Master Teacher-Your Eyes Say Yes but Your Mouth Says No. Matt 5:33-37

As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And set me before Your face forever.

Ps. 41:12

Integrity, character, honor- are these traits dwindling in today’s pop culture?  It is harder to find men and women who will do what is right just to do what is right without all the accolades and recognition. In a society in which everyone gets a pat on the back just for showing up to get a job done and doing what is expected, why do we think anyone would want to step up if it doesn’t pay off, much less speak up? What leads people to action is words. If we want to change our world we must say something. Nothing can get done without words. Yet at the same time it’s words that get us into trouble too. Our words can also lead to devastating consequences. Words are powerful because by our words our thoughts are revealed.

In this week’s teaching our Master Teacher gives us a heart lesson about the words that come out of mouths, and how carelessly we tend to use them. It’s a much deeper than just a few words. He’s cutting deep here and dealing with an integrity issue. He is saying to us that we need to walk the talk to maintain our integrity, our character, and to be a person of honor. In a world where the bad boys are rewarded with riches and seem to get ahead, and the good people appear to suffer, it’s hard to decide to live this way. Take courage, Christian, this world is not our home. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.” Ps. 37:7-9

            Jesus directs us back to the commandments. It is important to remember why He does this repeatedly. Jesus said, ”Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matt. 5:17 He is not giving us anything contrary to what God has said, but further explaining it, since we haven’t gotten it thus far. A good teacher will go back and show the student why they did wrong, and how to make it right. Since we are having trouble with what we say not matching what we do, Jesus is going to help us to have greater understanding so we can make improvements in this area.

            “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord’.” Matt 5:33 The live audience on the mount by the sea of Galilee was very familiar with this text. They had heard it many times coming from the mouths of the Pharisees and the temple tax collectors. “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Num. 30:2 Can’t you just picture the people sitting on the grass with a roll of their eyes, picturing the temple tax collector reciting it with them while they nod their heads? But it is important that we keep our word when make a pledge to God. If we say we’re going too fast for a day, we don’t give up at the first twinge of hunger. If we say we’re going to pray for someone, don’t walk away and not pray for that person. Learn to stop on the spot and pray right there. If we say we’re going to read our Bible’s every day, but we can’t seem to find the time to sit and read, then turn off the car radio and put it on an app and listen to it, or turn off the television for a half an hour and listen to it. If we say we’re going to meditate on God’s word, and we can’t seem to find the time, take time before a meal and tune out the people around us, take out our verse of the day, and read it over and over. Do lunch with God alone in our cars. We need to find the time to get alone with God. We will sneak away with someone we love for a private moment, but we keep God public, or worse, we keep Him at arm’s length, or act as though we don’t even know Him, when the whole time all He wants is time with us, to hear us.

            The Master Teacher knows the importance of the promises we make to the LORD because it reflects our intention. What we base those intentions upon also says something about us.

“But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; not by earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.” Matt. 5:34.

            “Oh, my heavens… what on earth…what in tarnation…” does that sound familiar? We swear by so many things all the time in our frustration with the simplest of things around us. We need to be more mindful of our words. Jesus explains that all of creation is the Lord God’s, so who are we to condemn it? All that God has made should remind us of how great He is. “He who builds His layers in the sky, and has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth—The LORD is His name.” Amos 9:6 A few years ago, while visiting my daughter, we were in Portland, Oregon. We went to a botanical garden and we were walking through a rose display, rather quickly, just reading the signs about what kind of roses were around us. A man watched us for a minute and then shouted at us, “Take the time to smell the roses!” My daughter burst out in laughter at the cliché, but we did slow down and take the time to smell the roses. We discovered that roses do indeed have very different scents. The man, who was not a gardener there, but just another visitor, took a few seconds and pointed out a few of his favorites to us.  In our busy lives we really do forget to take time to smell the roses and in the process, we miss the blessing of the fine aroma God intends for us to enjoy.

            “Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.” Matt. 5:36

             A man’s word is his bond, right? If his word is not worth anything, if his bond is worthless, then what good is it?  To be powerless is a place we all eventually find ourselves in at one time or another regardless of what we think we have control over. It is best to recognize our limitations before we get ourselves into trouble. Over promising what we can’t deliver leads to difficult situations, and for many people the temptation to cover for those limitation leads to lying. Lying is a slippery slope. One lie leads to another, and to another, and to another until finding the truth is almost impossible to do. No matter what we do we cannot make black into white or white into black. As my father always says, “it is what it is, and you can’t make it what it’s not.”  Once something is out of our mouths we cannot take those words back.

