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Matthew 5

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1 Men da han så Skarerne, steg han op på Bjerget; og da han havde sat sig, gik hans Disciple hen til ham,

2 og han oplod sin Mund, lærte dem og sagde:

3 "Salige ere de fattige i Ånden, thi Himmeriges ige er deres.

4 Salige ere de, som sørge, thi de skulle husvales.

5 Salige ere de sagtmodige, thi de skulle arve Jorden.

6 Salige ere de, som hungre og tørste efter etfærdigheden, thi de skulle mættes.

7 Salige ere de barmhjertige, thi dem skal vises Barmhjertighed.

8 Salige ere de rene af Hjertet, thi de skulle se Gud.

9 Salige ere de, som stifte Fred, thi de skulle kaldes Guds Børn.

10 Salige ere de, som ere forfulgte for etfærdigheds Skyld, thi Himmeriges ige er deres.

11 Salige ere I, når man håner og forfølger eder og lyver eder alle Hånde ondt på for min Skyld.

12 Glæder og fryder eder, thi eders Løn skal være stor i Himlene; thi således have de forfulgt Profeterne, som vare før eder.

13 I ere Jordens Salt; men dersom Saltet mister sin Kraft, hvormed skal det da saltes? Det duer ikke til andet end at kastes ud og nedtrædes af Menneskene.

14 I ere Verdens Lys; en Stad, som ligger på et Bjerg, kan ikke skjules.

15 Man tænder heller ikke et Lys og sætter det under Skæppen, men Lysestagen; så skinner det for alle dem, som ere i Huset.

16 Lader således eders Lys skinne for Menneskene, at de må se eders gode Gerninger og ære eders Fader, som er i Himlene.

17 Mener ikke, at jeg er kommen for at nedbryde Loven eller Profeterne;jeg er ikke kommen for at nedbryde, men for at fuldkomme.

18 Thi sandelig, siger jeg eder, indtil Himmelen og Jorden forgår, skal end ikke det mindste Bogstav eller en Tøddel forgå af Loven, indtil det er sket alt sammen.

19 Derfor, den, som bryder et at de mindste af disse Bud og lærer Menneskene således, han skal kaldes den mindste i Himmeriges ige; men den, som gør dem og lærer dem, han skal kaldes stor i Himmeriges ige.

20 Thi jeg siger eder: Uden eders etfærdighed overgår de skriftkloges og Farisæernes, komme I ingenlunde ind i Himmeriges ige.

21 I have hørt, at der er sagt til de gamle: Du må ikke slå ihjel, men den, som slår ihjel, skal være skyldig for Dommen.

22 Men jeg siger eder, at hver den, som bliver vred på sin Broder uden Årsag, skal være skyldig for Dommen; og den, som siger til sin Broder: aka! skal være skyldig for ådet; og den, som siger: Du Dåre! skal være skyldig til Helvedes Ild.

23 Derfor, når du ofrer din Gave Alteret og der kommer i Hu, at din Broder har noget imod dig,

24 så lad din Gave blive der foran Alteret, og gå hen, forlig dig først med din Broder, og kom da og offer din Gave!

25 Vær velvillig mod din Modpart uden Tøven, medens du er med ham på Vejen, for at Modparten ikke skal overgive dig til Dommeren, og Dommeren til Tjeneren, og du skal kastes i Fængsel.

26 Sandelig, siger jeg dig, du skal ingenlunde komme ud derfra, førend du får betalt den sidste Hvid.

27 I have hørt, at der er sagt: Du må ikke bedrive Hor.

28 Men jeg siger eder, at hver den, som ser på en Kvinde for at begære hende, har allerede bedrevet Hor med hende i sit Hjerte.

29 Men dersom dit højre Øje forarger dig, så riv det ud, og kast det fra dig; thi det er bedre for dig, at eet af dine Lemmer fordærves, end at hele dit Legeme bliver kastet i Helvede.

30 Og om din højre Hånd forarger dig, så hug den af og kast den fra dig; thi det er bedre for dig, at eet af dine Lemmer fordærves, end at hele dit Legeme kommer i Helvede.

31 Og der er sagt: Den, som skiller sig fra sin Hustru, skal give hende et Skilsmissebrev.

32 Men jeg siger eder, at enhver, som skiller sig fra sin Hustru, uden for Hors Skyld, gør, at hun bedriver Hor, og den, som tager en fraskilt Kvinde til Ægte, bedriver Hor.

33 I have fremdeles hørt, at der er sagt til de gamle: Du må ikke gøre nogen falsk Ed, men du skal holde Herren dine Eder.

34 Men jeg siger eder, at I må aldeles ikke sværge, hverken ved Himmelen, thi den er Guds Trone,

35 ej heller ved Jorden, thi den er hans Fodskammel, ej heller ved Jerusalem, thi det er den store Konges Stad.

36 Du må heller ikke sværge ved dit Hoved, thi du kan ikke gøre et eneste Hår hvidt eller sort.

37 Men eders Tale skal være ja, ja, nej, nej; hvad der er ud over dette, er af det onde.

38 I have hørt, at der er sagt: Øje for Øje, og Tand for Tand.

39 Men jeg siger eder, at I må ikke sætte eder imod det onde; men dersom nogen giver dig et Slag på din højre Kind, da vend ham også den anden til!

40 Og dersom nogen vil gå i ette med dig og tage din Kjortel, lad ham da også få Kappen!

41 Og dersom nogen tvinger dig til at gå een Mil,da gå to med ham!

42 Giv den, som beder dig, og vend dig ikke fra den, som vil låne af dig.

43 I have hørt, at der er sagt: Du skal elske din Næste og hade din Fjende.

44 Men jeg siger eder: Elsker eders Fjender, velsigner dem, som forbande eder, gører dem godt, som hade eder, og beder for dem, som krænke eder og forfølge eder,

45 for at I må vorde eders Faders Børn, han, som er i Himlene; thi han lader sin Sol opgå over onde og gode og lader det regne over retfærdige og uretfærdige.

46 Thi dersom I elske dem, som elske eder, hvad Løn have I da? Gøre ikke også Tolderne det samme?

47 Og dersom I hilse eders Brødre alene, hvad stort gøre I da? Gøre ikke også Hedningerne det samme?

48 Værer da I fuldkomne, ligesom eders himmelske Fader er fuldkommen.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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The World's Greatest Need

Napsal(a) Bill Woofenden

"In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place is Zion. There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword and the battle." Psalm 76:1-3

Additional readings: Ezekiel 47:1-9, Luke 6:27-49

Judah and Israel, the two great divisions of the Holy Land, represent the two division of the human mind, the will and the understanding.

The Scripture quoted in our text means that the Lord dwells in the wills and minds of those who love, know, and keep the truths of His Word, and protects them from evil and falsity.

The peoples of the world are living under a great strain. There is need of national self-control and self-sacrifice. The conditions which exist in the world today are the result of internal changes that have been going on ever since the Second Coming of the Lord. A new era in the world’s life began with the new revelation of the Lord through Moses and the Prophets. A new era was introduced by the coming of the Lord in the flesh. Every era that is really new has its beginning in a revelation from the Lord. This is true of the era into which the world has now entered. The essence of this new era was the opening of the inner meaning of the Word. The Writings do not indulge in particular prophesies, but in them the statement is made that the results would be endless and incalculable.

We are living in a spiritual and moral atmosphere altogether different from that which prevailed two centuries ago. Less than twenty years after the Second Coming occurred one of the important and decisive events in modern history, namely the American Revolution, whereby the United States were not only freed from their dependence upon Great Britain, but were enabled to establish on a scale previously impracticable a republican form of government. Hard upon this followed the revolution in France, which affected society to its foundations, and overthrew for France and for many other nations all belief in the Divine right of kings.

With the formation of a republic came the idea of universal education. If people are to govern themselves, education becomes a necessity. Emancipated from priestly surveillance, with all the sources of knowledge thrown upon to all men, their souls freed, their heart kindled with new hopes and aspiration, what wonderful progress has been made in the last two hundred years! The conditions of external human life have been revolutionized. With the use of machinery one man can do the work of fifty, or of a thousand in some fields. All these things have been brought about within so short a period, almost within one man’s lifetime, and follow each other with such rapidity, that we can only hold our breath in amazement and ask, "What next?" Thus, so far as external matters are concerned, the prophecy has been fulfilled.

These changes are so familiar that the recital of them would be superfluous. But the transformation does not stop at this point. It is not limited to matters of natural and worldly import. To all who have eyes to see and ears to hear it is obvious that the spiritual beliefs of men have changed. The eighteenth century forms of belief have not been openly repudiated, and their influence is felt in no small degree, but many of the old beliefs excite disquietude, faith in them has been shaken, and new ideas receive more and more favor.

Dishonesty and fraud still exist. Anger, hatred, envy, lust, hypocrisy are enemies to Christian life that have not been overcome, but there is a growing belief that these things, practiced even in secret, are not compatible with salvation or with happiness. The Church is beginning to cultivate a broader charity, and the thoughts of not a few are eagerly turning to some future time of universal Christian love and brotherhood. Yet this time is still a great way off. With all its progress, the world is still far from peace either external or internal.

Then the question is asked, "What is the world’s greatest need?" It would seem that a little reflection would lead all to agree that the only possible answer is the recognition and acknowledgment of the Lord as the one great and only source of life, who creates all men with faculties capable of receiving all the blessings of peace and happiness.

Yet humanity is suffering, suffering from wounds it has inflicted upon itself. It is obvious that something is the matter. Just what that something is it cannot tell, and it will look in vain for guidance to its own intelligence and devices. Many and various remedies are suggested, but few seem to think of the One Divine Physician who alone can heal the wounds.

The Church is at fault here. There is little clear belief about the Lord or in the divinity of the Word. Without much beliefs there are no fixed standards. It is of no use to say, "I believe in the Lord" and not seek to learn and do His will. The Lord is the source of all life. He is the central fact and foundation of all human activities. He must become more to us than a mere name, for if He is not made central in our lives, He will not rule in them. Without the Lord the world would drift on without any guiding principle or power other than the achievement of its own selfish ends, with hopeless confusion and conflict as the result. This is the state in which much of the world finds itself today.

"In Judah is God known, His name in great in Israel." Israel represents intellectual acknowledgment of God: Judah the acknowledgment of God in the heart, the doing of His will. Israel and Judah can exist together, but separated they fall. There may be an intellectual acceptance of Christian truth while in practical life the Lord is to a large extent ruled out of court; hence there is strife and struggle, sorrow and distress, destruction and war.

"In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel." The Lord has made Himself known to us through the Scriptures. From Israel and Judah came the prophets, through whom the Scriptures were given, and in the Gospels and the Book of Revelation are given the record of the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

Toward the close of His life on earth, the Lord said to Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). The Lord has been a long time with us, yet the question, "Hast thou not known Me?" still applies. He reveals Himself to us in the Scriptures, and is present with us as we see Him there and keep His teachings. But we must get the real meaning of the Scriptures to see God, and we cannot know the truth of the Scriptures until we have lived it.

We are living in turbulent times. A new world is slowly and painfully coming into being. Or is the world rushing to destruction? We should be able to give a confident answer because the strength and vitality of the Word have been revealed by the Lord in His Second Advent.

Diplomacy will not bring peace, neither will the mailed fist, nor will rationalism, atheism, or mysticism, nor the worship of men or saints. In this age these will be weighed in the balance and found wanting. Salvation will be found only through the opened Word of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself" (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). The observance of outer forms alone will not suffice. Our minds and hearts must worship Him as well as our bodies. There must be knowledge of the Lord in the mind and love of the Lord in the heart.

One of the precepts of the Word is "Love your enemies." This is a searching exposure and a fearful condemnation of modern policy. Our religion is not measured by our conduct toward our friends. The acid test is the spirit in which we deal with the enemy. "For if you love them which love you, what thank have ye, for sinners also love those that love them" (Matthew 5:46, Luke 6:32).

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). We are not asked to be infinitely perfect, but finitely perfect: that our knowledge and love make one, that we apply to life what we know to be true, and so copy in our finite way the perfection that is in the Lord. That is the way of salvation for the individual and for groups of individuals. The world may reply, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" (2 Kings 5:12). Cannot the wisdom, the craft, the diplomacy, the power of statesmen and of armies, of economists born, bred, and educated in the problems of the world politics suffice? The Church must surely answer, "They cannot suffice." One thing only has saving power, and that is the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, the truths of the Word made known to the mind and accepted in the heart.

We must not form our principles from our daily papers, or from the books of men. For the folly of selfish interests and worldly wisdom will finally be proved with what suffering and agony we shall not live to know--and in the end the Word of the Lord will be heard. Then, tired of folly and in a humble and contrite spirit, will we come to the sanctity of those laws revealed by the Lord.