MATTHEW 5
"Ye are my friends, IF ye do whatsoever I command you." (John 15:14)
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
The "Sermon on the Mount," reported by Matthew, was an earlier utterance than that recorded by Luke, and spoken in a different place; which accounts for the difference between the one and the other, on which unbelief lays such stress, and also for the circumstance that while Matthew says Jesus "went up into a mountain" to speak on the occasion, Luke says "he came down and stood in the plain."
A superficial resemblance has led unbelievers to the conclusion that they are an identical speech differently reported by two (untrustworthy) historians. It has not occurred to them, or, at all events, they have not recognised, that in speaking in so many different localities, Jesus would sometimes say in one place things somewhat resembling what he had said in another.
Nazareth Revisited Ch 16
The superhuman character of the discourse is manifest
..Who, for example, as a matter of mere moral philosophy, would have thought of addressing disciples as "the salt of the earth," and "the light of the world?" (Matt. v. 13, 14).
Mere moral philosophy -- alias, the speculations of mortal flesh as to the ways of God -- places all men on a level in the operation of its laws and principles. But here is a declaration which assumes that all men outside the narrow circle addressed are in corruption and darkness. This, indeed, is the express teaching of the Spirit of Christ elsewhere -- that without him there is no hope (Jno. vi. 53-57, Eph. ii. 12): that the way is narrow and the gate strait that leads to life, and the finders of the way few (Matt. vii. 14).
It is this exclusive claim that is at once the stumbling-block of the naturally-minded, and the evidence of the divinity of the work of Christ.
Nazareth Revisited Ch 17
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
'...the reader will see that to be spoken evil of for Christ's sake, is to be spoken evil of on account of the gospel of the kingdom which he preached. Men will bear with you in any thing you may teach, provided you maintain nothing offensive to their self-complacency.
They profess to be pious, to be zealous for God, to love the Lord Jesus, to believe the gospel, and to have obeyed it. Take care then how you define Bible things; and see that you do not come to conclusions incompatible with their piety, zeal, love, faith and practice. If you do, then farewell to your good name and standing in the estimation of those under the malevolent influence of their revilings.
I speak from twenty years' experience of the like, and therefore know truly whereof I affirm.
Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Jan 1854.
He does not mean that the blessedness consists in these evil experiences, but that these evil experiences are in the narrow way that leads to the blessedness to come after. This blessedness is expressed as a "right to eat of the tree of life." It is impossible that we can feel the full depth of these words.
We have not yet tasted truly what life is.
We are in an evil state in which we are scarcely half alive. We are so weak and so afflicted that the mind fails to respond sometimes to the brightness and glory signified by the simple phrase "Life Eternal," life as it is in God, life spontaneous, life strong, life perfect, life inextinguishable, life unimpaired by evil, and undimmed by weakness of any kind, like the Creator of the ends of the earth, who "fainteth not, neither is weary, and there is no searching of his understanding."
That is the life that is coming, and the life that God is both willing and anxious that we should enter. He has sent abroad the freest invitation it is impossible to promulgate—"Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."
Jesus places the same healing comfort before us in saying, "In my Father's house are many mansions: I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go away, I will come again, and receive you to myself." Once more, dear brethren and sisters, let us lift up the hands that hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees, and run with patience the race set before us.
Sunday morning 278.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
"Rewards" and "Treasures" in Heaven
In what sense were the "rewards" and "treasures" of the Jews in heaven?—(Matt. 5:12; 6:20.)
Jesus says,
"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of my Father who is in heaven."
Here was a reward to come from heaven to such as were well-pleasing to God. In relation to them at the time of speaking, it was "in heaven;" and every action well-pleasing to God was an addition to it, and, therefore, a laying-up of treasure there, in contrast to those whose savings were piled on earth. There was a time appointed for the bringing forth of the treasure and the giving of the reward. "The Son of Man," says Jesus,
"shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he reward every man according to his works."—(Matt. 16:27.)
The resurrection is when Christ comes. Hence he also said,
"Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."—(Luke 14:14.)
Peter speaks of it as
"the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Finally, Jesus says,
"Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me."
The Christadelphian, May 1873
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
In illustration of this, Jesus says, Men do not light a candle to put it under a bushel, but to set it on a candlestick. This is an intimation that those who receive the light of the truth do not receive it for their own advantage merely; but for exhibition to all around. They are lights kindled by God for irradiation into the surrounding darkness.
It is, therefore, incumbent upon every believer to exhibit the light, both in word and deed, whether the darkness comprehend it or not. This is the meaning of Christ's last message:
"Let him that heareth say, Come."
Every man having the truth who hides it for whatever reason or fails to show it to the extent in his power is, therefore, disobedient. There is nothing in this commandment inconsistent with the other which forbids the parade of our good deeds before men to obtain their praise.
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Jesus supplies the key to his mission... People were supposing that he had come to set up "a new religion" -- disjoined from all that God had done and said to Israel by Moses and the prophets. He gives the death blow to this misconception... The Christ of the New Testament as distinguished from Christ of modern theology and philosophy is -- Christ the Fulfilment of Moses and the Prophets. This puts "the Old Testament" in its right place, and brings to bear the true light in which Jesus is to be regarded.
...Jesus declares that not "one jot or one tittle" of them should remain unfulfilled. It was his mission to fulfil them, and to fulfil them all. He has already done much in their fulfilment. In what he has done, he laid the basis of a complete fulfilment. The complete fulfilment awaits his second coming, when, as he afterwards caused to be proclaimed by John in Patmos to all his disciples throughout the ages,
"The mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to His servants' prophets
(Rev. x. 7).
Nazareth Revisited Ch 17
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Here our relation to brethren is made sacred. In former times, the law was against murder: but Jesus takes the law further, and prohibits the anger that leads to the murder, making a man guilty at the very inception of the crime as it were. It is not anger in all cases, however that is forbidden, but anger "without a cause," that is, without a just cause.
No man would be angry with another absolutely without cause: but he may be angry for a reason that is not a good reason. He may be angry at something that is really right in the other. In the scriptural sense, this is being angry without a cause; and the danger connected with such a mistake is here made a reason for great circumspection in the matter of giving reins to our disapprobation. It is the exhortation that Paul gives in another form,
"Be ye angry and sin not."—(Eph. 4:26.)
Be sure your anger is justifiable: and take care that even if it be a righteous anger, it does not lead you to unrighteous deeds. As for him that deliberately hateth his brother, John tells us he is a murderer.—(1 Jno. 3:15.) The cause of hate is generally that specified by John in the case of Cain and Abel:
"And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous."
The Christadelphian, Nov 1875
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
The allusion to the "altar" shows that at first this had reference to the worship connected with the Mosaic ritual, and, therefore, to the Jews who were his audience on the occasion; but the precept is made binding, with all the others, upon all believers, Jews or Gentiles, till the end of the days, by the direction given by Christ to his apostles before he ascended:
"Teach them (all nations) to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."—(Matt. 28:20.)
We have, therefore, to accept it as an obligation from Christ that if we have done wrongfully to a brother, the recollection of his grievance against us should be a barrier to our approaches to God till the matter has been put right by reconciliation.
There is, of course, such a thing as unjust accusation. The remedy in that case is in Matt. 18:15, unless we prefer the other course, of silently and patiently taking wrong, which in some cases is the preferable one.—(1 Cor. 6:7; 1 Pet 2:19, 20.)
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
It is better to end strife in the shortest way. It is better to restore that which we have not taken away than strive at the risk of the loss of meekness. It is better to give place unto wrath than fight with unreasonable and wicked men. It is better to give in to unjust demands than engage in a conflict which will be to our hurt in a scriptural sense.
"Doves" and "sheep" are the comparisons to which the Lord compares his brethren; both of them creatures in which there is no "fight." The saints are lions at last, but not now. They are in training for that honour in being asked meanwhile to submit to evil.
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Whoso looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
As in murder, so in this: the law forbade the crime: Christ forbids those libidinous contemplations that lead to the crime. Thus he places our very thoughts in subjection, and helps us to attain that purity of heart that fits for the kingdom of God.
