Thy right hand offend.
I. Rather than anything, though ever so dear and precious to thee, should hinder thee in thy Christian progress, or prove a means of snaring thy soul and body, absolutely and totally forego it.
1. Whatsoever opposes God in the heart, or keeps Him out of it, must be abhored and east out;
2. All sin and temptation must be resisted, and the outward act of any sin must be avoided.
3. For some temptations are against my retirement, against my prayers, against my possession and enjoyment of Christ, against peace in life, comfort in death, against time, eternity, and all my hopes. (Thomas Adam.)
Strange conduct of a Land-Crab
One of the most useful pioneer evangelists of the Samoan mission was Teava, who, after many years of active services returned to Rarotonga. Though very feeble and bent with age, his place in the sanctuary was never vacant; and he was ever ready with a word of exhortation. On one occasion he said, “I have been meditating this morning upon our Lord’s words: ‘If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and east it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.’ When I laboured at Tutuila I often felt rebuked by the strange conduct of a large species of land-crab, called there the ‘ mali’o,’ here the ‘tupa.’ It bores deep into the soil, the holes sometimes extending a considerable distance. At night this crab loves to make its way to the sea, for the purpose of laving itself in the salt water and drinking it. Now it sometimes happens that, when hurrying through the tall grass and fern, some of its legs become defiled by contact with filth. So great is the vexation of this crab at its mishap, that it delays its march to the sea in order to wrench off the offending legs! One may sometimes meet a mutilated individual hobbling along without two or three of its legs-a self-inflicted punishment! In some rare instances it has been known to wrench off all its eight legs to escape defilement. It is then content to drag itself over the ground with considerable difficulty by means of its nippers, until it reaches its hole, where it hides until the legs partially develop themselves again, though not of their original length and beauty.” “Were we,” added Teava, “as willing to part with our favourite sins as this ‘ mali’o’ crab is with its defiled limbs, there would be little doubt of our reaching heaven! This is what our Lord means by our cutting off our right hand, and casting it from us.”
How may beloved lusts be discovered and mortified?-
I. Explication.
1. That we ourselves must engage in the mortifying of our lusts. It is not enough to cry to God, and be idle.
2. That we must be willing in this as in other duties.
3. It is not said, “If thine eye offend thee, observe it more than ordinarily,” but “pluck it out.”
4. It must be renounced for ever-“cast it from thee.”
II. Observations.
1. That the eye and hand are useful parts of the body of man.
2. That offences are from ourselves.
3. That sin is to all intents and purposes our own.
I. Why sin is expressed in scripture by pants and members of our body.
1. The whole mass of corruption in Scripture is called “the old man,” and “the body of sin” (Romans 6:6).
2. As the natural body makes use of its several parts in work, so corruption makes use of several lusts.
3. Sin is, according to some, conveyed into the soul by means of the body.
4. Corruption shews itself by the sinful actions of the body, and therefore may have its denomination by the parts of it.
II. That every man hath his particular iniquity.
III. How it comes to pass that particular persons have their particular sins.
1. Men have particular temperaments, and therefore sins suitable to their constitutions.
2. There are distinct and peculiar periods of times and ages that incline to peculiar sins.
3. Men have distinct and particular callings that incline to particular sins.
4. Men have distinct and particular ways of breeding and education, and upon that account have particular sins.
IV. The use and application.
1. Examination: how this sin may be discovered-
(1) By the love the sinner bears it;
(2) The sin which distracts us in holy worship is our beloved sin;
(3) It may be known by its commanding power over other sins;
(4) The sin that conscience doth most chide for;
(5) It may be known by being impatient of reproof;
(6) It makes a man notoriously partial in his own case;
(7) it may be known by the fair pretences that the sinner hath for it;
(8) The sin which a man wishes were no sin;
(9) The sin we think of first in the morning and latest at evening;
(10) The sin which most infests us in our solitudes;
(11) The sin we are willing to endure greatest hardship for.
2. Press upon you the mortification of your beloved sin;
(1) Seek holy courage and resolution against it;
(2) Let your repentance be against it;
(3) Beware of those things that occasion it;
(4) Pray to God that thou mayest not fall into that condition favourable to it;
(5) Learn to suspect things that are delightful;
(6) Labour to act that grace that is contrary to thy beloved sin;
(7) Keep watch over thy heart;
(8) Get respect to all God’s laws;
(9) Lay hold on God’s strength.
V. Motives.
1. Bight-eye sins are the greatest hindrances to the soul’s closing with Christ.
2. They are a great trouble to the soul afterwards.
3. It is a choice evidence of regeneration. (B. Needler, B. C. L.)