While we are reading, let us also be adoring at the same time, for the. words of Christ have a gracious divinity about them; they are infinite; they are omnipotent. There is a kind of life in them; a life which communicates itself to those who hear them. Our Saviour did not preach sermons: he preached texts; all his sermons are full of golden sentences, not hammered gold leaf, like those of men, but they are ingots of solid gold, and the gold of that land is good, the most fine gold; there is none like it. Thus he preaches in the seventh chapter of Matthew.
Matthew 7:1. Judge not that ye be not judged.
Set not up for critics, especially in the act of worship. Probably there. is no greater destroyer of profit in the hearing of the word than is the spirit of carping criticism.
Matthew 7:1-2. Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what, judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
When the Lord comes in judgment, he might almost decline to mount the throne, for he might say, «These men have already tried and condemned each other; let their sentences abide.» If he were to judge us as we have judged others, who amongst us would stand? But we may rest assured that our fellow-men will usually exercise towards us: much the same judgment that we exercise towards them.
Matthew 7:3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
It is a beam. You do not see it because it is in your own eye. How is it that you can be so severe towards that which is in another, and so lenient towards yourself?
Matthew 7:4-5. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
There may be, dear friends, a great deal of hypocrisy about us, of which we are not aware, for when a man sees a fault in another, and tells him of it, he says, «You know I am a very plain-spoken person; there is no hypocrisy about me.» Well, but there is, and, according to the Saviour's description, this may be sheer hypocrisy because meanwhile in your own eye there is something else worse than you see in your fellow, and this you pass over, and this is simply untruthful dealing, and it amounts to hypocrisy. If you were really so zealous to make people see, you would begin by being zealous to see yourself, and if you were so concerned to have,all eyes cleansed from impurity, you would begin by cleansing your own, or seeking to have them cleansed.
Matthew 7:6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
It is a pity to talk about some of the secrete of our holy faith in any and every company. It would be almost, profane to speak of them in the company of profane men. We know that they would not. understand us; they would find occasion for jest and ridicule, and therefore our own reverence for holy things must cause us to lay a finger on our lips when we are in the presence of profane persons. Do not let us, however, carry out one precept to the exclusion of others. There are dogs that eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Drop them a crumb. And there are even swine that may yet be translearned; to whom the sight of a pearl might give some inkling of a better condition of heart. Cast not the pearls before them, but you may show them to them sometimes when they are in as good a state of mind as they are likely to be in. It is ours to preach the gospel to every creature; that is a precept of Christ, and yet all creatures are not always in the condition to hear the gospel. We must choose our time. Yet even this I would not push too far. We are to preach the gospel in season and out of season. Oh! that we may be able to follow precepts as far as they are meant to go, and no further.
Matthew 7:7. Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
This is the simplest form of prayer. Follow up your prayer by the effort. «Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.» Add force to your petitions and to your prayers. If the door blocks the way, knock until it is opened.
Matthew 7:8. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
One way or another you will get the blessing if you are but persevering, and blessed is the man who is a master of the art of asking, but does not forget the labour of seeking an entrance through the importunity of knocking.
Matthew 7:9-10. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
Our Lord will give us the real thing. Sometimes we should be quite satisfied with the imitation of it. And sometimes we have to wait and be prepared for the reception of the real thing; it is infinitely better for us to wait for months than immediately to get,a stone; better to wait for a fish than the next moment to have a scorpion. There were some in the wilderness who asked to be satisfied, and they were so, with the flesh of quails. They got their stones, they got their scorpions. But the Lord's people may sometimes find that they have to wait a while.,God will not give to them that which is other than good for them.
Matthew 7:11-12. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Wonderful condensation of the two tables off the law! God help us to remember it. This is a golden rule, and he that follows that shall lead a golden life.
Matthew 7:13-14. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in, thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Do not be ashamed of being called narrow. Do not be ashamed of being supposed to lead a life of great precision and exactness. There is nothing very grand about breadth, after all. And I have noticed one thing, the broadest men I have ever met in the best sense have always kept to the narrow way, and the narrowest people I know are those who are so fond of the broad way. I could indicate some literature which professes to be exceedingly liberal; it is liberal indeed in finding fault with everybody who holds the gospel, but its tone is bitterness itself towards all the orthodox. Wormwood and gall are honey compared with what the liberal people generally pour out upon those who keep close to the truth. I prefer to cultivate a broad spirit to a narrow heart, and then to talk about the breadth of the way.
Matthew 7:15. Beware of false prophets.
But so long as he is a prophet, people will respect him; do not find fault with him, he is a clever man.
Matthew 7:15-25. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in, sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that death the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, hare we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils; and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
For the best man will be tried, and perhaps all the more because he is such.
Matthew 7:26-29. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.