Matthew 5:1 I. The Beatitudes open that discourse which, whatever may be the difficulties of particular parts of it, has always been recognized as the most important part of the New Testament. It is, as it has been well called, the _magna charta_of Christianity. II. The Beatitudes put before us wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:1 General Outline of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount consists I. Of an introduction, beginning at Matthew 5:3 and ending with Matthew 5:16 of Matthew 5 The peculiar characteristic of these opening sentences is, the kind of man whom Christ pronounces happy. The Beatitude... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:3 I. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." This, like so many of our Saviour's words, is, as it were, a little parable in itself. As the poor man is with regard to the substance of this world, so is the poor man in spirit with regard to the various attractions of the soul and spirit. It is, as... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:3 Introductory Beatitudes. I. The first Beatitude pronounces a blessing on those who are Poor in Spirit. Let the limitation, the "in spirit," be carefully borne in mind. Poverty itself is not a blessing, nor does it always inherit a blessing. II. The Lord blesses those that Mourn. Again... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:4 _(with Luke 6:21)_ I. In all mourning, be it for the dead or for the living, or for what worldly loss or calamity it may, there is hid, as it were, a beginning and seed of blessedness. If instead of putting it from us as an unwelcome visitor, we will meekly sit at its feet to hear its... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:4 The Ladder of Perfection. Though there is, and evidently there is meant to be, a progression, an ascent upwards, both in the characters that are blessed and in the blessings that are given, yet it is not meant that we are to be perfect in the lower character before we proceed to the hig... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:5 The first three Beatitudes form the trilogy of Gospel humiliation, the descending steps low, lower, lowest by which the soul is converted, becomes as a little child. I. In our endeavours to understand more exactly the quality of meekness, it will be suitable to start from the two Beatit... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:5 I. "Blessed are the meek." The word "meek" hardly expresses the quality which is meant in the original. It is too passive a word; it does not sufficiently represent the actual character which is intended. In the French translation it is, _"Bienheureux sont les debonnaires;"_that is, "Ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful." This does not mean the soft and easy natures which confound the distinctions of right and wrong. Nor does it mean that mere humanity and kindliness which are native to some spirits, and which find a pleasure in seeing all around them happy. But the mercifulne... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:7 I. "Blessed are the merciful." The object of the Beatitudes is to bring out one particular quality, without commending the other qualities which may exist in the same character. We see many men of very imperfect morality, and yet in whom this quality of mercy is such that we feel that, i... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:8 To see God that has been the deep desire of living souls through all time. Men of earnest spirits have ever felt, instinctively, that the highest blessedness of life must consist in the vision of God not in a vision of His glory, revealed to the perishing eye of the body, but that spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:9 The Church as a Peacemaker. I. Christ the Peacemaker, Christ the Peacegiver, Christ who is to be yet the King of universal peace, is the Christ we worship and serve; and this threefold peace the peace that Christ has wrought for us in reconciling us to God, the peace that Christ works i... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:11 The words of the text contain a distinct and cogent motive for religious life and service. We are to be religious men and to do religious things "for Christ's sake." I. The urgency of such a motive involves a very distinct doctrine concerning Christ. It has important and suggestive bea... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:13 Influence of Christian Character. I. Christians such Christians as those to whom the Beatitudes of the previous verses belong are called to be, and will be, the "salt of the earth," and they are exhorted not to let "the salt" lose its savour. Two things seem to be involved in these wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:13 Consider: I. The high task of Christ's disciples as here set forth. "Ye are the salt of the earth." The metaphor wants very little explanation. It involves two things: a grave judgment as to the actual state of society, and a lofty claim as to what Christ's followers are able to do to... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:14 I. Contemplate the Christian man as light in himself. Notice some of the instances in Scripture in which light is spoken of in reference to the people of God. (1) The Psalmist says, "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Here light is viewed as somethi... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:14 I. "Ye are the light of the world." The words are, so to speak, a reflection of a higher and more perfect truth which was to be spoken hereafter by our Lord Himself. "I am," He said, "the Light of the world." There are two different words that in the New Testament are used for light. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:16 True religion a Manifestation. I. It is the design of God that His true servants should show the world around them what they are, and should not only possess faith, love, and the other fruits of the Spirit within their own hearts, but should manifest their religious character to the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:17 I. A fulfiller and a destroyer. Let us first clearly understand the difference. (1) Look at it in nature. What is the truly majestic power of the earth? Surely not destruction. There are such forces, but the thought about the world which made those forces seem the venerable and admirabl... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:19 I. There are two instincts implanted by God in the soul as seeds out of which our spiritual life is to grow; one of these is the instinct of duty, the other is the instinct of love. Throughout the New Testament we are taught that of these two the instinct of love is the greater. The in... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:20 It is of the greatest possible importance that we understand, as accurately as we can, what is the nature of that righteousness which God accepts from us. For heaven is only for the righteous; all the promises arc to the righteous; it is the righteous man's prayer that availeth much. O... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:21 The Law kept by Love. I. In dealing with this principle our Lord adduces certain examples by way of illustration, and asserts for Himself a high right and authority to declare to the people the very will of God in this matter. He reminds them of certain things which had been said by ... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:25 The literal and the figurative application of this precept are each of them so important that it would be difficult to assign to either a claim upon us more momentous than the other. The moral duty of an equitable adjustment with one who has anything against us, and the spiritual duty... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:29 This is one of the texts which the mass of mankind, if they would confess it, feel rather as a blow when they read it. They feel it as a text which it would be disagreeable to them to think much of. They feel disposed to pass it over with the general hope that they will never act contr... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:33 I. Our Lord does not here forbid a solemn oath, such as may be required, for example, in a court of justice. The law clearly allowed such an oath for confirmation. When the high priest adjured Jesus by the living God, Jesus found no fault with it. And therefore it seems to me the act,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:37 I. A very few examples will show us that, as in the case of submission to injury, so in that of abstinence from swearing, our Lord laid down a principle and not a positive precept, and had regard rather to a frame of mind than to definite actions. He Himself, when the high priest adjur... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:38 I. The principle of the Mosaic law and it is a principle of no little importance in its own place is that there should be as far as possible a just proportion between the offence and the punishment; that the penalty to be inflicted should neither be too light nor too severe, but that th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:43 I. Our Lord does not say here that all men are to be equally dear to us, or equally esteemed by us. He does not substitute a vague principle of universal philanthropy in the room of those special affections which arise either out of kindred or kindness; neither does He teach us to show... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 5:48 If we are to obey the injunction of the text it is necessary that we have faith in the fact. I. It is implied in our text, it is taught throughout the New Testament, and it is confirmed by experience, that there is nothing so morally helpful as faith in God. We shall not be surprised a... [ Continue Reading ]