John 18:1-11

Below is an Analysis of the passage which is to be before us: —

1. Jesus and His disciples cross the Cedron, verse 1.

2. Judas’ knowledge of this place of retirement, verse 2.

3. Judas conducting the Lord’s enemies there, verse 3.

4. Christ’s challenge and their response, verses 4, 5.

5. Christ’s power and their lack of discernment evidenced, verses 6, 7.

6. Christ protecting His own, verses 8, 9.

7. Peter’s rashness and Christ’s rebuke, verses 10, 11.

The eighteenth chapter begins a new section of our Gospel.  Chapter 1 is introductory in its character; 2 to 12 record our Lord’s ministry in the world; 13 to 17 show Him alone with His disciples, preparing them for His departure; 18 to 21 is the closing division, giving us that which attended His death and resurrection.  Here, too, everything is in perfect accord with the distinctive character of John’s delineation of Christ.  The note struck here is in quite a different key from the one heard at the end of the Synoptics.  That which is prominent in the closing scenes of the fourth Gospel is not the sufferings of the Savior, but the lofty dignity and Divine glory of the God-man.

“As the last section (13 to 17) involved His death, it must take place.  He has given in His record to Him who sent Him, whose counsels had determined before what was to be done, and whose prophets showed before that Christ should suffer (Acts 2:23; Acts 3:18; Acts 4:28); and now that must be which makes all  these assertions true.  Without these two chapters (18, 19), therefore, none of the precious things which have thrilled the heart in the previous chapters could be possible; nay, more, none of His own assertions as to what He would be and do, of giving eternal life, of having any of the world, of coming again for them, of sending the Holy Spirit, of preparing a place for them, of having them in the glory with Him, or of having that glory at all; there would be no assembly of God, no restoration of Israel, no gathering of the nations, no millennium, no new heavens and new earth, no adjustment in righteousness of the ‘creation of God’ of which He is the beginning, no display of grace, no salvation, no revelation of the Father — all these and much more were contingent on His death and resurrection.  Without these all things in this book drop out and leave a blank, the blackness of darkness” (Mr. M. Taylor).

John 18 opens with an account of the Savior and His disciples entering the Garden, but in recording what took place there nowhere is the presiding hand of the Holy Spirit more evident.  Nothing is said of His taking Peter and James and John into its deeper recesses, that they might “watch with him.”  Nothing is said of His there praying to the Father.  Nothing is said of His falling upon His face, of His awful agony, of the bloody sweat, of the angel appearing to strengthen Him.  Perfectly in place in the other Gospels, they are passed over here as unsuited to the picture which John was inspired to paint.  In their place, other details are supplied — most appropriate and striking — which are not found in the Synoptics.

“Into that Garden, hallowed by so many associations, the Lord entered, with the Eleven; and there took place the Agony related in the Synoptics, but wholly passed over by John.  Yet he was very near the Lord, being one of the three taken apart from the rest by Christ, and asked to watch with Him.  The rest were told to sit down a little way off from the Master.  If any of the Evangelists then could have written with authority of that solemn time, John was the one best fitted to do it.  Yet he is the one who omits all reference to it!  It might be thought that what the others had written was sufficient.  Why, then, did he describe so minutely circumstances connected with the Lord’s apprehension!  The special line of his Gospel, presenting the Lord as a Divine Person, will alone explain this.  As Son of God incarnate, he presents Him, and not as the suffering Son of man.  We shall learn, then, from him that which none of the others mention, though Matthew was present with Him, how the Lord’s personal presence at first over-awed Judas and the company with that traitor” (Mr. C. E. Smart).

In each of the Synoptics, as the end of His path drew near, we find the Savior speaking, again and again, of what He was to suffer at the hands of men; how that He would be scourged and spat upon, be shamefully treated by Jew and Gentile alike, ending with His crucifixion, burial and resurrection.  But here in John, that which is seen engaging His thoughts in the closing hours was His return to the Father (see John 13:1; 14:2; 16:5; 17:5).  And everything is in perfect accord with this.  Here in the Garden, instead of Christ falling to the ground before the Father, we behold those who came to arrest the Savior falling to the ground before Him!  Nowhere does the perfect supremacy of the Lord Jesus shine forth more gloriously: even to the band of soldiers He utters a command, and the disciples are allowed to go unmolested.

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron” (John 18:1).  The “these words” refer to the paschal Discourse and the High Priestly prayer which have engaged our attention in the previous chapters.  Having delivered His prophetic message, He now prepares to go forth to His priestly work. The “Garden” is the same one mentioned in the other Gospels, though here the Holy Spirit significantly omits its name — Gethsemane.  In its place, He mentions the “brook Cedron,” identical with “Kidron,” its Hebrew name, which means “dark waters” — emblematic of that black stream through which He was about to pass.  The Cedron was on the east side of the city, dividing Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (Josephus).  It was on the west side of the city that He was crucified: thus did the Son of Righteousness complete His atoning circuit!

What, we may ask, was our Lord’s design and purpose in entering the “Garden” at this time?

First, in accord with the typical teaching of the Day of Atonement. The victim for the sin-offering (unlike the burnt offering) was destroyed “without (outside) the camp” (see Leviticus 4:12, 21; Leviticus 16:27); so the Lord Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin outside of Jerusalem: “Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12).  Therefore, as His atoning sufferings began here, He sought the Garden, rather than remain in Jerusalem.

Second, in crossing the brook Cedron, accompanied by His disciples, another Old Testament type was most strikingly fulfilled. In 2 Samuel 15 (note particularly verses 23, 30, 31), we read of David, at the time of his shameful betrayal by his familiar friend Ahithophel, crossing the same brook; crossing it in tears, accompanied by his faithful followers.  So David’s Son and Lord, crossed the Cedron while Judas was betraying Him to His foes.

Third, His object was to afford His enemies the more free scope to take Him. The leaders of Israel had designed to lay hands on Him for some time past, but they feared the common people; therefore, that this impediment might be removed, the Savior chose to go out of the city to the Garden, where they might have full opportunity to apprehend Him, and carry Him away in the night, quietly and secretly.  In addition to these reasons, we may add, His arrest in the solitude of the Garden made it the easier for His disciples to escape.

The entrance of Christ into the Garden at once reminds us of Eden. The contrasts between them are indeed most striking.  In Eden, all was delightful; in Gethsemane, all was terrible.  In Eden, Adam and Eve parleyed with Satan; in Gethsemane, the last Adam sought the face of His Father.  In Eden, Adam sinned; in Gethsemane, the Savior suffered.  In Eden, Adam fell; in Gethsemane, the Redeemer conquered.  The conflict in Eden took place by day; the conflict in Gethsemane was waged at night.  In the one Adam fell before Satan; in the other, the soldiers fell before Christ.  In Eden, the race was lost; in Gethsemane Christ announced, “Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (John 18:9).  In Eden, Adam took the fruit from Eve’s hand; in Gethsemane, Christ received the cup from His Father’s hand.  In Eden, Adam hid himself; in Gethsemane, Christ boldly showed Himself.  In Eden, God sought Adam; in Gethsemane, the last Adam sought God!  From Eden, Adam was “driven;” from Gethsemane Christ was “led.” In Eden, the “sword” was drawn (Genesis 3:24); in Gethsemane, the “sword” was sheathed (John 18:11).

“Where was a garden, into which he entered and his disciples” (John 18:1). Christ did not dismiss the apostles as they left the upper-room in Jerusalem, but took them along with Him to Gethsemane.  He would have them witness the fact that He was not seized there as a helpless victim, but that He voluntarily delivered Himself up into the hands of His foes.  He would thereby teach them, from His example, that it is a Christian duty to offer no resistance to our enemies, but meekly bow to the will of God.  He would also show them His power to protect His own under circumstances of greatest danger.