The "motions of sin in our members" are involuntary; and as to these, we can say with Paul,
"It is no more I, but sin that dwelleth in me;"
but if the propensities of the flesh are mentally indulged, they become sin. This is the teaching of the precept.
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
The literal eye and the literal hand cannot become a cause of spiritual stumbling. Hence the force of this command: that even if such were the case, our eye and hand must be sacrificed. This leaves no doubt as to our duty whenever anything—be it a habit, a friend, a connection, or what else—acts as a hindrance in the race. It is the duty expressed by Paul:
"Lay aside every weight of the sin that doth so easily beset."
All things that are lawful are not necessarily "expedient;" do they hinder or help the work of the gospel in us? This is the simple test by which we may easily decide what is wise to be done.
There are many enterprises, occupations and things that judged by this rule, will be let alone by spiritual men—enterprises, occupations and things which while innocuous enough in themselves, are prosperously effected only at the peril of eternal life. Under this category, it would be easy to include large business aims, worldly friendships, scientific specialities, political and social hobbies, fashionable pleasure taking, &c.
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
The Taking of Oaths
R. H. T. enquires what attitude should be taken by brethren in regard to oaths administered to them as jurymen or in Courts of Law. This question has also been freely considered in past Nos. of the Christadelphian. (See vol. for 1867, page 127; also 1872, page 279.) Suffice it to say, that all difficulty which brethren in doubt may feel has been removed, in Britain, at all events, by the passing of a law, making the simple form of affirmation admissible where conscientious objection exists to the taking of oaths.
The Christadelphian, Jan 1874
37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Yea, yea; Nay, nay.
What comment is needed here? A simple, pure and truthful style of communication, tree from the garniture of exaggerated emphasis of all kinds, will characterise those who follow the precepts and examples of the Lord. Purity of speech helps purity of thought, and this obedience is itself an aid to perfection.
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
One Law
IS the law of Moses opposed to the law of Christ? Did Moses teach vengeance, and Christ teach submission to evil? Did God, by Moses, permit man to avenge himself, and by Christ forbid it? Some say yes, and account for the change as the result of advancing civilisation. They say the world had improved when Christ came, and that his morale was the outcome of improved intelligence and a keener recognition of the higher faculties of human nature in their practical bearings.
Strange, then, that the world has not since given us another Christ, or that mankind in general, during the roll of ages, has so signally failed to rise to his standard! But with the usual inconsistency of human nature, the failure is excused as being due in a measure to the growth of commerce and enterprise which are said to be impediments to the exercise of those virtues practised and promulgated by Christ.
Some think that there will, in the dim future, by missionary agency, be a world-wide reformation, a universal brotherhood, when mankind will "cease to do evil and learn to do well." "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," say they—barbarous, revengeful! Well might Christ set it aside in favour of a more excellent way.
Now Christ did not set it aside in the sense of showing a more excellent way, nor with the idea that vengeance in itself is sinful. This judicial tribunal was suspended (not finished with) during the suspension of Israel's existence as a nation, which gave greater prominence to the principle underlying all—love.
"Love is the fulfilling of the law;"
the Mosaic law was built upon this foundation; the structure had been shamefully handled by the Jews; they had torn down the old walls and built others with untempered mortar, which were now fast crumbling away.
Christ came to hew up the foundation, lay it bare, exemplify it, and promulgate it, as something that had been hidden from view, so that it took a new form. When he said
"A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another,"
it was new in its intensely, simple and solitary character, for Christ did not then elaborate a code of laws out of it, but waits till love is perfected, when he will use it as the basis of
"a new heavens and a new earth."
How could Christ, who was the embodiment of the law of Moses, be the personification of another law? He said,
"I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it."
Christ was the prophet like unto Moses, God made one a servant in the house of Israel, the other a son. A bird's-eye view of the whole situation will simplify matters.
The Christadelphian, Aug 1888
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Is it lawful for a saint to sue at the law those who may owe him money?
