Upper Room Daily Reflections - daily words of wisdom and faith “The
Authentic Self” for Monday, 3 March 2014
Today’s Reflection:
AN ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL element of Christian community that is
seldom discussed is a willingness to offer to others one’s true self rather
than one’s contrived self. The greatest gift we can give to another is the
authentic self.--Rueben P. Job and Marjorie J. Thompson-Embracing the Journey
From page 59 of Embracing the Journey, Participant’s Book, Vol.
1 in the Companions in Christ Series, by Rueben P. Job and Marjorie J.
Thompson. Copyright © 2001 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by
permission. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this
book.
Today’s Question:
What does it mean to you to be authentic in your relationships?
Have you considered this an expression of your faith?
Today’s Scripture:
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming,
it is near – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their
like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to
come.--Joel 2:1-2, NRSV
This Week: pray for those who are confused and afraid..
-------
Did You Know?
Pray your way through Lent in The Upper Room’s online Lenten
retreat featuring Pamela Hawkins’s The Awkward Season. Log in anytime from
anywhere to access audio, video, readings, and group discussion that will
enliven and deepen your Lenten prayer practice. Ash Wednesday through Easter
Sunday.
-------
Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember:
John Wesley (March 03).
ohn Wesley (1703-91), cofounder (with brother Charles Wesley) of
the Methodist movement, Anglican priest, Oxford fellow, theologian, author,
publisher, evangelist, and itinerant preacher. Wesley was the fifteenth child
of Samuel and Susanna Wesley. At the age of five, John nearly perished in the
Epworth rectory fire. From that moment, Susanna regarded John as a "brand
plucked from the burning" and was convinced that God had some special
purpose for his life. Wesley studied Greek, natural and moral philosophy, and
logic at Oxford University. While at Oxford as a teaching fellow, he took over
the leadership of the Oxford Holy Club, a group started by his brother Charles
and a few close friends. The purpose of the group was to provide a mutual
accountability structure for the imitation of Christ. Under John's leadership,
they established a semimonastic lifestyle of extreme frugality (living on £28 a
year), praying the Daily Office (Liturgy of the Hours), a form of daily
self-examination (examen), twice weekly Holy Communion, serious Bible study,
penance and mortification (especially fasting), and works of mercy among the
poor. The methodical rigor of their pious practice caused much ridicule among
the intellectuals of the university, who nicknamed them Methodists.
From the time of the Holy Club, Wesley kept a journal that he
regularly edited for publication. The first volume recounts a disastrous trip
as a missionary to Georgia, after which Wesley felt he was a failure as a
priest, a Christian, and a human being. His search for a felt sense of
assurance in his relationship with Christ culminated on May 24, 1738, when, at
a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, he felt his "heart
strangely warmed." By 1739 Anglican pulpits were repeatedly closed to
Wesley because of his strong preaching on salvation by faith. Reluctantly he
began field preaching. ... From 1738 to 1765, Wesley built a strongly organized
Methodist society as a renewal movement within the Church of England. Through
his evangelistic preaching tours tens of thousands were converted to Christ.
... He said that his aim was "not to form any new sect; but to reform the
nation, particularly the Church; and to spread scriptural holiness over the
land." However, due to his pastoral concerns for the Methodists in America
following the Revolutionary War, Wesley did set up the American Methodist
Episcopal Church (1784) by ordaining and sending Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke
to be its first bishops.
Wesley's Journal letters, sermons, and treatises are available
in many editions, including some available on-line. A Plain Account of
Christian Perfection summarizes Wesley's teaching on that subject.
If John Wesley had taken the Spiritual Types Test he probably
would have been a Sage. Wesley is remembered on March 3.[Excerpted with
permission from the entry on John Wesley by Cynthia I. Zirlott, The Upper Room
Dictionary of Christian Spiritual Formation edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe.
Copyright © 2003 by Upper Room Books®. All rights reserved.]
-------
Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
and sound an alarm in
my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of Yahweh
comes,
for it is close at
hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and
thick darkness.
As the dawn spreading on the mountains,
a great and strong
people;
there has never been
the like,
neither will there be
any more after them,
even to the years of
many generations.
12 “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and
with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 Tear your heart, and not your garments,
and turn to Yahweh,
your God;
for he is gracious and
merciful,
slow to anger, and
abundant in loving kindness,
and relents from
sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent,
and leave a blessing
behind him,
even a meal offering
and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion!
Sanctify a fast.
Call a solemn
assembly.
16 Gather the people.
Sanctify the assembly.
Assemble the elders.
Gather the children,
and those who nurse from breasts.
Let the bridegroom go out of his room,
and the bride out of
her room.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the
porch and the altar,
and let them say,
“Spare your people, Yahweh,
and don’t give your
heritage to reproach,
that the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud, don’t spare.
Lift up your voice
like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their disobedience,
and to the house of
Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my
ways.
As a nation that did righteousness,
and didn’t forsake the
ordinance of their God,
they ask of me righteous judgments.
They delight to draw
near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and you don’t see?
Why have we afflicted
our soul, and you don’t notice?’
“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
and oppress all your
laborers.
