These words apply to -

I. THE JEWISH CHURCH. Delivered of the demon of idolatry, and having a house "swept and garnished," perfected with all external religious proprieties, it became possessed of the worse demon of hypocrisy - worse in that it was more hopeless. For the idolater may be and often is convicted of his folly and is led into wisdom and piety; but the formalist and hypocrite is scarcely ever, if ever, won from his unreality and spiritual pride.

II. MANY A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Delivered from worldliness, from vanity, from vice, in the first instance, many a Church has cherished the cruel demon of persecution, or the evil demon of pride, or the dangerous demon of formality. And it proves to be harder to awaken the sinful Church, living under its Lord's condemnation, to a new repentance and a revival of religious earnestness, than it was at first to conduct it into his kingdom. Its last state is less hopeful than the first.

III. MANY A HUMAN SOUL.

1. Men go a very long way in the direction of heavenly wisdom. They listen, they understand, they feel, they purpose, they pray, they profess, they preach or teach Divine truth to others, they conform their conduct to the requirements of the Word of God.

2. In this good course they are arrested, and they return on their way. Their devotedness slackens; their habits of worship become less regular; their habits of life become less scrupulous; the "spirit of their mind" grows secular, and indeed profane; they fall out of the ranks of the earnest, and, at last, even of the reverent; perhaps they descend to the unworthy, and even to the criminal. Not literally, but metaphorically speaking, there are "evil sprats" in them. They "are gone away backward."

3. Thus returning, they have almost hopelessly separated themselves from Christ; the "last state of that man is worse than the first" (see Hebrews 6:4-6). Not that renewal is absolutely impossible, but it is so spiritually difficult and so exceedingly rare that it may be said to be morally impossible. You cannot restore elasticity to the spring that has been overbent. You cannot make pungent again the salt that has lost its savor. You cannot infuse new force into truths which an emasculating familiarity has deprived of their virtue and their interest. Far more hopeless is the condition of the human soul that has drifted away from Christ than the one that has never heard of his Name or never been impressed with his claims. Therefore what?

(1) Let the Christian teacher see that his work is deep as well as broad; that the roots of sacred conviction are well planted in the soil; let him not be satisfied with his "converts" when they only manifest feeling; let him be assiduous in his attention, earnest in his prayer, until he is well assured that the soul for whom he is watching (Hebrews 13:17) has yielded himself, fully and whole-heartedly, to the Lord his Savior.

(2) Let the Christian disciple be on his guard; let him "watch and pray" lest he come under the power of some insidious temptation, lest he "lose that which he has wrought," lest the powers and principles that are from God and that have entered and touched his soul should depart from him, lest evil influences that are from beneath should take possession of him; for in that sad event he will be in a far worse spiritual state, more hopeless and pitiable, than if he had never heard the voice of Christ, and never risen at his call. - C.

I. THE WOMAN'S EXCLAMATION.

1. Implying, in an indirect yet very strong manner, the blessedness of our Lord Himself; the idea being that from Him a blessedness was reflected on His mother. In this there is nothing but what is altogether commendable and deserving of imitation.

2. The exclamation was directly and chiefly intended to proclaim the blessedness of our Lord's mother. Neither is it, in this sense, to be condemned. Jesus Himself does net deny, and we ought not to question its truth. The happiness of parents is very much involved in the conduct and history of their children. The relation is most intimate and most tender. Their offspring are so closely entwined round their heart, as to occasion them, either most acute anguish, or most exquisite pleasure. But, if it is thus a general truth that parents are happy in the happiness of their children, how great must have been the happiness of such a woman as the Virgin Mary, in having such a son as Jesus Christ! Vast indeed were the blessing and honour which were hers! And, as Mary was blessed in bringing forth such a son at first, so she was blessed in His future character and exploits. She was blessed in His dutiful conduct as a son: for "He went down to Nazareth, and was subject" unto His parents. She was blessed in the progressive improvement of His human nature, for, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." She was blessed in the whole tenor of His holy life, as He was perfectly free from all taint of sin, and exhibited a pattern of every grace. She was blessed in hearing many of His delightful discourses, as she frequently attended His ministrations, and formed one of the many hearers who "bore Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth." She was blessed in seeing many of the wonderful works which He performed: for on many other occasions of this kind it might have been said, as it was said on that at Cana in Galilee, that "the mother of Jesus was them." She was blessed in His glorious resurrection and ascension, when He rose a conqueror over death and hell, and when He was taken up into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, to wait till all His enemies be made His footstool. There she still continues to be blessed in contemplating His blessedness, and in hearing the blessings which are multiplied on His name.

II. OUR LORD'S AMENDMENT ON THE WOMAN'S EXCLAMATION, He does not contradict what the pious woman had said. He only modifies and explains it, and makes an addition to it. Now, His amendment on the woman's words teaches us —

1. That the happiness of Mary herself consisted rather in her being a believer in Christ, than in her being the mother of Christ.

