Mark 9:43 to End. Christ Warns His Disciples Against the Unquenchable Fire, and Never-Dying Worm.

The Lord ended his private conversation with his own disciples in this dreadful manner. He knew that ambition was not cast out of their hearts. It was ambition that led them to dispute who should be the greatest, and that caused them to forbid the man who followed them not. They were full of self-importance, and of worldly desires. Though they did possess some living faith and some sincere love; yet how weak was that faith, how cold was that love!

Their Master knew that if they continued to cherish a worldly and proud spirit, they could not obtain a place in his kingdom; therefore he earnestly warned them to mortify the sinful desires of their hearts. He compared those desires to hands, feet, and eyes; because it is as painful for a person to mortify a darling passion of the heart, as to cut off a precious limb from the body.

Are there any desires in our hearts that must be subdued in order that we may escape eternal fire? Though we may have tasted of God's grace, yet we may need these warnings. Do we desire to be much praised, and highly thought of? Do we desire to rise to a higher station than that we now fill? Do we impatiently desire to possess some earthly good which God has seen fit to withhold? Are our affections engrossed by some creature, so that we are more anxious to please that creature than to please God? Let us carefully examine our own hearts, and then implore God to give us strength to strive against these earthly passions. We need not (as Papists often do) reject the gifts of God, because we are prone to abuse them. We need not dress in sackcloth, live upon the coarsest fare, or withdraw from human society, in order to become humble. The evil lies not in the objects that surround us, but in our own hearts. The struggle against sin will be severe and painful, but the danger is so terrific that every effort should be made. An unquenchable fire, an undying worm, must be the eternal portion of those who continue wilfully to harbor sinful passions in their hearts. Had the disciples persisted in their sins, they would have perished. One of them did persist in sin; he still indulged in the love of money, and he perished. He was the son of perdition.

Our Savior, in concluding his admonition, uttered these remarkable words--"Everyone shall be salted with salt." What did these words mean? The sacrifices, offered in the temple, were salted with salt. (Lev. 2:13.) Thus the condemned in hell will be kept from being consumed, even as things are preserved from corruption by salt. God's wrath will be as salt, to render them capable of enduring eternal sufferings. But God's grace is also like salt--it preserves the soul; therefore Jesus said, "Have salt in yourselves." It was grace the apostles needed to keep them from destruction.

Then our Savior concluded with these words--"Have peace one with another." No longer dispute which shall be the greatest, but love and serve each other. If we have the salt of grace in our hearts, we shall have the fruit of peace in our lives. "Only by pride comes contention." (Prov. 13:10.) Let us crucify at the cross of our dying Lord all those evil passions that disturb our peace now, and which would, if cherished, destroy our souls.