4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
and to strike with the
fist of wickedness.
You don’t fast today so as to make your
voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the fast that I have chosen?
A day for a man to
humble his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread
sackcloth and ashes under himself?
Will you call this a fast,
and an acceptable day
to Yahweh?
6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:
to release the bonds
of wickedness,
to undo the straps of
the yoke,
to let the oppressed
go free,
and that you break
every yoke?
7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry,
and that you bring the
poor who are cast out to your house?
When you see the naked,
that you cover him;
and that you not hide
yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light will break out as the morning,
and your healing will
appear quickly;
then your righteousness shall go before you;
and Yahweh’s glory
will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer;
you will cry for help,
and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away from among you the yoke,
finger pointing,
and speaking wickedly;
10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the
afflicted soul:
then your light will rise in darkness,
and your obscurity
will be as the noonday;
11 and Yahweh will guide you continually,
and satisfy your soul
in dry places,
and make your bones
strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of
water,
whose waters don’t
fail.
12 Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places;
you shall raise up the
foundations of many generations;
and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Paths with
Dwellings.
Psalm 51: For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan
the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the
multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my
sin.
3 For I know my transgressions.
My sin is constantly
before me.
4 Against you, and you only, have I sinned,
and done that which is
evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you speak,
and justified when you
judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother
conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.
You teach me wisdom in
the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be
whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones which
you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all of my
iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit
within me.
11 Don’t throw me from your presence,
and don’t take your
holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Uphold me with a
willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be
converted to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my
salvation.
My tongue shall sing
aloud of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips.
My mouth shall declare
your praise.
16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.
You have no pleasure
in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite
heart, O God, you will not despise.
2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of
Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. 21 For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf;
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
6:1 Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the
grace of God in vain, 2 for he says,
“At an acceptable time I listened to you,
in a day of salvation I helped you.”[a]
Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of
salvation. 3 We give no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our service may
not be blamed, 4 but in everything commending ourselves, as servants of God, in
great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in
imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; 6 in pureness,
in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, 7
in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the
right hand and on the left, 8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good
report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying,
and behold, we live; as punished, and not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing
all things.
Footnotes:
a. 2 Corinthians 6:2 Isaiah 49:8
Matthew 6:1 “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving
before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who
is in heaven. 2 Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet
before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received
their reward. 3 But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know
what your right hand does, 4 so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then
your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
5 “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they
love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received
their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having
shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees
in secret will reward you openly.
16 “Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with
sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be
fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But
you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; 18 so that you are
not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your
Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where
moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; 20 but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and
where thieves don’t break through and steal; 21 for where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
-------
John Wesley’s Notes/Commentary:
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
II A farther description of the desolation of the land, ver.
1-11. An earnest call to repentance, ver. 12-17. A promise of all good things
to the penitent, ver. 18-27. A prophecy of the Messiah's kingdom, ver. 28-32.
Verse 1. Blow ye - The prophet continues his exhortation to the
priests, who were appointed to summon the solemn assemblies.
Verse 2. A day of darkness - A time of exceeding great troubles
and calamities. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and
the calamities which precede that day. As the morning - As the morning spreads
itself over all the hemisphere and first upon the high mountains, so shall the
approaching calamities overspread this people. A great people - This seems more
directly to intend the Babylonians.
Verse 13. And repenteth him - He turneth from executing the
fierceness of his wrath.
Verse 14. He will return - God doth not move from one place to
another; but when he withholds his blessings, he is said to withdraw himself.
And so when he gives out his blessing, he is said to return. And leave a
blessing behind him - Cause the locusts to depart before they have eaten up all
that is in the land.
Verse 16. The children - Though they understand little what is
done, yet their cities ascend, and God with pity looks on their tears. These
that suck - Their cries and tears may perhaps move the congregation to more
earnest supplication to God for mercy. So the Ninevites, Jonah iii, 7, 8. The
bridegroom - Let the new married man leave the mirth of the nuptials and
afflict himself with the rest.
Verse 17. The porch - That stately porch built by Solomon, 1
Kings vi, 3. The altar - The altar of burnt-offering, which stood at some
distance from this porch, and here are the priests commanded to stand, fasting
and praying, whence they might be heard and seen by the people in the next
court, in which the people were wont to pray. To reproach - Famine, though by
locusts is a reproach to this thine heritage; it will be greater reproach to be
slaves to the nations signified by the locusts, therefore in mercy deliver us
from both one and the other.
Isaiah 58:1-12
LVIII The hypocrisy of the Jews, in their fasts, ver. 1-5. A
true fast described, ver. 6, 7. Promises to Godliness, ver. 8-12. To the
keeping of the sabbath, ver. 13, 14.
Verse 2. Yet - They cover all their wickedness with a profession
of religion. Delight - There are many men who take some pleasure in knowing
God's will and word, and yet do not conform their lives to it. As - As if they
were a righteous people. Forsook - As if they were not guilty of any apostacy
from God, or disobedience to God's precepts. Ask - As if they resolved to
observe them. In approaching - In coming to my temple to hear my word, and to
offer sacrifices.
