INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
"VERS. 1 - 16. The came together unto Him the Pharisees, & certain of the Scribes."
"The tradition of men - It is the folly of men that, in discharge of the duties of religion, they are satisfied to put ceremonies & confessions that cost but little, in the place of righteousness of heart & life which cost a great deal." "...it is for God to decide what is satisfactory to Him." "Let God speak for Himself, & listen only to Him, & all is plain. (Monday Club Sermons.)" "Why, think you, were lying prophets permitted? Why are lying teachers still suffered? Why even lying wonders? To try the state of men's hearts. Is your heart, by the grace of God, made humble & teachable? then will you be taught of the Spirit 'to discern the things which differ' - to detect the fallacies & delusions practised upon it - and 'to approve the things which are more excellent.' Is your heart self-sufficient, careless, carnal? then will it by deceived & led astray by plausible & flattering pretences. In contending that the Scriptures are the sole rule of faith, we give them exclusive authority over the judgment & the conscience." "I. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES WASHING WITH WATER FOR PURITY OF HEART. II. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES THE TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS FOR THE COMMANDS OF GOD. III. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES THE WORSHIP OF THE LIPS FOR THE WORSHIP OF THE HEART. IV. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES A SUBTLE EVASION FOR FILIAL DUTY. V. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES AVOIDANCE OF UNCLEAN FOOD FOR AVOIDANCE OF IMPURE & MALICIOUS THOUGHTS." "Know the Scriptures & revere them." "Hypocrites perform small duties & neglect great" "God requires soul worship" "He asks for the heart, & they present Him with their lips; He demands their thoughts & their minds, & they give him banners, & vestments, & candles." "Human tradition versus Divine command" "Vers. 17 - 23. Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man. - The true source of defilement" "...MERE EXTERNAL OBSERVANCES DO NOT AFFECT OR CHANGE THE MORAL STATE & CHARACTER OF MAN." "...THE MORAL STATE & CHARACTER OF A MAN, IS AFFECTED BY THAT WHICH COMETH OUT OF HIS HEART." "THE DEPRAVITY OF HUMAN NATURE EXHIBITED. We are shown - 1. The source of evil. It is in the heart. 2. The diversified streams of evil. 'Adulteries, fornications, thefts, murders, covetousness, etc. 3. The contaminating influence of evil. These are the things by which men are defiled. (Expository Outlines.)" "Out of the heart. - The heart determines the life" "It is vain to go about an holy life till the heart be made holy." "Evil thoughts. - Source of evil thoughts" "...out of the heart, out of the unseen & unthinkable depths within, proceed the evil thoughts which become evil acts within before they are incarnated, as it were, in some evil deed without. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)" "Your habitual desires or fancies are shaping your eternal destiny. (American National Preacher.)" "Though we cannot keep vain thoughts from knocking at the door of our hearts, nor from entering in sometimes, yet we may forbear bidding them welcome, or giving them entertainment. 'How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee?'" "If men did more carefully watch their thoughts, they would not so readily fall into evil ways." "Covetousness." "Covetousness exchanges true riches for the false" "Pride." "Ver. 24. But He could not be hid." "A day is coming, when every eye shall see Him, & self-deception will be no longer possible. (J. Fleming, B. D.)" "Christ could not be hid, because of the self-sacrificing nature of His perfect goodness." "Never does the world appear more foolish than when it attempts to extinguish a burning & shining light." "The desperate need of sinners rendered it impossible that He should be hid." "Vers. 25 - 30. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation: & she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter." "'O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.'" "Faith triumphant over refusal" "She most firmly believed Christ to be the Lord, able to work a miracle on her daughter: & her devotion & confidence was so strongly built, that neither silence nor denial nor a reproach could shake it." "'She worshipped Him.' Not a humility which stays at home, but which 'comes out of her coasts' after Christ." "'A little,' saith the Psalmist, 'which the righteous hath is more than great revenues of the wicked.' (Psalms 37:16)." "...for this faith he grants her her request: 'Be it unto thee even as thou wilt:'" "When you pray for the reconstruction of your character, will you not wait till God can perform such an act of mercy? If, looking at the interior, He sees that the work can be expedited, He will expedite it; but you must be patient. (H. W. Beecher.)" "She believes in her own lowliness; she believes in God's absolute supremacy;" "Prayers may be heard, yet kept in suspense." "Though Christ was silent she did not drop, but continued her suit." "1. Her faith was owned, commended, & admired by the Author of it, whose words are always spoken according to truth, most clearly & certainly. 