Matthew 5:24

24. Before the altar Not upon the altar. Proceed not so far as to lay thy sacrifice before God. Interrupt the service and go thy way. First be reconciled By making the proper reparation. Then come and offer thy gift For not till then will thy sacrifice be holy, or thy prayer accepted.

Our Lord here implies, first, that the aught against thee is a just complaint for a real wrong. No one can be supposed unacceptable to God because a captious and slanderous man assails him with charges. And, second, the reconcilement required is not to be measured by the overbearing demands of an unreasonable person; but what we, in an exchange of cases, would justly think our rightful due.

We may here remark, 1. That the enclosure within the railing around the pulpit is properly called the chancel. But as the place where our sacred service and self-consecration are performed, it is not without Scripture reason sometimes styled the altar. 2. The advice of our Lord to clear our minds of every unholy feeling is all important. Spiritual blessings, outpourings of divine influence, revivals that do not melt away our feuds and quarrels, are of very doubtful character. 3. Yet we would caution any person from giving up the habit or form of prayer because he is conscious of not living consistently with his prayer. Let our prayers continue until they make our sins cease, and do not continue sin and let it make prayer cease.