"They weave the spider's web."
Isaiah 59:5
See the spider's web, and behold in it a most suggestive picture of the
hypocrite's religion. It is meant to catch his prey: the spider fattens
himself on flies, and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish persons are easily
entrapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and even the more judicious
cannot always escape. Philip baptized Simon Magus, whose guileful declaration of
faith was so soon exploded by the stern rebuke of Peter. Custom, reputation,
praise, advancement, and other flies, are the small game which hypocrites take
in their nets. A spider's web is a marvel of skill: look at it and
admire the cunning hunter's wiles. Is not a deceiver's religion equally
wonderful? How does he make so barefaced a lie appear to be a truth? How can he
make his tinsel answer so well the purpose of gold? A spider's web comes all
from the creature's own bowels. The bee gathers her wax from flowers, the
spider sucks no flowers, and yet she spins out her material to any length. Even
so hypocrites find their trust and hope within themselves; their anchor was
forged on their own anvil, and their cable twisted by their own hands. They lay
their own foundation, and hew out the pillars of their own house, disdaining to
be debtors to the sovereign grace of God. But a spider's web is very
frail. It is curiously wrought, but not enduringly manufactured. It is no
match for the servant's broom, or the traveller's staff. The hypocrite needs no
battery of Armstrongs to blow his hope to pieces, a mere puff of wind will do
it. Hypocritical cobwebs will soon come down when the besom of destruction
begins its purifying work. Which reminds us of one more thought, viz., that such
cobwebs are not to be endured in the Lord's house: He will see to it
that they and those who spin them shall be destroyed for ever. O my soul, be
thou resting on something better than a spider's web. Be the Lord Jesus thine
eternal hiding-place. Isaiah 59:5
No comments:
Post a Comment