Matthew 7:1 The law kept by sympathy. "Judge not, that ye be not judged." This word of Christ's implies I. That we are not to be eager to spy out our neighbour's faults, for that is not worthy, not Christian, not fulfilling the law of God. The more vigilant we are over him, the more careless we ar... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:2 The New Testament is full of a natural and necessary reciprocity between man and the things by which he is surrounded. Every gift has its return, every act has its consequence, every call has its answer in this great, live, alert world, where man stands central, and all things have thei... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:6 , MATTHEW 7:12 Consider: I. The reserve which will not give things holy to dogs. The dog was reckoned, with the swine, among the unclean animals. They were both of them types of the grossly sensual kind of sinners, given over to mere brute appetite, and insensible to any higher life. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:7 God is not only a great Giver, but He is sometimes a great Hider of His gifts. The subject to which the text applies pre-eminently, as the context shows, is the matter of the soul's welfare, and the things that accompany salvation. The promise is not, "Seek, health and ye shall find it.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:7 I. We have in these words, not a formal definition of prayer, but an incidental definition of prayer, and a most complete definition. We have it in the little word "ask." To pray to God is to ask of God. "Ask," said Christ; and the more simple and childlike the asking the better. II. W... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:7 I. Our Lord enjoins us here to pray; and He assures us that we shall not pray in vain. It does not indeed follow that God will grant any and every thing we may choose to ask; for there are some things which, without irreverence, we may truly say, it is impossible for Him to bestow. But... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:9 Sham Immortality. I. So much is there in the Christian doctrine of immortality that captivates the imagination and touches the heart, that the apostles of unbelief are constrained to find a substitute for it, and they preach an immortality in words which are anointed with the unction of... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:11 In our text Christ tells us what we are to expect of God, in His treatment of us. There is mystery about God's nature; we cannot fathom it, and as God is thus mysterious, our kind Redeemer takes something that all men will know. He appeals to feelings that are lacking in very few human... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:6 , MATTHEW 7:12 Consider: I. The reserve which will not give things holy to dogs. The dog was reckoned, with the swine, among the unclean animals. They were both of them types of the grossly sensual kind of sinners, given over to mere brute appetite, and insensible to any higher life. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:13 There are only two ways the broad and the narrow. Along one or other of these has every mortal pilgrim gone. By one or other of these is every living man travelling now. I. Look first at the broad way. It is the most manifest and obtrusive, and the nearest to us naturally. (1) It has... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:14 I. The faithfulness of a holy God is the meaning which lies on the surface of the text. Sin has separated man from God, and the whole world lies in an outer darkness. The way that leads down to destruction is broad and easy. It requires no exertion, no self-denial, no crucifying of sin... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:15 I. Christ warns us here to beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing. There is allusion here, no doubt, to the symbolical garments of the prophets, with which His hearers would be so far familiar, having in their minds John the Baptist's girdle of camel's hair. It... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:15 I. The object of our Lord in this Sermon on the Mount was to convey an accurate idea of the righteousness required in His kingdom. He did so mainly by contrasting it with the spurious forms of righteousness current among men. The mere pretender is placed before us under three figures:... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:16 The religion of Jesus Christ is one of deeds, not words; a life of action, not of dreaming. Our Lord warns us to beware of any form of religion, in ourselves or others, which does not bring forth good fruit. God does not look for the leaves of profession or the blossoms of promise. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:21 The Wise and Foolish Builders. I. The Lord describes the false disciples as men who cry, "Lord, Lord," to Him, but who bear no fruit. The language clearly implies that there are some who profess to be Christians, who acknowledge Jesus to be the Lord, and pray to Him as Lord, and prais... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:24 Building upon the Rock. I. True religion is here likened to a man's own house. For, after all, every one's real life is his home. We move, indeed, amidst many an outdoor scene, and we meet there with all the varieties which give to our world its chequered lights and shadows. But, in c... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:24 Doing and Dreaming; Houses on the Rock and the Sand. I. In the course of my travels I have met with three distinct dreamers. (1) There is the rationalistic dreamer. He beholds his face in a glass, and stands before it, admiring it. His religion is just a looking-glass for himself; but... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:28 I. Note some characteristics which the Sermon on the Mount possesses. (1) The wonderful literary beauty of the language cannot have been unobserved by any one. (2) We have all marked the desultory arrangement, and the apparently disconnected progress of ideas. (3) From beginning to end... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 7:29 This was the impression made by our Lord on those who heard Him teach and preach. He spoke as if He had a right to be heard, as if He had a message to deliver, as if His declaration of the truth were enough. I. Just what distinguishes our Lord's teaching from the teaching of uninspired... [ Continue Reading ]