INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
"VER. 1. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
"Satan makes snares of our own desires." "Let Christianity swallow up the world in victory. Let us clip the wing of our ambition, & the more beware of it because it carries with it the show of virtue." "It is a common error amongst men to judge of spiritual things by carnal. Goodness is greatness. Let us seek for honour; but seek for it in its own coasts; let us look up to the highest heavens where its seat is. (A. Farindon, B. D.)" "So dangerous a vice is ambition; & so hard a thing it is even for good men, for mortified persons, for the disciples of Christ to avoid it!" "I. THE QUESTION. It showed ignorance, pride, selfishness." "The members of Christ's kingdom: - I. None but the childlike are in the kingdom at all." "The most childlike are the greatest. That which is most admirable in a Christian man, & the mark of truest greatness, is childlike humility." "The childlike are Christ's truest representatives in the world. (Dr. Culross.)" "Vers. 2 - 5. And Jesus called a little child unto Him." "What humility is not. 1. Humility is not a weak & timid quality. It must be distinguished from a grovelling spirit." "We may well be humble when we see the infinite love against which we have sinned." "...being turned from self to Christ; from the world, & sin, etc." "...being inwardly change, understanding enlightened, etc." "Conversion makes us little children - sincere, humble, etc." "A child is confiding. It trusts its parents." "A child is submissive." "To be a little child is to be in a state to receive." "CHILDLIKENESS IS THE TEST OF GREATNESS IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN." "...a teachable spirit" "...a consciousness of weakness" "...a dependent spirit" "...a forgiving temper" "Observe what Christian humility is - Coming when Christ calls, etc. without endeavouring to appear to be anything that we are not." "There is very much in the best of us that resists Christ" "Christ calls... but there is no answer; Christ commands, but we do not obey; Christ stands at the door, & we do no open; He has been there long, He is there now, & will be there to-morrow, & many of you keep Him out." "Nature of conversion: - Converting grace makes persons become like little children" "CONVERTS RESEMBLE LITTLE CHILDREN NEWLY BORN." "The child bears the image of the father; so converts bear a likeness to God; they have His image." "Converts resemble little children in their weakness & dependence." "He that is most humble, sees most of heaven, & shall have most of it;" "Ver. 6. - But whoso shall offend one of these little ones." "Ver. 7. - Woe unto the world because of offences." "We are to have regard to the effect of our conduct upon others." "Every member of society is responsible for his share in customs which create temptation." "WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND HERE BY 'OFFENCES.' Stumbling-blocks in the way that leads to heaven." "Vers. 8, 9. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee. - Renouncing things that hinder" "Better suffer than sin" "...we are utterly to renounce that which we find to be the occasion of sin." "What Christ summons to is the surrender of everything, however pleasant, or dear, or seemingly necessary for the present life, & whatever suffering there may be in the surrender, rather than sin against God." "Few people admit the ownership of their sins." "'Cut it off.'" "1. Painful. ...2. Promptness. 'Cut' with a determined stroke. 3. Persistent." "'Cast it from thee.'" "The fearful consequences of neglect. 'Cast into hell.' (J. Kelly.)" "Ver. 10. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones." "God watches over all; how can we treat with contempt the meanest object of His care." "Sympathy is the antidote to contempt." "What value Christ sets on every man" "...'despise not one'" "'if one of them be gone astray.'" "Vers. 11, 13. If a man have an hundred sheep. - Seeking the lost" "He came to instruct mankind in the true & the whole nature of the Divine will" "The recovery of lost property is a principle of human nature." "...wandering sheep. Prone to wander. The care & kindness of the Great Shepherd of the sheep." "Christ's search for the lost... He carries back the sheep when He has found it." "He misses each sheep as soon as it is lost." "All men are Christ's sheep." "God wants to possess us through our love; if He does not we are lost to Him." "Ver. 14. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven." "IT IS NOT THE WILL OF THE PARENT OF GOOD THAT THESE LITTLE ONES SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN PERIL & RUIN." "God's will is for their welfare. 1. Because He is their Creator. 2. Because He is Love." "Ver. 15, 18. Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee. - How to meet offences" "...whether accidental or designed. Whether it regards reputation, or property, or feelings, etc." "SEEK A PRIVATE INTERVIEW." "Better adapted for him to confess." "IF THIS FAIL, TAKE ONE OR TWO MORE. Let them be unobjectionable, peaceable, prudent persons." "BRING IT TO THE CHURCH." "Do not let us neglect this order." "Private reproof is the best grave to bury private faults in. (Swinnock.)" "There can be no Christian charity in any one unless he afford the medicine of correction to an erring brother." "Vers. 19-20. For when 2 or 3 are gathered together in My name." "1. To meet in the Saviour's name is to seek its exaltation. 2. His name must be pleaded as the ground of approach to God. 3. The sole authority of Christ must be recognized if we would meet in His name." "If the presence of God be promised, how is it that professors are content with an occasional visit to the sanctuary? (J. S. Pearsall.)" "UNITED PRAYER IS TO THOSE WHO EXERCISE IT A MEANS OF GRACE." "Vers. 21, 22. Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, & I forgive him? - The forgiveness of injuries" "We should not cherish any malignant or revengeful feelings towards those who injure us. 2. We should not retaliate, or avenge ourselves on our offenders. 3. We should cherish towards those who offend us the feelings of kindness, regarding them with that benevolence which forbids our wishing them any harm. 4. We should treat them in our outward conduct with kindness, returning good for evil, & acting towards them as though they had not injured us." "If God commands us thus to forgive, there must be an infinite ocean of forgiving love in His own heart." "...God's forgiveness is altogether above man's conception of it. (J. H. Evans. M. A.)" "Forgiveness awakens gratitude" "Forgiveness is a state of heart, just as affection or sympathy is. And no man thinks of determining how often & how far he must feel sympathy, or how often & how far he must love those who are dear to him." "All desire of revenge must be carefully cast out; & if the wrongdoer say, 'I repent,' you must say, 'I remit,' & that from the heart" "Vers. 23 - 35. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants." "...NONE OF US HAS ANYTHING WHEREWITH TO PAY HIS DEBT TO GOD." "...THE RECEPTION OF THIS FORGIVENESS BY US INVOLVES IN IT THE OBLIGATION TO FORGIVE THOSE OF OUR FELL0W-MEN WHO HAVE TRESPASSED AGAINST OURSELVES." "GOD'S MERCY TO US IS TO BE A SPRING OF MERCY IN US TO OTHERS." "God's forgiveness is not bestowed that we may indulge our selfishness & greed." "Sin is a great debt, because all men, yea, all the saints of the earth, nor angels of heaven can pay his debt." "Sin is a vast debt, because it exposes the sinner to eternal wrath & vengeance." "There is nothing that makes a man so unlike to God, as a hard heart; without pity, without patience." "TO GOD. Pay the debt of (1) Love; (2) Honour; (3) Fear; for He is Lord of all." The Biblical Illustrator, Baker, pgs. 389 - 416.
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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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