2. That all true believers, as such, are more blessed than Christ's mother, as such. Was she honoured in her maternal relation to Him? — they are all connected with Him by a still closer relation, even by that union in consequence of which He and they are said to be one. They are blessed with light, pardon, sanctification, comfort, and every present privilege; and all these are sure pledges of the everlasting blessedness of heaven. There is still another idea included in this amendment of our Lord's; for, in its most extended meaning, it states a comparison, not only between the advantage of true religion, and that of having been the mother of Jesus, but also between the advantage of true religion and all other advantages whatever. We are here taught, then —

3. That those who are believers, are more blessed on that account than on any other. Are you rich? or, at least, in easy circumstances? — then it is true that you may be, in some degree, happy in freedom from anxiety about your temporal wants, and in the moderate enjoyment of earthly good: but what are such possessions in comparison of your spiritual treasures, the unsearchable riches of Christ? "All things are yours." Other possessions are uncertain and temporary: but yours are the better, the "durable riches"; yours is the "inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away." Are you learned in human knowledge? — so far well, for therein you may find much rational enjoyment. But rather blessed are you because you are taught of God in the wisdom which is from above, and instructed to know the Holy Scriptures, which have proved sufficient to make you wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

(James Foote, M. A.)

I. A BLESSEDNESS WHICH IS NOT TO BE DENIED. The Virgin Mother was blessed among women. To God alone we must render worship; but the memory of this saintly woman is to be revered. The angel made no mistake when he said, "Hail, thou that art highly favoured: blessed art thou among women." Nor was she in error when she said, "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." We call her blessed most heartily, for so she was.

1. The blessing which she received had been the desire of ages.

2. When at last the boon was bestowed upon the humble virgin of Nazareth, who was of the house of David, it came as a great favour. We must not, then, treat it as a light thing. The Saviour's "yea" was emphatic when the woman spake of His mother as highly blessed.

3. She herself received this honour as a great blessing. It was no vain thing to her to have charge of the infancy of our Lord. She felt it to be great blessedness to be placed in such a relation to the holy child Jesus.

4. She was, she must have been, Messed among women, and this woman who spake of her as such made no mistake; for think what blessings have come to all the world through the Virgin's wondrous child. "In Him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." If all generations call Mary blessed, it is only because she brought into the world one who is a blessing to us all. And it was, it must have been, a great blessedness to Mary's heart to think that "that holy thing" which was born of her was the channel of such blessedness to all mankind.

5. I must, however, remind you that whatever the blessedness which this holy woman derived from being the mother of our Saviour's humanity, she needed it all, for she was called to a great fight of affliction because of it.

II. That brings us to our second head: To hear the Word of God and keep it is A BLESSING PREFERABLE to having been the mother of our Lord.

1. We are sure of this, because in the weighing of the blessings the blessed Master of Beatitudes holds the balances. Jesus Himself adjusts the scales of blessedness. He who began His ministry with the word "Blessed," so often repeated, knows best which blessing is the best.

2. Happily this preference so truly given by the Master puts the highest blessedness within the reach of all of us who are here this morning. We are at this moment in a position to "hear the Word of God, and keep it." If grace be given, there are only these two steps to blessedness.

3. I now ask you to notice that this preferable blessing is found in a very simple manner. "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it." The process is stripped of all ambiguity or mystery; there is nothing about it that is hard or difficult: "Hear the word, and keep it — that is all."

III. So now we close by considering this as A BLESSEDNESS TO BE AT ONCE ENJOYED. I breathe to heaven this earnest prayer, that we may now enter into this blessedness. Let us see if we cannot sit still in our seats for a while, and drink in this wine on the lees well refined.

1. This blessedness belongs to the present. Blessed are they that are hearing the Word of God, and keeping it. It is not a remote, but an immediate blessedness. While you are hearing and keeping God's Word you are then blessed. The blessedness is for this world, and for you. "But I am so cast down." Yes, but you are blessedl! "Alas! I bear such a burden of afflictions." Yes, but you are blessed. "Alas! I have not known a good time of late." No, but you are blessed! Your blessedness does not depend upon your fancies and feelings. If you hear the Word of God, and keep it, you are at this moment blessed. Faith finds a present blessedness in the Word of God, which she hears and keeps.

2. This blessedness lies, in a great measure, in the very act of hearing and keeping God's Word.

3. This blessing is not dependent upon outward circumstances. If you hear God's Wind, and keep it, you may be very ill, and yet in spirit you will be well; you may be very feeble, and yet in spirit you will be strong; you may be dying, and yet you shall not die, for he that heareth the Word of God shall never see death. In hearkening to the Lord you have reached a region from which you look down upon the dust and smoke of time and sense.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. THE WOMAN'S EXCLAMATION. We may notice the cause of her exclamation, the speaking of Jesus. His word, though powerful, is not a hurricane, but harmony.

II. ON WHAT HER ADMIRATION TURNED — "Jesus." The cold-hearted Pharisee might have felt disposed to exclaim, "What irregularity! What a breach of order!" Jesus, however, was in no danger of being disconcerted in His discourse from any casual interruption, but was at all times fully at liberty to take advantage of every passing event.

III. OUR LORD'S REPLY. "Rather blessed are they that hear the Word," etc. This reply naturally includes these particulars —

1. His admission of the truth she declared.

2. His assertion — "Blessed are they that hear the Word, and keep it."

3. The description — They that keep it. Unfortunately, many content themselves with hearing (Ezekiel 30:30, 32).I conclude —

1. To hear the Word of God is not to keep it. Many seem to believe religion consists in hearing.

2. Hearing is only instrumental to salvation.

3. The promise is not made to hearing, but to doing. Hear, and your souls live. Be not a hearer, but a doer, otherwise —

4. The blessing will prove a curse.

(W. Jay.)

I. THE NECESSITY OF KNOWING THE WORD OF GOD. One great cause to which our falling so frequently into sin may be ascribed is, a want of attention to the duties incumbent upon us. Now it is evident that if we were to make it our daily practice to meditate upon the Word of God, we should have our duty continually before us. We should have the promises and the threatenings of the Almighty ever before our eyes: this would necessarily produce such an impression upon our hearts, as to make us fear and dread all iniquity, and to turn from the sins to which we are naturally inclined, and most strongly addicted.

II. How THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD OF GOD, so necessary to our salvation, IS TO BE ACQUIRED. The two chief means for the attainment of Divine knowledge are the reading of God's holy Word, and the hearing of it preached. The sacred Scriptures are the great means of converting sinners, and of building up saints in their holy faith. History is full of conversions which the reading and hearing of God's Word have occasioned. That eminent father of the Church, , tells us that he owed his conversion to the reading of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Romans 13:11. Others have been converted from the hearing and the reading of these words: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "In the beginning was the word." Another in reading the Acts of the Apostles; and another from these words of St. Paul to Timothy: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." If such be their mighty and magnificent effects, how necessary to be known, and studied, and understood of men! Every part of Scripture, as being of Divine inspiration, ought to be thoroughly studied, and inwardly digested; though, doubtless, there are some books and chapters which claim our meditations, and require our studious perusal, more than others. And then, in order that we may reap real benefit and advantage from the perusal of the sacred Oracles, it is necessary that, like the Ethiopian eunuch, we should read them with care and application, as containing the true knowledge of salvation.

III. THAT THE READING AND HEARING OF THE WORD OF GOD ARE NOT SUFFICIENT FOR SALVATION, UNLESS IT BE REDUCED TO PRACTICE, is evident from these words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 7:24).

IV. THE BLESSEDNESS AND HAPPINESS WHICH ATTEND THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. The blessedness of a true believer — of a faithful servant of Christ, is even greater than that of the mother of the Saviour. How noble — how glorious a privilege is this! In hearing and meditating upon the Word of God, believers experience a pleasure and a satisfaction of which the men of the world can form no estimate, and entertain no idea whatsoever.

(J. Rudge, D. D.)

I. GOD INTENDS HIS WORD TO BLESS MAN. It is sent for this purpose. Truth is God's greatest boon to man.

II. IF THIS BE SO, THEN THE BLESSING COMES OBVIOUSLY ENOUGH BY HEARING. The most natural way of conveying the truth is by speech. It is the earliest, the readiest, perhaps it shall be the latest. In many senses it will ever be the best. In simple, earnest speech you get all the requisites, truth itself in its appositeness, punctuation, emphasis, and, above all, the living soul transmitted by the living voice.

III. EVEN WHEN THE WORD IS PURE, AND THE PREACHER A TRUE MAN, PREACHER AND TRUTH ARE NOT ENOUGH. TO HAVE THE BLESSING THERE MUST BE THE INWARD HEARING AS WELL AS THE OUTWARD. Nothing will serve but the actual contact of truth with the spiritual intelligence, the cordial reception of the quickening Word, and its verification in the stillness of the soul's depths. The Spirit quickeneth the Word by quickening the man, and, again, the man by the Word. Christ's words let in the Spirit to listening hearts, for they were spirit and life.

IV. THE TRUTH MUST BE KEPT IN ORDER TO THE BLESSING. It must be kept, first, by spiritual means — by prayer, meditation, and constant endeavour of the soul to blend and assimilate the truth with itself, till they become, as it were, one. But nothing gives the truth a greater fixity in our nature and makes it ours so truly as embodying it in act and deed. It is at hand, it must be grasped; floating as sentiment and feeling, it must be secured, organized, converted into facts, and so into history. Truth is intended to be practised — it cannot otherwise pass into life.

1. When the heart has learned to endorse the truth, the outward doing is most natural and easy.

2. The nature that keeps the Word is blessed by being itself ennobled. As we learn to live by truth and for truth, we have sympathy with God.

3. And the blessing power of the truth thus heard and thus cherished is continuous.

V. BUT WHAT ABOUT HEARING AND NOT KEEPING? One cannot conceive of anything sadder. For hearing prepares a man for a higher test. We go to be examined in our own class, and thence depart to our own place. And the most tragic of all earth's other tragedies appear to me necessarily to fall far short of this spiritual one. To have looked into the highest, and sunk to the lowest, to have had the noblest issues in our grasp, and to have preferred these miserable husks of self-indulgence and self-contentment!

(T. Islip.)

These be the parts of my text; and of these in order.

I. "Blessed is the womb that bare thee," &c., saith the woman.

1. And that which occasioned and moved her thus to lift up her voice was the power of Christ's works and words. Be not deceived — every good lesson should be unto you as a miracle to move you to give sentence for Christ against the Pharisees and all the enemies He hath; against the pride that despiseth Him, the luxury that defileth Him, the disobedience that trampleth Him under foot. Every good motion (for therein Christ speaketh to us) should beget a resolution; every resolution, a good work; every good work, a love of goodness; and the love of goodness should root and stablish and build us in the faith.

2. And so I pass from the motive and occasion to the person, who from what she saw and heard gave this free attestation. Truth doth not fail, though a Pharisee oppose it, but is of strength sufficient to make the weakest of its champions conqueror. For "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25). Neither number nor sex hath so much power upon truth as to alter its complexion. And as it was no prejudice to the truth that she was but one, no more was it that she was a woman. For why might not a woman, whose eye was clear and single, see more in Christ than the proudest Pharisee who wore his phylactery the broadest? All is, not in the miracle, but in the eye, in the mind, which, being goggle or mis-set, or dimmed with malice or prejudice, be-holdeth not things as they are, but, through false mediums, putteth upon them what shape it pleaseth, receiveth not the true and natural species they present, but vieweth them at home in itself as in a false glass, which returneth back by a deceitful reflection. And this is the reason why not only miracles, but doctrinal precepts also, find so different entertainment. Every man layeth hold on them and wresteth them to his own purpose, worketh them on his own anvil, and shapeth them to his own fancy and affections; as out of the same mass Phidias could make a goddess, and Lysippus a satyr. Prejudice will make a man persuade himself that is false which he cannot but know is most true. That which to a clear eye is a gross sin, and appeareth horror, to a corrupted mind may be as the beauty of holiness. The Pharisees saw it and the woman saw it: the one saw nothing but that which could not be seen, one devil casting out another; the other saw the finger and mighty power of God, and when she saw it, "she lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, "Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps that Thou hast sucked."

3. And so we descend to that which we proposed in the third place, the vehemency and heat of her affection, which could not contain itself in her heart, but brake forth at her mouth. And hereto" we shall consider —(1) That she spake.(2) What she spake. "She lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou has sucked."(a) "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," saith our Saviour (Matthew 12:34). "It evaporateth itself into the outward habit, breaks forth into voice, opens her shop and wares, that she may behold her own provision and riches abroad." The love of the truth tuneth the heart, and the heart the tongue. And this is the advantage that love hath of knowledge. Knowledge may be idle and unactive, but love is a restless thing, and will call up and employ every part of the body and every faculty of the soul to compass its end. Love is active, and will pace it on where knowledge doth but stand and gaze. Knowledge doth not always command our tongue; nay, many times we speak and act against our knowledge; but who speaks against that which he doth love?(b) Now, in the next place, what was it that begat her love but the admiration of Christ's person, His power, and His wisdom? She had heard of Moses and his miracles; but beholds a greater than Moses here. Application —

1. And, first, let us learn from this woman here to have Christ's wonderful works in remembrance, to look upon them with a steadfast and a fixed eye, that they may appear unto us in their full glory, and fill us with admiration. For admiration is a kind of voice of the soul. Behold, these are the wonderful things of Christ — to unite God and man, to tie them together by a new covenant, to raise dust and ashes to heaven: this is a great miracle indeed!

2. By her lifting up her voice, and blessing the womb that bare Christ, which was a kind of adoration (for admiration had not so shut up her devotion and love but that it was vocal and reverent), we are taught to magnify our Saviour with the tongue, and hand, and knee, and every member we have, as David speaketh. But I do but beat the air, and labour in vain. For now it is religion not to express it; and he is most devout who doth least show it. O when will this dumb devil be cast out? A strange thing it is that everything else, even our vices, should be loud and vocal, and religion should be the only thing that should want a tongue I that devotion should lie hid, and lurk and withdraw itself into the inward man!

