How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
Ver. 44. Which receive honour one of another] Faith empties a man of himself, purgeth upon ambition, and is an act of the will; else the seeking of praise with men could be no impediment to the act of believing. Surely, as Pharaoh said of the Israelites, "they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in;" so may we say of many, they are entangled in the creature, the world hath shut them in, they cannot come to Christ. They are shut up in the cave of the world, as those five kings in a cave,Joshua 10:18; have hardness of heart, as a great stone rolled to the mouth, and honours, riches, and pleasures, are so many keepers, &c.