PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2
Arthur Lukyn Williams [1853-1943] · 606,924 words · 664 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 421
rodeemed family. We always go wrong when, on account ot some gift, we asser• ourselves and break the brotherhood. III, THE EQUALITY 01!' THE BBOTilERIIOOD 19 BEEN IN MUTUAL SERVICE. It i1 not that some one member is served by the rest, but that each is ready to serve the other, Each holds his gift at the command of th…
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Ver. 15.-!'M peril of '111,(J,ki,ng prow.yea. The term "proselyte11" is used, and. not "converts" or "disciplee." It is employed when the idea to be conveyed i& " persuasion" to accept some particular opinion or hobby, or to join some particular system or party. "Conversion" suggests an inward change and renewal; "pros…
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Hindoo proverbie.1 saying le, " Swallowing e.n elephant, e.nd being choked with a flea." Reference must be kept to the class of persons the.t me.y be regarded as represented by hypocritical Pharisees. I. HB wuo PBESEBVB8 THIil 8PIBIT 0AN ADAPT THIil J'OBM8. No man may say that the forms of religion are unimportant. Th…
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the sternest, sevC'rest, intensest sentence that ever passed the Divine lips of our blessed Lord. C~pable of being misunderstood and misrepresented, they are capable also of most rnt1onal and most reasonable explanation. All we have to do is to inquire whet.her the persons referred to, and the circumstances under wh…
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EXPOSITION. Ver. 2.-And leBUI said. The beet mann- OHAP'fEB XXIV, acripte e.nd the Revised Version give, But Vors.1--51.-PnoPDICCJY 011' TBII DEBTBUO- he an8'11lered and said. See ye not all these TION 011' JEBUBALEM, AND 011' THE TUfES 011' things t Vnlgate, Videtis h= omnia? On:r 'l'BE END. (Me.rk xiii. 1-37; Luk…
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Buch question• were not to be asked openly Vere. t-41.-The first portion of the greal in the hearing of any who might have fol• prophecy. lowed him from the city. There WAI nothing more resented by the average Jew than o.ny Ver. •.--Je1111 anawered and BBld. The intimation of the destruction of the temple. sncoeedi…
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unlooks Bll the myHtorios, but it opens the representatives of the whole body or be- drift of these wonderful n tter1rnces, 1md lievers. Wan and rumours of wan; i.e. enBbles us to see light Bmid the gloom. w1us neBr at hand, and distant wars or This will BppeBr more fully u we examine which the rumour only ree.ches you…
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reBdy to revolt; BritBin conquered, and tion distrib11tively, 11 plo.co by plnoe," like agnin lost; Sarmatians and Suevians con- 1eu' llv6pa: so equive.lcnt t.o "here and spiring against us; the D6ciBns ronowned there." for defeats given and sustained; the Ver. 8.-lleginning of sorrows; &,~/vo,v: Po.rthians almost …
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good and evil, fa.Ith and unbelief, which imitation of heathen practir,eR, reacted upon ehall oontinue and increase in virulence the faith of believers, undermined steadfast nnto the end (John xv. 20; xvi. 2). adherence to principle. Then was the Ver. 10.--Shall many be offended. The power of "that wicked one" (d livo…
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the la hours of most of the apostles, but if The prophecy in Dan. :ti. 81 hee been we mRy judge of tl,eir ext.ent from what generally roferred to the doings of Antioch us we know of St. Paul's, we should ee.y that Epipbanee (eee I Mncc. i. M), and the pre- very few quarters of the Roman world were sent is considered…
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the people (Joaephus, 'Ant.,' xviiL 8. 1), to Imply that the application ie not at once and the aotunl setting up of these 1nsigne obvious, and needs spiritual insight tr, in the ennotuary, and the ereotion of the discern it. (How, in the face of this statue of Titus, were subsequent to the declaration of the Son of…
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doubtless being disperl!OO on all eidea, capture of Jeruee.lem e.t 1,000,000, the neuaol plundering, burning, and elaying. Return pcpulation being le.rgely inoreased by the baok. He who WBB working in the fields mflux of pilgrims etteuding the Feeet of the only partially clad wu not to go to hia Pe.saover, and by th…
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escaped Ohristiane, who offered up uncee.eing revelation given from heaven for the pu:rpose pro.yer for their brethren and countrymen, of improving the existing faith or intro- God lessened the duration of the oolo.mities. ducing a. new one. Shall show (M,o-ovo-i., "The supplication of a. righteous man •hall gi'IHl,…
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the "here" and" there" of ver. 2S hltd not were referring primarily and chiefly to snfficientlv. denoted. He (Christ) ill in the J ernSAlem, it would be 0QBY to exph\in. dea2rt. If there WRB I\ partial fulfilment of "the carcase" to be the oorrupt oity, this ws.rning s.t the siege of J eruss.lem, when " the eagles "…
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of the pree£1nce of God, but oonld not be with e. reference to its use among the Jew■ recognized at. once u the eign of the Son of in oalling the assembly s.nd giving the man. (4) We come to what hu been the alarm. Of oouree, the ooourrence is super- almost unh-ereal interpretlltion of the natural. It is, indeed, as…