Verse 3. Afflicted - Defrauded our appetites with fasting, of
which this phrase is used, Levit xvi, 29. Ye find - Either you indulge
yourselves in sensuality, as they did, chap. xxii, 13. But this does not agree
with that afflicting of their souls which they now professed, and which God
acknowledges; or you pursue and satisfy your own desires: though you abstain
from bodily food, you do not mortify your sinful inclinations. Exact - Your
money, got by your labour, and lent to others, either for their need or your
own advantage, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigor,
when either the general law of charity, or God's particular law, commanded the
release, or at least the forbearance of them.
Verse 4. Behold - Your fasting days, wherein you ought in a
special manner to implore the mercy of God, and to shew compassion to men, you
employ in injuring or quarrelling with your brethren, your servants or debtors,
or in contriving mischief against them. Heard - In strife and debate. By way of
ostentation.
Verse 5. Chosen - Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a
metonymy, because we delight in what we freely chuse. For a day - This may be
understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his soul in, and
that either from even to even, Lev. xxiii, 32, or from morning to evening, or
for a little time. Wilt thou call - Canst thou suppose it to be so? A fast - It
being such an one as has nothing in it, but the dumb signs of a fast, nothing
of deep humiliation appearing in it, or, real reformation proceeding from it.
Acceptable day - A day that God will approve of.
Verse 6. The bands - The cruel obligations of usury and
oppression.
Verse 7. Cast out - And thereby become wanderers, having no
abiding place. To thy house - That thou be hospitable, and make thy house a
shelter to them that have none of their own left. Hide not - That seek no
occasion to excuse thyself. Thy own flesh - Some confine this to our own
kindred; but we can look on no man, but there we contemplate our own flesh, and
therefore it is barbarous, not only to tear, but not to love and succor him.
Therefore feed him as thou wouldest feed thyself, or be fed; shelter him as
thou wouldest shelter thyself, or be sheltered; clothe him as thou wouldest
clothe thyself, or be clothed; if in any of these respects thou wert in his
circumstances.
Verse 8. Thy light - Happiness and prosperity. Break forth - It
shall not only appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, notwithstanding all
difficulties, as the sun breaks, and pierces through a cloud. Thy health -
Another metaphor to express the same thing. Righteousness - The reward of thy
righteousness. Before thee - As the morning-star goes before the sun. The glory
- His glorious power and providence. Thy rereward - Thus the angel of his
presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.
Verse 9. Answer - He will give an effectual demonstration, that
he hears thee. Here l am - A phrase that notes a person to be ready at hand to
help. Take away - From among you. The yoke - All those pressures and grievances
before mentioned. Putting forth - Done by way of scoff, or disdainful
insulting. Vanity - Any kind of evil words.
Verse 10. Draw out - Or, open, as when we open a store, to
satisfy the wants of the needy. Thy soul - Thy affection, thy pity and
compassion. Thy darkness - In the very darkness of the affliction itself thou
shalt have comfort.
Verse 11. Guide thee - Like a shepherd. And he adds continually
to shew that his conduct and blessing shall not be momentary, or of a short
continuance, but all along as it was to Israel in the wilderness. Satisfy -
Thou shalt have plenty, when others are in scarcity. Make fat - This may be
spoken in opposition to the sad effects of famine, whereby the flesh is
consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and the bones that were not seen, stick
out. A garden - If thou relieve the poor, thou shalt never be poor, but as a
well-watered garden, always flourishing. Fail not - Hebrew. deceive not, a
metaphor which farther notes also the continuance of this flourishing state,
which will not be like a land-flood, or brooks, that will soon be dried up with
drought. Thou shalt be fed with a spring of blessing, that will never fail.
Verse 12. They shall be of thee - Thy posterity. Waste places -
Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to
come. The breach - Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment
breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be
demolished. Paths - Those paths that led from city to city, which being now
laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds. To dwell
in - These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to
be re-inhabited.
Psalm 51:1-17
PS 51 David prays for pardon, ver. 1, 2. Confesses his sins,
ver. 3- 5. Prays for renewing grace, ver. 6-14. Promises unfeigned
thankfulness, ver. 15-17. Prays for the whole church, ver, 18, 19. To the chief
musician, A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had
gone in to Bathsheba.
Verse 4. Thee only - Which is not to be, understood absolutely,
because he had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, and many others; but
comparatively. So the sense is, though I have sinned against my own conscience,
and against others; yet nothing is more grievous to me, than that I have sinned
against thee. Thy sight - With gross contempt of thee, whom I knew to be a
spectator of my most secret actions. Justified - This will be the fruit of my
sin, that whatsoever severities thou shalt use towards me, it will be no
blemish to thy righteousness, but thy justice will be glorified by all men.
Speakest - Hebrew. in thy words, in all thy threatenings denounced against me.
Judgest - When thou dost execute thy sentence upon me.
Verse 5. Behold - Nor is this the only sin which I have reason
to bewail before thee; for this filthy stream leads me to a corrupt fountain:
and upon a review of my heart, I find, that this heinous crime, was the proper
fruit of my vile nature, which, ever was, and still is ready to commit ten
thousand sins, as occasion offers.