Answer.—It would be hard to answer "Yes" in the face of the following Scriptures: Matt. 5:39–45; 1 Cor. 6:1–7; 2 Cor. 11:20; Luke 6:27–35. - TC 07/1872
Does the law of Christ allow his brethren in the present time to employ violence under any circumstances?
It is impossible, we should say, for any one reading Matt. 5-7. or any of the apostolic epistles, to have any difficulty in saying positively, No. If so, they are not to consider secondary matters. "Severe legal penalties," and even the loss of life and property, are not to be allowed to divert us from the path of obedience; nor are we to be influenced by thoughts of expediency or philanthropy as against that which the law of Christ may require.
This seems to follow, and we should imagine would not be a difficulty with a man really believing in Christ who was quite convinced that the will of Christ at present is that his brethren should be as lambs in the midst of wolves.
TC Feb 1898
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
This is but an enforcement of the other commandment:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Men love their neighbours when they are well off, and are ready to do people a good turn who are not particularly in need of it. Christ would have us show our neighbourliness towards those who fall into misfortune; for this is his own illustration of the point in answer to the question
"Who is my neighbour?"—(See Luke 10:29–37.)
A man fell among thieves who robbed and abused him and left him half dead. A stranger picked him up and attended to him. Christ's moral to the case is contained in the words:
"Go thou and do likewise."
This is the principle of the commandment under consideration. "Give to him that asketh," which, of course, is the man in need. Turn not away from his entreaties. The usual practice is to stop the ear at the cry of the poor. This may be convenient and profitable at present, but there will come a bitter sequel.—(Prov. 21:13.)
The commandment is to do good unto all as opportunity arises. The reason of the commandment is
"that ye may be the children of the Highest."
The political economist may say, "There is no end to this; everybody should look after their own poor." The answer is, there is an end to life and an end to our trial, and our business is to act on Christ's precepts and not on the worldly-wise maxims of a generation without God. The poor we have always with us: and the man who wearies at the constant test is a man who wearies in well doing, and will fail to reap in the "due season" of the divine harvest which is fast coming on.
But God is not unreasonable. Where a man has not to spare (which is the case of the majority), he cannot give to every one that asketh. In that case, he will say with Peter who was asked to give alms to the cripple at the gate of the temple:
"Silver and gold I have none, but such as I have give I thee."
The principle of the commandment is to consider the need of others as it comes under our notice and not shut up our bowels of compassion and discard the application on supposed grounds of prudence. Obedience to God is before prudence.
The command is plain and true servants "do His commandments"
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Some may say the phraseology of Matt. 5:43 and 44, implies a change of law. This is so; but it is what he might call a surface idea. Christ always used brevity and did not at every point of his teaching logically explain his remarks. He left subsequent events and past history to do that; he came upon the scene just as Yahweh's tribunal was about to be suspended in its human and visible character.
God would recognise no Gentile power as the exponent of His law, during the suspension of His judgment seat, but in effect said to His children,
"Wait for the adjudication of your affairs; leave them in My hands until the restoration of My tribunal in the hands of Christ. Avenge not yourselves, vengeance is mine, I will repay, as I did aforetime through Moses' seat."
Now we see here no alteration of law, God is in all time the judge and avenger. There is no change of principle but an alteration in the time of dealing with offences, and as to loving our enemies instead of formerly hating them, we find here no change of principle, but an adaptation of the same principle to altered circumstances.
Henceforth for two thousand years, Israel would have no political enemies to hate, there would be no heathen powers for them nationally to ally themselves with, as they were to cease from being a nation. They were to become a subject race merely, and so their enemies could only be so in an individual sense.
... We have only to wait, and if faithful we shall in due time not only be vindicated by the judge appointed to occupy the long vacated seat of Moses, but enjoy with him the honoured position of executing upon the heathen the judgments written, and with him restore the kingdom to Israel and the law given to Jacob.
This will be the foundation of a new world upon an old constitution. An enlarged sphere of action, an immensely developed commerce, wealth, luxury, intellect, &c., may necessitate a large development of the original Mosaic law.
The sapling then planted is destined to grow into a tree—varied perhaps but not different — under which all nations of the earth will find shelter, when the kings and priests will not need "two or three witnesses" to establish a case, but will know what is in man and will judge righteous judgment—when there will be no error, and no miscarriage of justice, a government so perfect that it could never be removed to make room for a better, but will last until man's mortal career will have run its course, lived its allotted age, and died its death.
The law vindicated by Christ's perfect obedience, and that obedience imputed to all in him—the law having thus given life, shall wax old and vanish away, and suffer its death agony in the final production of the race through whom
"the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."
The Christadelphian, Aug 1888
This may be difficult, but becomes possible and even easy at last to such as come under the power of the Spirit in the constant reading and meditation of the word. There are many senses in which it is true that "all things are possible to them that believe." The love of enemies and well-doing to the malicious are not native to the natural man (and we all have the natural man).
But the natural man has to be brought under the supremacy of the spiritual man's rules of action. The old man has to be crucified: the victory must be achieved, or we are the vanquished instead of the victorious. The victory that overcometh is our faith. This enables us, with eyes on Christ, to entertain benevolent regards towards those who are at enmity with us; to do good, when opportunity arises, to those who would destroy us; and to pray for their well-being.
These dispositions, however, do not in true saints work against those other commandments enjoined and exemplified extensively in the New Testament, which require us to make no friendship with the world and to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness nor to associate with brethren who walk contrary to the truth.
The love to enemies exists as a sentiment that would desire and seek to promote their well-being without interfering with the law of God, which forbids us to
"help the ungodly, or love them that hate the Lord" (2 Chron. 19:2).
Christ and the apostles may be taken as the right exemplification of this precept. Jesus, though animated by the highest benevolence, denounced his enemies as "hypocrites," wolves in sheep's clothing, graves filled with rottenness (Matt. 23), and looked on them with anger (Mark 3:5).
So with Paul, Peter, and the other apostles, though obedient to, this commandment of Christ, to love their enemies and pray for them, they assumed towards them an attitude of pronounced and uncompromising opposition, and spoke of them in terms of wholesale condemnation (Acts 13:10; 2 Pet. 2:12-19; Jude 10-16).
To the mind not practically experienced in the matter, there may appear to be some contradiction here. There is none in reality. In the abstract (as to what you would do if your enemies would allow it), you may love them, feeling towards them a benevolent desire for their good, which, as opportunity serves, you may even carry into practical effect; and yet be compelled to antagonize and oppose and contend with them in the attitude they assume towards the things of God.
The existence of your real sentiments may be clouded from view by the circumstances surrounding you, as in the case of the Lord among the Pharisees; but its existence is there all the same, and shows itself negatively, at all events, in the absence of effort to hurt. The difference between those who are controlled by this precept and those who are not, is perhaps more evident when power to hurt is possessed.
The righteous man is free from malice, and refrains from inflicting harm; the man of the flesh embraces the opportunity without mercy, and schemes to create the opportunity of inflicting evil if it does not exist.
The spirit of the commandment may be apprehended by considering God, whom we are commanded to imitate. All His designs are based in love; but, with the wicked, He is angry, and will at last destroy them, though not willing that they should perish. Nothing, however, will more foster the commandment than the observance of its letter.
The Christadelphian, Dec 1875
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
He maketh his sun to rise
Never mind about the age of the sun, nor of its having shone for years untold. The point is, it shines now for your benefit and for mine (Matt. v. 45). This is the practical view—the view which brings comfort, and inspires with gratitude. And it is not only the sun which has to be considered in this way; but the countless other creature blessings which are born afresh to us every day.
We live in times when God is ignored, and His good gifts attributed to the mere workings of nature. No, the sun shines, the rain falls, and the seasons return, not by chance, but as the result of a loving arrangement of God, set agoing at Creation's start, but at the same time unceasingly controlled (Deut. xxviii. 12, 23).
Let us then forget that the sun has been shining for ages, and remember that it commenced to shine this very morning—by the wonderful provision of our Father—for your happiness and well-being, and for mine. How delightful is the thought!
Bro AT Jannaway
The Christadelphian, Sept 1899