3. Last of all: This woman's voice is yet lifted up, and calls upon us to lift up ours, even before the Pharisees. If our fear were not greater than our love, amongst these we should "lift up our voice like a trumpet," and put these monsters to shame, strike off their visor with noise, and bring in truth to tear off the veil of their hypocrisy. For, what I shall we not lift up our voice for truth but when she hath most voices on her side? Must truth be never published but in the times of peace? or must a song of praise be never chanted out but in a choir of angels? A Pharisee before us is a temptation, difficulty and danger are nothing else but a temptation, which is therefore laid in our way, to try if anything can sever us from the love of Christ and His truth. If we start back in silence, we have betrayed the truth to our fears, and left it to be trodden under foot by a Pharisee. He that can trifle with his God will at last blaspheme Him to His face. We have already handled the circumstantial parts of the text; we are now to treat of the substantial — the woman's speech and our Saviour's.

4. We begin with the woman's, "Blessed is the womb that bare Thee," etc. And that the mother of Christ was blessed we need not doubt. For we have not only the voice of this woman to prove it, but the voice of an angel, "Blessed art thou among women." "All generations shall call her blessed" (Luke 1:48).(1) Blessed, as the occasion of so much good. For when we see a clear and silver stream, we bless the fountain; and, for the glory and quickening power of the beams, some have made a god of the sun. Whatsoever presents itself unto us in beauty or excellency, doth not only take and delight us, but, in the midst of wonder, forceth our thoughts to look back to the coasts from whence it came.(2) Again: if it be a kind of curse to beget a wicked son, or, as Solomon did, "the foolishness of the people" (Ecclus. 47:23). The historian observes that many famous men amongst the Romans either died childless, or left such children behind them that it had been better their name had quite been blotted out, and they had left no posterity. And speaking of Tully, who had a drunken and a sottish son, he adds, "It had been better for him to have had no child at all, than such an one."

II. We come, next, to our Saviour's gentle corrective, "Yea rather." And this "Yea rather" comes in seasonably. For the eye is ready to be dazzled with a lesser good, if it be not diverted to a greater; as he will wonder at a star that never saw the sun. We stay many times and dwell with delight upon those truths which are of lesser alloy, and make not any approach towards that which is saving and necessary.

1. The philosopher will tell us that he that will compare two things together, must know them both. What a brightness hath honour to blind him that hath not tasted of the favour of God! What a paradise is carnal pleasure to him that a good conscience never feasted! What a substance is a ceremony to him that makes the precepts of the law but shadows! Therefore it is the method of wisdom itself to present them both unto us in their just and proper weight; not to deny what is true, but to take off our thoughts, and direct them to something better; that we may not dote so long on the one as to neglect and cast off the other. In my text the woman had discovered Christ's excellency; and Christ discovers to her His will, His Father's will, the doing of which will will unite her unto Him whom she thus admired, and make her one with Him, as He and His Father is one. "Blessed parents! yea, rather, Blessed thou, if thou hear My word and keep it." This is a timely grace, to lead her yet nearer to the kingdom of heaven; the lifting up of her voice was too weak to lift up those everlasting gates. This was a seasonable — "reprehension" shall I call it, or "direction"?

2. And now if we look into the Church, we shall find that most men stand in need of a "Yea rather"; who will magnify Christ and His mother too, but not do His will; will do what they ought to do, but leave that undone for which that which they do was ordained. "Blessed sacrament of the Lord's supper!" It is true; but, "Yea rather, Blessed are they that dwell in Christ." "Blessed profession of Christianity!" "Yea rather, Blessed are they that are Christ's." "Blessed cross!" The fathers call it so. "Yea rather, Blessed are they that have ' crucified their flesh with the affections and lusts.'" "Blessed church!" "Yea rather, Blessed are they who are members of Christ." "Blessed Reformation!" "Yea rather, Blessed are they that reform themselves."