Verse 6. Truth - Uprightness of heart; and this may be added; as
an aggravation of the sinfulness of original corruption, because it is contrary
to the holy nature and will of God, which requires rectitude of heart: and, as
an aggravation of his actual sin, that it was committed against that knowledge,
which God had wrote in his heart.
Verse 7. Hyssop - As lepers, are by thy appointment purified by
the use of hyssop and other things, so do thou cleanse me a leprous and
polluted creature, by thy grace, and by that blood of Christ, which is
signified by those ceremonial usages.
Verse 8. Joy - By thy spirit, seal the pardon of my sins on my
conscience, which will fill me with joy. Rejoice - That my heart which hath
been sorely wounded may be comforted.
Verse 10. Create - Work in me an holy frame of heart, whereby my
inward filth may be purged away. Right - Hebrew. firm or constant, that my
resolution may be fixed and unmoveable. Spirit - Temper or disposition of soul.
Verse 12. The joy - The comfortable sense of thy saving grace,
promised and vouchsafed to me, both for my present and everlasting salvation.
Free - Or, ingenuous, or liberal, or princely. Which he seems to oppose to his
own base and illiberal and disingenuous and servile spirit, which he had
discovered in his wicked practices: a spirit, which may free me from the
bondage of sin, and enable me chearfully to run the way of God's precepts.
Verse 14. Thy righteousness - Thy clemency and goodness.
Verse 15. My lips - Which are shut with shame and grief.
Verse 16. Not sacrifice - This is not to be understood
absolutely, with respect to David's crimes, which were not to be expiated by
any sacrifice.
Verse 17. A broken spirit - This is of more value than many
sacrifices.
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Verse 20. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ-we beseech you
in Christ's stead - Herein the apostle might appear to some "transported
beyond himself." In general he uses a more calm, sedate kind of
exhortation, as in the beginning of the next chapter. What unparalleled
condescension and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse! Did the
judge ever beseech a condemned criminal to accept of pardon? Does the creditor
ever beseech a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full? Yet our
almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge, not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings,
but invites us, entreats us, and, with the most tender importunity, solicits
us, not to reject them.
Verse 21. He made him a sin offering, who knew no sin - A
commendation peculiar to Christ. For us - Who knew no righteousness, who were
inwardly and outwardly nothing but sin; who must have been consumed by the
divine justice, had not this atonement been made for our sins. That we might be
made the righteousness of God through him - Might through him be invested with
that righteousness, first imputed to us, then implanted in us, which is in
every sense the righteousness of God.
1. We then not only beseech, but as fellow-labourers with you,
who are working out your own salvation, do also exhort you, not to receive the
grace of God - Which we have been now describing. In vain - We receive it by
faith; and not in vain, if we add to this, persevering holiness.
Verse 2. For he saith - The sense is, As of old there was a
particular time wherein God was pleased to pour out his peculiar blessing, so
there is now. And this is the particular time: this is a time of peculiar
blessing. Isaiah xlix, 8.
Verse 3. Giving, as far as in us lies, no offense, that the
ministry be not blamed on our account.
4. But approving ourselves as the ministers of God - Such as his
ministers ought to be. In much patience - Shown,
Verse 1. In afflictions, necessities, distresses - All which are
general terms.
Verse 2. In stripes, imprisonments, tumults - Which are
particular sorts of affliction, necessity, distress
Verse 3. In labours, watchings, fastings - Voluntarily endured.
All these are expressed in the plural number, to denote a variety of them. In
afflictions, several ways to escape may appear, though none without difficulty
in necessities, one only, and that a difficult one; in distresses, none at all
appears.
Verse 5. In tumults - The Greek word implies such attacks as a
man cannot stand against, but which bear him hither and thither by violence.
Verse 6. By prudence - Spiritual divine; not what the world
terms so. Worldly prudence is the practical use of worldly wisdom: divine
prudence is the due exercise of grace, making spiritual understanding go as far
as possible. By love unfeigned - The chief fruit of the Spirit.
Verse 7. By the convincing and converting power of God -
Accompanying his word; and also attesting it by divers miracles. By the armour
of righteousness on the right hand and the left - That is, on all sides; the
panoply or whole armour of God.
Verse 8. By honour and dishonour - When we are present. By evil
report and good report - When we are absent. Who could bear honour and good
report, were it not balanced by dishonour? As deceivers - Artful, designing
men. So the world represents all true ministers of Christ. Yet true - Upright,
sincere, in the sight of God.
Verse 9. As unknown - For the world knoweth us not, as it knew
him not. Yet well known - To God, and to those who are the seals of our
ministry. As dying, yet behold - Suddenly, unexpectedly, God interposes, and we
live.
Verse 10. As sorrowing - For our own manifold imperfections, and
for the sins and sufferings of our brethren. Yet always rejoicing - In present
peace, love, power, and a sure hope of future glory. As having nothing, yet possessing
all things - For all things are ours, if we are Christ's. What a magnificence
of thought is this!
