The Nonsuch Professor

Originally Published in the 1660s


In a mountain the law was propounded to Moses, in a mountain the law was expounded by Jesus; the former to a man of God, the latter by the Son of God: the one to a prophet of the Lord, the other by the Lord of the prophets.
As the works of Christ were miraculous, so the words of Christ were mysterious; they were such a depth which none could sound but those whom God had furnished with the plummet of an enlightened understanding. Before any one can peruse the Scriptures to profit, the Lamb of God must open the seven seals.
In this chapter, the soul-justifying Saviour condemns the self-justifying Scribes and Pharisees. Never did men make more boast in the law, but never had men less cause. They knew but little as to the letter, but less of its spirit. They were better acquainted with the customs of nature, than the canons of Scripture. Alas! how shall the blind see when the seers are blind! They who should have put the eyes of others in, had put their own out.
The righteous laws of God cannot connive at the unrighteous lives of men, they not only require truth without, but within also. The rays of this sun enter the most secret chambers of the heart, therefore he that lusteth after, and he that lieth with a woman are both adulterers. He is a murderer whose heart is full of hatred, though his hands be free from violence. Thus the lusts of men may be predominant, when the lives of men are not inordinate; as guests may be in the house, when they look not out of the windows. He who begins religion where it should end, will end religion where it should be begun.