Matthew 5:25-48

For Reading and Meditation:     Luke 16:19-31

The final state of those who die without availing themselves of the forgiveness God offers them at the Cross is eternal banishment from God's presence. The Bible calls this "hell." "There is no heaven with a little hell in it," said George MacDonald, meaning that the God who is passionately for righteousness and...

For Reading and Meditation:     Matthew 5:21-26

"God';s wrath," said George MacDonald, "is always judicial. It is always the wrath of the Judge administering justice. Cruelty is always immoral but true justice - never." Those who experience the fullness of God's wrath get precisely what they deserve. That may sound hard, but it is...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 John 2:28-3:11

Peacemaking is a positive attitude that produces good spiritual and mental health, and the one who has this attitude, according to Jesus, is to be envied and congratulated. The promise of the seventh Beatitude is that peacemakers "will be called sons of God". Why called? Because they are sons of God. This is their...

For Reading and Meditation:     Romans 7:14-8:4

Yesterday we ended by saying that God can impart purity as well as impute it, and He then helps us apply it in our daily life and experience. Permit me to share my own personal experience in this connection, not as a model for you to follow, but simply to illustrate how God revealed Himself to me. Following my...

For Reading and Meditation:     Acts 17:16-34

God is active not only in the Church but in the world and in those belonging to other religions also. Christians believe that God has revealed Himself in Jesus in a unique way, as declared in the Scriptures, and has nothing more to reveal than He has revealed. But does that mean God is interested only in Christians?...

"Love thy neighbour." Perhaps he rolls in riches, and thou art poor, and living in thy little cot side-by-side with his lordly mansion; thou seest every day his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets; God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbour, and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.

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One of the surface lessons we learn from this passage is that Christians should not be prone to engage in lawsuits. It is a natural reaction to rush to court to seek redress for grievances and damages. But the believer is guided by higher principles than natural reactions. The will of God often cuts across the grain of nature.

Our law courts today are glutted with accident claims, malpractice suits, divorce cases and inheritance claims. In many cases, people rush to the lawyer in the...

A. P. Gibbs used to say, "You are not what you think you are, but what you think - this is what you are." This means that the mind is the spring from which behavior flows. Control the source and you control the stream that flows from it.

Therefore control of the thought-life is basic. That is why Solomon said, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23) Here the heart is used as a synonym for the...

The mercy of God is His pity, lovingkindness and compassion on those who are guilty, failing, distressed or needy. The Scriptures emphasize that God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) and plenteous in mercy (Psalms 86:5). His mercy is abundant (1 Peter 1:3); it is great unto the heavens (Psalms 57:10). "For as the...

Sometimes an illustration is the best commentary on a verse.

Captain Mitsuo Fuchida was the Japanese pilot who directed the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He sent back the message, "Tora, Tora, Tora," indicating the complete success of his mission. But World War II was not over. As the conflict raged on, the tide of battle turned until finally the United States was victorious.

During the war, the Japanese executed an elderly missionary couple in the Philippines. When...