Matthew 7

SERMON ON THE

MOUNT--concluded.

Mt 7:1-12.

MISCELLANEOUS

SUPPLEMENTARY

COUNSELS.

That these verses are entirely supplementary is the simplest and most

natural view of them. All attempts to make out any evident connection

with the immediately preceding context are, in our judgment, forced.

But, though supplementary, these counsels are far from being of

subordinate importance. On the contrary, they involve some of the most

delicate and vital duties of the Christian life. 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."

Censorious Judgment

(Mt 7:1-5).

1. Judge not, that ye be not judged--To "judge" here does not exactly

mean to pronounce condemnatory judgment, nor does it refer to simple

judging at all, whether favorable or the reverse. The context makes it

clear that the thing here condemned is that disposition to look

unfavorably on the character and actions of others, which leads

invariably to the pronouncing of rash, unjust, and unlovely judgments

upon them. No doubt it is the judgments so pronounced which are here

spoken of; but what our Lord aims at is the spirit out of which they

spring. Provided we eschew this unlovely spirit, we are not only

warranted to sit in judgment upon a brother's character and actions, but

in the exercise of a necessary discrimination are often constrained to

do so for our own guidance. It is the violation of the law of love

involved in the exercise of a censorious disposition which alone is here

condemned. And the argument against it--"that ye be not

judged"--confirms this: "that your own character and actions be not

pronounced upon with the like severity"; that is, at the great day.

2. For with what judgments ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what

measure ye mete--whatever standard of judgment ye apply to others.

it shall be measured to you again--This proverbial maxim is used by our

Lord in other connections--as in

Mr 4:24,

and with a slightly different application in

Lu 6:38

--as a great principle in the divine administration. Unkind judgment of

others will be judicially returned upon ourselves, in the day when God

shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. But, as in many other

cases under the divine administration, such harsh judgment gets

self-punished even here. For people shrink from contact with those who

systematically deal out harsh judgment upon others--naturally

concluding that they themselves may be the next victims--and feel

impelled in self-defense, when exposed to it, to roll back upon the

assailant his own censures.

3. And why beholdest thou the mote--"splinter," here very well rendered

"mote," denoting any small fault.

that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in

thine own eye?--denoting the much greater fault which we overlook in

ourselves.

4. 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?

5. Thou hypocrite--"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--Our Lord uses a

most hyperbolical, but not unfamiliar figure, to express the monstrous

inconsistency of this conduct. The "hypocrisy" which, not without

indignation, He charges it with, consists in the pretense of a zealous

and compassionate charity, which cannot possibly be real in one who

suffers worse faults to lie uncorrected in himself. He only is fit to be

a reprover of others who jealously and severely judges himself. 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.

Prostitution of Holy Things

(Mt 7:6).

The opposite extreme to that of censoriousness is here condemned--want

of discrimination of character.

6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs--savage or snarling

haters of truth and righteousness.

neither cast ye your pearls before swine--the impure or coarse, who

are incapable of appreciating the priceless jewels of Christianity. In

the East, dogs are wilder and more gregarious, and, feeding on carrion

and garbage, are coarser and fiercer than the same animals in the West.

Dogs and swine, besides being ceremonially unclean, were peculiarly

repulsive to the Jews, and indeed to the ancients generally.

lest they trample them under their feet--as swine do.

and turn again and rend you--as dogs do. Religion is brought into

contempt, and its professors insulted, when it is forced upon those who

cannot value it and will not have it. 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.

Prayer

(Mt 7:7-11).

Enough, one might think, had been said on this subject in

Mt 6:5-15.

But the difficulty of the foregoing duties seems to have recalled the

subject, and this gives it quite a new turn. "How shall we ever be able

to carry out such precepts as these, of tender, holy, yet discriminating

love?" might the humble disciple inquire. "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.

7. 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. We ask for

what we wish; we seek for what we miss; we knock for that

from which we feel ourselves shut out. Answering to this threefold

representation is the triple assurance of success to our believing

efforts. "But ah!" might some humble disciple say, "I cannot persuade

myself that I have any interest with God." To meet this, our Lord

repeats the triple assurance He had just given, but in such a form as to

silence every such complaint.

8. 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. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of

God. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (undecided whether to be

altogether on the Lord's side). For he that wavereth is like a wave of

the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For

let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord"

(Jas 1:5-7).

Hence, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may

consume it upon your lusts"

(Jas 4:3).

