Audio Archive | Christadelphians at Boston

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Location:WCF (1985)

Topic:Sermon on the Mount

Title:Class 2

Speaker:Booker, George

Download:1985-ecbs-g-booker-2.mp3

Source: archive.moorestownchristadelphians.org |

Transcript

Location:WCF (1985)

Topic:Sermon on the Mount

Title:Class 3

Speaker:Booker, George

Download:1985-ecbs-g-booker-3.mp3

Source: archive.moorestownchristadelphians.org |

Transcript

we're continuing tonight with the teachings of jesus and the sermon on the mount and the section that we're considering here is very similar at least it follows the same pattern as the section we considered yesterday

we entitled the class yesterday the two kinds of righteousness and that might even carry over into our class this evening if you want another title for this class we could take it from the last verse of the chapter be there for perfect so that uh at least for part of the class we'll be discussing what jesus meant when he spoke of the perfection

that we should show as his disciples

so let me just recapitulate a bit what uh we discussed yesterday uh by way of the two kinds of righteousness because we're moving as i said through the same area

the two kinds of righteousness are the righteousness that the pharisees exemplified and that which jesus taught and they were two very different kinds of righteousness the pharisees were interested in the technicalities and the details of the law they were interested in comparing themselves with one another uh in looking down upon others who hadn't quite fulfilled the same requirements that they had and they were interested in the actions

and not particularly in the heart or in the mind from whence those actions would develop so as long according to the pharisees as long as the actions were controlled therefore a person could be righteous without any particular regard to what he thought or what he desired

the righteousness that jesus was teaching when he said your righteousness should exceed that of the pharisees

had to be righteousness of a completely different sort righteousness that was interested in the heart as well as the actions it wasn't particularly concerned with details but rather was looking for the principles that god was trying to instill in individuals through the teaching of his law

and also the righteousness that jesus spoke of that he was instructing his disciples in was a righteousness that did not sit in judgment of anyone else that did not compare one person or his actions with another person in his actions but rather was willing to be merciful was willing to forgive even as jesus said in the beatitudes blessed are the merciful

so you see there are two very distinct kinds of righteousness and they are shown here in this chapter five by the sorts of introductions that jesus gives to them throughout this chapter beginning with about verse 19 or 20 we see that jesus is giving continual contrast you have heard it said by them of old time

and then he gives the pharisees version of righteousness

but i say unto you and then he gives his version of righteousness the two being contrasted with one another so we'll look this evening at several more of those contrasts that will bring us to the end of chapter five beginning with verse 33 then

again jesus says ye have heard that it had been said by them of old time some versions say to them of old time but it's pretty much the same sense thou shalt not forswear thyself

the rsv translates that i think quite reasonably thou shalt not swear falsely

but shalt perform unto the lord thine oaths

now so far as it went this was a very plain statement of what the law had to say that if a man desired to take an oath

he would swear by the name of god and then he was bound by that oath

without escape oh there were provisions and technicalities and exceptions to various olds that were taken but generally speaking that is what the law did in fact say

jesus goes a step beyond this

and he introduces it in verse 34 by that formula statement 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 shall thou swear by thy own head because thou canst not make one hair white or black but let your communication be yes yes or no no i'm giving the modern english equivalence there without confusing you with the king james yes yes are no no for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil or whatsoever is more than these arises out of false motives

what do we mean by that

harry whittaker in commenting on these verses said the following moses command

and is taken from deuteronomy 10 and verse 20 thou shall swear by his name

moses command brother whitaker said was ruthlessly interpreted as meaning that any other oath not addressed directly to god himself

need not be regarded as binding

this was a fine device in the hands of the pharisees for deceit or deception in a business deal

so you see the point of what the pharisees were doing they were taking the law which said if you swear you should swear by the name of god

and they were saying

if we swear by anything else

then we don't have to be held to that because the law strictly says only that if a man swears by god's name or in god's name only then is he bound to keep his oath or keep his word

so you see the pharisees we're looking at a very strict and very narrow law and they were saying it only has application in this one very small area

so if we step just over the border

if we use a different name if we swear perhaps by jerusalem or swear by ourselves or our own heads we're not bound to keep that kind of an oath because it isn't swearing in the name of god so you see by making a very narrow and limited application of moses law they were in a sense setting themselves free to do whatever else they please if they step just over to the other side

and

in a very deceitful way then a very clever way perhaps but a very deceitful way they were getting around the intent of the law

so that they might in a sense come very close to lying

if not lying all together jesus says

in effect don't try to make the law as narrow as possible but take the intention that god evidently had behind the law

the intention of

exhorting you to be honest in all your dealings and therefore understand that the spirit of the law intends that you be honest no matter what you say or how you say it

hence jesus then says do not swear at all

because apparently

among the jews and the arabs and other people in the middle east in those days i think it's even true to date

you go into a marketplace or you find two men who are attempting to conduct a business deal and they're making all kinds of promises back and forth swearing by this or that

but avoiding swearing by the name of god

so that

those things that they are saying with every pretense of being perfectly honest may or may not be true

and you know the statement let the buyer beware is thousands of years old

that is the way that the jews and the arabs quite often conducted their business deals

for that matter you go into most used car lots today and you'll find people conducting business deals in the very same way making all kinds of promises

so don't expect them to put their name on a piece of paper and swear to it in a sense those promises mean nothing

jesus says

don't get involved in this

there are a number of proverbs

in the book of proverbs that talk about the buyer and the seller the ones who make great promises and yet they mean nothing

and so much of

commerce

of salesmanship even in our modern world is conducted on some of those same principles don't believe everything you hear don't believe everything you read don't believe everything they tell you on television

it's amusing adam watches commercials sometimes and he'll come in he'll say you know that such-and-such detergent is the best by far and it's twice as good as so-and-so and barbara says don't believe it

but that's the way things are if you want to get someone's attention you have to make almost outrageous promises and then they take those promises and cut them in half or divide it by two-thirds and come up with more or less a reasonable approximation of the truth

jesus says don't get involved in that don't start making promises don't try to evade

the law of god that says you should be honest simply be honest

say what is true don't even make a pretense of promising that it's true or swearing by something and of course we don't generally swear

in that sense in any regard but the

the same principle is left i mean what he's saying is this

two people are having a conversation

and each one presumably is saying the truth to the other but then in the middle of the conversation one of the person says oh but this is really true

you know what do you immediately think you immediately think what about all the other things you just finished saying

jesus says don't

don't even think about different levels of truth

one brother i i knew he used to tell stories and he would start out

some stories by saying i'm telling this for the truth

i'm telling this far the truth

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everything you say should be true

there should be not some statements that are 75 true and others that are 90

percent true they should be true

there are some people who go about denying certain things but denying them in a very careful way if you remember a few years ago if you watch the watergate trials all the interviews and so forth you had a whole string of politicians and clerks and various government officials who went about continuously before congress or before the courts categorically denying this or that or the other and you listen to him you think every one of them is perfectly honest until you realize that if a person says i categorically deny that on the evening of june the 17th i was doing such and such of an illegal sort of activity that that categorical denial really means that i was probably doing it on the 18th or the 16th but i categorically deny beyond any question that i was doing it on the 17th and therefore a statement which appears to be true

and is true maybe in a very narrow technical sense

is essentially a false statement a lie and all you have to sit in the courtroom you see people going about lying in that particular way with the aid of clever attorneys continuously jesus says don't do that don't even think about doing that

don't deny something in such a way or don't state something positively in such a way that it intend the intent of it is to deceive someone

we probably all experience

our occasions when people did that sort of thing with us or when perhaps we were tempted to do that sort of thing to others because sometimes it's unpleasant to tell the truth

jesus says tell the truth

he says in verse

37

let your communication

that's the word logos let your word be yes yes

no no what he means by that quite plainly is

if somebody asks you something

give them a yes or no answer

and if they ask you again tell them the same thing in other words

the second time don't protest that you're telling the truth so vehemently that they might question it but rather simply say yes or no as the case may be in other words to to confirm that what you're saying is true say the same thing twice but when jesus is putting it that way what he's saying is don't elaborate don't embellish

don't protest how honest you are just say what is true and if you're asked say the same thing again and therefore you won't ever mislead people

and you will never be able to play the part of one of those super salesmen who says just enough of what's true while ignoring the other parts to make a deal or to make a sale or to work to his own advantage never do that but simply be as honest as you possibly can with all men

now

you see the principle of this is quite obvious and here we contrast the two kinds of righteousness the kind of righteousness that jesus is talking about is not that of the pharisees the pharisees approached this problem of telling the truth by saying in effect to themselves

how much do i have to say or how much do i have to do by saying to themselves

how little can i possibly get away with

are in effect how dishonest can i really be without technically telling a lie

jesus says no

when you go about to say something or to do something your question should be how honest can i possibly be so that there's no misunderstanding what i'm trying to say not not what can i get away with

jesus is saying then that there are no gradations of truth there are no compromises there are no legal subtleties that can get you out of a problem simply say what is true and if necessary say it again

the next contrast begins with verse 38.

you have heard that it had been said and i an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say unto you that you resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on my right cheek turn to him the other also

now verses 40 and 41 and 42

are clearly related to that but let's stop for just a moment and then we'll come to those verses when we've considered a bit more of verses 38-39

it's all one section obviously but we'll come to it in a moment

first of all verse 38

ye have heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for two now that is

a direct quotation from the law of moses

but apparently it was being used by the pharisees and by others as justification for seeking personal vengeance or retribution on those who have done you wrong

that man did such and such to me it's only right that i do such and such back to him an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth

though this statement is a direct quotation from the law so far as it goes in that kind of application is being taken out of context

turn with me to exodus chapter 21

beginning with verse 22.

exodus 21-22

now here is just one example

of a quotation

that eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth there are several others scattered throughout the wall but let's read the whole context and see in what sense that phrase is used

exodus 21 and verse 22 if men strive

if men are fighting

and hurt a woman with child so that her fruit depart from her

and yet no mischief follow

he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him and he shall pay as the judge is determined

and if mischief follow apparently mischief meaning if the child dies

the child that was born prematurely as a result of this stripe in which the woman was involved if any mischief follow then thou shalt give life for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burning for burning wound for wound etc

notice though in verse 22

the basis on which this kind of application should be made

according as the woman's husband will lay upon her and he shall pay as the judges determine

so apparently this expression i for i and two for two meant that and i think it has the same meaning in every place where it's used it meant that the judges had a set value

that they placed upon

the inadvertent loss of an eye

or the loss of a tooth or the loss of a hand or any other sort of wound just as and i think probably the one is patterned after the other just as if you read insurance policies and it has laid out for you there the compensation that the insurance company promises to fade if there is an accidental loss of an eye or loss of the use of a hand or any other calamity that is specially graded out and a value is assigned to each particular disability or loss that might occur the key phrase

in this passage is as the judges will determine

and it isn't suggesting at least i don't think it's suggesting that there would be a literal punishment for something that happened inadvertently in other words you were involved in a fight or uh maybe even by accident and someone lost an eye

it doesn't mean that the judges are going to lay upon the guilty party

the loss of an eye literally but rather they're going to lay a fine upon him that he might take compensation as the judges have determined is reasonable for that particular loss the payment of an eye for an eye and so forth very humane and a very reasonable sort of thing to do but apparently

a precept of the law that was misused by individuals who in a very real sense were trying to take the law into their own hands not waiting to see what a judge in israel might say was correct but going out and seeking vengeance as they saw fit on a very personal basis

okay back to matthew chapter 5.