2. The reward of her faith was ample, as large as her desires were, to have it to be." "1. Seasons of affliction furnish opportunities for prayer. 2. The special presence of Christ, either at times of public worship, or in the influence of His Spirit in private, furnish opportunity for prayer." "Prayer to be successful - 1. Must be persevering. 2. Must be offered in faith." "...faith triumphed over all disappointment, & her desire was granted." "Pure gold loses nothing in the testing for alloys; the diamond shines all the more clearly for being rid of the rough surface which hid its light." "Vers. 31 - 37. And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, & had an impediment in his speech." "We must seek to make ourselves one with those whom we would gather into Christ, by actual familiarity with their condition, & by identification of ourselves in feeling with them." "...avoid vainglory in all our works of mercy to others." "...the penitent must separate himself from the crowd of worldly cares, tumultuous thoughts, & inordinate affections, if he would find rest for his soul in God." "...he must tear himself from the company of evil & frivolous companions, & from the bustle of incessant occupation." "Man, made in God's image, had become through sin the poor dumb creature on which Christ looked." "The Lord our Master is ready [to bestow the hearing ear & the speech of faith. (Dean Bramston.)" "True happiness, happiness in the midst of even scorn & persecution, happiness even in the felon's prison & in the martyr's flame, is the high prerogative of God's saints alone" "...those who are spiritually deaf have also an impediment in their speech." "...look at the means of cure." "Bringing men to Jesus: - They brought the afflicted man to Jesus." "If we would find pardon & healing, we must be brought to Jesus." "Sometimes it is a word in a sermon, or a verse in a hymn; sometimes it is the question of a little child, or the sight of a dead face in a coffin; but whatever it is which brings us back to Jesus, that must be the first step to finding pardon & healing." "'Looking to heaven,' not to earth, 'He sighed.' Let us be comforted in sorrow." "It may be He sighed because the trouble He met always had its origin & its aggravation in sin." "It may be He sighed because so few persons were willing to forsake the sins which made the trouble. It may be He sighed because the spectacle of a ruined & rebellious world saddened Him." "Christians must follow sighs with more 'looking up to heaven.'" "Christ sees sin as it is; sees it in its nature, as a defiance of God; sees it in its effects, as leaving behind it in each heart that it enters defilement, & weakness, & hardness, & misery; sees it in its consequences, as bringing forth fruit unto death - a death not of annihilation, not of blank unconsciousness, but a death of unspeakable & interminable wretchedness." "The ears of the deaf must be unstopped before the tongue of the dumb can sing. The heart must believe unto righteousness, before with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." "Deaf to the calls of mercy; deaf to the alarms of danger; deaf to the warning of conscience; deaf to to voice of the Son of God." "Must not the finger of Jesus be put into them, making a passage through, so that His word may reach the heart. Brethren, let us all pray for unstopped ears." "Ver. 37. He hath done all things well. - Excellency of Christ's operations" "...the experience of His people. He sought & found them - He forgave & healed them - He renews & sanctifies them - He keeps & upholds them, & He glorifies them for ever." "How worthy is Christ of our admiration, reverence, & love." "Let it be our concern to do all things well. (J. Orton.)" "Those who oppose Christ are sure to perish for the right must prevail. They will stand self-condemned. The universe will say 'Amen' to their condemnation, for they have conspired against it. (L. Palmer.)" The Biblical Illustrator, Baker, pgs. 270 - 304.
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AuthorCross Preaching Pentecostal Pastor. Husband to Tonia, Father to 3 beautiful girls, Monica, Zoe & Briana, & Grandfather to Wesley & Elliott Archives
September 2023
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