INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 12
"VERS. 1-6. Behold Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day." "Ver. 6. That in this place is One greater than the temple. - Christ greater than the Church" "Christ... He liberates, elevates & purifies." "The Church is nothing without its head. Whatever it is, He has created it. Whatever it does, He is its life! It is righteous, but it is with His righteousness. It is royal, its royalty comes from Him. It is a priesthood, He conferred the priesthood. Its love, its power, its faith, its hope, everything it is, everything it expects to do, find their explanation & root in its relations to Him." "The Divine must be greater than any human workmanship" "Every human authority must yield to His." "Ver. 7. I will have mercy, & not sacrifice." "Morals before rituals." "Ver. 10. And behold there was a man which had his hand withered." "Christ's power is displayed on our inability." "The stretching forth of the hand was - 1. An act of faith. 2. An act of decision." "THE RESULT OF THIS STRETCHING OUT OF THE MAN'S HAND IN OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMAND. 1. The healing was manifest. 2. It was immediate. 3. It was permanent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)" "Ver. 12. How much then is a man better than a sheep!" "The cross proves God's esteem for the sinner. Man's worth explains redemption; not redemption man's worth. (C. H. Parkhurst.)" "MAN IS BETTER THAN THE ANIMAL." "He ought to live better than an animal." "BECAUSE WE ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN SHEEP JESUS CHRIST CAME TO SEEK & SAVE US." "BECAUSE WE ARE BETTER THAN SHEEP GOD & HIS ANGELS ARE GLAD OVER EVERY ONE THAT REPENTS OF SIN. (W. Harris.)" "Vers. 14-21. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet." "Our Lord did not wish His fame spread abroad." "If Christ needed the Spirit of the Lord upon Him, how much more do we?" "If Christ does not manifest ostentation, why should we?" "Ver. 20. A bruised reed shall He not break. - The tenderness of Christ" "The love of Christ is the root of His tenderness." "The metaphor of a 'bruised reed' conveys the idea of (1) a state of weakness." "(2) A state of oppression." "The metaphor of 'smoking flax' conveys the idea of grace, true & sincere, but languishing & just expiring." "Go to the cross & there learn this love & compassion. (President Davies.)" "...nothing good in you ever escapes the notice of God." "Whatever beautifies you glorifies Him." "Whatever beautifies you glorifies Him." "How is the world to be redeemed if you put a limit to God's love?" "Of all things in the world flax is the most combustible. The smallest spark will kindle it into a blaze." "How great a consolation there is in this Divine tenderness of Christ." "Grace never blown quite out: - Grace can never be so blown out, but there will be some smoke, some spark, whereby it may be rekindled. The smoking snuff of Peter's grace was lighted again by a sudden look of his Master." "Vers. 22, 29. One possessed with a devil, blind & dumb." "Adore the gracious power of Christ amongst the enemies of Christ. (J. Fletcher.)" "Ver. 30. He that is not with Me is against Me. - Neutrality... impossible" "How inevitable is the destruction of the Saviour's enemies." "In the battlefield of life, whose side have you chosen? In the great harvest-field of the world, whose interests are you serving? 1. The battlefield is the world. We are soldiers. Are we fighting? Are we clad in armour? 2. The harvest-field. Are you gathering or wasting?" "Neutrality here is opposition." "...man's natural state is one of antagonism to God." "The human heart cannot be in a state in which neither Christ nor the world has the supremacy." "Christ requires the whole heart, life, etc." "Neutrality is seen to be practical hostility to the kingdom of Christ" "Ver. 31. All manner of sin & blasphemy. - Sin against the Holy Ghost: - 1. This is not a sin which one can commit by accident, & without knowing it." "Men are not likely to fall into it suddenly." "Constant resistance of good impulses may lead to it. (H. W. Beecher.)" "...by this sin men resist their last remedy, & oppose the best & utmost means of their conviction." "If the Spirit be scorned, it follows, pardon is impossible." "We have in the Bible 4 separate sins against the Holy Ghost laid out in a certain order & progression - grieving, resisting, quenching - these have been forgiven. But there is a 4th stage when the mind, through a long course of sin, proceeds to such a violent dislike of the Spirit of God, that infidel thoughts & horrid imaginations come into the mind. They become habitual. This sin against the Holy Ghost does not lie in any particular act or word; it is a general state of mind. It is unpardonable because the mind of such a man cannot make one move towards God. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)" "Ver. 33. Either make the tree good & his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt." "If the tree is permitted to grow up & grow old in evil, there is danger lest, by storm or fire, it should be destroyed, & so never be made good." "Ver. 34. 35. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart." "1. A good heart contains good affections. 2. Good desires. 3. Good intentions. 4. Good volitions. 5. Good passions." "THE EVIL MAN." "He is evil because he possesses an evil heart, mixes with an evil world, is under the influence of an evil devil." "...the train of thought in which we delight will betray itself in speech, as well as in our general course of action" "Ver. 36. That every idle word. - Idle words" "Idle words... 1. Tattling. 2. Tale-bearing. 3. 'Slang' conversation. 4. Boasting. 5. Swearing. (H. W. Beecher.)" "By idle words we may understand such words as proceed from vanity or deceit." "Idle words may imply such as are the product of a loose & idle mind, such as represent the impure conceptions of a mind polluted with lust." "The tongue cannot speak better than the understanding can conceive." "Language a heart reflector" "Happy are the friends of those whose conversation 'ministers grace to the hearers.'" "Ver. 38. Master, we would see a sign from Thee." "GOD NEVER GIVES ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES WHEN THOSE POSSESSED ARE NOT USED." "...The men of Ninevah shall rise in judgment" "If the Ninevites gave heed to the prophet of wrath, how much more should the Jews to a messenger who would rejoice if repentance should turn away their woe." "Ninevah was only threatened with destruction. The Jews were urged to reform." "Ver. 42. The Queen of the South shall rise up in judgment." "She went to hear the wisdom of a mortal" "We are invited to hear One greater than Solomon." "Solomon's speech was regal, but the Saviour's was Divine." "Ver. 43, 45. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man. - Furnished, but vacant" "A FEARFUL RELAPSE DESCRIBED. 1. When the evil spirit returned he found the house unoccupied." "...if one comes out of these evils, & lapses back into them, the dangers are increased." "The Divine flame cannot often go out & be re-kindled. Once out, it is apt to stay out." "Vers. 46-50. The same is My brother, & sister, & mother. - Christians are Christ's Relations" "The family of our Lord" "'They do the will of His Father.'" "The Christian makes the will of God the rule of his life." "CHRISTIANS ARE THE RELATIVES OF CHRIST. The ground of the relationship not natural, ecclesiastical, but spiritual - faith & obedience." "The great principle of this relationship. Obedience. God's will is revealed to us. Obedience must be evangelical, affectionate, full, constant." The Biblical Illustrator, Baker, pgs. 228 - 256.
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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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