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
1. In the foregoing chapter our Lord particularly described the
nature of inward holiness. In this he describes that purity of intention
without which none of our outward actions are holy. This chapter contains four
parts,
1. The right intention and manner of giving alms, ver. 1-4.
2. The right intention, manner, form, and prerequisites of
prayer, ver. 5-15.
3. The right intention, and manner of fasting, ver. 16-18.
4. The necessity of a pure intention in all things, unmixed
either with the desire of riches, or worldly care, and fear of want, ver.
19-34. This verse is a general caution against vain glory, in any of our good
works: All these are here summed up together, in the comprehensive word
righteousness. This general caution our Lord applies in the sequel to the three
principal branches of it, relating to our neighbour, ver. 2-iv, to God, ver. 5,
vi, and to ourselves, ver. 16-18. To be seen - Barely the being seen, while we
are doing any of these things, is a circumstance purely indifferent. But the
doing them with this view, to be seen and admired, this is what our Lord
condemns.
Verse 2. As the hypocrites do - Many of the scribes and Pharisees
did this, under a pretense of calling the poor together. They have their reward
- All they will have; for they shall have none from God.
Verse 3. Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth - A
proverbial expression for doing a thing secretly. Do it as secretly as is
consistent,
Verse 1. With the doing it at all.
2. With the doing it in the most effectual manner.
5. The synagogues - These were properly the places where the
people assembled for public prayer, and hearing the Scriptures read and
expounded. They were in every city from the time of the Babylonish captivity,
and had service in them thrice a day on three days in the week. In every
synagogue was a council of grave and wise persons, over whom was a president,
called the ruler of the synagogue. But the word here, as well as in many other
texts, signifies any place of public concourse.
Verse 6. Enter into thy closet - That is, do it with as much
secrecy as thou canst.
Verse 1. Hallowed be thy name - Mayest thou, O Father, he truly
known by all intelligent beings, and with affections suitable to that
knowledge: mayest thou be duly honoured, loved, feared, by all in heaven and in
earth, by all angels and all men.
Verse 2. Thy kingdom come - May thy kingdom of grace come
quickly, and swallow up all the kingdoms of the earth: may all mankind,
receiving thee, O Christ, for their king, truly believing in thy name, be
filled with righteousness, and peace, and joy; with holiness and happiness,
till they are removed hence into thy kingdom of glory, to reign with thee for
ever and ever.
Verse 3. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven - May all
the inhabitants of the earth do thy will as willingly as the holy angels: may
these do it continually even as they, without any interruption of their willing
service; yea, and perfectly as they: mayest thou, O Spirit of grace, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant, make them perfect in every good work to
do thy will, and work in them all that is well pleasing in thy sight.
Verse 4. Give us - O Father (for we claim nothing of right, but
only of thy free mercy) this day - (for we take no thought for the morrow) our
daily bread - All things needful for our souls and bodies: not only the meat
that perisheth, but the sacramental bread, and thy grace, the food which
endureth to everlasting life.
Verse 5. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our
debtors - Give us, O Lord, redemption in thy blood, even the forgiveness of
sins: as thou enablest us freely and fully to forgive every man, so do thou
forgive all our trespasses.
Verse 6. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil - Whenever we are tempted, O thou that helpest our infirmities, suffer us
not to enter into temptation; to be overcome or suffer loss thereby; but make a
way for us to escape, so that we may be more than conquerors, through thy love,
over sin and all the consequences of it. Now the principal desire of a
Christian's heart being the glory of God, (ver. 9, 10, ) and all he wants for
himself or his brethren being the daily bread of soul and body, (or the support
of life, animal and spiritual, ) pardon of sin, and deliverance from the power
of it and of the devil, (ver. 11, 12, 13, ) there is nothing beside that a
Christian can wish for; therefore this prayer comprehends all his desires.
Eternal life is the certain consequence, or rather completion of holiness.
III. For thine is the kingdom - The sovereign right of all
things that are or ever were created: The power - the executive power, whereby
thou governest all things in thy everlasting kingdom: And the glory - The
praise due from every creature, for thy power, and all thy wondrous works, and
the mightiness of thy kingdom, which endureth through all ages, even for ever
and ever. It is observable, that though the doxology, as well as the petitions of
this prayer, is threefold, and is directed to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
distinctly, yet is the whole fully applicable both to every person, and to the
ever - blessed and undivided trinity. Luke xi, 2.
16. When ye fast? - Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting,
alms- deeds, or prayer: all these being duties which were before fully
established in the Church of God. Disfigure - By the dust and ashes which they
put upon their heads, as was usual at the times of solemn humiliation.
Verse 17. Anoint thy head - So the Jews frequently did. Dress
thyself as usual.
Verse 19. Lay not up for yourselves - Our Lord here makes a
transition from religious to common actions, and warns us of another snare, the
love of money, as inconsistent with purity of intention as the love of praise.
Where rust and moth consume - Where all things are perishable and transient. He
may likewise have a farther view in these words, even to guard us against
making any thing on earth our treasure. For then a thing properly becomes our
treasure, when we set our affections upon it. Luke xii, 33.
Verse 21. Luke xi, 34.
-------
Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
First Sunday in Lent
Genesis 2: 15 Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the
garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16 Yahweh God commanded the man,
saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not
eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat
of it, you will surely die.”
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field
which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You
shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the
trees of the garden, 3 but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of
the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it,
lest you die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, 5 for
God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one
wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband
with her, and he ate it, too. 7 Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that
they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for
themselves.
Psalm 32: By David. A contemplative psalm.
1 Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity,
in whose spirit there
is no deceit.
3 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning
all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped
in the heat of summer.
Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you.
I didn’t hide my
iniquity.
I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh,
and you forgave the
iniquity of my sin.
Selah.
6 For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when
you may be found.
Surely when the great
waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.
7 You are my hiding place.
You will preserve me
from trouble.
You will surround me
with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall
go.
I will counsel you
with my eye on you.
9 Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no
understanding,
who are controlled by
bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but loving kindness
shall surround him who trusts in Yahweh.
11 Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you
who are upright in heart!
Romans 5: 12 Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and
death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. 13 For
until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no
law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose
sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to
come. 15 But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of
the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the
grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not as
through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the
free gift came of many trespasses to justification. 17 For if by the trespass
of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive
the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through
the one, Jesus Christ. 18 So then as through one trespass, all men were
condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to
life. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even
so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 When he had fasted forty days and
forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If
you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”[a]
5 Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the
pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw
yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’
and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash
your foot against a stone.’”[b]
7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test
the Lord, your God.’”[c]
8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and
showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. 9 He said to him, “I
will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me,[d] Satan! For it is
written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
[e]
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served
him.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3
b. Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11-12
c. Matthew 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16
d. Matthew 4:10 TR and NU read “Go away” instead of “Get behind
me”
e. Matthew 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13
-------
John Wesley’s Notes/Commentary:
First Sunday in Lent
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Verse 16, 17. Thou shall die - That is, thou shalt lose all the
happiness thou hast either in possession or prospect; and thou shalt become
liable to death, and all the miseries that preface and attend it. This was
threatened as the immediate consequence of sin. In the day thou eatest, thou
shalt die - Not only thou shalt become mortal, but spiritual death and the
forerunners of temporal death shall immediately seize thee. See note at
"ver. 17"
II The general contents of this chapter we have Rom. v, 12. By
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. More particularly, we have here,
I. The innocent tempted, ver. 1-5.
II. The tempted transgressing, ver. 6, 7, 8.
III. The transgressors arraigned, ver. 9, 10.
IV. Upon their arraignment convicted, ver. 11-13.
V. Upon their conviction sentenced, ver. 14-19.
VI. After sentence, reprieved, ver. 20, 21.
VII. Notwithstanding their reprieve, execution in part done,
ver. 22-24, and were it not for the gracious intimations of redemption, they
and all their race had been left to despair.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5. We have here an account of the temptation
wherewith Satan assaulted our first parents, and which proved fatal to them.
And here observe, (1.) The tempter, the devil in the shape of a serpent.
Multitudes of them fell; but this that attacked our first parents, was surely
the prince of the devils. Whether it was only the appearance of a serpent, or a
real serpent, acted and possessed by the devil, is not certain. The devil chose
to act his part in a serpent, because it is a subtle creature. It is not
improbable, that reason and speech were then the known properties of the
serpent. And therefore Eve was not surprised at his reasoning and speaking,
which otherwise she must have been. (2.) That which the devil aimed at, was to
persuade Eve to eat forbidden fruit; and to do this, he took the same method
that he doth still.
1. He questions whether it were a sin or no, ver. 1,
2. He denies that there was any danger in it, ver. 4.
3. He suggests much advantage by it, ver. 5. And these are his
common topics. As to the advantage, he suits the temptation to the pure state
they were now in, proposing to them not any carnal pleasure, but intellectual
delights.
Verse 1. Your eyes shall be opened - You shall have much more of
the power and pleasure of contemplation than now you have; you shall fetch a
larger compass in your intellectual views, and see farther into things than now
you do.
Verse 2. You shall be as gods - As Elohim, mighty gods, not only
omniscient but omnipotent too:
Verse 3. You shall know good and evil - That is, everything that
is desirable to be known. To support this part of the temptation, he abuseth
the name given to this tree. 'Twas intended to teach the practical knowledge of
good and evil, that is, of duty and disobedience, and it would prove the
experimental knowledge of good and evil, that is, of happiness and misery. But
he perverts the sense of it, and wrests it to their destruction, as if this
tree would give them a speculative notional knowledge of the natures, kinds,
and originals of good and evil. And,
Verse 4. All this presently, In the day you eat thereof - You
will find a sudden and immediate change for the better. See note at "ver.
1"
Verse 6, 7, 8. Here we see what Eve's parley with the tempter
ended in: Satan at length gains his point. God tried the obedience of our first
parents by forbidding them the tree of knowledge, and Satan doth as it were
join issue with God, and in that very thing undertakes to seduce them into a
transgression; and here we find how he prevailed, God permitting it for wise
and holy ends. (1.) We have here the inducements that moved them to transgress.