jesus in verse 39

does not say

what the law had to say he does not say

go to the judge and get a just compensation as we might expect him to because that was pretty much i think the letter of the law you know be honorable and be honest and go to the law and go to the judge and settle your difficulties there jesus doesn't even say that he goes even one step beyond that jesus says verse 39

resist not evil

but whosoever will smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also

and i know that when we start into these verses we're talking about something that is one of the most difficult principles

not perhaps one of the most difficult principles to understand but one of the most difficult principles to accept of anything that jesus had to say

jesus says very plainly do not seek any kind of retribution

whether it be legal or illegal means

don't do it

what jesus is saying here

is very much what paul has to say in first corinthians chapter six and verse one let's look that up and read a couple of verses because it seems like paul is borrowing and amplifying the teaching of jesus in first corinthians chapter 6.

first corinthians 6

verse 1.

dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust and not before the saints

and again in verse four if then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life set them to judge who are least esteemed

in the church

or as the rsv puts it in perhaps this is a better rendering i'm not sure of verse 4 why do you lay these things before those who are least esteemed by the church that is why and he puts it in the form of a question why do you go to those outside

rather than

to those in the church or in the ecclesia to resolve your difficulties

this i think squares very much with verse 5 when he says is it so that there is not a wise man among you no not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren but brother goes to law with brother and that before the unbelievers now therefore he says there is utterly a fault among you because you go to law one with another why do and here he comes very close to quoting the words of jesus why do you not rather take wrong why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded so paul here i think is amplifying the teaching of jesus back here in matthew chapter 5.

as i said this is one of the most difficult things for us to understand and to do of all the teachings of jesus it's very plain and it's very straightforward so it can be very difficult for us

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why does jesus give such a commandment

what possible good is achieved

by suggesting maybe that's too strong maybe that's too easy a word by commanding his disciples

not to try to redress evil not to try to protect themselves or to punish the evil doer that has done something against them what possible good could that achieve

perhaps if we could begin to understand that then it might make it a little easier

if we're forced to

submit to some kind of ill treatment

brother perkis in his book

where he discussed the sermon on the mount had fallen to say about this

brother perkins said the sacrifice of god's son

bore no relation to justice

the redemption of the world brother perkins said is upon the principle of forgiveness

that i think provides the rationale for this kind of conduct on the part of the believer

god doesn't deal with us

on the principle of justice

the law of moses did the law of moses said if a man sins he's guilty

if a man sins in any point in the law he's guilty of all

the law dealt with men in that way but the law was a teacher as paul says in galatians 4 the law was a school master

to lead men

to christ to help men to understand the need of christ and the mercy that he could provide

so now in christ with these principles of the forgiveness of sins the mercy that god has shown to us through christ and the necessity for us to be merciful to others we then come face to face with a completely different way of life

we are forced to recognize that god does not deal with us

on the principle of justice

god does not demand from us

a true payment

for the sins that we have committed if he did we would all die in that without remedy

god does not deal with us on the principle of justice but mercy

therefore if we take that and then we turn around and face our fellow man

we must be prepared because of the blessing we have received from god not to turn around to our fellow man and say i have a right

i demand that my rights be upheld

i demand justice

we

can't

god doesn't demand justice from us

and you see we're right back to the same principle that jesus gave at the very beginning blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy

blessed are those who are willing to forgive

because god is willing to forgive them

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it's been said that every man wants mercy for himself and justice for everyone else

we have to be willing to give mercy to others if we expect to receive mercy

we have to be willing to overlook the faults of others no matter what their character

for sins directed against us

because god is willing to overlook our faults and forgive us

we forgive people

we put up with things we turn the other cheek not because the person who's done something to us is righteous not because he deserves to be

forgiven because we are not righteous

at the foundation we are not righteous underneath truly we do not deserve

to be forgiven

and yet god forgives us

so jesus elaborates on this principle

in verse 40 when he says if any man will soothe the law and take away thy quote let him have thy cloak also notice how this is a development of what he said in verse 25 agree with your adversary quickly

while you are in the way with him lest he deliver you to the judge and the judge deliver you into prison

if any man threatens you or attempts to sue you at law and take away something that's rightfully yours

jesus says if any man will soothe thee at the law and take away thy code let him have thy quote also in other words do even more than is required of you just to make peace just to satisfy a problem just to be done with it

do even more than is required of you because god and here again is the same rationale because god has done more for you than you could ever have expected more than you ever deserved

verse 41 and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain or two and here is a very practical application in the days of jesus of the sort of thing that he was talking about go the extra mile and perhaps most of us know but i'll mention it anyway that this principle that jesus is stating is based upon the roman law that any roman official or soldier could by law as he walked along the highway carrying a burden

if he grew tired of the burden he could find some poor unsuspecting fellow jew or otherwise standing alongside the road and he could conscript him like a person who's conscripted into the army he could draft him and say here you have no choice i don't care what you're doing i don't care whether you want to or not you have no choice come and carry my burden for a mile along the road

he couldn't compel him to do it for 10

miles but he could for one jesus says if you're caught in that situation don't complain don't grumble don't look for a way to get out of it

and instead of going one mile go two miles why not

in doing these sorts of things difficult as they might be and we can all find application for this in our lives in doing these sorts of things

we're not being foolish

we're not being weak

but we're demonstrating in a very practical way how meaningful

the mercy of god is to us

that if god was willing to go the extra mile

in coming to us and offering to us his son the salvation through his son then surely in gratitude we should be willing to go the extra mile in a very small and mundane matter

because after all what are we talking about except the loss of time

the loss of face

maybe sometimes the loss of a little bit of money

what are those things anyway

what are those things compared with the salvation that god has given to us freely

without christ

give to him but ask thee

and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away

here again we have the same principle

but now we're talking about a situation where it might be very easy to evade one's responsibility

the proverbs talk about don't say to your neighbor go and come again tomorrow when he asks something of you if you already have it there beside you but give it to him today

and turn to uh deuteronomy 15 which seems to be the place that jesus is quoting from in this verse 42

deuteronomy 15

verse 7.

the law says if there be among you a poor man of one of your brethren within any of your gates in your land which the lord your god gives to you

you shall not harden your heart

nor shut your hand from your poor brother but you shall open your hand wide unto him and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanted

beware that there be not a thought in your evil heart

saying the seventh year the year of release is at hand

in other words

this needs maybe just a bit of explanation in other words

at the seventh year all depths apparently were given in israel so a person

who had money and was approached on the first year of this seven year cycle

by some poor person who said i need to borrow a thousand dollars or whatever you know put it in terms that are meaningful to us you know a thousand dollars you kind of reach for your wallet you know ten dollars doesn't mean much but a thousand don't think about it twice so someone who is in need comes to you and says i need a thousand dollars

now in the first year of the seven year cycle you'd say

okay i can do that i have the money and i've got seven full years to get it back surely somewhere along the line oh so-and-so is going to come up with the money and i'll get it back i'll be a pretty good fellow and i'll lend him the money and maybe one day it'll come back to me and pat myself on the back and feel pretty good about it but what jesus is saying here is if

you come to the middle of the sixth year

and you know that six months down the road there's going to be

the year of release of all debts

and a person comes to you and he says i really need a thousand dollars i'll pay you back

as best i can

and you think you begin to calculate and look at the calendar and you say well by giving the thousand dollars

and he can't quite manage it and six months from now we come to the end of this calendar cycle and all the debts are forgiven as though they never existed i'm out a thousand dollars and right away you go about trying to think of excuses why maybe maybe i shouldn't do it

the law says exactly that is not the thing you're supposed to do

if you beware that there be a thought in your wicked heart saying the seventh year the year of release is at hand and thine i be evil against thy poor brother and thou give him not or nothing and he cry unto the lord against thee and it be sin unto thee thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because that for this thing the lord thy god shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou put us thy hand unto

and believe me when the principles that we say are so important to us finally come to touch our pocketbook

things can get a little bit sticky

things can get a little bit difficult

even then

jesus says there is a right way to act

and surely if we value that which is in our pocket

more than that which should be in our hearts

then that which is in our heart will certainly be lost

god says i have redeemed you without money and without price

as i redeemed israel out of egypt no ransom was paid

except the ransom of the blood of the passover lamb

no ransom was paid for us except the blood of christ and it can't be measured by money

it's amazing how many of the parables of jesus have to do with money of how for example that which has forgiven us is compared to an immense debt that is forgiven whereas that which we forgive others is compared to a very small debt and numerous of jesus's parables deal with the subject of money i suppose it's because if you start talking about money everybody pays attention

you know the math teacher goes about trying to get his rather thick headed students to add columns of figures and they can't do it until he says we'll take that 300 and put a dollar sign in front of it and right away everybody's attention is there on the board and they're adding and subtracting like crazy no problem at all you talk about money and people pay attention jesus had a way of equating money

with the essentials of our life and the truth not trying to remove money

altogether from

the life and the truth but integrating the two

and it's i think for the reason that he says in matthew chapter 6 we'll come to that a bit more i think tomorrow when we talk about matthew 6 where he says where your treasure is there will your heart be also and let's face it to some extent

all of us have our hearts where our earthly treasure is

we spend a lot more time looking in our bank book than we did looking in elvis israel and eureka or maybe even looking in our bibles

i mean we have to

where your treasure is there will your heart be also

and so jesus takes money which is at the center

of our lives and he can't do anything without money

and he ties it up with the gospel and he forces us to look at not just the way we live but what we do with the money that we have because that's a very important part of living and it can't be divorced from the truth

we need to think about what our money means to us

and when i say money i don't mean just the stuff to carry in your pockets you know that i mean the life insurance and the certificates of deposit

the investments in real estate homes and whatever

all of the things that can be turned into money all the things that come under the category of treasures in this life where your treasure is there will your heart be also

a man can be a very fine disciple

until he's forced to bring his money

into the equation and then right away we have all kinds of difficulties

and here as in everything none of us have any business judging someone else or their motives

the only business we have is exploring our own hearts

and that's what jesus says where your treasure is there will your heart be also we'll talk about that more tomorrow in matthew chapter six

in this section that we just covered we have talked about non-violence as a general principle that was taught by jesus and now before we move to the final section i think we need to mention that those things that jesus taught he lived by perfectly he was the one perfect example for everything he had to say

notice

peter's comments in first peter chapter 2.

first peter 2

and we might begin with verse 19.

