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Matthew 08:14-17; 9:1-13 - Jesus, A Healer of Souls

By Mark Chen

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2003-03-16

Text: Matthew 8:14-17; 9:1-13

So far in the series of messages we've had at the 8 AM service on 'Do you know my Jesus,' we have considered among other things, His prayer life, His compassion, His submission, His kingship, His humility, and His authority. But among the topics, the most pertinent ones I believe, if you can at all rank them, are the last four. They all deal with Christ's work of salvation. We dealt with one last week - Christ as the lover of sinners, we will deal with one today, and the last two will be dealt with, God-willing, in the weeks to come. 

And although the topic is on the Lord Jesus and who He was and what he did, in today's message, our focal point will not be directly on Christ but on the souls that he healed. Now, you might ask, 'What is so remarkable about these individuals that we must sacrifice our focus on the Lord to focus on them?' Well, we're not sacrificing anything, because as we move from the picture, if you will, of each individual to another, and examine the focus of each, we will realize that the settings of all these three pictures are the same. And when we put them together, as with a panorama picture formed by putting three or more photographs together, we will see a magnificent view of that setting, of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Thereby revealing our Lord even more. 

The first picture that we see is of Peter's mother-in-law in her house at Capernaum. We learn that she was sick in bed with a fever, and being the Great Physician He was, Christ healed her of the fever, and we learn that she arose and ministered to them. What we see at the focus is a woman, sick, and bedridden with a fever. And the fact that it was Peter's mother-in-law is not remarkable except that it proves Peter was married, and not single as some Christian sects would claim. However, what is remarkable is not seen right away. As every photograph has a focal point, it also has a background. And it is the background of this photograph that is remarkable. What is interesting about this picture is the fact that the one healed was a woman. And this tells us something about Jesus as the Healer of Souls. How so?

Now, the first thing that many Jewish men did every morning was to pray 'Lord, I thank you that I was not born a slave, a Gentile, or a woman.' The reason they did this was because of the low social status of such individuals in the land. The position of the slave was despised not only because he had no property to his name but because he had to perform the most menial tasks; the Gentile was despised because of his uncleanness as he did not perform the purification rites of the Jews; and the position of the woman was also loathed because she was a burden to the family - with no wealth to her name. And not only was Peter's mother-in-law a woman, but she was sick. We are told that this fever, and Luke called it a great fever, had made her bedridden. The prospect for complete cure was, in those days, only something to be hoped for. Diseases ran rampant and medical science was non-existent. If a person survived a disease it was usually because the illness had run its course, and whether it was a fatal disease or not, most illnesses caused pain and suffering. And in those days, you couldn't take a Panadol to alleviate the pain - you had to bear with it until the disease left you. 

But the background tells us something else. We also learn that she was living in Peter's house, meaning, very likely, that she was a widow. To be a widow in those times was seen to be a curse; the poverty and the stigma of uselessness was enough cause for many to consider it better for such a one to die, rather than to nurse her back only to sustain her again and who knows what kind of debilitating effects the disease would leave her with.

But Jesus cured her illness despite her social status. And interestingly, just before he healed Peter's mother-in-law, in the 9 verses before, he healed, now get this, the slave of a Centurion, a Gentile! So we see that Jesus is a healer of the souls of the lower caste. Indeed, the proud and self-righteous Jewish men would have seen all these things - that the caste of a person or even the race made no difference. Jesus' healing, as spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, the healing of the Messiah was to men and women alike no matter what their social status was. 

But one other thing we want to see before we move on to another picture is the fact that Peter's mother-in-law, after she was healed, ministered to them - and we learn from parallel passages, she did this immediately. Not only had the great fever left her, but she had no adverse side effects. And straightway, she tended to His needs. This showed her gratitude. Another example of such gratitude is seen in Luke 17. Jesus encountered 10 lepers pleading for mercy, and he healed them; but when they were healed, only 1 turned back and glorified God, falling at the Lord's feet. And he was a Samaritan, another of the lower castes. And the Lord's words to this man were, 'Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.' And so too, it was with this woman. She ministered unto the Lord, the only thing she could do, as an expression of her gratitude and faith - and that's an important point. What a picture of healing. But we move on.

The next picture we take a look at is that of the man afflicted with the palsy. We know, through parallel passages, that this man had to be lowered into the room where Jesus was, through the roof, because the crowd was so large. And obviously the room in which Christ was in was crowded, with the stories of his works and miracles being noised around. We learn that many came to him and he taught them. Where did all his fame come from? We learn from John chapter 2 that Jesus had worked a miracle in Cana, also a city long the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We learn from Mark chapter 1 how when he was first in Capernaum, he cast out a demon from a man in the synagogue, of course, as we just saw, he healed Peter's mother-in-law of the fever she had. We see that in his preaching tour of Galilee he did the same, casting out demons wherever he went. We also see him cleansing a leper from the disease, effectively healing the man completely, in a place and time when leprosy was considered the most deadly communicable disease. And with this sort of fame, it is no wonder that he had a throng of people following him wherever he went. These people followed Jesus, I'm sure for many reasons - some out of sheer wonder at the miracles that he worked and some because of his teachings. We are told in Mark 1:22 that there were those who were amazed at his teachings because he taught as one having authority. So there were those who followed Jesus because they could get something out of him, and others because they wanted to learn from him. Jesus, you could say, had his own fan club early in his ministry. And so, the friends of the paralyzed man had to brave the crowds in a most unusual way in order to get to Jesus. And the fact that the man with the palsy was lying on a bed showed the great extent of his paralysis. All this we are able to see at the focal point of the picture. But what does the background tell us? 

Well, we may surmise, that this man afflicted with the palsy no doubt, thought that his illness was a punishment for his personal sins, as was the common Jewish belief then. This, too, was the belief among Job's friends concerning Job's afflictions. So not only was this paralytic suffering from his illness physically, but he was probably tormented with this thought, suffering emotionally. And so this would have made him more determined to see Christ, even to the extent of risking death being lowered down the roof of a house. And since he associated his illness with his own sin, his paramount concern would have been to seek out forgiveness. But one thing we take note of in this picture is that the man and his friends had faith in the power of Christ to heal. And when the Lord Jesus saw the extent of faith this man had in seeking healing for his soul, the Lord said to him, 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.' Or, as another translation has it, 'Take courage, My son.' In other words, Jesus was assuring the man whose heart was yearning for forgiveness, that indeed it would be given him. And it was then that the man was healed of his illness and of his sins, over which he had felt great guilt. In this picture, focus and background, we see that Christ is a healer of the souls of the downcast.

But it was then that the proud and self-righteous scribes said to themselves that Jesus blasphemed. And just as Christ saw into the heart of the paralytic and saw his faith, he saw into the hearts of the scribes and saw their thoughts. He called their hearts evil, because what was so plain to the rest that Christ's forgiveness of that man's sins was authenticated by the healing. Indeed, there is no one blinder than the one who refuses to see. And such were the scribes - they refused to see, the plain facts in front of them were blurred beyond focus by their false righteousness. What wondrous healing and what colossal stupidity we see in the same picture. But we leave this picture and go to the next.

In the next picture, we see a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, meaning, at the table of the tax collectors. And from this as well as parallel passages, we know that Matthew was a publican. And according to the parallel passage in Mark 2:13, this was by the sea, and Jesus continued to have a multitude of people following Him. Jesus called to Matthew to follow Him, and Matthew arose and did so. On the surface, the focal point, if you will, we see a man who has had absolutely no prior history with Jesus, who at this one command, leaves the table and follows Him. A bit strange you might think. Why would a publican leave his table, his prosperous job to follow a man he had never met? That is all we are told at the focal point. But the background sheds a bit more light. It is a known fact that tax-collectors and publicans, in the days of Jesus, were prohibited from worshiping in the synagogues and even to enter the temple, as they were considered unclean, even on par with the pig. And the reason why they were viewed as such was because they were collaborators with the Romans who oppressed the people, which they did - by taking more than what was required. 

But nevertheless, Jesus looked beyond that and came to Matthew's table. This is not surprising, seeing as how our Lord Jesus was not common at all. He looked beyond the exterior and straight into the heart. He commanded Matthew to follow him. This commandment, 'Follow me!' doesn't just mean to simply follow. Christ here was telling him to keep on following, to continue to follow. He wasn't just telling Matthew to leave his tax table and follow him for a season, but he was telling Matthew to keep on following him, forever. Jesus had a fan club, as I said. He had many followers. But as it is with many celebrities, they will one day lose their fame and attraction, and soon the fan club dies out. The fan club that Jesus had during his 3 years' fame quickly dissolved once he was arrested and crucified, and this is common with fans who have no reason to follow anymore, when they have nothing to gain. But what Jesus was saying here to Matthew, was that he was to follow, and to follow continually, even through the toughest of all times, through persecution and trials and great adversity. What Jesus was prescribing to Matthew was not just a temporary errand or task, but a completely new life style. And we learn that Matthew followed - he arose and according to Luke 5:28, he left all - most likely turning over his money and books to his employer and followed Christ. We then learn from Luke 5:29 that Matthew made a great feast in his own house for Christ, where there were gathered a great company of publicans or tax collectors - for this, Jesus received criticism from the religious elite of the day. They questioned why he could do such an unseemly thing, by being in the company of sinners. Christ's answer was simple and conclusive in verse 12. Jesus equated the tax collectors with sinners and identified them as those who are sick. And for those who are sick, they have need of a doctor. Jesus here was saying that he was their doctor, their healer - Jesus was saying that he came to call them, as sinners, to repentance, and not the righteous. Now, just as Jesus was not condemning tax-collecting, he was not disregarding those who tried to live morally. What he was doing here was drawing a comparison. Jesus is not saying that there are truly righteous people who have no need of repentance. He is talking about the attitudes of the people he was eating with, comparing them with the Pharisees. The Pharisees, thinking that they were morally upright, felt that they had no need of repentance, that their strict adherence to the Law and ritual purity was sufficient to make them righteous. They did not see their deeper sin problem. They were as white washed sepulchres and tombs - clean on the outside, but rotting and decaying as the dead on the inside. They were morally and ethically pure, having committed no great sin in the sight of men. They were the 'righteous.' They saw no sin in themselves and whatever sins they had committed, they would atone for them by carrying out the proper sacrifices. But they had no heart devotion - no true realization of their sinfulness. On the other hand, those with whom Jesus dined, came to realize their sinfulness - they knew they were sick and hence knew their need for a physician. And this is what Matthew knew - this was the incentive he had to follow Christ. Not to gain anything temporal from Christ, like physical healing or physical sustenance, but salvation and healing from sin. 

The fame of Jesus would have spread far and wide even before he had reached Capernaum. The news of what he had done, and even the things that he had taught would have reached the city. And inevitably, Matthew would have heard it, and by hearing it, it would have affected him. He realized his sinfulness and the wretchedness of his heart. When Matthew, pig as he was, encountered Christ, at his table calling to him, he knew that this was the chance of a lifetime, to have his sins forgiven and his life changed. Here, we see that Jesus was a healer of the souls of the outcasts.

So from the three pictures we have seen, we know that Jesus heals the souls of those who are in the lower castes, those who are downcast, and those who are outcasts. But the principles we learn from these three photos are more profound. We learn that in order to be healed, you don't have to be someone special - you can be anyone. Jesus does not reject anyone because of their social status, race, color, or even degree of sinfulness. There is not a single case on record in the whole history of mankind where a person came to God in repentance and faith and was refused salvation. But one thing we realize is that the one needing healing must come in faith, believing that Christ does heal our souls from our sins. And the most important, is that such a one must come knowing that he is sick.

So this message gives hope to those who are outside God's kingdom, to those plagued with their sins. But it is a stumbling block to those who do not think themselves sinful at all. Indeed, those who do not see themselves as sick, neither sinful, they will not come to Christ, because they are blind, just as the scribes who refused to see. But to those who do see, come to Christ, the healer of souls.

But what of us, who are believers in Christ? Does Christ still heal our souls, even though we've already been healed? Indeed he does. In the words of J. Gresham Machen, teacher of Carl McIntire, our Pastor's teacher, 'Jesus the great physician! The great healer of every sickness and every infirmity! The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. And this cure of bodily ills was but a sign and proof and seal of the healing of the soul. He who said, 'I will, be thou clean,' said also, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee.' Jesus the healer of souls! God knows, we need Him still. When past sins rise up to mock our best endeavors, when our strength is sapped by the power of evil, when our lives seem to be a hopeless tangle, unlike anything that was ever seen before, escape shut off on every side, regret and remorse staring us in the face whichever turn we take, a strange miserable hopeless puzzle, beyond our own comprehension and far beyond our own power to help - we need a healer. We need one who knows us better than we know ourselves, one who can untangle the snarl of our lives, who can apply a healing touch to the dreadful wounds of the soul, and set us forward in some new, strong, healthy life.'

Many of us today are facing spiritual dryness. Sure, we go to church, we have a semblance of godliness, but what power does Christianity have over our lives? No doubt, we will always sin because of our sinful human nature, but Christ promises us victory in our lives over sin. But sometimes victory and the joys of Christianity are more often than not a thing only remembered at best or even hardly experienced. We may come and sing how Christ leads us all the way, that we have nothing to ask beside, and we do not doubt his tender mercies, but rather have heavenly peace, divinest comfort, and faith in him to dwell; but many of us come week after week singing those things, but have no power in our lives. We are sick with sin - be it besetting sins in our lives that we revel in or plain apathy which is no less destructive. And I guess I can say this because I have often times experienced it myself. Week after week we come back to worship, but there is little heart - a form definitely, but where's the heart? And the solution to such apathy and rebellion is always the same. To recognize our sickness and to come by faith and repentance to seek healing from our Lord. Indeed, this was the charge given to the Pharisees: 'But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.' Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6. Here, God spoke of an unfaithful nation in Israel who continued in her rituals and sacrifices, but had no love for Him. They had a form, but no power. And we, if we have that attitude, have faired no better than the Pharisees and scribes who recognized not their sickness. But let us do like Matthew and the paralytic man, no matter who we may be - a member or a leader, and consider our sickness and go to the Lord for healing, for He can heal our souls.

Matthew 07:28,29 - Jesus, A Profound Teacher

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2003-03-02

Text: Matthew 7:28,29; Hebrews 1:1-4

We have already had eight messages on the theme, 'Do you know my Jesus?' and we still have five more messages on the same theme. And it is possible to go on having another twenty messages on the same theme! I hope that through all these, all of us will realise that there is just so much for us to know about Jesus Christ. We can keep on knowing Him, knowing Him and knowing Him without ever getting tired of Him. His whole nature, character, life, ministry and teachings are so richly captivating and so enriching, that there is nothing more satisfying to the soul than to know the Lord Jesus! 

This was the testimony of all who knew Him when He lived on earth among men 2000 years ago. When Jesus came to Bethany, to the house of two sisters, Mary and Martha, Mary could spend hours just sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. And when Martha got a little irritated that her sister was not helping her to serve Him, Jesus told her that Mary had 'chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.' (Luke 10:38) The good part that she had chosen was to spend time knowing Jesus and learning from Him. Dearly beloved, whenever we choose to sit at the feet of our Lord Jesus to know Him and learn from Him, we are also choosing that 'good part' - the choicest part of all experiences in life!

It is no wonder then that those who have known Jesus would want others to know Him too. When Andrew was introduced to Jesus by John the Baptist, and spent just a day with him, he immediately went to find his brother Simon Peter to bring him to meet Jesus (John 1:39-42). Shortly after that, Philip did the same thing for Nathanael (John 1:45,46). The woman at the well of Samaria only had a brief encounter with Jesus under the hot noonday sun, and that was enough to stir her up to action: She immediately went to tell the people in the city to come and see Him (John 4:28-30). And when they came, and talked with Jesus they confirmed that what she had said about Him was true. They told the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.' (John 4:42) And they probably spent more time with Jesus after that.

Even the officers that were sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Him, were so captivated when they heard Him teaching that they all returned to their masters empty-handed. When asked why they had failed to carry out such a simple order, they answered, 'Never man spake like this man.' (Mark 11:2) There was clearly something in the character and teaching of Jesus that reaches out to the hearts and minds of men. Those who met him and heard Him could not help but to be amazed at his teachings. Jesus was the truly Profound Teacher. There is no doubt at all that He is the Teacher above all Teachers!

I. The Profound Teacher of The Truth

Although this world has seen many great human teachers, none of them were like the Lord Jesus Christ. This can be seen in the extent of His teaching ministry. A great part of His public ministry was spent in teaching. As Matthew 9:35 says, 'Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom' He was ready to teach at a moment's notice, not only crowds of 5,000 people, but also individuals like Nicodemus, who came to consult Him at night. He could teach people anywhere: At the Temple, in synagogues, in their homes, along the roads as He traveled, at the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and also on a mount - from which we have His famous 'Sermon on the Mount'. The whole world was His classroom! The teaching ministry of Christ was not only great in in extent, but also in its marks. It is marked by at least five things:

1. Firstly, His teaching ministry was marked by originality - he was not like a parrot, merely echoing or repeating what others had already said. Matthew 7:28,29 'when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.' The Jewish scribes would simply teach whatever they had memorised in their schools from their received traditions all of which were based on the authorities of ancient teachers, and the people had been hearing the same teachings over and over again, like a broken record. In that situation, the teaching of Jesus, based on His own authority, came to them like deep refreshing streams of water, full of cooling refreshment for their thirsty souls! Dearly beloved, if your soul is thirsty for teaching that really refreshes the soul, then you must let the Lord Jesus teach you through His Word! When you do that you will find that His teaching is not only marked by a refreshing originality but also,

2. with simplicity - Jesus taught the truths of God with the greatest clarity, and yet in the shortest communication. He did not have to use so many words to get His points across. Today, in our fast paced life, people prefer short and to-the-point communication to long verbose speeches. But when messages become too short and abbreviated (like SMS messages) they sometimes leave people wondering what they mean. The teachings of Jesus were not like that: No one could misunderstand Him when He said, 'The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath' (Mark 2:27). No one would be left wondering what Jesus meant by the words: �No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.' (Matthew 6:24). 

3. The third thing that marked the teaching of Jesus was its beauty of expression - Jesus used striking images to communicate His Word. Listen, for instance to what Jesus said in Matthew 7:3,4 'And why beholdest thou the mote [speck of dust] that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam [huge plank] that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?' 

Can you see how the teaching of Jesus against a judgmental attitude is intensified here by His skillful use of hyperbole? It really nails home the message that it is absurd for a man who has sins in his own life to be judgmental against another with lesser sins in his life.

Jesus also used a wide variety of subjects in His teaching in order to illustrate truths that are hard for man to understand. His subjects included animals and plants, agriculture and commerce, domestic and religious life. We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, and the pictures Jesus used in His teaching included lightning, earthquakes, fire, storms, sheep, wolves, swine, birds, dogs, trees, lilies of the field, houses, food, lamps, builders, fishermen, sowing, harvest, and many other things. These things added concreteness to His teaching.

One of the beautiful elements in the teaching ministry of Jesus was His use of parables. Of the many parables that Jesus related, a total of 43 are recorded for us in the Gospels. They are short stories that are rich with meaning and excellent instruction for all Christians. They have been described as 'earthly stories with heavenly meaning.' I think you will agree with me that nothing can portray the love of a father for his lost son better than the parable of 'The Prodigal Son'. And nothing can be better than the parable of 'The Good Samaritan' to show how we should love our neighbour. Parables like these served two important functions: They are both mirrors and windows. As mirrors, they help us to see and understand ourselves, as we really are. And as windows, they help us to see and understand life and God. 

Here is a little advice to those of you who are involved in a teaching ministry, like Sunday School. If you want to learn how to teach people the eternal truths of God's Word well, you need to learn from Jesus who is the Master teacher of Truth. Spend time in God's Word to examine the way that Jesus taught, and the methods He used, and soon you will learn how to present the truth with simplicity and with beauty of expression, to the blessing of the students you teach. Now we come to:

4. the fourth thing that marked the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that was its life-changing power. The two disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, listening to Him teaching them, testified later on, 'Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?' (Luke 24:32). 

As Jesus opened the Scriptures to them for about three captivating hours, their hearts were 'strangely warmed'. Through his teaching they understood why Jesus had to die - It was not an unfortunate demise, but all part of God's great redemption plan, executed to the very last detail. At last they understood why the tomb was empty - No one had stolen His body, but Christ had risen from the dead! The two Emmaus disciples probably realised how shallow their knowledge of scripture had been, when they suddenly saw all its wonderful gems of Scripture unearthed for them by the Lord! After that event, their study of the Scriptures would never be the same again. Their lives had been changed! Jesus Himself mentions what change His teaching can effect in those who heard Him - He said to His disciples, 'Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.' (John 15:3).

5. Finally, we see that The teaching of Jesus was marked with great wisdom - Matthew 13:54 'And when He was come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?' The name in the Bible that is usually associated with wisdom is king Solomon. People came from near and far just to listen to wisdom that God gave to Solomon, and today we have it in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. But the wisdom in Solomon's teaching is nothing compared to the wisdom in the teaching of Jesus (Matthew 12:42). His wisdom was far greater than Solomon's. How was Jesus able to teach with such great wisdom? It is only because He Himself is God's wisdom. 

According to Colossians 2:3, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:24,30 affirms that Christ is the wisdom of God for all believers. Therefore the essence of God's wisdom is to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally, as your Lord and Saviour. If you want to have true wisdom, and one that leads to a real, deep and lasting happiness and peace, there is no other way at all than to know Him. Jesus Himself said, 'I am the way the Truth and the Life.' (John 14:6). The truth about Jesus, the Profound Teacher is that He is the Truth! This brings us to the latter part of this morning's message where we turn from looking at Jesus as the Profound Teacher, to looking at:

I. The Profound Truth of The Teacher

A. As The Full and Final Revelation of God

John�s Gospel brings this out from the very first verse of the book 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' (John 1:1) You will notice that the word for 'Word' here is written with a capital letter turning it into a proper noun. This unique designation of Jesus reveals that He is the full divine revelation of God Himself. Jesus is the Living Word (logos), who was made flesh. John 1:14 says that, 'the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.' Before the Living Word came to dwell upon this earth, the Truth of God had been revealed only in bits and pieces, in many separate portions, and in many ways - visions, dreams, theophanies, and direct revelation. But none of them was ever a final and complete revelation of the Truth of God. 

It is only when Jesus, the Living Word, came to this world that we now have the truth of God in its fullness revealed to us. Hebrews 1:1,2 tells us, 'God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds'. 

B. As The Ultimate Subject of all Revelation from God

Now, we come to something even more amazing about Jesus: He is not only the full and final revelation of God, but He is in fact the ultimate subject of all revelation from God. Jesus Himself said, 'Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.' (John 5:39). What this means is that every portion of the Bible in some way, point to Jesus and testifies of Him. He is the central subject, or the key to all divine revelation!

Even the prophets who wrote the OT applied this principle, as 1 Peter 1:10-12 says, 'Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.' 

According to this, the OT prophets knew that what the Holy Spirit inspired them to write was meant to reveal Christ to them, and so they studied and searched their own writings intensively, trying to learn as much as they could about Christ. But much of what they wrote, could not be fully understood yet at that time, because it was meant by the Holy Spirit to benefit those who would live later on, those who would possess the full, complete revelation of Jesus Christ, who would be able to make perfect sense of all that these prophets wrote! And that refers to us! 

Because of this we should now see the whole Bible, both OT and NT as being one unified revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the sum and substance of both Old and New Testaments. A picture of this wonderful unity is provided in Ephesians 2:20, which states that we 'are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.' The apostles and the prophets refer to the teachings of the NT and OT respectively. 

The chief cornerstone here refers to the corner foundation stone, the point where two walls meet, just as Christ is the meeting point of the OT and the NT. In ancient royal buildings this chief cornerstone stone was so important that the king's name was often written on it. The name that is written on the chief cornerstone of the Scriptures is none other than Jesus Christ, since He is the One who binds it all together. As such, we should see Jesus now as:

C. As The Key To Understanding the Revelation of God

A writer named Dr Graham Scroggie, who spent years studying the Scriptures states this very nicely: 'No more convincingly are the unity and progress of the Biblical revelation demonstrated than in the fact that Christ dominates the whole revelation.' And then Scroggie goes on to cite some interesting evidences for this statement. And we shall consider two of them:

Firstly, in relation to Christ, the OT reveals Him prophetically, while the NT reveals Him historically. In the OT Christ's redemption is anticipated, while in the NT it is accomplished! The OT is the preparation, while the NT is the realisation. The themes of the OT converge on Christ, while the themes of the NT emerge from Christ. Through this whole progressive revelation of Christ in the Bible, He is revealed as the meeting point between God and man! That is why Scroggie titled his great exposition on this subject as 'The Unfolding Drama of Redemption'. He wrote, 'In this drama of redemption the Earth is the stage, Man and Nations are the Dramatis Personae, and Christ, let it be said reverently, is the Hero.'

The second evidence that Christ dominates the scripture is this: In the OT we see man's need of a Prophet, Priest and King. He needs a prophet to reveal God to him, a priest to represent him before God and a king to rule over him. No one in the OT however ever held all three of these offices at the same time. Moses was a prophet but not a priest or king. David was a king, and since he is one of the inspired writers, he is in a sense also a prophet (cf. Acts 2:29,30), but he was never a priest. Melchizedek was both king and priest (Hebrews 7:1,2), but not a prophet. Moreover, all three of these men were sinners, subject to mortality, who proved to be merely imperfect, and at best, temporary provisions for man's need. So while the OT defines what man needs, it leaves the needs unresolved. It is only in the NT that we see the answer provided by God in one person - Jesus Christ - our Great Prophet, Priest and King! 

The Prophet, Priest and King ministry of Christ corresponds quite nicely with the three main sections of the NT. We see Him as our Prophet in the four Gospels and Acts, revealing God to man. We see Him as our Priest in the 21 NT epistles (Romans to Jude), which teaches how Christ saves us through His atonement for sins. We see Him as our victorious King in the book of Revelation, judging all the wicked, vanquishing the enemy, and ruling in earth and in heaven.

I hope that all these will help us now to see how Jesus is the key to understanding the whole Bible. It is this that makes the Bible such an wonderful book to study - when you are able to see everything within it in relation to Jesus Christ. In this morning's message, have seen Jesus both as the Profound Teacher in whom all of God's wisdom is found, as well as the Profound Truth that is taught in the Scriptures. In response to this, we must come and learn from Him, and learn of Him. May we all be moved to spend much time reading and studying the Scriptures prayerfully with a new objective, asking the Spirit of Christ to enlighten us and speak to us through every book, every chapter and every verse that we study. And may we through doing this, grow into a deeper and closer relationship with the Lord Christ.

Matthew 07:24-27 - Are You Building Wisely?

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am & 1045am Svc, 2012-03-04

Text: Matthew 7:24-27

If we have been attending church for many years we would have heard hundreds if not thousands of sermons by now. Most of them would probably have been of some spiritual benefit to us. But how many of these sermons have benefited us as much as they should have? 

Please think about this carefully: Isn't it true that we can usually practice whatever we learn when we attend a training course on something we are interested in, like cooking, swimming, driving, or playing a new musical instrument? And isn't it true that when we acquire a new PC, handphone, iPad or some new electronic gadget, it does not take very long for us to put the instructions for using it into practise? Why is it then that our daily lives do not change much when we receive instructions from God's Word Sunday after Sunday? Something is obviously missing from the way that we listen to God's Word. Perhaps what we lack is a sense of personal responsibility to do what God's Word instructs us to do.

Here is an illustration from a book by Charles Swindoll: Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, 'Look, I'm going to leave. And while I'm gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I'm away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip.' 

Everyone agrees. He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns. Finally he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess-weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss. Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, 'What happened? Didn't you get my letters?' 

You say, 'Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We've even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have 'letter study' every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters.' The president then asks, 'But what did you do about my instructions?' And, the employees respond, 'Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!'

I think we all can figure out what would happen after this: The employees will be fired for insubordination - not doing what they were responsible for. But I hope that we will also realize from this and from what we will learn in today's sermon that each of us has an important personal responsibility: The responsibility to apply every sermon, every Bible lesson and every message that we hear from God's Word. All that we hear from God's Word is meant not just to inform our minds, but to transform our lives. 

You will notice that the passage in Matthew 7:24-27 starts with Jesus saying, 'Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine.' The sayings here refer specifically to the Sermon on the Mount which Jesus preached to His disciples. It begins with the Beatitudes at Matthew chapter 5 and it ends here with our passage in chapter 7. In this sermon Jesus dealt with many practical issues that are of fundamental importance to all who would lead godly lives. Now the Lord wraps up all that He has taught by instructing us to act upon it.

He wants us to commit ourselves to a full application of those truths in our own lives. How does He do this? He lays out the stark contrast between merely hearing what He has taught and actually doing what He has taught. He challenges us to do all that we have heard from Him. And He cautions us against hearing what He has taught without doing it. All this is achieved by Jesus in a most skilful manner - by a parable which uses the familiar picture of constructing a house. Jesus likens the way that we live our life to the way that a builder builds a house. Depending on how the house is built, it will remain standing or it will collapse. If it is built wisely it will remain, but if it is built foolishly it will collapse. Therefore our life must be built wisely, and according to Jesus a life that is built wisely is characterised by three things: 

I. It Is Based on the Bedrock of Obedience (v. 24) 

v.24 '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' Take note of what the house is built on: a firm, solid rock. As a skilled carpenter our Lord would have known the importance of building on a strong solid foundation. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that He would build His church on a rock and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This is the most basic principle in building: A building is only as strong as its foundation. This same principle is applied today by all civil engineers. That is why before any building is done, a soil test is done, and piles made of concrete and steel are sunk deeply into the ground until they rest on firm unmoveable bedrock. This bedrock may be up to 200 metres in the ground, depending on the terrain. In Palestine the bedrock is only several metres below the surface, and so to build a house upon a rock would still require some digging into the ground. 

This detail is actually mentioned in Luke'�s account of the same parable that Jesus told 'Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock' (Luke 6:47-48) 

Just as it takes much effort to dig deep into the ground to reach the bedrock, so it does take much effort to apply the Word of God and put it into practice. But it is well worth the effort because it ensures that our life is securely founded. The point is this: Obedience to Christ is the only sure bedrock foundation for building your life. Dearly beloved, is your life securely founded upon the principle of obeying Christ? If it is, then you are a wise builder. You do not merely listen to the words of Jesus, but you also put them into practice. And you will reap all the blessings that will come from practising those words. 

James tells us in 1:22-25 'But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed.' The blessings that come from doing the Word makes the effort so worthwhile.

One of the blessings you can look forward to if you have built your life wisely is durability. What you have built will be able to weather all the storms of life. This brings us to the second characteristic of a life that is built wisely:

II. It Is Tested by the Tempests of Tragedy (v. 25)

v.25 '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.' Here we see an important truth. Being an obedient Christian does not mean that our life will be free of trial and testing. Building wisely does not prevent the hurricanes of adversity from striking. Whether we like it or not, we will face trials. In fact I have known some who testified that after they became Christians they experienced even more trials than before. (As 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us 'Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.'). 

Why is this so? It may be designed by God to strengthen us and purify our faith. It may also be designed by God to reveal to us and to others the true quality of our life. One striking example of this in the Bible is Job. When Satan questioned the quality of Job's loyalty to God, God gave him permission to afflict Job with the most severe trials of life. Within a short time he lost all his wealth and also his health. But Job withstood the test well - He remained as loyal to God as ever. Through this, Satan was silenced and there was no more doubt about the quality of Job's loyalty to God.

In our passage the trials of life are represented by a storm with rains, winds and floods. Storms have the ability to reveal the real quality of the work of the builders. Under good weather conditions no one can tell how well a building has been constructed, because we cannot see its foundations nor the strength of its beams and columns to withstand stress. We are not able to see any real difference between a weak building and a strong building until they are both subjected to extreme weather conditions. Only then will their real quality be known. 

The same thing is true of your life. The true test of its quality is not the times when everything is going well for you, but it is the times when you face the most difficult trials and temptations. When I was a young Christian I learned how to thank God for all His blessings. But I did not know what it means to be thankful for painful trials until I met with a road accident in 1981. I still cannot recall the point of impact when I was knocked down because my head hit the road and I became unconscious. But I distinctly remember that when I regained consciousness and realized what had happened, I was able to thank God sincerely for what happened to me. And that was something that I had really longed to know - whether I could thank God and trust God in times of trial as much as in other times. 

Now that we know the purpose of trials, let us not be afraid to face times of severe testing. God allows them for a good purpose. And the greatest testing your life will ever go through as a Christian will be at the judgment seat of Christ for that is when all that you have built will be thoroughly tested by fire. If you have built your life wisely upon the principle of obedience to Christ, you will not only emerge intact from this test but you will be rewarded. (l Corinthians 3:12-15 'Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.')

So what will it be for you? It depends on how you respond to God's Word. if you respond to the Word that you hear with obedience, then you are building wisely, to withstand anything, even the fire of testing at the judgment seat of Christ. But if your response to hearing the Word is merely a pretense of faith, or having a merely intellectual commitment, or just enjoying Jesus in small doses, then by the definition given right here by Jesus you are a foolish builder. Your life will not be delivered from the disaster of desctruction. 

III. It Is Delivered from the Disaster of Destruction (vv. 26, 27)

This brings us now to the third and final characteristic of a life that is built wisely. Let us look now at verses 26 and 27: 'And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.' 

This is now happening in Australia. Days of torrential rain have brought flash floods to - of New South Wales and thousands of people are being evacuated from Sydney even as we speak. People who live in coastal areas are usually hit the hardest. They sometimes witness the unimaginable destruction that torrential rains, strong winds and floods can cause. Do you remember the videos you watched on TV of the huge tsunami which hit East Japan in March last year? It was frightening to see this monstrous wave 40 metres high travelling 10 km inland, mowing down every building in its path. In December last year, when floods from a strong typhoon ravaged the southern Philippines in one night, the torrents of water were so strong that they swept away entire villages of houses with families inside out to sea. When I was staying in the Philippines years ago, I witnessed firsthand the awful devastation caused by two typhoons that passed directly over Manila - uprooted trees, fallen electric poles and houses that were destroyed by the very strong winds and floods. It was not a pleasant sight.

Such severe storms may also have happened in Israel in the time of Jesus. The land of Palestine is known for torrential rains that can quickly turn dry river beds into raging torrents. The fourth chapter of Judges records how this phenomenon gave the Israelites a great victory over the armies of Sisera. General Sisera's formidable force of 900 iron chariots could not move when a sudden well-timed downpour turned the River Kishon into a raging flood which imobilised all his chariots and horses. 

If the rains and floods can destroy a whole army, just think of what it can do to a house that is built upon sand. As we read the words in v.27, 'great was the fall of it' we can just imagine the loud crashing noise of the walls and roof collapsing, and the horrifying screams of all who are trapped inside it. It certainly sends shudders down my spine just to think of it. I am sure none of us would ever like to witness this happening to anyone or to ouselves. And this dearly beloved, is the intended impact of this passage - to serve as a very stern warning to all of us: A warning not to build your house upon the sand; A warning not to be merely a hearer of God's Word. 

It is a sad observation that many in the church today are content to be hearers of the Word. They will attend worship services very faithfully. They will come for church camp every year. They may even attend some Bible classes regularly and memorise verses of Scripture. All of that is well and good. The big problem is that they are not doers of the Word. They do not apply the messages that they hear from God's Word. Why are they like this? If you were to make diligent enquiry to find out why they are like this, you will get a variety of reasons: Some of them may have the habit of saying, 'God is using this message to speak to the ones sitting next to me. They are the ones who need to apply it.' Others will say, 'I will apply the message I have just heard, but not right now - there are many other things I need to do first.' Some others would say, 'I will apply what I have heard, but only if everyone else here does it as well. I don't like to be the first to do something.' All these are attempts either to evade responsibility, postpone responsibility or transfer responsibility.

There are also those who attempt excuse themselves of the responsibility to be doers of the Word by saying, 'My circumstances do not allow me to do what He says - I am sure that God will be understanding and very gracious to make an exception for me.' But the worst of all are those who hold God responsible to make them doers of the Word when they hear it. They say to themselves, 'If God really wants me to do this, then He must give me the will and the power to do it first. But I don't have either of these yet. So I must wait until God gives them to me.' It is true that we all need God's help to do what is good and right. Jesus said in John 15:5 that without Him we can do nothing. So we need to pray for strength and ability to do His will. But this does not remove our personal responsibility to act upon God�s Word. We still need to do our part. We cannot hold God responsible for what we are responsible to do (e.g. getting up early on Sunday morning to come to church on time).

So let us be warned that all the excuses we can ever give for being hearers and not doers are as flimsy as sand. It is utterly foolish of us to find reasons not to do what God holds us responsible to do. It will only bring about our own downfall! Please take this warning seriously, and ask yourself the question: Are you building wisely? Is your life based on the bedrock of obedience? Will it be able to stand when it is tested by the tempests of tragedy? Or will it collapse? Will it be delivered from the disaster of destruction?

Let us commit ourselves to build wisely from now onward by obeying all that the Lord has taught us in His Word. 

If you are still outside Christ, doing this means that you must obey the Gospel of Christ and get saved from eternal death without any more delay. Why do you continue to build your house on sand? Turn away from your sins at once and turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. He is the solid Rock on whom you can put your full confidence against the Day of God's awful Judgment. And who knows when that day will come to you?

If you are already saved, then being a doer of the Word means that you must grow up into spiritual maturity. Stop pursuing the world and all its attractive pleasures of wealth, popularity and power - all that is sinking sand. Set your affections on things that are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Build up a close, intimate relationship with Him and cultivate those virtues and characteristics which will make you conformed to the image of Christ. Then your life will be built firmly upon the Rock of Ages, and no stormy trial will be able to shake you.

If you have already grown and matured as a Christian, being a doer of the Word means that you must serve the Lord diligently. You must discover your spiritual gifts and use them well for His glory. Get involved in reaching out to the lost, in making disciples of others and help them to grow. Exercise good stewardship of all the talents and abilities that God has bestowed upon you. Bear a good testimony as a Christian worker, as a Christian student or as a Christian homemaker. Then your hope of receiving good rewards when you stand at the Judgment seat of Christ will be as strong as a rock.

Let us all commit ourselves this morning to build wisely, and may the Lord help us to be doers of His Word and not hearers only.

Matthew 06:1-4; 10:16, 26:11 - Managing Your Mercy Ministry

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2001-08-12

Text: Matthew 6:1-4; 10:16, 26:11

For the past 5 Sundays we have been having messages on the theme 'Ministries of Mercy.' I trust that by now we have a better understanding about what Mercy is all about. You know, many people tend to think of mercy only in terms of showing kindness to those who do not deserve kindness, such as when a judge commutes a sentence of a criminal because of certain mitigating factors, or when a kind king or president grants amnesty to someone on death row. That is what mercy is, to many people. But that is not the only meaning of mercy. In the Bible, the word 'mercy' and 'merciful' means showing pity to those who are in need or in distress. This involves three things:

i. The perception of a need - We must really see it.

ii. A compassion for those in need - We must really feel it.

iii. A reaction to meet the need - We must do something about it.

Mercy isn't mercy until all three of these things are involved: perception, compassion and reaction. One good example of this was the parable of the Good Samaritan which Rev Wong expounded several Sundays ago. A man on his way to the city of Jericho was attacked by robbers and left to die. Two people passed by but did not stop to help - They both perceived the need, but there was no compassion or reaction at all from them. It was only the Samaritan who perceived the need, who had compassion on him, and then reacted by going to him, binding up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, setting him on his own beast, and bringing him to an inn to take care of him.

As we go through life, we are bound to meet many people around us with needs. As Christians, we must be able to do the same three things that the Samaritan did: perceive the needs, have compassion and then react, by doing something to help them, wherever we can. This is what mercy ministry is all about. But as we do this, there are some important guiding principles we must know on how we should go about showing mercy to others. For even acts of mercy can be done in the wrong manner. Let us look at our text: 

'Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and the father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.'

The kind of mercy ministry that is mentioned in this passage is Almsgiving. What is almsgiving? The usual picture of almsgiving people have is that showing kindness to a poor person begging for money in the streets. But that is not all that almsgiving is. One definition, given in Pooles' commentary is: 'Alms are any acts of kindness freely done by us for the relief of any that are in distress and misery.' By this definition alms is not only for beggars but for anyone in distress or misery, e.g. the sick and the discouraged. And alms need not always be in the form of money. Sometimes alms can take the form of our time or effort to help someone in distress, e.g. visiting, tending to wounds, and encouraging. Hence almsgiving is synonymous to mercy ministry. 

In our passage, we see that Jesus assumes that His disciples will give alms: Look at v.2 again and observe that He said When you give to the needy, and not If you give to the needy. The Bible tells us further that believers who are blessed materially by God are particularly held responsible to minister to those who are in need: 1 Timothy 6:18 - 'Charge them that are rich in this world . . . That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.'

But while giving to help the needy is good, there are some guidelines that Jesus wanted His disciples to observe in the way they gave. The first is that they should: 

I. Do It Without Hypocrisy

We see this warning in v.2 'Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets.' After this, Christ went on to speak about prayer (vv.5-15) and he gave a similar warning (v.5) 'when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are'. And hypocrites are mentioned again in vv.16-18 when Christ spoke about fasting (v.16) 'Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance'. In all three of these sections Jesus said that we should not do these things the way that hypocrites do them. And what is a hypocrite? 

A hypocrite is a person who pretends to be what he is not. Hypocrisy is a sin because it is the same as telling a lie, and deceiving others. When a wicked person pretends to be good it is not merely that God rejects such falsehood. God hates hypocrisy so intensely that the whatever he does - whether praying or fasting or showing mercy - becomes an abomination to God (Proverbs 15:8 - 'The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. . .'). 

In every church there are some who come and who seem to be very sincere, devoted to the Lord for a time, but it is revealed later on that they had unworthy motives -- to win the praise of men. They like to be in the forefront. And if you were to talk with them, you may find that they take great delight in listing out all the good things they have done for the Lord. But once they no longer receive any praise for all that they do, they may leave and go somewhere else where they can have their egos uplifted again. Dearly beloved, let us be careful not to be like that. Religious hypocrisy is utterly hateful in God's eyes, and that should make us tremble to be found guilty of it. Every time we are involved in doing anything even in works of mercy, we should ask, 'Who am I doing this for? Is it for God or for myself?' 

It is not right just to show mercy, but to have the right motives for showing it. If we have a mercy ministry and do it well because we are eager to gain the applause of men, then we are using that mercy ministry for our own selfish gains. Look at 6:1 again where Jesus said, 'Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them' Your mercy ministry is not meant to be seen by people around you. It should not be carried out in the limelight, to be the center of everyone�s attention. It should be done quietly - and this is the second guideline we need to observe in any mercy ministry: 

II. Do it Quietly

Let us look at V.4 - 'when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.' Our Lord uses a very interesting expression, 'Not even your left hand should know whatever good your right hand is doing.' Of course this is not intended to be taken literally, but it highlights and emphasizes the fact that we should do whatever good things we do quietly, and also be quiet about what we have done. We should not seek for attention. The Lord takes delight in those who work in the background, those whose efforts often go unnoticed. 

Now someone may say, 'Did Jesus not say in Matt 5:14-16 that we are to let our light so shine before men so that they may see our good deeds? Isn't there a conflict between these two passages?' No there is no conflict at all, because these two passages are not talking about the same thing. In Matthew 5 the motive is to bring praise to the Heavenly Father by the good character and testimony of our lives before the world we live in. Righteous conduct under normal conditions should be visible so that God may be glorified. We should not hide the fact that we are Christians in our place of work or neighbourhood.

But righteous conduct must never be made visible just for the sake of winning man's acclaim for ourselves. It must never become a show that we perform when we know that people are watching and then revert to behaving our normal selves when they are not watching. And if we find that we have the tendency in our hearts to worry about what others may think about us whenever we do anything, then all the more we should seek to do things quietly, in secret, not telling any one, and learn to be satisfied that God alone has seen what we have done. Always remember: It is far better to be praised by God than by men. 

The phrase in v.2 'sounding a trumpet before thee' reminds us of the way that business corporations or societies today give huge donations to charity and make an ostentatious show of it -- presentation of a 2-metre long check with pictures published in all newspapers. Their real purpose is to gain more business by putting up a good public image. This past week we read in the news of one local bank that gave $1 million to charity for the sake of preserving its reputation. Even the Turf Club tries to improve its unsavoury image as a place associated with 'gambling' by giving large donations to charity. 

Sometimes we see such ostentatious giving in church too: when the offering bags are passed and some people make a deliberate show of how much money they are putting in. We should never let others know how much we are giving to the Lord. Some people perhaps give a large amount to the Lord but put the money in an envelope with their name spelled out on it in bold capital letters before putting it in the offering bag, probably expecting to be noticed by the one who handles the offerings. 

Dearly beloved, the best way to give is anonymously -- without any expectation of acknowledgment or gratitude at all. This is why we use offering bags instead of offering plates, and everyone puts in his own amount, unknown to others. 

We who are disciples of Christ must ourselves be so given to God, that our giving is prompted by obeying God and having compassion on men. Then our Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward us (v.4). Actually, true giving desires nothing in return - even the rewards in heaven should not be in view, and if these come, they are regarded as an unexpected bonus from the Lord. 

From this passage we have already seen two guidelines that will help us to manage our mercy ministry: We ought to do it without hypocrisy and do it quietly. Now there are other guidelines that can help us to manage our mercy ministry:

III. Do it Wisely

In Matthew 10:16, when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to minister to the needs of people, He gave them this warning: 'Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.' In this evil day and age when we want to help or give to others, out of goodwill, we should be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves, because there are some who are ready to take advantage of people who are generous and use them as 'milking cows' to gain a comfortable life for themselves. 

When my wife and I were in the Philippines we were constantly warned by all our Christian friends and co-workers there not to give alms to beggars because most of them actually work for big syndicates who take the earnings they gain from soliciting alms and provide them with a place to stay and some food. One of our fellow missionaries once tested this to see if it was true. Instead of offering the beggars money, she offered them bags of cooked rice, and they rejected it.

And so we have seen that in showing mercy to others, we must be careful and wise. Let us consider another useful guideline: 

IV. Do It Not at the Expense of Our Main Task

In Matthew 26:1-13, there was an event in the life of Christ when a woman anointed Him with very precious ointment. When the disciples saw all that expensive ointment lavished on their master they thought it was a great waste and that the money that the ointment could be sold for, should be have been used to help the poor. To them, the woman had done the wrong thing. But Jesus praised the woman for this costly expense on Him. Listen to what He said, 'For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.' 

From this event we learn to be careful not to put any mercy ministry or relief work above everything else that we ought to do for the Lord. We must be careful to consider: How much of the ministry of God's people should relief work take up? There are some Christian organizations that are concerned with nothing else but relief work, like World Vision. Here in Singapore The Salvation Army is the most prominent Christian body involved in relief work, soliciting funds from the public. In the 30s there was in fact a movement started by Liberal churches that wanted to make relief work the main ministry of the church. This became known as the Social Gospel. 

But let us remember that according to the Scriptures, the mandate of God's people is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe whatever God has commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20). Relief work is needful, but it must always take second place to the church's main task of evangelism and missions. Besides, there is a less acute need in our present time for the church to have such an extensive ministry to the needy in society because there are now so many institutions available for them, as well as measures like social welfare (which is financed by taxes), CPF, medisave, and insurance. 

Begging on the streets of Singapore is now prohibited by law, because the needs of the poor are taken care of. Strangers, widows, and orphans are not as desolate and helpless as they were before. There are now laws to protect them from unscrupulous men. But in the days of the Old and New Testaments, these institutions and measures did not exist. It was extremely difficult to be a widow, orphan or a stranger -- they had no rights, no protection. E.g. the book of Ruth. Hence the Church in those days had to take the lead in ministries of mercy and relief to the needy. 

Since the church is freed today from taking the lead in this needful work, it should rather concentrate its efforts more on spiritual ministry. I think that there is still a place for a social ministry -- provided it is seen as a means to reach out with the Gospel, and not an end in itself. We have regular medical mission trips to Batam, and also a medical missionary in Kenya (Pui Meng). One missionary who has been to Africa told me that medical missions has been more successful in bringing Muslims to Christ than any other method of outreach. 

Our Before and After School Care ministry at 3 primary schools in Yishun meets a real need: It ministers to �latch-key kids�, whose parents are both working, and so they have no supervision when they come home from school. This ministry has not only kept many children under supervision and off the streets, it has also brought many of these children to the saving knowledge of Christ! 

And there is perhaps a need for mercy ministries in our church to other kinds of needs like this: A ministry to those whose marriage is breaking up, a ministry to children from broken homes, to the unemployed, to the elderly who have no one to care for them, and to those who are having a difficult time in NS. There are many people who come to church each Sunday with hearts that are crying out to be ministered to. And they have special needs. 

Let us all be sensitive to God's leading, concerning areas of ministry where we can be used by Him to bring comfort, help and relief to those who are in distress. And when we do these things, let us nor forget to manage the ministry according to these guidelines so that all our mercy ministries will always be pleasing unto God and honouring His name.

Matthew 07:1-5 - Making Righteous Judgments

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10.30am service, 2003-07-13

Text: Matthew 7:1-5

A few months ago, when the SARS outbreak was raging and affecting us and the rest of the world, we learned how to take all the necessary precautions against infection. In almost every place there were temperature checks to go through, and declaration forms to fill. Our children were each given thermometers to record their temperatures daily. And every household received SARS kits and told to use them. It became everyone's social responsibility to stay home if we detect fever and other symptoms in ourselves, or if we had travelled to a country affected by SARS. Well, we thank God that he has been merciful to deliver us, and it is now already six weeks since Singapore was declared free of SARS. Although the fear of being infected is not here any more, we are still maintaining a certain level of vigilance to prevent a new outbreak of the disease. 

One good lesson that we can learn from all of this, is the vigilance we need to maintain against something that is even worse than SARS - and that is sin. Sin is a spiritual SARS. And we ought to have an even greater dread of sin and be taking even greater precautions against it, because its effects are even more deadly - bringing us into misery, destruction and eternal death. Those of us who attended the Church Camp here last month would be reminded that our Camp Speaker, Dr Tow Siang Hwa made this analogy of sin with SARS - how we should be even more vigilant in keeping ourselves free from all sin. As Christians, we should hate sin in all its various forms, and have nothing to do with anything that has to do with sin, or with anything that will lead to sin. We ought to regard sin with the same sense of repugnance that our Holy God Himself has against it.

In order to do that, we need to have our own lives examined by the searchlight of God's Word regularly, so that we may detect whatever sins that are still lingering in our souls, sins that we have not been aware of. The problem is that we are often more ready to direct that searchlight on others than on ourselves. I think that if we are honest with ourselves, we may have to admit that this problem is quite prevalent among Christians like ourselves. It has been observed that Christians in Fundamental churches in particular, are often quick to judge others and do not mourn for their own sins or examine their own hearts. It is said that we are rather unloving, that we have a self-righteous spirit, and that we love to criticise others. 

Now many observations like these do come from those who are prejudiced against Fundamentalism. And so it is natural for them to say that, even when Fundamentalists are doing what is right and necessary in pointing out error. However, observations concerning judgmentalism like these are not completely unfounded. And our response to them should be to humbly examine ourselves to see if we have been unjustifiably critical and judgemental of others.

Are we sometimes too quick to criticise or condemn others for something they did or said, without considering the cause of it or the context of it? Sometimes we notice that someone in our church has not been coming for one or two worship services, and we immediately jump to the conclusion that he must have backslided. And sometimes when a person tries to correct us with entirely good intentions, we misjudge his motives and immediately think that he is against us. Do we tend to judge people by their appearance or background, like the place that they come from? When Philip told Nathaniel that they had found the Messiah (in John 1:45) and that He was from Nazareth, Nathaniel's immediate response was 'Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?' 

The same tendency is found in the prejudice that the Pharisees had against Jesus. In John 7:52, they made a totally unfounded judgment about Him, just because He was from Galilee. When we judge someone according to where he comes from, or according to certain things in his past, without making an effort to know what he really is, and what he is doing now, then we fall into the same sin of judgmentalism that the Pharisees were guilty of. And because it is so easy for us to fall into this error, the Lord gives strong words of warning against it in chapter 7 of the Sermon on the Mount. This morning, we want to learn three good lessons from this warning. The first is:

I. The Danger of Our Own Condemnation (vv. 1,2) 

'Judge not, that ye be not judged'. The words 'Judge not' is literally 'do not be always judging.' This does not mean that we should never ever judge someone. Sometimes we do need to exercise judgment and discernment. In the courts of Law, judges have to make sound judgments based on the evidence presented to them. 

In fact, the strict moral distinctions drawn by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount require us to make decisive judgments. Look for instance at v.6 of our text. Here Jesus Himself speaks of the need to identify some people as dogs and swine. And in vv.15-20 He warns against false prophets (vv. 15-20) who must be judged according to their fruits and rebuked. Elsewhere he demands that people 'make a right judgment.' In John 7:24 Jesus said, 'Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.' All this means that some kinds of 'judging' are not only legitimate, but are in fact necessary. 

What then did Jesus mean when He said, 'Judge not'? The answer is that it is the habitual tendency to find fault in others. It is perfectly all right to judge, but not to become critical or judgmental. Let us look at two other passages of scripture that echo this warning. Each of them gives reasons against being judgmental: 

a. Condemnation for Usurping God's Authority to Judge

Romans 14:10-13 'But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought [despise] thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.' According to the context of this passage, there were some Christians who used certain specific practices like eating meat, and celebration of certain holy days as their standard of measurement for judging others. Today, this might be like someone who says to you, 'Do you celebrate Christmas? I don't. I think that all those who celebrate Christmas or attend a Christmas worship service are very unspiritual.'

According to this passage, the only one who is qualified to make this kind of judgment is God Himself. He alone can see the thoughts and intents of the heart. If we make such judgments then we would be putting ourselves in the place of God! Let us therefore be careful not to judge a person on the basis of something that he does or does not do, if it does not violate any of God's commandments. In moral and doctrinal matters, we need to teach and warn people clearly. Thus, if I see a person who is a Christian bowing down to worship idols, or telling a lie, then I am bound by the Word of God to admonish him humbly. 

But if the matter is not a moral or doctrinal one, we must be careful not to become judgmental and usurp God's authority. Sometimes a person may be doing things out of ignorance, because he does not know any better. E.g. Apollos at Ephesus - Aquila and Priscilla took him aside after they heard him preach and he was grateful for the correction he received from them (Acts 18:24-28). What if they had judged him to be a false teacher? 

b. Condemnation for Violating the Law of Loving Our Neighbour

Let us now turn our Bibles to: James 4:11-12 'Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?' This verse gives us another important reason why it is wrong to be judgmental: Because it is not done in the right spirit - the spirit of love. The law that James refers to here is probably the command of Leviticus 19:18: 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.' To judge your neighbor is to violate this law. 

Now this does not mean that when we love someone, we would never tell him that he has done wrong. 1 Corinthians 13:6 tells us that love 'Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.' It would actually be very unkind and unloving of us to let a brother continue to live in sin when we know of it. We should not keep silence, but rather, speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and tell him lovingly that he should obey God's Word and repent of his sins. If we need to correct a brother, let us make sure that we do it with love, with his best interests in our heart. Otherwise we may fall into the sin of becoming proud and self-righteous. 

Having seen these passages, let us now return to our text in Matthew 7 and learn another reason why it is so dangerous to judge someone. We read verse 2: 'For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.'

c. Condemnation for having Double standards

According to this, before we judge someone, we must always remember that the very same standards we apply to others will be used against us by others. Therefore we should never apply standards to others that we would not apply to ourselves. Unfortunately there are some who have double standards - one for others and one for themselves: they impose very high standards and heavy burdens on others, but do not even attempt to keep to those standards themselves. 

A good illustration of this can be found in John 8:3-9 - the passage about the woman who was caught in adultery. The scribes and the Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus and judged that she should be stoned to death, according to the Law of Moses. What did Jesus do? He said 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.' When the scribes and Pharisees heard that, they were convicted by their own conscience that they too had not lived perfectly according to the Law of Moses. Then every one of them walked away one by one, not willing to make a judgement of her anymore.

Dearly beloved, there is one good practice we can carry out whenever we are about to judge others who fall into sin: That is to ask if we would judge ourselves by the same standards with which we are judging them. And if we did, would we be found guilty too? If you had to tell someone that he has sin in his life that he needs to repent of, you must ask myself if you have the same sins or worse sins in your own life that you need to repent of. In other words, put yourself in the dock and judge yourself first. I think that we would probably come to realise, that very often, what we need to do for others is to be merciful to them rather than to make judgments against them. Dearly beloved, since God has been merciful to us in dealing with our sins, then we must be willing to be merciful to others in dealing with their sins.

We observe that according to the second part of v.2 the measure that we mete to others is the measure we will receive. He who insists on showing justice without mercy for others will not receive mercy when he is judged. This is stated in James 2:13 'For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.'

Therefore when Jesus says, 'Judge not' in Matthew 7:1 He is not telling us to just shut our eyes to the sins of others and pretend that they are not there, but rather to be generous in showing mercy toward them, while dealing with their sins in an appropriate manner. Speak gently, tactfully and personally to them. We do this, because we realise that we are no different from others. We are after all, sinners saved by grace. We are what we are, wholly by the grace of God, and not through our own merit or strenuous efforts. This brings us to the second lesson we learn from our passage:

II. The Difficulty of Our Own Imperfection (vv. 3, 4) 

Let us read vv.3-4: 'And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?' We must recognise that there is a figure of speech employed in these verses. It does not mean that one can literally have a huge beam or plank of wood stuck in our eye! 

And it would of course be quite impossible to be more aware or a tiny speck of dirt stuck in someone's eye and not be aware that one has a beam stuck in his own eye. This is a hyperbole, which is an intended exaggeration. Now a hyperbole is always used for the effect of expressing intensity of feeling. And from this we can imagine the intensity of the dislike that Jesus had for the sin of judgmentalism.

So let us learn well from this illustration: the mote (tiny speck) stuck in the brother's eye here stands for the sin in his life that we are judging him for. And the beam that is in our own eye stand for the sin in our own life. The point is that just as it is absurd for beam-eyed man to attempt to help the speck-eyed man, it is absurd for a man with glaring sins in his life to find fault with another who has lesser sins in his life. His own sins prevent him from being objective about the sins of others. It not only impairs his vision as to the guilt or innocence of others, it also disqualifies him from passing judgments on others.

Now, Jesus does not say it is wrong to help your brother who has sin in his life, but it is wrong for a person with worse sins in own his life that are unresolved, to offer this kind of help. Following v.5, he must first deal with the sin in his own life. Then after doing that, he would be in a position to help others who have sinned, since his vision is no longer impaired. This teaches us the necessity of keeping our lives clean from sin if we want to help others. How do we do this? By constant self-examination and confession of all known sins and by asking God to reveal all unknown sins (Psalm 139:23,24). Do not let any sin continue to dwell in your life, unrepented and unconfessed. 1 John 1:9 tells us that 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'

A very good example of a person who had to deal with sin in his life was king David. Let us turn our Bibles to 2 Samuel 12:1-12 - This took place about a year after king David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed in order to marry her. David had covered up his sin so well that he thought that no one knew about it. But the Lord who knows all things knew about this sin and sent Nathan the prophet to confront him. Now, observe how Nathan brought up the subject. In vv.1-4 he told David a story about two men, one rich and the other poor. When a traveller came to visit the rich man, the rich man entertained him, but instead of taking a sheep from his own abundant flocks, he took the lamb, which was the only possession of the poor man, and slaughtered it for food for his guest.

Now look at David's immediate response to this in v.5 'And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:' Here we see David the judgmental hypocrite, attempting to judge the sin of the rich man in the story Nathan had told him which is theft, when he himself was worthy to be judged for even greater sins - that of adultery and murder. David with the huge beam stuck in his own eye wanted to remove the speck in the rich man's eye! 

Then Nathan said to David in v.7 'Thou art the man!' This would have the same impact as saying, 'Excuse me your majesty, but can't you see that you have a huge beam sticking out of your own eye?' The rest of the chapter tells us that David repented deeply of his sin and was forgiven. Psalm 51 contains the prayer of confession that David made. Only then was he qualified to help others deal with their sin. Dearly beloved, let me ask you this morning. Are there some secret sins in your life that you are still keeping? Some sin that no one knows about except you yourself, and that you have not repented of, but still persist in doing? As long as you have not dealt with that sin, you are just like David before he confessed his sin. And as long as you are in this state, you cannot be an effective Christian. You will feel the weight of God's heavy hand upon you. Your help to others will be very limited. How can you help your fellow brothers and sisters to grow in love and purity, if you still have this sin, this beam or plank jutting out of your eye? 

If this is your state now, please don't delay to do something about it. Act upon it right now! Listen to what Jesus said in v.5 'Thou hypocrite, 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.' This brings us to the third and final lesson we learn from this passage:

III. The Demand for Our Own Reformation (v. 5) 

The world is so full of sins today which need to be cleared away, but the appropriate place for us to begin acting upon this is right within ourselves - we must deal first with our own faults. Whenever we hear any message from God's Word don't think how it applies to others, but say, 'Lord, is it I?' If and when we succeed in dealing with our own faults, then we may be in a position to help others in their struggles with sin. Not that we must first reach a state of sinless perfection in order to help others - we can't - but we must keep short accounts with God and leave no outstanding debts of unconfessed sins. Dearly beloved, let us make every effort to cleanse ourselves, for the sake of being ready and able to help those who fall into sin. For, if all of us turn out to be casualties needing help in the spiritual battle field, who is there left to render first aid? None! 

One last passage we will look at is Galatians 6:1 'Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.' This verse is not an option, but a command. We must render help to those who are overtaken in a fault. This means that we must keep ourselves spiritually well. It is imperative for us to do that, in order to remain qualified to help those who have sinned, by restoring them. And in the process of restoring let us be careful of not to become judgmental and self-righteous. We need to have a spirit of meekness. Let us therefore learn how to make righteous judgments, that we may serve God and others well.

Matthew 05:43-48 - Love Does Not Seek Its Own

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2002-04-14

Text: Matthew 5:43-48

We have just started last week on a new series of messages on Christian living entitled 'How Then Should We Live?' Let me just give you a friendly warning: a series of messages like this may not be very pleasant to your ears at all, because you may receive a painful rebuke from our Lord for the way you are living right now, thinking that your manner of life at present is all right before God, when it is actually not. It may be hard to take correction which is needed and to make the necessary changes in your life. But we must be willing to change if we are to please God. So I trust that you will listen humbly and carefully to what the Lord speaks to you through these very incisive series of messages. 

Too often we Christians measure ourselves by our own man-made standards. Our idea of living as Christians is limited to just attending the worship service on Sundays, reading the Bible and praying each day. We think that as long as we have done our part in doing some Bible study, in reciprocating the kindness of others to us, in being loving to those who love us, that the Lord will be quite happy and satisfied with us. But we might be quite shocked to find out what God really thinks of us! Let us turn our Bibles now to a passage of Scripture where Jesus speaks about the kind of love that He expects us to have - Matthew 5:43-48. 

These verses should make us examine ourselves - Yes, we may have been showing love to people, greeting people warmly, and we have been nice to people - but is that enough? Jesus says that despite all these, we may actually be no better than the publicans (tax-collectors), and these are the people who were most despised by society for their greed and dishonesty. We may be no better than them, because they are just as capable of showing the same kind of love to each other. 

Are the things that we have done then more than what they have done? Apparently not. Look at the unbelievers around us, and you will see that they do much good to one another, and they even make great sacrifices for one another. In fact sometimes they seem to be doing more good works than Christians! But a person may say, Yes they are zealous for good works, but what about their motive for their works? Aren't they doing these things to earn their salvation? Aren't they actually doing all they do for selfish reasons? It is true that most of the time, people do these things merely to 'ease' their conscience, or fulfil their obligation. What they have then is not love since, as 1 Corinthians 13:5 tells us - real love does not seek its own. 

What about us, then? Have we not often fallen into the same trap ourselves? Are we not also doing many things we ought to do merely to 'ease' our conscience, or fulfil our obligation as Christians? If you are convicted this morning, that this is true of you, then take heed to what the Lord Jesus says to you in this passage. He says that you need to go the extra mile. And you need to do all these things out of pure selfless love, a love that is superior to the love that the world has. A love that does not seek its own. This is the kind of love that God expects from us, and it is characterised by three things: 

I. It Is a Universal Love (vv. 43, 44) 

God's commandment to love tells us in v.43 to love our neighbour. And the word 'neighbour' in this commandment is not restricted to any particular class of people. We know this because on one occasion, when Jesus was asked the question, 'Who is my neighbour?' He replied by relating the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). He related how no one else except the Samaritan (whom the Jews regarded as social outcasts) was willing to give help to the Jew who was injured. Therefore anyone who is in need is my neighbour, regardless of his background.

The love required of us is therefore a universal love. It embraces the broadest scope. We should no longer make judgments of people around us according to their abilities, outward appearance, or social position. But regard every person, whether rich or poor, old or young, weak or strong, as someone who deserves to be loved and cared for. We should not regard anyone as not being worth your time and attention. 

One problem that exists everywhere, even among Christians is the problem of discrimination. There is a tendency to limit the showing of one's kindness, love and concern only to those we prefer to be with. The words of our Lord Jesus in this passage reminds us that our love must not discriminate against anyone. Jesus even once said that, 'When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.' (Luke 14:12-14) 

The kind of love that Christ expects from you must not be limited to only certain groups of people, but it must embrace the broadest scope. We are to show love not only to our friends and neighbours, but even to total strangers as well, and more than that, even to those who hate us and those who are our enemies. The Jews who heard Jesus say this would react and say, 'How can You say that we must love our enemies?, Are we not told 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy'?' (v.43)

Actually the word of God never says that we are to hate our enemies at all. The commandment as God gave it in the scriptures in Leviticus 19:18 only reads, 'thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.' The clause 'and hate thine enemy' was added on by some ancient teachers of Israel, who had a distorted interpretation of this commandment! Notice that v.43 begins with the clause, 'Ye have heard that it hath been said,' Compare this now with what is stated at the beginning of v.21 and 27 'Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,' Notice that in all these verses Jesus did not say, 'It is written'. That is because He is not citing the teachings of the Scriptures, but the distorted interpretations that were given to it by 'them of old time'

Jesus then gives the correct interpretation of the commandment to love in v.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'. How do we love our enemies? One outstanding example is found in the life of David at the time when King Saul was pursuing him with the intention of killing him. David and his men were hiding in a cave and Saul did not know it. Saul went in to that cave to ease himself not knowing that David was hiding in there. 

David and his men were hid by the darkness of the cave and could have easily have taken advantage of this to end his miserable fugitive life there and then by taking Saul's life. But he refused. He said in 1 Samuel 24:6 'The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.'

The same thing happened again later on. This time Saul and 3,000 men came again after David. And God caused the whole camp of Saul to fall asleep at night - even the guards - so that David and one of his men were able to come right up to the sleeping king Saul. Once again David had his golden opportunity to take his enemy's life. But he did not, saying, 'The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed' (1 Samuel 26:11). When King Saul died on the battlefield, David could have rejoiced that his enemy was dead. But instead, he mourned the death of Saul and composed one of the most moving eulogies about Saul and of Jonathan, his son, which is recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 1. 

These responses of David to Saul exemplify the selfless love that was taught by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:44 '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' The supreme example of selfless love however, is the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that, 'when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously' (1 Peter 2:23). And as He hung upon the cross, beholding the mocking throng of Jews and Romans He said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.' 

Dearly beloved, perhaps there may be someone you know who has done things against you which you consider to be totally unforgiveable. You feel that the wrong that was done against you is so great that there can be absolutely no possibility of demonstrating love by way of forgiving that person. The scriptures however specifically commands you to forgive those who have sinned against you, since you have been forgiven of all your sins by God. You are constrained to love your enemies because God Himself loved His enemies and forgave them. This brings us to the second characteristic of the love that does not seek its own: 

II. It Is a Supernatural Love (v. 45) 

Let us look at v.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.' Children often bear the resemblance of their parents. If you are God's child you should bear His resemblance of love. Therefore your love must be a supernatural or godly love, embodying the highest standard of all which is God's own love for mankind! 

Ephesians 5:1,2 states the same principle 'Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.' 

What kind of love does God have? According to what Christ said in v.45 God's love is a love that bestows good on all people impartially, whether they are good or evil. Theologians since the time of Calvin have related God's love in vv. 44-45 to His 'common grace'(i.e., the gracious favour that God bestows 'commonly,' without distinction, on all men). He could with justice simply condemn all; instead He shows repeated and prolonged favour on all. It is out of this love, that He offers salvation freely to everyone, and takes no delight in seeing sinners suffering eternal death in Hell. He is not coldly indifferent to their plight. He does not gleefully leave them to suffer for their sins. But as a loving Father, He mourns over them, and is grieved at their loss. God Himself says in Ezekiel 33:11, 'As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live' We realise even more how much God loves sinners when we read what Christ says: 'there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.' (Luke 15:10) 

Romans 5:8 tells us that it was while we were yet sinners - and therefore while we were still enemies of God - that He loved us. 'But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' 2 Peter 3:9 reads, 'The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some men count slackness: but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' 

Dearly beloved, this then is the standard of love that God expects from you. Since God loves all sinners and longs for them to have eternal life, you should be loving people around you with this selfless kind of love. And this also means that you should love them enough to bring them the Gospel of salvation, which is the only thing that can save them from eternal death. This love should make you zealous to preach the Gospel to every creature. Let us therefore be loving enough to strive for the salvation of all kinds of people we meet. 

Thus far we have seen two characteristics of the love that does not seek its own: It is universal and supernatural. 

We come now to the third and final characteristic of this love, which is highlighted in v.47 - when it says, 'what do ye more than others'. The key word here is the word 'more'. This love demands 'more' from us (v. 47); more of our time, more of our resources, more of ourselves. And this shows that it must be:

III. It Is a Sacrificial Love (vv. 46-48) 

It is a love that ellicits the deepest sacrifice from us! One of the things that is commonly found in society at large, and that stands directly opposed to sacrificial love, is apathy. Basically, each person tends to be interested and involved only in his own concerns. This tendency confines us to our own needs and concerns. It makes us think along these lines: 'So long as my own needs are met, my own rights are not being violated, and I am getting along comfortably in life, there is nothing else that I really need to be concerned about.' And I regret to say this, but this kind of thinking may also be found in the majority of us. Too many are contented just to be spectators, letting others do all the work of ministering to others, and seeking to be ministered to rather than to minister. Although there are a number of people in our church who are always actively sacrificing their time and efforts for others, a large proportion of our church is general plagued by a sense of apathy.

Please ask yourself if you are plagued with this sense of apathy or lack of feelings for others. That apathy is not good. In fact it is abnormal. Please know that it is a symptom of a spiritually sick life. John the apostle stated this clearly in 1 John 3:10 'In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.' 

And also in 1 John 4:7,8 he says 'Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.' When John speaks in these verses of the person that 'loveth not' he is not referring to a person who hates others, but to a person who just has no love, toward others, i.e. apathy. This is why as Christians we cannot reamin comfortable with having no feelings for one another. If we have no feelings for others, we must do something about it. We must strive to develop genuine good feelings for others.

How can we do this? By developing a genuine interest in others. God's Word in Philippians 2:4 commands us 'Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.' Please make a serious effort to develop a sincere interest in others, especially in church. Learn to look beyond yourself, beyond your own little world that you have built around yourself.

Let us do all that we can to develop a healthy interest in others. Then we would be prepared to do more for them, to go the second mile for them, and also to love them the way that God wants us to love: A love that seeks not its own, because it is divine in its scope, in its standard, and in its sacrifice! May God give us this love.

  1. Matthew 05:4 - The Merriment of the Mourners
  2. Matthew 05:38-45 - How To Melt Your Enemy's Head
  3. Matthew 05:3 - The Prosperity of the Poor
  4. Matthew 05:13-16 - Are You a Witness?

Subcategories

Gospel in Dialect

Do you face a language barrier when trying to witness for Christ to dialect-speaking relatives? Or do you need to polish up your Mandarin in order to share the Gospel with your Mandarin-speaking friends? This Gospel toolkit will help you to learn how to share the Gospel in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew.

There are 15 lessons covering the various topics in gospel presentation. Each lesson consists of a set of phrases, written in English, Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin.

To hear the proper pronunciation of the phrase, click on the respective plugin associated with each phrase. When the phrase is read for you, you should repeat it aloud. You can keep on playing back the phrase and repeating it aloud until you have mastered the phrase. Then go on to the next phrase in the lesson.

As you learn to speak new phrases, keep on reviewing the ones that you have learnt. Finally, test yourself to see if you can say the following in Mandarin / dialect aloud: 

Family

Introduction

Why a family resource page?  It has been often said that the family is the most important institution in the nation.  But never has this sentiment been as greatly emphasized in our history as a nation than now in recent times.  Indeed, the family is the most important institution because it is the first environment to which every person is exposed; it is the primary influence of a person, especially in his early formative years.  And failure of the family to influence and mould the child positively has contributed to the moral and ethical breakdown of societies.  Even the expert opinions of sociologists and psychologists point to the truth of this statement.  Counselors and mental health workers increasingly have to rely on Family Therapy to deal with the problems of the clients, seeing as how many adult conflicts and problems are actually conflicts and problems not resolved in youth within the family.  Of course, it is not surprising to find such delinquency and immaturity in the world.  And sadly, it is not surprising to find such worldliness and worldly problems in the church, as families capitulate their God-given rights.  More than ever, there is need for a family resource page, where families can be encouraged and taught to raise up Godly homes and to revive the Covenant family.  

And one of the main emphases of this resource page is on the subject and discipline of Family Worship.  According to the Westminster Directory of Family Worship, we are told that “BESIDES the publick worship in congregations, mercifully established in this land in great purity, it is expedient and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families, be pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of godliness, both personal and domestick, be advanced.”  Herein, it is suggested that national and ecclesiastical revival finds its genesis in the home.  And this is biblical. 

The theological foundations of family worship is in Deuteronomy 4:9,10 where believers are told to “keep thy soul diligently…[and to]…teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 

It is also in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 where the words which God had commanded believers should be taught diligently to their children, that they should “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  The chief Christian educators of our children are their parents, who have been given this sacred duty.

Psalm 78:2-7 also teaches this, especially when it says regarding the law “which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” 

According to Dr Joel Beeke, “Every church desires growth. Surprisingly few churches, however, seek to promote internal church growth by stressing the need to raise children in covenantal truth. Few seriously grapple with why many adolescents become nominal members with mere notional faith or abandon evangelical truth for unbiblical doctrine and modes of worship. I believe one major reason for this failure is the lack of stress upon family worship. In many churches and homes family worship is an optional thing, or at most a superficial exercise such as a brief table grace before meals. Consequently, many children grow up with no experience or impression of Christian faith and worship as a daily reality.”

“Would we see revival among our children? Let us remember that God often uses the restoration of family worship to usher in church revival. For example, the 1677 church covenant of the Puritan congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts, included the commitment ‘to reform our families, engaging ourselves to a conscientious care to set before us and to maintain the worship of God in them; and to walk in our houses with perfect hearts in a faithful discharge of all domestic duties, educating, instructing, and charging our children and households to keep the ways of the Lord.’”

Douglas Kelly says that “Family religion, which depends not a little on the household head daily leading the family before God in worship, is one of the most powerful structures that the covenant-keeping God has given for the expansion of redemption through the generations, so that countless multitudes may be brought into communion with and worship” of God. 

So may these resources help all Lifers to build up their families in the fear and admonition of the Lord; that Family Worship would not be an optional exercise but a time of day and activity well-sought after by Godly parents and children.  Amen.

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