7 17. 11. Men, that would be converted by R-velations and ſ-me extraordi- nary Signs ; if thev could fee one 7:er from the dead, then they would believe the Rejwredion ; it they couid ice a glorified Saint, or hear or ſec 4 datmnoes Soul, then they wouid believe an Heaven and an Hell: he herc briggs 10 Abraham faving, Toy Dave Moſes and the Prophets, tet thera near them. God Wi: have Men believe the Propo- fitions of his Wed, aad live up to the rule cf Lite pretcrived there, and not expe to have their curiofii y {itisfied, by neeClefs and ex- traorditary Revelations. Bur is thetic then co need of the Goſpe] ro bring Men to #-cavcn ? Doubtleis tiicre 15, but tat 15 included 1n Avvies and the Propoets, who a! propbecied ot Chriſt, tho mor” dark- iy than he is revevied in the Nev Te!ta'nent, Had ye believed Moſcs. ge would bave believed me, for he wrote of me, John 5. 4%. and 'v, 39. Search the Scrip: ures, far m them ye think thus 104 have eternal life, and they ic(itfie oj me: Now they at that time, had no Scriptures to ſearch, but thote of Moſes and the Prophets z for the new Teſtament was not at that time Written. :
30 And he ſaid, Nay, Father * brabam : bat if one went unto them troin the dead, they wlll repent.
21 And he ſeic unto him, If they hear nor Moſes and the prophets, neither will they be perſwaded though
one roſe from the dead.
How vain is Man it his imaginations! We are prone all of us tc think after the rate that this Rich Kun 1s here brought in ſpeaking. That altho pertons be deaf to the ſound of the Word, yet ſome ſen- fible evidence of the Wrath of God, would make a change in their hearts and lives. There js no ſuch thing. There is not poſſibly in all the Book of God, a Text that more ſpeiks the deſparate hardne/s of a Sinners heart, than tnis, nor a Tc&t which looks more dread- fully upon Pcrſons fitting under the means of Grace, reading and hearing the word of God, and yet hind not their hearts ſo affeted with the reading and hearing of it, as thereby to be brought to re- pentance, and Faith, and ſuch holineſs of Life as it requireth. If jt were pottible tit ſuch Men and Wornen ſhould fee one come out of the bottomicſs Fit, tearing his Hair, and wringing his hands, and gnaſhing his Tceth. and bewailing his Miſery, and begging of them to be wiſe by his Ex:mple, telling thcm for what Sins he is made fo miſerable,and with tcars and higheſt expreiſions of Paifion, beſeeching them, that while they lave time thcy would leave off thoſe courſes, acquaint thewſelues with Goz, an! be at Peace, that thereby good mizht come wnio them z they would not yet believe, nor repent, nor would this have any further cffe& upon them, than a little Paſſion, Till they could get the din out of their Ears, For tho ſenſible evi- dence, be the higheſt advaniage in the World to moral ſuaſjon ; yet theſe thinps arc under no Fivice Appointment to ſuch an effe, Henceforth jet us wonder 19 moie that a Drunkard ſees his Compa-
But %e mult rememver that our Saviour here |,
V .Kk E CHAP. XVyY.
Chriſt dehorteth from giving offence, 1, 2. and admoniſheth them f give one anther, 3, 4. The Diſciples pray for increaſeaf pr” I: a deſcription of the power thereof, 5, 6. Ten Lepers cleanſed | irony : of one only 1s thank ful, 7—19. Telleth them in what manne —_ Kingdom ſhould come, 29—25. A deſcription of the la$t times : *, pared with thoſe of Noah and Lot, 26 —37, FOO
I Hen he faid unto the diſciples, It is i p PF but that offences will come : but is oye
through whom they come.
2 It were better for him that a milſtone were hg,
ed about his neck, and he caſt into the ſea, then that te
ſhoula offend one of theſe little ones.
See the Notes on Matth. 18. 6, 59. Mark 9g. 42. This ter; Irgrdraw is uſed in the New Teſtament very variouſly ; in the Pai ral it figniftes any thing which may be an occaſion of miſchief to "n ther. Man confiiting of Body and Soul, may by ſomething be made to ftumble and fall, either with reference to the one, or to the other. thus Levit. 19. 14. Thou ſhalt not — put a ſtumblins block before tha Blind, WID Macſkil, Heb. fo Prov. 24. 17. the mitchief done to our Souls 1s by Sin, > as-in the New Teſtament it often lionifies any action of ours, by whici or Brother is made to fin, which, i. ons may be gd and neceſſury, and then the ſcandal is taken, not pj. ven z. Or wicked and abominavle, hence we call ſome Sins ſcantalug S1ns, fuch as give offence to others, and are cx2mples alluring them to Sin, - Or thirdly, Afftions whici in themſelves are of indifferent Nature, ueither coin:nanded nor forbidden in the Word, Our take ing one part in theſe tions, rather than another, way be a Scandal, nat 1s, an Offence, What our Saviour here ſaith, is certainly trye concerning all theſe kind of Offences, conſidering the Complexion of the World, and the Corruption which is in Mens hearts, 7 i im. Poole but that offences will come. But I muſt confeſs I incline to tink, that the Offences primarily intended by our Saviour here, zre taoſe of the firſt ſort, and that by them are meant Perſecutians of the People of God, to the Authors of which our Saviour denounceth Woe. So that our Saviour by this, lets the World know, the ſpeci. al protcttion under which he hath taken his People, ſo as tho he kuew there would ariſe thoſe, who would hurt and deſtroy in his ho! Mountain , yet he declares, that they ſhall not gO unpuniſhed, byt they had better dye the moſt certain death imaginable, (ſuch myſt bs the death of him who is thrown into the Sea with a Milſtone 1 20uT his Neck) than to that degree expoſe himſelf to the Vengeance ot God ; a guilt of that Nature, that there is not much more hope for him toeſcape Gods Vengeance, than there would be of a Mane. caping with his Life, whom we ſhould ſee thrown into the Sea, with « Milſtone appendent to him, I do very well know that it is al highly dangerous to tempt or ſollicite a Child of God ts Sin, either »2y our Words or Attionsz but I do not think it the deſign of our Lord in this place, ſo much to expreſs that as the other.
3 Take heed to your ſelves : If thy brother treſpak againlt thee, * rebuke him ; and if he repent, forgives py him- 19, 4+ And if he treſpaſs againit thee feven times in a/®s day, and ſeven times in a day turn again to thee, ſaying, I repent ; thou ſhalt forgive him.