            Jesus knows the limits placed on us by our fall from the Master’s plan. He has direction for us to follow to restore us. Until He returns, He gave us grace, and instructions on how to conduct ourselves. When it comes to how to have integrity in our speech He kept it simple:

            “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No”, ‘No.” For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” Matt.5:37

            The Teacher is saying to walk the talk, mean what we say, and let our actions match our words. If we say we’re going to do something then we need to do it, and if we’re not sure then we need to say we’re not sure. If we’re not going to do it, then say we’re not going to do it.  It’s not enough to say the right things if we can’t follow through with doing the right things.  “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Cor. 13:1 Being articulate and having an expansive vocabulary means little if what we say doesn’t bring others to salvation, but condemns them by our actions. “Therefore, the Lord said: Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.” Is 29:13 & “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.” Prov. 17:28 We aren’t to keep silent, however. Jesus commanded us to use our words and our actions. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them in the to observe all the things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you to the end of the age.’ Amen.” Matt. 28:19-20

            Since we’ve been given our marching orders, we’ve also been given our message. Jesus has given us not just the what we need to do, but the what to say. “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you should say.” Luke 12:11-12

            We are judged by what we say and the follow through on what we said we were going to do. Our Lord made promises He kept. Since we are expected to reflect Him, and to demonstrate the lessons we have learned, shouldn’t we also be keeping our word?

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one who is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Prov. 28:6

The Master Teacher- Lust, Marriage, and Divorce-Matt.5:27-32

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 1 Cor. 7:3        

What is it that you want in a mate? In our minds, we may make a list of physical attributes. Is what a person physically looks like all that important? Or is the character of a person much more vital? Perhaps we make a list of character traits. Is his or her spiritual, intellectual, and cultural similarities more significant than whether or not the person is into the same sports teams or past-times?  If you are like me, you’ve been blessed with a highly successful system of finding a mate. God brought me my husband at just the right time of my life. So, how is it that companies can advertise matching people for marriage based on compatibility algorithms and boast high success rates, and yet almost half of all marriages end in divorce?  

“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.” Mal.2:12 ESV

In our last study, we dealt with the human heart’s hatred of other people. In this study, we move into next ‘you heard it said,’ from which Jesus is teaching on the commandments. He is doing an expositional teaching on the commandments dealing with the relationships man has with each other. These teachings have become very relevant in our day. The verses on lust and divorce are extremely pertinent to what has become the cornerstone of the Judeo-Christian value of marriage. Questions on the definition of marriage loom large in our society, yet Jesus and the Bible make it very clear what marriage is, and how He saw marriage. We’ll explore this controversial topic, and in doing so find it’s not so controversial after all. As with many topics, it’s not God that complicates them; it is the sinful nature of man’s heart that has taken something so simply beautiful, and made it complex and confusing.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt.5:27-28

Obviously, this is the seventh commandment found in Exodus 20. “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14 . What is adultery? It is the will by a married person to have sexual relations with someone who is not his wife, or for a woman who is not her husband. It is a sin because of the purpose of the act of intimacy required to become sexually engaged with another person. Secondly, because of the intended result of that intimacy by the Creator, which was procreation, that is children. Come on, people, you got to get naked! That’s embarrassing enough! To be in that situation with someone who doesn’t care about you as a person, or regard you as anything more than a way to meet an appetite is to put yourself on the same level as a cheeseburger or a side of fries. What a way to demean yourself. Yet, God does not see us that way. His word says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Isaiah 31:3b“  His commandment is to protect us from the pain of feeling so rejected, and passing that rejection on to others. Adultery hurts so many people. It is not just the three involved in the immediate relationship, but all those around them as well. Its effects are devastating to the families, to the community, and to society for decades afterward. The fracture of one marriage is like an earthquake. The epicenter might be far underground, but the damage can be felt miles away in the small cracks in the surface.

The second thing that we see in Jesus’ initial statement is His expositional statement and the weight that it holds. He takes the act of adultery even further. He tells the crowd, and the men that when they even look at woman with lust, they’ve already gone there in their hearts. They’ve already broken those vows to the wife. Maybe there were wives in the crowd at that point who were nudging their husbands, and maybe there were husbands who were shaking their fingers at their wives too. It would have been very difficult for the first century people to wrap their heads around the level of lust we live in today. We are inundated with images of ‘sexy beautiful’ people we are supposed to lust after, or be envious of, or want to emulate. We are pressured into having ‘celebrity’ crushes regardless of our marital status, and our spouse is supposed to be okay with it. Yet what if the celebrity crush is nothing like the spouse? How is that going to make a person feel secure in their marriage? Jesus did understand the human heart and the lengths it could go to, regardless of the times we are in. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jer. 17:9

The enemy has not been subtle in planting this division. He doesn’t need to pretend that lust isn’t accepted in our society. We practically teach it to both genders by defining what value we place on expressing immoral sexuality without consequence. It’s in our television shows, movies, advertisements, and social media. It is an appetite within us, but just like our appetite for food, we’re not hungry all the time. We can go without for long periods of time. It’s the enemy making us think we cannot live without it. When it’s constantly placed before us, we are tricked into thinking we need it. We begin to desire what is not ours. This is when sin enters in. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15 If we would just realize that we don’t need it, that what we have is better, then we can rest in the knowledge that God has provided what is truly good for us.

The other thing that we can see in this verse is that God did indeed intend for marriage to be between one man and one woman. Some would say that Jesus never said anything against gay marriage. I would differ to these verses and say here we have proof that He did intend that marriage was indeed a hetero-sexual union. It’s clear when he uses the pronouns his and her. We can see that in the following verses as well when he addresses the issue of divorce. Jesus never spoke of marriage except as being between a woman and a man. Therefore, we can safely extrapolate that Jesus was against gay marriage. Now, I know I may get some flack over this from the gay community, because they will say that just because He didn’t say it doesn’t mean He was against it, and I will say that Jesus also didn’t say that we should marry trees or butterflies, or any other created thing, but that would not give me permission to assume that because He didn’t strictly forbid it I should find it permissible. Since Jesus was quoting the law here, I could add that He knew the law as did the crowd, and the reason He took the tone of one man-one woman in marriage was due to Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” Jesus did say, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matt. 5:17   Jesus is unchanging. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

However, that does not mean that we as Christians should condemn those who are under the bondage of the lifestyle of homosexuality any more than we should a person who is struggling with any other sexual sin, or any other sin for that matter. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23 All of us can fall into sin in some way. It is only by the goodness and grace of God working through us that we can overcome the sin nature within us. When I read the following verses, we could all put our names in some of the places of the sins committed, at least in our hearts apart from God.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”1 Cor.6:1-10 Thankfully, that’s not all there is to it. Because of Jesus, there is a hope of redemption.  “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Cor. 6:11  

How then do we live? Are we supposed to make our sexual natures convert something we feel to be so unnatural? As Jesus looked out on the crowd that day He must have seen a lot of distraught faces. They’d come to hear a message of hope, and he’d just given them a message that struck them right in the heart. Who among them had not looked at pretty woman and wondered? Yet, there He was calling them out on their thought life. These men had thought they were in the clear because they had not acted upon it, and Jesus just told them they were sinning against their wives, and that wives who wondered about that man were sinning too. I’m sure it was deftly quiet about this time as His voice traveled over the hillside. What were they supposed to do?

“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast if from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Matt. 5: 29-30

Some will read those verses and take them literally. God is not about self-mutilation. He is saying that if something in your life is causing us to sin we need to get rid of it. For example, if you find yourself wanting to be around someone who is not your spouse, then stop going there. If you talk to someone who puts down your spouse, stop talking to them. If anyone or anything comes between you and your spouse, then that person or thing needs to be removed from your life. My husband used to be a big sports fan. He would watch game after game of his favorite teams. His obsession was not one I shared. I didn’t dislike sports, but I just didn’t care for them in the way that he did. After many years of watching his mood swings depend upon whether his teams won or lost he surprised me by suddenly just giving it all up. He simply decided that I was much more important to him, and that he was losing precious joyous times with me just because of a team he wasn’t even a member of and had no control over. To say that I appreciated it is an understatement. Now when he watches sports I don’t mind it at all because I know he’s not all that concerned with the results of the teams. His priority is me. The idea that what is in first place in your marriage should be your spouse is ordained by God. This is seen in His other teaching on divorce found in Matthew 19. “And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matt. 19:4-6 

“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” Matt. 5:31-32

The law Jesus was quoting on divorce is found in Deuteronomy 24.  I’m putting it in because I feel it demonstrates that Jesus did not change on the law. He simply reiterated it with a stronger line by stating clearly that when divorce takes place it must be due to adultery, because marriage occurring after divorce is adultery.

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.” Deut. 24:1-4

So, what do we do? We either don’t divorce, or we live as though we are widowed if we do divorce. Those are the choices we make. Marriage should be taken extremely seriously when entering in, and once we are in must be cherished, nourished, and worked on as if your life depends on it. My son said something that I feel is the best advice for newlywed couples I have ever heard. He said, “if couples would stop trying to see each other as ‘romantic partners’ or even as each other’s best friend they would last longer. God set marriage up as the foundation for families. My wife is my family. You don’t get rid of family. People just need to see each other as family members and love like they love their family and they can work through anything.” Having been married for 32 years I know that marriage takes work. It takes grace and forgiveness, mostly on God’s part toward us. We are a cord of three strands, not two. God is what holds a marriage together. Without Him, I don’t know how marriages last.

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Prov. 5:18

The Master Teacher-Don't be a Hater!- Matthew 5:21-26

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am

the Lord. Lev. 19:18

Church! Have we become a group of haters? Are we so caught up in what we aren’t that we have forgotten what we are? We are the bride of Christ. When we picture a bride on her wedding day I would hope we don’t see a bridezilla, but a lovely young woman, who is the epitome of love in her purity with all the promises of a future being fulfilled for her groom. I don’t see her walking down the aisle talking to the guests about the latest gossip, or pointing out who wronged her, or who did what to who, or worse yet picking out who she wants to go out with on the weekend. No, the bride keeps her eyes on her groom, and he keeps his eyes on her, and they both have the same look of total anticipation and excitement on their faces. The bride is not a hater on that day, she is his beloved, and that’s all she cares about once she stands before him.

Jesus was indeed the lawgiver, and He was also the Master Teacher. Filling both positions, He gave us a series of explanations of what the intention of the law was, that is the difference of the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. We are about to get into some heavy-duty lessons from our Teacher. We can refer to these as the “you have heard it said.” It is when Jesus goes into the commandments and how they should be lived out, particularly the commandments on how we should live with each other. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:4

Sometimes this can seem harsh to the world, and even to our brothers and sisters, but it’s not. See, love does require discipline and boundaries. It is not loving to be without boundaries. When you know that something is going harm someone, is it loving to sit idly by and allow them to partake in it? The Nazis referred to the gas chambers as the showers and the saunas. Would you want to be holding the door for either no matter how lovely they sounded?

In the world today, there is enough hate to go around. As Christians, we need to spread the love of God. We also need to know what that looks like, so spending some time on the mount beside the sea and listening to our Teacher show us and tell us how to live and love is vitally important.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’  Matt.5:21

I can’t think of a single person I know that would say that murder is okay, can you? Yet there are many that say that abortion is not murder, it is a choice. But if the choice is that the woman is excited and happy to be pregnant it is a life, her baby, and people become excited for her. From the moment she knows she’s pregnant, if she is pro-pregnancy it is a person, and everyone around her will do all they can to protect that life. If she is not pro-pregnancy, then there are those in our society that will do all they can to assist her to end that baby’s life so she can continue her life and “live out her dreams and potential”. The only difference is what value is placed on the life in the mind of the one who has the power of life and death. Isn’t this always the way it is in murder? As long as our lives are valued by others we are alive, but if someone decides they don’t value our lives and has the power to take them from us, aren’t we then capable of being murdered? Aren’t there people in our society that will do all they can to make sure we, as the church, aren’t here? Aren’t there people who will just hate us for our color, our gender, or because we’re Christian? But should we become haters in return? If it is possible, as much depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Romans 12:18

Murder burns in all our hearts at times when we let anger take over. We all think about what life would be like if only that one brother or sister who so irritates us was no longer in the picture. How many times have we fumed at complete strangers on the freeway, or in lines at the airport, or anywhere we might be ‘inconvenienced’ ?  Maybe we don’t wish them dead, maybe just gone, but it is the same thought when it is in anger.

 “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matt.5:22

At this time I could just see Peter turn to Andrew and say, “It’s a good thing for me that Matthew isn’t my brother.”

Andrew would answer, “Being your brother, I’d say it’s a better thing for Matthew.”

What does it mean to be angry without cause? There are times when anger is righteous. God was angry when someone came against His children, and His anger was righteous. If someone were to come against our children and do something hideous to them, then there is a cause to be angry. If someone were to savagely kill a child, then anger would be a right emotion, and therefore if mercy was shown it would be a miraculous action, and therefore grace extended in its fullness. Anger without cause would be the emotion without restraint.

If we think of anger as a pot of boiling water that we must move from the heat source to place where it must be safely poured out then we would think through how to move it. There would be a way to do it. First, we would not grasp the hot pot with our bare hands. We would protect our hands with mitts or gloves so we could get a firm grasp of the pot. We should be like that with our anger. We should take the time to get a firm grasp of the situation and just react, or we’re throwing our hands into the heat and burning ourselves. Secondly, once we’ve picked it up, we should make sure there is no one around to bump into us. We wouldn’t want to scald anyone we love with our boiling water. Especially those who have no business being in the area at all like our children. We need to get them out of the way, and if it means using a forceful voice then so be it, it’s not anger, it’s protection. “Go away right now,” is better than being burned by the fiery tongue. Finally, when it’s time to pour it out, we need to control it and slowly pour so that we don’t splash it on ourselves or anyone else around. Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Ps.4:4 If your pot has a lot of boiling water in it, it would be to your benefit to use a smaller pot and make several small trips to the larger pot and empty it over time. Anger can be a very heavy pot to try to carry, but you don’t have to carry it. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matt. 11; 28-29  Prayer, the word, and time can help you overcome. 

  “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.” Matthew 5:23-26

It isn’t enough to have to deal with our own anger. According to the Lord, we also have to deal with the anger of others against us as well. Isn’t it awful to be somewhere and see someone who gives off that bad vibe feeling in our direction. We wonder what we ever did to the person.

I had a friend who asked me if I had been a mean girl in high school because of a situation I was in with another person. I was definitely not a mean girl in high school. However, it did make me realize that I had to get the situation remedied if it was getting back to my friend, and she would ask me such a question. She could see that this woman had a deep seeded issue with me that I was unaware of. We called a meeting with the pastor, and, boy, did the boiling water fall on me. I was shocked by the accusations made, and many of them were outrageous based on innuendo and gossip. I had to learn to forgive and give it over to the Lord, and that was painful. It was a process to empty that pot of boiling water, cup by cup, while my blisters healed. Over time I saw God’s hand in it, and I learned a lot about the power of forgiveness. I still think of her often and pray for her. I also pray for those in the room with us that day, because I learned a lot about them as well. I learned how easily swayed some can be, and how others are just and willing to listen to both sides, included in the just was her husband, who brought about peace between us. It wasn’t like we were best friends, but it wasn’t awkward when I saw them in public either. Years later, when the woman lost her husband, I found myself weeping for her great loss. I sent her a card to comfort her and let her know I was praying for her.

The Teacher knows His students, and as He looks out at our faces, He can see the angry expressions. He is very aware of the terse brow lines, the creased foreheads, rigidity in our jaws, and the clenched fists we hold. He knows we grind our teeth as we utter hateful words under our breath against…against His children, because the one we are so angry at is His child. He sees us, and also sees them in the same light holding the same posture toward us. He forbids us from hurting each other. It is not His desire that any of us lose each other and suffer that loss. Jesus wants us to make the first move and resolve the issues before they become so big a gap they can’t be overcome. Remember, in Heaven there are no grudges, no battles to be fought, no wrongs to be righted, and not a single right to be upheld. There’s only Jesus and His love for us, our love for Him, and our love for each other. There is no demanding in heaven. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11

The Master Teacher - Fulfillment of the Law- Matthew 5:17-20

For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. Ecc. 12:14

Are you a troublemaker? Do you take pride in your reputation in pushing against the boundaries? It used to be that the clean-cut, law-abiding protagonist of the story was who we wanted to be like, but now society has done a complete turn around and made heroes out of villains. Morality has become subjective. No one in history pushed His society’s morays more than Jesus. His ways were not what was expected of the Messiah. His message wasn’t one of rebellion against the governing authorities, nor was it one of peace and harmony as believed today. His message was of repentance to prepare for the day when this sacrificial Lamb of God, who had come to do the atoning work of reconciliation, would return as a Lion, a Warrior, coming to reclaim His Kingdom.

Many times people like to portray Jesus as accepting people for who they are, right where they are, and letting them stay just as they are. While it may be true that Jesus loves you, for who you were created to be, and He does love you, He certainly did not come to leave us in our sin.

 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matt. 5:17

This one verse is what the Grace Principle hinges on. Some people believe that when a person gets saved it is like they have received a free pass on all of their sin. Whatever sin has been in their life, is in their life, or will be in their life can now be erased by just showing this free pass called the “Moment of Salvation”, meaning the moment they prayed the prayer and said that Jesus is Lord that it was it, they bought their condo in heaven. They believe this is grace. They take this grace card and play it whenever it suits them. If they choose to sin, they play it saying, “God’s love covers a multitude of sin,” or “We are all saved by grace,” and go right on living their lives and excusing their sin, even when confronted. People will even point out the speck in their brother’s eye while sinning openly through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life and claim grace upon themselves. Yet the word of God clearly states, “For him who knows the right thing to do, and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17  What they fail to recognize is that grace is a gift offered by the giver, not a demand made by the receiver.

Jesus didn’t come to take away the expectations God has on us to live our lives in observance of what is right. It’s always right to do as Christ said, “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40.  The Law and Prophets are the parts of scripture that were given to us to determine how we are to live in relation to Him, to each other, and to the world around us. It is like carrying our identity card around with us, only it is inscribed upon our hearts. Having read through the books of the law it is refreshing to see that before germs and viruses were known to man, God had a way of keeping illnesses from spreading. It is easy to see that knowing the heart of man, God knew how to keep integrity within relationships. God, being a good Father, is watching out for His children. The prophets gave directions of which way we needed to go, and the warning of what was up ahead.  Together the complete instructions of the covenant of God is laid out before us. The contract terms are made, but we fall short of the terms and conditions we needed to complete the deal and inherit what we were created for; so Jesus stepped in to do it for us.  “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14  

It amazes me when people paint the Lord as being heavy handed because of the way God dealt with the enemies of Israel in the Old Testament, and as being too much of a pacifist in the New Testament because He told people to love their enemies. Let me clarify one thing, the God of the Bible is One God. He doesn’t change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8  As for being heavy handed, if someone were to mess with your children, take them from you, enslave them, do all kinds of horrendous things to them, what would you do to them? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matt.7:11 We consider it an admirable quality when a parent defends their child. If you are the child of God, wouldn’t you want Him to defend you? And as far as being a pacifist, this is the same Messiah who proclaimed, “When the Son of Man come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.” Matthew 25:31 & “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 Our teacher isn’t coming in softly with this lesson.

 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matt.5:18

The rules exist for a reason. We don’t have to like them but there are purposes for them. Sometimes we like to push back and think we don’t have to follow them, but at other times we don’t give them a second thought once we’re used to following them. Consider the rules of phonics. We were expected to know certain elemental principles. We were expected to know what sounds letters made in order to read. Once we are beyond basic reading ability we don’t really stop and think, “That’s an ‘o’ and it sounds like “uh” in this word, and in other words it sounds like “oh”. We just read it because of the elemental principles we learned as we learned the rules of reading. The rules didn’t go away just because we got used to them. We use them all the time. We’re just not used to thinking back on them as we read through the words. We may think we’re breaking the rules when actually we’re following along completely submitting to them. If tomorrow, however, the rules suddenly changed, and all the o’s suddenly had to be pronounced differently, say like a ‘t’ then your reading ability would serious decline. Just try going back and reading this paragraph making the o’s sound like t’s.

            Other rules just can’t be changed no matter how we fight them. We cannot defy gravity. We can fly in planes, but that’s not defying gravity, that’s using other laws to push higher, but eventually the planes succumb to the laws of gravity. Some laws exist for our benefit. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by send his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:2-4 Our Master Teacher set the example for us of what sin would cost us and in doing so allowed us to be freed from suffering the consequences of the sin for eternity.

             Praise God there are laws that must still be fulfilled! The law that must still be fulfilled that has been proclaimed I cling to is the promise God gave: The Lord has appeared of old to me Saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Isaiah 31:3

            And there are other laws that will not pass away until they are fulfilled, and promises that have yet to be honored. “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for His Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Rev.17:14 & “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:32-33 All of what God has said will be fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Have faith!

  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19

Have you ever thought that your little lie was not that big a deal, or that taking something wasn’t yours was okay because the person you took it from had plenty more? Then you’re missing the point. A lie is still a lie, and a thief is a thief. It’s not about the words used, it’s the fact it veered off the truth, and it’s still wrong. If we miss the target by one degree, we still missed the target. When we think that’s not a big deal consider this, if we are in a space ship headed for the moon, and we veer by just one degree and miss our target we will be doomed to the vacuum of space forever. It only takes being off in a little thing to mess up a lot. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Gal. 5:9

We tend to want to bring God down to our level and forget that God is a completely Holy God, which means there is no sin in Him. Since He is completely void of sin, how can we expect Him to be okay with our piles of little sin that add up quickly to heaps of sin? It is not in His nature to be surrounded by this sin inside of us. It was never His plan for us to be in sin and suffer death either. “Therefore, just as through one man’s sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:12. We fail to see the purity of God because it causes us to see the fall again. Once again we feel exposed by the truth.

