We know that perseverance in prayer is a rare and difficult attainment; and it is a manifestation of our unbelief that, when our first prayers are not successful, we immediately throw away not only hope, but all the ardor of prayer. But it is an undoubted evidence of our Faith, if we are disappointe... [ Continue Reading ]
7._And shall not God avenge his elect? _That _judge, _whom Christ has described to us as altogether desperate, as not only hardened against the contemplation of God, but so entirely devoid of shame, that he had no anxiety about his reputation, at length opened his eyes to the distresses of the _wido... [ Continue Reading ]
8._When the Son of man shall come. _By these words Christ informs us that there will be no reason to wonder if men shall afterwards sink under their calamities: it will be because they neglect the true remedy. He intended to obviate an offense which we are daily apt to take, when we see all things i... [ Continue Reading ]
Christ now gives directions about another virtue, which is necessary to acceptable prayer. Believers must not come into the presence of God but with humility and abasement. No disease is more dangerous than arrogance; and yet all have it so deeply fixed in the marrow of their bones, that it can scar... [ Continue Reading ]
10._Two men went up. _Christ makes a comparison between the two men, both of whom, by _going up to pray, _seem to manifest the same ardor of piety, while yet they are exceedingly unlike. _The Pharisee, _possessing outward sanctity, approaches to God with a commendation which he pronounces on his who... [ Continue Reading ]
11._God, I thank thee. _And yet he is not blamed for boasting of the strength of his free-will, but for trusting that God was reconciled to him by the merits of his works. For this thanksgiving, which is presented exclusively in his own name, does not at all imply that he boasted of his own virtue,... [ Continue Reading ]
12._I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. _This is equivalent to saying that he performed more than the law required; just as the Popish monks talk loftily of their works of _supererogation, as _if they found no great difficulty in fulfilling the law of God. It must be admit... [ Continue Reading ]
13._The publican standing at a distance. _Here Christ did not intend to lay down a general rule, as if it were necessary, whenever we pray, to cast down our eyes to the ground. He merely describes the tokens of humility, which alone he recommends to his disciples. Now humility lies in not refusing t... [ Continue Reading ]
14._This man went down justified. _The comparison is not exact; for Christ does not merely assign to _the publican _a certain degree of superiority, as if _righteousness _had belonged alike to both, but means that_the publican _was accepted by God, while _the Pharisee _was totally rejected. And this... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 18:34._And they understood none of these things. _What stupidity was this, not to understand what Christ said to them in a plain and familiar manner, on a subject not too lofty or intricate, but of which they had, at their own suggestion, entertained some suspicion! But it is proper also to bea... [ Continue Reading ]