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Alford ho.a cnrloavoured to remove objections how this ignorance is disciplinary. Of that by to.king ·r•v•ci 11,S equiv&lent to -yl,,o,, a day (di, die ilia, Vulge.te) and hour, viz. ruoo or fumi y of people, and referring it to when Christ sbe.ll appear in judgment. The the oonlinued existence of the Jew& He expressio…
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d,,,- ~o M to re"eel it to us, that it was no nians' insensibility e.t the time of the gree.t J>ert of his mission from the Father to divulge plague, when the people aeemed to be exem- it to men, and therefore that he could truly plifying the maxim, "Let us eat and drink, sn" he knew it not. This seems r&ther an for…
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it le plnin thnt the nicost dlscrimlno.tion is form (eee Luke xii. 39, eto.). The good man exeroieed, e.ncl that among men e.nd womon, of the hoaee; olK08,u1r&,-71,: tM maner of the in e.U oonditlone of life, e. flne.l severe.nee houge; paterfamiliaa(Vnlga.te). It . . . he.d. ehnll then he me.de, whioh ehe.ll e.ppor…
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etewl\rd; he ie neither eelf-<ionetitoted nor unnece888ry, Re,ised Version, my lord appointed by those ovor whom he rnles. To ta.rrieth. He brings himself to believe that give them meat ( .,-~, .,-po,P~~. their food) in the day of reckoning is still distant, and due 1eaaon. It was the duty of auoh an that he will ha…
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HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-14.-The greae prophecy: General predictwns of coming sorrow,. I. THB 'TEMPLE. 1. The Lord's departwre. Jesus went out. He had taught in the temple for the last time. He had greatly loved that holy house of God. He had shown a burning zeal for its honour. Twice he had expelled the crowd of traffic…
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people's sin, e.nd the coming judgments. The crowd he.d disperaed, Four of the 11opostles, Peter e.nd James, John and Andrew, came privlltely to him. They he.d listened in awe and wonder to his stern condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees. They had he&rd him say that they. themselv~s, th~ Lord's messengers, would…
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reproduce the words which he heard from Christ, when, along with James and Jolin and Andrew, he came unto him privately on the Mount of Olives. The same apostl,, sums up the prootical teaching of this great eschatological discourse In a few striking words. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be…
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Vers. 15-28.-Pmictiom of the tuarer end: 7'ie dutrvction of J6f'Ulalem. I. THI!: wABNINGB OF THE OOMING END. 1. 7'ie sign. The Lord returns to the first question of the disciples," When shall these things be?" His eye had been looking forward in prophetic vision through the process of the ages ; now he returns to th…
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he eaye, did any other city euffer such miseries, nor did a.ny age breed a. generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was from the beginning of the world. The destruction of life was enormous. It seemed as if the whole Jewish race would be swept away. But the days of tribulation were shortened for the elect's …
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corrupted with the pollutions of sin, there shall the messengers of judgment be gathered together; as the Roman 31\gles were once gathered round Jerusalem, to fulfil the awful behests of God. Wherever the caroa.se is, here, there, far and near, throughout the 'l'ast universe of the quick a~d dead, the angels of judgmen…
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much louder and more awful shall be that trumpet-coll which shall wake the dead and summon quick and dead alike befo~e the throne I The angel.A, the messengers of the Bon of man, shall gather together his elect. The angels are his· the elect are his • they are Ohrist'e, bought with his precious blood; his, for the Fath…
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we know not, the day, the hour, of hiA own second advent. Strange that men should have ever ventured ro think that knowledge within their reach. It is hidden from us, for our g~. !t is God's will tha.t we should live looking a.lwa.ys for the judgmont. What he wills 1B best for us. He willeth that a.ll men should he …
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IV. THE PARABLIII 011' THE BEBVANTB. 1. The faithful 11,11,d wise B1JTv11,11,t. Accord- ing to St. Luke (xii. 42), where the parable occurs in another connection, it was a question of St. Pater's which gave occasion to it, "Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?" It is plainly addressed in the fir…
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mystic grace shares in the BBme offence. In fairness it should be seen that Romanist priests aud their imitators do not claim to set a.side the work and honour of Je811B Christ, but merely to administer his grace. Yet practically thoir functions are sub- stituted for Obrist's, and the people are induced to look to them…
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But the battle will not last for ever. Patience and couragt I The affiiction ie but brief. It ie foolish to risk all rather than stand out ite short time. 2. It is neaaBary to endure to the end. The ship tha.t has weathered many a storm on her long voyage must be prepared to fe.ce the last tempest, or she will perish i…
