Through my love to the souls of men, I blessed your preaching; but yourselves I could never esteem, because you were destitute of the spirit of my Gospel, unholy in your hearts, and unrighteous in your conduct. (Clarke), iii. About a.d. 20, Rabbi Hillel, challenged by a Gentile to summarize the law in the short time the Gentile could stand on one leg, reportedly responded, What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. 8. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you--Though there seems evidently a climax here, expressive of more and more importunity, yet each of these terms used presents what we desire of God in a different light. Click on the different category headings to find out more. The likeness between them is very considerable. (Spurgeon). Matthew 7:7(NASB) Verse Thoughts. And great was its fall.. Matthew 7:7-11. and in thy name have cast out devils? The wise and the foolish man were both engaged in precisely the same avocations, and to a considerable extent achieved the same design; both of them undertook to build houses, both of them persevered in building, both of them finished their houses. The real foundation of our life is usually hidden and is only proven in the storm, and we could say that the storms come from both heaven (rain) and earth (floods). iii. Persistent prayer does not overcome Gods stubborn reluctance; it gives glory to Him, expresses dependence upon Him, and aligns our heart more with His. What is the chief object of your life? b. ii. Both discerning the plank in your own eye and then discerning the speck in your brother's require critical judgment. The connection here gives these words an awful significance. 9. Ads related to: Matthew Chapter 7 Explained Results from Microsoft . 3. 7. Christ's Sermon on the Mount is an extended teaching that covers numerous distinct yet interconnected topics of Christian life and godly living. You fancy that you can defend it now, but will you be able to defend it then, when all things of earth and time will have melted into nothingness? (Spurgeon). On the contrary, they involve some of the most delicate and vital duties of the Christian life. 13. And then will I profess unto them--or, openly proclaim--tearing off the mask. This page continues to study Matthew chapter 7 and the Sermon on the Mount.. 1 Judgement (Matthew 7). It is the mercifulness of one who not only seeks to obtain mercy, but who has obtained it already. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house: A storm (rain, floods, wind) was the ultimate in power to generations that didnt have nuclear weapons. This passage is one of the few chapters entirely composed of the words of Christ. (7-13) The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. To have the hearers astonished was a good thing; but it was not good if that was the extent of the effect. Yet the image of knocking also implies that there is a door that can be opened. Religion is brought into contempt, and its professors insulted, when it is forced upon those who cannot value it and will not have it. In essence, the instruction in Matthew 7:6 is the same that Jesus gave to His apostles when He said, If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town (Matthew 10:14). Proud member If prophesying could save a man, Balaam would not have been a castaway. (Spurgeon). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Please explain Matthew 7:6. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beame out of thine owne eye: and then shalt thou see clearely to And the rain descended--from above. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. 7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Prostitution of Holy Things ( Matthew 7:6 ). Commentary on Matthew 7:1-6. If your road has a gate that is easy and well-traveled, you do well to watch out. If it were locked against us we would need a burglars tools to break in, but that isnt necessary; all we must do is knock, and even if I dont have a burglars skills I can still knock I know enough to do that! Chapter 7 - Findall - Search For Chapter 7 findall.ws. Are people growing in Jesus or merely being entertained, and eventually falling away? Matthew Henrys Bible Commentary (concise) << Romans 6 | Romans 7 | Romans 8 >> (Read all of Romans 7) Complete Concise Chapter Contents. And the threefold repetition of the question, each time in the same form, expresses in the liveliest manner the astonishment of the speakers at the view now taken of them. It is not, of course, what--in our wayward, capricious, gasping moods--we should wish that men would do to us, that we are to hold ourselves bound to do to them; but only what--in the exercise of an impartial judgment, and putting ourselves in their place--we consider it reasonable that they should do to us, that we are to do to them. This warning of Jesus applies to people who say Lord, Lord, and yet their spiritual life has nothing to do with their daily life. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. a. Ask seek knock: We see a progressive intensity, going from ask to seek to knock. We may request cookies to be set on your device. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. Enter by the narrow gate: Jesus did not speak of this gate as our destiny, but as the entrance to a path. Do they show righteousness, humility and faithfulness in the way they live? This passage is the source of phrases which have echoed through western culture. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. Matthew 8. a. Jesus requires of his disciples several critical judgments in this chapter: "First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (7:5). We need 2 cookies to store this setting. depart from me--(Compare Matthew 25:41 ). If we are not astonished, then we probably havent really heard or understood what Jesus has said. We must not make the worst of people. Notice verse 11. b. In so doing, Jesus makes the command much broader. Jesus spoke with inherent authority, and the authority of Gods revealed Word. At this early stage of His ministry, and before such an audience, He seems to avoid such sharp doctrinal teaching as was more accordant with His plan at the riper stage indicated in Luke, and in addressing His own disciples exclusively. (See on the almost identical, but even more vivid and awful, description of the scene in Luke 13:24-27 ). Go and learn it. (b. Shabbath 31a). But while the indiscriminately zealous have need of this caution, let us be on our guard against too readily setting our neighbors down as dogs and swine, and excusing ourselves from endeavoring to do them good on this poor plea. Such persons will not only be slow to undertake the office of censor on their neighbors, but, when constrained in faithfulness to deal with them, will make it evident that they do it with reluctance and not satisfaction, with moderation and not exaggeration, with love and not harshness. God values persistence and passion in prayer because they show that we share His heart. Do men gather grapes of thorns--any kind of prickly plant. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened--Of course, it is presumed that he asks aright--that is, in faith--and with an honest purpose to make use of what he receives. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house--struck against that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it--terrible the ruin! As one of the special gifts of the Spirit in the early Church, it has the sense of "inspired and authoritative teaching," and is ranked next to the apostleship. But so expressed as it is here--in immediate connection with, and as the sum of such duties as has been just enjoined, and such principles as had been before taught--it is to be found nowhere else. This especially applies to Christian fellowship. Let's look at what Jesus taught in Matthew 7:13-14 about these two gates. "Go to God with it," is our Lord's reply; but He expresses this with a fulness which leaves nothing to be desired, urging now not only confidence, but importunity in prayer. For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes: His audience could not but notice that Jesus taught with an authority lacking in the other teachers in His day, who often only quoted other rabbis. might some humble disciple say, "I cannot persuade myself that I have any interest with God." But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (undecided whether to be altogether on the Lord's side). The people were astonished at His teachings: Whenever Gods Word is presented as it truly is, with its inherent power, it will astonish people and set itself apart from the mere opinions of man. all are alike welcome to the throne of grace, if they come in faith. No wonder, then, that few find and few are found in it. For with what judgments ye Judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete--whatever standard of judgment ye apply to others. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 3. In the vivid form in which they are here presented, perhaps they could not have been introduced with the same effect under any of the foregoing heads; but they spring out of the same great principles, and are but other forms and manifestations of the same evangelical "righteousness.". There is a right way and a wrong way, and Jesus appealed to His listeners to decide to go the more difficult way, which leads to life. One of the most startling teachings of Jesus is his teaching about the two gates. Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God. Matthew /. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. It is not, as is commonly supposed, a question of two foundations, but of looking to, and neglecting to look to, the foundation. (Bruce), ii. You must not therefore wonder if my precepts be hard to your carnal apprehensions, nor be scandalized though you see but few going in the right road to the kingdom of heaven. (Poole), Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Apparently only Jesus phrased the rule positively. (Carson). We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. "But ah!" b. (7-8) Jesus invites us to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. might the humble disciple inquire. Depart from ME! Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Some critics take "the gate" here, not for the first, but the last step in religion; since gates seldom open into roads, but roads usually terminate in a gate, leading straight to a mansion. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven: It is blasphemous to deny Gods answer to the seeking heart. I. Mercifulness as a principle.It involves (a) Commiseration for suffering men. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. It comes from the happy sense of forgiveness. Hence the still stronger expression in Luke ( Luke 13:24 ), "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Two things surprised them: the substance of his teaching, and the manner of it. 4. But, though supplementary, these counsels are far from being of subordinate importance. Enter ye in at the strait gate--as if hardly wide enough to admit one at all. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? The first step to combating these false prophets is to simply beware of them. We may be surprised when we see who has truly built upon the good foundation. i. When we really understand Jesus in this Sermon on the Mount, we should be astonished also. We should pay attention to the content of their teaching. of false prophets--that is, of teachers coming as authorized expounders of the mind of God and guides to heaven. "How shall we ever be able to carry out such precepts as these, of tender, holy, yet discriminating love?" He that brings forth no fruit, and he that brings forth bad fruit, are both only fit for the fire. (Clarke), ii. It is our connection to Him by the gift of faith that He gives to us that secures our salvation. He didnt say, You didnt really prophesy or cast out demons or do miracles. This leads us to understand that sometimes miracles are granted through pretended believers, reminding us that in the final analysis, miracles prove nothing.