[4.] He that cannot digest lighter afflictions, how will he bear greater ? Jer. xii. 5, 'If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses ? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan ? ' The prophet was all in a pet because the men of his town and neighbourhood had conspired against him, and were very troublesome to him. God tells him, If thou canst not bear this, how wilt thou do when thou art exposed to greater trials ? There are private persecutions, therefore father and mother
VeR. 22.] SEUMOXS UPON MARK X. 17-27. 13
are put into the catalogue of things to be renounced by us when we take to Christ ; Luke xiv. 26, ' If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' If a frown and disgrace, and loss of preferment, be so much, how will you endure rapine, and torture, and all manner of violence and evil ?
[5.] He that begrudgeth a little pains for God, and counts it so tedious to converse with him a little while in duties of holiness, and reckons all labour too much, and is loath to ' strive to enter in at the strait gate,' Luke xiii. 24, how will he endure torments, and expose the body to all kind of sufferings ? Necesse est, ut ei lioneshim vile sit, cui coi'pus camm est — He that is so tender of his ease, so delicate that he cannot endure the labours of the gospel, how will he bear the afflic- tions of the gospel ? If it be irksome to put the body to a little trouble in prayer or meditating, or other holy duties, how will he rejoice in the midst of all tribulations that shall befall him for Christ's sake ? Thus you see how few are prepared for the cross.
SEKMOJ?' IX.
And Tie was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. — Maek x. 22.
We have hitherto seen the young man at his best ; now we shall find him discovered and laid open in his own colours. It was well that he came to Christ with such reverence and seriousness about such a ■weighty question as ' What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? ' It was well if he could say truly, ' All these have I kept from my youth. But now, here is the event and issue of this interlocutory discourse between him and Christ ; when Christ bid him ' Sell all, and take up his cross, and follow him,' then ' he went away sad/ &c. Here observe —
1. How he was affected with Christ's advice, ' He was sad at the saying, and went" away grieved.
2. The reason of his sorrow, or why he was thus affected, ' For he had great possessions.'
In the first part we may observe —
[1.] The kind of the affection ; he was not angry, but sorry ; he doth not fret and fume, but goes away sorrowful.
[2.] Observe the degree of it ; it is expressed here by two things — a sad heart, and a heavy countenance. The sadness of his countenance I gather from the word aTv^vu(ja<i iirl rS \o76>, ' He was sad at that saying." The word properly signifies he lowered at that saying; the lowering of the heavens is expressed by that word, ' So the sky was red and lowering,' Mat. xvi. 3, irvppdleL yap a-Tvyvd^cov 6 ovpavo^. Then the sadness of his heart, aTrPjXdj] Xvirovfievo^, ' He went away grieved.' la Luke xviii. 23, it is irepiXviro^ iyipero, ' He was very sorrowful.' N"ote,
14 SKItMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27. [SeR. IX.
that he went away, and we hear no more of him ; Hke those, John vi. 66, ' At that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.'
Secondly, here is the reason of this, ' For he had great possessions.' In Luke it is said rjv <yap TrXovato^ a-cjioSpa, ' He was very rich ; ' he had both KTi]ixaTa possessions, and ')(^pi]/j,aTa, riches too, as appears by the next verse. And observe, that the bare having is rendered as the reason, ' He had great possessions,' and therefore he went away sad. It is hard to have them without lustful affections to them. It may be, if he had so little as the poor fishermen, or the other disciples whom Christ called, he would sooner have left all and followed Christ ; but having so much to lose, it was the more difficult for him to forsake all : ' He went away, for he had great possessions.
To give you a few brief points —
1. That a man may go very far, and be zealous and forward at first, yet afterwards cool and fall away.
2. That trials bring men forth to the light, and make them manifest what they are.
3. A man wedded to the world will renounce Christ and his com- mands rather than the world whenever it comes to a proof.