Matthew 5:1
We have in this Chapter, and the two which follow, our Lord's sermon on the Mount. A great variety of beauties is contained in it..... [ Continue Reading ]
We have in this Chapter, and the two which follow, our Lord's sermon on the Mount. A great variety of beauties is contained in it..... [ Continue Reading ]
We have a beautiful view of our dear LORD opening his commission as the Great Prophet of his church and people. The law had been given from the Mount, therefore JESUS will here also deliver his Gospel. But there were bounds set, when the law was given, which the people were not to pass. Not so with... [ Continue Reading ]
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. We have here the opening of our LORD'S Sermon, and, a most blessed sermon it is. Let the Reader observe how JESUS opens it in pronouncing blessings. JESUS himself is the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Well may the LORD'S people rejoice, convinced of their interest in him. Luke 10:20; Philippians 3:3. But with respect to the reward the LORD speaks of, let not the Reader for a moment o... [ Continue Reading ]
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. In this passage, we meet with the word Amen, or Verily, for the first time, and therefore, once for all, I beg to observe upon it, that it is of the highest import... [ Continue Reading ]
No doubt the Reader would wish to have a clear apprehension of the words Raca and Fool. The most acceptable service on these verses I can offer, will be to explain them. Raca, was a word used by the Jews to imply the utmost abhorrence, as if a man was spit upon, which was a mark of the greatest cont... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST is our New Testament Altar, neither have we any other. It is painful to hear men call the communion table Altar, a name which belongs only to JESUS. But seen in this point of view, when drawing nigh at any time to JESUS, and recollecting some offence given to our brother, how truly doth this... [ Continue Reading ]
These are sweet verses if referred to that lawsuit we all have, by reason of sin and transgression, with Gob. An adversary doth, not always mean the evil spirit. It is indeed one of his names. 1 Peter 5:8. But the LORD saith I will be an adversary to thine adversaries: Exodus 23:22. And the Lord is... [ Continue Reading ]
Reader! do not fail to observe the spiritual nature of the law of GOD. It is not limited to actions, but includes thoughts. The heart is the forge where all actions are worked. And whether they be brought forth into actual deeds or not, in the eye of the LORD the. intention is the same. Surely the w... [ Continue Reading ]
The law made a provision for the putting away a wife in cases of adultery, Deuteronomy 24:1 etc. But the LORD Jesus saith that this was permitted only in consequence of the hardness of their hearts; for from the beginning of the creation of God it was not so. Mark 10:1; Mark 10:5, etc. And what a sw... [ Continue Reading ]
What a beautiful train of thoughts arise from those words of Jesus. Not only the prohibition of the Load to what is so highly unsuitable and offensive in oaths and the like, but the injunction to a simple confirmation of the Yea and Nay among the followers of Him whose name is Amen.... [ Continue Reading ]
Who can read the justice and equity of that strict law, which enjoins an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, without having his mind directed to the contemplation of CHRIST as our surety. In hint this law was literally fulfilled, when he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made t... [ Continue Reading ]
Was there ever such a refinement of the most perfect law of the LORD as is here drawn? And where shall we look for the fulfilment of it but in the Lord JESUS himself? He indeed, and He only, observed it in the fullest extent of it. And therefore the close of the chapter is express to the purpose wit... [ Continue Reading ]