J. C. Ryle's Devotional Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke, section 59, Samaritan Opposition, Luke 9, verses 51-56. And it came to pass, when the time was come, that he should be received up. He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face. And they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. Let us notice in these verses the steady determination with which our Lord Jesus Christ regarded his own crucifixion and death. We read that when the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He knew full well what was before him. The betrayal, the unjust trial, the mockery, the scourging, the crown of thorns, the spitting, the nails, the spear, the agony on the cross, all, all were doubtless spread before his mind's eye like a picture. But he never flinched for a moment from the work that he had undertaken. His heart was set on paying the price for our redemption and going even to the prison of the grave as our surety. He was full of tender love towards sinners. It was the desire of his whole soul to procure salvation for them. And so, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. Hebrews chapter 12, verse two. Forever, let us bless God that we have such a ready and willing Savior. Forever, let us remember that as He was ready to suffer, so He is always ready to save. The man who comes to Christ by faith should never doubt Christ's willingness to receive Him. The mere fact that the Son of God willingly came into the world to die and willingly suffered should silence such doubts entirely. All the unwillingness is on the part of man, not of Christ. It consists in the ignorance and pride and unbelief and half-heartedness of the sinner himself. But there is nothing lacking in Christ. Let us strive and pray that the same mind may be in us which was in our blessed master. Like him, let us be willing to go anywhere, do anything, suffer anything when the path of duty is clear and the voice of God calls. Let us set our faces resolutely to our work when our work is plainly marked out and drink our bitter cups patiently. when they come from a father's hand. Let us notice, secondly in these verses, the unusual conduct of two of the apostles, James and John. We're told that a certain Samaritan village refused to show hospitality to our Lord. The people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem. And then we read of a strange proposal which James and John made. They said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? Here was zeal indeed, and zeal of a most plausible kind, zeal for the honor of Christ. Here was zeal justified and supported by a scriptural example, and that example of no less a prophet than Elijah. But it was not a zeal according to knowledge. The two disciples, in their anger, forgot that circumstances alter cases, and that the same action, which may be right and justifiable at one time, may be wrong and unjustifiable at another. They forgot that punishments should always be proportioned to offences, and that to destroy a whole village of ignorant people for a single act of discourtesy would have been both unjust and cruel. In short, the proposal of James and John was a wrong and rash one. They meant well, but they greatly erred. Facts like these in the Gospels are carefully recorded for our learning. Let us see to it that we mark them well and treasure them up in our minds. It is possible to have much zeal for Christ and yet to exhibit it in most unholy and unchristian ways. It is possible to mean well and have good intentions and yet to make most grievous mistakes in our actions. It is possible to imagine that we have scripture on our side and to support our conduct by scriptural quotations and yet to commit serious errors. It is as clear as daylight from this and other cases related in the Bible that it is not enough to be zealous and well-meaning. Very grave faults are frequently committed with good intentions. From no quarter, perhaps, has the church received so much injury as from ignorant but well-meaning men. We must seek to have knowledge as well as zeal. Zeal without knowledge is an army without a general, and a ship without a rudder. We must pray that we may understand how to make a right application of Scripture. The Word is no doubt a light to our feet and a lamp to our path, but it must be the Word rightly handled and properly applied. Let us notice lastly in these verses what a solemn rebuke our Lord gives to persecution carried on under guise of religion. We're told that when James and John made the strange proposal on which we've just been dwelling, he turned and rebuked them and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Uncourteous as the Samaritan villagers had been, their conduct was not to be repaid by violence. The mission of the Son of Man was to do good, when men would receive him, but never do harm. His kingdom was to be extended by patient continuance in well-doing, and by meekness and gentleness in suffering, but never by violence and severity. No saying of our Lords, perhaps, has been so totally overlooked by the Church of Christ as that which is now before us. Nothing can be imagined more contrary to the will of Christ than the religious wars and persecutions which disgrace the annals of Church history. Thousands and tens of thousands have been put to death for their religion's sake all over the world. Thousands have been burned or shot or hanged or drowned or beheaded in the name of the gospel. And those who have slain them have actually believed that they were doing God service. Unhappily, they've only shown their own ignorance of the spirit of the gospel and the mind of Christ. Let it be a settled principle in our minds that whatever men's errors may be in religion, we must never harm or persecute them. Let us, if needful, argue with them, reason with them, and try to show them a more excellent way. But let us never take up worldly weapons to promote the spread of truth. Let us never be tempted, directly or indirectly, to persecute any man under pretense of the glory of Christ and the good of the Church. Let us rather remember that the religion which men profess, from fear of death or dread of penalties, is worth nothing at all, and that if we swell our ranks by fear and threatening, in reality we gain nothing. The weapons of our warfare, says Paul, are not carnal. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 4. The appeals that we make must be to men's consciences and wills. The arguments that we use must not be sword or fire or prison, but doctrines and precepts and texts. It is a quaint and homely saying, but as true in the church as it is in the army, that one volunteer is worth ten men who have been pressed into service. you