RIGHT-HAND SINS.

NO. 3415

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 16TH, 1914.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING JUNE 27TH, 1868.

“And if thy hand offend thee, 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 believeth. 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, them 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 he 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 aforetime. We shall not at tall, 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 Ghost within the soul. We shall begin, therefore, with this short assertion, which will serve as our first point of thought: —

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I. Everything Which Offends God Ought To Offend Us.

You notice the text saith, “If thy hand offend thee.” We might read it, “Make thee to offend God.” The two expressions ought ill our experience to mean the same thing, for everything which offends God does offend every truly gracious heart. That short statement will serve as a touch-stone for us all to know, whether we are reconciled to God or not, for, remember, if thou truly lovest God, it must be so, that that which is hateful to him will be hateful to thee. 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. Thou canst not love me if thou wouldest favor mine enemies. Thou canst have no affection for me, if thou wouldest 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, dost thou put away from thyself that which God hates — hating it because he hates it; not so much because thy fellow-Christians dislike it, or because the public judgment would go against it; but dost thou hate evil because it is detestable in the sight of God? If so, then thou hast a clear mark that thou lovest God, and be thankful for the grace which has put thy heart into such a temper.

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 thou dost, even now, in thy soul, war against that which God loathes, if thou strive and cry after that which God loves, then is between God and thee, at any rate, some degree of likeness. Thou art like him in thy hatred of evil — like, not in degree, but yet still in substance. Thou art like God in thy love towards that which is lovely, and good, and pure — not like him in degree, I say again, yet still in the matter of fact there is some likeness between God and thy soul.

Then there is one other thought that ought to cheer thee. If thou canst honestly answer this question, if that which offends God offends thee, then there is some communion between God and thy soul; and though it may be a question with thee, and thou sayest, “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 doing it, and this practical proof of his communion is better far than half the raptures and the joys which may be but the fruit of men’s carnal excitement, whereas this solid gold of holiness is full and true proof that the hand of the Lord has been laid upon thee. Settle this, then, my beloved brother or sister, in your heart from this day forth: —

“If there be a good man in this world, if God loves him, I must love him; if there be a good doctrine preached anywhere, though I may scarce understand it, yet if God loves it, I must believe it and rejoice in it; if there be any providential dispensation that is really of God’s mind, then let it be 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 thou hatest; if there be those in this world whose company thou wouldest not have, for they blaspheme, and rail, and speak lightly of holy things, help me to shun their company; if there be a song that Christ’s ear would not hear, let my ears refuse to hear it; if there be any sight that a holy God would not gaze upon, let not me gaze upon it, but 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. In the carrying out of this rule: —

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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 thy hand offend thee, cut it off.” There are sins which are very dear to men. I shall not attempt to give a catalogue 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 have all some besetting sins. We may fall into all sins, but some men are more disposed to certain offenses than others.

Now, if thou hast any wrong thing that has hitherto been dear to thee, like thy right hand, thy right eye, thy right foot, thou art, according to this text, to deal with it, and to deal with it at once.

Some sins appears 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 so and so as others do? We must live”: and so on. Well, if the thing be wrong, even though it appear to be necessary to thy livelihood as the right hand is to the body, yet thou art still to deal with it, for thou and thy sins must part, or God and thou must part. There can be no salvation to one that harbors sin, and if sin be 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 be impossible, it must be done. Another power than thine must come to the rescue, for that sin of thine must go, and the sooner the better if thou art to be saved.

Now, observe Christ’s word about this right arm sin, which seems so dear, so needful, and so much a part of the man himself. What does he say? “If thy hand offend thee” — strap it up? Well, some have said, “I will take a vow not to fall into such a sin as that.” “If thy hand offend thee” — 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 thy hand offend thee” — swathe it in bands, keep it from doing mischief? No! but hear the Master’s sharp and at its first sound, cruel word, “Cut it off!” In the gospel according to Matthew, he puts it, “Cut it off, and cast it from thee,” 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 thee.” 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 arm, 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 to-night, who have been thinking about going to heaven; but you never will get there, whilst 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, and cast 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 thee! It must be thorough work — a clean severance between thee and sin. Ah! these are hard tidings, and many will turn on their heel, and go their way, and say, “We cannot endure this,” but as the Lord liveth, 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, be given up — not so much as one sin hugged, or indulged, or loved. “Must a man be perfect then?” Sir, a man must desire to 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 sinneth, 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: —

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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 thy would but look at their own hearts, they would find that this company is a snare to them. They are kept from week-night services; they have little zeal for God’s glory now. 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 to 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 arm, then! “Oh! but it will seem so painful to give up that society; it would be like losing a right arm!” Well, but it would be a grand thing to lose an arm for Christ. They are not altogether the most ignoble soldiers who come back from battle maimed; nay, 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. Nay, 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 arm, and keep 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 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 that at first. Mr. John Wesley, I think, once said in the pulpit that he had been accused now of every crime in the whole catologue 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 ye 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 were the brave men who would be counted the offscouring of all things, be set down for fanatics, levellers, and I know not what besides, but who declared that for the truth, 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 so done. He, and Alexander Petrie, and such, were wont 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 cravens: 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 thy reputation be ever a snare to thee, off with that right hand of thine, and be willing to be called a dog or a devil, if Christ can get the greater honor out of thee.

