_LORD OF THE SABBATH_ ‘The Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.’ Matthew 12:8 The one great subject which stands out prominently in the opening verses of this chapter is the Sabbath Day. It is a subject on which strange opinions prevailed among the Jews in our Lord’s time; it is a subject... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH’_ ‘Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth.’ Matthew 12:13 A man with a withered hand is a man who knows his own powerlessness. I. CHRIST’S METHOD.—This is the man to whom Christ said, ‘Stretch forth thine hand.’ It was the very thing which the man could... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GENTLENESS OF CHRIST_ ‘Then the Pharisees went out … till He send forth judgment unto victory.’ Matthew 12:14 There are numbers of people who want far less words of reproof than words of sympathy and tenderness. What shall we learn from such a text as this? I. WHERE THERE IS LIFE THERE IS... [ Continue Reading ]
_OPPONENTS OF RELIGION_ ‘This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.’ Matthew 12:24 There are many difficulties associated with the interpretation of this chapter, yet not a few lessons stand out clearly. I. OPPONENTS OF RELIGION.—There is nothing too blasphe... [ Continue Reading ]
_NO NEUTRALITY_ ‘He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth abroad.’ Matthew 12:30 There are many persons in every age of the Church who need to have this lesson pressed upon them. I. THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.—They endeavour to steer a middle course in re... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE UNPARDONABLE SIN_ ‘Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.’ Matthew 12:32 In God’s view, words are always treated as the index of the heart. Thus they will be the chief evidences in the day of judgment. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_JUDGED BY WORDS_ ‘By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ Matthew 12:37 Consider our responsibility for the gift of speech. It is to God that we have to answer for our speech, and every misuse of this gift is an offence against Him. I. WORDS OF BEAUTY.—A... [ Continue Reading ]
_JONAH’S MISSION_ ‘The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.’ Matthew 12:41 Jonah’s entrance into Nineveh was the greatest and most successful ‘Mission’ which th... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE DEVIL DETHRONED_ ‘When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man … the last state of that man is worse than the first.’ Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out, Christ tells what takes place if the heart be left empty. When the unclean spirit is gone out, is not this the thing we wis... [ Continue Reading ]
_CHRIST’S RELATIONS_ ‘For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.’ Matthew 12:50 God has a will. This thought, familiar as it is to us, was a thought to which man by searching could not attain. God is no mere personification or... [ Continue Reading ]