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parts of it are revealed to all of us, eome are within the perception of prophets, more m11.y be specially known to angels, very mnoh must have lain open before the eye of Christ. But God only knows the whole. The final judgment ls known only to him. Why is this? 1. Perhaps the dak ia not foud. To God, who is indepe…
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step beyond the old familiar earthly scenes. A cloud receives the traveller out of sight the moment he takes his departnre. Yet we know that there are tremendou 8 posRibilitiee in the unaeen, and we know that the blessedness or woe of the fnture lir"l depends on the conduct of this life. He who is taken has gone "to h…
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directly to hardness and harshness in dee.ling with other people, All this ls essentially degrading. The honoured steward becomes the boon compe.nion of low drunkards, 3, ffitJ ahook of surprise. Because hie lord t.arried., he l.,ega.n to think he should never be called to account. He was the more a.ma.zed and confound…
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tione of intense interest to the disciples. The time le generally indicated by the signs, These 11,re- I. APOSTASY TBROUOil THE INFLUENOE OF FALSE CHRISTS. 1. Many antichrist.~ appeared before the destruction of Jerusalem. (1) Even in apostolic days the mystery of iniquity was already working (see 2 Thess. ii. 7; 1 Jo…
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following emperors notice many in Asia and the islands of the lEgean. They took place in Crete, in Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos; in Laodicroa in the consulship of ~ero; at Hierapolis and Colosse. Jn all these pl11ces the Jews resided, Add to these that dreaJful one in JudmR mentioned by Josephus(' Wars' iv. 4), accom…
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he opens for our escape. 8. OalamiUu are miUgated /01' tk sake of the elect. (1) "Woe unto them I" etc. (ver. 19). ]'rightful accounts are found in Josephus of the sufferings of helpless women and children in those "days of vengeance." (2) "But pray ye," etc. (vers. 20-22). We mast labour to make the best of the inevit…
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revolutions and changes of the moon. As the true Church, like the moon, borrowa its light from the Suo, viz. "of righteousness," so have spurious religious systems borrowed theirs f~om civil rulers. . The moon eclipsed represents a dispcnsationa.l change in the true Church, aod coofus1on to the fa.lee Churches. (4) …
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Prophet Jonah" was Jonah, so the" sign of the Son of man" is the Son of man. In the cloud, viz. of the Shechinah, Jesus went into heaven, and in the same cloud will he return (see Acts i. 9-11). (4) Sooner or later, a.II sinners will "mourn." Those who have not mourned in contrition will "wail" in despair (cf. ver. 30;…
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hundred e.n~ ~nety yea"!, though nofl the day or season. ~2) Our Lord himself speaks of great poht1cal revolutions the.t should he.ppen before his return ; and hie language plainly implies that the event was then remote (@ee ver. 48; eh. xxv. 6, 19), (3) Paul declares that before th~t great event there should occur …
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watchful (see Rev. Iii. 8). (4) "If the master of the house had known in wb&t watoh," eto. (var. 43). Li(e, like the night, is distributed into watches. A watch in Old Test.ament times was four hours; at this time it was three. The Christian's vigilance should be uaslumbering. 2. He that is "ready" eo welcome that retw…
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approval of Christ, but the he.ppiness is reserved for him of a fUblio approbe.tion before an B11Bembled universe: "Well done." (3) He is blessed m the promotion whloh de~~ds UJJ<?n the.t public approbe.ti_on. Having been faithf?-1 in his ee.rlier oppor- turut1es, he 1s further trusted. "Verily I say unto you, He will …
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hie dlsciplee in this discourse, " Do not run away into extravagant im11ginationa under the impulse of every bit of local civil commotion. There will be II good deal of that 10rt of thing, but the • end is not yet.' The world is not going to fall to ruin, even if Jerusalem should become a desolation." Our Lord bade the…
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Vers. 12, 18.-T11e difficulty of keeping on. "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." 'l'hese verses are conneoted with Christ's propheoy of the history of his Churoh. There may be difficulty in fixing the precise references of his language, but he describes general features which are seen in…
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can only be served by rlgheeoul'MH, Bo It witneeeea against all immoralitieR of rites and ceremonies. III. THE GOBPEL-WITNEBS IS A WITNEBS CIONOBRl!IING HEN. Preach it, and the "thoughts of many heartl will be revealed." It will prove everywhere a "discerner of the thought. and intents of the heart." What is strange i…
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~rn their rela.tion to the whole course of God's dealing with his ancient people, and trace his direct working In them. All the events connected with the history of the Jewish nation are designedly revelational; and it is their revelational value which disciples must be helped to discern. But when once we see that this…
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Ill. Illustrate the text In cases of FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS; so bring to view and Impress spiritual consolations. Family sepe.re.tions always causing grief and distress. Different soenee at grave-sides beheld by ministers. Extreme distress may be shown only in noble self-restraints; see Abraham's eo,row over Sarah. What m…
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enables the aonl to meet the bridegroom not torobe11) were, as Dr. Edereheim notes, joyfully, withont dismay. The usual mar- hollow cups or 1111uoers, with e. round re- ringe customs of the Jewa a.re well known. cepte.olo for the wiok, whfoh waa fed with On the appointed day, the bridegroom, ao- pitoh or oil. They w…
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demanded. The contrast between the two Having me.de all preparations, the virgins olasses seems t.o lie In the foresight of the ceased for a. while to think of the bride- one and the negligent carelessness of the groom'• coming. The Fathers take this other. It hu been oommon from early sleep to be an image of death, th…
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11tore of grMe to which they could h11ve re- the isene would have been the same In ooul'l!e, and whioh would serve instead of either case; their return would have been individual pel'l!Onal preparation. See here too lute. The opportunity they had had a terrible warning Bgainet delay in the was not properly used; whe…
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unto yon : " in the day of retribntion the omitted by the earlier uncials, the Vulge.te, door is shut, and no knocking will unolose Byriac, .to., and are to be regarded as an its barred portal. True it is that " not exegetical interpolation (comp. eh. xxiv. 42). every one that eaith unto me, Lord, Lord, Tertnlliau well…
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ten in the one case, and three in the other ; 11rn11.ta. The eentenoe literally ii, A, • in one we have ponnds spoken of, in the man ... aalled hu otm1 bond..,rmnte. Those other talents; in St. Luke eaoh 11ervant who apeoially belonged to him-a figure of all Christie.us, members of Christ, doing hu the 11ame l!llm de…
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to him. Bo God gives us free-will at the xxiv. 18, 49), but yet not practically in hie snmo timo tlmt he sets before ue opportuni- lord's service. Hid hie lord's money. He ties of showing our faithfulness. The Lord thought the amount so small, or his master may be ,referring primarily to the apostles so rich, that it w…
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for the edifloation of others, l:lr the interests bleBBedness. And it is noted the.t the joy ia of God's Ohuroh; snoh work will show that not said to enter into us. That indoed, he is worthy of hie Lord's trust and faithful though a bleBBing unspenkable, would be e.n in his stewardship. inferior boon, e.s Augustine …
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views; they read their own oharll(iter into Ver. 26.-Thou wicked and slothful their oonoeption of him; os the !Jiml says, aervant. In marked oontrast with the com- in Pa. l. 21, "Thou thoughtest that I was mendation," good and faithful," in vers, 21, nltogether such an one 11B thyself." Reap- 23. Hew11& "wicked," in th…
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undertake suoh enterprises. Olehe.neen and dence puts in hie wl\y added opportunities, Trench regard them as the stronger l\nd as he uses these he is more and more che.raotere who, by example and gnidanoe, strengthened and replenished. From him lead the timid and hesitating to employ that he.th not(&,,-~ ~hou µ¾, lxov.…
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be [tlie] weeping and [the) gnashing of teeth majority from the account of the pro- (oh. xxiv. 51). "There," viz. in the outer ceedings at the last day? It appears, on darkness, The remembranoe of lost oppor- tunities, wasted graoee, bartered privileges, the whole, to be safest to consider "all the will Ill! the mind o…
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othC'r I ifo, or that eouls will there have Ver. 34.-Then. When tho division ia tlie offor of eccept.ing or repelling the me.de, the s011tences are pronounced. At ole.ims of Jesus (but see Phil. ii 10; 1 death a separation between good and evil is Pet. iv. 6). By describing mankind as in some sort made, e.s we loom …
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e.11 men should be saved, aml coma unto the of the eick has become e. common term amon"' knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. ii. 4). us. It implies properly going to see, though Ver. 35.-l!'or. Jeeus here gives the reason other idea.a a.re connoted. Ye ea.me unto wbiob influences him in conferring this great me. It we.a…
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lrn'"e seen him in those whom they relieved. them" (Wied. i. lS, eto.). Into everlasting Such stories arc told of Saints Augustine, fire ( .-b ,rvp .-b a1~v,o,, the fire whioh i& ever- Christopher, J\J nrtin, and others. And fed thee uuting). To the poignant regret for the ( Mplii,aµ,v). Instead of " gave me to eat"…
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condemned for this ? Some had never even claims, and bears no proportion to the merits heard of Obrist, never been taught faith in of the recipient. Nor may we reason from him: was this their fault? Thie is the line our conception of the nature and attributes which their self-justification took; there of God; how th…
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Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.