9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread--a loaf.

will he give him a stone?--round and smooth like such a loaf or cake

as was much in use, but only to mock him.

10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?--like it, indeed,

but only to sting him.

11. 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!--Bad as our fallen nature is, the

father in us is not extinguished. What a heart, then, must the

Father of all fathers have towards His pleading children! In the

corresponding passage in Luke (see on

Lu 11:13),

instead of "good things," our Lord asks whether He will not much more

give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. 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.

Golden Rule

(Mt 7:12).

12. Therefore--to say all in one word.

all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even

so to them--the same thing and in the same way.

for this is the law and the prophets--"This is the substance of all

relative duty; all Scripture in a nutshell." Incomparable summary! How

well called "the royal law!"

(Jas 2:8;

compare

Ro 13:9).

It is true that similar maxims are found floating in the writings of

the cultivated Greeks and Romans, and naturally enough in the

Rabbinical writings. 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. And the best commentary upon this fact is, that

never till our Lord came down thus to teach did men effectually and

widely exemplify it in their practice. The precise sense of the maxim

is best referred to common sense. 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.

Mt 7:13-29.

CONCLUSION AND

EFFECT OF THE

SERMON ON THE

MOUNT.

We have here the application of the whole preceding discourse.

Conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount

(Mt 7:13-27).

"The righteousness of the kingdom," so amply described, both in

principle and in detail, would be seen to involve self-sacrifice

at every step. Multitudes would never face this. But it must be faced,

else the consequences will be fatal. This would divide all within the

sound of these truths into two classes: the many, who will follow the

path of ease and self-indulgence--end where it might; and the few, who,

bent on eternal safety above everything else, take the way that leads

to it--at whatever cost. This gives occasion to the two opening verses

of this application.

13. Enter ye in at the strait gate--as if hardly wide enough to admit

one at all. This expresses the difficulty of the first right step in

religion, involving, as it does, a triumph over all our natural

inclinations. Hence the still stronger expression in Luke

(Lu 13:24),

"Strive to enter in at the strait gate."

for wide is the gate--easily entered.

and broad is the way--easily trodden.

that leadeth to destruction, and--thus lured "many there be which go

in thereat."

14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth

unto life--In other words, the whole course is as difficult as the

first step; and (so it comes to pass that).

few there be that find it--The recommendation of the broad way is the

ease with which it is trodden and the abundance of company to be found

in it. It is sailing with a fair wind and a favorable tide. The natural

inclinations are not crossed, and fears of the issue, if not easily

hushed, are in the long run effectually subdued. The one disadvantage of

this course is its end--it "leadeth to destruction." The great Teacher

says it, and says it as "One having authority." To the supposed

injustice or harshness of this He never once adverts. He leaves it to

be inferred that such a course righteously, naturally, necessarily so

ends. But whether men see this or no, here He lays down the law of the

kingdom, and leaves it with us. As to the other way, the disadvantage of

it lies in its narrowness and solicitude. Its very first step involves a

revolution in all our purposes and plans for life, and a surrender of

all that is dear to natural inclination, while all that follows is but a

repetition of the first great act of self-sacrifice. No wonder, then,

that few find and few are found in it. But it has one advantage--it

"leadeth unto life." 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. But as this would make our Lord's words to have a very inverted

and unnatural form as they stand, it is better, with the majority of

critics, to view them as we have done. But since such teaching would be

as unpopular as the way itself, our Lord next forewarns His hearers that

preachers of smooth things--the true heirs and representatives of the

false prophets of old--would be rife enough in the new kingdom.

15. Beware--But beware.

of false prophets--that is, of teachers coming as authorized expounders

of the mind of God and guides to heaven. (See

Ac 20:29, 30;

2Pe 2:1, 2).

which come to you in sheep's clothing--with a bland, gentle, plausible

exterior; persuading you that the gate is not strait nor the way narrow,

and that to teach so is illiberal and bigoted--precisely what the old

prophets did

(Eze 13:1-10, 22).

but inwardly they are ravening wolves--bent on devouring the flock for

their own ends

(2Co 11:2, 3, 13-15).

16. Ye shall know them by their fruits--not their doctrines--as many

of the elder interpreters and some later ones explain it--for that

corresponds to the tree itself; but the practical effect of their

teaching, which is the proper fruit of the tree.

Do men gather grapes of thorns--any kind of prickly plant.

or figs of thistles?--a three-pronged variety. The general sense is

obvious--Every tree bears its own fruit.

