The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 423

great agonr of Gethsemane. Of the thr~, John was the most loved of the Lord, yeti Peter was m some sense first; perhaps bis character, perhaps the Lord's choice, brings him again and again to the front. There must, for the sake of order, be some sub- ordination among the servants of Christ, but the truest distinction is that of holiness. "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;" "He that shall humble himself shall be exalted." The lowliest here shall stand nearest to the Lord in heaven. There is a true and noble ambition; it is the ambition to please God the best, to follow closes~ to Christ, to be first in humility, in self-sacrifice, in holy, self-denying love. 3. Some of them are well known, some unknown. Some of them exhibit to us a clear, distinct personality; of some we know very little; one or two are names to us, and nothing more. .All are known to God. He "knoweth them that are his ; " "I know mine own, and mine own know me ; even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father." God's saints, happy in that knowledge, seek not to be known of men. God's providence orders their circumstances. They may be as a city set on a hill, known of all men; they may be hidden from the sight of men ii., the quiet corners and byways of life. It matters little; whether their outward life is private or public, their soul liveth with God. For a time the Lord Jesus was the central figure in the Holy Land. "The wotld is gone after him," the Pharisees said. But he had lived during the far larger portion of his earthly life unseen and unknown to the world, a poor man in an obscure town. That obscure life was very beautiful and noble in the sight of God and the holy angels; for it was a life of perfect holiness and self-sacrifice, The hidden saints of God may be among his holiest, his best beloved ; "unknown, and yet well known." They fill no space in the world's history ; their very names are forgotten here. But they are not forgotten in heaven ; they are writtf}n there in the Lamb's book of life. It is good to be unknown here. It must be very hard in the high places of life to preserve a clear, calm spirit; to walk humbly with God; in the world, but not of the world. Some can do it by the grace of God ; with God all things are possible. Some men in high place are by his grace more lowly minded than those who r:i.nk far beneath them ; the danger is great, but the grace of God is greater. Simon Peter had grea.t faults ; but he may have been more lowly in heart than the unknown Simon the Canaanite; he may have illustrated in his life his own lesson, "Be clothed with humility." 4. One was a traitor, They were only twelve; the Lord had chosen them to be with him. They ha.d the unspeakable privilege of his teaching, his example, his society, living always in familiar intercourse with him. One would think it almost impossible to cherish selfish thoughts and motives in the presence of that unearthly goodness. But in that little company there was s traitor. Outwardly, he was very near to Obrist; inwardly, there was a great gulf between them. The heart of man is deceit- ful above all things; in the midst of spiritual privileges it may be wholly esiranged from God. In the visible Church the evil are ever mingled with the good. There was one traitor among the chosen twelve ; there will sometimes be worldly and wicked men in the ministry of the Church, sometimes in its highest places. We must not be offended; it is what we are taught to expect. LESSON!!, 1. The Lord sends forth his servants; they must remember that their mission is from him, and look to him for wisdom and for power. 2. They must not seek great things for themselves, but be lowly, like their Lord. 3. The sacred office has its own temptations; sometimes they are very great. Spiritual fellowship with Christ is the one only safeguard. Vers. 6-16.-The Lord's charge to hu apostlu. I. DIRECTIONS FOB THEm IllllllE- DIATE MISSION. 1. It was to be confined to the ho'UIJe of Israel. This was a temporary limitation; it was wholly removed at the ascension. 'l'he Lord himself entered into the city of the Samaritans ; he healed the daughter of the Syro-Phcenician woman. But for the present the apostles were to preach only to the Jews; it was necessary that the gospel should be :first offered unto them; they were the covenant people, the children of the kingdom. The Holy Land was to be the centre from which the light of the gospel was to be diffused throughout the world. The light must be kindled at the centre first ; a Church must be formed in the birthplace of the faith; then the messengers of Christ were to go forth for the evangelization of the world. 'l'he gospel must be preached at home first; then comes missionary work. Each disciple must be a witness for Christ  420 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [oH. x. 1--42.