Secondly, Here is the blandishment, and compellation used, Lord, Lord ! So Mat. vii. 21, ' Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the- will of my Father which is in heaven ;' and ver. 22, ' Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord.'
1. Here is a title of honour given to Christ by hypocrites, and it is ingeminated. The title of honour given to Christ is due to him : John xiii. 13, ' Ye call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.' But the title must be verified by suitable practice. Men may delight to be flattered with the title of Lord, Lord, by those that in- wardly bear them no reverence ; but Christ, who knoweth the heart, will not be pleased with those glorious titles, when your hearts give your tongues the lie : Luke vi. 46, ' Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say ?' As they cried, ' Hail king of the Jews,' when the soldiers mocked him. Many often intitle Christ to their party, take upon them to be his disciples in words ; but the 'kingdom of God standeth not in word, but in power.' Bat these served their master more with mouth than with heart ; therefore Christ doth not accept of them, nor approve of them for his servants. They call Christ Lord, but obey the devil, are led and governed by the flesh, disobedient
Vers. 11, 12.] sermons upon matthew xxv. 405
to Christ's counsels and precepts. I hear ' Lord, Lord ;' but what means the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen ? There- fore it is vain to use this honourable title to move pity in the judge.
2. They ingeminate it to show the ardency of their desires, and earnestness to have Christ for their Lord. Now, first or last every knee shall bow to Christ ; they are forced to fly to him now in their extremity and pressures of misery. Though men will not come to Christ for grace, yet they will come to him for glory, Now they can- not come because, busied about something else, Luke xiv. 18-20 ; in- deed, will not come : John v. 40, ' And ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.' But then it is all ' Lord, Lord.' Oh ! how fain would they own Christ, and be owned by him ! But alas ! their repentance cometh too late, their desires too late, their tears too late ; it is all forced by their extremity : Job xxvii. 9, ' Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him ? ' A hypocrite would not much care if he were heard in the times of peace, and the affluence of out- ward enjoyments ; but then, when he would fain flatter God into a hearing, God rejecteth him. In extremity they prize mercy above a thousand worlds ; but all will not do, the door is shut.
3. The matter of the petition, ' Open to us ;' that is, the door of the nuptial chamber. None but desire happiness. This petition, as set here, noteth two things : —
[1.] The innate desire of happiness that is in man. All desire to enter, and to be saved at length, however they neglect the means for the present, to get oil in their vessels, or to keep in their lamps.
[2.] How deeply leavened with self-confidence and self-conceit the hearts of men are, so that they are not easily dispossessed of it. When the door is shut, the foolish virgins make full account to enter. The most sottish think they shall do well enough : Dent. xxix. 19, ' I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my own heart, and add drunkenness to thirst.' Especially the temporary, who is the re- fined hypocrite: ' Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in thy name,' &c. ; make full account to go to heaven, that shall never come there. They trust to false evidences ; use negligent endeavours, please themselves with uncertain and deceitful hopes ; but all vain and false pretences shall then be confuted, and those that have a high and false opinion of their interest in Christ shall then be disapproved by him.
Secondly, I now come to the bridegroom's reply, Where note —
1. The vehemency and asseveration, ' Verily I say unto you.' To cut off all further hope, his answer is peremptory and decisive.
2. The reply itself, ' I know you not.' There is a twofold know- ledge— intuitive and approbative. (1.) By an intuitive knowledge : ' Known unto the Lord from the beginning are all his works,' Acts xv. 18. God had an idea of all things in himself before he gave them actual being : he knoweth all whom he conserves by his providence. Every wise man knoweth what he hath. Christ knew that virtue went from him in the throng. (2.) But this knowledge is here meant of the knowledge of approbation, as we find it often in scripture. Now Christ's knowledge of his own people is threefold : —