  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:20

            In Jesus’ times, there appeared to be no one in Jewish culture that was more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees. They were the law interpreters. If anyone had a question about the law, those were the people to go to for understanding. They practiced the law down to the smallest principles, and yoked other people with it as well. Legalism became their way of life, and they lost the reasons behind the law. Strictly adhering to the law took the place of looking into the eyes of the people in need of the restrictions. They found it easier to punish those who didn’t meet their criteria than to show compassion to those who needed to be guided into doing right. It’s easier to see wrong in others than to continue to point out the right.

            Jesus was telling the people that even in those they believed always, did the right thing, there was fault. No one is perfect when it comes to the law. So why did God give us the law? ”But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” Gal.3:23-24 NASB  The purpose of the law was to educate us on the way things are supposed to be done. We are to know what is good, and what is bad, not based on what we feel, but based on what works within creation. The standard is set. Since we can’t meet that standard, Jesus has met it for us, and we meet Him through faith. If we try to meet up to the standard of the law, we will fall short. We can’t do it. We all sin. We all fall short. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24

            We have a teacher, who has come to teach us in a better way, and is telling us when it comes to the test He knows we will fail if left on our own, but don’t worry. He’s taken it before us. He knows all the answers, and He’s got it covered for us. He wants us to do our best because we’re His students, and He taught us well. He set the example, and where we fall short His work makes up the difference.

            People may not want to live by the standard set by Christ and those called by His name. They might think it’s cool to be the bad guy because they can get their fifteen minutes of fame, but what about after that? Have you ever considered what happens after that ends. So many people today want to make themselves stand out for the wrongs suffered. What if we were to stand up and actually do something about it in a positive way, even if they don’t get any attention at all? If we were to feed people just because they’re hungry, or clothe them because they’re cold, or help them because they’re sick, and not be looking for what we could get out of it; then we’d be doing what our teacher taught us. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

The Master Teacher- Salt and Light- Matthew 5:13-16

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6

Are we different? I’m not asking if we’re unique in our looks or our intellect, but do we feel like we’re so different from people around us that we are literally a square peg in a round hole world. Have we heard ourselves say to other people that we just don’t fit in, or that they just don’t get it, or understand us? If it stems from our faith, we are not alone. Let’s look at from another angle. Have we ever been in a room and felt alone until we see someone carrying a Bible, and then suddenly we don’t feel so different. We walk up to the person and say, “Are you a believer?” The person says yes and instantly we are connected. It’s as if we have a family member, and we are free to smile. We sit with him. We become his friend and he becomes ours. All because of what? A book he was carrying? What if he’d been carrying a book we’d recently read? Would we do the same thing? Or a movie we’d recently watched? What is it about a Bible that gives us that instant connection? The answer is that it is the light in the darkness. The Word, Jesus, is salt in a bland, tasteless world.

As the disciples of Christ, called to be like our teacher, and bear His image, we are to be as different as He was to the world, and as such we will incur all the responses He had from those around us. Some will be welcoming, some will be wanting, and some will be rejecting, scornful, and even hateful. As we learned last time, we are blessed when we are persecuted for His sake, since we’re in good company.  This time we continue our study on the teachings of Christ with a look at the metaphors of salt and light found in the Sermon on the Mountain.   

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Matthew 5:13

In the first of his metaphors, Jesus compares us to salt. The salt of the earth implies that we are purest of the minerals, that which is drawn from the elements of creation. “ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 We were created to be in His image, and to bring preservation to all creation. We were to have dominion over all of the Lord’s world, and to keep it for His glorification. Salt preserves for a time, but once it encounters our taste buds it brings out the flavor of what is already there by bringing forth the best of the savoring within the food. It is an amazing mineral, that can last for an extremely long time.

        The purpose of salt in this metaphor is clearly just for seasoning. We are supposed to be a little different. We are supposed to bring out the true flavor of those around us. As Christians, we do that because we expose the truth about them. We tend to bring to the surface what’s deep inside of them that makes them who they are, just like Jesus did. When the Holy Spirit comes to live in each of us, He gives us a special gifting of insight into not just who we are individually, but as a creation of God. He helps us to see humanity at large, and how every person on this planet has a great need to be reunited with God. “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23  As believers, we need to be ready for those times when those around us are being seasoned by our salt. “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Tim 4:2 This was a command, not a request. I’m not saying to grab our soap box and hit the street. I’m just saying to not be ashamed of our Jesus. We’re salty! We’re not always going to be sweet about being salty. If we are then we will have lost our saltiness. And then…we’re not salt anymore, no one would want to taste us… we’re asphalt.

