Matthew 23:37-39 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent to you… Of all the refusals of God's grace, the real secret is the same. They may cover themselves with various pretexts — just as persons, having made up their mind to decline an invitation, begin to look out for some convenient excuse — but the cause is one. It is not in any outward circumstances; it is not in any particular temperament; it is not in the want of power; it is not in the straitenings of Divine grace: but the Saviour points to it at once with His omniscient mind — "ye would not." It is the absence of the will; it is the want of that setting of the mind to God's mind; that conformity of the affections to God's promises; that appreciation of unseen things; that spiritual sense, which is the essence and the beginning of a new life. Therefore they cannot come. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! |
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