The woman being deceived, was ring-leader in the transgression, 1 Tim. ii, 14
1. She saw that the tree was - It was said of all the rest of
the fruit trees wherewith the garden of Eden was planted, that they were
pleasant to the sight, and good for food.
2. She imagined a greater benefit by this tree than by any of
the rest, that it was a tree not only not to be dreaded, but to be desired to
make one wise, and therein excelling all the rest of the trees. This she saw,
that is, she perceived and understood it by what the devil had said to her. She
gave also to her husband with her - 'Tis likely he was not with her when she
was tempted; surely if he had, he would have interposed to prevent the sin; but
he came to her when she had eaten, and was prevailed with by her to eat
likewise. She gave it to him; persuading him with the same arguements that the
serpent had used with her; adding this to the rest, that she herself had eaten
of it, and found it so far from being deadly that it was extremely pleasant and
grateful. And he did eat - This implied the unbelief of God's word, and
confidence in the devil's; discontent with his present state, and an ambition
of the honour which comes not from God. He would be both his own carver, and
his own master, would have what he pleased, and do what he pleased; his sin was
in one word disobedience, Rom. v, 19, disobedience to a plain, easy and express
command, which he knew to be a command of trial. He sins against light and love,
the clearest light and the dearest love that ever sinner sinned against. But
the greatest aggravation of his sin was, that he involved all his posterity in
sin and ruin by it. He could not but know that he stood as a public person, and
that his disobedience would be fatal to all his seed; and if so, it was
certainly both the greatest treachery and the greatest cruelty that ever was.
Shame and fear seized the criminals, these came into the world along with sin,
and still attend it. The Eyes of them both were opened - The eyes of their
consciences; their hearts smote them for what they had done Now, when it was
too late, they saw the happiness they were fallen from, and the misery they
were fallen into. They saw God provoked, his favour forfeited, his image lost;
they felt a disorder in their own spirits, which they had never before been
conscious of; they saw a law in their members warring against the law of their
minds, and captivating them both to sin and wrath; they saw that they were
naked, that is, that they were stripped, deprived of all the honours and joys
of their paradise state, and exposed to all the miseries that might justly be
expected from an angry God; laid open to the contempt and reproach of heaven
and earth, and their own consciences. And they sewed or platted fig leaves
together, and, to cover, at least, part of their shame one from another, made
themselves aprons. See here what is commonly the folly of those that have
sinned: they are more solicitous to save their credit before men, than to obtain
their pardon from God. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day - Tis supposed he came in a human shape; in no
other similitude than that wherein they had seen him when he put them into
paradise; for he came to convince and humble them, not to amaze and terrify
them. He came not immediately from heaven in their view as afterwards on mount
Sinai, but he came in the garden, as one that was still willing to be familiar
with them. He came walking, not riding upon the wings of the wind, but walking
deliberately, as one slow to anger. He came in the cool of the day, not in the
night, when all fears are doubly fearful; nor did he come suddenly upon them,
but they heard his voice at some distance, giving them notice of his coming;
and probably it was a still small voice, like that in which he came to inquire
after Elijah. And they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God - A sad
change! Before they had sinned, if they heard the voice of the Lord God coming
towards them, they would have run to meet him, but now God was become a terror
to them, and then no marvel they were become a terror to themselves. See note
at "ver. 6"
Psalm 32
PS 32 The happiness of them whose sins are forgiven, ver. 1, 2.
The necessity of confessing our sins, and of prayer, ver. 3-6. God's promise to
them that trust in him, ver. 7-10. An exhortation to rejoice in God, ver. 11. A
psalm of David, Maschil. Title of the psalm. Maschil - Or, an instructor. This
psalm is fitly so called, because it was composed for the information of the
church, in that most important doctrine, the way to true blessedness.
Verse 2. Imputeth - Whom God doth not charge with the guilt of
his sins, but graciously pardons and accepts him in Christ. No guile - Who
freely confesses all his sins, and turns from sin to God with all his heart.
Verse 3. Silence - From a full and open confession of my sins.
Old - My spirit failed, and the strength of my body decayed. Roaring - Because
of the continual horrors of my conscience, and sense of God's wrath.
Verse 4. Hand - Thy afflicting hand. My moisture - Was dried up.
Verse 5. The iniquity - The guilt of my sin.
Verse 6. For this - Upon the encouragement of my example. Found
- In an acceptable and seasonable time, while God continues to offer grace and
mercy. Waters - In the time of great calamities. Not come - So as to overwhelm
him.
Verse 8. I will - This and the next verse seems to be the words
of God, whom David brings in as returning this answer to his prayers. Mine eye
- So Christ did St. Peter, when he turned and looked upon him.
Verse 9. Will not - Unless they be forced to it by a bit or
bridle. And so all the ancient translators understand it.
Verse 10. Sorrows - This is an argument to enforce the foregoing
admonition.
