GOLDEN PRECEPTS.. Matthew 7:1-12. GOLDEN TEXT. --_ Therefore, all things that ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them._ -- Matthew 7:12. TIME AND PLACE. --As in last four lessons. HELPFUL READINGS. -- Romans 2:1-4. I. Cor. 4:1-5; James 4:10-12; Luke 11:9-13. LESSON ANALYSIS. --1... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH WHAT JUDGMENT YE JUDGE YE SHALL BE JUDGED. Not by men, but by God. He takes note of the unkind, harsh, censorious spirit, and deals with the man according to his own spirit. There is declared here. great principle that runs through the moral government of God: _Whatsoever. man soweth, that sha... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY BEHOLDEST THOU THE MOTE THAT IS IN THY BROTHER'S EYE? The Lord uses. figure to show the absurdity of judging severely the faults of others, while we have greater ones. The term translated "mote" means. little splinter. The figure is that of. man who has. great stick of wood in his own eye, one... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HYPOCRITE, CAST OUT FIRST THE BEAM OUT OF THINE OWN EYE. The man who finds fault with another for. sin of which he is more guilty is. hypocrite, as if. thief should rail out against the poor woman who took. loaf of bread to keep her children from starving, or the libertine should condemn. possi... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE NOT THAT WHICH IS HOLY UNTO DOGS. I cannot see the immediate connection of this command with what precedes, unless the Lord proposes to warn against another extreme. He has just forbidden the unholy to preach holiness, the impure purity, the vicious virtue, &c. He demands that the preacher shal... [ Continue Reading ]
II. BREAD AND STONES. 7. ASK, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN YOU. The citizens of the kingdom of heaven are children of. Heavenly Father. One of the highest privileges of the kingdom is that they may go to the Father with an assurance that he will hear them. The terms are here used with reference to prayer... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVERY ONE THAT ASKETH, RECEIVETH, &C. Every one of the class concerning whom the Savior speaks. That class is those who can say, "Our Father in heaven; Hallowed be thy name; Thy will be done." Those who have brought themselves into such. relation to God that they can pray the prayer Christ taug... [ Continue Reading ]
IF HIS SON ASK BREAD, WILL HE GIVE HIM. STONE? The assurance of an answer to prayer is based on the fact that God is our Father. He treats his children on the same principles that. good and wise earthly parent would employ. No kind parent would mock his child by answering his cry for bread with sto... [ Continue Reading ]
IF YE THEN, BEING EVIL. Men, who have the natural affection of parents, even though sinful men, will not do such things. If men, belonging to. sinful race, will hear and kindly answer their children's requests, HOW MUCH MORE SHALL YOUR FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN? Whoever believes that the term Fat... [ Continue Reading ]
III. THE GOLDEN RULE. 12. THEREFORE. This term indicates. connection, and that what follows is based upon what goes before. The idea is that those who are children of God must rise up out of. narrow and selfish life. He is benevolent and kind, and gives good gifts to those that ask him. If we are... [ Continue Reading ]
SOLEMN WARNINGS. -- Matthew 7:13-29. GOLDEN TEXT. --_ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire._ -- Matthew 7:19. TIME AND PLACE. -As in several preceding lessons. HELPFUL READINGS. -- Matthew 3:7-10; Luke 6:43-49; Matthew 25:41-46; Luke 13:24-30. LESSON ANAL... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR STRAIT IS THE GATE. What is it Augustine asks, that makes this gate so strait to us. It is not that it is _strait,_ or narrow, in itself, but that we want to crowd through it with the world upon our shoulders. We want to take the swellings of our pride, our self-will, of our darling sins. It is... [ Continue Reading ]
BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS. The word prophet, as used in the Scriptures, means far more than. foreteller. John the Baptist, Elijah, Elisha, Nathan, and Samuel were prophets, though their mission was not to predict the future. Any one who teaches authoritatively the will of God is. prophet.. false pro... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. This common figure is wonderfully expressive. Not leaves (professions), or appearance, are the proper tests of the life that is in the tree, but the fruit it bears. We are to test men and every institution by this principle. The man whose life is evil is of the e... [ Continue Reading ]
GOOD TREE CANNOT BRING FORTH EVIL FRUIT. In these two verses the Lord points to the uniform law of nature. Every tree bears after its kind. As is the tree so is the fruit. The grape bears grapes, the fig figs, and the thistle thistles. The same principle holds good in the moral world.. good man wil... [ Continue Reading ]
II. THE WAY INTO THE KINGDOM. 21. NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME, LORD, LORD, SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM. The Lord has shown that the entrance into the kingdom is through the "strait gate." He now shows more particularly what is needful to enter. Certain ones are described who cannot enter in.... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY WILL SAY TO ME IN THAT DAY. The great day of the Lord. Many passages found in the rabbinical writings show that the Jews were accustomed to use "that day" for the day of judgment. The "many" refers to those who have cried, "Lord, Lord," but have not done the Lord's will. LORD, LORD, HAVE WE N... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVER KNEW YOU. This "I never knew you," must be accepted in its deeper signification of "recognizing you as disciples;". knowing which is reciprocal, he only being known who also knows. Augustine says that for Christ to say, "I never know you," is only another way of saying, "You never knew me." N... [ Continue Reading ]
III. THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH BUILDER. 24. EVERY ONE THAT HEARETH THESE SAYINGS OF MINE. The words that he has spoken in this discourse, and all his teachings. He has declared, "My words will judge you in the last day." I WILL LIKEN HIM TO. WISE MAN. The characteristic of the wise man noted is t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RAIN DESCENDED.... AND IT FELL NOT. This verse gives. picture of the sudden violent storms and sweeping floods which are so common in the East. The house founded upon the rock could not be undermined and destroyed, but would stand firm. So says the Lord shall it be with those who hear and obey.... [ Continue Reading ]
HEARETH THESE SAYINGS... AND DOETH THEM NOT. The hearer and non-doer is next described. He is likened to the foolish man who built his house on the sand. Everyone knows how transitory and shifting is. sandy foundation. Whole towns on the Missouri or lower Mississippi have been undermined and gone i... [ Continue Reading ]
GREAT WAS THE FALL OF IT. The Lord describes the thoughtlessness of the builder on the sand, the storm and the utter destruction. Foolish like him is the _hearer who does not._ Let it be observed that, 1. Both builders are bearers; 2. The wise builder is. doer also, or obeys the words of the Lord;... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PEOPLE WERE ASTONISHED AT HIS DOCTRINE. At his teaching. No wonder they were astonished. The whole world still wonders as it studies this sermon. No such teacher had ever been heard before.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HAVING AUTHORITY. He spake, not as man, with human doubts and limitations, but as one who was omniscient. He came from God, was the brightness of the Father's glory, and spoke as one divine; not as human, hesitating, halting, limping expounders like the scribes, the interpreters of the Scripture... [ Continue Reading ]