Matthew Henry

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Hunger is a desire of food to sustain, such as sanctifying righteousness. Thirst is the desire of drink to refresh, such as justifying righteousness, and the sense of our pardon.”

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“As he cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot endure to look upon his purity; nor shall any unclean thing enter into the new Jerusalem; but all that are pure in heart, all that are truly sanctified, have desires wrought in them…”

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

“The children of this world love to fish in troubled waters, but the children of God are the peace-makers, the quiet in the land. Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, are happy.”

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“This has been the effect of the enmity of the serpent's seed against the holy seed, ever since the time of righteous Abel. It was so in Old-Testament times, as we find, Heb. xi.”

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

“Those suffer for righteousness' sake, who suffer because they will not sin against their consciences, and who suffer for doing that which is good.”

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

“They were before you in excellency, above what you are yet arrived at; they were before you in time, that they might be examples to you of suffering affliction and of patience, James”

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

“Great is your reward in heaven: so great, as far to transcend the service. It is in heaven, future, and out of sight; but well secured, out of the reach of chance, fraud, and violence.”

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

“Christ call himself the Light of the world ( John viii. 12 ), and they are workers together with him, and have some of his honour put upon them.”

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.

“Self-conceit and self-complacency, and an adoring of our own shadow, are branches of pride, as dangerous as vain-glory and ostentation before men.”

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.

“You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. For this shall every one that is godly pray. If prayerless, then graceless.”

So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

“As our Father in heaven: so in heaven as to be every where else, for the heaven cannot contain him; yet so in heaven as there to manifest his glory, for it is his throne ( Ps. ciii.”

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

“This petition has plainly a reference to the doctrine which Christ preached at this time, which John Baptist had preached before, and which he afterwards sent his apostles out to preach-- the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

“In suing out the pardon of our sins, the great plea we have to rely upon is the satisfaction that was made to the justice of God for the sin of man, by the dying of the Lord Jesus our Surety, or rather Bail to…”

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

“Not as if this were the only condition required; there must be repentance and faith, and new obedience; but as where other graces are in truth, there will be this, so this will be a good evidence of the sincerity of our other graces.”

“Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to…

“There are those whose office it is to judge-magistrates and ministers. Christ, though he made not himself a Judge, yet came not to unmake them, for by him princes decree justice; but this is directed to private persons, to his disciples, who shall hereafter sit…”

For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“The righteous God, in his judgments, often observes a rule of proportion, as in the case of Adonibezek, Judg. i. Thus will he be both justified and magnified in his judgments, and all flesh will be silenced before him.”

Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

“They were severe upon Christ's disciples for eating with unwashen hands, which was scarcely a mote, while they encouraged men in a contempt of their parents, which was a beam.”

You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

“Those who are reprovers in the gate, reprovers by office, magistrates and ministers, are concerned to walk circumspectly, and to be very regular in their conversation: an elder must have a good report, 1 Tim. iii.”

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Every one that asketh, not only shall receive, but receiveth; by faith, applying and appropriating the promise, we are actually interested and invested in the good promised: so sure and inviolable are the promises of God, that they do, in effect, give present possession: an…”

In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

“Christ has here adopted it into this law; so that both the Old Testament and the New agree in prescribing this to us, to do as we would be done by.”

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

“Christ deals faithfully with us, and tells us, First, That the gate is strait. Conversion and regeneration are the gate, by which we enter into this way, in which we begin a life of faith and serious godliness; out of a state of sin into…”

Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

“We have need to be very cautious, because their pretences are very fair and plausible, and such as will deceive us, if we be not upon our guard.”

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“Faith and a good conscience are held together, 1 Tim. i. Note, Doctrines of doubtful disputation must be tried by graces and duties of confessed certainty: those opinions come not from God that lead to sin: but if we cannot know them by their fruits…”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

“The leprosy was a noisome, loathsome disease, yet Christ touched him; for he did not disdain to converse with publicans and sinners, to do them good.”

“I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.

“They who wrought miracles by a derived power, did not speak thus positively, as Christ did, who wrought them by his own power, as one that had authority.”