for this peter says is that worthy

in other words this is a good thing this is a gracious or a kind thing

if a man for conscience toward god endure grief suffering wrongfully

suffering wrongfully

not resisting not fighting back not saying i have rights and i'm going to stand up for those rights but suffering wrongfully

for what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults you take it patiently

and say i had it coming so big deal

but if when you do well and you suffer for that and you take it patiently this is acceptable unto god

i mean any man can take it well is being punished for his faults but if he's receiving something that he doesn't deserve and he still takes it acceptably and patiently and forgivingly then that is

an acceptable thing with god and peter goes beyond that then in verse 21

for even he says here unto were ye called

called

yes called by christ

because christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow his steps who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth

and it wasn't easy was it because he was reviled and when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not

he committed himself to him that judgeth righteously who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed

if jesus had not been perfect

if jesus had not been without sin

all of his sufferings would have been to no avail

jesus had to be without sin and he had to suffer so that we might be provided with a perfect sacrifice for the covering of our sins and so right at the very heart of the gospel

there is the development of this principle that a man should suffer

a man should suffer for things that he is not guilty of

even as jesus suffered if jesus had not been willing to suffer in that way there would be no salvation for any of us and so it is not a secondary matter this matter of non-violence non-resistance to evil submission to wickedness is not a secondary matter it's not some some little side issue that you can put over here and you can say this is something that

maybe i'll do and maybe i won't but the gospel is over here and the gospel is important no

because if jesus hadn't lived in that way there would be no gospel

and so we are called upon by his example to live in the very same way forgiving being patient accepting wrong

wanting to resist

and yet refusing to resist because we're following the example of jesus it is directly intertwined with the gospel

no secondary issue no side issue it's there and it's meaningful

there are other passages we could look at but i think probably we've belabored that enough uh passages that speak of jesus very plainly the way in which he lived the way in which he resisted not evil but i think it's summarized quite well by what peter has to say there and notice why we're in first peter chapter two notice some of the earlier verses that led into this statement of what jesus did notice that he's counseling believers

to [Music]

show by their good works that's in verse 12

that they are followers of christ to submit themselves to every ordinance of man

don't resist don't try to evade the law

but go the extra mile that's the point submit yourself to every ordinance of men

for it is the will of god verse 15.

and then in verse 16 he says you are free but do not use your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness

and we're right back to talking about this sort of thing that we've mentioned a little earlier about the brother comes to you and he says i need a loan and we right away we begin calculating whether or not we can do it whether or not we're going to get the money back

we may be free to do as we please

we may have a liberty to say yes or no but don't use that liberty as a cloak for your own grief

because remember what god gave what christ gave

for you

therefore all of these things of our conduct

governing our conduct have a direct relationship to the gospel

we can't have we can't put these two things into separate compartments they're all interrelated

just a few moments on the last couple of verses of matthew 5.

the final contrast between the two kinds of righteousness

beginning with verse 43.

you have heard that it hath been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy which is very much a perversion of what the law said it was a paraphrase and it was a very mixed up application of what the law had to say jesus sets it right in verse 44 but i say unto you

love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you remember verses 10 through 12 blessed are ye when men shall persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sight

that ye may be the children of your father who is in heaven for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth reign on the just and on the unjust

god treats all men equally without regard to merit he doesn't pour rain upon those who deserve it and withhold it from others but he's merciful to all and so jesus says we should be merciful to all too

that first phrase in verse 45 we notice

do these things jesus says

difficult as they might be do them so that you will be the children of your father which is in heaven because that is the way in which he behaves

there is a family likeness in the family of god jesus showed forth

the character and the quality of his father in heaven and if we're going to be a part of that family we have to make some effort to show forth the same qualities even as you have a family a natural family and the family members show forth the same characteristics first of all quite often physically that they inherit from their parents and then because of

our the situation in which they're brought up teachings of the family and the environment they begin to show the same

emotional and spiritual and character traits

that their parents have so jesus says this is what you must do so that you will be like your father which is in heaven if you don't become like your father who is in heaven why in the world

would god want you in his kingdom why would he want you as a member of his family and the choice is made on the basis of how we react and how we mold ourselves by the principles that jesus has taught for if you love them which love you

what reward have you do not even the publicans the same

and if you salute your brother only what do ye more than others do not even the public and so

be therefore perfect

even as your father which is in heaven is perfect

is it possible for us to be perfect

should we even try

well we can evade that question a little bit by pointing out and sometimes this is done that in greek the word which is translated perfect means complete or mature it means fully developed

like the fruit on the tree perhaps it's there as a bud and then it becomes fruit

the fruit is green and then finally the fruit becomes ripe or perfect or complete

in that sense perhaps we could talk about being perfect but if you do that only i think it's really an invasion it's a lessening of the sort of statement that jesus makes and even then it becomes i think practically an impossible task if we look at it only in the natural way god says be perfect i can't be perfect i can't be complete i'm a sinner

nevertheless jesus concludes this long discussion of his of his law and the contrast between his law and that of the pharisees with a very simple statement when he says be therefore perfect be therefore complete

even as your father in heaven

is perfect or complete and when we look at the last part of that verse the even as part of it then there's not much room for evasion

the same thing that god is that's what we're supposed to be

it's kind of pricey

the worst thing that we could do though is to look at the impossible ideal and turn away and say i can't do that and go in the opposite direction jesus doesn't want that he didn't intend that by making this statement

jesus knows

that because of the limitations that all of us have we're never going to come up to the ideal

but jesus still tells us strive

for that ideal

never be satisfied with something less

you realize of course when we say that we're saying we'll never be satisfied with whatever we are

because we'll never be perfect there'll always be something more to do there'll always be some imperfection that needs to be removed and worked on and that's true so i think his statement here is not telling us to feel ashamed or embarrassed because we're not perfect i mean if anything could be embarrassing it would be considering verses 40 and 41

and 42 and realizing that so often we come short and we try to find ways around fulfilling these difficult commandments

so we shouldn't be embarrassed about that we shouldn't feel frustrated we shouldn't feel like we want to forget about all things these things because we can't do it but the point is keep trying

so put stress upon the be in the sense of keep trying to be

and not so much upon the perfect see the perfect is perhaps an impossible ideal but keep working for it nevertheless

in that regard i'm reminded of a story that i read once of

this artist this sculptor

who was quite a craftsman and he had been for many years and one day he was working in his shop working on the sculpture this masterpiece chipping away a little here and there polishing the edges and so forth and a visitor came into the workshop

and he watched the old fellow working away for a while and it looked like a beautiful work of art

but the old gentleman was still working away polishing here and rubbing there and etching a little area there and standing back to look at the work

and the bishop finally got his attention and he said

tell me sir

how do you know

when this work of art

is finished

and the old artist smiled and he said it's never finished i just keep working on it until they come and take it away

that is the way that we should approach our lives

never will we achieve perfection

never will we be finished

short of the kingdom when we stand before christ

but all we can do is what that old man did

keep on working at it until someone comes and tells us that our work is finished

Location:WCF (1985)

Topic:Sermon on the Mount

Title:Class 4

Speaker:Booker, George

Download:1985-ecbs-g-booker-4.mp3

Source: archive.moorestownchristadelphians.org |

Transcript

i thought i might move this rather quickly through this section that is a bit longer than the sections that we've discussed in the earlier classes by putting a few things on the board and helping you to get um as i got when i analyzed a bit uh a brief overview of an entire section and the points that are made in that section so first of all i could direct your attention to this board we have an outline of the first 18

verses of chapter six it really is a section all in itself that we're not going to spend too much time with at all so that we can get into the second or the last section of chapter six beginning with verse 19 and going on to the end of the chapter in this section we have a threefold warning

that jesus makes to his listeners about a particular kind of righteousness and remember we're still following up on what was the main subject of the last part of chapter five that

there were two kinds of righteousness that are being contrasted with one another the righteousness is practiced by the pharisees and a different kind of righteousness not just a different degree of righteousness but a different kind or type of righteousness that was practiced by jesus and exhorted to his followers so in following up on this jesus says beware or take heed

that you do not your arms and that rather peculiar word in the king james version verse 1

is really the word for righteousness so what he's saying is beware that you do not practice your righteousness so as to be seen by other men so in putting it that way jesus is

in a roundabout sort of way describing the pharisees and others who think like the pharisees who were interested in doing particular things so that they would be seen by others to be righteous

so that they would bolster up themselves in their own ego and their own pride

so again we're right back to what we discussed considerably in chapter five that jesus

and his laws are concerned with the intentions

not only with the outward appearance not only with the actions on the outside but the intention jesus says examine your heart as you do any particular thing and do it for the right motives so this becomes a theme that is repeated three times in the first 18 verses of chapter six with a little additional footnote actually which is quite long an additional footnote under the second section about prayer which it seems rather strange to say that something is important is the lord's prayer is in a sort of a footnote but that's the way it's set out here in the pattern that jesus is developing three times he goes through the same sequence

after making this initial statement take heed that you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them he then goes into the first of these three sections and notice how each one follows the same pattern verse two

therefore when you do your righteousness

and this particularly seems to have to do with giving of one's wealth for the benefit of others as we see in the last part of verse 2. when you do these things he says do not sound a trumpet before you in other words don't do it so as to be seen of men and there's the first point that we see in the chart in your giving do not give so as to be seen of men because if you do

you will already have your reward your reward will be the satisfaction that you feel in doing this the pride that you feel in showing how righteous you are and having other people recognize that act of righteousness but you when you do these things and here jesus is talking obviously about doing the same sort of thing whether it be the pharisees if we want them as a bad example and his followers is the good example he's talking about doing the same thing but he's talking about doing it for a completely different motive but you when you give your arms or when you give of your possessions to help others however that might be do it in secret and your father

which sees these things in secret verse four

himself will reward thee openly so a contrast between doing things openly so they might be seen by others and doing them in secret so that god who will see those things done in secret will reward openly at a later time in other words

and this this is an interesting concept that comes later in chapter six in other words you can't have your reward now and have your rewards later

and jesus gets more specific on that point in the last part of chapter six when he says you can't have treasure now and treasure later you can't have treasure on earth and treasure in heaven so here he's saying the same thing you can't have a reward now in the satisfaction the pride that comes from knowing how good you are and that other people recognize it and at the same time expect to have a reward in the future very fightingly and very sarcastically he says those who do things only to be seen by men

for the purpose of being seen by men they have their reward and a rather sad and pitiful reward it is but jesus says they have it already

now the second section follows the same pattern and here he's talking about prayer verses five and six notice again the same pattern

and when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are hypocrite uh interestingly is a greek word which literally means one who is an actor one who puts on a face who puts on a mask and plays a part don't be as a hypocrite don't do something to be seen by others while behind the mask you're really an entirely different person but be yourself and in being yourself do things for the right reasons rather than the wrong be not as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily i say unto you they have their reward the second time he's used that expression but thou when thou prayest enter thou into thy closet find a secret place and there pray in secret that your father who sees you praying in secret will reward you openly at a later time in other words you can't have your rewards for praying now and have your reward for praying later

