The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 283

prenched. Christ came to give peace to a world profoundly disturbed and disquieted by sin. "Come unto me," he said, " and I will give you rest." Not a.s the world gives rest or peace does he give. (1) Not mere comfort or gratification that is very short-lived; (2) nor satisfaction that is based on ignorance of ourselves, and must before long be exposed; (3) nor the quiet of indifference or unbelief that must soon be broken up. Not of this order is the peace of Christ. It is: 1. Rest to the burdened conscience. He shows us our sin and makes us ashamed of it; he fills our heart with a true and righteous sorrow for it; he awakes within us a just and honourable concern for the consequences of it. And then he offers himself as the One who bore the burden upon himself, through whom we may find forgiveness and acceptance. .And "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Je1JUS Christ." 2. Abiding gladness to the hwngering heart. "In the world" is unsatisfiedness of soul, emptiness and hP.art- ache; a sense of disappointment. But in him is a true and lasting satisfaction. "How happily the days in his bleat service fly I" To live heartily and wholly unto him who loved us and gave himself for us, to expend our powers in his praise an<l in his ~ervice, -this is the secret of lifelong peace. .All the lower springs will fail, bat this never. To "lose our life" unto him is to "find it" and to keep it for ever. 3. Comfort to the troubled spirit. When darkness falls upon the path, when losses come, when bereave- ment makes a gap in the home and in the heart, when some heavy disappointment blights the prospect,-then the felt presence, the realized sympathy, and the unfailing succour of that Divine Friend give a peace which is deeper than our disturbance, a thrice-blessed calm to the tempest-tossed soul. 4. Peace in death. For many centuries the dying have departed in peace because they have hoped for everything through the Divine Saviour ; they have calmly "slept in Jesus;" and those who now look forward to death a.s a passage through which they will be passing can find no better wish or prayer than that "the music of his Name" may "refresh their soul in death."-C. Ver. 45.-17ie Divine Spirit ancl the human understanding. It may be that we do not sufficiently recognize the very intimate connection between our human intelli- gence and the action of the Spirit of God. We may be seriously in danger of coming short in gratitude for all that God has wrought for us in this respect, and in prayer for his continued and especial help in the future. I. THE DIVINE ENDOWMENT WITH WHICH HE STARTS US ON OUR COUBSE, We receive from his creative band a kind and a measure of intellectual power which may be said to vary with each individual of the human race. To one he giveth five talents, to another two, to another one. .And it is not only difference in measure, but also in kind. 'fhe human spirit has many faculties, and one man has a large share of one and another a goodly share of another, "as it pleaseth him." Most happily for us, there is every possible variety of human understanding resulting from the different capacities and dispositions with which our Creator endows us. II. THE BENEFICENT LAW OF EXPANSION EE HAS ORDAINED FOB. us. The law nnder which we live, and under which our understanding grows, is this-" to him that hatb is given." We observe, we hear and read, we reflect, we reason, we construct and produce ; and as we do this, we grow-our intelligence is opened and enlarged. Thus by the operation of one of his wise and kind laws God is "opening our understanding" every day, but more particularly in the earlier days of curiosity and of study. Youth has but to do its rightful and proper work, and God will do his gracious, enlarging work; and thus he will " build up" a mind, well stored with knowledge and wisdom, capable of great and noble service. .Ill. THE SPECIAL ILLUMINATIONS EE HAS GRANTED AND IS WILLING TO lllPAB.T, 1. God has given to members of our race illumination or expansion of mind which we pronounce miraculous, i.e. not in accordance with known laws. Such wa.s the inspira- tion he gave to Moses when he inspired him to write his books; or that he gave to Samuel, to Elijah, to Isaiah, to Zechariah, when he moved these prophets to remonstrate with or to exhort their contemporaries, or to write words that should live for all time on the sacred page; or that he gave to these two disciples when he opened their underst11nd- ing that they might understand the Scriptures as they had never understood them before; or that he gave to the Apostles Peter and Paul and John when he prompted them to speak as they spoke 11nd to write as they wrote. Hero was an altogether unusual and  2!)4 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [en. xxxv. 1-53, ------------------------------- supc:natural enli~hte~ment and ?nlargement of mind granted for the epech1.l purpose of makmg known his mind and will to the race of man. 2. God etill imparts special illumination to us according to our need and in response to our prayer. 'l'he "age of 11,1iracles ". may be :past, bii:t ~suredly the age of !)iv~ne il!umi11:ation is not passed, liod remams, and will remam, m constant communication with his human ohildren • be has, and ever will have, access to their understanding; he oan touch nnd quicke~ us, can enlarge and equip our minds for special service in his Name and cause can make clear to our minds those things which have been obscure, whether in his wo'rd or in his providence, so that we can "understand the Scriptures," and also interpret his dealing with ourselves and his fashioning of our lives. Three things become us. (1) .A sern;e of our own insufficiency-insufficiency both for comprehending what we are called upon both to consider and (as far as may be) to understand, and for doing the work of explanation and enforcement which is required of us. (2) Faith in God-in his obser- vation of us; in his interest in our humble endeavours to take our part and do our work; in his power over us to "open our understanding" as well as to "open our heart" ( Acts xvi. 44; see Eph. i. 18; 2 Tim. iL 7). (3) Prayer for Divine illumination. Lacking wisdom, let us ask of God, "who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not" (Jas. i. 5; see Col. i. 9; Eph. i. 16, 17). Whenever we read the Scriptures that we may learn the "mind of Christ," whenever we stand up to speak in his Name, when- ever we set ourselves to any effort that requires spiritual wisdom, we do well to pray in the spirit, if not in the language, of our great poet- " Thon, 0 Spirit, that dost prefer Before ell temples the upright heart and pure, Instruct me; for thou know'st: ... What in me is dark, Illumine I What is low, raise and support I" 0. Ver. 47.-The solemn charge. It is an allowable curiosity to wonder how the apostlea of our Lord received this "their solemn charge." 1. They must have been greatly impressed by its extreme seriousness; they were to preach repentance and remis- sion of sin "among all nations." And although they did not know as we do what that meant, and how wide was the range of the Saviour's purpose, they could realize as we cannot how deep and bitter would be the enmity which a gospel of the crucified Nazarene would encounter, more especially in Jerusalem. 2. But they may have been powerfully sustained by the presence of the Lord himself. The "power of his resur- rection" was then upon their souls; they were to go forth in his Name, who had just triumphed over man's last and greatest enemy-death. What could they not do through him? If we ask what was the message, in its fulness, which they were charged to deliver, we reply- L REPENTANCE AS CHRIST HAD PREACHED IT. They were to preach repentance in l,u RarM. Therefore of the kind which he demanded. And this was no mere out- ward aill/3ndment; it was not found in the external habits of devotion; no amount of almsgivi.J..g, fasting, prayers, would constitute it. It meant: 1. Self-condemnation. Not necessarily the exhibition of overwhelming emotion, but the decided and deep con- viction of our own unworthiness, and real regret for wrong done and for service with- held in the past. 2. The return of the heart to God. The coming back from the far country of estrangement, or forgetfulness, or denial and open enmity, and the seeking anew the Father's face and favour. 3. 'I'M outcasting from the soul of all tolerance of evil so that sin is not only shunned but hated. 4. The purwit of all moral euellency; to be attained by the study and the love of the great Exemplar himself. And this repentance, real and thorough, was to bo immediate. There was to be no guilty and dangerous postponement; as soon as the soul recognized its duty it was to start on the true and right course. IL RE:lllliBION A.8 CHRIST OFFERED IT. And this was: 1. Full. It was a forgive- ness without reserve. The son (of the parable, eh. :xv.) was not relegated to the servants' hall, though he had thought of asking for no more than that. Ho was admitted to the full honour of sonship; he was to wear the best robe and the ring, and he was to sit down to the table which was loaded in his honour. The mercy we receive through Christ, and which is to be offered" in hi11 No.me," is no imperfect thing; on. xx1v. 1-53.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 29.3