Daily Bread 1-29-18

The Sermon on the mount(cont'd)

Matthew 5:21,22

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever os 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.

ref. - Ex 20:13 - Thou shalt not kill

1J 3:15 - Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Here we see that our righteousness WILL have to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. For we no longer are just forbidden of an action, but also the emotion that leads up to that action. If we are thinking it, we are convicted. So, how do we get rid of this feeling or this thinking? We must go to a man who does not have that in him and be led in the same direction. This man is Jesus Christ. It is one thing to put down the sword but quite another to never desire to pick it up again. As we can read by the Acts of the Apostles and the examples of many of the Disciples, this was not only problem with the beginner but also with the closest followers of Jesus Christ. They, then, had Jesus right there to rebuke them and stop them from doing these things, but now we have to rely on his Spirit. This, once again brings us to the Spiritual salvation rather than the carnal. So, today, we may stand under a different way of abiding by the rule but in the end we will become obedient. If the thought is not in us, the sin will not be committed. If these hateful feelings about our Brethren come up in us it will not be them that suffer, it will be our own souls. It is one thing to rebuke them but quite another to hate them. And God knows what we have in our hearts. Besides, how preoccupied is the mind when we are angry or hateful with someone. Our intentions and our minds will be somewhere else than focused on pleasing God. Let us be careful not only what we say about our Brothers, but also what we think. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Food for thought in a starving world. Have a great day!!