31. — [What king, dc] Some regard this "king" as an emblem of a believer, and the king coming " with twenty thousand," as Satan. I am quite unable to see this. Both here and in the preceding three verses, I believe our Lord is only borrowing an illustration from familiar subjects, and that we are not meant to look further.
83. — [Forsaketh.] The Greek word so rendered is more commonly translated, " bid farewell," or " take leave." The meaning evi- dently is that a man cannot be Christ's disciple unless he is deliberately prepared to give up everything for His sake, if need be, and to encounter any enemy, and make any sacrifice.
84. — [Salt have lost its savour.] The following quotation from Maundrell deserves reading. He is describing the valley of salt, in his travels, and he says, "Along, on one side, there is a small
frecipice, occasioned by the continual taking away of the salt, broke a piece of it, of which the part exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, had completely lost its savour. The inner part which was connected with the rock, retained its savour."
Schottgen speaks of a species of salt in Judsea, brought frY)m the Dead Sea, and called bituminous salt, which was easily rendered vapid, and of no other use but to " spread in a part of the temple, on the pavement, to prevent slipping in wet weather."
This striking and solemn saying about the "salt which has lost its savour," is found on no less than three distinct occasions in the Gospels. (See Matt. v. 13, and Mark ix. 50.) The spiritual lesson of the passage is fearfully overlooked. The sinful- ness of sins against light and knowledge, and the possibility of being given over to a reprobate mind, are points not sufficiently dwelt upon by preachers, or considered by hearers. Men seem to forget that there is such a thing as an unpardonable sin, — and that if salt has once lost its savour it cannot be seasoned again.
I should not like to be mistaken in saying this. I cannot find in Scripture any clear proof that there is any decreed repro- bation. 1 hold that the destruction of those who are lost is the consequence of their own sins, and not of God's predestination. I believe that we have no right to say of any sinner, that he is too bad to be saved.
But the general teaching of the New Testament appears to be that nothing is so displeasing to God as the misuse of know- ledge, and the wilful turning away from truth once seen and acknowledged, to the service of sin and the world. The Bible teaches, in fact, that no sinner is so unlikely to be saved as the man who after making a high spiritual profession, falls away and returns to the world, and no heart so unlikely to be changed