17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit: but a corrupt

tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt

tree bring forth good fruit--Obvious as is the truth here expressed

in different forms--that the heart determines and is the only proper

interpreter of the actions of our life--no one who knows how the Church

of Rome makes a merit of actions, quite apart from the motives that

prompt them, and how the same tendency manifests itself from time to

time even among Protestant Christians, can think it too obvious to be

insisted on by the teachers of divine truth. Here follows a wholesome

digression.

19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and

cast into the fire--(See on

Mt 3:10).

20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them--that is, But the

point I now press is not so much the end of such, as the means of

detecting them; and this, as already said, is their fruits. The

hypocrisy of teachers now leads to a solemn warning against religious

hypocrisy in general.

21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord--the reduplication

of the title "Lord" denoting zeal in according it to Christ (see

Mr 14:45).

Yet our Lord claims and expects this of all His disciples, as when He

washed their feet: "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so

I am"

(Joh 13:13).

shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of

my Father which is in heaven--that will which it had been the great

object of this discourse to set forth. Yet our Lord says warily, not

"the will of your Father," but "of My Father"; thus claiming a

relationship to His Father with which His disciples might not

intermeddle, and which He never lets down. And He so speaks here to give

authority to His asseverations. But now He rises higher still--not

formally announcing Himself as the Judge, but intimating what men

will say to Him, and He to them, when He sits as their final judge.

22. Many will say to me in that day--What day? It is emphatically

unnamed. But it is the day to which He had just referred, when men shall

"enter" or not enter "into the kingdom of heaven." (See a similar way of

speaking of "that day" in

2Ti 1:12; 4:8).

Lord, Lord--The reiteration denotes surprise. "What, Lord? How is this?

Are we to be disowned?"

have we not prophesied--or, "publicly taught." 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. (See

1Co 12:28;

Eph 4:11).

In this sense it is used here, as appears from what follows.

in thy name--or, "to thy name," and so in the two following

clauses--"having reference to Thy name as the sole power in which we did

it."

and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many

wonderful works--or, miracles. These are selected as three examples

of the highest services rendered to the Christian cause, and through the

power of Christ's own name, invoked for that purpose; He Himself, too,

responding to the call. 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.

23. And then will I profess unto them--or, openly proclaim--tearing

off the mask.

I never knew you--What they claimed--intimacy with Christ--is

just what He repudiates, and with a certain scornful dignity. "Our

acquaintance was not broken off--there never was any."

depart from me--(Compare

Mt 25:41).

The connection here gives these words an awful significance. They

claimed intimacy with Christ, and in the corresponding passage,

Lu 13:26,

are represented as having gone out and in with Him on familiar terms.

"So much the worse for you," He replies: "I bore with that long enough;

but now--begone!"

ye that work iniquity--not "that wrought iniquity"; for

they are represented as fresh from the scenes and acts of it as they

stand before the Judge. (See on the almost identical, but even more

vivid and awful, description of the scene in

Lu 13:24-27).

That the apostle alludes to these very words in

2Ti 2:19

there can hardly be any doubt--"Nevertheless the foundation of God

standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are

His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart

from iniquity."

24. Therefore--to bring this discourse to a close.

whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them--see

Jas 1:22,

which seems a plain allusion to these words; also

Lu 11:28;

Ro 2:13;

1Jo 3:7.

I will liken him unto a wise man--a shrewd, prudent, provident man.

which built his house upon a rock--the rock of true discipleship, or

genuine subjection to Christ.

25. And the rain descended--from above.

and the floods came--from below.

and the winds blew--sweeping across.

and beat upon that house--thus from every direction.

and it fell not; for it was founded upon a

rock--See

1Jo 2:17.

26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine--in the attitude

of discipleship.

and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built

his house upon the sand--denoting a loose foundation--that of an empty

profession and mere external services.

27. 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! How

lively must this imagery have been to an audience accustomed to the

fierceness of an Eastern tempest, and the suddenness and completeness

with which it sweeps everything unsteady before it!

Effect of the Sermon on the Mount

(Mt 7:28, 29).

28. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the

people were astonished at his doctrine--rather, "His teaching," for

the reference is to the manner of it quite as much as the matter, or

rather more so.

29. For he taught them as one having authority--The word "one,"

which our translators have here inserted, only weakens the statement.

and not as the scribes--The consciousness of divine authority,

as Lawgiver, Expounder and Judge, so beamed through His teaching, that

the scribes' teaching could not but appear drivelling in such a

light.