To some professors, their love of profit becomes a snare. I need not say many things about that. If there be any profits that you get in business that are not honest profits, I do charge you before the living God, have nought to do with them, but let the Christian man’s business be conducted with such uprightness that he could afford to have it proclaimed as with the sound of trumpet at the market-cross, for only such business is fit for Christian men. So if there is anything about thy trading that would not stand the test of the most searching investigation, cut it off: cast it from thee: what hast thou to do with it, thou 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 be 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 brethren, 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 often to expose myself to the fire of a battery across a plain where the shots were constantly flying, and I do 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 repining or demur — off with the right arm, 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 a 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 brethren. We must cut off this easy kind of Christianity. The kingdom of heaven suffereth 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-arm 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 hath prepared for us on the other side of Jordan. Now I come to a close.

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IV. What Are The Reasons Why There Should Be A Cutting Off Of Right Arms?

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 arm” 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, the whole body would perish, and was he not very thankful, indeed, when the surgeons came and removed the diseased limb?

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 thy whole self if it be not cut off. Is there anything cruel in Christ’s demanding that it should be removed? Nay, it is the dictate of generous and kindly wisdom. Submit thyself to it and ask the Holy Spirit to take away thy darling sin, and make it distasteful to thee. You will soon die, and if you die with that sin unrepented 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 dieth not, and their fire is not quenched.” I am not going to dwell upon 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 for ever and ever, “where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched,” as some say it is. Oh! beware lest thou run that risk! Now man, suppose thou shouldest keep thy cups, keep thy bad company, keep thy lusts, keep thy self-righteousness, and find thyself in hell, it will be poor consolation to thee. 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 debauch? 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 ne’er been born, and played the fool so horribly with your immortal soul! Let, 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 thee to ungird that belt of sin, or pleasure, or whatsoever it may be, and give up all, that thou mightest 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. Nay, 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 be right, sacrifice will be the truest gain.

Besides, reflect — Christians are losers to be gainers. The farmer loses his wheat as he scatters it broad 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 enrol us amongst 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 Ghost to keep thee from this day forward close at the heels of the Master, casting aside every weight and every sin that doth beset thee, and every earthly thing that doth attract thee, and only desiring his name to be sweet upon thy tongue, and his praise to be reflected in thy whole character. God grant it may be so with you, my dear brethren, until Christ cometh. 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 of heaven?

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 ye converted, and become as little children, ye 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?” said he; “smaller or larger?” Let it be smaller, brethren that will be the surest way of growth certainly. If we can become much less to-day, we shall be growing. We have grown up, as we call it, let us grow down to-day, and become as little children, or else we shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4. Whosoever 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 certainly. “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 whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth 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 whoso 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 scandalise him — whosoever 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 an ass millstone — not a common millstone, which women used to turn, but a bigger stone, which was turned by an ass, 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 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 make your brother to offend, eat no meat while the world standeth. 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. Then 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 cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee:

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 — for

8. It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

Remember that is the word of Jesus — “everlasting fire” — not the word of some of those coarse, cruel theologians that you hear a great deal about now-a-days, but the word of Jesus Christ, the Master himself. You cannot be more tender than he; to pretend to be so, with only prove us to be very foolish.

9. And if thine eye offend thee,

So needful to thy pleasure, and to thy knowledge, and to thy guidance yet if it make thee sin,

9. Pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire.

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 thou lose an eye, or lose a hand, than lose thy faith in God and his word, and so lose thy soul and be cast into hell fire.

10. Take heed that ye 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 which is in heaven.

There is an angel to watch other each child of God; the heirs of heaven have those holy spirits to keep watch and ward over them. These sacred intelligencies, 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 honourably 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. “How think ye?” Put on your considering cap, and think a minute.

12-14. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Nor shall they. Christ has come on purpose that He may send them out, and find them out he will; and having an hundred, whom his Father gave him, he will not be satisfied with ninety-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 thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy 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 out. It is useless to expect the person who does the injury to try and make peace. It is the injured one 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 be of the mind of Christ, be the one to commence the reconciliation.

16, 17. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee 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 neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as an heathen man 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 quit him.

18. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye 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 any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which 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 hath despised the day of small things? On the contrary, measure by quality, rather than by quantity, and even if the quality fail measure by love, rather than by some rule of justice that you have set up.

21. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

He thought he had opened his mouth very wide when he said that.

22. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, 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 continue still to forgive.