“And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place” (John 18:2).  “Our Lord and Savior knew that He should be taken by Judas, and that this was the place appointed by His Father wherein He should be taken; for the 4th verse tells us ‘Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him,’ etc.  He knew that Judas would be there that night, and, therefore, like a valiant champion, He cometh into the field first, afore His enemy.  He goeth thither to choose, and singles out this place on purpose” (Mr. Thomas Goodwin).

“For Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples” (John 18:2). This was the Savior’s place of prayer during the last week — a quiet spot to which He frequently retired with His apostles.  In Luke 21:37, we read, “And in the daytime he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of olives.”  In Luke 22:39 we read, “And he came out, and went, as he was wont to the mount of olives; and his disciples also followed him.”  This was Christ’s place of devotion, and the place, no doubt, where many precious communications had passed between Him and the disciples; it is mentioned here to show the obduracy of the traitor’s heart — it also aggravated his sin.

The Savior knew full well that the treacherous apostate was well acquainted with this spot of holy associations, yet did He, nevertheless go there.  On previous occasions, He had avoided His enemies.  “Then took they up stones to cast at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple” (John 8:59).  These things spoke Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them (John 12:36).  But now the hour was come; therefore did He make for that very place to which He knew Judas would lead His enemies.

“Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:3).  The “band” which Judas “received” evidently signifies a detachment of Roman soldiers, which Pilate had granted for the occasion; the Greek word means the tenth part of a legion, and therefore consisted of four or five hundred men.  Some have questioned this, but the words of Matthew 26:47, “a great multitude with him” — strongly confirms it.  The “officers from the chief priests and Pharisees” refer to the servants of Israel’s leaders.  Luke 22:52 shows that the heads of the Nation themselves also swelled the mob.”  Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?”  As Christ was to die for sinners both of the Jews and Gentiles, so God ordered it that Gentiles (Roman soldiers) and Jews should have a hand alike in His arrest and in His crucifixion!

“Cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:3). What an anomaly! Seeking out the Light of the world with torches and lanterns!  Approaching the Good Shepherd with “weapons!”  As though He would seek to hide Himself; as though He could be taken with swords and staves! Little did they know of His readiness to be led as a lamb to the slaughter.  Significant too is the general principle here symbolically illustrated: attacks upon the Truth were made by artificial lights and carnal weapons!  It has been thus ever since.  The “light of reason” is what men depend upon; and where that has failed, resort has been had to brute force, of which the “weapons” speak.  How vain these are, when employed against the Son of God, He plainly demonstrated in the sequel.

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him” (John 18:4). With this should be compared John 13:3, which presents a most striking comparison and contrast: “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands;” the comparison is between our Lord’s omniscience in either reference; the contrast between the subjects of His knowledge there and here.  In John 13:3, Christ spoke of “all things” being given into His hands; here in John 18:4 He anticipates the moment when “all things” were to be taken from Him, when He was to be “cut off” and “have nothing” (Daniel 9:26).  His foreknowledge was perfect: for Him there were no surprises.  The receiving of “all things” from the Father’s hands was not more present to His spirit than the loss of “all things” by His being cut off.  In John 13, He contemplates the glory; here the sufferings, and He passed from the one to the other in the unchanging blessedness of absolute perfection.

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him.” These were the “all things” decreed by God, agreed upon by the Son in the eternal covenant of grace, predicted in the Old Testament Scriptures, and foretold, again and again, by Himself; namely, all the attendant circumstances of His sufferings and death.

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth” — not out of the Garden as John 18:26 plainly shows, but from its inner recesses, where He had prayed alone.  “Went forth,” first to awaken the sleeping three (Matthew 26:46), then to rejoin the eight whom He had left on the outskirts of the Garden (Matthew 26:36), and now to meet Judas and his company.  This “went forth” shows the perfect harmony between John and the Synoptics.

“And said unto them, Whom seek ye?” (John 18:4). Our Lord was the first to speak: He did not wait to be challenged.  His reason for asking this question is indicated in the “therefore” of the previous clause — “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?”  That which the Holy Spirit has here emphasized is the willingness of Christ to suffer, His readiness to go forth to the Cross.  He knew full well for what fell purpose these men were there, but He asks the question so that He might solemnly and formally surrender Himself to them.  Once, when they wanted to take Him by force and make Him a king, He departed from them (John 6:15); but now that He was to be scourged and crucified, He boldly advanced to meet them.  This was in sharp contrast from the first Adam in Eden, who, after his sin, hid himself among the trees of the garden.  So, too, Christ’s act and question here bore witness to the futility and folly of their “lanterns and torches and weapons.”

“They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus said unto them, I am” (John 18:5).  Why did they not answer, “Thee!”?  Jesus of Nazareth stood before them, yet they did not say, “Thou art the one we have come to arrest.”  It is plain from this circumstance that they did not recognize Him, nor did Judas, who is here expressly said to have “stood with them.”  Despite their “lanterns and torches,” their eyes were holden!  Does not this go far to confirm our thought on the closing words of John 18:3 — the Holy Spirit designedly intimated that something more than the light which nature supplies is needed to discover and discern the person of the God-man!  And how this is emphasized by the presence of Judas, who had been in closest contact with the Savior for three years!  How solemn the lesson!  How forcibly this illustrates 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”

Even the traitor failed now to recognize the Lord: he too was stricken with dimness of vision.  The natural man is spiritually blind: the Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:5)!  It is only as the light of God shines in our hearts that knowledge is given us to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)!

“And Judas, also, which betrayed him, stood with them” (John 18:5). Only a few hours previous he had been seated with Christ and the Eleven, now he is found with the Lord’s enemies, acting as their guide.  Some have argued that there is a discrepancy here between John’s account and what we read of in the Synoptics.  In the latter, we are told Judas had arranged with the soldiers that he would give them a sign, identifying the One they should arrest by kissing Him.  This he did, and they laid hands on Him.  But here in John 18 he is viewed as failing to recognize the Savior, yet there is no discrepancy at all.  John does not relate what Matthew and the others give us, but instead, supplies details which they were guided to omit.  John tells us what took place in the Garden before the traitor gave his vile sign.  If the reader will compare Luke’s account, he will see that the kiss was given by Judas at a point between what we read of in John 18, verses 9, 10.

“As soon then as he had said unto them, I am, they went backward, and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). Another reason why notice is taken of Judas at the dose of the preceding verse is to inform us that he, too, fell to the ground.  Observe the words “they went backward.” They were there to arrest Him, but instead of advancing to lay hands on Him, they retreated!  Among them were five hundred Roman soldiers, yet they retired before His single “I am.”  They fell back in consternation, not forward in worship!  All He said was “I am’” but it was fully sufficient to overawe and overpower them.  It was the enunciation of the ineffable Name of God, by which He was revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).  It was a display of His Divine majesty.  It was a quiet exhibition of His Divine power.  It was a signal demonstration that He was “the word” (John 1:1)!  He did not strike them with His hand — there was no need to; He simply spoke two monosyllables and they were completely overcome.

But why, we may ask, should our Lord have acted in such a manner on this occasion? First, that it might be clearly shown He was more than “Jesus of Nazareth.”  He was “God manifest in flesh,” and never was this more unmistakably evidenced.  Second, that it might appear with absolute dearness that He voluntarily delivered Himself up into their hands — that it was not they who apprehended Him, but He who submitted to them.  He was not captured, for He was not to (passively) suffer merely, but to (actively) offer Himself as a sacrifice to God.  Here is the ultimate reason why it is recorded that “Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them:” the traitor’s perfidy was needless and the captor’s weapons useless against One who is giving up Himself unto death and was soon to give Himself in death.  If none had power to take His life from Him (John 10:18, 19), none had power to arrest Him.  He here showed them, and us, that they were completely at His mercy — helpless on the ground — and not He at theirs.  How easy for Him then to have walked quietly away, unmolested!  First, they failed to recognize Him; now they were prostrate before Him.  What was to hinder Him from leaving them thus? Nothing but His Father’s will, and to it He submissively bowed.  Thus did the Savior give proof of His willingness to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin.  In the third place, it left these men without excuse. Every detail in connection with our Lord’s passion had been determined by the Divine counsels, yet God did not treat those who had a hand in it as mere machines, but as responsible moral agents.  Before Pilate sentenced Christ to death, God first gave him a plain intimation that it was an innocent Man who stood before him, by warning his wife in a dream (Matthew 27:19). So here with these Roman soldiers, who may never have seen Christ before.  They cannot plead in the Day of judgment that they were ignorant of the glory of His person: they cannot say that they never witnessed His miraculous power, and had no opportunity given them to believe on Him.  This exhibition of His majesty, and their laying hands on Him afterwards, makes their condemnation just!

It is very striking to observe that the Lord Jesus had uttered the same words on previous occasions, but with very different effects.  To the woman at the well, He had said “I am” (John 4:26), and she at once recognized Him as the Christ (John 4:29).  To the disciples on the storm-lashed sea He had said, “I am” (John 6:20 — see Greek), and we are told “they willingly received him into the ship.”  But here there was no conviction wrought of His Messiahship, and no willing reception of Him.  Instead, they were terrified, and fell to the ground.  What a marvelous demonstration that the same Word is to some “a savor of life unto life,” while to others it is “a savor of death unto death!”  Observe, too, that His Divine “I am” to the disciples in the ship was accompanied by “Be not afraid” (John 6:20); how solemn to mark its omission here!

Vividly does this forewarn sinners of how utterly helpless they will be before the Christ of God in a coming Day!  “What shall He do when He comes to judge, who did this when about to be judged?  What shall be His might when He comes to reign, who had this might when He was at the point to die?” (Augustine).  What, indeed, will be the effect of that Voice when He speaks in judgment upon the wicked!  “As soon then as he had said unto them, I am, they went backward, and fell to the ground.”  This was a remarkable fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy given a thousand years before.  It is recorded in the 27th Psalm, the whole of which, most probably, was silently uttered by the Savior as He journeyed from the upper-room in Jerusalem, across the brook Cedron, into the Garden.  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell” (verses 1, 2).  Let the reader pause and ponder the remainder of this Psalm: it is blessed to learn what comforted and strengthened the Savior’s heart in that trying hour.  Psalm 27 gives us the musings of Christ’s heart at this time, Godwards. Psalm 35 recorded His prayers against His enemies, manwards: “Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt” (verse 4).  Still another Psalm should be read in this connection, the 40th.  That this Psalm is a Messianic one we know positively from verses 7, 8.  Verses 11-17 were, we believe, a part of His prayer in Gethsemane, and in it He asked, “Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil” (verse 14).  Thus was both Messianic prophecy fulfilled and prayer answered in this overwhelming of His enemies.

“Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye?” (John 18:7). “This second question carries a mighty conviction, a mighty triumph with it over their conscience as if He had said, I have told you I am; and I have told it you to purpose, have I not?  Have you not learned by this who I am, when your hearts are so terrified that you all fell down before Me!  They had been taught by woeful experience who He was, when He blew them over, flung them down with His breath; and it might have turned to a blessed experience had God struck their hearts, as He did their outward man” (Mr. Thomas Goodwin).

“And they said, Jesus of Nazareth” (John 18:7). They would not own Him as the Christ, but continued to speak of Him according to the name of His humiliation — “Jesus of Nazareth.”  How striking and how solemn is this after what has been before us in John 18:6 — such an exhibition of Divine majesty and power, yet their hard hearts unmoved!  No outward means will soften those who are resolved on wickedness.  No miracles, however awesome, will melt men’s enmity: nothing will suffice except God works directly by His Word and Spirit.

Another signal proof of the desperate hardness of men’s hearts in the case of those who were appointed to guard the Savior’s sepulcher.  While keeping their watch, God sent an earthquake, and then an angel to roll away the stone from the grave’s mouth, and so awful were these things to the keepers that they “became as dead men.”  And yet, when they reported to their masters and were offered a bribe to say His disciples stole the body of Christ while they slept, they were willing parties to such a lie.  O the hardness of the human heart: how “desperately wicked!”  Even Divine judgments do not subdue it.  In a coming day, God will pour out on this earth the vials of His wrath, and what will be the response of men?  This: “They gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Revelation 16:10,11).  Nothing but a miracle of sovereign grace, the putting forth of omnipotent power, can bring a blaspheming rebel out of darkness into God’s marvelous light.  Many a soul has been terrified, as were these men in the Garden, and yet continued in their course of alienation from God.

“Jesus answered, I have told you that I am” (John 18:8). The dignity and calmness of our Lord are very noticeable here.  Knowing full well all the insults and indignities He was about to suffer, He repeats His former declaration, “I am;” then He added, “if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.”  “Christ was about to suffer for them, and therefore it was not just that they should suffer too; nor was it proper that they should suffer with Him, lest their sufferings should be thought to be a part of the price of redemption.  These words then may be considered as an emblem and pledge of the acquittal and discharge of God’s elect, through the surety-engagements and performances of Christ who drew near to God on their behalf, substituting Himself in their room, and undertaking for them in the counsel and covenant of peace, and laid Himself under obligation to pay their debts.  Now, as there was a discharge of them from eternity, a non-imputation of sin to them, and a secret letting of them go upon the surety engagements of Christ; so there was now an open discharge of them all upon the apprehension, sufferings, death and resurrection of Him” (Mr. John Gill).

“If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way” (John 18:8). In John 13:1, we are told of Christ that “having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” How blessedly this is seen here.  Christ’s first thought is not of Himself and what He was about to suffer, but of His disciples.  It was the Shepherd protecting His sheep.  “The tender sympathy and consideration of our great High Priest for His people came out very beautifully in this place, and would doubtless be remembered by the Eleven long afterwards.  They would remember that the very last thought of their Master, before He was made a prisoner, was for them and their safety” (Bishop Ryle).

And how the Savior’s majesty here shines forth again!  He was about to be taken prisoner, but He acts as no helpless captive, but rather like a king.  “Let these go their way” was a command. Here am I, take Me; but I charge you not to meddle with them — touch not Mine anointed!  He speaks as Conqueror, and such He was; for He had thrown them to the ground by a word from His lips.  They were about to tie His hands, but before doing so, He first tied theirs!  “If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.”  There is much for us to learn here.

First, it supplied another proof of how easily He could have saved Himself had He so pleased: He that saved others could have saved Himself; He who had authority to command them to let these go, had authority to command them to let Himself go.

Second, Christ only was to suffer: in the great work before Him none could follow — “And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement” (Leviticus 16:17).  He was to tread the winepress alone.

Third, Christ had other work for them yet to do, and until that work was done their enemies should and must leave them alone.  So long as God has something for His servants to do the Devil himself cannot seize them.  “Go,” said Christ, when warned that Herod would kill Him, “and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons, and I do cures today and tomorrow” (Luke 13:32).  I will do those things in spite of him; he cannot prevent Me.

Fourth, here we see grace, as in the previous verse Divine power, exercised by this One who so perfectly “declared the Father” (verse18).

Fifth, Christ would thus show His disciples how fully competent He was to preserve them amid the greatest dangers. We have no doubt but that these Roman soldiers and Jewish officers intended to seize the apostles as well — Mark 14:51, 52, strongly indicates this — but the Word of power went forth, “let these go their way,” and they were safe.  We doubt not that the coming day will make it manifest that this same word of power went forth many times, though we knew it not, when we were in the place of danger.

“That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (John 18:9). This “saying” refers not to an Old Testament prophecy but to that part of His prayer recorded in John 17:12 — “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost.”  Though this has a peculiar respect unto the apostles, it is true of all God’s elect, who are given to Christ, and none of them shall be lost, neither their souls nor their bodies.  For Christ’s charge of them reaches to both: both were given to Him, both are redeemed by Him, and both shall be saved by Him with an everlasting salvation; He saves their souls from eternal death, and will raise their bodies from corporeal death.  Therefore, that His care of His disciples, with respect to their temporal lives as well as eternal happiness, might be seen, He made this agreement with those who came to take Him, or rather laid this injunction upon them, to dismiss them and which it is very remarkable they did, for they laid hands on none of them, even though Peter drew his sword and struck off the ear of one of them.  Thus did Christ give another signal proof of His power over the spirits of men to restrain them; and thus did He again make manifest His Deity.

“Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.  The servant’s name was Malchus” (John 18:10). Peter exercised a zeal which was not regulated by knowledge: it was the self-confident energy of the flesh acting in unconsidered haste.  It was the inevitable outcome of his failure to heed Christ’s word, “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” — it is failure to pray which so often brings us into temptation!  Had Peter observed the ways of his Master and heeded His words, he would have learned that carnal weapons had no place in the fight to which He has called him and us.  Had he marked the wonderful grace which He had just displayed in providing for the safety of His own, he would have seen that this was no time for smiting with the sword.  What a fearful warning is this to every Christian for the need of walking in the Spirit, that we fulfill not the lusts of the flesh!  The flesh is still in the believer, and a lasting object-lesson of this is the humbling history of Peter — rash yet courageous when he should have been still; a few hours later, cowardly and base when he ought to have witnessed a good confession for Christ.  But though Peter failed to act according to grace, the grace of God was signally manifested towards him.  No doubt Peter struck with the intention of slaying Malchus — probably the first to lay hands on the Savior — but an unseen Power deflected the blow, and instead of the priest’s servant being beheaded he lost only an ear, and that was permitted so that a further opportunity might be afforded the Lord Jesus of manifesting both His tender mercy and all-mighty power.  We may add that the life of Malchus was safe while Christ was there, for none ever died in His presence!

“Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear.” The sequel to this is supplied by Luke: “and he touched his ear, and healed him” (Luke 22:51)!  Very striking indeed is this; it rendered the more excuseless the act of those who arrested Him, aggravating their sin and deepening their guilt.  Christ manifested both His power and His grace before they laid hands on Him.  This act of healing Malthus’s ear was the last miracle of the Savior before He laid down His life.  First, He appealed to their consciences, now to their hearts; but once they had seized their prey He left them to their own evil lusts.

“Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath” (John 18:11). This was a rebuke, though mildly administered.  Peter had done his best to nullify his Master’s orders, “Let these go their way.”  He had given great provocation to this company armed with swords and staves: he had acted wrongly in resisting authority, in having recourse to force, in imagining that the Son of God needed any assistance from him.  “Put up thy sword into the sheath:” the only “sword” which the Christian is ever justified in using is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

“The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11).  How blessedly this entire incident brings out the varied glories of Christ: perfect supremacy and perfect subjection.  He declared Himself the great “I am,” and His enemies fall to the ground; He gives the word of command, and His disciples depart unmolested.  Now He bows before the will of the Father, and receives the awful cup of suffering and woe from His hand without a murmur.  Never did such Perfections meet in any other; Sovereign, yet Servant; the Lion-Lamb!

God’s dispensations are frequently expressed as a cup poured out and given to men to drink.  There are three “cups” spoken of in Scripture.

First, there is the cup of salvation: “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:13).

Second, there is the cup of consolation: “Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother” (Jeremiah 16:7).  To this the Psalmist referred: “My cup runneth over” (Psalm 23:5).  Our Lord Himself used the same figure, previously when He said, “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).  It was a dreadful cup which He was to drink of.

Third is the cup of tribulation: Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup” (Psalm 11:6).  So the prophet Jeremiah is bidden, “Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it” (Jeremiah 25:15; cf. Psalm 75:8).

“The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” “He doth not say, A necessity is laid upon Me to drink this cup.  He doth not simply say, My Father hath commanded Me to drink it, but, ‘shall I not drink it?’  It is a speech that implies His spirit knew not how to do otherwise than obey His Father, such an instinct that He could not but choose to do it.  Even just as Joseph said, ‘how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ (Genesis 39:9), so Christ here, ‘shall I not drink it?’  It implies the highest willingness that can be” (Mr. Thomas Goodwin).

“The cup which My Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” What a lesson Christ here teaches us.  The Serpent was about to bruise His heel; the Gentiles were about to mock and scourge Him; the Jews cry, Away with Him.  But the Savior looks beyond all secondary causes direct to Him of whom and through whom and to whom were all things (Romans 11:36).  Peter’s eyes were upon the human adversaries; but no, He saith to Peter, there is a higher Hand in it.  Moreover, He did not say, “which the Judge of all the earth giveth me,” but “my Father” — the One who dearly loveth Me!  How this would sweeten our bitter cups if we would but receive them from the Father’s hand!  It is not until we see His hand in all things that the heart is made to rest in perfect peace.

The apostle Paul did not, like so many of our moderns, hurry through a  subject and dismiss an unpleasant theme with a brief sentence or two. No, he could say truthfully, “I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.” His chief concern was not to please, but to help his hearers and readers. Well did he know the tendency of the heart to turn away quickly from what is searching and humbling, unto that which is more attractive and consoling. But so far from acceding to this spirit, he devoted as much attention unto exhortation as instruction, unto reproving as comforting, unto duties as expounding promises; while the latter was given its due place the former was not neglected. It behooves each servant of God to study the methods of the apostles, and seek wisdom and grace to emulate their practice; only thus will they preserve the balance of Truth, and be delivered from “handling the Word deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2).

Some years ago, when the editor was preaching a series of sermons on Hebrews 12:3-11, several members of the congregation intimated they were growing weary of hearing so much upon the subject of Divine chastisement. Alas, the very ones who chafed so much at hearing about God’s rod, have since been smitten the most severely by it. Should any of our present readers feel the same way about the writer’s treatment of this same passage, he would lovingly warn them that, though these articles may seem gloomy and irksome while prosperity be smiling upon them, nevertheless they will be well advised to “hearken and hear for the time to come” (Isaiah 42:23).   The sun will not always be shining upon you, dear reader, and if you now store these thoughts up in your memory, they may stand you in good stead when your sky becomes overcast. Sooner or later, this portion of Holy Writ will apply very pertinently unto each of our cases.

God “scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” None of the followers of “The Man of sorrows” are exempted from sorrow. It has been truly said that “God had one Son without sin, but none without suffering.” So much depends upon how we “endure” suffering: the spirit in which it be received, the graces which are exercised by it, and the improvement which we make of it. Our attitude toward God, and the response which we make unto His disciplinary dealings with us, means that we shall either honor or dishonor Him, and suffer loss or reap gain therefrom. Manifold are our obligations to comport ourselves becomingly when God is pleased to scourge us, and many and varied are the motives and arguments which the Spirit, through the apostle, here presents to us for this end.

In the verse which is now to be before us, a further reason is given showing the need of the Christian’s duty to meekly bear God’s chastenings. First, the apostle had reminded the saints of the teaching of Scripture, verse 5: how significant that he began with that! Second, he had comforted them with the assurance that the rod is wielded not by wrath, but in tender solicitude, verse 6. Third, he affirmed that God chastens all His children without exception, bastards only escaping, verses 7-8. Now he reminds us that we had natural parents who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Our earthly fathers had the right, because of their relationship, to discipline us, and we acquiesced. If, then, it was right and meet for us to submit to their corrections, how much more ought we to be in subjection unto our heavenly Father when He reproves us.

“Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (verse 9).

The opening “Furthermore” is really humbling and searching. One would think sufficient had been said in the previous verses to make us be submissive under and thankful for the tender discipline of our God. Is it not enough to be told that the Scriptures teach us to expect  chastisements, and exhort us not to despise them? Is it not sufficient to be assured that these chastisements proceed from the very heart of our Father, being appointed and regulated by His love? No, a “furthermore” is needed by us! The Holy Spirit deigns to supply further reasons for bringing our unruly hearts into subjection. This should indeed humble us, for the implication is clear that we are slow to heed and bow beneath the rod. Yea, is it not sadly true that the older we become, the more need there is for our being chastened?

The writer has been impressed by the fact, both in his study of the Word and his observation of fellow-Christians, that, as a general rule, God uses the rod very little and very lightly upon the babes and younger members of His family, but that He employs it more frequently and severely on mature Christians. We have often heard older saints warning younger brethren and sisters of their great danger, yet it is striking to observe that Scripture records not a single instance of a young saint disgracing his profession. Recall the histories of young Joseph, the Hebrew maid in Naaman’s household, David as a stripling engaging Goliath, Daniel’s early days, and his three youthful companions in the furnace; and it will be found that all of them quitted themselves nobly. On the other hand, there are numerous examples where men in middle life and of grey hairs grievously dishonored their Lord.

It is true that young Christians are feeblest, and with rare exceptions, they know it; and therefore does God manifest His grace and power by upholding them: it is the “lambs” which He carries in His arms! But some older Christians seem far less conscious of their danger, and so God often suffers them to have a fall, that He may stain the pride of their self-glory, and that others may see it is nothing in the flesh — standing, rank, age, or attainments — which insures our safety; but that He upholds the humble and casts down the proud. David did not fall into his great sin till he had reached the prime of life. Lot did not transgress most grossly till he was an old man. Isaac seems to have become a glutton in his old age, and was as a vessel no longer “meet for the Master’s use,” which rusted out rather than wore out. It was after a life of walking with God, and building the ark, that Noah disgraced himself. The worst sin of Moses was committed not at the beginning but at the end of the wilderness journey. Hezekiah became puffed up with pride near the sunset of his life. What warnings are these! God thus shows us there is no protection in years.

Yea, added years seem to call for increased chastenings. Often there is more grumbling and complaining among the aged pilgrims than the younger ones: it is true their nerves can stand less, but God’s grace is sufficient for worn-out nerves. Often there is more occupation with self and circumstances among the fathers and mothers in Israel, and less talking of Christ and His wondrous love, than there is among the babes. Yes, there is, much need for all of us to heed the opening “furthermore” of our text. Every physician will tell us there are some diseases which become more troublesome in middle life and others which are incident to old age. The same is true of different forms of sinning. If we are more liable to certain sins in our youth, we are in greater danger of others in advanced years. Undoubtedly it is the case that the older we get, the more need there is to heed this “furthermore” which prefaces the call of our being in subjection to the Father of spirits. If we do not need more grace, certain it is that we need as much grace, when we are grown old as while we are growing up.

The aged meet with as many temptations as do young Christians. They are tempted to live in the past, rather than in the future. They are tempted to take things easier, spiritually as well as temporally, so that it has to be said of some “ye did run well.” O to be like Paul “the aged,” who was in full harness to the end. They are tempted to be unduly occupied with their increasing infirmities; but is it not written “the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities”! Yet, because this is affirmed, we must not think there is no longer need to earnestly seek His help. This comforting word is given in order that we should frequently and confidently pray for this very thing. If it were not recorded, we might doubt His readiness to do so and wonder if we were asking “according to His will.” Because it is recorded, when feeling our “infirmities” press most heavily upon us, let us cry, “O Holy Spirit of God, do as Thou hast said, and help us.”

In this connection let us remind ourselves of that verse, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things: so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5). The eagle is a bird renowned for its longevity, often living to be more than a hundred years old. The eagle is also the high-soaring bird, building its nest on the mountain summit. But how is the eagle’s youth renewed? By a new crop of feathers, by the rejuvenation of its wings. And that is precisely what some middle-aged and elderly Christians need: the rejuvenation of their spiritual wings — the wings of faith, of hope, of zeal, of love for souls, of devotedness to Christ. So many leave their first love, lose the joy of their espousals, and instead of setting before younger Christians a bright example of trustfulness and cheerfulness, they often discourage by gloominess and slothfulness. Thus God’s chastenings increase in severity and frequency!

Dear friend, instead of saying, “The days of my usefulness are over,” rather reason, The night cometh when no man can work; therefore I must make the most of my opportunities while it is yet called day. For your encouragement, let it be stated that the most active worker in a church of which the editor was pastor was seventy-seven years old when he went there, and during his stay of three and a half years, she did more for the Lord and was a greater stimulus to him than any other member of that church. She lived another eight years, and they were, to the very end, filled with devoted service to Christ. We believe that the Lord will yet say of her, as of another woman, “She hath done what she could.” O brethren and sisters, especially you who are feeling the weight of years, heed that word, “Be not weary in well doing, for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

“Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence.” It is the duty of children to give the reverence of obedience unto the just commands of their parents, and the reverence of submission to their correction when disobedient. As parents have a charge from God to minister correction to their children when it is due — and not spoil them unto their ruin — so children have a command from God to receive parental reproof in a proper spirit, and not to be discontented, stubborn, or rebellious. For a child to be insubordinate under correction, evidences a double fault; the very correction shows a fault has been committed, and insubordination under correction is only adding wrong to wrong. “We gave them reverence,” records the attitude of dutiful children toward their sires: they neither ran away from home in a huff, nor became so discouraged as to quit the path of duty.

From this law of the human home, the apostle points out the humble and submissive conduct which is due unto God when He disciplines His children: “Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits?” The “much rather” points a contrast suggested by the analogy: that contrast is at least fourfold.

First, the former chastening proceeded from those who were our fathers according to the flesh; the other is given by Him who is our heavenly Father.

Second, the one was sometimes administered in imperfect knowledge and irritable temper; the other comes from unerring wisdom and untiring love.

Third, the one was during but a brief period, when we were children; the other continues throughout the whole of our Christian life.

Fourth, the one was designed for our temporal good; the other has in view our spiritual and eternal welfare. Then how much more should we readily submit unto the latter. “Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits?” By nature, we are not in subjection. We are born into this world filled with the spirit of insubordination: as the descendants of our rebellious first parents, we inherit their evil nature. “Man is born like a wild ass’s colt” (Job 11:12). This is very unpalatable and humbling, but nevertheless it is true. As Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “we have turned every one to his own way,” and that is one of opposition to the revealed will of God. Even at conversion, this wild and rebellious nature is not eradicated. A new nature is given, but the old one lusts against it. It is because of this that discipline and chastisement are needed by us, and the great design of these is to bring us into subjection unto the Father of spirits. To be “in subjection unto the father” is a phrase of extensive import, and it is well that we should understand its various significations.

1. It denotes an acquiescence in God’s sovereign right to do with us as He pleases. “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth: because thou didst it” (Psalm 39:9). It is the duty of saints to be mute under the rod and silent beneath the sharpest afflictions. But this is only possible as we see the hand of God in them. If His hand be not seen in the trial, the heart will do nothing but fret and fume. “And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: How much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him” (2 Samuel 16:10, 11). What an example of complete submission to the sovereign will of the Most High was this! David knew that Shimei could not curse him without God’s permission.

“This will set my heart at rest,

What my God appoints is best.”

But with rare exceptions many chastenings are needed to bring us to this place, and to keep us there.

2. It implies a renunciation of self-will. To be in subjection unto the Father presupposes a surrendering and resigning of ourselves to Him. A blessed illustration of this is found in Leviticus 10:1-3, “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.” Consider the circumstances. Aaron’s two sons, most probably intoxicated at the time, were suddenly cut off by Divine judgment. Their father had no warning to prepare him for this trial; yet he “held his peace!” O quarrel not against Jehovah: be clay in the hands of the Potter: take Christ’s yoke upon you, and learn of Him who was “meek and lowly in heart.”

3. It signifies an acknowledgment of God’s righteousness and wisdom in all His dealings with us. We must vindicate God. This is what the Psalmist did: “I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75). Let us see to it that Wisdom is ever justified by her children: let our confession of her be, “Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright are Thy judgments” (Psalm 119:137). Whatever be sent, we must vindicate the Sender of all things: the Judge of all the earth cannot do wrong. Stifle, then, the rebellious murmur, “What have I done to deserve such treatment by God?” and say with the Psalmist,  “He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). Why, my reader, if God dealt with us only according to the strict rule of His justice, we had been in Hell long ago: “If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark (“impute”) iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Psalm 130:3). The Babylonian captivity was the severest affliction which God ever brought upon His earthly people during O.T. times, yet even then a renewed heart acknowledged God’s righteousness in it: “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before Thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit Thou art just in all that is brought upon us: for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly” (Nehemiah 9:32-33).God’s enemies may talk of His injustice; but let His children proclaim His righteousness. Because God is good, He can do nothing but what is right and good.

4. It includes a recognition of His care and a sense of His love. There is a sulking submission, and there is a cheerful submission. There is a fatalistic submission which takes this attitude — this is inevitable, so I must bow to it; and there is a thankful submission, receiving with gratitude whatever God may be pleased to send us. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71). The Psalmist viewed his chastisements with the eye of faith, and doing so he perceived the love behind them. Remember that when God brings His people into the wilderness it is that they may learn more of His sufficiency, and that when He casts them into the furnace, it is that they may enjoy more of His presence.

5. It involves an active performance of His will. True submission unto the “Father of spirits” is something more than a passive thing. The other meanings of this expression which we have considered above are more or less of a negative character, but there is a positive and active side to it as well, and it is important that this should be recognized by us. To be “in subjection” to God also means that we are to walk in His precepts and run in the way of His commandments. Negatively, we are not to be murmuring rebels; positively, we are to be obedient children. We are required to be submissive unto God’s Word, so that our thoughts are formed and our ways regulated by it. There is not only a suffering of God’s will, but a doing of it — an actual performance of duty. When we utter that petition in the prayer which the Savior has given us, “Thy will be done,” something more is meant than a pious acquiescence unto the pleasure of the Almighty: it also signifies, may Thy will be performed by me. Subjection “unto the Father of spirits,” then, is the practical owning of His Lordship.

Two reasons for such subjection are suggested in our text. First, because the One with whom we have to do is our Father. O how profoundly thankful we should be that the Lord God stands revealed to us as the “Father” — our Father, because the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and He rendered perfect obedience unto Him. It is but right and meet that children should honor their parents by being in complete subjection to them: not to do so is to ignore their relationship, despise their authority, and slight their love. How much more ought we to be in subjection unto our heavenly Father: there is nothing tyrannical about Him: His commandments are not grievous: He has only our good at heart. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1), then let us earnestly endeavor to express our gratitude by dutifully walking before Him as obedient children, and no matter how mysterious may be His dealings with us, say with the Savior, “The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11).

The particular title of God found in our text calls for a brief comment. It is placed in antithesis from “fathers of our flesh,” which has reference to their begetting of our bodies. True, our bodies also are a real creation on the part of God, yet in connection therewith He is pleased to use human instrumentalities. But in connection with the immaterial part of our beings, God is the immediate and alone Creator of them. As the renowned Owen said, “The soul is immediately created and infused; having no other father but God Himself,” and rightly did that eminent theologian add, “This is the fundamental reason of our perfect subjection unto God in all afflictions, namely, that our very souls are His, the immediate product of His Divine power, and under his rule alone. May He not do as He wills with His own?” The expression, “Father of spirits,” refutes, then, the error of traducianists who suppose that the soul, equally with the body, is transmitted by our parents. In Numbers 16:22, He is called “the God of the spirits of all flesh” which refers to all men naturally; while the “Father of spirits” in our text includes the new nature in the regenerate.

The second reason for our subjection to the Father is, because this is the secret of true happiness, which is pointed out in the final words of our text “and live.” The first meaning of those words is, “and be happy.” This is clear from Deuteronomy 5:33, “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess:” observe the words “prolong your days” are added to “that ye may live,” which obviously signifies “that ye may be happy” — compare Exodus 10:17, where Pharaoh called the miseries of the plagues “this death.” Life ceases to be life when we are wretched. It is the making of God’s will our haven, which secures the true resting-place for the heart. The rebellious are fretful and miserable, but “great peace have they which love Thy law and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165). “Take My yoke upon you,” said Christ, “and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Alas, the majority of professing Christians are so little in subjection to God, they have just enough religion to make them miserable.

“Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live?” No doubt words of this verse point these to a designed contrast from Deuteronomy 21:18-21, “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place… And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.” “The increase of spiritual life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, is that whereunto they (the words “and live”) tend” (John Owen).

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Hebrews 12:11

One reason, perhaps, why so little is written to-day upon Divine chastisement, and why it so rarely forms the theme of the pulpit, is because it suits not the false temper and sentiments of this superficial age. The great majority of the preachers are men-pleasers, and carefully do they trim their sails to the breezes of popular opinion. They are paid to speak “smooth things” and not those which will disturb, to soothe consciences rather than search them. That which is unpalatable, mournful, solemn, dread-inspiring, is sedulously avoided, and attractive, cheerful, and comforting subjects are substituted in their stead. Hence, not only is it now rare for the preacher to dwell upon the eternal punishment of the wicked and bid the unsaved flee from the wrath to come, but Christians hear very little about the Father’s rod, and the groans it occasions, or the fruits it afterwards produces.

Fifty years ago a faithful servant of God wrote:

“One of the platitudes of the present day is, that religion is not a gloomy, but a cheerful thing. Although it is easy to see what was meant by him who first opposed this assertion, either to morbid and self-assumed gloom, or to the ignorant representation of the world; yet as it is generally understood, nothing can be less true. Blessed are they that mourn. Woe unto you that laugh. Narrow is the way. If any man will serve Me, let him take up his cross, and follow Me. He that seeketh his life shall lose it. Although the Christian anoints his head and washes his face, he is always fasting; the will has been broken by God, by wounding or bereaving us in our most tender point; the flesh is being constantly crucified. We are not born to be happy either in this world or in our present condition, but the reverse to be unhappy; nay, to try constantly to be dead to self and the world, that the spirit may possess God, and rejoice in Him.

“As there is a false and morbid asceticism, so there is also a false and pernicious tendency to cover a worldly and shallow method of life under the phrase of ‘religion being joyous, and no enemy to cheerfulness.’ To take a very simple and obvious instance. What is meant by a ‘cheerful, pleasant Sunday?’ No doubt men have erred on the side of strictness and legalism; but is a ‘cheerful Sunday’ one in which there is much communion with God in prayer and meditation on God’s Word, much anticipation of the joys of Heaven in praise and fellowship with the brethren? Alas! too many understand by a cheerful Sunday a day in which the spiritual element is reduced to a minimum” (Adolph Saphir).

Alas, conditions have become so much worse since then. The attractions of the world, and everything which is pleasing to the flesh, have been brought into thousands of “churches” under the plea of being “necessary if the young people are to be held.”  Even in those places where the bars have not thus been let down, where the grosser forms of worldliness are not yet tolerated, the preaching is generally of such a character that few are likely to be made uneasy by it. He who dwells on the exceeding sinfulness of sin, who insists that God will not tolerate unjudged sin even in His own people, but will surely visit it with heavy stripes, is a “kill joy,” a “troubler of Israel,” a “Job’s comforter;” and if he persists in enforcing the precepts, admonitions, warnings, and judgments of Holy Writ, is likely to soon find all doors dosed against him. But better this, than be a compromiser; better be deprived of all preaching engagements, than miss the Master’s “Well done” in the Day to come.

In this verse, the apostle concludes his discussion of that theme which is now so unwelcome to the majority of professing Christians. Therein he brings to a close all that he had said concerning those disciplinary afflictions which an all-wise God brings upon His people in this life, His gracious design in the same, and the duty incumbent upon them to receive these in a right spirit. He sums up his argument by balancing the good over against the evil, the future over against the present, the judgment of faith over against the feelings of the flesh.

Our present text is added to what has been said in the previous verses for the purpose of anticipating and removing an objection. After all the comforting and encouraging statements made, namely, that chastisements proceed not from enemies but from our Father, that they are sent not in anger but in love, that they are designed not to crush but “for our profit;” carnal sense and natural reason interposes an objection: “But we find no joy under our afflictions, instead much sorrow. We do not feel that they are for our profit; we cannot see how they can be so; therefore we are much inclined to doubt what you have said.” The apostle grants the force of the objection: that for the present, chastening does “seem to be grievous and not joyous.” But he brings in a double limitation or qualification: in reference to outward sense, it only “seems” so; in reference to time, this is only for “the present.” Having made this concession, the apostle turns to the objector and says, “Nevertheless.’’ He reminds him that, first, there is an “afterward” beyond the present moment, to be borne in mind; second, he presses on him the need of being “exercised thereby”; third, he assures him that if he is so exercised “peaceable fruit” will be the happy issue.

There are four things told us in the text about chastisement as it is viewed by human reason.

1. All that carnal reason can perceive in our chastenings is BUT SEEMING. All that flesh and blood can discover about the nature and quality of Divine afflictions is but their outward and superficial appearance. The eye of reason is utterly incapable of discovering the virtue and value of sanctified trials. How often we are deceived by mere “seeming!” This is true in the natural sphere: appearances are proverbially deceptive. There are many optical illusions. Have you not noticed some nights when the sun is sinking in the west, that it is much bigger than at its zenith? Yet it is not so in reality; it only “seems” to be so. Have you stood on the deck of a ship in mid-ocean and, while gazing at the horizon, suddenly been startled by the sight of land? — the outline of the coast, with the rising hills in the background, there deafly defined? Yet after all, it was but “seeming:” it was nothing but clouds. In like manner, you have read of a mirage seen by travelers in the desert: away over the sands, they see in the distance green trees and a shining pool of water; but this is only an optical delusion, effected in some way by the atmosphere.

Now if this be so in connection with natural things, the “seeming” not being the actual, the apparent not being the reality, how much more is it true in connection with the things of God!  Afflictions are not what they “seem” to be. They appear to work for our ill, and not for our good; so that we are inclined to say, “An enemy hath done this.” They seem to be for our injury, rather than our “profit,” and we murmur and are cast down. So often fear distorts our vision; so often unbelief brings scales over our eyes, and we exaggerate the dimensions of trials in the dark and dim light. So often we are selfish, fond of our fleshly ease; and therefore spiritual discernment falls to a low ebb. No, chastenings for the present do not seem to be joyous, but “grievous”; but that is because we view them through our natural senses and in the light of carnal reason.

2. Carnal reason judges afflictions in the light of the PRESENT. The tendency with all of us is to estimate things in the light of the now. The ungodly are ever ready to sacrifice their future interests for present gratification. One of their favorite mottos is, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush:” it may be to the slothful, but the enterprising and diligent would rather be put to a little trouble and secure the two. Man is a very shortsighted creature, and even the Christian is often dominated by the same sentiments that regulate the wicked. The light of the now is generally the worst in which to form a true estimate of things. We are too close to them to obtain a right perspective, and see things in their proper proportions. To view an oil painting to the best advantage, we need to step back a few feet from it. The same principle applies to our lives. Proof of this is found as we now look back upon that which is past. Today the Christian discovers a meaning, a needs-be, a preciousness, in many a past experience, and even disappointment, which he could not discern at the time.

The case of Jacob is much to the point, and should guard us against following his foolish example. After Joseph had been removed from his doting father, and when he thought he had lost Simeon too, viewing things in the light of “the present,” he petulantly said, “All these things are against me” (Genesis 42:36). Such is often the mournful plaint which issues from our short-sighted unbelief. But later, Jacob discovered his mistake, and found that all those things had been working together for good to himself and his loved ones. Alas, we are so impatient and impetuous, so occupied with the present, that we fail to look forward and by faith anticipate the happy sequel. Then, too, the effects which afflictions have upon the old man, disqualify us to estimate them aright. If my heart is palpitating, if my mind is agitated, and my soul is cast down, then I am in no fit state to judge the quality and blessedness of Divine afflictions. No, chastenings for the present do not “seem to be joyous, but grievous;” that is because we take such a shortsighted view of them and fail to look forward with the eyes of faith and hope.

3. To carnal reason, afflictions never seem “joyous.” This logically follows from what has been before us under the first two points. Because carnal reason sees only the “seeming” of things, and because it estimates them only in the light of “the present,” afflictions are not joyous. Nor does God intend that, in themselves, they should be. If afflictions did “seem” to be joyous, would they be chastisements at all? It would be of little use for an earthly parent to whip his child in such a way as to produce only smiles. Such would be merely a make-belief; no smart, no benefit.  Solomon said, “It is the blueness of the wound which maketh the heart better;” so if Divine chastisements are not painful to the flesh and extort a groan and cry, what good end would they serve? If God sent us trials such as we wished, they would not be chastenings at all. No, afflictions do not “seem” to be joyous.

They are not joyous in the form they assume. When the Lord smites, He does so in a tender place, that we may feel the smart of it. They are not joyous in the force of them. Oftentimes we are inclined to say, If the trial had not been quite so severe, or the disappointment had not been so great, I could have endured it. God puts just so much bitter herbs into our cup as to make the draught unpleasant. They are not joyous in the time of them. We always think they come at the wrong season. If it were left to our choosing, they would never come; but if we must have them, we would choose the time when they are the least grievous; and thus miss their blessing. Nor are they joyous in the instruments used: “If it were an enemy, then I could have borne it,” said David. That is what we all think. O if my trial were not just that! Poverty I could endure, but not reproach and slander. To have lost my own health would have been a hard blow, but I could have borne it; but the removal of that dear child, the light of my eyes, how can I ever rejoice again? Have you not heard brethren speak thus?

4. To carnal reason, afflictions ever seem to be “grievous.” Probably the most grievous part to the Christian is that he cannot see how much a loss or trial can possibly benefit him. If he could thus see, he would rejoice. Even here we must walk by faith and not by sight. But this is easier said than done; yea, it can only be done by God’s enabling. Usually, the Christian altogether fails to see why such a trouble is sent upon him; it seems to work harm and not good. Why this financial loss, when he was giving more to the Lord’s work? Why this breakdown in health, when he was being most used in His service? Why this removal of a Sabbath school teacher, just when he was most needed? why was my husband called away, when the children most required him? Yes, such afflictions are indeed grievous to the flesh.

