Our first passage of scripture is taken from the book of Matthew which records in detail, the well-known sermon on the mount. Let’s read:
Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
5:22 But I say unto you”….
The word but as used in the context of what is to follow is one of the strongest words ever used in the Bible, for it is a conjunction used to introduce something in stark contrast to what has already been mentioned. The reason why we say that it is one of the most potent words used by Christ is
because Jesus is now going to permanently reverse some of the popular interpretations of things that were written under inspiration, by His servant Moses.
Some of the most treasured beliefs held by the Jewish nation were not merely figments of their imagination, or an additional belief that was introduced over the years because of custom and cultural heritage; the reversals or corrections as given by Christ are now going to put some of the scriptures of the old Testament into a complete change of direction and interpretation, so that the new interpretation can replace that understanding of the scriptures, which was held as sacred treasure for many, many years.
Thus Christ is now going to correct, that which was never ever the ideal will of God, but which was permitted in days of old, only because of the ignorance, and spiritual darkness that had engulfed
the multitudes for centuries. Let’s read:
Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Back then in the days of old, a person who had not actually shed any blood considered themselves completely free from the guilt associated with this sin, even though they may have harbored bad feelings, hatred and animosity towards their brother or sister, whilst at the same time saying “Good morning” or happy Sabbath! Therefore according to this new revelation and interpretation of Christ, the person who was angry with his brother without a cause, or who had harbored
hatred in their minds towards a fellow-believer or family member, were guilty of manslaughter, and thus, when the recording angel wrote down their sin in the books of heaven, “Murderer” was placed besides the person’s name. Let’s read:
1st John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
In order for us to have a better understanding of what this new interpretation of Christ really means, it’s necessary for us to stand in the shoes of one of the “good” Jews, who stood listening to Christ’s new revelations. Based on this new interpretation of the law by Christ Himself, I now find myself as a law-abiding Hebrew, having to revaluate my own self according to this new measure of righteousness, for if I’m hearing correctly, even the contemporary teachers of the day, together with the doctors of the law, also have it wrong, this according to what Christ is saying. Let’s read:
Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And so although I have never shed any innocent blood, like “Those other guys”, I’m now wondering whether or not I really belong in jail, next to those criminals who shoot people at random. Could it be that I inadvertently avoided arrest by earthly authorities, solely because of the erroneous interpretation of the law? Previously I went to bed with a clear conscience, but could it be that I’m really guilty of grave sin, and I know it not? Let’s observe carefully how the estimation is made in the sight of God as it pertains to manslaughter, for
We should never be deceived by Hollywood’s version and interpretation of events. Let’s read:
John 19:6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify [him], crucify [him]. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify [him]: for I find no fault in him.
19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
19:8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Again, in the days of yore when the dignity of women were at an all time low, and they were in some instances looked upon as second class citizens, men were permitted to put away their wives for many different reasons other than infidelity. This provision was actually written under inspiration by Moses, who then delivered it to the Hebrews, and so the men of that time were found in many instances, to be abusing the clause for the most trivial reasons, thus drawing a stern correction from Christ as to what God’s will really is. Let’s read:
Matthew 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Divorce for reasons other than adultery was never God’s ideal will, and it still isn’t, even though the laws of Caesar make provision for a multitude of unscriptural reasons. And thus by altering and amending that which God had never ordained, many people rush into the sacred covenant of marriage without giving the issue careful thought or due consideration. As a result we now have many
people getting married for trivial reasons, and then getting divorced for trivial reasons also.
In our day we have the Oprah reason, we have the Kim Kardashian reason, we have the Tom Cruise reason, the Clint Eastwood reason, and a host of other additional reasons that are never God’s ideal will, and which all lead us back to that three letter word, “But”. The Bible states that in the times of ignorance God winks, but the “Winking” period ended about two thousand years ago, because now a flood of light has been shed on our pathway, showing us in unmistakable terms, what the will of the Lord is, and thus it behooves us to walk in the light of His advancing glory. Let’s read:
Matthew 19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,
19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man
leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Again we read of a profound correction in interpretation, as it pertains to the sin of adultery. Millions of men and women have become accustomed to harboring adulterous thoughts, and many of us as human beings, look at X-rated movies or pornographic literature from time to time, yet some of us have never actually slept out, or physically committed adultery, nor have had any extra- marital affairs.
