal length of the following.

So 15

e From amidst the crowd.] oy plainly signifies; and it may thus, I think, be very properly connected with the words which follow it in the original

Reflections on the account we must give of our words.

28 But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they

God, and keep it.

329

lxii.

Divine Teacher, Happy is the womb of her that SECT.
bare thee, and thrice happy the breasts which
thou didst suck! With what unspeakable delight Luke
must thy blessed mother look on so illustrious a XI. 27.
Son ?

But he modestly and seriously replied, Nay, that hear the word of rather happy are they who hear the word of God which I preach, and keep it in their hearts as a vital principle of holy obedience; for they will be entitled to eternal blessings, infinitely more valuable than any natural relation to me could give, or any opportunities of the most intimate converse with me, separate from such a practical regard to my instructions.

IMPROVEMENT.

XI. 27.

WHOSE heart does not echo back the exclamation of this Luke pious woman? Yet who does not too frequently forget that weighty and important answer which succeeded it? Let us not only hear, but keep the word of Christ; and we shall thus be happy in a nearer union with him than ever could arise from any natural relation to him, and shall ere long have opportunities of more noble and more delightful converse with him than those, with which the virgin Mary herself was honoured during the time of his abode on earth.

Let us especially attend to those instructions we have here received, and judge of ourselves by our fruits; never flattering our- Mat. selves that our hearts are good, if our lives are abominable and dis- XII. 33. obedient, and to every good work reprobate: (Tit. i. 16.) And in particular let us remember, that not our actions only, but the fruits of our lips, are to be brought into the solemn acccount which we 36 must give to the great Judge of all the earth; and that the day is coming, when all our idle and unprofitable talk, which has proceeded from the evil treasure of a depraved heart, will undergo a 37 strict examination, and we must answer not for our actions only, but shall be justified or condemned by our words. And, if foolish and wicked speeches are to be accounted for in the day of judgment. let us set a watch on the door of our lips to prevent them; and labour daily to use our tongue so, that it may indeed be, as it is in scripture called, our glory. (Psal. xvi. 9. xxx. 12.)

For that purpose, let it be our great care to lay up a good trea- 35 sure of Christian knowledge and experience in our hearts; that while too many are poisoning those that are round about them with erroneous principles and vicious discourses, the opening of our lips may be of righteous things; and we may still be ready,

upon

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SECT.

The Pharisees desire a sign from heaven.

upon all proper occasions, with freedom, variety and spirit, to Ixii. bring forth good and profitable things from the good treasure of our

-

XII. 35.

Mat. hearts; which may be edifying unto those that hear us, and may go from one heart to another. So will the Lord himself hearken with pleasure unto what we speak, and exactly record it in the book of remembrance that is written before him; and, producing it at last to our public honour, will own us for his, in the day when he makes up his jewels. (Mal. iii. 16, 17.)

SECT.

Ixiii.

Mat

SECT. LXIII,

Our Lord upbraids the Pharisees with their perverseness in asking a farther sign; and delivers the parable of the relapsing demoniack. Mat. XII. 38-45. Luke XI. 16, 24-26, 29-32.

MAT. XII. 38.

MAT. XII. 38.

THEN certain of the Pharisees answered, [tempting him; and

scribes and of the

sought of him a sign from heaven,] saying, Master, we would see

a

sign from thee.

THEN some of the scribes and Pharisees who were present, hearing how plainly Christ admonished and how severely he rebuked them, XII, 38. answered him, by diverting the discourse to another topic; [and] with a view to try him, demanded of him a sign from heaven, saying Master, thou professest thyself a teacher of extraordinary [LUKE XI. 16.] authority, and we may justly expect some proportionable proof of it now these supposed dispossessions which we bave lately seen or heard of, are so liable to fraud and collusion, that we cannot fully acquiesce in them; but would gladly see a more remarkable and convincing sign from thee, and particularly some such celestial appearance several of our ancient prophets

gave.

a

as

But when the multitude was gathered in a 39 But [when the 39 crowd about him, eager to hear what Jesus would people were gathered reply to this demand, and ready to conclude that thick together,] he he would now perform some wondrous and pe- them, ['This is] an culiar kind of miracle, he answered and said to evil and adulterous gethem, This is an evil and adulterous generation, neration, [which] seek