in the same person

verses 7 through 15 then as i said is something like a footnote as if jesus is saying now that we're talking about the subject of prayer i'll tell you a bit more about prayer when you pray this is the pattern that you should follow we'll look at the lord's prayer for just a few moments when we finish going through this outline we'll come back to those verses the third

beware that jesus gives is verses 16

through 18. again it follows the same pattern moreover when he fast be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily i say unto you they have their reward

but thou when thou fastest anoint thine head and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast but unto thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly again the identical pattern now several brief notes on this first section uh points that i thought might be interesting to bring out a bit more detail in verse 2

do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets a figure speaks there that's very obvious sounding a trumpet before someone or before oneself making sure that others see the good things that one is doing do not sound a trumpet before you but apparently there's something a little more that's intended by this

and for this we have to know a bit of background of the times a bit of the customs in the temple in jerusalem there were along the sides of the court of the women outside the temple proper there were 13

arms boxes in which money was to be put for various purposes voluntary contributions to be made for such as such a bond and another fund and a third fund and so forth this apparently was what jesus was standing or sitting nearby uh as described in one of the gospels when we're told that he was sitting over near the treasury watching those who put money into the treasury and that's in mark chapter 12 if you want to look at it later and as he was watching he saw how many who had very much obviously by the clothes that they wore in their demeanor how they came and with the great ostentation with the great pretense dropped in much money they dropped the money into these boxes and we're told by some of the historians of that time that the boxes themselves the 13 ohms boxes were made of metal and they were very small at the top so that you could put your coins or your money in them and very large at the bottom

and shaped like a trumpet

so that when you dropped money into the box or the trumpet it would make a sound and if you dropped a little coin it would make a little people if you dropped a lot of coins it would just make a great flashing noise like an orchestra was playing or like a trumpet was founded so jesus says don't make your giving in that way and it's not hard to imagine the sort of activity that he was watching the pharisee with his rich robes and his friends there making sure that he came at the right time when there were the most people to be seen his friends and his relations and so forth and there was great ostentation reaching into his pocket and bringing out a bag filled with coins and waiting for just the proper moment perhaps when everything was quiet round about it and then with the great noise throwing all the coins into the trumpet and a great sound went through the temple and everyone far and wide said

isn't joshua a wonderful man look at listen to all that money that he just gave to the temple to that particular service

jesus of course in his um watching also saw the poor widow and we can imagine the way in which she gave the two mites creeping up carefully so as not to be seen and dropping the two small coins into the trumpet box that would scarcely make any noise at all and jesus in looking at the two clearly had in mind what he was saying here those pharisees those hypocrites had their reward when the money dropped into the pot into the box

her reward was to come later because she had cast in all her living all that she had all that she could possibly give

also in verse 2 and in verse 5

and verse 16 we have that phrase they have their reward

and we're told by consulting the concordances in the lexicons that that word reward i think this fills out the picture of it that word reward is quote a commercial term meaning full payment made and receipt

like a business transaction

a man pays all the money that he owes on on a note perhaps or a mortgage and he receives the mortgage back or he receives a receipt for that which he has paid jesus is literally saying when men do things for these motives to be seen by others they have already been paid in full everything they have coming has been given back to them a receipt is given the business transaction is finished if that's the way in which they approached it then that's the way in which god approaches it they have been paid in full by the satisfaction they received in doing this particular thing to be seen by others and they had no expectation of any further reward coming to them in the future for that deed

another little point and here we're getting into the section about prayer so we'll talk about the lord's prayer for a few moments in verse 7

he says when you pray i told you how not to pray and then i told you to pray in secret and that's the proper way so that you'll have a reward in heaven but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathens do one of the modern translations says do not go on babbling like the pagans babbling away repeating repetitiously the same things and when i saw that particular translation i was immediately reminded though i'm not sure that jesus had that in mind but i think it's quite fitting reminded of the prophet elijah on mount carmel with the 400 it was the 450th priest of baal who were there with their continual repetitions and they cried and they danced around the altar where the animal was was lame to be consumed by a fire and no fire came they yelled from

for half a day and god their god baal never heard them so it seems as though jesus has that very sort of thing in mind and elijah comes to him very sarcastically it's in first kings chapter 18 and he says oh perhaps your god is asleep or maybe he's gone away on a trip and you have to yell louder so he'll hear you and obviously they had no god there was no one there and no one to answer their vain repetitions they're babbling away but elijah spoke once and spoke quietly and confidently and god responded to him the god of israel the only true god

for they think that they shall be heard because of their much speaking

be not ye therefore like unto them verse 8 for your father knoweth what things you have need of even before you ask him as someone once said he who already knows all things doesn't need detailed information bulletins oh god well now we need this and now we need that now we need the other he already knows and so as is said in the old testament i believe in the book of ecclesiastes god is in heaven and you are upon earth therefore let your words be few and approach god in the same way that you might approach or at least with the same sort of feeling and and sensitivity uh and diffidence and humility that you might approach a great and mighty master upon earth be careful with your words be thoughtful of them don't repeat in your prayers uh wonderful flowery phrases so that other men might hear you and marvel at the fine prayers you gave but always keep in mind that you are approaching the lord of all the universe and do so in humility with care

after this manner therefore pray ye verse 9 and then we have jesus model prayer in verses 9 through 13 commonly referred to as the lord's prayer notice

that he has already said

that when you pray you should pray privately he said that in verse six uh i don't think that means that public prayers are wrong obviously i think he's talking about the individual and if we know something of the custom of the times the pharisees customarily stood in the marketplaces on the corners of the streets and prayed with great words so that others who passed by could see them that was clearly a sort of prayer that was very wrong and yet there are occasions as we know from reading the letters when public prayers and the at the time when brothers and sisters are gathered together public prayers are quite fitting still i think uh the council about vain repetition and flowery phrases and so forth would we would do well to heed that even today

so the pattern that jesus gives here is for private prayers but i think also to some extent it could be the pattern for public prayers prayers in the euclesia as well

there is an organization about what he gives here in this rather brief prayer first of all verses 9 and 10 there are three requests

that god be glorified then in verses 11

through the first part of verse 13 there are three personal requests three requests for the individual or for the group on behalf of whom one is praying and then finally the prayer closes in the last part of verse 13 with three

ascriptions of character to god three blessings upon god or three ways of praising god the last part of verse 13.

so notice those verses 9 and 10 3

requests that god be glorified

one thy kingdom come to thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven

excuse me i started with verse 10 rather than verse nine the first one of course in verse nine our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name that's number one number two is thy kingdom come number three thy will be done in earth now those three requests that god be glorified are all quite similar yet i think we can make some distinction between them to request that god be glorified requires

in the person offering the prayer a knowledge of what god's purpose is we cannot pray ignorantly that god be glorified we must know what it is that god intends to do so that he can be glorified and so this comes out very plainly the first request may thy name be hallowed may thy name be holy or blessed by all men and we hope that that is true so far as we have opportunity to do it today and to instruct others to praise god's holy name but we know that it will be true in the future when all men and all the earth will be filled with the glory of god god's name will be hallowed so to understand the point of that request we must understand something of what is generally referred to by christa delkins as the doctrine of god manifestation that god intends through his son and those who are righteous in his son to fill the earth with his glory god intends that his name will be upon all men and all men will glorify him as paul says first corinthians 15 that god will be all in all so to pray that sort of prayer requires us to understand something of the purpose of god as he has already promised

the next two requests are very similar and quite often you see them linked together as though there were an equal sign between the two in other words thy kingdom come equals thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that's true if we're looking forward to the kingdom that only when the kingdom comes will god's will be done perfectly on the earth but

there is a distinction it seems to me between those two

we can pray thy kingdom come and that's an obvious request that god will send his son back to the earth to establish his kingdom and again we have to know what it means uh when we speak of the gospel of the kingdom to pray that prayer properly but the second or the third

the third request that we see at the last part of verse 10 is something a little different we know that when the kingdom comes god's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven now but let's think about right now

it seems to me rather

a puny sort of prayer for any of us to pray if we were to say may god's will be done on earth in the future when christ returns and although we'll clap our hands and we'll be so happy

without taking any particular thought as to how we can go about doing god's will right now and so i think we need to expand our understanding of that phrase

to see it as a prayer

that god's will be done immediately today

as best we are able and that god give us strength to do that will so the prayer thy will be done on earth doesn't just relate to the future it relates to here and now and it relates to you and me may god's will be done now in my life and may i find

the knowledge and the strength and the faith to do his will

this portion of the prayer reminds me of what jesus said in the garden of gethsemane not my will but thine be done which should be i would think of the framework of any prayer that we offer may god's will be done even now in my life and in the lives of those who might touch as it is done in heaven in that way in a sense we can extend the kingdom of god even into this very day and to our very lives because their god will be dwelling if we are doing his will

enough on that then verses 11 through 13

the first part we have three personal requests

first one verse 11 give us this day our daily bread the thing to notice about that at least what seems important to me is

we're to ask for our provisions what we need

this day

not tomorrow not next week not next year we're not to ask for money in the bank or security that's going to take us through to the end of our lives but we're going to ask for our daily bread and jesus when he gave that as a suggestion as to how we should pray probably had in mind the children of israel in the wilderness where god provided for them if god hadn't provided for them the the food that came every day the manna and the wilderness they would have surely all perished but god provided for them one day at a time and at the most once a week he provided for them two days so that they might give their attention on the sabbath day wholeheartedly to remembering and praising god

so if we are to pray give us this day our daily bread while at the same time being anxious and concerned and frustrated and worried about what's going to happen to us next week or next month or next year we are thorough hypocrites

and again we see how linked together all the sermon on the mount is because this becomes the main theme of the last part of chapter six that we'll get to in a moment lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth the treasures upon earth but rather lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven don't be concerned about the bread for next week for next month don't worry about that god will take care of it

and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors of course following on in what jesus had said at the very beginning in the blessings blessed are those who are merciful for they are the only ones who can expect to receive mercy from god forgive us our debts even as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil the third request that god guide us by his providence in such a way that though

we undoubtedly will come into trials or we will be affected by trials and temptations we will not be led into them in the sense of them taking over our lives and changing us and removing us from the path in which we should go i think that's the sense in which he means do not lead us into temptation he means do not let the temptations of the world overwhelm us even as paul says elsewhere in one of his letters that god will not tempt us or try us above that we're able to bear but will with every temptation provide a way of escape we can't really pray to god at least it seems to me we can't pray to god that he keep us completely away from any temptations because the world is filled with temptation and it is through temptation or trial those two terms being more or less interchangeable that our character is strengthened in development so we can't pray to god to wrap us up and protect us from everything that might happen to us or everything that might lead us destroyed but we can pray to god that he guide us so that whatever trials we face we can go through them uh successfully relying upon his strength and they won't turn us aside but rather will strengthen us in our faith and our resolve

then we have at the end of verse 13 the three ascriptions are blessings upon the character of god for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever everything belongs to god and that's the main point of the last part of the prayer though one day we might be in that kingdom by the grace of god it won't be our kingdom it will be god's kingdom because it is his power and it is his glory though one day that glory may be upon us it is still the glory of god as one brother quite

fittingly said to desire the kingdom of god merely as an end for ourselves

is to desire not god's kingdom but our own kingdom

thy kingdom thy power and thy glory this is the way that jesus ends the prayer

now into the last section of matthew chapter 6 beginning with verse 19

lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth for a moth and rust dot corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal

for where your treasure is there will your heart be also

we have here perhaps the most comprehensive of all of christ's commandments why is that because it deals with the whole of our lives

there is scarcely a time in our waking moments and perhaps when we're asleep that our thoughts are not somehow

touching upon money

that seems rather crass and rather materialistic

if you look back at your own life and examine yourself carefully you'll find that that's

true the provider whether husband or wife or individual who goes out to work every day

though he or she may have time to think of other things during the day is by and large directing his or her attention toward doing a job on behalf of an employer and thereby securing a particular amount of money

even the housewife who remains at home is continually concerned if she has any any regard for prudence with taking the money that she has provided with and using it to the best advantage being careful about it planning and laying aside and so forth and so forth and then when we come to our leisure time we're continually confronted with questions of what we should do with our leisure and what we should do with our spare money you know is it right to afford this should we buy this should we spend the money for a vacation should we buy a new car etcetera etcetera etcetera etcetera most all of our lives in one way or another are taken up with our relationship to money

to mammon as jesus calls it

so how we react

how we use

money

is in large measure how we develop our character we really can't escape from it

at least in the society in which we live and perhaps there's no society where one can go and escape from that kind of concern we need money

how much money we need it's hard to say

generally the answer to that is a little bit more than we have but let's face it we do need money

in verse 22

jesus says

the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light

what is he saying he's talking about the eye as a symbol for the mind or the heart the inner feelings that which a person looks upon is that which a person desires and wants

so if your eye that is your desire your ambition or your goal that you're looking for if your eye is single

in other words if you have established in your mind that there is one thing toward which you're pointing

then your whole body will be full of light

everything you do will be directed toward that one goal

jesus said in another place the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of life because they establish one goal in their lives so it might be a reprehensible

and yet if that's their goal they don't let anything stand in their way they aim for that one goal with a single eye with a single desire and they achieve it the children of life can get bogged down they can find themselves for a while looking at one goal and then maybe on sunday mornings looking at an entirely different goal and be thoroughly confused this is what jesus is saying in verse 23 if your eye be evil in other words the opposite of single if you have double vision so to speak

and we know what that is naturally if you have double vision your whole body will be full of darkness you won't know where to look you'll be looking here you'll be looking there you'll be looking back here again it'll be a thoroughly confusing condition if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness so he comes to the punch line then in verse 24.

look at the way that you handle money

if you make money your master

and by money or mammon we mean any of the things that you can do with that money if you make that your master

then you cannot at the same time serve god no man can serve two masters either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise and push aside the other one has to make a choice in one's life ye cannot serve god and man

and yet as we're talking about money here it's the most natural thing in the world it's inescapable almost

it's the most natural thing in the world for us to desire treasure now and treasure later

for us to justify whatever level of money seeking we find we feel comfortable with or whatever we can accommodate

for us to justify whatever level of spending that we can accommodate and feel perfectly righteous in doing so but in reality find ourselves jumping back and forth between two opinions between two goals first of all spending a day or two or a week or two satisfying our baser instincts so we clothe it with some of the best motives that we can think of providing for one's family being prudent being careful enjoying life getting recreation etc etc etc

we spend a little time doing that and then we find ourselves with an entirely different goal jumping back and forth serving two masters the parody that jesus has in mind is obviously the slave who can't figure out who his master is and who has to jump when one calls and then jump from the other calls and is running continually back and forth between the two pretty soon neither master is going to have anything to do with that kind of a slave that kind of a servant

jesus says you cannot serve two masters [Music]

what is what is the meaning of this word mammon

mammon is apparently from a hebrew root word meaning something in which one trusts

uh actually more literally perhaps something which is true and solid

and you know the world is filled with people who figure there's nothing more solid

you know there's nothing more real and fundamental than wealth

you know money answers everything

money can talk money can buy anything if you have enough money you don't need anything else you don't need love you don't need affection you don't need respect

money will get it for you money by itself

so the word mammon here

is

a word that is kind of flexible in a sense it's something good it's something in which one can trust it's something which is true and reliable in fact supposedly this word is directly related to the hebrew word amen which means let it be so or it is true

but it seems as though jesus is using it in a rather sarcastic way

you know money or wealth is that which is true and that which is real only in an ironic sense it's that which the world thinks is real but there's no substance to it at all it is that in which man trusts

but he has put his trust in it mistakenly

it's like the bruised reed that if he leans upon it will break and pierce them and will not provide any support whatsoever that's what jesus says about the wealth of this world the mammon of unrighteousness

man and then as jesus expresses it means riches worldly possessions and pleasures

this acquisitiveness

this need to acquire and have and use

which is really greed

is so universally acceptable that it's almost heresy to question it even among believers to say that money is not all that important because deep down our inner being rebels against that enormously

of course it's important

just consider for a moment

the possibility of a job promotion comes up [Music]

it'll mean a bit more money maybe a bit more responsibility maybe being taken away from the family or from the equation from the truth a bit more

and we consider the possibility of that promotion

we think of the possible dangers involved in it

and then we begin to rationalize well i could use the extra money i could pay off the debts i could be a little more settled and established i wouldn't have to worry about such and such or so and so maybe i could even give a little more to the meeting to the work of god

i know it'll mean some sacrifices but surely god will understand and pretty soon we've rationalized ourselves into accepting every possibility of more money that comes along

we stopped a little bit we thought about it a little bit we questioned a little bit but we went ahead consider the world around us with all the possibilities of job promotions the consumer goods that

every time you buy something you're shocked six months later to find out that you bought a model that's now out of date and you need something better and something more expensive and a new attachment

the good life that we see portrayed in magazines

newspapers

radio and television you can't get away from it if you don't have a radio and television you drive down the road and you see the billboards telling you buy the newest model that just came out this week forget about the one you had last year it's no good anymore

you know the whole of our society

is founded inexorably on this principle that everything has to be recycled including your money you know it's not even good enough to put in your pocket and save it for a rainy day you have to go out and give it to someone else so it can spur on the economy and everybody will be happier for the experience of the money passing through so many hands

we consider all those things and we recognize that we're a part of the world that we can't escape from the world entirely

and yet do we even stop to examine ourselves

how many times in our lives that we consider

a job promotion

uh the purchase of something that we could afford but we didn't really know whether or not we needed

maybe deep down we knew we didn't need it how many times we considered that and said no to ourselves

i think if we're fair we say not very often we pamper ourselves we take very good care of ourselves

jesus says you cannot serve god and mammon

in this as in all things

we can't ever get in the position of examining our brothers we have to examine ourselves

and yet having said that i have to say let's get on with the business let's examine ourselves

let's think about these things and question some of the things we do i'm not going to do it i'm not going to question any one of you i don't know enough about your personal lives even to begin to do so and if i go home to the brothers and sisters that i live with i'm not going to look at them and question them i can't

but i'm going to try to tell them that they should question themselves

even as i try to question myself

why shouldn't we have all the wonderful things that money can buy

if we have enough money to indulge ourselves why shouldn't we do it

any good reason

what difference does it make

jesus explains

why man cannot serve god and mammon in the section beginning in verse 25

and he does it by a continual refrain

that appears four times in those verses in verse 25 in verse 27 in verse 28

verse 31 i take it back five times verse 34 as well five times he says take no thought

there's a little difficulty with that translation

uh modern versions say something like this do not be anxious about

such and such and so and so

that is the reason why we cannot trust in riches that is the reason why we shouldn't indulge ourselves in everything that we can possibly afford because if we do

we have in a sense

moved ourselves away from the position

that we enunciate when we pray give us this day our daily bread we have moved ourselves into a position where the daily necessities to satisfy our lives and to keep us alive that we might serve god have become not nearly enough and there's always something more to be had to be acquired to be used and consumed and enjoyed so jesus says if you start down that road

then you find yourself being anxious about all kinds of things being anxious about where the money is going to come from to buy the things that you are anxious about having that you didn't really need so that you could uh look good to the joneses who left live next door because you were anxious about how they thought that you might look when you really didn't need to be and so forth and so forth and so forth in a constant renewing and recurring cycle never quite coming to a satisfaction because you're chasing the wrong thing jesus says don't worry about those things

do not be anxious about those things god will provide every day he will provide for you what is necessary if you simply set out to serve him and do the best job you can now

if i say that i wouldn't mean that to be misinterpreted to say you needn't worry about doing a job if wherever you happen to work because you should and there is a reason provided for that as jesus says and as paul says and i'm paraphrasing we must serve our earthly masters as though we were serving god we must be honest with them we must be hard working with them we must give them the best that we can muster in exchange for what they're giving us and there comes the rationale for doing a good job and trying to get ahead

however you want to express that at your job you are doing what you can to the best of your ability because god has told you to not because of what you're going to get out of it right now

if that were the case then you'd be just like the pharisees and the hypocrites who have their reward now rather than having their reward later

so

nothing i'm saying should be interpreted as suggesting that we live the lackadaisical lifestyle that doesn't go about doing a good job at school or a good job in the home or a good job at the workplace that's just not true we should do the best we can doing it heartily as unto the lord that's the precise wording of one of the quotations in the new testament

jesus says we should not worry

because at the root of the misuse of money there is this

business about worry do not worry about anything

and in verses 25 through 34

jesus gives seven reasons why we should not worry

worry is a sin

fretting and being anxious about tomorrow or having things or accumulating things or using things

being anxious and worrying about anything is a sin unless it's being anxious and worrying perhaps about how best we can serve god and in that sense i don't think worry or anxiety is the proper word to use at any rate jesus says do not worry be not anxious about your life that's verse 25

about

uh

adding to your span of life that's verse 27 in other words how long am i going to live and am i going to be healthy while i'm doing it don't worry about that he says in verse 28 he says don't worry about raymond or close

in verse 31 he says don't worry about what you're going to eat or drink in verse 34 he says don't worry about tomorrow because you've already prayed to god give me today my daily bread and tomorrow you can pray the same and he'll do it again so don't even worry about tomorrow so

there are seven reasons why we shouldn't worry about food and clothing and what's going to happen tomorrow and even our health or our very lives seven reasons and they are enumerated here in these verses

in verse 25 we have the first reason

is not the life more than meat and the body more than ramen in other words jesus is saying that life itself is more important than even the food that we put into our body or the clothes that we wear the absolute essentials are all that need concern us and we have prayed to god that he give us those and we can trust that he will do we risk our lives for example to save our best suit or our best toy when the house is burning down no we run for our lives because the life is the most important thing and god has said he will take care of that life and if this life even now is more important than the food and the clothes and the other necessities that go to support that life then how much more the life that is to come so jesus says the life is more than meat and the body itself is more than rhema so don't worry about meat and raymond and so forth in verse 26 the second reason why we shouldn't worry behold the fowls of the air for they so not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly father feedeth them are ye not much better than they the second reason is the birds don't even worry

and you're worth a lot more than any sparrow

why should you worry you are the children of god surely if god cares for the birds

he'll care for you

third reason in verse 27

which of you by taking thought or by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature that's the king james version the rsv says which of you by being anxious can add one cubic unto his span of life

and that's much more reasonable to say that you're going to add one cubit to your stature would be that a man who's six feet power would suddenly become seven and a half feet tall and that's not very reasonable the word literally means one span of life and a cubit then stands for a short space of time not distance in height but time of one's life which of you by being anxious can increase your span of life even even by a few moments

and here there's very practical reason for what jesus is saying because modern

doctors physicians for example tell us that one of the things that shortens life more than any other is continual worry

so even the doctors are on the side of jesus when they tell us don't worry get stressed out of your lives and you'll live longer jesus says which of you by worrying is going to live any longer in fact you'll probably decrease your span of life by all the worry that you indulge in

fourth reason verses 28 through 30.

and why be anxious for clothes

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 clothed the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven

literally what he's talking about here this is a figure of speech for the the burning hot winds blowing in off the desert and and drying up the grass of the fields practically overnight when summer came uh tomorrow is cast into the oven of that burning fiery wind that comes from the desert shall he not much more clothe you o ye of little faith if god takes such trouble with the flowers that are soon going to die anyway how much more trouble will he take with us us who are made in his image

reason number five in verse 32 for after all these things do the gentiles seek or the heathen seek

to me this is a very very forceful reason why we should not worry jesus says and it's very blunt and it's very simple don't worry

because the godless people around you are worrying

and that by itself is almost reason enough isn't it why we shouldn't do it

if you stop and think about that

if you're ever puzzled about should i do such and such a thing or should i not do it

then you can almost always answer your quandary by saying is it something the world around me does is it something that the godless gentiles are doing all the time then maybe that's reason enough in itself for me not to do the same thing it's the reason that jesus gives here after all these things with all these anxieties and concerns the gentiles are worried so why should you be worried in other words if you see all the world rushing off in one direction but the best thing you can do is pause for a moment and consider seriously going in the opposite direction yourself

reason number six last part of verse 32 for your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things in other words just like jesus said in verse 8 of chapter 6 when he introduced the lord's prayer for your father knoweth what things you have need of before ye ask him and in that thought there is the basis for great faith and great trust god knows what you need you can tell him you can remind him once or twice

but you needn't be concerned about going out worrying and fretting and trying to get those things for yourself god knows what you really need just as the parent knows what the child needs and the child need not worry because the parent will provide so god will provide for you

and in verse 34

be not anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself

sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof in other words let the day's own troubles be sufficient for that day

or as we might say live one day at a time

because we do we can't live our lives

carrying around the worries and frustrations of last week bursting us down and keeping us from doing what we should do today

we can't live our lives

by carrying around all the worries and the expectations of what's going to happen next week if we do we'll be so burdened down we won't be able to make the proper decisions today as to how we should serve god we should live one day at a time the world is such a wicked place jesus said that we need all of our mental resources to fight against the temptations of the trials with god's help and seek to overcome them

so don't borrow worries from next week don't mortgage today so that you can buy concerns tomorrow because today is the day of your salvation today

this day

and this is a universally true statement this day right now is the only day in which we have to live

by god's grace there may be another but this day and this moment right now is the only moment in all the span of our lives

in which we have an opportunity to do anything and even as we talk about it that moment is gone to be replaced by another and we've spent one moment doing nothing except thinking about it this moment today

is the day of your salvation sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof as jesus puts it in verse 34.

and so we conclude then by considering verse 33

jesus says seek ye first the kingdom of god and that word first doesn't mean you can do it for a little while and then put it aside and go on to number two and number three and number four on your list but what he means is seek the kingdom of god first of all all the time having it foremost in your lives wherever you go and whatever you do

seek the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these other things

that you might otherwise be anxious about will be added unto you

the question is do we have the courage do we have the faith to truly put god first in all things

and i say to you that in my opinion or whatever it might be worth the materialism of the world around us in this western society

is probably the greatest threat that we will ever experience to our faith

as individuals are collectively in our epplegias we can talk about the catholic church with its false doctrines we can talk about the churches around us that would lead us astray we can talk about

pentecostalism we can talk about the the sins of adultery and divorce we can talk about any number of things that might threaten the body

but all the time like a trojan horse the greatest enemy that we have has already worked its way inside the city and there it is in our very middle the materialism of a society that tells us continually you can have anything you want just work for it and just spend the money and buy on the installment plan and nothing will ever be withheld from you it is the temptation of an idolatry of a false god that will turn us away from the true god more surely than anything else in the world around us paul says covetousness is idolatry there is no question about it and he says that because those things that we covet and we desire that we want to have can very easily work their way into our affections so that god is found to take a second place or no place at all

anything that we have elevated to the position of desiring and wanting and using [Music] and enjoying

has the potential of replacing god

and therefore has the potential of becoming an idol we can find ourselves very easily serving a false god

and so i would conclude with

another saying of jesus

that has a direct bearing it seems to me on this particular discussion

when he says in luke chapter 12 and verse 15

take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consists of not in the abundance of the things which he possesses

in other words

never should we suppose

that we are what we have

never should we suppose that what we have what we possess

is more important than who we are

a man's life ultimately in the sight of god

consists in who he is and the character that he brings before the judgment seat

all the other things that have occupied us like children playing in our in our playpens with all of our toys around the balance all of those other things that could have occupied us throughout our lives will one day be taken away from us

as if by a thief in the night and we'll find ourselves face to face with christ

with nothing to show for ourselves

not our cars not our homes

not our bonds not our bank accounts not our securities not even our accomplishments

in the sense of accumulating and getting and spending

but the only thing we'll have to show for ourselves

is what we are what we have become

take heed for a man's life consistent not

in the abundance of the things which he possesses

Location:WCF (1985)

Topic:Sermon on the Mount

Title:Class 5

Speaker:Booker, George

Download:1985-ecbs-g-booker-5.mp3

Source: archive.moorestownchristadelphians.org |

Transcript

at the very beginning in the first of these classes about the sermon on the mount that there were the eight blessings given in the first part of matthew chapter five and they were matched by the eight curses are the eight warnings that jesus gives in matthew chapter 23

it's as though he gives an opening speech to his ministry and then a closing speech to his ministry the opening speech emphasizes all the positive things blessed are the me blessed are the merciful the closing speech is a warning to the pharisees

telling them beware or woe unto you if you behave in this way and each one of the woes or each one of these bewares there are eight of them in matthew chapter 23 are are very much parallel to the blessings that he gave at the beginning and so blessings at the beginning and curses at the end and both of them directed for the same kinds of conduct or or the negative one against the other uh the opposite sort of conduct receives the curse from the one that receives the blessing [Music]

keeping that in mind we notice here that jesus in both of these

discourses of his gives that basic statement of what is at the foundation of the law and the prophets what you would that men should do unto you do ye even to them also he states it positively toward the end of the sermon on the mount and also in matthew chapter 22 the last few verses of that chapter immediately before he enters into the woes woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites he gives precisely the same statement when he says the whole law is comprehended in these two statements love god and love your neighbor as yourself so it's a very fundamental principle that he mentions at the very beginning and at the very end as a part of his two major discourses to the nation of israel

verses 13 and 14

enter ye in at the straight gate he says

for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth into life and few there be which find it

he's basing his statement here on a topographical or topological fact of the layout of jerusalem the approach to jerusalem was a very narrow road that led up a hill into the city itself and from jerusalem a very broad road led down into the valley of gehenna

where the trash the rubbish was to be collected and burned where the bodies of criminals and those who could not afford burial or their families could not afford burial were to be cast so jesus says there is a narrow road which leads up into the city of god but there is a broad road leading away from that city leading a way to destruction leading away to the garbage dump out of which there is no escape

[Music]

jesus of course speaks of himself as the way john 14 6 i am the way the truth and the life no man can come into the father except through me he tells us to walk in that way which is jesus himself

not a literal pathway but a way of life down which we walk following the pattern of all the things that jesus has been telling us in these chapters i am the way walk in that way by showing forth my character in everything that you do everything that you think everything that you say

[Music]

in verses 15 through 20

he says that we should beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves you shall know them by their fruits

they are those he says who profess many righteous things according to the law

but they live in that other kind of righteousness they live in the sort of righteousness that is interested only in details but not in changing the heart of the individual they're interested only in judging others that they might elevate themselves they are interested in justifying themselves and making themselves proud and righteous in the eyes of other men but not justifying themselves in the eyes of god

beware a false prophecy says you will know them by their fruits you will know them by their actions

do men gather breaks of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit

a man who goes about professing to live in a certain way and believe in certain principles

in effect you may need to judge to some extent at least to keep from being read astrayed by the words that he speaks you may need to observe his accents to see how real his words are and at any rate at the very least you should be judging your own actions based on your own

words by their fruits you shall know them god by our fruits will know us and here certainly he's speaking of the fruit of the spirit that paul refers to in galatians 5 the fruit of the spirit that which is produced by the teaching of god's spirit in his word is love and joy and peace and mercy and long-suffering and gentleness and meekness against which there is no law

these are the things that god intends us to show forth

jesus said something very similar at the beginning of matthew chapter 23 when he says woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites he says to those who were listening don't do the things that the pharisees do

you might listen to their words and they might sound very good but they don't live by their words so don't watch the things they do and do them you might want to do the things they tell you if they come from god's word but don't try to live the way in which they live by their fruits you shall know them

then verse 21.

we're coming to the close of everything that jesus has been saying not to close simply of chapter 7 but the close of chapters 5 6 and 7 his entire discourse and so what he's saying here should be understood in the context of a climax or a concluding statement for everything that he said earlier beginning with matthew chapter 5.

not everyone he says that sayeth unto me lord lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven many will find themselves at last in the broad way who have assumed all along they were walking in the narrow way

and yet the judgment reveals them for something altogether different again many will say to me in that day lord lord have we not prophesied in thy name and thy name have cast out demons and in thy name done many wonderful works

the fact of the matter is that in christ's name many works have been done that are far from wonderful

many things have been done and said that in themselves were despicable and yet the name of christ is drawn into the discussion as a justification for some of that conduct in some of those actions and thoughts and statements

lord lord have we not done many wonderful things in your name

and then will i profess unto them

perhaps

four of the most terrible words that we could imagine

then while i say unto them

i never knew

that word never

one of the most frightening words

in the english language

never

brother harry weaker said this grim word declares the ghastly truth

that many a life that seemed to have been lit up by a blaze of light from heaven

has in fact never emerged

from the smoke and the fire and the destruction of impending

i never knew you

depart from me all of you that work iniquity

therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine

notice the exact contrast to verse 21

those who said lord lord

jesus said i never knew you only those who do the will of the father which is in heaven

by their fruits

by their deeds you will know them whether or not they are disciples of jesus

jesus says in john chapter 13 i believe it is that by this shall all men know that you are my followers if you have love for one another

and of course love is more than an emotion more than a sentiment it must be expressed by actions

so jesus is really saying it seems to me by this you will know who are my disciples and who are not those who show their love for me their love for god and their love for their brethren by their actions

there is no other way

expressions of interest

expressions of good thoughts

expressions of one's own righteousness

or no consequence whatsoever many will say lord lord

to whom jesus will say i never knew you

therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them i will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock

what is the rock the rock is christ

the rock is the sayings of christ

the rock is a life based upon the sayings of christ

that is the only foundation

and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand the shifting sands of the seaside or the desert that can hold no foundation that shift with the winds and with the rains and with the water and the house falls and collapses

and great was the fall of it

notice that jesus refers to everything that he has said previously even when he was quoting from the law itself as these sayings of mine

we emphasize what we emphasized at the very beginning that when jesus went up in the mountain to sit down and the people were gathered to him that when he spoke it was as though he was speaking with the power and the authority of god he was the word of god made flesh and now without the least apology he says the one who hears the sayings of mine and does them

he will have built his house upon a rock and it will stand forever my sayings he said

jesus assumes all power and all authority for himself he speaks as though it were the voice of god

he speaks in fact is verse 29 tells us as one having authority and not as the scribes

the scribes were always interested and we know this from from secular history they were always interested in looking at the opinions of others and comparing what rabbi samuel said with what rabbi jonah said with what rabbi ezekiel said and putting them all together in a commentary and then adding their own thoughts on top of it and they couldn't begin to tell anyone what the law said because they had to consult all the other authorities jesus was completely different when he spoke the word came from god and there was no question about it to jesus's mind or to the to those who listened to his words

he spoke as one that had authority and not as the scribes

so we see here the contrasting ends

of the two different ways the one way which leads to destruction

because it's based upon hearing the words of god the words of christ and not doing them

saying lord lord we've known you you know us don't you and he says

i never knew you

and the other way the narrow way the straight way that leads to life and it consists in building one's house upon the rock of the sayings of jesus and attempting as best we are able to keep those sayings to keep those teachings in every part in every facet of our lives

in his concluding remarks here jesus calls to our mind the certainty of approaching judgment and he says that there is only one hope the rock upon which we should build

remember the message that jesus first preached when he came to the nation of israel we read it back in chapter four in verse 17

jesus began to preach and he said unto them repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

all the doctrine

all the first principles of the world believe perfectly laid out with proofs end upon end

will never bring us into the kingdom of god unless we learn to live by the teachings of christ and so the most fundamental of all the first principles is this repent

for the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent change your life be born again and recognize that simply passing through the waters of baptism is not in itself sufficient to bring about repentance but repentance is a change of mind and a change of life that never stops trying to improve that never stops seeking first for the kingdom of god for god's kingship over us in our lives

our lives and serving god should be a continual lie of repentance of change of growth and development and ever striving upward for the perfection that jesus spoke of when he said be ye perfect

even as your father which is in heaven is perfect

it's in a sense a very frightening thing to speak that way and to consider the ramifications of it and yet it shouldn't be because the same god who told us that we should be perfect

told us also through christ that we could be forgiven and so the strength doesn't come from us

if it rested upon us then we should give up now

but the one thing that we can give to god

[Music]

is our devotion and our dedication and our continuous effort to serve him we may fail time after time after time

but if we truly believe in god

and what he said we'll stand up again and we'll continue on the path and will try to help others along that path as well [Music]

let me conclude by reading a few verses from deuteronomy chapter 30

because it seems to me that the teachings of the law of moses

are not that much different than the teachings of christ and the same principles apply in both cases deuteronomy chapter 30

beginning with verse 11

think of these words as though they were spoken by jesus himself

for this commandment which i command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off it is not in heaven that thou should say who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it neither is it beyond the sea that thou should say who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it but the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it

see i have set before thee this day life and good

and death and evil the two ways

the two kinds of righteousness

in that i command thee this day to love the lord thy god to walk in his ways to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments that thou mayest live and multiply and the lord thy god shall bless thee in the land whether thou goest to possess it

but if thy heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear

but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them

you cannot serve god and mammon

i denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish

i never knew you

and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land whether thou passest over jordan to go to possess it i call heaven and earth to record this day against you that i have set before you life and death blessing and cursing

then almost as a father would speak

beseechingly to a child

therefore

choose

life choose life

that both thou and thy seed may live

the thou mayest love the lord thy god that thou mayest obey his voice that thou mayest cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy days

that thou mayest dwell in the land which the lord swear unto thy fathers to abraham to isaac and to jacob to give them

may that land and that promise be given to us

as well

Location:WCF (1985)

Topic:Sermon on the Mount

Title:Unknown

Speaker:Booker, George

Download:Tape 22B.mp3

Source: archive.moorestownchristadelphians.org |

Transcript

or the constitution we might say that the king is presenting to the nation

the law that is to be enforced in christ's kingdom and therefore the law that needs to be enforced with us even today and if you've noticed uh if you've been here during the earlier classes we've continually talked about the two different ways or the two different kinds of righteousness and that same kind of theme homes even into chapter 7 in those very familiar verses as jesus draws his teaching to a close when he says in verses 13 and 14 that there is one way the wide way the broad way that leads to destruction and there is the other way a narrow way a straight

way that leads to life so he still is talking about the two different ways

just as he talked earlier about the two different kinds of righteousness

we'll look at some of the earlier verses and then we'll work up to what i think is something of a climax in verses 13

and 14 on to the end of the chapter

beginning with verse one then in fact the first five verses or so compose one section

judge not

jesus says that he be not judged

the word that is translated judge here is a word that more literally we might translate condemn do not condemn others lest you will be condemned and by making it a bit stronger there than the simple word judge we emphasize that there are times in fact when we need to discern

amongst individuals and their actions and their speech even as jesus himself says in other places for example verse 16 of chapter 7

when he says verse 15 and 16 beware of false prophets and then he says this is how you will know the false prophets you will know them by their fruits or by their works or by what they do so there is a rather limited sense in which it is permissible and it isn't it is even required of us we might say to judge to discern to understand and make distinctions between different teachings and different individuals

jesus does say however we should not condemn

those who condemn others will find themselves condemned by god for with what judgment or with what condemnation you condemn you shall be condemned by the great judge and with what measure you meet or you measure out to others so you will receive the same measure it will be measured to you again

and jesus then in verses three and four and five goes on in a sort of a brief parable to explain exactly what he means when he says judge not or condemn not

why beholdest thou he asks the mote that is in thy brother's eye a moat a very small speck

a little sliver of wood or dust or whatever why do you consider the little tiny moat that is in your brother's eye but you haven't even considered the beam the whole log of wood the whole piece of wood that is in your own eye and it's an outlandish sort of comparison because nobody could imagine having an entire chunk of wood or beam of wood in one's eye and yet jesus overstates or exaggerates in this way to make the point

how will thou say to thy brother let me pull out the moat out of thine eye and behold a beam is in your own eye you couldn't begin to see well enough to help your brother take care of his relatively minor problem and so in effect jesus is saying before you go about to judge or to condemn others

or even for that matter to try to help them especially and you think you have the best of motives the first thing you need to do is be concerned with your own character your own actions thou hypocrite he says first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye

i think

we have to understand that to take the words of jesus in a perfectly literal fashion here uh recognizing that we all have false and we're never quite shed of all of our faults if we take it quite literally then we have to assume that there is never the possibility of any of us offering help or correction to any of our brothers and we know that's not true because we should be interested in helping one another but i think allowing for the sort of exaggerated language that jesus uses it's still quite plain that what he's saying is the primary thing you need to do is be concerned with your own conduct

the quality and the character of your own life and try to get that in the best shape that you possibly can and then maybe somewhere along the line after you have done a considerable amount of self-judging or self-condemnation to remove and to arrange your own life as you think it should be lived under christ then and only then should you be in a position to go about judging others or even positively trying to help others so

allowing as i said for this sort of exaggeration jesus plainly puts the emphasis 99 point 99 100

emphasis upon judging ourselves rather than having anything to do in regard to judging or criticizing or correcting our brethren a very strong very over balanced sort of emphasis that jesus uses

of course in saying this in the first few verses here in chapter 7 jesus is only repeating some of the same principles that he has been mentioning all through this teaching of his going back for example to chapter 5 and verse 28 we might turn it up since we're in the same general vicinity remember jesus had said in contrasting the two different kinds of righteousness verse 28 of chapter five but i say unto you that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her have committed adultery with her already in his heart he lays down a very plain principle but a principle which of necessity cannot be applied by one individual judging the motives or the intentions of another individual it can only be applied by each individual looking at himself looking into his own heart into his own intentions and motives it's the only way in which you can be judged in fact we might say there are only two people that can judge that kind of a sin one is the person who might be committing it and the other is christ himself christ has said i will judge in a sense jesus has appropriated now the judgment that god said belonged to him in the first place the judgment that god had the power and the authority that god had has now been conferred upon the son all power has been passed to the son and he can judge in the same way that god can judge but no one else no one else is in that category and also uh we realized that this is the same principle basically that was referred to in chapter 6

and verse 4

and verse 6 and verse 18 of that chapter we're in that threefold refrain jesus says those who do things so as to be seen of others will have their reward you should do the righteous things that are commanded of you in private in secret so that the father who sees in secret will reward you openly because we're not doing anything or we're not refraining from doing anything either for that matter to please men we're doing it only to please god god can judge both the outward actions and the motives behind those actions god is the only one who can of course with christ being the one who has received that authority and that power from god they can judge the motives of the individual and no one else can so with all that in mind it seems quite reasonable that jesus then comes to the point of emphasizing again that we should not judge or condemn our brother and if we do if there is is the occasional time when we feel compelled to help someone by making a suggestion then we should do it in a spirit of meekness not from a position of righteousness way above them looking down our noses at them but rather in a position of helping out of love recognizing at the same time that we have weaknesses of our own and if truly we do that then we will be perhaps in the best position if there is a good position to go about offering some kind of constructive criticism to others but if we do it in the sense of we know everything we're righteous and you're not then we can't hope to succeed we might be righteous by comparison with the other person but we're not supposed to compare ourselves with one another we're supposed to compare ourselves with christ recognize that we're all failures we're all sinners and only from that kind of beginning or that kind of source can we ever hope to help our brother

paul picks up this same point and he speaks of it quite effectively in romans chapter 14.

verse 4

where he says that if we compare ourselves with ourselves

in other words if we find ourselves judging or condemning our brother that this is a perfectly pointless exercise

it's of no benefit to the person who is being judged and it's of no benefit to us who are doing the judging for paul says in romans 14

and verse 4

who do you think you are to judge another man's servant i'm paraphrasing obviously

to his own master he stand with or follow and he says it's just as unreasonable unreasonable to go about judging your brother as it would be to go into another business establishment and start telling the employees how they should be serving their master how they should be serving their boss their boss is going to tell them how to serve him and if they're not serving him correctly then he'll see about what discipline might be necessary who art thou that judgeth another man's servant to his own master he standeth or follow

he shall be holding up for god is able to make him stand and very interesting there isn't it paul says

he might not even be doing a good job he might be falling down in his service to his master but his master is the one who can forgive him and lift him up and make him as though he had not committed that sin or he had not failed you can't do that so leave him to his master let his master be the judge

and then again in verse 10 of the same chapter

paul says why dost thou judge thy brother or why dost thou set at naught thy brother in other words judge your brother in the sense of making him feel inferior or making yourself feel superior to your brother why do you attempt to set him at not or make him to feel little in your sight

by judging or criticizing for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of christ and you see it's pointless to judge one another because a time is coming when we will all stand before the judgment seat of christ and we will be judged on the basis of what we have done individually by the only one christ himself who truly can judge so you see it's all anticipation anyway it's not going to do us any good except perhaps it's going to make us feel better if we think we are better than someone else but it's a false or it's a false or illusory delusional type feeling we might make ourselves feel better but we're not better in the least by looking down at someone else and we'll all stand before christ at any rate so what paul is saying here is if you go about judging and passing judgment upon others you're just anticipating the judgment seat of christ or it's all going to be set right anyway you're like a lower court judge who can't ever make a pronouncement because it's going to be overturned by the supreme court that's sitting above him so why bother

your decisions hold no weight whatsoever they're going to be overturned by christ anyway we will all stand before the judgment seat of christ

going back then to matthew chapter 7.

we mentioned one more time as we mentioned in our consideration of chapter 6 that if we go about judging our brother

then

this kind of judgment may stand in the way of ourselves being forgiven by god even as we pray in the lord's prayer forgive us our debts even as we forgive our debtors for if we forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses and we read these very simple and straightforward sorts of exhortations and we feel compelled to ask how long will it be

how long will it be before christadelphians ever learn what seems to be such an obvious and simple lesson

how long will it be

till we cease running around continually passing judgment on one another for some of the most silly details of conduct and and behavior and beliefs

that

that are simply foolish and there's nothing else that can be said

it is a lesson that is as plain as any lesson in scripture and yet

for all of our knowledge of the first principles and our understanding our true understanding of the gospel i think we come very short in understanding this very simple principle

and we do it at our own risk

because when we start fooling around with

judging our brethren in ways that we are not clearly commanded to do

we are tampering with the very mechanism by which we ourselves can be forgiven none of us can stand as righteous before christ based on our own conduct are our own beliefs

and if we get so caught up in considering the conduct and the belief of others that we're willing in one sense or another to ask judgment upon them then we are plainly putting ourselves on the wrong side we're putting ourselves on the side where one day we might find that there is no mercy forth coming for us because of the attitude that we've shown to others

in this context and in this understanding we think of the parable that jesus told in luke chapter 18 and i'll just read it you didn't bother turning it up luke 18 verses 11 and 12.

verses 9 and 10 and 11 and 12. and he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others

the parable went like this two men went up into the temple to pray the one pharisee and the other republican the one the most righteous of men the pharisees with their fine robes with their precise conduct with their consideration of every little detail of the law trying to get it right and the publicans the tax collectors the centers

the irs agents the the government flunkies

the ones who were despised by any right-thinking jew and looked down upon and they turned the other way and passed by them in the street without speaking

the pharisee and the publican went up to pray a study in absolute contrast between the two

the pharisees stood

and prayed thus with himself

the irony of that the pharisees stood

probably looking up to heaven in the traditional pose of the jew as he prayed to god he stood

probably keeping in mind the things jesus said earlier about the pharisees who loved to be seen of men to be righteous he probably stood in a place where others could hear not just the publican but some of his own cohorts and friends he stood and he prayed a lovely prayer in his lovely robes feeling very righteous and very proud of himself and jesus said he prayed thus

with himself

apparently that prayer never got beyond the ceiling of the room where he stood he prayed with himself

god he said i thank thee that i am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers

or even as this this

publican

i fast twice in the week i give tithes of all that i possess

i am just a downright wonderful person and surely everybody around me sees it and of course you see it too

god wasn't even listening

and the publican standing a far off

removed

afraid perhaps even to come close and touch robes or garments with the pharisee knowing

that he was a sinner would not so much as lift up his eyes into heaven but cast his head down bowed down before god and smote upon his breast

saying

god be merciful to me

a sinner

i tell you jesus said this man went down to his house justified rather than the other

for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself

shall be exalted

brother roberts said one time if men were more busy judging themselves which they are commanded to do they would have much less opportunity to judge one another which they are forbidden to do

truly we as christadelphians need to learn that lesson

and we need to teach that lesson to others

in matthew 7

and verse 6 we now come to a little short verse that almost appears

to contradict much of what we have just said

in verse 6

jesus says give not that which is holy unto the dogs neither cast in your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you

brother sergeant in his book commenting on this verse it says following up keeping in mind what we just said in the first five verses

he says there is one sense in which you should judge

the truth we hold and the salvation it offers are god's gifts to be handled with reverence for the giver

this he said is one of the most difficult discriminations or judgments that we're called on to make

and apparently

we should understand this verse in the sense of our relationship with those who are outside with those who are potential candidates to receive the truth and believe it the gospel and be baptized

but jesus is saying

there is in fact a sense in which you should judge in which you should discriminate cast not your pearls before swine

it seems to me and this is admittedly one of the most difficult verses

to understand and to try to explain to others but it seems to me that what jesus is saying is this

if we're going to go about presenting what we believe to others we have to exercise some kind of discretion in the way in which we do it

uh i'm sure this can be carried overboard uh to the point where we're never quite sure to whom we should speak and so we keep quiet because it's the easiest thing to do but

i think that he's saying we have to be careful in what way we go about introducing the truth to others somehow trying to exercise discrimination and judgment as to how and when they might be approached and there may even be occasions when it would be improper to speak of the things that we believe to others

perhaps he's saying something like this that we we can't drag people into the truth

against their wishes we can only present the truth to them and let the truth or let god himself draw them by the power of his teaching

perhaps he's saying that

and perhaps there's really a lot more in the verse that is difficult to bring out

but i would say that such a verse as this can be very easily misused

it can be used as an excuse for our own cowardice if we're afraid to speak to someone we say well perhaps they won't listen anyway and you shouldn't cast your pearls before swine that's judging i believe in the wrong sense

but say perhaps and this is just off the top of my head say you find yourself in a situation

uh maybe didn't choose to be in that situation where you're with a group of people they're behaving in a rather uh rowdy and and or even immoral fashion uh drinking and etc etc not that every bit of drinking is wrong you know i don't think that but you're in a situation where you'd really you don't feel comfortable at all and you find people who are behaving in a blasphemous sort of fashion

that probably would not be a good place and a good time to try to interest people in what you believe for one thing your credibility might be questioned why are you here with us why are you seeming to condone the things that we're doing and yet you say that you're standing for something else now you know there may be occasions there may be times when with all honesty and forthrightness we can go into a situation and we can call people out of it i mean jesus did that he uh he went into the publicans house when others were looking down upon him where there was eating and drinking perhaps to excess and he was able to reach them and bring them out but there may be other occasions when that would be very difficult if not impossible and we might find ourselves being mocked at or made fun of or we might find ourselves not being able to stand up for what we believe because of the delicate the difficult situation that we find ourselves in and again we're talking rather vaguely but it's hard for me at least to find the precise application for this verse and again i'll go back to what i said that we shouldn't use such a verse as this in such a broad fashion that somehow it becomes an excuse or a reason why we should never present the truth to others that somehow it becomes a quote for our cowardice or our laziness or a snobbery perhaps that looks at a person and says that person is just not quite the right caliber and so i shouldn't be bothered with them cast not your pearls before swine and so forth

jesus went to the very poorest of society he went to the people who were outcasts and he presented the truth to them in the proper fashion but again as i said there may be occasions when this very verse needs to be applied to a particular situation

verse seven actually verses 7 through 11

make up a section

jesus says ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you

if you want an easy memory verse this is it

i'll tell you why all you have to do

you can memorize the whole verse in five seconds flat all you have to do is remember how to spell

very simple word ask

if you've got the first word of the verse

ask and it shall be given you there's the a

seek and you shall find

knock and the door shall be opened unto you and you memorize the whole person five seconds flat then you can remember where it is because it's the first book of the new testament and that's easy everybody knows matthew and it's chapter seven and verse seven and everybody knows how significant the number seven is so you know close your eyes in matthew 7 verse 7 ask and you shall find seek

[Music] asking it shall be given you seek and you shall find knock in the door shall be opened unto you practice it twice before you try that you'll be better off

james says

and remember i mentioned once before that james is

presenting a commentary pretty much on the sermon on the mount james says chapter 1 and verse 5 if any one of you lack wisdom

let him ask of god that he will give it so again he's applying this principle that jesus gives here ask and you shall find ask and shall be given you i did it again for everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened

in other words jesus is saying god will give to you everything that you need and this goes along with the the prayer that jesus prayed give us this day our daily bread he wasn't just talking about physical things i think he was talking about the spiritual needs that we have too god will provide for you in that regard you lack knowledge god will give it to you i mean you won't give it to you on a silver platter where you don't have to think for yourselves but if you apply yourself to the scripture and if you pray for god's help he will give you knowledge from the scripture and by the experiences of your life that you go through and you will know you will eventually learn how you should act there may be many false starts there may be many wrong turns along the way but god will give you what is necessary if you go to him so i think give us this day our daily bread is talking about spiritual needs as well as physical needs and jesus returns to that theme here in verses 7 and 8.

and then he says in verses 9 and 10 and 11 why is this so how do we know we can trust in god because god is our father

what man he says is there of you whom if his son asked bread will he give him a stone if he asks a fish will he give him a serpent if you then being evil if you then being something less than righteous something less than perfect know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him so he's saying look at the analogy the parent for the child any reasonable parent will try to provide for his child whatever that child needs and if you're able to do that weak as you are with your own selfishness and your own difficulties in doing what is right then surely you can recognize that your father in heaven will give you all the things that you need

he may not give you all the things you want but he'll give you all the things that you need just as we can always give our children all the things they want and even sometimes we make a conscious choice not to give them something they want for their own good so god will act in the same way and more perfectly toward us who are his children giving us what we need not necessarily everything we want but what we need to sustain us physically and spiritually in our way toward the kingdom

then in verse 12

jesus gives something of a summary verse it seems to me for a lot of what he said in chapters five and six and seven

therefore he says all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them

for this is the law and the prophets

what he's saying is this is the whole law everything that i've been saying to you is comprehended in this rather simple statement do unto others as you would have them do unto you

he puts it in a slightly different way in matthew chapter 22 when he says

the two commandments the two great commandments are love the lord thy god with all thy heart and all my soul my spirit my mind my strength and