Therefore He goes on to caution disciples against the policy of obscuration. i, p. 420) says: Maundrell, Jowett, and others, throw out the hint that this was the city set on a hill, which could not be hid; and if that greatest of sermons was preached on the horns of Huttin, or near them, as tradition affirms, and if any. And now, the basis of discipleship having been sorted out, we can move on to the detail. Search StudyLight.org. Our mission is to enlighten the sphere in which we are placed, etc. The eye was not made any more for beauty in the outward world than a man’s moral nature was made for beauty in the moral world. “God is the eternal fountain of all honour and glory, therefore, strictly speaking, cannot be dishonoured; He cannot but be glorified, because to be Himself is to be-infinitely glorious. : Mark how great His promise to them, men who were scarce known in their own country that the fame of them should reach to the ends of the earth. When I was a lad, in my native town, I knew a painter there whose favourite works were all portraits of himself, taken in different costumes; and one of England’s most famous poets produced a series of writings, in which his moody, misanthropic self was ever the central figure. The answer is, "I believe that Jesus Christ founded, eighteen centuries ago, a Christian kingdom—a city, a community, having certain fixed laws of order and rules of living, a principle of continuity by a ministerial succession—for the purpose of maintaining certain truths and dispensing certain heavenly gifts; that Christ pledged to it His own perpetual presence and superintending providence." Tabor looks low, and Huttin seems to be in a valley. We should avoid all self-display. The light will shine, that is its nature, if pains be not taken to hide it.— , etc. III. It consecrates a man entirely to the service of light.giving. That they may glorify your Father which is in heaven. Author and Time of Writing. The holy and exemplary lives of Christians provoke men to a curious observation and examination of them, and also of the grounds and principles from which they proceed. [10] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Matthew (Nashville, Tennessee: The Gospel Advocate Company), p. 128. Hilary: Or, the lamp, i.e. Candles are not lit to be looked at, but that something else may be seen by them. ), Th,e light to reveal the work, not the worker, It is thus that his own sun works daily in the heavens: who dares look at the sun when he so shines as to fill the earth with all the beauty of summer? And the man’s life, saith Erasmus concerning Luther, whom he greatly loved not, is approved of all men; neither is this any small prejudice to his enemies, that they can tax him for nothing. Verse 20. 3, 8, 12; Revelation 21:10). 1. 3. I. Stanley and Thomson (‘Sinai and Palestine,’ p. 429: ‘The Land and the Book,’ p. 273), have thought that, notwithstanding the fact shewn by Robinson, that the actual city of Safed was not in existence at this time, some ancient portion of it, at all events its fortress, which is ‘as aged in appearance as the most celebrated ruins in the country’ (Thomson), may have been before the eye of our Lord as He spoke. Hilary: Or, the city signifies the flesh which He had taken on Him; because that in Him by this assumption of human nature, there was as it were a collection of the human race, and we by partaking in His flesh become inhabitants of that city. (W. M. This may be done without injury to our Christian gentleness and humbleness, though it is difficult to do it. ccclxxx.7 (vol. See Doddridge, and Beausobre and Lenfant. Its light cannot be confined. Aug.: By the world here we must not understand heaven and earth, but the men who are in the world; or those who love the world for whose enlightenment the Apostles were sent. Christians are to spread truth to destroy ignorance. Matthew 6:14. Their actions could not be hid. Bab. It is now one of the four holy cities of the Jews, and probably existed as a fortress in our Lord’s time (Thomson’s The Land and the Book, p. 273). (Dr. J. Were the light to go out from my inattention, in six months news would arrive from every part of the coast, that such ships and crews were lost through my neglect! That is all you and I have to do-tend the light, and do not like cowards cover it up. God, not self, the end of Christian example, The purpose of letting our light shine is, that God, not ourselves, may be glorified. The witness is maintained in two ways—. “You are the light of the world. 3. Before the incarnation Christ was the light of men; also the historic Christ is the source of all revelation. Recent travellers, as Drs. Men of righteous intention seek the light ( John 3:19ff ). Matthew 5:34, is that it must then refer to temporal things. for they are they מנהרין לעלמא, "that enlighten the world", the people of the house of Israel. If Christian people would be true benefactors of the world, they must let their light shine, that men seeing their good works may glorify their Father who is in heaven. ii.). Science and religion need not be divided. I. Contemplate the Christian man as light in himself. Punshon.). These ancient parts of the castle render it all but certain that there was then a city or citadel on this most conspicuous ‹hill‘ top; and our Lord might well point to it to illustrate and confirm his precept. This work is a commentary on the whole New Testament. It is at once the crown of the district and the central point round which the life of the neighbourhood turns. Goshen only has light: Christians once dark; hut have received light. Both statements are true. Or, "the house" may be the world itself, according to what He said above, "Ye are the light of the world. I. Maundrell, Jowett, and others suppose that the Sermon on the Mount was delivered in the vicinity of the present city of Safed, or “the Horns of Huttin” (see the notes at Matthew 5:1), and that this city may have been in his eye, and may have been directly referred to by the Saviour when he uttered this sentiment. 14. In looking at a painted window, we think more of the artist and his picture than of the light. 9), everlasting blessedness (vers. And it then declares that in His true people God has brought light out of darkness because they have come in contact with the Light of the world (Matthew 4:16; John 8:12; compare also Acts 13:47; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 5:8). If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? The hatred of men, the esteem and love of men, the unspeakable blessedness of seeing others led by our influence to worship God (ver. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? In the sixth chapter our Lord gives cautions against ostentation in religion. Parker. Oh, sir,” said he, “look at that dark and stormy sea. IV. Their song, like that of the cuckoo, is a constant repetition of their own name, and the listener is wearied with its iteration. (Note that as with an attempt to hide the city, the idea would be ridiculous). exalted unto heaven, Matthew 11:23 or to the city of Jerusalem, which was situated on a very considerable eminence. But how? Zebachim, fol. 14. τὸ φῶς τοῦ κός.] I. Get rid of Sunday, and the very idea of worship would fade out of the national mind. So soon as you put a corn measure over it if they see Him is if see! 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