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Vidalia Georgia
Matthew Chapter Five Study Aide Elder Joe Nettles
Part 1 In this life there are very few aspects of our behavior which can be counted as consistent. This is a sad truth of the fallen flesh. However, one consistency about us is that we take our blessings for granted. Our lives are played out while inundated with the richest of blessings, yet Christ’s children are woefully lacking when it comes to recognition of and thankfulness for those manifold blessings. Oftentimes we also fail to consider the significant meaning of blessedness. With this understood, it is fitting (as is everything our Lord does) that Christ would begin his first recorded sermon with a proclamation of blessedness. This message is also infused with grace and election - allusions that, more often than not, are overlooked. Where is the grace displayed in these statements of the Savior, you ask? Please notice the wording that Christ employs. “Blessed are the poor in spirit ..”, “Blessed are they that mourn..”, “Blessed are the meek..”, etc. If we will simply interpret these statements by what is said, we will see a vastly different meaning implied than what most Bible readers conclude. Seemingly, most folks errantly conclude that these are directives to be kept to obtain the blessedness referred to. Christ is not conveying the message that is so readily published from so many pulpits today that your blessedness depends wholly on your action(s). Many (in fact, most) today believe that “God helps those that help themselves” and “you’ve got to meet the Lord halfway” for you to receive blessings and blessedness. Carnal minds are saturated with the notions that God cannot do for you or work in you without you first allowing him of your own free will. Where could the grace of God figure into such an equation as this? Certainly, it is taught in the Bible that certain blessings of temporal good are hinged upon our obedience. To deny it would be to deny plain scripture. To linger upon it in this lesson would be elementary. Simply turn to Isaiah 1:19, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat of the good of the land..” or to II Peter 1:10, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall”. Clearly, the “eating of the good” and the “never falling” (not referring to falling from eternal life itself, but from the assuredness of it) are blessings that are dependent on our obedience to the commands of God. Also clearly taught and not to be denied in this article is the truth of the blessings of God’s general providence. Matthew 5:45 teaches, “..he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” There is no doubt that both regenerate and unregenerate profit from the blessings of sunshine and rain. However, the blessedness spoken of by Christ in this sermon on the mount is not (primarily) conditional nor general. These actions spoken of (being poor in spirit; being mournful; being meek; being hungry and thirsty for righteousness; being merciful, pure, and peaceable) are not presented in the form of commands to obtain blessedness, but as manifestations of a presently blessed condition! Christ didn’t say, “Become poor in spirit to become blessed” or “start being merciful to become blessed”. He clearly and repeatedly stated “Blessed are..”. There should be no doubt that he is proclaiming that any who manifest these actions and qualities in their life are already presently blessed indeed! Blessed to what degree and in what sense? To the highest degree and in the sweetest sense as the blessedness referred to is eternal life itself! Compare these passages to Matthew 25:34, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world..” Christ then went on to list graceful actions that the sheep had exhibited in their lives to expound the point that they had blessedness that originated from the foundation of the world, i.e., election and salvation! To think that the sheep perform the good works in order to obtain eternal justification and life would be to contradict the numerous scriptures that teach salvation by grace and not by works of righteousness which we have done. No, these good works were (are) done of the sheep to manifest life, not to obtain it! Consider, please, Hebrews 13:20-21, “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Amen, indeed! Notice the allusion to Christ as the shepherd over sheep which coincides perfectly with Matthew 25 above. Now, what of the good works the sheep perform? Clearly stated, if there is any goodness and righteousness (“that which is well-pleasing in his sight”) seen in the life of mortals it has been worked in them through (not to) Jesus Christ in accord with the everlasting covenant of grace. The works declare the covenant, not ratify it! Can glorious fruit come forth from a dead tree? Ridiculous thought. It would be equally ridiculous to think that the “fruit of the Spirit” (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance) referred to in Galatians 5:22-23 could grow from that which is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Paul also boldly stated that if these fruits are present then “against such there is no law.” What a blessed state this fruit reveals! No condemnation under the law anymore! Oh, the joys of the sheep on the right hand! Could we consider ourselves blessed if we were required to perform actions that we had no capacity to perform, or keep laws that we had no ability to keep in order to be saved from an eternal burning? That smacks of cursing, not blessing! It is evident in scripture that in our fleshly nature, void of God’s Spirit, we have no capacity, ability, desire, nor fitness to do that which is good and righteous. See in the Holy Writ the depraved and hopeless situation of man’s nature: Psalms 39:5 - “..verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.”
Isaiah 64:6-7 - “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee..”
Job 4:18-19 - “Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?”
Psalm 14:1 - “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Romans 3:9-20 - “..There is none righteous, no, not one…and the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes…that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Romans 8:7-8 - “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Ephesians 2:1-3 - “…who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
I Corinthians 2:14 - “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
John 8:43-44 - “Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do…”
Now, child of God, knowing what the inspired word says of man’s abilities in nature, what credence could be given to the notion that good works precede the blessed state of having life? In accord with all of the aforementioned verses (and not an exhaustive body of verse teaching the depravity of man, by any means!) it is not possible for even one good, righteous work to precede the new birth. The concept so prevalent today that a righteous work, thought, or choice must be made for us to acquire the new birth and life is preposterous when held up to the light of scripture! Rather than give a litany of additional verses to uphold this truth, we’ll let one suffice for the present. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Just the facts, ma’am! God created us in Christ. The creation in Christ (new birth) is unto good works, not vice-versa. Godliness reveals the sheep’s new nature. Godliness manifests the heart-broken sinner’s present state of blessedness in Christ. Righteousness exemplified screams “Blessed are we!”, not “Blessed may we become.”
Part Two “Blessed are..” is the wonderful proclamation unto the meek and humble sheep of God in the first eleven verses of our chapter. Grace and mercy abound in the beatitudes, comfort and assurance bless the hearts who seek righteousness. As mentioned before, Jesus bases his sermon upon the foundation of grace right from the start. His ministering servants today should strive to do the same. However, as is so often the case in scripture, this bold proclamation of his grace is followed by an exhortation to active, obedient, righteous witness. To have eternal life by grace carries with it the great responsibility to live a life of grace! Of course, our obedience cannot galvanize nor terrorize God’s wonderful grace that saves us by adopting us into his eternal family. We can neither add to nor take away from the number of his redeemed family. Christ does not address maintaining relationship in the following verses, but maintaining fellowship and identity. In verse 12, we have a great promise of “reward in heaven”. This is unfortunately oft misunderstood as a promise that if we suffer these persecutions described that we will garner for ourselves greater wealth in heaven, a bigger mansion in heaven, a higher status in heaven, etc. Some use this and like verses to try to pass off our heavenly abode in the presence of God Almighty as something as world-like as the rat race for wealth and position that folks get caught up in today. To address this issue, the question begs to be asked, “Where does greater reward need to be sought after?” Compare the realms of existence for God’s children, earth and heaven. On earth we have dual natures, the flesh and the Spirit, and are taught that we have a constant struggle for as long as we exist in this state. In heaven we will be wholly sanctified in body, soul, and spirit and preserved blameless (I Thessalonians 5:23). Now, Bible student, which situation sounds as if it could come up lacking and calls for greater labor and faithfulness unto reward? On earth, of course. There can be nothing lacking or less than utter perfection in heaven in the presence of God, this especially includes his redeemed children! The only labor unto reward that will be enjoyed and exclaimed in heaven is what Christ has done for us, not what we have garnered for ourselves. Remember, reward means that gain has been had through good works or by garnering greater favor. If we have gained reward at work or at school, it must be that we have it due to our good performance or preferred status. We can take credit for it. These rewards undeniably serve to differentiate levels of performance (“I got more rewards than you, therefore that shows that I am the better worker”) or show greater favor (“I got a better topic from the teacher for my essay, therefore that shows that she likes me better”). Can this be said of our “home in glory after awhile“? Consider the following verses as answer. Ephesians 1:4 states, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”. This verse plainly declares for us that all who will be saved to live in heaven were redeemed for a specific purpose, “..to be holy and without blame before him..” Now, if we are to understand that we can get greater joy, position, or riches in heaven due to our personal labors, we must concede that some in heaven will be more blameworthy than others. Of necessity, some will be less blameless than others according to this line of reason. More obedient vs. less obedient. More blessed vs. less blessed. But, praise unto God, his word testifies to us that we will be entirely without blame! No deficiencies or shortcomings will be had in heaven in our Lord’s presence! Notice also the last two words of Ephesians 1:4, “..in love”. Oh, how sweet the words! Paul lets us know that our state in eternity of being holy and without dreaded blame is all founded upon God’s eternal, perfect love. Knowing this, some will inevitably ask, “Are there grades of God’s love?” Well, remember the words of Christ in his intercessory prayer unto his Father in John 17:23? When referring to his beloved in that prayer he used these words, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one: and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Can God the Father have grades of love for God the Son? Has God ever loved his Son more at one time than at another? Has the Father ever loved the Son more than the Holy Spirit or vice-versa? Absolutely not! As God is love (I John 4:8) and God cannot change (Malachi 3:6), then it stands to reason that God’s love is as unchangeable. No variableness, neither shadow of turning. It also holds true that as there are no grades of love in God, then there also are no grades of God’s love for his children as he loves them as he loves his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. That same love brings forth the same holiness and the same blamelessness before God in heaven according to the text under consideration. Romans 8:16-17 also proves well the complete equity of status that we will enjoy in heaven’s pure world. It reads, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ..”. Plainly, if we are children then that means that we are joint-heirs with Christ. What does it mean to be a joint-heir? If a wealthy father dies and dictates through his will that his inheritance is to be divvied up between all his children, then they are considered heirs. They will each receive a portion of the father’s wealth to do with it as they will. Some may use it wisely, some foolishly. Ultimately, it is theirs to build up or squander. What one does with his portion doesn’t affect the others’ portions. If scripture proclaimed us as heirs and stopped there, these believers and teachers of “heavenly upward climbers” might have a leg to stand on. However, Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, declares our Father’s children as joint-heirs, not simply heirs. If that same hypothetical father dictated in his will that his children were to be joint-heirs, then that would mean that they all would have right to the whole of the father’s goods and wealth to be enjoyed and experienced together. What belongs to one also belongs to the others. No “big I’s and little U’s” in this scenario. One doesn’t have greater claim or authority over the inheritance than the others. Friends, in heaven there won’t be any “big I’s and little U’s”! We will be joint-heirs with Christ to all the unspeakable joys and riches of heaven. Can it truly be comprehended? No, not in our mortal minds! Just try to glimpse through faith the overwhelming concept of enjoying all the joys of heaven that Christ himself enjoys! It is truly too wonderful. What grace our Father has bestowed upon us. We will eternally praise his grace, not our tired, polluted, incontinent works. This is how our Father’s testament, the New Testament, reads for his children who are blessed to hear the joyful sound! These scriptures will adequately prove, I believe, to the reasonable mind that Matthew 5:12 and other verses that seem to teach a “rewards system in heaven” do not actually teach that. What does it teach us? I believe that it teaches us a rewards system from heaven. It teaches us that in suffering for righteousness’ sake, obediently serving Christ, charitable giving, loving our brethren, overcoming our pride, faithfulness to the church, etc., we receive blessings naturally and spiritually poured out from the very throne room of heaven! Matthew 10:32-33, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Does this teach that until we confess Christ before men that we cannot be eternally saved from hell? No, because then it could be said that we obtained the adoption into God’s family because of that good work. This would blatantly contradict manifold texts that teach salvation wholly of grace and not by works of righteousness which we have done. It does, however, teach a salvation in confession. In confessing Christ before men, we receive a special deliverance from confusion and despair and assurance in the Holy Ghost that Jesus represented us at Calvary. This special knowledge and bold assurance that continually lifts us up out of the quagmire of the world and points to heaven itself as our ultimate home can only be had in believing the gospel and confessing Jesus as our Lord. The Holy Ghost testifies to its eternal truth (Hebrews 10:15) and is felt in loving obedience (John 14:15,20). To be fully obedient, certainly confession openly and unashamedly is called for (John 10:8-13). John 10:13 declares, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” To call upon the Lord’s name gives evidence that heaven will be home after a while and also brings those special blessings from above while we live here. This special salvation was given to the faithful in Christ in the primitive church to endure and overcome all that assailed them. Read the Acts of the Apostles for their testimony. When Christ said that he would either confess or deny us before the Father in response to our confession, he was referring to intercessory blessings. In Hebrews 7:25 we are assured that Jesus “ever liveth to make intercession” for the elect. He didn’t stop making intercession at the cross two-thousand years ago, but “ever“ does it. Thankfully, he represents us to the Father every day with either blessings in obedience or chastisement in rebellion or neglect. This teaches a daily intercession as well as an eternal. In his suffering and faithfulness, Stephen received the unspeakable blessing as described in Acts 7:56, “..Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” In his moment of martyrdom, he was blessed to see Jesus himself stand up for him as intercessor in his ultimate time of need. Was it at that moment that Stephen secured his home in glory? Did he garner for himself extra acreage in glory? Certainly not. But, what he did receive was reward in heaven all the same. From the very abode of the Father himself, he had the blessed strength of his Savior’s presence during his earthly life and death! His actions couldn’t make heaven itself any sweeter, but the heavenly reward made all the difference in his faithful life here.
Part Three Having revealed blessed characteristics of the elect and the promise of rewards in faithfulness, our Lord continues on in Matthew chapter five with exhortation to fulfill our responsibilities. This teaching is inseparable from the gospel of grace. To truthfully preach the gospel the minister’s message must be founded on “Grace, grace unto it” (Zechariah 4:7) while at the same time teaching the harmonious doctrine of responsibility and obedience, “These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14). To “stand by the Lord” in word, action, and meditation in no way effects our eternal inheritance, but is absolutely necessary to continue in the felt assurance of that inheritance and to honor our Lord Savior. Christ proclaims in v.13, “Ye are the salt of the earth..” This statement can only be instructive to us if we are familiar with the usages of salt in the days of the Lord’s earthly life. We take salt for granted, don’t we? We thoughtlessly shake copious amounts of it onto our plates every day, even prior to tasting the food. Before I boil crawfish I place them in a large tub of water and pour at least an entire box of salt into it to purge the crawdads of impurities, and this I will do two or three times before finally putting them to boil in more salty water. If salt gets poured out onto the floor we will without hesitation scoop it up into the dust pan and toss it out. This prodigious usage of salt in Biblical times was unthinkable! It was a very precious commodity and its use was not limited to just seasoning food. Salt was utilized to give flavor, prevent spoilage, and for healing. Can you see these as being characteristics of the Lord’s redeemed? First let’s address the most common to our experience, salt as flavor. We all partake of it every day. If it is lacking or deficient our food just isn’t the same, is it? Folks with heart or renal conditions that necessitate greatly reduced salt intake will lament over the taste of their food and fondly recall the days when they could partake of it with reckless abandon. I remember one time we were “tour guides” to a family from Norway who were visiting New Orleans for a couple of days. We took them to one of our favorite Cajun restaurants to introduce them to what Chef Emeril Lagasse terms “BAM!”, the taste of south Louisiana. While we attacked our food like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat, these poor pasty Europeans could hardly eat it due to “is so salty!”. What a glaring natural, physical effect that salt makes. Likewise, brethren, the “salt of the earth” makes all the difference in the flavor and palatability of this world in which we live. This fallen sin-cursed world to which we are bound till the grave accepts its prize is an empty, vacuous existence in itself. The Apostle John expressed well the base condition of the world in his first epistle, v. 19, “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” The default state of the world is profusely wicked and ungodly. Nothing spiritual, sweet, edifying, or pleasing to the inward Spirit-born man. All that can be experienced is bland, flavorless, and nauseating. For a regenerate soul I would liken it to chewing wax. It has no flavor, no nutrients, no satisfaction, and is a progressively exhausting task. What a dismal flat mess. How thankful are we that we don’t have to chew that wax! We have flavor in this world! John referred to us in the selfsame verse as those who “..know that we are of God..”! After a long day of hearing co-workers debate which “American Idol” is best or enduring foul language describing foul living, how refreshing it is to be able to come home and discuss with my precious wife how good Christ has been to us. To treat people in the E.R. where I work who would just as soon cut my throat as bat an eye would be an impossibly daunting labor if I didn’t know of the saints in my life who wouldn’t hesitate to bow down and lovingly wash my feet. Poignantly, Job asked, “Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” (6:6). The Apostle Paul taught this lesson to the Corinthian church by referring to a different sense but one that is closely tied to taste, the sense of smell. In II Corinthians 2:14-16, Paul stated that their preaching made manifest that all men emit certain savours, or odors, to God and to others around them. Those who rejoice in the gospel of gracious liberty show forth an evidence that they are saved and are “unto God a sweet savour of Christ”. Also believers are “the savour of life unto life” to other believers. Ahhh, how refreshing are those of like precious faith! On the other hand, rejecters of the gospel give off a terrible stench! It is very likely that they are “them that perish” and are wholly unpleasing in the nostrils of the “God of truth and without iniquity”. The gospel of Christ and those who faithfully embrace it are to them “the savour of death unto death”. Likewise, their worldliness and ungodly antics raise an odor to the noses of the Spirit-filled believer that can best be described in country terms as, “What a stank!” I fail to praise God as I should for the saints in this world whose saintly saltiness pervades this world with Christian witness as effectively as a little salt can flavor every bite of gumbo in Miss Laura’s huge boiling pot. What would this world be like if we didn’t have Marie Nettles (my grandmother), Elder Manning Temples, Elder Lee Hanks, Sam Raborn (former Speaker of the House, a Primitive Baptist from Texas), Opal Payne (Elder Glenn Payne‘s wife), Lorenza Moore (my precious grandmother-in-law), Elder Oscar Easterling, Talmadge Newsome, Elder Danny Wisner, Dr. Michael Artigues (my kids‘ pediatrician in McComb. A fine Catholic believer), all those Arkansas Greens or Texas Montgomerys, or countless believers through the years both known and unknown to us! Savor the flavor, brethren. Don’t just gobble through this life without appreciation. The next attribute we need to consider is salt‘s ability to prevent spoilage. We all know that there was no such invention as refrigeration in the days of Christ. Therefore, it was imperative to have salt on hand as a retardant to spoilage. If you caught a “draught” of fish and depended on selling it or consuming it, you needed to pack it in salt. It could be safely preserved for some time till it could be eaten by your family or sold for profit at market. We, my fellow believers in Christ, are that salt for this world. I believe that any rational mind that studies history can readily see that the American Revolution that freed us from the oppressive reign of England was very unique. Why? Elder Harold Hunt of Maryville, TN, referred to this in his fine book, The Lost History of Calvinism, when he wrote, “Fifty years after our revolution, a French political philosopher by the name of Alex de Tocqueville came to America intent on discovering what made the difference. Until the American Revolution, it was the rule rather than the exception for revolutionaries to turn on each other - revolutions consumed themselves. The French Revolution did that; America’s revolution did not.” Elder Hunt goes on to give us de Tocqueville’s findings, “Then he visited America’s churches. He found the pulpits of America ’aflame with righteousness’, and learned firsthand what made America great. He went back to France and told his countrymen, ’America is great because America is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.’” Young Mr. de Tocqueville was blessed to witness the preserving effects of the salt of Christ. It was the influence of the saints and their profound conviction that their steps were being directed by the Lord of glory that preserved America from coming apart at the seams. It is that same power that has made the United States of America the most powerful and affluent nation that has ever existed in history. We have endured and will endure only because of the Lord’s blessings and the pervasive preserving influence of the believers. Please note that in the days of the Revolution, approximately 75% of the populace were grace believers. Please also note that as the teaching of false doctrines touting works-based salvation has grown in popularity, America has progressively weakened in strength, status, and spirituality. Are we headed for destruction? The trend of history certainly indicates it. Take away the salt and the corruption inevitably accelerates. In the days of righteous, just Lot, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was not executed till he and his family were led out by the angels of God. If there had been found just ten righteous in the city, they would have been spared of the judgment altogether. He had served as the preservative. Just imagine what destruction could have been prevented had Lot “walked worthy of the vocation wherewith he was called” (Ephesians 4:1). By his faithful, manifest service unto the God of his uncle Abraham he might have affected and exhorted others to repentance and righteousness. Instead, he camouflaged himself with wicked company and carnality. Lot’s salt lost savor. His life’s story is dreadfully sad and all too familiar. The last attribute of salt that will be discussed in this study is its value in maintaining health. There was no bioengineering in those days. Today we have been blessed with a plethora of medications for conditions ranging from toenail fungus to cancer. The common Amoxicillin that we take for granted (and rarely take till it’s all gone) could have saved countless lives in those primitive days. One valuable resource that they had was common salt. It could be mixed with drink for cramps. It could be placed in hot water for soaking a wound which, by the way, is still a very commonly prescribed remedy in this day of remarkable advances. In Ezekiel 16:4 in describing the child cast forth unto death (that aptly describes our total lack of spiritual life in our Adam nature), it was written, “..thou wast not salted at all..”. This salting referred to the rubbing of the newborn’s skin with salt to make it clean and firm. Europeans still go to the Dead Sea, the most saline body of water on earth, to float effortlessly for the perceived healthful effects. Various and sundry were the healthful uses of salt. Verily, is not our faithful witness and service to Christ the very remedy that is prescribed in the word for our hearts, homes, churches, communities, and world? Without a doubt! We are Jesus’ and he is our salt. Matthew 9:12 tells us of those who are unregenerate, proud, and whole in this world. They lack nothing. They have no perceived ills. They, in themselves, are “whole”. They don’t need nor crave the life-bolstering remedial salts of the Physician. However, those described as “sick” have no hope of improvement without the remedies of the Physician. Aside from Jesus, his bride has no hope of overcoming the sepsis of the devil’s devices. She may apply the balm prescribed by the physicians from Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22), but that will not affect her recovery. She may errantly follow King Asa’s example in that “in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians” (II Chronicles 16:12). But ultimately, when the Lord’s bride has “..spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any..”(Luke 8:43), she must see that her Physician, Jesus Christ, has vowed that which is exponentially greater that the Hippocratic Oath. His promise is, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings..” (Malachi 4:2). That healing affects our hearts and minds. The Pharisee and the publican went into the Temple to pray. One spewed a monologue disguised as a prayer filled with empty thanks and pride. The other repentantly prayed for mercy from the Almighty for his confessed sins. The publican went to his house justified, or declared just. How great to receive a clean bill of health! He felt closer to his God after that experience than he did before. Isn’t that the health that matters? This salt is necessary for the health of our families. The man who fearfully walks in the ways of the Lord will see blessings not only for himself, but also to his kindred. Psalm 128 declares that his wife “shall be as a fruitful vine” and his children “like olive plants round about thy table”. What about the healing effects in our churches? Psalm 128 also alludes to that. Verses 4-6, “Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.” How wonderful! What greater incentives could we have to encourage one another to righteousness and to the maintaining of the discipline of the Lord’s house? The promises include peace in the church, outpouring of blessings “out of Zion”, prosperity and vigor (“good of Jerusalem”), and to see our children and grandchildren grow up faithfully in the church. However, if the Lord’s church begins to slip in its taking of the prescribed treatments (repentance, godly living, witness, worship, obedience, mercy, commitment, etc.) we cannot expect health. As for America, or any nation for that matter, that salt can produce significant and wonderful change. By boldly, yet lovingly, declaring God’s promises to a gainsaying and disobedient nation we may be refreshed and encouraged by revival! Please don’t doubt that it is possible. I tend to be as critical and skeptical as anyone when I see the iniquities that abound around us every day. I do believe that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (II Timothy 3:13). This world in general is definitely descending into further and further reaches of sinfulness and that the only remedy is the second coming of Christ. However, in particular, I believe that revival can still be seen among populations here and there where the faithful have not fainted and have “loved not their lives unto death” (Revelation 12:11). I believe, children of salt, that the Lord’s declaration in II Chronicles 7:14 still holds true, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Spiritual invigoration is indeed possible in the land according to the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah! The “land” is described as a wilderness, a desert, and solitary. It is a parched ground that is inhabited by dragons, the fearful, the lame, and the blind. Yet, despite this bleak state, we are told of miraculous changes after they are made to “see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God” (v.2). Now the fields are made to be verdant and blossoming! Pools of spiritual water replace the parch. Healing has come at last! Verses 5-6 testify, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing..” Some may ask, “Could these promises possibly be for us today? Isn’t the spiritual landscape today too craggy and scorched for it to occur? Aren’t the precipices of despair too hazardous to cross? Isn’t the prophetic teaching in Isaiah 35 meant for some millennial reign in the future or for some unrecognized time in the past?” For your concerns, God has encouraging news in the selfsame scripture. Notice verse 3, “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.” Does that sound familiar, Bible reader? It should. It can be found repeated and applied in Hebrews 12:12! What significance does that have? Well, brethren, Paul was exhorting the Hebrew brethren in the church and invoking the promises of Isaiah 35 to encourage them right here and right now in the church! If it applied then, it applies now. Let’s not lose our savor! May the Lord Jesus Christ bless us with zeal, commitment, and faithfulness that we may always be found giving flavor, preservation, and healing in our land! Part 4 As we continue to examine the Lord’s first recorded sermon during his earthly life, we see that he builds upon the foundation that he laid in the first sixteen verses. As stated in previous studies, Jesus began with pronounced blessedness to the righteous and then fittingly preached the responsibilities incumbent upon all such characters. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” is his command to every generation of the redeemed. Our Lord begins in verse 17 with a series of exhortations concerning the Law of Moses. Now, remember that he is addressing Jews who had been immersed in the teachings of the law all their lives. Many of them knew the law and the history behind it like the backs of their hands. However, Jesus didn’t preach to affirm old attitudes and preconceived notions of what the law meant to them, but to reveal to his elect among the Jews (and, eventually, to the Gentiles) what the law meant to God! The time for change had come! Not meaning a change in the righteousness of the law. It was just, holy, and good. Christ verified this in his statements in verses 17-20 when he proclaimed, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” The perfect Law Giver came down from heaven to also be the perfect Law Keeper to the jot and tittle (the smallest symbols or marks in written Hebrew). The coming change was a better understanding of the source of righteousness and what that righteousness testified of! The letter of the law had been received on Mt. Sinai hundreds of years prior. What Jesus is about to spell out for them is the spirit of the law. Jesus was teaching that the righteousness and convictions that were transcribed on the stone tables should be seen emanating from the heart of men and not just a cold exercise of checklist obedience. Christ was teaching them on the mount that day what he had relayed unto them through the Psalmist David hundreds of years before in Psalm 51:16-17, “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Christ expressed himself plainly in verse 20, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Obedience that doesn’t come from a heart tendered by the Spirit is actually no obedience at all! Notice, please, that the time for a change in perspective having come is repeatedly expressed by Christ via the statement “..but I say unto you..” He repeats these words several times in the next several texts. Their prejudices, traditions, and various interpretations of the law needed to be cast away in light of the true teachings of the Word himself! Should we not apply that same understanding in our lives as disciples? Christ tees off in verse 17 with an example straight from the “Big Ten”, the sixth commandment from Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.” I have never risen up and murdered someone as Cain did Abel. I thank God for his Spirit, discipline, and temperance to that end. However, it would be an outright fabrication for me to say that I have never been angry at my brother without cause or have never thought to say unto him, “Raca!” (many believe the term to mean “empty head”. Certainly a derogatory slur against someone). The lesson is to not think yourself pure and sinless simply because you have not offended the letter of the law. If we have thought murder or hate against our brother, then that manifests that you are just as guilty in your nature before God as is if you had executed slaughter on the scale of Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, or Josef Stalin! I believe an honest appraisal of our past and present thoughts, actions, and intentions will show us all as guilty as murderers. Christ’s truth strips away any veneer of holiness we might have assumed through the law and points to himself as the only hope for ruined sinners. Woe to all Adams who don fig leaves for raiment when only the merits of the Slain can cover our naked depravity! I feel compelled for clarity’s sake to digress a moment. In verse 22, Christ says, “..whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” Some might take this verse and try to teach that the way we live here determines our eternal destiny in part or whole. That is a great error. The Bible couldn’t be more clear that the way we live here may display our eternal destiny, but in no way determines it (I tried to make that manifestly plain in the first lesson of this chapter and would encourage you to peruse that article again). God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost determined your eternal destiny before the world ever began. Therefore, anything you could do on this earth would be too late to spoil that holy, perfect work. It would be easy to apply this statement to the non-elect, unregenerates in the world (God knoweth who they are) as they behave this way continually and will certainly feel hell’s eternal torment. However, what about we who are saved? We believe in Christ, fear God, love righteousness, love the brethren, love obedience, etc. These all show forth that our eternal destiny has been chosen for us and heaven will be our home through ages eternal! Yet we all have felt anger and spite toward others well up within us since our regeneration and conversion. It’s grievous, but true all the same. In light of this, can this be teaching an eternal consequence? If so, then we are all doomed and none will live in heaven. Perish the thought! To those interested in rightly dividing the word of truth it should be obvious that a temporal, not an eternal, lesson is taught here in representative terms. Christ will do this a lot in the next several texts. The penalty under the law of Moses for murder was that the transgressor should be executed. No one would dare think that those old Israelites were executing the murderer’s eternal existence. They were, however, snuffing out his temporal, or earthly, existence. Christ used “the council” as an example. This “council” was a group of esteemed Jews whose function was to mediate between offended parties’ earthly affairs, not eternal affairs. By the same token, the “hell fire” referred to is pointing in this instance to Gehenna (the term from which “hell“ is translated), a place in the valley of Hinnom where human sacrifices had been offered in the past and in Christ’s day was used as a place to burn rubbish. It was a dark, gloomy, smoky, fiery place which the Jews knew well. Jesus is simply teaching the lesson that these malicious actions bring temporal judgment and consequences to his elect. “Hell on earth” in other words. As he so frequently did, he used the literal to teach the spiritual. Returning to the primary lesson at hand, our Lord goes on to again teach the proper spirit in regards to the law by evoking probably the foremost activity entailed in the ceremonial aspect of Moses’ law, the “gifts” or offerings. The law commanded a variety of offerings to be made at the temple and the accompanying reasons for which they were to be offered. Among these were the burnt offering (for atonement for sins in general), the meat offering (for thanksgiving and dedication to God), the peace offering (made as an expression of gratitude and desire for fellowship with God), the sin offering (made for unintentional sins of omission, weakness, etc.), and the trespass offering (to rectify for specific sins). Under the law these were integral to maintaining fellowship with God (such as they could experience in the Old Testament dispensation). The Jews had come to view these “gifts” as they had the other aspects of Moses’ law- just another cold, lifeless obedience enjoined upon them from stone tablets of old. Where was the repentance? Where were the tears of joy and contrition? Where was the heart-felt spirit at the foundation of these exercises? Where was the recognition of what these sacrifices truly represented? Jesus Christ made plain to them that to just bring a dead animal to the temple expecting to make all well when your brother still has a charge of offense against you is futile! In other words, “Awaken to the spirit of the law, silly man!”. Verses 23 and 24 describe the proper actions- leave the gift, go thy way, be reconciled, then offer the gift. That is the correct order! Fulfill the spirit first, then fulfill the law’s commandment that represents said spirit! Under the law, both were necessary. My, how the words of Micah 6: 7-8 should have been ringing in the ears of their consciences, “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Again, Christ goes on to emphasize the gravity and import of what he just revealed by representing the consequences with a scenario with which the Jews could connect, an adversary going to law against them. If you became embroiled in a conflict with someone and there was a possibility that that person would have you arrested and thrown in jail as a result, would you just sit back and let the situation foment or would you try to act quickly to come to a resolution of that conflict? Certainly you would act as quickly as possible to nip it in the bud! Our Lord teaches in this passage that if we would react in such a way in a matter of law, should we not be as diligent and conciliatory in matters of our fellowship with brethren? We should be more so. How unnecessary and detrimental to the fellowship with our brethren are offended feelings! What confusion and angst has been wrought in the church as a result of offended ones who stew in their prideful, hard hearts rather than quickly pursue reconciliation with their kindred in Christ. Should the body of Christ’s church be ravaged by a disease with such an elementary cure? God forbid. Our prayers and conversation in this life should always reflect an attitude of humility and concern for Zion’s sweet peace. This has to be sought by us all. Just as Christ taught on the mount the worthlessness of law sacrifices void of contrition, we have this lesson to ruminate in the New Testament church as well! We as well offer up sacrifices as stated in Hebrews 13: 15-16, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Just because we don’t slaughter sheep and goats in the Temple anymore, please don’t be led to believe that the day of sacrifice is over. We have the blessing of offering sacrifices now according to solely the spirit of the law, having been liberated from the burdens of sacrifices according to the letter of the law! The day pointed to by those law sacrifices has arrived! What liberty and joy to worship the Lord acceptably through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost! But wait! Can our sacrifices in the New Testament be rendered as futile via our pride and hardness as the Old Testament gifts spoken of by Christ in Matthew 5: 23-26? I believe that is what is taught in our text. In accord with this are Christ’s words in Mark 11: 25, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” The benefits and sacrificial merits of our prayers are dependent on our living according to the spirit of the law. Without forgiveness and humility in our hearts and actions, our prayers are as futile as the “prayer” of the Pharisee in Luke chapter 18. Is it our heart’s desire to offer up that which is lame and blemished to our Savior? Should an understanding of his grace and love toward us be coupled with vain, empty sacrifices because of a foolish desire to have the preeminence over our brethren? How the notion of it should rend our hearts with grief! May the Lord Jesus Christ hear us when we pray for strength to circumcise our hearts and to cast away natural corruptions. Lord help us to humbly bow before thy majesty, to have the sinister darkness of the Tempter driven away that we may better behold thy refulgent splendor! Part 5 In the last installment of our series we see the Savior in the mount with the disciples teaching on the true spirit of the Mosaic Law. Christ continues in this vein in the next few passages touching more specifically on the virtues of commitment and continence in his children. Beginning in verse 27 of Matthew chapter five, Christ begins to bear down hard on the toes of the Jews of that day by addressing adultery, marriage, and divorce. Again, our Lord plainly declares that the spirit of the law can be offended even if you boldly declare your fidelity to the Mosaic Law. It is rather easy for me to honestly say that I have never physically committed adultery against my wife. Adultery also includes one who is not married becoming romantically involved with one who is. The unmarried character also stands guilty of adultery in this case. I may be able to say that when I was unmarried I never was guilty of physically lying with another’s wife. However, as previously taught, the noose gets tighter when we consider our past motives, desires, and imaginations! Remember, the Law was not just designed to keep civil order, but to also “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful”(Romans 7:13). It becomes painfully obvious that we cannot keep God’s holy law in the whole, both in action and motive. What abject failures we are in the flesh! Thanks be unto Jesus who came and represented us in the whole perfectly. Please also keep in mind that Christ is not teaching that both transgressions (referring to that of the motive and the actual act) are to be considered equally condemnable in the church but are to be considered equally condemnable in the courts of our conscience. If there was no separation of the two, then none of us could stay in good standing in the church as we would all be adulterers! We all would be worthy of exclusion because we all at various times are guilty of lustful thoughts and motives. There wouldn’t be enough conference time for us to all express regret over our lustful thoughts that condemn us in our hearts and consciences. Also, there would be none worthy and in good standing in the church to even call a conference to hear the acknowledgments as we all are guilty and unclean. Verses 27-30 also teach another lesson. What is it? That we are all able to actively resist! “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell”. As the old saying goes, “you may not be able to keep a bird from lighting on your head, but you can keep him from building a nest in your hair!” Regenerates in the church have been given everything necessary to live sanctified lives in Jesus’ sweet name. We have faith for comfort and focus, the Holy Ghost to guide and edify, the Bible and gospel ministry to teach and warn, and the spirit of repentance to turn and recommit. II Peter 1:3 declares, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue”. Therefore, we have no excuse to live in unsanctified rebellion against Christ! The lesson taught is to do whatever is necessary to keep yourself in the good way. If you find you have a weakness for watching unclean television shows, then unhook the cable and keep the DVD player. If you have trouble controlling the DVD player, cast that out also. If you have a tendency to gaze on the immodest dress (or more accurately, undress) of magazine cover models in the check-out aisle, commit yourself to staring straight down at your shopping cart or at your children. I’ve been known to go down the aisle turning the magazines around if I’m stuck in the line for an extended period with my kids. If there is a co-worker who is getting too flirty, nip it in the bud by telling him/her directly. If that doesn’t work, ask to be transferred. If that fails, find a new job. I believe you get the point. Dangerous temptations that arise must be cast out! This is imperative. This stark truth tends to be watered down in the minds of some believers of grace salvation. Just because we have no worries of descending into eternal hell that does not mean that we don’t have precious blessings to lose through disobedience! The bible teaches us that God’s righteous judgment can come in the form of oppression by others (Isaiah 10:12-15), catastrophe (Genesis 6:11-13), fear and anguish (Deuteronomy 28:63-67); and even physical ailments and death (I Corinthians 11:30, Acts 5: 1-11). As terrible as these judgments are, they pale in comparison to the prospect of judicial blindness! This heart-rending judgment is described as like unto death ( I John 5: 16-17), as destructive as fire (John 15: 1-6), brings continual grieving (Matthew 25: 30), and can be irreversible (Hebrews 6: 4-6). To continually neglect the casting out of sin in our lives is to tempt and mock God! God is longsuffering, but will not be mocked. Please also notice that not only the hand but also the eye is used to teach this lesson of sanctification. What is the significance? The hand actually touches and handles. When one is guilty of actual “hands-on” uncleanness it seems to be a more clear-cut case in the judgment of the church. However, Christ also teaches sanctification of our vessels by referring to the eye also! I believe that in this we have an indication that you can transgress by either and come under the judgment of the church. How, you may ask? What about one who persistently looks at Internet pornography? This is clearly grievous behavior, destructive to the child of grace, his family, and church peace. No actual physical act of fornication or adultery may have taken place, but I believe that the church still has obligation to act in judgment. Some may say, “But you wrote earlier in this article that there is a difference when it comes to church judgment in regards to the motive and the actual act.” True. However, we are not talking about a fleeting desire springing from your Adamic nature that you immediately regret and turn away from. Such desires are ever-present, but nonetheless abhorrent to us. What is being referred to in this case is willful, perpetual, and obstinate! Instead of swatting the bird from his head, which is his duty and ability, he drops his hands in dishonorable surrender to the nest-builder! The same applies to one that is called “Brother” or “Sister” going to a strip club, one that would allow themselves or their children to watch filthy shows on television, or one who knows of unlawful, detrimental activity by another and does nothing to stop it. This concept is held up in Moses’ Law in Deuteronomy 22:1-4, “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them…Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them”. These all involve “thy right eye” instead of “thy right hand”. They are grievous transgressions all the same and worthy of judgment by the church. For us to fully understand the weight of the Lord’s statements in verses 31 and 32, we must understand what marital life was like among the Jews in Christ’s day. History tells us that the Jews’ fidelity in marriage was for all intents and purposes nonexistent. A man would write a bill of divorcement against his wife for a facial blemish or for burning his supper. Women had no recourse against this shameful practice till Christ’s teachings. How ironic it is that radical feminists condemn the Christian religion as misogynist when in the days of this sermon Christ was the only one speaking for downtrodden women! Our Lord’s teachings are plain. There is only one valid reason for divorce - fornication. That’s it. There are any number of various and sundry situations in marriage that may break the heart and burden the soul past repair. However, when it comes right down to it, fornication is the only valid reason for divorce given in scripture. Fidelity to oath and vow is important to God, especially when touching marriage. This issue is too broad to be addressed in this article at this time, but if Jesus-lovers leave reading this article with that knowledge burned into their brains, they will be the better for it. Continuing on in this portion of the sermon focused on commitment and fidelity, we see a strong admonishment in verses 33-36, “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.” Some interpret these verses to teach that we are to never swear an oath at any time, in any setting, or by any means. The funny thing is that I have known some in the past that would condemn anyone who swore an oath to tell the truth in court, but would sign several credit card statements daily (which are binding oaths to pay the debt). Is Christ really teaching that it is wrong to swear an oath in court or to sign a credit card statement? Thankfully, the answer is “No”. What is addressed here is the Jews’ false notion that if God’s name was not invoked in an oath, then the oath was less binding. The intended infidelity is what makes an oath rotten. God’s word is plain that oaths with integrity are by no means off the mark. Notice God’s Law in Exodus 22: 10-11, “If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it: Then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods”. This describes a holy oath of integrity, binding in the Lord’s eyes. Again, notice the words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome in Romans 1:9, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers”. I believe Paul meant what he said. He wanted the souls of the Roman brethren to be confirmed in the knowledge of his prayers on their behalf. Therefore, he swore a holy oath of integrity and did not transgress in doing so! You see, the Jews knew the direct commands of the Law as stated in Leviticus 19:12, “And ye shall not swear by name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.” They would be very hesitant to enter into an oath invoking the Lord’s name if they had intentions to possibly renege. Therefore, they might cunningly swear by heaven, the earth, Jerusalem, the temple, or the altar. In not speaking the Lord’s name in relation to the oath, they saw themselves as clear according to the letter of the Law in case they broke their oath. Christ is again shining light on the spirit of the Law as being weightier than the letter of the Law. Simply, the right thing to do is “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more that these cometh of evil.” Brethren, our word should be our bond! The oaths or commitments we enter into are binding in the Lord’s eyes. This should temper our every word. Our conversations in the world should be carefully considered so that we are not found as vacillators. We should not be flippant in entering into contractual obligations as our Lord considers this a weighty matter. Yet, at the same time, we know to tell the truth and to live lives of integrity. We are already obligated to such as disciples of Christ. Therefore, I should not hesitate to lay my hand on the Bible in court, raise my right hand, and swear “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” This is an oath of integrity. It simply attests to our commitment to fidelity, honesty, continence, and commitment to Jesus who is “the way, the truth, and the life”. Part 6 What is hyperbole? I’m afraid that if we don’t have a grasp of this frequently used literary device, then the next several verses in our study of Matthew chapter five will confound us. Webster’s dictionary defines hyperbole as “In rhetoric, a figure of speech which expresses much more or less than the truth, or which represents things much greater or less, better or worse than they really are.” It is very commonly utilized in our everyday conversations, especially in the South. How so? Well, have you ever seen a very large football player and thought, “He’s as big as a bus!” or lapped up a bowl of homemade banana pudding and exclaimed, “That tastes like heaven!”? Certainly you have. It has also been utilized in scripture. In Genesis 13:16 Abram was told of God, “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Again, in Mark 10:29-30 Christ proclaimed, “Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” Do we expect the number of the elect to be equated with the very number of individual dust particles on the earth? That seems inconceivable when examined rationally. Should we expect to literally receive a hundred sets of parents, hundreds of siblings and children, and an entire subdivision full of houses through devoted discipleship? That’s also inconceivable. Yet, it is a striking rhetorical device, is it not? When we read these grand and obviously overstated (in the literal) declarations, it causes us to halt in surprise, possibly with one eyebrow arched in contemplation. That response is the desired effect! Hyperbole is used to make us sit up and take notice that what is being spoken of is in itself momentous or grandly important. From the previously quoted scriptures we should walk away from our reading with the knowledge that Christ’s saving merit will reach an astounding number of the fallen race and that there are great, immeasurable blessings in devoted service to Christ. Such beautiful hyperbole! I believe that we must view the next few statements of the Savior in this light. In verses 38 & 39 we read, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Look at the extreme literal ramifications of the statement, please. Consider the untenable results if the command is viewed as literal and not hyperbolic. Some hold to the literal. They never fight in wars, no matter how just the cause. They teach their children to never fight back against the continual assaults of ruffians. By their interpretation, if a thief broke into their home, stole all they have, and murdered their entire family, they would be transgressors in fighting back! Could this have been what Christ was teaching? Absolutely not! Paul wrote to the Roman church in chapter 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Certainly inferred from this statement is the knowledge that there may come times in our lives when we cannot live peaceably with all men. Are Christians expected from these precious verses to bow down and be mincemeat at the hands of the wicked, no matter what the oppressions or the situations may be? I certainly wouldn’t be led to infer that from Paul’s statement given of inspiration. In Luke 22:36 Jesus instructed his disciples, “But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” Was the sword used for hunting? No. For defense? Yes. Christ went on to say that the things concerning him had an end, meaning that his earthly presence with them would soon end as well as his special protection of their lives. This protection was alluded to in John 17:12, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” All the apostles’ lives except the reprobate Judas were kept safe by divine power while Jesus lived. Now the time was coming that they would need to defend themselves, not necessarily against the powers in authority, but against robbers and despots as they traveled in the ministry. Christ uses hyperbole in these verses to convey the “above and beyond principle”, as I refer to it. What do I mean by it? Simply, that we are expected as disciples of Christ to go “above and beyond” in our dealings with others and our responses to adversity. “Above and beyond” what? “Above and beyond” the expected actions of carnal man. We are to be on a higher plane than worldly man, a heavenly plane if you will. Our reactions and responses are to be noticeably different from those of ungodly man! If you are struck out of anger or malice by another, strive to respond peaceably and return them to a rational, peaceful frame. As much as lies in you, do not respond in like manner, hence “turn to him the other (cheek) also”. This response to such a heinous transgression is a shining testimony for the discipline of Christ. It is a response “above and beyond”! However, thereafter are we expected to continue to allow an unjust person to pulverize us without resistance? No. Defend yourself with necessary means to preserve your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Yet, we must be sure to maintain a frame of love, not of malice or revenge! Our goal should be to do what is necessary to preserve, not to mete out vengeance. That belongs unto God. The device of hyperbole is also utilized in the next three verses of our text. Verse 40 teaches, “And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.” Again, compare a literal interpretation (and the extremes to which it can be extended) with the interpretation of the verse when viewed as hyperbolic. Run to a literal extreme: If he sues you for your house, do you give him your car also? Your boat? The clothes off your back? All the money in your accounts? Where does it end? How could we ever feed our families, care for the church, have a home, or pay for medical care if we are expected to throw our justly acquired goods and money freely at any unjust crook who threatens a lawsuit? It is obviously not expected of a disciple to do such as that! Interpreted as hyperbolic: No one is friendly to the idea of having judgments levied against them. It is painful in any sense, especially so if it is unjust! However, as disciples of Christ we are taught in scripture, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Peter 4: 12-13). This gives us heavenly perspective! But, what if what has befallen you is unjust? Remember, view the scenario through the “above and beyond principle”! Remember Romans 12: 20-21, “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Imagine coming out of the courtroom after having been sued for some grievously trumped up accusations. The judge found in favor of the dishonest plaintiff and ordered judgment against you. How unjust and devastating! Now imagine you cross paths with the plaintiff on the courthouse steps. Now apply the “above and beyond principle”. What will the plaintiff expect you to do? Probably punch out his lights! But, just imagine shaking his hand instead. Imagine telling him that even though you plan to appeal lawfully, you harbor no ill will toward him and will be praying for him. Imagine telling him that you love him for Christ’s sake even though you don’t see eye to eye. What you have just done is overcome evil with good! Glory to God! The plaintiff may scoff at you. Witnesses of the encounter may think that you are off your rocker or even a coward. Who cares? You’ve just honored the Lord Jesus Christ! You’ve gone “above and beyond”. You’ve given him your cloak after having your coat taken from you. Just maybe your response will touch the heart of the plaintiff or one of the standers-by. Many an errant sheep in times past have been touched to repentance through the patient sufferings of the elect. Verses 41 & 42 are to be viewed using the same principle, I believe. We are to be forward and ready to go the extra mile. Our readiness unto good should show evidently to all around us. If we begin to believe that we have done enough, that’s when we should ask ourselves if that’s actually the case. I remember riding with a friend one time to town when I was approached by an unkempt stranger. He asked me for a few dollars for something to eat. I gave him more than he requested and told him that I hoped his fortune turned around soon. He readily thanked me and scurried off. My friend looked at me with a wry grin and snickered, “You just gave that guy drug money!” It felt a bit awkward for him to rub me that way. He was probably right. However, a blessed calm came over me when I was able to reply, “You may be right. If so, he’ll have to answer for it. But I didn’t do it primarily for his sake, but for Christ’s.” I give this account not to boast, for any boasting I might do is negated by my manifold failures. I give the account to teach that we can’t live our lives in terror that someone is going to “get one over on me”. I have worked with so many Emergency Room nurses and physicians who have become extremely bitter and unpleasant. The main reason is usually that they are paranoid that a patient is going to take advantage of their caring attitude to get more drugs or attention than they require. However, in their diligence to keep up their guard they frequently go straight to the offensive attack! What a sad pitiful way to live life. Christ instructed his disciples in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” We need to always remember that while we need serpent-like wisdom, we can’t allow it to overshadow our sheepish simplicity and dovish tenderness. Let our mission statement, if you will, be “Above and beyond for Christ!”
