The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 195

we mny form, by v,hioh we help men upwarde and God wards, must be an eesontially •n<l radicalll' Chri~tian thincr. II. CnRrBTIAN PARTICIP;TION. "The ~o!1 or man came eating and drinking." He W1'S no RRcet1c; he was present at the fest1v1ty; he accepted the invitation to the rich man's board; he did not choose the coareer garment bOORuse it was coarser or the seve_rer lod)(in_g because i~ was severer; be did not habitually and conscic~tiously dechne the gifts of God m nature. He knew how to decline them wheu occasion called for it (~ee eh. vi. 12; ix. 58), but be did not do so regularly and as a sacred duty. Surely 1t was well for the world that be acted thus· for had he sanctioned asceticis~, we should have been continually oscillatin~, or everywh~re divided, between an unam111.ble ~verity on the one hand.and a degradmg self-indulgence on the other hand •. Tbe wise e._nd the true course 1s that of a Christian participation; this is a partaking of the gifts of God and of the sweets and enjoyments of earth, which is: 1. Sanctified by devout gratitude; by a continual and wholosome mindfulness that every good gift is from above, and calls for a grateful and reverent spirit. 2. Controlled by a ~ise moderation;_ ~o that nothi~i: i~ indulged in w~i~h is in the smallest degree excessive; so that no mJury of any kind 1s done to the spmtual nature. 3. Beautified by benevolence; the participation by ourselves being very closely and constantly a.ccomr,anied by the remembrance of the wants of others. "Eat the fat and drink the sweet,' but be careful to" send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared."--C. Ver. 35.-0ur treatment of wisdom. Whatever might have been expected to bo the case, the fact is that wisdom has received but poor and sad treatment from the children of men. We perceive, without any search for it- I. lTs REJECTION BY THE WORLD. 1. Up to the time of the coming of our Lord. The Eternal Wisdom uttered its voice by the constitution and course of nature, by the human reason and conscience, by occasional re,·elation. But that voice was unheard or unheeded. Few, indeed, in every age and land recognized and obeyed it in comparison with the vast multitudes that remained in ignorance and folly. The heavens declared the glory of GoJ, but men knew not the hand Divine that moved the stars in their course. "Tbe candle of tbe Lord" was kindled, and it shone within the soul, but men hid it under the bushel of their unholy habits and their perverting prejudices. Through those long, dark ages Wisdom spake, and (it might be almost said that) "no man regarded." 2. The coming of Christ. He who was the very " Wisdom of God" himself, he who was "the Truth," dwelt amongst us; and "he WM despised and rejectt:d of men." Those who should have been the first to appreciate and to welcome him were the first to dislike and to denounce him. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." 3. From that time to our own day. Divine 'Wisdom, speaking in the gospel of Christ, has been summoning men to reconciliatit,n with God, to peace, to virtue, to sacred joy, to immortal blessedness; and the world, upon the whole, h!U! turned to it a deaf ear, ha.a gone on its own way of folly, ha.a refwied to -walk in its light, and to receive its benediction. IL ITS RECOGNITION BY ITS OWN BONB. 1. There were some in the dark days before Christ who beard and heeded the voice of G,id. These may have been more numero,i;s tl,an we have supposed. "In every nation he that feared God and wrought righteous- ness was accepted of him." There may have been-we may rightly hope that thero were-gre11.t numbers of the "children of wisdom" wbo recognized its voice ar.,1 oLeyed its teaching. 2. When our Saviour came there were those who recognized his voice and responded to it. Many of these were woruen, many of them "little ones," despised by the authorities of their day. They did not think him "possessed,'' nc,r charge him with se!f-iLJdulgence (vers. 3::l, 34); lbey perceived in hiru a Divine Teachor, a true Friend, a gracious Saviour, and they '' rose aud followed him;" then, indeed, was" Wisdom justified of all her children." 3. Throughout these Christian ages the samu truth has held. The psalmist prays, "Do good unLo tho11e that be good, aud to them that are upright in their hearts" (Ps. cxxv. 4). And while it is true that men of the most perrnrse ar,d froward spirit may be so mightily affected by Div~no power and grace tLat the truth of God breaks through the thicke~t armour of opposition, yet ie it generally trne that it is only they wi,o have the spirit of wbdom in them-" the cl1ilureu of wisdom "-wh(; eritcr Lhc kingdom of truth a1Jd righteousuces. "Only the an. vn. 1-50.) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BT. LUKE. l'.J1