Matthew 5
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| Provided by the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard |
4 Fulfilled are those
whose sin causes them great sorrow. Who
look at their sin with tears in their eyes, sorry for what they’ve done, for
the God who wipes away all tears will personally soothe their heartache.
5 Fulfilled are those who
don’t have to always be on top. By no
means are they weak but they don’t have to be in the limelight to know their
worth. They might not hold positions of
earthly power in the here and now but they will receive their reward when this
earth is consumed and replaced with the new heavens and the new earth.
6 Fulfilled are those who
long for righteousness as a fat kid yearns for cake. I promise that their hunger for a clean slate
will be satisfied in Me.
7 Fulfilled are those who
show mercy to everyone they know because what goes around, comes around. One day when they’re in a tight spot perhaps
one to whom they’ve show mercy will return the favor. Not only that, but God will show to us if we
show mercy to others.
8 Fulfilled are those
whose motives and intentions are pure.
Unlike the wicked man who is trapped by his own lies, the one who works
with honest objectives will one day see God face to face.
9 Fulfilled are those who
help others get along. God will treat
such people as his very own children.
10 Fulfilled are those
who are emotionally ridiculed or even physically abused because they have
chosen to live a lifestyle that is defined by doing what God wants. It may seem odd to speak this way, but though
they experience this earthly trouble, they belong to another world.
11 Again I say, when
people hurt you, or spread hurtful rumors about you, or say hurtful things even
to your face because of Me, this should make you happy.
12 This is a reason to
celebrate because it is an indication that you are living the heaven-bound
life. I mean, look at the godly prophets
who were before you who were treated the same way.
13 You are supposed to be
like salt to a bland world, showing the lost the value of spiritual things
through your godly actions. If you lose
your salty flavor who else is going to accomplish this task? Surely, you’ll be of no use spicing up and
revitalizing the spiritual lives of others if you don’t even taste salty
yourself, therefore you’ll be tossed out with the rest of the garbage.
14 You followers of God
are like lighthouses commissioned by the Father to provide guidance to the
lost. A city on a hill is seen by
all.
15 No one turns on a
flashlight just to put it in their pocket.
Instead they hold it up so that it gives light for everyone around to
see by.
16 In the same way, let
the light of your good deeds done in My name be seen by men so that they will
have reason to give praise and glory to God who works through his children.
17 Don’t think that I
came to render the Law of Moses or the words of the Prophets useless. I am in no way claiming that they were vain
in their time but rather through the life that I live and through the Kingdom I
preach, I am fulfilling them.
18 Most certainly, I tell
you, the Law must be kept as surely as the sun rises in the sky every morning
and as surely as the earth revolves around it.
I’m talking even down to the dots on the I’s and the crosses on the
T’s. You are bound to keep the Law of
Moses in it’s entirety until my Kingdom mission here on earth is fulfilled.
19 Therefore, if any of
you relaxes any of God’s commandments given at Sinai or teaches anyone else to
do the same (that is until My mission is fulfilled) you will be considered of
little significance in the Kingdom but whoever keeps the Law and teaches others
to do the same will be considered of great import in the Kingdom.
20 I say this to you so
that you will know how important living the right way is to Me. Therefore, don’t simply put on a façade of
righteousness like the Pharisees do, otherwise there’s no way you’ll have a
part in my Kingdom.
21 You have heard it said
that God gave this commandment to Israel :
“You shall not murder.” And whoever murders will be in danger of God’s holy
judgment.
22 I tell you however,
you shouldn’t even be angry with someone for no reason. If you don’t control your rash outbursts of
unjustified anger this is enough to incur God’s wrath. Isn’t it true that you could be taken to
court in front of the Sanhedrin for calling someone “stupid?” You know this is true. In the same way I tell you if you call anyone
“a fool” you could be taken to God’s heavenly courts where he has the power to
pass the ultimate sentence of an eternity in hell.
23-24 This being said, if
you come before God to give Him praise, and then remember something that is
causing disharmony between you and someone else, hold off on your praise until
you’ve gone and made things right. Our
peace with our fellow man is a more beautiful offering to God than any song
sung or animal sacrificed to Him.
25-26 In the same way, if
you are being taken to court by someone accusing you of a crime against them,
while you are on your way to the courthouse try and come to terms with
them. It is much better to come to some
kind of peaceful resolution between the two of you than to arrive at the court
with your unresolved dispute and then be in danger of the judge’s
punishment. Most assuredly he will throw
you in jail and you will not be released until you have paid full restitution
or any fines that might be required.
27 Another command which
was given by God to your descendants is, “You shall not commit adultery.”
28 This is true but let
me take it one step farther. I say to
you that anyone who even looks at someone else with the intention of envisioning
them in a sexual way, has already committed adultery with that person in their
heart.
29 If either of your eyes
causes you to sin, even if it is your dominant eye, gouge it from it’s socket
and throw it away. It is better for the
physical body to paralyzed at the present than for your soul to be condemned to
eternal hell because you could not control your eyes.
30 Likewise, if either of
your hands causes you to sin, even if it’s the hand that you work best with,
cut it from your arm and throw it away.
Your healthy state in this life pales in comparison to the importance of
your spiritual health. Do whatever it
takes to keep yourself from sinning.
31 It has also been said,
“If anyone divorces his wife, he can most certainly do so, as long as he gives
her a certificate of divorce.”
32 But let me tell you
right now, some of you need to stop using this command as a flake out when
things just aren’t going your way. She
can’t cook, I’ll get a divorce. He said
my butt looked big, that’s ok, I’ll just call my lawyer and we’ll get a
divorce. Don’t you all know what
commitment is? The only real reason to
divorce is if your husband or wife cheats on you sexually otherwise such a
divorce is adulterous. And whoever
marries a divorced person commits adultery.
33 Again you have heard
that it was said to your forefathers, “You shall not make false promises but
you should carry out all your vows to God.”
34 However, I say to you
don’t even be the kind of person who needs the language of a promise to begin
with.
35-36 What I mean by this
is that some of you swear by various things such as the earth or by Jerusalem
or by your own head. And it has
foolishly been taught that no oath sworn by anything less than God is really
binding and so you are using your oaths for trickery and deception.
37 Stop being shady. Say what you mean and mean what you say
otherwise you’re acting like the devil, the Father of Lies.
38 You have heard it said
before, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
39 Instead I tell you
don’t fight back. If someone throws a
punch, take it like a man, and offer him another free shot. Rolling around on the floor like animals all
day isn’t going to get you anywhere.
40 If anyone sues you for
your shirt gladly give it to him but don’t stop there, give him your jacket as
well. Give more than is required of you.
41 If anyone uses their
authority to press you into service go even beyond their expectations.
42 Give to everyone who
asks help from you and don’t deny the person who needs to borrow some
money. Live generously.
43 You have heard that it
was said, “You should love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
44 But I say to you, love
your enemies, speak kindly to those who say bad things about you, do good to
those who hate you, and even pray for those who spitefully take advantage of
you and hurt you.
45 If you do this God
will adopt you as His children because He too gives good things to evil people
even while they are living lives of rebellion against Him. For instance His bright star that gives heat
and light, we call it the sun, rises on good people and evil people. God send rain from the sky that water’s both
good men’s crops and evil men’s crops.
46 I bet you’ve never
thought about it this way: If you love those who love you, what do you get out
of that? What would you be doing any
different from an evil person with evil companions? Aren’t even crooked tax collectors kind to
their crooked tax collector friends.
47 Also, if you only say
hi to those people you know and like, what makes you different from everybody
else? Once again, don’t even those
crooked tax collectors do this?
48 Therefore when you
love even your enemies you as a person are complete, just as God above is just
as He should be when He loves His enemies.
Matthew 6
1 Make sure that you
aren’t doing good things for others just so you’ll get praise from your fellow
man. Don’t be nice just to show
off. If you are then you have no reward
from God.
2 Therefore when you do a
kind deed, don’t be like the hypocrites who raise their voice to make sure
other people can hear them. Don’t find
the most public of places to be charitable because you want everyone to see
your good deed. This is what the
hypocrites do. I tell you, surely, they receive their reward in full because
they get their praise from men therefore God has no good gift to give them.
3 Instead, be so subtle
and unconcerned about who takes notice, that not even your left hand knows what
your right hand is doing. Give for the
simple joy of giving and because you want to help the one who is in need.
4 If you are charitable
in that kind of manner, God will reward you.
5 Also, when you pray you
should not be like the hypocrites. They
love to pray in public places where everyone can see them. They do this so people will call them pious
or holy. Most certainly they have
already received their reward in full.
6 You, on the other hand,
should go into your most secret of places to pray. Perhaps in your bedroom or your closet. For God is in the secret place and He who
sees in secret will reward you bountifully.
7 And when you do pray in
your secret place don’t use big words, long sentences, or some rotely memorized
meaningless prayer as ungodly people do.
They think that God will hear them because they say all the right words
but they are only fooling themselves.
8 Therefore do not be
like them. God already knows what you
need even before you ask it.
9 So, friends, pray like this: Our Father in heaven, how great and wonderful
you are,
10 May those who are in
rebellion against you submit to your rule and become members of your
kingdom. God I pray that what you want
to happen, happens and that I would be open and trusting of your will since
even the angels in heaven do exactly what you want.
11 Provide for us today
the essentials of this life.
12 Forgive us for
wronging you just as we have forgiven those who have wronged us.
13 Do not lead us into
temptation but rather give us an escape route whenever the devil tries to make
us fall. For you God are ruler above
all, most powerful, and worthy of all the glory. Amen.
14 If we forgive men when
they wrong us then God will also forgive us.
15 But if we do not
forgive men when they wrong us what makes you think that God will forgive your
trespasses?
16 Furthermore, when you
fast, when you go without food for spiritual purposes, do not be like the
hypocrites who look all sad and mopey.
They contort their face so that everyone will know that they are
fasting. Once again, they already have
their reward.
17 But when you fast wash
your face, put on your makeup, and brush your hair so that you look like you
always do. Don’t use the way you look to
make people see that you’re fasting.
18 When you fast in this
secretive manner you Father who sees in secret will openly reward you.
19 Do not ascribe heart
value to earthly treasure, because in this world moth and rust destroy such
things and thieves may even break in and steal.
Don’t get so attached to an earthly good that you just couldn’t live
without it.
20 Instead, highly prize
heavenly treasures which cannot be eaten by moths or corroded by rust. Nor can these heavenly treasures be stolen by
thieves.
21 For those things which
you value most are indicators of where you heart truly lies.
22 It is our eyes that
take in sources of light and convert such light into readable images for our
mind. If your eye is in good condition
then it does this job properly and you will be able to see clearly. And the man
who sees clearly will live well.
23 However if your eye is
bad, you will not be able to see well at all.
How many of you are fooling yourselves thinking your eyesight is good
when really you need glasses? What I
mean by this is don’t be blind to where your passions and treasures lie. If you see the heavenly goal clearly then
your eye is good and thus you will live well.
However if your heart is set on earthly things, then you aren’t seeing
things clearly and are in desperate need of some correction.
24 For you see, no one
can serve two masters. Either he will
hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise
the other. No one can serve both God and
their material goods.
25 Now, since you know
the value of storing up treasures in heaven and not on earth, I say to you do
not worry about your earthly needs.
Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink or what clothes you will
wear to cover you body. Surely there’s
more to life than food and more to the body than what covers it.
26 Look at the birds that
fly above us, they neither plant nor gather or store up in barns but they have
plenty to eat because God provides for their needs. Aren’t we more important to God than the
birds?
27 Who can add even one
day to his life by worrying? It doesn’t
do any good.
28 So why worry about
your clothing? Think about the Sunflower
fields you see driving out of town. They
neither spin nor toil and
29 yet even King Solomon,
who was adorned with the richest of garments, was not dressed as beautifully as
these sunflowers.
30 So if God clothes the
plants of the field which are here today and tomorrow are thrown into the fire,
won’t he provide us with the clothing we need?
O you of little faith!
31 Therefore there’s no
need to worry. There’s no need to ask
“what shall we eat?” or “what shall we drink?” or “what shall we wear?”
32 Earthly minded people
who do not know God seek after these things.
We don’t want to be like them.
Instead know that your Father in Heaven knows how much we needs these
essentials
33 And then seek first
the Kingdom of God
34 Knowing God’s
providence, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Today holds enough
trouble without adding the worry for the future.
Matthew 7
1 Don’t rashly judge
others and by no means play God by thinking you have the right to condemn or
justify, otherwise you too will be judged.
2 For if you treat others
with a critical mentality, you will be considered in the same manner. On the other hand, if you show mercy in your
judgments upon others, the same will be done for you.
3 Why do you notice the
smallest fleck of sawdust in your brother’s eye when you’ve got a 2x4 lodged in
your own?
4 What sense does it make
to say to your friend, “let me get that speck of sawdust out of your eye” when
you can’t hardly see to do the job for the 2x4 in your own eye.
5 You hypocrite! First take the 2x4 out of your own eye and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your friend’s eye.
6 Do not give what is
holy to the dogs – for they will turn and rip you apart. Do not give your pearls to pigs – they will
simply step all over them having no appreciation for their value.
7-8 Keep on asking and it
will be given to you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and
the door will be opened to you. You can
rest assured of this.
9 Who here this morning
has a son, that if he asked for bread would give him a stone instead?
10 Or if he asked for a
fish would give him a poisonous snake?
11 If then even evil men
know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will God in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask of Him?
12 All this being said I
think it should be clear: whatever we want others to do for us we need to get
up and first do for them. This is
essentially what all the Law and the Prophets say.
13 Choose the road less
traveled; the door is large and the path is wide that leads to hell. Though its path is smooth due to its heavy
traffic, it’s end is not worth the ease of journey.
14 On the other had the
road less traveled is entered upon by only a few. It’s door is small and its path is rough and
wild and yet it leads to everlasting life.
15 Watch out for false
teachers of religion. On the outside
they may look like sheep, harmless and gentle however on the inside they are
ravenous wolves with no intention but to use you for their own gain.
16 If they disguise themselves
so well, then, you ask, how might we tell them from the good teachers? I tell
you, you will know them by their fruits.
Look for character; not charisma.
Find one who admonishes do what I do and not just do what I say. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or
figs from thistles?
17 So too, every good
tree bears good fruit and every bad tree bears bad fruit. But good people do good things while bad
people do bad things.
18 So keep your eyes open
for what these teachers actually do, their actions (and not just their words)
will reveal whether they are false or not.
19 And just like every
tree that bears bad fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, likewise bad
people, false teachers, have the same destiny.
20 So therefore I say
again, you will know them by their fruits.
21 Not everyone who prays
to me “Lord, Lord” shall be a part of my kingdom. It is not your words that count but your
actions. Only he who actually does the
will of God will enter into heaven.
22 Then again, there will
be many who say to me on the Judgment Day, “Lord Jesus didn’t we prophesy in
your name, didn’t we cast out demons for you, and perform many miracles by your
power?” O God our actions were for you.
23 To their dismay I will
respond, “I never knew you; get away from Me, you sinful rebel.” You see many will be very adept at playing
church and going through the motions of Christianity but I require a truly
committed heart that overflows into action.
24 Therefore whoever
hears all that I have said this morning and then carries it out, I will liken
him to a wise man who builds his house on a solid foundation. Though the storms might brew and the floods
might come, it will stand because it is built on the solid foundation of My
word.
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