A great little book from Puritan Matthew Henry.
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1 Minute Book Review (Episode 05) | A Church in the House by Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry
The Toxic Brew of Ungodly Comparison
Ungodly comparison comes pretty easily to us. It’s like an annoying habit that someone doesn’t realize they have until someone points it out. Comparing ourselves isn’t the problem, rather it’s the objects of our comparison. Ungodly comparison formulates either a disappointed view or an over-inflated view of yourself; and either way creates a toxic brew of strife & rivalry with those whom you’re comparing yourself.
Christ’s sermon on the mount trains our eyes to see ourselves rightly. Jesus tells His disciples to compare their righteousness with that of the Pharisees (Mt. 5:20); as Matthew Henry put it, “We must do more than [the Pharisees], and better than they, or we shall come short of heaven.” This comparison with scrupulous law-followers is enough to leave anyone feeling that their own righteousness fails to meet the divine standard of moral justice.
So, Jesus then invites us to compare ourselves to the lilies of the field & sparrows of the air (Mt. 6:25-30). The Father clothes & keeps them, how much more shall He provide for His own children.
Christ points out our bad habit of looking out of the corner of our eye to compare ourselves to others. As Paul puts it in one place, “they measure themselves by themselves (2 Cor. 10:12).” But Jesus is the one about whom Isaiah says, “To whom will you compare Me (Cf. Is. 46:5)?”
Who compares to God? The answer, of course, is none of us. Who can live up to the Pharisee’s scrupulous outward morality? The answer is, very few of us. But who does the Father clothe & keep? His own beloved children. Those who are God’s children are those who follow Christ and His command to seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Mt. 6:33). If we obey Christ in this, we’ll be able to make righteous comparisons because our eyes won’t be on our own or others’ righteousness, but on the providential care of our Incomparable God.
We too often cast our eyes on earthly measures of righteousness, instead of on God’s perfect Law and it’s fulfillment by our Lord Jesus. This ungodly comparison leaves us both grieved with our own failure and puffed up with our own self-righteousness. God invites us, however, to look to Christ crucified and see there the greatness of our sin, the greatness of Christ’s mercy, and the greatness of the Father’s love to those who come to Him by faith. Cease living with a side-eye, and instead fixed your eyes firmly on Christ and His righteousness.
For Our Good & His Glory
Matthew Henry has a fine insight on Amos 3:6, “Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?”
Let them know that all their troubles came from the hand of God’s providence and from the counsel of his will (v. 6): Shall there be evil in a city, in a family, in a nation, and the Lordhas not done it, appointed it, and performed what he appointed? The evil of sin is from ourselves; it is our own doing. But the evil of trouble, personal or public, is from God, and is his doing; whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. Out of his mouth both eviland good proceed. This consideration, that, whatever evil is in the city, the Lord has done it, should engage us patiently to bear our share in public calamities and to study to answer God’s intention in them.
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Jesus Wields a Sword
Not A Tame Savior
The book of Revelation, despite the many who would cast a haze upon it, plainly presents to us the Lord Jesus as being the Savior of the World; in John’s preface (Rev. 1:1-8) we see that this book is dedicated “unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev. 1:5).” Furthermore, we see that a “lamb slain” is the whole theme of the book (Rev. 5:6).
We must be careful, however, to not miss the fact that this saving work of Christ is presented to us in a way as to make us understand that He is not only Savior of the World, but also Lord of the World. Jesus is repeatedly pictured in this book as wielding a sword. This goes agains the grain of the popular thought amongst today’s Christians that Jesus is all about love, grace, acceptance and cuddles. We see throughout the apocalypse of John, a Savior full of power, dominion being given unto him, and all rebellion being subdued by him. To riff on Lewis, this is not a tame Savior.
About as Cozy as a Sword
The reason I point this out is that the mindset of 21st century Christians is being coddled with unbiblical, and unhelpful, notions of the nature of Christ and the mediatorial role which He is now invested with by the Father. We believe that the world is to be won to Christ by embracing the sinful notions which are currently most treasured by the world. On one hand we have older evangelical leaders paying homage to the Nationalistic fervor which Trump has incited; they seem to be persuaded that to “win our country back” we must cooperate with our enemy’s enemy. In this case, we ought to see how that worked out for Nikabrik, and then high-tail it the other way; fighting evil with evil never works out well.
On the other hand, we see many Christians wanting to get cozy with the GQBLT community; endeavoring to show the tolerance and acceptance that has apparently been lacking for 2000 years of Christianity, which they alone have bravely chosen to show. This is nothing more than a lust to fit in with the hipsters of current social thought, and friendship with the world means you’re an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4). Truth happens to be much more rigid than we’d like it to be, and it happens to be far more tender than we thought it could be.
Cozying up to the world, by presenting Christ either as a nationalistic figurehead or else a euphoric synonym for tolerance quite mistakes how Christ is presented to us in scripture, and in particular John’s Revelation. He is shown to us as wielding a sword. Swords aren’t as cozy as quaint political slogans or safe spaces.
Cut to the Quick
Jesus, we are told, has a sword protruding from His mouth (Rev. 1:12, 2:12, 2:16), and later we are told that with it He “smites the nations” (Rev. 19:15) and rules the world. We are also shown Christ going forth on a white horse “conquering and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2); two of the three horsemen which follow the first (Christ certainly being figured as the rider of the white horse) are all shown to be “the instruments that [Christ] raised up” to accomplish His redemptive purposes for the world. Two of these three horsemen are given the sword of war (the other plagues), so that even the wicked wars of mankind are directed by the providence of Christ’s sovereign rule.
This said, we should not be so eager to befriend what Christ intends to destroy. His Word, which good, thinking Christians ought to understand by the sword of His mouth, is to go forth, unapologetically to rebuke, correct, and cut us to the quick. When Christians refuse to be cut to the heart by the Word of God, and surround themselves with “easy” teachings, apostasy is sure to arise. Christ is indeed the friend of the sinner, but He is also Lord of the World, whose Word is the binding rule for mankind.
Note that the New Testament presents to us the prophesied Messiah not as a well-manicured, JC Penny catalogue model, but as a fierce warrior who had conquered the greatest foe and before whom all other foes must submit. We live under a Savior who shed His blood, in order that He might conquer and rule the world. He is all love, all grace, all mercy, we affirm this as true; but we must not miss the glorious truth that He is a warrior, on the war-path to avenge His elect, defeat all foes, and establish His Kingdom in righteousness, truth, and glory. The sooner we get this picture in our head, the better. It’s actually the only way to save our nation, and the only way to show compassion to the hurting and lonely sinners.
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