While the non-commission of the act is commendable, yet Christ has some news for us, because the measure by which adultery is ascertained is now going to be raised to a significantly higher level than was previously estimated, and with this new revelation, many of us as Christians might need to make serious confession to God about secret sins. The reason for this is because most of us do not confess or repent of that which we did not actually do, and thus evil thoughts and desires are left untouched in our consciences. Let’s read:
Matthew 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
The rich young ruler who came to Christ with the question, “What must I do to be saved”, had a stellar character, and was in good and regular standing as far as the local community and Sanhedrin were concerned. He was what we would describe in our day as a good role model, someone who the youth could look up to and emulate. And so, in reply to his important
question, Christ responded by stating unequivocally that he must keep all of the commandments, to which he replied that as far as he knew, he had kept all of them. Let’s read:
Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
19:17 And he said unto him” ….. “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19:19 Honour thy father and [thy] mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
In other words, his own estimation of his righteousness drew the conclusion that he
was faultless in the keeping of the whole law, including the one that says “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. This sin however, is one of the most elusive to detect in ourselves, for it hides under various guises and so-called valid reasons when we indulge the sense of sight, and consequently harbor adulterous thoughts without committing the act.
But we must be aware that the law of God is spiritual in nature, and sin is a disease of the mind which takes place abstractly in our thoughts and decision making processes, whereas the sinful actions are just the physical results of that which was already committed mentally. Hence the reason why we should be very careful not to modify or abridge what Christ has corrected in the new interpretations given, for whenever this is done, the floodgates of misery and evil are multiplied exponentially, and thereby set in motion a cascading effect that leads millions to perdition.
It is of critical importance for us to study in God’s word, the devices of the adversary which are exposed to all who would avoid sin, for the many variations and amendments to God’s law, with the fatal results which always follow, are never introduced up-front as something which will have a debilitating effect on the human family. We did not arrive at such a great distortion of the marriage institution as we have today, just overnight. It started with Lamech having two wives. Let’s read:
Genesis 4:19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one [was] Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
God said a man should have only one female wife. Lamech decides to have two. And from this seemingly simple diversion we end up with all of the “Alternative” lifestyles that are now legal according to the laws of the land. This is because any interference with God’s law always produces a cascading effect that often takes us to extremes we never intended or expected.
In the case of Solomon the domino effect began with the marriage to pharaoh’s daughter, and then it steadily descended to one hundred pagan wives, then two hundred, then five hundred, then seven hundred, and then one thousand. As Solomon sat in his chair during the evening of his days reflecting on how far he had fallen due to the cascading nature of sin, he trembled and wondered how he, who was once called the beloved of God, could have fallen so low as to bow down and reverence graven images made out of concrete, and watch helplessly as young children were offered as living sacrifices to pagan deities. Thus with tears in his eyes, and with heart-rending remorse, he was moved to question, how did I ever get from there to here?
The reason is that sin always costs us more
than we are willing to pay, it takes us further than we are willing to go, and it keeps us longer than we are willing to stay. Similarly with the issue of cannibalism; it did not start by eating sushi, or even rare steak with the blood in it. It all began with eating a fruit that was not meant for human consumption and then it cascaded into the eating of forbidden meats, then blood, then swine, then rats, then cockroaches and then cannibalism. Let’s read:
Isaiah 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one [tree] in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
The problem is that many people do not realize the crafty working of satan who always as a rule introduces evil as something that is both necessary and beneficial to the human race. Then once his ideas and suggestions are adopted by the masses, then the natural domino effect takes us to the outer edge of iniquity on that very same point, until our separation from God in that area becomes a gulf too wide and too deep to cross.
The same method of working will be used in the introduction and implementation of the mark of the beast, for true to his early cunning, he will once again introduce it as something being essential to our national security, then once it is adopted, he will then set in motion, agencies that will cause it to rapidly cascade downward, until this country of ours will countenance the slaughter of sincere Christians, who do not subscribe to, nor accept the mark of a man, the system represented by the number 666. Let’s read:
Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast
coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Note the words “Cause” then notice how it cascades downward to “Killed”. There is a valid reason why Jesus made the necessary corrections using the word but, because it was necessary for Him to set the record straight as it pertains to what constitutes true righteousness, and what is the standard by which we will be judged. We will all be evaluated according to Christ’s new interpretation, and not by any other standard instituted by man, for the righteousness of Christ reaches primarily into our innermost thoughts and motives, leaving our actions as a mere by-product of what has already taken place.
There are some who may have inadvertently subscribed to the many popular interpretations
of God’s law, and as a result may have done things which ought not to be done. If sincere confession and repentance has taken place, God will certainly forgive, but let us make sure, that in our instructions to the youth and those who are inexperienced, that we do not water down the “But” interpretations of Christ, by the addition of clauses and amendments which do not bear the signature of heaven, but are rather inventions of Caesar.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which calls us to a much higher standard of righteousness, which can be only accomplished by the grace and power of God working within us, to will and to do of His good pleasure. Let’s read:
2nd Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
May God add His blessing to the study and doing of His every word. God bless!