Ryle on Mark 6:7-13

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 6:7-13.

Source Text

11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodon and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. 12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent. 13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. 7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two ; and gave them power over unclean spirits ; 8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only ; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse : 9 But be shod with sandals ; and not put on two coats. 10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. These verses describe the first sending forth of the apostles to preach. The great Head of the church made proof of His ministers, before He left them alone in the world. He taught them to try their own powers of teach- ing, and to find out their own weaknesses, while He was

* There is a peculiar expression in this passage, which deserves notice. I refer to the words which say, that our Lord " could do no mighty work there, because of their unbelief." This expression of course cannot mean, that it was " impossible" for our Lord to do a mighty work there, and that although He had the will to do mighty works, He was stopped and prevented by a power greater than His own. Such a view would be dishonoring to our Lord, and in fact would be a practical denial of His divinity. With Jesus nothing is impossible. If He had willed to do works, He had the power. The meaning evidently must be, that our Lord " would" not do any mighty work there, because of the unbelief that He saw. He was prevented by what He perceived was the state of the people's hearts. He would not waste signs and wonders on an unbelieving and hard- ened generation. He " could not" do a mighty work, without de- parting from His rule, " according to your faith be it unto you." He had the power in His hands, but He did not will to use it. The distinction I have attempted to draw is doubly useful, because yet with them. Thus, on the one hand, He was enabled to correct their mistakes. Thus, on the other, they were trained for the work they were one day to do, and were not novices, when finally left to themselves. Well would it be for the church, if all ministers of the Gospel were prepared for their duty in like manner, and did not so often take up their office untried, unproved, and inexperienced.

Let us observe, in these verses, how our Lord Jesus of the light it throws on another scriptural expression, which is often grievously misunderstood. I refer to the expression, " no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." (John vi. 4.4.) The words, " no man can come," are often much misapprehended. The text is a plain declaration of man's natural corruption and help- less impotence. Man is dead in sin. He cannot come to Christ, ex- cept the Father draws him. In a word, he is unable to come. But what is the precise nature of his inability ? This is the very point on which misapprehension exists. Once for all, let us clearly understand that man's inability to come to Christ is not physical. It is utterly untrue to say that a man can have a strong decided will to come to Christ, and yet be stopped by some mysterious physical obstacle - that he can really and honestly have a will to come, and yet have no power. Such a doctrine entirely overthrows man's responsibility, and leads, in many cases, to wicked continuance in sin. Thousands of ignorant people will tell you that " they wish to believe, and wish to come to Christ, and wish to be saved" - and yet say that " though they have the will, they have not the power." It is a fatal delusion, and ruinous to many souls. The truth is, that man's inability to come to Christ, and impotence to that which is good, is moral, and not physical. It is not true that he has the will to come to Christ, but is unable. He is unable, doubt- less, and has no power ; but it is simply because he has no will. His will is the principal cause of his unconverted state, and until his will is changed by the Holy Ghost, he will never alter. He may not like this. But it.is true. The fault of his condition is his own will. Say what he pleases, the blame lies there. He may pretend to have many good wishes, but in reality he has no honest, sincere will to be bet- ter. He " will not come to Christ that he may have life." 113 Christ sent forth His apostles u two and two" St. Mark is the only evangelist who mentions this fact. It is one that deserves especial notice. There can be no doubt that this fact is meant to teach us the advantages of Christian company to all who work for Christ. The wise man had good reason for saying, " Two are better than one." (Eccles. iv. 9.) Two men together will do more work than two men singly. They will help one another in judgment, and commit fewer mistakes. They will aid one another in difficulties, and less often fail of success. They will stir one another up when tempted to idleness, and less often relapse into in- dolence and indifference. They will comfort one another in times of trial, and be less often cast down. " Woe to him that is alone when he falleth ; for he hath not an- other to help him up." (Eccles. iv. 11.) It is probable that this principle is not sufficiently remembered in the church of Christ in these latter days. The harvest is undoubtedly great all over the world, both at home and abroad. The laborers are unquestionably few, and the supply of faithful men far less than the demand. The arguments for sending out men " one by one," under existing circumstances, are undeniably strong and weighty. But still the conduct of our Lord in this place is a striking fact. The fact that there is hardly a single case in the Acts, where we find Paul or any other apostle working entirely alone, is another remarkable cir- cumstance. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion, that if the rule of going forth " two and two" had been more strictly observed, the missionary field would have yielded larger results than it has. One thing at all events is clear, and that is the duty of all workers for Christ to work together and help one another whenever they can. il As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the countenance of a man his friend." Ministers and missionaries, and district visitors, and Sunday school teachers, should take opportunities for meeting, and taking sweet counsel together. The words of St. Paul contain a truth which is too much forgotten : " Consider one another to provoke unto love and good works ; not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together." (Heb. x. 24, 25.)

Let us observe, in the second place, what solemn words our Lord uses about those who will not receive nor hear His ministers. He says, " it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that city." This is a truth which we find very frequently laid down in the Gosj)els. It is painful to think how entirely it is overlooked by many. Thousands appear to sup- pose, that so long as they go to church, and do not murder, or steal, or cheat, or openly break any of God's commandments, they are in no great danger. They forget that it needs something more than mere absti- nence from outward irregularities to save a man's soul. They do not see that one of the greatest sins a man can commit in the sight of God, is to hear the Gospel of Christ and not belive it - to be invited to repent and believe, and yet to remain careless and unbelieving. In short to reject the Gospel will sink a man to the lowest place in hell. Let us never turn away from a passage like this without 115 asking ourselves. What are we doing with the Gospel ? We live in a Christian land. We have the Bible in our houses. We hear of the salvation of the Gospel fre- quently every year. But have we received it into our hearts ? Have we really obeyed it in our lives ? Have we, in short, laid hold on the hope set before us, taken up the cross, and followed Christ ? - If not, we are far worse than the heathen, who bow down to stocks and stones. We are far more guilty than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They never heard the Gospel, and therefore never rejected it. But as for us, we hear the Gospel, and yet will not believe. May we search our own hearts, and take heed that we do not ruin our own souls !

Let us observe, in the last place, what was the doctrine which our Lord's apostles preached.

We read that " they went out and preached that men should repent." The necessity of repentance may seem at first sight a very simple and elementary truth. And yet volumes might be written to show the fulness of the doctrine, and the suitableness of it to every age and time, and to every rank and class of mankind. It is inseparably connected with right views of God, of human nature, of sin, of Christ, of holiness, and of heaven. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All need to be brought to a sense of their sins - to a sorrow for them - to a wil- lingness to give them up- and to a hunger, and thirst after pardon. All, in a word, need to be born again and to flee to Christ. This is repentance unto life. Nothing less than this is required for the salvation of any man. Nothing less than this ought to be pressed on men, by every one who professes to teach Bible religion.

We must bid men repent, if we would walk in the steps of the apostles, and when they have repented, we must bid them repent more and more to their last day. Have we ourselves repented ? This, after all, is the question that concerns us most. It is well to know what the apostles taught. It is well to be familiar with the whole system of Christian doctrine. But it is far better to know repentance by experience and to feel it inwardly in our own hearts. May we never rest till we know and feel that we have repented ! There are no impenitent people in the kingdom of heaven. All who enter in there have felt, mourned over, forsaken, and sought pardon for sin. This must be our experience, if we hope to be saved.*