Romans 5:12-19
Verse 12. Therefore - This refers to all the preceding discourse;
from which the apostle infers what follows. He does not therefore properly make
a digression, but returns to speak again of sin and of righteousness. As by one
man - Adam; who is mentioned, and not Eve, as being the representative of
mankind. Sin entered into the world - Actual sin, and its consequence, a sinful
nature. And death - With all its attendants. It entered into the world when it
entered into being; for till then it did not exist. By sin - Therefore it could
not enter before sin. Even so - Namely, by one man. In that - So the word is
used also, 2 Cor. v, 4. All sinned - In Adam. These words assign the reason why
death came upon all men; infants themselves not excepted, in that all sinned.
Verse 13. For until the law sin was in the world - All, I say,
had sinned, for sin was in the world long before the written law; but, I grant,
sin is not so much imputed, nor so severely punished by God, where there is no
express law to convince men of it. Yet that all had sinned, even then, appears in
that all died.
Verse 14. Death reigned - And how vast is his kingdom! Scarce
can we find any king who has as many subjects, as are the kings whom he hath
conquered. Even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's
transgression - Even over infants who had never sinned, as Adam did, in their
own persons; and over others who had not, like him, sinned against an express
law. Who is the figure of him that was to come - Each of them being a public
person, and a federal head of mankind. The one, the fountain of sin and death
to mankind by his offense; the other, of righteousness and life by his free
gift. Thus far the apostle shows the agreement between the first and second
Adam: afterward he shows the differences between them. The agreement may be
summed up thus: As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so
by one man righteousness entered into the world, and life by righteousness. As
death passed upon all men, in that all had sinned; so life passed upon all men,
(who are in the second Adam by faith,) in that all are justified. And as death
through the sin of the first Adam reigned even over them who had not sinned
after the likeness of Adam's transgression; so through the righteousness of
Christ, even those who have not obeyed, after the likeness of his obedience,
shall reign in life. We may add, As the sin of Adam, without the sins which we
afterwards committed, brought us death; so the righteousness of Christ, without
the good works which we afterwards perform, brings us life: although still
every good, as well as evil, work, will receive its due reward.
Verse 15. Yet not - St. Paul now describes the difference
between Adam and Christ; and that much more directly and expressly than the
agreement between them. Now the fall and the free gift differ,
1. In amplitude, ver. 15.
2. He from whom sin came, and He from whom the free gift came,
termed also "the gift of righteousness," differ in power, ver. 16.
3. The reason of both is subjoined, ver. 17.
4. This premised, the offense and the free gift are compared,
with regard to their effect, ver. 18, and with regard to their cause, ver. 19.
16. The sentence was by one offense to Adam's condemnation -
Occasioning the sentence of death to pass upon him, which, by consequence,
overwhelmed his posterity. But the free gift is of many offenses unto
justification - Unto the purchasing it for all men, notwithstanding many
offenses.
Verse 17. There is a difference between grace and the gift.
Grace is opposed to the offense; the gift, to death, being the gift of life.
Verse 18. Justification of life - Is that sentence of God, by
which a sinner under sentence of death is adjudged to life.
Verse 19. As by the disobedience of one man many (that is, all
men) were constituted sinners - Being then in the loins of their first parent,
the common head and representative of them all. So by the obedience of one - By
his obedience unto death; by his dying for us. Many - All that believe. Shall
be constituted righteous - Justified, pardoned.
Matthew 4:1-11
Verse 1. Then - After this glorious evidence of his Father's
love, he was completely armed for the combat. Thus after the clearest light and
the strongest consolation, let us expect the sharpest temptations. By the
Spirit - Probably through a strong inward impulse. Mark i, 12; Luke iv, 1.
Verse 2. Having fasted - Whereby doubtless he received more
abundant spiritual strength from God. Forty days and forty nights - As did
Moses, the giver of the law, and Elijah, the great restorer of it. He was
afterward hungry - And so prepared for the first temptation.
Verse 3. Coming to him - In a visible form; probably in a human
shape, as one that desired to inquire farther into the evidences of his being
the Messiah.
Verse 4. It is written - Thus Christ answered, and thus we may
answer all the suggestions of the devil. By every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God - That is, by whatever God commands to sustain him. Therefore
it is not needful I should work a miracle to procure bread, without any
intimation of my Father's will. Deut. viii, 3.
Verse 5. The holy city - So Jerusalem was commonly called, being
the place God had peculiarly chosen for himself. On the battlement of the
temple - Probably over the king's gallery, which was of such a prodigious
height, that no one could look down from the top of it without making himself
giddy.
Verse 6. In their hands - That is, with great care. Psalm xci,
11, 12.
Verse 7. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God - By requiring
farther evidence of what he hath already made sufficiently plain. Deut. vi, 16.
Verse 8. Showeth him all the kingdoms of the world - In a kind
of visionary representation.
Verse 9. If thou wilt fall down and worship me - Here Satan
clearly shows who he was. Accordingly Christ answering this suggestion, calls
him by his own name, which he had not done before.
Verse 10. Get thee hence, Satan - Not, get thee behind me, that
is, into thy proper place; as he said on a quite different occasion to Peter,
speaking what was not expedient. Deut. vi, 13.
Verse 11. Angels came and waited upon him - Both to supply him
with food, and to congratulate his victory.
-------
Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2014, a
ministry of GBOD | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment