2009-10-30
Good Morning Dear Ones,
If there is one thing that the Lord removes from our lives when we come to true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s the desire to be nasty to others or treat them unfairly. Fellow believers become our adopted brothers and sisters, if we are to believe RO 8: 14-16. In a real sense, “the Holy Spirit joins Himself to our spirits to declare we are God’s children.” In the last few weeks, we have been examining the Golden Rule, MT 7: 12, with other verses and passages, e.g. HE 13: 9. You’ll remember that MT 7: 12 is part of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. Today, let’s compare it to MT 22: 34-40. “When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap Him with a question. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ The whole Law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets depend on these two commandments.’”
To facilitate this comparison, here are the words of MT 7: 12, “Do unto others what you want them to do for you; this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets.” I’m reminded that when something is repeated in the Bible, that’s God emphasizing what is important to Him and ultimately to us. One can see two important elements in MT 22: 34-40, a God element and a mankind element. In verse 37, Christ is actually citing DT 6: 5, something so important to God that Jewish people always have it printed on a small piece of parchment, rolled up, and inserted into a small item called a mezuzah, which is nailed to the doorposts of their homes. Once again, we see the same focus on God in the Ten Commandments. EX 20: 1-5. Repeatedly, we see direct and indirect references throughout the Scriptures to God’s supremacy and His sovereignty over our lives. That’s the God element. Now to the human element.
One of the great contrasts that we see between those who believe in the OT and NT and those who do not is the attitude toward preservation and bettering of human lives. I’m not saying that non-believers on an individual basis don’t revere the preservation of lives, because any of us can cite the example of people like Mahatmas Gandhi and that of professed [but not true] believers who don’t commit crimes against others. But the western Judeo-Christian teaching abhors the taking of a life or cruelty toward others. Countless times, such as LV 19: 18 and JN 13: 34 for example, the same message comes up-“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” I’m sure there are other places where this is cited too.
We would like to think that this is natural behavior, but it isn’t. How do I know this? I know it from the very cruel way that young school children often treat each other. They may come from very well-mannered and kind parents, but they haven’t yet learned this kindness. Parents, teachers, and other authority figures in their lives must take the time and have the patience to teach them. I remember from my own past, growing up without much self-esteem, an incident where a group of my classmates were beating up on a small child who was obviously afraid to participate in a game of kick ball. This child was unable to play it well enough to suit the others, and a point was lost due to his error. I didn’t have the courage to stand up for this child, but instead stood watching this from a distance. Fortunately, one of the teachers saw what was going on and stopped it. The little child was taken inside the school awash in tears. I felt guilty that I couldn’t have been a part of the solution to this behavior on the part of my classmates. Even then, long before the Lord Jesus came into my life, I was wanting man’s inhumanity to his fellow man to stop. Later, when I myself was middle school age, I was the recipient of the cruelty of anti-Semitism when I was beaten by two other students and had my purse stolen. This incident went for the most part unsolved, other than for the school nurse to bandage my wounds. The other two most probably got away with their cruelty and never had to answer for their behavior toward me. I was too frightened to turn them in and didn’t have any evidence that would prove their involvement. The Lord stamped this memory on me for a number of reasons, which were made known to me much later in my life. If the new commandment of JN 13: 34-35 seems trite, believe me it isn’t. “And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples.” All of this, MT 7: 12, MT 22: 34-40, and JN 13: 34-35, is connected and are examples of a principle God feels is essential for us to know and understand.
PRAYER: O Lord, we approach Your throne this morning in utmost reverence and with requests that have far-reaching ramifications [EPH 3: 12]. We beseech You to keep Your promise to protect us from the advancing evil that is in our world today. We know You have a history of keeping Your promises, even to the point of sacrificing Your only begotten Son on the cross, so that we can have the chance for salvation [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. You have told us that those of us who repent of our sins and believe in Him will be saved. We also ask you to give us the courage in the face of being tested by those who are cruel to us. Part of this is enabling our ability to keep our eyes focused on the Lord Jesus. HE 12: 1-2, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The Golden Rule and all the verses that are connected to it are not trite or out-dated. Every word that Your Son, Jesus Christ, uttered in the Sermon on the Mount applies to our lives all this many years later and forever. For, “Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”; the same is true for His words [HE 13: 8; 2 TIM 3: 16-17]. We know that as participants in the Covenant of Grace, we can rely upon You to do Your part, for You are perfect. Now, we pledge to do our best to do our parts, despite the fact that we are imperfect sinners. There will be tough times ahead, but we endeavor to be on Your team, the winning team, in this confrontation between a God-centered belief system and the one that our adversary has- which is man-centered. We believe implicitly that in the end, all that You promise in REV and other places in the Bible will come true, that You will ultimately vanquish evil and emerge victorious. We believe that “nothing impure will be allowed to enter the city” [REV 21: 27]. In the meanwhile, we thank and praise You for Your habit of being accessible to us whenever we need You. You are a just, kind, loving, and generous God, Who will not allow His people to go unprotected. PS 139: 5, “You are all around us on every side. You protect us with Your power.” We pray in the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, we continue with our comparison of MT 7: 12, the Golden Rule, with other Scriptures-this time it will be RO 13: 1-8. In the course of maturing, a normal person learns to become less preoccupied with self and more interested in the needs of others. There is a discovery to be made. It is that there is greater joy in serving others than in being self-centered. There are people who never make this discovery, and that is a reason to feel sorry for them. I firmly believe that it is our faith in the Lord and God’s supernatural action that brings this about. RO 12: 1-2, “So then, my brothers, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by the complete renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect.” Yes, I know I cite this passage often, but that is because it has such a profound impact on the true believer. It outlines what our lives should be, how our relationship to God should be, and how we should treat others. It doesn’t matter where we are with others- the workplace, the gym, the movie theater, the restaurant, the classroom, the church, or wherever- God’s rules for living apply. If we find ourselves where there is animosity or disagreement, we are told never to act with cruelty or lack of concern for the others involved. That is hard to do, but very necessary. Our obedience to God’s code of behavior may be difficult, but one never knows when it might set the stage for the eventual salvation of another. And in the extreme case where our martyrdom occurs, we should hold on to REV 6: 9-11 with all our hearts. That’s part of what it means to be a true believer.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn