Hopefully you have benefitted from reading this series as much as I have in writing it. We are coming to the conclusion of chapter 5, the “ Beattitude” chapter. There is so much to be learned from Christ words and the following is no exception.
Matthew 5:33-37 Oaths
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 hisfootstool: 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.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Matthew 5:38-42 Retaliation
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.And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Matthew 5:43-48 Enemies
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
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 I he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Vs. 37 “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh”;
There are many obvious things we can do that does not honor a profession of faith, one that
might not be as obvious or carry as much weight as other more conspicuous actions would be not keeping our word. As a contractor I meet all kinds of people, some are believers, most are not. In dealing with both it saddens me when a non believer is more honorable than someone who professes to being a Christian. I do not even need a contract with them other than to clarify expectations. In dealing with people that don’t keep their word there is always an uncertainty and thus an intuitive need to have a back up plan. It’s easiest to not deal with them but that is always not an option. Therefore do your best to keep your word, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and if something changes let the other party know and definitely not find out second hand from someone else.
Lastly keeping your word is voluntary. In other words when I commit to do something it is because I want to; I believe in what I’m committing too. There are circumstances that someone wants you to agree to something that is not you, it’s not part of your belief system. Often spouses do this to each other as their insecurities seek to confine and or control the other spouse who does not share the same insecurities. This can become a problem in that the spouse is viewed as not keeping his or her word. Yet it’s not a question of keeping your word or not but of the other person trying to conform you into their image by controlling your actions. I will utterly fail as a husband if my goal or desire is to conform my spouse into my image. I did this for several years till the Lord showed me what I was doing. It was very disappointing to learn that about myself, but it taught me much about the subtleties of the flesh. What I thought I was doing for my wife’s good, was really for my good – I was image making. Learning to love with no strings attached has been the most freeing lesson. It has tremendously benefitted my marriage and me for that matter, and it most resembles Christ love for us. It allows me to leave the changing into God’s hands, where it belongs and it frees me to be there as a support, an encouragement and a conduit of God’s love ( Amen).
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. This verse has been misunderstood. It is not at all talking about self defense. The term here, “smite thee” is talking about a slap, be it back handed or palm facing. A punch is a completely different word. So we are talking about someone being insulted by you, be it perceived or something we actually did and their retaliatory action is to strike us with an open hand. If that happens we are to turn the other cheek, why do you think Christ said that?
If a police officer is called out to a robbery and pulls up to a group of people and two or three of them start running, they are most likely guilty via their own actions. When someone slaps us and we stand there calmly without any defensive action on our part and offer the other cheek, we are saying the same thing as the people that didn’t run – we are not guilty, or if we are we are owning up to our error. Two different responses to the same action communicate profoundly to the issue at hand. We are taught by Christ to always do the opposite of what the norm would be, and as such people will know that we are “the children of our Father in Heaven.”
“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
One attribute that marks and makes a statement of an individual is their allowances with their possessions. Do they share them as giving out measured portions, or do they share freely with joy? In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 there is an important lesson in generosity.
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
Talking Christian and acting Christian we all can do, but giving sacrificially puts our confession and our faith to the test. Some people by nature are just very giving and caring people, and we are the better because of them, though they may not even profess a faith. However for most of us giving tests our faith – especially sacrificial giving. To the degree that we truly believe that God is our provider, is to the degree that our giving will be transformed. If we lack in this area, or any area for that matter, the best way to grow our faith is to study verses that encourage/grow our faith in that area. For giving there are several good verses, Old and New Testament, however the one I want to share is found in Matthew 6:24-30
Put God’s Kingdom First (Luke 12:22-34; 16:13)
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.Are ye not much better than they?
– Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
Everything Jesus says not to do, e.g., take thought (worry) is exactly what we do, and why, because we are “of little faith?” And why is our faith little it is because our allegiance is divided, “No man can serve two masters:” I spent sometime with divided faith, my life was miserable. I knew too much to not know that what I was doing was wrong, as the song says guilty feelings have no rhythm” but I wasn’t ready to commit 100% to Christ – most miserable two years I every had. It’s like trying to drive a car with flat tires, you waste a lot of time and gas ( energy) to basically get no where. Life is no longer fun as it seemed before, but before life was a masquerade, a show of shadows that in the end amounted to very little joy and forget about peace.
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.Are ye not much better than they?
All that lack of faith says is that we lack intimacy with our Father – we do not take into account how He has provided for His creation even down to tinniest creations His Birds. To spend time marveling at His creation is so good for us. Each night just before going to bed I go out to lock my truck, it’s
around 10:30 and by then the stars are out and I spend a few minutes just studying them ( I see patterns and it seems like God likes triangles best of all). Studying creation be it the stars, the mountains when camping, or the ocean are ways to know God’s Greatness and put our needs into proper focus. This in combination with the intimacy one experiences when in His Word is a way to truly know that we “
Are ye not much better than they?” To know that you know the Creator of All, and that He is your Heavenly Father, so much of life’s struggles are minimized, and we live life in proper perspective, seeing life from Heaven downward as opposed from earth upwards, where God seems distance.
“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
The only way we could be “of little faith” is when our eyes our blinded to only see our needs and our concerns. To live such a small life is the life we are leaving, not the life we are to live. The cost for us to be infused with the Spirit of Holiness came at such a precious price to not fully avail ourselves of His life for us is to not only hurt ourselves, but those around us by not giving them an example of true life, or the wisdom, love, kindness and patience that such a life exhibits. Commit to truth, commit to life, it will be the only commitment you will need to ever make. Amen.
Father,
Make Holiness a quality that grows in me, Purity a joy to experience and dwell in and may Faith exceed my own eyesight. I pray this in Jesus name Amen.
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur
