May it please God to bless us
together as we continue our meditation in the Sermon on the Mount, and
this evening we'll speak from the fifth chapter of the Gospel
of Matthew, and we'll read from verse 38 to 42. So that's the fifth chapter of
the Gospel of Matthew, reading from verse 38 to verse 42. You
have heard that it hath been said, an eye
for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist
not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee
at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also. and whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee,
and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. The words of the Lord Jesus are
very powerful, really, and how they cut across our natural inclination. I suppose all these things that
we've read here, we would go along with what used to be the
law in the Old Testament. Although perhaps it wasn't quite
as it reads here, an eye for an eye, because often they were
able to give the value of an eye, perhaps in monetary terms,
rather than physically having to have their eye taken. But nonetheless, these verses
here, if we look at them straight on, they're verses which probably
all of us fail to walk in, and yet they are clearly the Word
of God. And as we read them, we're thankful
that they are the words of the Saviour, and we're thankful that
He Himself set us a great and glorious example in really following
out these very statements in his own life. He wasn't preaching
and then not following them. He was preaching those things
which he had done and those things which he would do. And so we
do not have any excuse to say, well, these were just a standard
that perhaps people should try and attain unto. What is the
standard that the Lord sets before us? And it is very difficult
when we consider these truths, because what really is happening,
there was in the Old Testament, what it was, it was a law of
retaliation, wasn't it? Somebody did something and they
were retaliated in the same way. But you see, the Gospel takes
on a very different view. and how good it will be if you
and I all receive grace and it will be much grace and much wisdom
and much instruction to follow out these words which truly signify
the life of a true God-fearing Christian. We say sometimes,
that did on I because of the fear of the Lord, which we know
the Apostle spoke, how true it is, but does it operate in our
own lives? We tend to read such verses as
this and think, well, somehow it doesn't really apply today.
Somehow it doesn't really apply to me. Why should I walk in that
kind of path? Why should I suffer in that kind
of way? Well, let us not disagree with
Word of God. Let us realise the importance
of it and the significance of it and what must it do. I believe if God gives us grace
to obey, indeed there are very many lovely and blessed exhortations
in the Word of God, then our life will demonstrate that we're
not just pleasing ourselves. We're not going about doing what
we want to do, Even if we think it's right and just, but we're
doing that which the Lord God Almighty instructs us to do through
His Word. And it's a great blessing, you
know, to come and to bow down before the Word of God and to
recognise that that Word has an application to us individually. It's very easy to pass it off
to other people and to assume somehow we can wriggle round
such statements like we read here. But let us take the Word
of God at face value and realise the great significance of it.
And I believe also the great blessing which you and I will
receive. First of all, we shall know that
we have an answer of a good conscience because we've obeyed the Word
of God. And secondly, we have the answer
of good conscience because we have found ourselves, by his
grace, following in our Master's footsteps. And therefore we have
these statements we read here tonight. And he therefore reminds
us, you have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye,
and a tooth for a tooth. We could go back through the
Old Testament. There's many references in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy
to these great truths, but if you want to, you can trace them
out at your leisure, but believe me, they are there and they are
significant. And therefore, we have this statement,
but the Lord says, but, We've already spoken of some of the
buts, which we read last week and before. And these buts are
very important to us, because that's what the Old Testament
dispensation said, but I say unto you that ye resist not evil. That means not to go along with
evil ways. That ye resist not evil, but
whatsoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the
other also. You know how easy it is to want
to retaliate when we are spoken against and face such a position
as that. If someone smites us wrongly,
our nature rises up and we want to retaliate, especially if we
think we're stronger than that person. But you see, here we
have the gracious words of the Saviour. We know what He faced,
don't we? Just you consider the judgment
hall, the great difficulty, and the great trials, and the great
opposition, and the great affliction that the Lord Jesus Christ has
suffered there. What an example to us today. was an example to the Church
of God down through the ages. How often I've said recently,
if we need any encouragement in our Christian life, all we
have to do is to realise the words that the Apostle Paul spoke
when he wrote the 12th chapter to the Hebrews to consider him. And that will put us in a right
place, it will give us a right view of things, and it may give
us the grace to follow, therefore, the words of the Saviour. And so, He tells us that ye resist
not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also. And then, if any man will sue
thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also." Well, what a statement that is, isn't it? You know,
if people sue us, and if they sue us wrongfully, and yet they
win the case, how difficult it would be to say, well, that's
fine, you carry on and take that which you desired and have extra
as well. Well, I'm sure we need much grace
to stand up and to follow such a great and wonderful example
and word that the Lord Jesus sets before us here. And then
we're told, and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, perhaps
that's to do something that we don't really want to do. And
yet the Lord tells us that we shouldn't only do that, but we
should double it. You see, not only to compel thee
to go a mile, but to go with him twain. Well, you know if
someone's compelling us to do something against our will, first
of all, we perhaps are not very keen on going with the person. And here we have the words of
the Lord when he says, go with him. Don't say, well I'll go
by myself, you clear off and I'll go there. No. This is the
godly example that the Word of God sets before us this evening. And then, having said that, the
Lord says, Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would
borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Oh, you see, that's a very
hard thing, isn't it? You know, we may pass beggars
in the road and say, well, I'm not giving to you. You should
get out and work. Well, that's our nature. And
it's true, isn't it? It's a true statement, but it's not really
the spirit of the gospel. We have not only the example
of the Lord, but remember that man William Tiptaft, who was
a very wealthy man. And when he came down to his
death, he'd given away nearly all of his wealth. He'd given
it away freely. He didn't expect to be recompensed
for it, but he was generous in his giving. The Word of God tells
us, the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, and it's more blessed
to give than to receive. So we have much encouragement,
don't we, in the Word of God, to follow such a pattern as this. But let us realise that our old
nature rebels against these things, we don't want to do it, and we
think we are quite just in not doing it. Well, we may be just
in our own eyes, But we should remember these are not the words
of a man. These are the words of the Saviour
on this wonderful occasion when He addressed all these people
on the Mount with His disciples. And of course, as we read together
in that other account in Luke's Gospel, when He addressed them
on the plain, very similar statements, very similar words. The Lord
didn't want these things just to fall to the ground and to
be ignored. Well, may God be with us and
help us and bless us in all these things so that we may desire
that in our lives his name may be honoured and glorified and
that we may be willing and obedient servants. Amen.