3. This resolve of wisdom itself, as it doth cool and moderate our affections towards the outward and temporal favours and blessings of God, towards those of his light hand, and those of His left, so it doth intend and quicken them towards that which is blessedness indeed. It sets us up a glass, that "royal law" (James 2:8), "that perfect law of liberty," which if we "look into, and continue in it, being not forgetful hearers, but doers of the work, we shall be blessed in it" (James 1:25). "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God," reacheth not home; and therefore there is a conjunction copulative to draw it closer, and link it with obedience, "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it." For, first, God hath fitted us hereunto. For, can we imagine that He should thus build us up, and stamp His own image upon us, that we should be an habitation for owls and satyrs, for wild and brutish imaginations? that He did give us understandings to find out an art of pleasure, a method and craft of enjoying that which is but for a season? Was the soul made immortal for that which passeth away as a shadow, and is no more? Indeed, faith, in respect of the remoteness of the object, and its elevation above the ken of nature, may seem a hard lesson, yet in the soul there is a capacity to receive it; and if the other condition, of obedience and doing God's will, did not lie heavy upon the flesh, the more brutish part, we should be readier scholars in our creed than we are. Secondly. As the precepts of Christ are proportioned to the soul, so being embraced they fill it with light and joy, and give it a taste of the world to come. For as Christ's "yoke is easy," but not till it is put on; so His precepts are not delightful till they are kept. Aristotle's happiness in his books is but an idea, and heaven itself is no more to us till we enjoy it. The precepts of Christ in the letter may please the understanding part, which is always well-affected and inclinable to that which is apparently true; but till the will have set the feet and hands at liberty, even that which we approve we distaste, and that which we call "honey" is to us as bitter as gall. Contemplation may delight us for a time and bring some content, but the perverseness of our will breeds that worm which will soon eat it up. It is but a poor happiness to think and speak well of happiness, as from a mount to behold that Canaan which we cannot enjoy. A thought hath not strength and wing enough to carry us to bliss. But when the will is subdued and made obedient to the truth, then God's precepts, which are "from heaven, heavenly," fill the soul with a joy of the same nature, not gross and earthy, but refined and spiritual; a joy that is the pledge and the earnest, as the apostle calls it, of that which is to come.

(A. Farindon, D. D.)

For, first, she knew at large that it was a blessed thing to be an instrument or conveyance of any great good unto others. "Blessed above women shall Jail the wife of Heber be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent" (Judges 5:24). She had done her part to work deliverance for Israel. A cistern that contains the waters poured into it is much inferior to a fountain that sends them forth. It is nothing so laudable to be wrought upon, as to work that which is honourable. Even the parents that have enriched the world with such as are ornaments unto it, benediction reflects upon them for it, because they are conduit pipes of public felicity. Yet all those that have made others happy by their gifts and qualities had been for ever unhappy themselves if the child that was born this day had not sucked the breasts of a virgin. O happy parent I whose womb contained all the treasure that maintains the whole earth. Somewhat she collineated at this meaning that said unto our Saviour, "Blessed," &c. And each parent partakes in this reason, that it is joy and honour to them to have a renowned Son. All fruitfulness is to be congratulated, but hers especially — "Blessed is the womb," &c. I make no scruple to affirm it, that this was the very thought and fancy of the woman that uttered these words, that the mother was most honoured, full of fame and glory, who had a Son that spake so divinely, and wrought such heavenly miracles. It is a great recompense which God gives to careful parents upon earth when their offspring live soberly and temperately to be their comfort and honour. The fear of the Lord which is instilled into children from their infancy is not only the children's, but even the parents' happiness. The rare endowments that appeared in Christ made a certain woman hero cast the praise of it upon the mother, "Blessed," &c. And thus far in the literal sense, as far as flesh and blood could reveal unto her; but if she could have seen into the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit hath enabled us to see into them, there are other grounds of more evangelical observation. And first let it be noted, that the blessedness which is attributed to the womb that bore our Saviour redounds to all the members of His mystical body. Even as upon that saying of our Saviour to St. Peter, "Blessed art thou," &c. (Matthew 16.). The eternal Father did more for us when He made Him flesh than when He made the heaven and the earth beside; without His incarnation the earth had been our curse, all the elements our plague, the heaven above our envy, and the hell beneath our portion for ever. One man in a family having a fortunate advancement makes his whole blood and kindred fortunate with him; how much more shall Christ make all mankind happy being made one of us. He is come near unto us all by that nature which He assumed of ours; and He hath redeemed us all by that glorious Deity which was ever His own. Finally, there was a concurrency of all sorts of blessedness in this most mysterious incarnation.

II. I have done with the first general part of the text, the acclamation, both as a certain woman apprehended the words in her natural understanding, and in that prophetical sense which was above her understanding. Now it will be most material to observe how the Master of all wisdom corrected and refined it, "Yea rather, blessed," &c. O sacred Virgin, much more happy in entertaining the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. I must not (and if I would I have no time) set forth before you what a fecundity of error there is in man's heart about the notion of blessedness. Our Saviour confines our straggling imaginations to this rule, that no good thing of a subordinate condition can style a man happy; it is a title to be given to that immense communication of good, when the soul shall enjoy the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. And this is tried by two particulars — First, if we treasure up the precious things of God in our ear, then if we transmit them to a more inward and a safer place, and treasure them up in our heart. So that the understanding of the law of God consists not in knowledge and speculation, but in practice and execution. We must be servants as well as disciples.

(Bishop Hacket.)

The Rev. Mr. Erskine mentions a fact which may afford a very useful hint to every hearer of the gospel. A person who had been to public worship, having returned home perhaps somewhat sooner than usual, was asked by another member of the family who had not been there, "Is all done?" "No," replied he, "all is said, but all is not done!" How little is commonly done of all that is heard! "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it."

Abel, Beelzebub, Jesus, John, Jonah, Jonas, Ninevites, Solomon, Zachariah, Zacharias, ZechariahNineveh, Road to JerusalemBare, Birth, Blessed, Body, Bore, Borne, Breasts, Carried, Company, Crowd, Happy, Hast, Lifted, Lifting, Loud, Milk, Multitude, Nourished, Nursed, Paps, Pass, Raised, Saying, Spake, Speaking, Spoke, Suck, Sucked, Thus, Voice, Womb, Women1. Jesus teaches us to pray, and that instantly;
11. assuring us that God will give all good things to those who ask him.
14. He, casting out a demon, rebukes the blasphemous Pharisees;
27. and shows who are blessed;
29. preaches to the people;
37. and reprimands the outward show of holiness.

Luke 11:27

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Luke 11:27-28

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February 10 Morning
The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single thy whole body also is full of light.--LUKE 11:34. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spint of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.--Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.--We all, with open face beholding …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 21. "Give us Day by Day Our Daily Bread" (Luke xi. 3).
"Give us day by day our daily bread" (Luke xi. 3). It is very hard to live a lifetime at once, or even a year, but it is delightfully easy to live a day at a time. Day by day the manna fell, so day by day we may live upon the heavenly bread, and live out our life for Him. Let us, breath by breath, moment by moment, step by step, abide in Him, and, just as we take care of the days, He will take care of the years. God has given two precious promises for the days. "As thy days so shall thy strength …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Praying Christ
'... As He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disclples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray.'--LUKE xi. 1. It is noteworthy that we owe our knowledge of the prayers of Jesus principally to the Evangelist Luke. There is, indeed, one solemn hour of supplication under the quivering shadows of the olive-trees in Gethsemane which is recorded by Matthew and Mark as well; and though the fourth Gospel passes over that agony of prayer, it gives us, in accordance with its ruling purpose, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

How to Pray
'And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples. 2. And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3. Give us day by day our daily bread. 4. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xi. 39, "Now do Ye Pharisees Cleanse the Outside of the Cup and the Platter," Etc.
1. Ye have heard the holy Gospel, how the Lord Jesus in that which He said to the Pharisees, conveyed doubtless a lesson to His own disciples, that they should not think that righteousness consists in the cleansing of the body. For every day did the Pharisees wash themselves in water before they dined; as if a daily washing could be a cleansing of the heart. Then He showed what sort of persons they were. He told them who saw them; for He saw not their faces only but their inward parts. For that ye …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xi. 5, "Which of You Shall have a Friend, and Shall Go unto Him at Midnight," Etc.
1. We have heard our Lord, the Heavenly Master, and most faithful Counsellor exhorting us, who at once exhorteth us to ask, and giveth when we ask. We have heard Him in the Gospel exhorting us to ask instantly, and to knock even after the likeness of intrusive importunity. For He has set before us, for the sake of example, "If any of you had a friend, and were to ask of him at night for three loaves, [3340] when a friend out of his way had come to him, and he had nothing to set before him; and he …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 6 "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: And thy Father, which seeth in …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

A Greater than Solomon
The second thought that comes to one's mind is this: notice the self-consciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows who He is, and what He is, and He is not lowly in spirit because He is ignorant of His own greatness. He was meek and lowly in heart--"Servus servorum," as the Latins were wont to call Him, "Servant of servants," but all the while He knew that He was Rex regum, or King of kings. He takes a towel and He washes His disciples' feet; but all the while He knows that He is their Master …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881

The Ministration of the Spirit and Prayer
"If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"--LUKE xi. 13. Christ had just said (v. 9), "Ask, and it shall be given": God's giving is inseparably connected with our asking. He applies this especially to the Holy Spirit. As surely as a father on earth gives bread to his child, so God gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. The whole ministration of the Spirit is ruled by the one great law: …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Because of his Importunity
"I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will arise and give him as many as he needeth."--LUKE xi. 8. "And He spake a parable unto them, to the end, they ought always to pray and not to faint.... Hear what the unrighteous judge saith. And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry to Him day and night, and He is long-suffering with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."--LUKE xviii. 1-8. Our Lord Jesus …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

A Model of Intercession
"And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and shall say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine is come unto me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: I cannot rise and give thee? I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet, because of his importunity, he will arise and give him as many as he needeth."--LUKE xi. 5-8. …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

