What does God think about taking someone to court? We’re going to talk a little bit about going to court, because we’re in a section of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew, Chapter 5, where Jesus mentions something about going to court.
And it’s set within the context of a passage of about five or so verses there, in Matthew five. I’d say Matthew five versus 21 all the way down verse number 26, where the subject is human relationships.
You’re upset with a fellow believer. Well, welcome to what a lot of us have experienced, but what should you do?
We’re continuing our initial journey through the first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and He’s dropped the bomb that His followers have got to be better than the scribes and pharisees in their righteousness or they will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
How important is it to strive to get along with other people? It’s very important!
We’ve found ourselves working our way through the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, the first of three chapters that incorporate the Sermon on the Mount, and in our couple of previous Little Lessons, we looked at some very pivotal, transitional verses in the early part of that sermon where Jesus emphatically stated He did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but rather He came to fill them to the full.
Is there a connection between holiness and heaven? We are currently looking at a passage found in Matthew 5, the introductory part to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, and we’re looking at a very pivotal, pivotal section in Matthew 5:17-20.
Jesus is talking about the fact that He hasn’t come to abolish the law and the prophets, but rather, He’s come to fulfill them, and the law and the prophets will not pass away until heaven and earth pass away, and therefore, whoever annuls any of the commandments found in the law and the prophets, they’ll have a lesser status in heaven. Remember we read that on our previous Little Lesson.
If there’s a New Covenant and an Old Covenant that has passed away, why do Christian Bibles contain the Old Testament?
We’ve been working our way through Matthew 5, the first part of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. We have looked at a very pivotal verse, I believe: Matthew 5:17, where Jesus told those who had gathered that day to hear Him, “Don’t think I came to abolish the law and the prophets. I didn’t come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Then He says in the very next verse, “Truly I say to you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.”
Is the Old Testament relevant to New Testament Christians? We’ve been enjoying looking verse-by-verse at Matthew chapter 5, which is the first of three chapters which incorporate Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. A sermon spoken to his disciples who gathered to listen to Him one day on a hilltop in Galilee.
We just finished the section on the previous Little Lesson about Jesus’ words of us being the light of the world, and not hindering that light from shining, and so forth.
What is the secret to getting your light to shine? We’ve been working our way through Matthew, chapter 5, the first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We looked at the Beatitudes, all the characteristics of those people who are blessed by God.
They’re blessed because He’s done something in them that has transformed and changed them, that makes them like the people that Jesus described in the Beatitudes. We can tell if we’re blessed or not blessed by looking at our lives, looking for the work that God has done in us.
Although not a popular subject, most Christians who lean towards a literal interpretation of the Bible’s prophetic passages believe that Scripture foretells of an unprecedented, worldwide tribulation, one that will immediately precede Christ’s return. Descriptions of that worldwide tribulation can easily be found in the Book of Revelation, many of the Major and Minor Prophets, and in the teachings of Jesus. For example, during His Olivet Discourse, speaking about the time prior to His return, Jesus said,
For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short (Matt. 24:21-22).
In my February e-teaching titled Three Questionable Beliefs Christians Hold Concerning Modern Israel, I attempted to show that, because God is a moral being, He has not always historically sided with the nation of Israel. A moral being cannot side with people who become immoral. And for the same reason, God never gave the descendants of Israel perpetual, unconditional, sovereign right to the land called Palestine. If He did so apart from moral considerations, He would not be a moral being. This is Bible 101.
Is modern Israel a divinely-favored nation? For many Christians, the answer is a resounding yes.
Why is that?