Ryle on Mark 1:35-39

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 1:35-39.

Source Text

35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out find departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let ua go into the next towns, that I may F reach there also : for therefore came forth. 39 And he preached in their bj na- gogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. Every fact in our Lord's life on earth, and every word which fell from His lips, ought to be deeply interesting 17 to a true Christian.

We see a fact and a saying in the passage we have just read, which deserve close atten- tion.

We see, for one thing, an example of our Lord Jesus Christ 8 habits about private prayer. We are told, that " in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.' We shall find the same thing often recorded of our Lord in the Gospel history. When He was baptized, we are told that He was " praying/ (Luke iii. 21.) When He was transfigured, Ave are told, that "as He prayed, the fashion of His face was altered/' (Luke ix. 29) Before He chose the twelve apostles, we are told that " He continued all night in prayer to God." (Luke vi. 12.) When all men spoke well of Him, and would fain have made Him a King, we are told that " He went up into a mountain apart to pray." (Mark xiv. 23.) When tempted in the garden of Gethsemane, He said, " Sit ye here, while I shall pray." (Mark xiv. 34.) In short, our Lord prayed always, and did not faint. Sinless as He was, He set us an example of diligent communion with His Father. His Godhead did not render Him independent of the use of all means as a man. His very perfection was a perfection kept up through the exercise of prayer.

We ought to see in all this the immense importance of private devotion. If He who was "holy, harmless, undcfilod, and separate from sinners," thus prayed con- tinually, how much more ought we who are compassed with infirmity ? If He found it needful to offer up suppli- cations with strong crying and tears, how much more needful is it for us, who in many things offend daily ? What shall we say to those who never pray at all, in the face of such a passage as this ? There are many such, it may be feared, in the list of baptized people - many who rise up in the morning without prayer, and without prayer lie down at night - many who never speak one word to God. Are they Christians ? It is impossible to say so. A praying Master, like Jesus, can have no prayer- less servants. The Spirit of adoption will always make a man call upon God. To be prayerless is to be Christ- less, Godless, and in the high road to destruction. What shall we say to those who pray, yet give but little time to their prayers ? We are obliged to say that they show at present very little of the mind of Christ. Asking little, they must expect to have little. Seeking little, they cannot be surprised if they possess little. It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.0 We shall do well to watch our habits of prayer with a holy watchfulness. Here is the pulse of our Christianity. Here is the true test of our state before God. Here true religion begins in the soul, when it does begin. Here it * " Ministers must pray much, if they would be successful. The apostles spent then' time this way (Acts vi. 3). Yea, our Lord Jesus preached all day, and continued all night alone in prayer to G-od. Min- isters should be much in prayer. They use to reckon how many hours they spend in reading and study. It were far better both for ourselves and the Church of God, if more time was spent in prayer. Luther's spending three hours daily in secret prayer, and Bradford's studying on his knees, and other instances of men in our time, are talked of rather than imitated." - Traill. 1696. 19 decays and goes backward, when a man backslides from God. Let us walk in the steps of our blessed Master in this respect as well as in every other. Like Him, let us be diligent in our private devotion. Let us know what it is to " depart into solitary places and pray."

We see, for another thing, in this passage, a remark- able saying of our Lord as to the purpose for which He came into the world. We find Him saying, " let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also : for there- fore came I forth." The meaning of these words is plain and unmistakeable. Our Lord declares that He came on earth to be a preacher and a teacher. He came to fulfil the prophetical office, to be the " prophet greater than Moses," who had been so long foretold. (Deut. xviii. 15.) He left the glory which He had from all eternity with the Father, to do the work of an evangelist. He came down to earth to show to man the way of peace, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind. One principal part of His work on earth, was to go up and down and publish glad tidings, to offer healing to the broken-hearted, light to them that sat in darkness, and pardon to the chief of sinners. " Therefore," He says, " came I forth."

We ought to observe here, what infinite honor the Lord Jesus puts on the office of the preacher. It is an ollice which the eternal Son of G-od Himself undertook. He might have spent his earthly ministry in instituting and keeping up ceremonies, like Aaron. He might have ruled and reigned as a king, like David. But He chose a different calling. Until the time when He died as a sacrifice for our sins, His daily, and almost hourly work was to preach. " Therefore," He says, "came I forth." Let us never be moved by tbose who cry down the preacher's office, and tell us that sacraments and other ordinances are of more importance than sermons. Let us give to every part of God's public worship its proper place and honor, but let us beware of placing any part of it above preaching. By preaching, the Church of Christ was first gathered together and founded, and by preaching, it has ever been maintained in health and prosperity. By preaching, sinners are awakened. By preaching, inquir- ers are led on. By preaching, saints are built up. By preaching, Christianity is being carried to the heathen world. - There are many, now who sneer at missionaries, and mock at those who go out into the high-ways of our own land, to preach to crowds in the open air. But such persons would do well to pause, and consider calmly what they are doing. The very work which they ridi- cule is the work which turned the world upside down, and cast heathenism to the ground. Above all, it is the very work which Christ Himself undertook. The King of kings and Lord of lords Himself was once a preacher. For three long years He went to and fro proclaiming the Gospel. Sometimes we see Him in a house, sometimes on the mountain side, sometimes in a Jewish synagogue, sometimes in a boat on the sea. But the great work He took up was always one and the same. He came always preaching and teaching. " Therefore," He says, " came I forth."

Let us leave the passage with a solemn resolution never to " despise prophesying." (1 Thess. v. 20.) The minister we hear may not be highly gifted. The sermons that we listen to mav be weak and poor. But after all, preaching is God's grand ordinance for converting and saving souls. The faithful preacher of the Gospel is handling the very weapon which the Son of God was not ashamed to employ. This is the work of which. Christ has said, " Therefore came I forth."