But let it be pointed out that these reasonings are only “seeming.” The Christian, by grace, eventually triumphs. Faith looks up at the cloud (though it is often very late in doing so) and says, The chastisement was not as severe as it might have been, certainly it was not as severe as I deserved, and truly it was nothing in comparison to what the Savior suffered for me. O let faith expel carnal reason, and say, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” But note carefully that this is only while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4:17, 18). (For much in the above four points the writer acknowledges his indebtedness to a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon on the same verse).

“Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” This is what the apostle sets over against the estimate of carnal reason and the feelings of our natural senses. Medicine may not be a pleasant thing to take, but if it be blest by God, the renewed health it gives is good compensation. The pruned vine at the end of the winter presents a sorry appearance to the eye, but its heavily-laden branches in the autumn vindicate the gardener’s efforts. Did not the “afterward” prove to Jacob that his doleful reasonings were quite unwarranted? Job squirmed under the rod, as well he might, but was not his end more prosperous than his beginning? Thank God for this “Nevertheless afterward.”

Yet this “afterward” is also a very searching word: it is one which should pierce and test each of us. Have we not all passed through sorrow? Can any of us look back on the past without recalling seasons of deep and heavy affliction? Has no sword pierced our souls? no painful sacrifice been demanded of us? But, my reader, do these experiences belong to the past in every sense? Have they gone, disappeared, without leaving any effects behind them? No, that is impossible: we are either the better or the worse because of them. Then ask yourself, What fruits have they produced? Have your past experiences hardened, soured, frozen you? Or have they softened, sweetened, mellowed you? Has pride been subdued, self-pleasing been mortified, patience developed? How have afflictions, chastisements, left us? What does the “afterward” reveal?

Not all men are the gainers by afflictions; nor are Christians so always. Many seek to flee from trials and troubles, instead of being “exercised” thereby. Others are callous and do not yield: as Hebrews 12:5 intimates, they “despised” the chastenings of the Lord. There are some who imagine that, when visited with affliction, it is a display of courage if they refuse to be affected. They count it weakness to mourn over losses and weep over sorrows. But such an attitude is altogether un-Christian. Christ wept and again and again we are told that He “groaned.” Such an attitude is also foolish to the last degree, for it is calculated to counteract the very design of afflictions, and only calls for severer ones to break our proud spirits. It is no mark of weakness to acknowledge that we feel the strokes of an Almighty arm.

It is the truest wisdom to humble ourselves beneath “the mighty hand of God.” If we are among His people, He will mercifully compel us to acknowledge that His chastenings are not to be despised and made light of. He will — and O how easily He can do it — continue or increase our afflictions until He tames our wild spirits, and brings us like obedient children into subjection to Himself. What a warning is found in Isaiah 9:9-11: “And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the Adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together.”  This means that, because the people had hardened themselves under the chastening hand of God, instead of being “exercised” thereby, that He sent sorer afflictions upon them.

The ones benefited by the Father’s chastenings are they who are “exercised thereby.” The Greek word for “exercised” was borrowed from the gymnastic games. It had reference to the athlete stripping himself of his outer clothing. Thus, this word in our text is almost parallel with the “laying aside of every weight” in 5:1. If afflictions cause us to be stripped of pride, sloth, selfishness, a revengeful spirit, then “fruit” will be produced. It is only as we improve our chastenings, that we are gainers. The natural effect of affliction on an unsanctified soul is either to irritate or depress, which produces rebellion or sinking in despair. This is the result of hardness of heart and unbelief. Even with regard to the Christian it is true that, only as he views them as proceeding from his Father in order to bring him into subjection, and as he is “exercised thereby,” he is truly profited.

1. The conscience needs to be “exercised.” There must be a turning unto the Sender of our trials, and a seeking from Him of the meaning and message of them.  “There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord” (2 Samuel 21:1)! So should we when the providences of God frown upon us. There must be an honest self-examination, a diligent scrutiny of our ways, to discover what it is God is displeased with. Careful investigation will often show that much of our supposed godly zeal in service is but the result of habit, or the imitating of some eminent saint, instead of proceeding from the heart, and being rendered “unto the Lord.”

2. Prayer has to be “exercised” or engaged in. It is true that painful afflictions have a tendency to stifle the voice of supplication, that one who is smarting under the rod feels little inclination to approach the Throne of Grace, but this carnal disposition must be steadily resisted, and the help of the Holy Spirit definitely sought. The heavier our load, the more depressed our heart, the sorer our anguish, the greater our need to pray. God requires to be sought unto for grace to submit to His dealings, for help to improve the same, for Him to sanctify unto our good all that perplexes and distresses us.

3. The grace of meekness must be “exercised,” for “a meek and quiet spirit” is of “great price” in the sight of Him with whom we have to do (1 Peter 3:4). Meekness is the opposite of self-will and hardness of heart. It is a pliability of soul, which is ready to be fashioned after the Divine image. It is a holy submission, willing to be molded as the Heavenly Potter determines. There can be no “peaceable fruit of righteousness” until our wills are broken, and we have no mind of our own. How much we need to heed that word of Christ’s, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek” (Matthew 11:29).

4. Patience must be “exercised.” Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7): “wait” for His time of deliverance, for if we attempt to deliver ourselves, we are very likely to plunge into deeper trials. Fruit is not ripened in a day; nor do the benefits of chastisements appear immediately. Patience must have her perfect work if the soul is to be enriched by afflictions. In the interval of waiting, allow nothing to deter your plodding perseveringly along the path of duty.

5. Faith must be “exercised.” God’s hand must be seen in every trial and affliction if it is to be borne with meekness and patience. While we look no further than the malice of Satan, or the jealousy, enmity, injustice of men, the heart will be fretful and rebellious. But if we receive the cup from the Father’s hand, our passions will be calmed and the inward tumult stilled. Only by the exercise of faith will the soul be brought into a disposition to quietly submit, and digest the lessons we are intended to learn.

6. Hope must be “exercised.” As faith looks upward and sees God’s hand in the trial, hope is to look forward and anticipate the gains thereof. Hope is a confident expectation of future good. It is the opposite of despair. Hope lays hold of the promised “Afterward,” and thus it sustains and cheers in the present. Hope assures the cast-down soul “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Psalm 42:5). “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).

7. Love must be “exercised.” It is the Father’s love which chastens us (verse 5); then ought not we to love Him in return for His care and patient training of us? Instead of doubting His wisdom or questioning His goodness, there should be an affectionate gratitude flowing out to the One who is seeking naught but our welfare. “We can never find any benefit in chastenings, unless we are exercised by them, that is, unless all our graces are stirred up by them to a holy, constant exercise” (John Owen) — how different that, from the fatalistic inertia of many hyper-Calvinists!

What we have sought to bring out above is the fact that spiritual “fruit” is not the natural or spontaneous effect of affliction. Nay, have we not observed that few of those who suffer severe financial reverses, heavy domestic bereavements, or personal bodily pain, are, spiritually, the gainers thereby? Yea, do we need to look any further than ourselves, to perceive how little we have learned by and profited from past trials? And the cause is plain: we were not duly exercised thereby. May this word abide with each of us for the future!

What is meant by “the peaceable fruit of righteousness?” If we took this expression by itself, it would signify the effects of righteousness, the fruit which righteousness itself brings forth. But in our text it is chastenings or afflictions which are specifically mentioned as producing this fruit. It is the Spirit tranquilizing and purifying the heart. “Righteousness” in our text is parallel with “His holiness” in verse 10. It may be summed up in the mortification of sin and the vivification of vital godliness. It is called the “peaceable fruit” because it issues in the taming of our wild spirits, the quieting of our restless hearts, the more firm anchoring of our souls. But this only comes when we truly realize that it is the Father’s love which has afflicted us. May the Spirit of God grant us all “exercised” hearts, so that we shall daily search ourselves, examine our ways, and be stripped of all that is displeasing to Him!