Salt that lost its saltiness in ancient times was used as asphalt because it still maintained its ability to keep the vegetation from taking over the roadway. It was useful only to be trampled down, to make the ground hard, and compact it so that water couldn’t permeate it. If water sat on top of it, the water became bitter and undrinkable, like the Dead sea. Too much salt, that is unusable, is just as bad as not having any salt. Undrinkable water serves no purpose. We cannot drink it so it will not refresh us; if anything it could kill us. Salt that loses its purpose does that to the elements around it. Christians who lose their purpose do that to others around them as well.  

“We are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

        The darker the night the more welcome the light of day. Years ago my husband and myself went with a friend of ours deep into a cave while on a camping trip. While in this cave we got the idea to turn off our flash lights to see if there was any light to be seen. For the first time in our lives we experience true darkness, and it was terrifying! The thought crossed my mind I was not holding a flashlight, and was dependent upon them. If they should drop them, or the lights should not go back on, we would not be able to escape the darkness. The same thought must have crossed our friend’s mind too because within seconds his light went back on and the fear that was etched across his face, while it caused us to laugh, was really not funny. Darkness, when it is intense darkness, is like nothing else because it takes all the senses away. It’s not just sight. We lose all spatial awareness in darkness. Sound becomes unclear as we lose our sense of direction. So why would anyone want to be in the dark? “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19

One fact about light is that light cannot be hidden, so naturally we make people uncomfortable because we are light, and we shine that conviction of their evil deeds on them just by being in the room with them. In our lives, our faith should be evident in our work place, in the street, and any place venture into. It should be worn in our countenance and our conduct.  We are the cities on a hill, and we illuminate the area around us. Don’t compromise, strive to remain bright because of what a city on a hill at night provides for all those who see it. Like stars in the night sky, the city gives direction, it is a landmark, and a symbol of safety and rest from the dangers that reside in the night.

 “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Matthew 5:15

Other than being light in the world is being light within our own home. Sometimes the hardest to reach are those who are closest to us. They tend to see our faults instead of our victories. Yet, we cannot give up on them. We can’t be Christian out in the world, and then when we get home we leave Jesus outside the door. He has to live in our homes as well. Our character is who we are when no one is looking. God is always looking. Who are we when we are alone? Are we real with Him? Are we giving light to all who are in the house with us, or are the people closest to us the ones who know the real person we are when the world isn’t looking?

Or worse are we only a Christian when we’re alone? Are we a closet Christian? One of the worst things that can be said about a believer is “I didn’t know you were a Christian.” OUCH! How could someone not know? Do I not look like a Christian? Do I not act like a Christian? Do I reflect my Lord? Am I so much like the world that I don’t stand out from the crowd? Am I so hidden under the basket of my own fears and insecurities that my light is stifled by the darkness?   

”Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

This verse begins with the word “let”, as in allow, give permission, make the choice to shine before men. We have to choose every moment of the day to choose Jesus over the draw of the world.  ”Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, Him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My father who is in heaven.” Matt 10:32-33 Once we let them see the light of God then we reflect the love of Jesus to them.

The moon is just a rock floating in space. We poetically call the nightlights moonbeams and moonlight, but the moon doesn’t emit any light at all. It is the sun that casts light upon the moon, which acts as a reflector breaking through the darkness of the night. Yet we can only see that reflection when it is dark. With the sun and the moon, we see only the sun’s light, always. And so it is with the Christian and his Master. The light of the Christian upon the world is Christ reflecting through us. We are simply rocks floating through space. It is what we reflect that will make the impact on others. The moon also has a dark side, but could we imagine what our world would be like if that was the only side we ever saw? What if we never saw the beauty of the full moon?

Jesus clearly mentions works in this verse, so when people say that they can be saved, and yet go on sinning, this is yet another verse that demonstrates He never intended His gift of grace to mean we could do whatever we want. ”What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Romans 6:1-2 Some would say, “but a loving God would not condemn anyone to suffer for eternity.”  They are correct. Jesus himself said, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18 It was not God who condemns man, but man himself by exercising the gift of freewill and choosing not be restored the One who loves him. This is a working of man’s own will.

We all show what is in our hearts by the outward expression of our works. “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead. But someone will say, “we have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:17-18 We come to this conclusion; if we are truly Christians, we can’t help but reflect the light of Jesus, just by being a rock floating around in the space of the darkness around us. If God can place a rock in the heavens, that can make the night seem so much brighter, then how is it that we can’t penetrate the darkness around us. Is it that we have a side to us we aren’t allowing God’s love to touch so we only share that side with the world? Or will we be faithful and reflect our Teacher so that we can bring His glory to those who stumble about in darkness? The choice is ours every moment of every day.

 “It shall be established forever like the moon,
Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Ps. 89:37