Jesus uncovered and rebuked sin before he cast it
6:24 out. Of a sick woman he said that Satan had bound
her, and to Peter he said, "Thou art an of-
fence unto me." He came teaching and
6:27 showing men how to destroy sin, sickness, and death.
He said of the fruitless tree, "[It] is hewn down."
It is believed by many that a certain magistrate,
6:30 who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: "His
rebuke is fearful." The strong language of our Mas-
ter confirms this description.
7:1 The only civil sentence which he had for error was,
"Get thee behind me, Satan." Still stronger evidence
7:3 that Jesus' reproof was pointed and pungent is found
in his own words,- showing the necessity for such
forcible utterance, when he cast out devils and healed
7:6 the sick and sinning. The relinquishment of error de-
prives material sense of its false claims.
Audible praying
Audible prayer is impressive; it gives momentary
7:9 solemnity and elevation to thought. But does it pro-
duce any lasting benefit? Looking deeply
into these things, we find that "a zeal . . .
7:12 not according to knowledge" gives occasion for reac-
tion unfavorable to spiritual growth, sober resolve, and
wholesome perception of God's requirements. The mo-
7:15 tives for verbal prayer may embrace too much love of
applause to induce or encourage Christian sentiment.
Emotional utterances
Physical sensation, not Soul, produces material ec-
7:18 stasy and emotion. If spiritual sense always guided
men, there would grow out of ecstatic mo-
ments a higher experience and a better life
7:21 with more devout self-abnegation and purity. A self-
satisfied ventilation of fervent sentiments never makes
a Christian. God is not influenced by man. The "di-
7:24 vine ear" is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing
and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is
always known and by whom it will be supplied.
Danger from audible prayer
7:27 The danger from prayer is that it may lead us into temp-
tation. By it we may become involuntary hypocrites, ut-
tering desires which are not real and consoling
7:30 ourselves in the midst of sin with the recollection
that we have prayed over it or mean to ask for-
giveness at some later day. Hypocrisy is fatal to religion.
8:1 A wordy prayer may afford a quiet sense of self-
justification, though it makes the sinner a hypocrite.
8:3 We never need to despair of an honest heart; but
there is little hope for those who come only spasmodi-
cally face to face with their wickedness and then seek to
8:6 hide it. Their prayers are indexes which do not correspond
with their character. They hold secret fellowship with
sin, and such externals are spoken of by Jesus as "like
8:9 unto whited sepulchres . . . full . . . of all uncleanness."