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Some such celestial appearance.] The words of Luke express y fix it in this sense; and Matthew, in another story of this kind (Mat. xvi. 1. sect. lxxxvii.) express y tells us they demanded a sign from heaven. (Compare also Mark yiii. 11.) It is not therefore to be understood of a sign only of deliverance from the Roman yoke, or of the erection of the Messiah's temporal kingdom, as some have supposed, but rather of some miracle performed in the visible heavens, where, they seem to have thought, impostors

a

answered, and said to

eth after a sign, and there

had less power than on earth. (Compare Jolin vi. 30.)-And they might probably conclude they had the better excuse for making such a proposal, as Moses, (Exod. ix. 22-24.) Joshua (Josh. x. 12.) Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 9, 10.) and Elijah (1 Kings xviii. 36-38. and 2 Kings i. 10.) had given such signs. (Compare Isa. vit. 11. and xxxviii. 8.) See Vitring, Obsero, sacr. lib. 2. cap. 16.

bAdulterous generation.] This plainly signifies a spurious race, degenerated from

the

Na sign shall be given them, but that of the prophet Jonah. 331

there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. [LUKE XI. 49.]

LUKE XI. 30.

For

as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites,

so shall also the Son of man be to this genera

lxiii.

a very perverse and degenerate people, [that] SECT. amidst such convincing miracles as I am daily performing in the most public manner, still seeks Mat. after a farther sign: but no such sign as their bold XII. 39 curiosity prescribes shall be given them, unless [it be] that one vet greater miracle, which I may not improperly call the sign of the prophet Jonah, because it bears so great a resemblance to that miraculous occurrence that will be seen hereafter with respect to me. For as Jonah Luke was a sign to the Ninevites, and was miracu- XI. 30 lously sent among them by means of an unparalleled deliverance from the most imminent danger; so also shall the Son of man, by a yet more surprising Divine interposition in his favour, be made a very illustrious sign to this generation. MAT. XII. 40. For For as Jonah was three days and three nights in Mat. as Jours was three the belly of the great fish, that swallowed him ; XII. 49 in the whale's belly; and vet afterwards came out alive and unhurt: so shall the Son of man so shall the Son of man, after he has been slain be three days and three by the infidelity and cruelty of those to whom he comes, be part of three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and on the third day shail, with the ministry of an angel in a visible form descending from heaven, burst the bands

tion.

days and three nights

nights in the heart of the earth.

the piety of their ancestors. Compare Isa. vii. 3, 4. Psal. cxliv. 7, 8. and John viii. 39, & seq.

Unless it be the sign of the prophet Jonah.] As the resurrection of Christ was attended with the appearance of a descending angel, it was with greater exactness than is generally observed, the very thing that these Pharises demanded, a sign from heaven.

d For as Jonah was a sign, &c.] The attentive reader may easily observe that some passages of the eleventh chapter of St. Luke are transposed in this section. But I will not in ist on the necessity of doing it, since it is very po s b'e the same words might be repered again: but there's so very small a Variation, and the d scourse is so long, that I chose to unite all the three evangelists, as far as might be, into one compound text. The reader who chuses to follow Luke's order exactly will find a memorandum, Sect. cx. note a) of the place where this paragraph comes in according to that; and I must, on the whole, leave it among some other passages in the evangelists, where it is neither posible nor important to determine the exact series.

e In the belly of the great fish.] It is no where said in the Old Testament, that Jonah Was swallowed by a whale; and it is the

of

less probable, as whales are seldom found
in the Mediterranean, and as the gullet of
a whale is said to be so small as not to be
capable of receiving even the head of a man.
It is therefore much more probable it was
a shark, or some other great fish, which, it
is said, the Lord had prepared to swallow up
Jonah: (Jonah i. 17.) And the word is
in Greek, (as well as TANIM in Hebrew)
may signify any large fish, as some of the
Greek lexicographers have observed.

f Part of three days and three nights.] It
is of great importance to observe (as many
good writers have done) that the easterns
reckoned any part of a day of twenty-four
hours for a whole day; and say a thing was
done after three or seven days, &c. If it
was done on the third or seventh day from
that last mentioned. (Compare 1 Kings
xx. 29. 2 Chron. x. 5, 12. and Luke ii. 21.)
And as the Hebrews had no word exactly
answering to the Greek vuxÎnjegov, ta
signify a natural day of trenty-four hours,
they use night and day, or day and night, for
it. So that to say a thing happened after
three days and three nights, was the same
as to say it happened after three days, or
on the third day. (Compare Esth. iv. 16,
with v. 1. Gen. vii. 4-12. Exod. xXIV.
18. and xxx v. 28.) See the Miracles of
Jesus Vindicated, p. 6—8.

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