Part 7 No more exalted theme has ever been considered in the meditations of men than that of love. The very hearing of the term itself eases, comforts, and warms the weary soul of the elect. Whether the application be the love of a spouse, child, neighbor, stranger, or God himself, the study of the subject is always too wonderful to comprehend and too vast to exhaust! Yet, study it we must if we are ever to gain a greater knowledge of our Creator, his essence, and his purposes because the Holy Writ makes plain in I John 4:7-9 that love is not only “of God”, but that “God is love”. The remainder of Matthew chapter five’s instructions provokes us to scrutinize our actions and attitudes in relation to love and to consider the teachings in the light of our knowledge of God’s love. Again, as throughout the entire chapter, Christ frames his eternal truth in comparison to the Mosaic Law and the Jews’ errant understanding of its teachings. Christ tells the disciples in verse 43, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.” The Decalogue teaches us the concept of loving our neighbor. Also Leviticus 19:18, “...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.” That concept is plain enough. However, the Jews errantly thought that if to love our neighbors is right then hating those that we perceive as not being our neighbors is also right. This was not the command nor should it have been misconstrued in such a way. What, then, should we make of God’s gave commandment concerning those who were to be kept separate from the congregation of Israel in Deuteronomy 23:6, “Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever”? If this didn’t teach them to hate those people, then what did it teach? It is obvious in scripture that God at times used Israel’s relations with other nations to teach lessons of sanctification and what our attitude should be toward the world and the flesh. He is God and, if he so chooses, has the sovereign right to use nations of thousands and millions in whatever way he sees fit to teach lessons, or even just one lesson, to his elect! In this admonition God was teaching the necessity of giving no quarter to the world’s ways and attitudes. We are not to make ourselves at home in this world by supporting its wicked ways. However, there is a vast difference in keeping ourselves unspotted from the world and hating the people that comprise it! Therefore, our Lord proclaimed in verses 44-45, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Do you want to feel assured in yourself and show forth to others that you are one of God’s children? Yes? Then love your enemies. Notice please a couple of points learned from the Savior’s words in these verses. First, to love your enemies isn’t accomplished through worthless lip service. The Jews were masters at it. Let our witness as disciples not be defeated by cheap lip service! God forgive me, I am one of the world’s worst transgressors in this. Loving those that hate us is not accomplished by saying “love you” then sneering as they turn their backs to you. Christ defined loving our enemies as blessing, doing, and praying! Secondly, notice that when we love the hateful and unregenerate in this way, it does not sanction their wickedness. Christ maintained that while we are to love our enemies there are still “the evil and…the good” and “the just and …the unjust”. We may ask ourselves how we can ever have any measure of success in such a holy endeavor! I’d venture to say that the hardest task we ever undertake is to love those who hate, revile, and abuse us. Of necessity, to ever accomplish such a daunting task requires very special inspiration and power. Thanks be unto our Lord Jesus Christ that we as the elect of God have been freely given both! What greater inspiration could we ever hope to have to accomplish loving labors than that which we have freely received through the gospel of Jesus Christ! “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3). When the world spits in your face, tears away at your peace, and stabs you in the back, if we can only remember this admonition to consider Christ then all will be well and fine. Love will cascade if we’ll do as Jesus Christ “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…” Oh, blessed account! To hear and feel the gospel truth that the very angels desire to look into will invigorate us to loving fervor time and again. Yet, as beautiful and inspiring as gospel truth is to the elect’s ears, it takes more than just inspiration to love as Christ. Power is needed. Such unparalleled power can only be had from one source, the Holy Spirit. II Peter 1:3 declares, “his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue”. In the divine effectual call to everlasting life (the new Spiritual birth); we are endowed with the wind that stokes the fires of love. Without the Spirit, we have neither capacity nor power to love. Without loving others, there can be no felt presence of the Spirit’s power. This is attested to in I John 4:12, “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” These verses tell us:
“Love your enemies”. That is the charge. We are held accountable to live as Christ and love those who hate us for in doing so we emulate Christ. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…” Romans 5:10. Again, in Isaiah 53:3-4, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Kindred, when Christ died on the tree, he didn’t represent good little righteous children, but enemies all! Therefore, we are to love those whom we perceive as enemies. Knowing this raises good questions that have been asked by many humble disciples. If election, predestination, and particular redemption (doctrine teaching that God because of his love for only the elect chose them for certain salvation through Christ’s blood and that none but them will be saved) as taught in scripture and in the Primitive Baptist Church is correct, why then would God command us to love all our enemies when he himself did not the same? If God doesn’t love every man, why would he command us to do that which he himself won’t do? These are good, thought-provoking questions when asked for the purpose of increasing knowledge. Certainly we should be able to go to God’s word and find the answer. That is what I hope to do now. The answer lies in a better understanding of God’s perfection and knowledge. These two attributes of God when not properly understood can lead to hard feelings against God as one reads the Bible. God is all holy and righteous. We have neither call nor right to feel hard at him for anything. First, consider the unpopular truth that God is within all rights to hate the unregenerate. We feel overwhelmed with emotion when we consider the eternal love of God for his elect, but that same emotionalism has the potential of getting us out of focus when we contemplate his eternal hatred for the wicked. Yet, the truth remains that God does hate the wicked. Don’t try to water down this scriptural truth for the sake of emotionalism and misplaced compassion. Scripture is very clear on this. Romans 9:13-14, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.” Psalm 11:5, “The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.” Psalm 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 45:7, “Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness…” Secondly, God knows definitely and eternally who the wicked are. He has never been taken by surprise. Psalm 33:13-14, “The Lord looketh down from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.” Revelation 13:8, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast, JN), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” See also Revelation 17:8. Just as almighty God chose the elect to be before him in love before the world began, he also knew the remainder that weren’t chosen, the wicked. Thirdly, please recognize that we don’t have omniscience or perfect knowledge. The wickedest person we know today may be born of the Spirit tomorrow. The wind of the Spirit blows where he chooses. We see the effects of it, but we see neither where he came from nor where he goes next. This is what Christ taught Nicodemus in John chapter three. This knowledge is God’s and not ours. He sends the blessed Spirit into the hearts of those whom he chose before the foundation of the world (Romans 8:29-30). God knows where his Spirit will go and where he will not go. Those into whom he goes are seen as righteous and will perform righteousness. Those into whom the Spirit doesn’t go are seen as wicked and will always perform wickedness. No mystery to God. No riddle. No puzzle to figure out. He always has known. In conclusion, if we piece these facts together we’ll see the answer to the questions. Since God is right to hate the wicked and he knows who they are, then he is always righteous in hating the wicked. However, since we don’t have God’s omniscience and can’t have perfect, righteous judgment in pronouncing one as “the wicked”, therefore we are bound to love everyone without dissimulation. This truth is highlighted in I Peter 2:12, “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” When one is born of the Spirit he receives a new heart, not a new memory. He’ll remember the gracious words, works, and attitudes of those humble disciples that, though lovely now, were once the savor of death unto him. He’ll call to remembrance that, while he once persecuted and belittled |