Mark 9:50

PURITY AND PEACE

‘Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.’

Mark 9:50

I. Let us make sure that we have in our hearts the saving grace of the Holy Ghost, sanctifying, purifying, preserving from corruption, our whole inward man.

II. Let us watch the grace given to us with daily watchfulness, and pray to be kept from carelessness and sin, lest we be overtaken in faults, bring misery on our consciences, and discredit on our profession.

III. Let us live in peace one with another,—not seeking great things, or striving for the pre-eminence, but clothed with humility, and loving all who love Christ in sincerity. These seem simple things. But in attending to them is great reward.

Illustration

‘The preceding verse appears to baffle all the commentators. I allude, of course, to the words, “Every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” The true meaning of these words and their connection with the context, are problems which seem not yet solved. At all events, not one of the many interpretations which have been hitherto proposed is entirely satisfactory. We must confess that it is one of those knots which are yet untied in the exposition of Scripture.’