It Shall not be Forgiven.
And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.--LUKE xi. 18. Whatever belonging to the region of thought and feeling is uttered in words, is of necessity uttered imperfectly. For thought and feeling are infinite, and human speech, although far-reaching in scope, and marvellous in delicacy, can embody them after all but approximately and suggestively. Spirit and Truth are like the Lady …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Magnificence of Prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "A royal priesthood."--1 Pet. ii. 9. "I am an apostle," said Paul, "I magnify mine office." And we also have an office. Our office is not the apostolic office, but Paul would be the first to say to us that our office is quite as magnificent as ever his office was. Let us, then, magnify our office. Let us magnify its magnificent opportunities; its momentous duties; and its incalculable and everlasting rewards. For our office is the "royal priesthood." And we …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

The Geometry of Prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity."--Is. lvii. 15. I HAVE had no little difficulty in finding a fit text, and a fit title, for my present discourse. The subject of my present discourse has been running in my mind, and has been occupying and exercising my heart, for many years; or all my life indeed. And even yet, I feel quite unable to put the truth that is in my mind at all properly before you. My subject this morning is what I may call, in one …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

The Heart of Man and the Heart of God
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us."--Ps. lxii. 8. EVER since the days of St. Augustine, it has been a proverb that God has made the heart of man for Himself, and that the heart of man finds no true rest till it finds its rest in God. But long before the days of St. Augustine, the Psalmist had said the same thing in the text. The heart of man, the Psalmist had said, is such that it can pour itself out …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Jacob-Wrestling
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Jacob called the name of the place Peniel."--Gen. xxxii. 30. ALL the time that Jacob was in Padan-aram we search in vain for prayer, for praise. or for piety of any kind in Jacob's life. We read of his marriage, and of his great prosperity, till the land could no longer hold him. But that is all. It is not said in so many words indeed that Jacob absolutely denied and forsook the God of his fathers: it is not said that he worshipped idols in Padan-aram: that …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Moses --Making Haste
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "And Moses made haste . . ."--Ex. xxxiv. 8. THIS passage is by far the greatest passage in the whole of the Old Testament. This passage is the parent passage, so to speak, of all the greatest passages of the Old Testament. This passage now open before us, the text and the context, taken together, should never be printed but in letters of gold a finger deep. There is no other passage to be set beside this passage till we come to the opening passages of the New …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Elijah --Passionate in Prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Elias . . . prayed in his prayer."--Jas. v. 17 (Marg.). ELIJAH towers up like a mountain above all the other prophets. There is a solitary grandeur about Elijah that is all his own. There is an unearthliness and a mysteriousness about Elijah that is all his own. There is a volcanic suddenness--a volcanic violence indeed--about almost all Elijah's movements, and about almost all Elijah's appearances. "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Job --Groping
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Oh that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat."--Job xxiii. 3. THE Book of Job is a most marvellous composition. Who composed it, when it was composed, or where--nobody knows. Dante has told us that the composition of the Divine Comedy had made him lean for many a year. And the author of the Book of Job must have been Dante's fellow both in labour and in sorrow and in sin, and in all else that always goes to the conception, and the …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

One of Paul's Thanksgivings
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Giving thanks unto the Father . . ."--Col. i. 12, 13. THANKSGIVING is a species of prayer. Thanksgiving is one species of prayer out of many. Prayer, in its whole extent and compass, is a comprehensive and compendious name for all kinds of approach and all kinds of address to God, and for all kinds and all degrees of communion with God. Request, petition, supplication; acknowledgment and thanksgiving; meditation and contemplation; as, also, all our acts and …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Prayer to the Most High
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "They return, but not to the Most High."--Hos. vii. 16. THE Most High. The High and Lofty One, That inhabiteth eternity, whose Name is Holy. The King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the Only Wise God. The Blessed and Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords: Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto: Whom no man hath seen, nor can see. Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty: just and true are Thy …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

The Costliness of Prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart."--Jer. xxix. 13. IN his fine book on Benefits, Seneca says that nothing is so costly to us as that is which we purchase by prayer. When we come on that hard-to-be-understood saying of his for the first time, we set it down as another of the well-known paradoxes of the Stoics. For He who is far more to us than all the Stoics taken together has said to us on the subject of prayer,--"Ask, …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

Reverence in Prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person? saith the Lord of Hosts."--Mal. i. 8. IF we were summoned to dine, or to any other audience, with our sovereign, with what fear and trembling should we prepare ourselves for the ordeal! Our fear at the prospect before us would take away all our pride, and all our pleasure, in the great honour that had come to us. And how careful we should be to prepare ourselves, in every possible …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

The Pleading Note in Prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Let us plead together."--Isa.xliii. 26. WE all know quite well what it is to "plead together." We all plead with one another every day. We all understand the exclamation of the patriarch Job quite well--"O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour." We have a special order of men among ourselves who do nothing else but plead with the judge for their neighbours. We call those men by the New Testament name of advocates: and …
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

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