LESSON SERMON: EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT, NOVEMBER

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1 BIBLOSNOTES LESSON SERMON: EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT, NOVEMBER 2, 2014 Matt 5:8, 17, 27, 28, 43, 44, 48 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Pure in Greek is katharos which means clean; clear; pure; free from the admixture or adhesion of anything that soils, adulterates, corrupts; free from corrupt desire, from sin or guilt (Strong 2513, Accordance). The heart, both in the OT and NT, stands for a man s inmost soul, and the purity here required is not the ceremonial cleanness of the Levitical law, nor even the blamelessness of outwardly correct conduct, but complete purity of inward thought and desire. A thing is pure when it contains no admixture of other substances. Benevolence is pure when it contains no admixture of self-seeking; justice is pure when it contains no admixture of partiality; love is pure when it contains no admixture of lust. A man s heart is pure when it loves only the good, when all its motives are right, and when all its aspirations are after the noble and true. Purity here is not synonymous with chastity, but includes it (Dummelow 640). Some take it to mean inner moral purity as opposed to merely external piety or ceremonial cleanness. This is an important theme in Matthew and elsewhere in the Scriptures. Others take it to mean singlemindedness, a heart free from the tyranny of a divided self'... It is impossible to have one without the other. The one who is singleminded in commitment to the kingdom and its righteousness will also be inwardly pure. Inward sham, deceit, and moral filth cannot coexist with sincere devotion to Christ. Either way this beatitude excoriates hypocrisy. The pure in heart will see God now with the eyes of faith and finally in the dazzling brilliance of the beatific visions in whose light no deceit can exist (EBC 8.135). Pure occurs twenty-eight times in the N.T., and ten times it is translated clean. Used of linen, it means white linen; of gold, unalloyed gold; of glass, clear glass. Two /5

2 meanings are perhaps dominant rightness of mind and singleness of motive (IB 7.285). This heart-purity begins in a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, or a conscience purged from dead works (Heb. X.22)... The conscience thus purged the heart thus sprinkled there is light within wherewith to see God... Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him (I John 3:6); He that doeth evil hath not seen God (III John 11). The inward vision thus clarified, and the whole inner man in sympathy with God, each looks upon the other with complacency and joy, and we are changed into the same image from glory to glory (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown 2. 27). 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Jesus regarded Christianity as continuous with, and in a true sense identical with, the religion of the Law and the Prophets... On the other hand, he made it clear that this eternal validity did not belong to the Law as Moses left it, but to the Law as fulfilled, i.e. developed, or completed by himself. He superseded the Law and the Prophets by fulfilling them, and he fulfilled them in all their parts (Dummelow 641). Much hangs on the meaning of the verb plerosai (to fulfill), and also on the recorded views of the ex-pharisee and apostle Paul. With regard to the first, the verb can and frequently does convey the meaning of to clarify the true meaning of something (AYB Matthew 58). Think not that I am come, etc. Our saviour was just entering on his work. It was important for him to state what he came to do. By his setting up to be a teacher in opposition to the Scribes and Pharisees, some might charge him with an intention to destroy their law, and abolish the customs of the nation. He therefore told them that he did not come for that end, but really to fulfill or accomplish what was in the law and the prophets. to destroy. To abrogate; to deny their divine authority; to set men free from the obligation; to obey them. The law. The five books of Moses, called the law or the Torah (or Pentateuch). The prophets. The books that the prophets wrote. These two divisions here seem to comprehend the Old Testament; and Jesus says that he came not to do away or destroy the authority of the OT /5

3 to fulfill. To complete the design; to fill up what was predicted; to accomplish what was intended in them (Barnes 22). 27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: Jesus expands the Mosaic prohibition of adultery into a law of inward purity of the strictest kind, and gives important counsel to the tempted (Dummelow 642). Do not commit adultery. This prohibition also includes lustful thinking... (AYB Matthew 63). We are not to suppose, from the word here used-- adultery that our Lord means to restrict the breach of this commandment to married persons, or to criminal intercourse with such. The expressions, whosoever looketh, and looketh upon a woman, seem clearly to extend the range of this commandment to all forms of impurity, and the counsels which follow as they most certainly were intended for all, whether married or unmarried seem to confirm this (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown 2.33). 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. Our Saviour in these verses explains the seventh commandment... and assures the Pharisees and Scribes that the commandment did not regard the external act merely, but the secrets of the heart, and the movements of the eye. That they who indulged a wanton desire; that they who looked on a woman to increase their lust, have already, in the sight of God, violated the commandment, and committed adultery in the heart (Barnes 24). This recalls the sixth beatitude, and re-emphasizes purity as a cardinal Christian virtue. The converse of Christ s concern for Christian chastity is his awareness of the ruin that awaits unchastity. We should remember in this regard the teachings and practices of the pagan cults: Christ here sharply contradicts his age. So strong is Christ s insistence on the virtue of purity as passport to his kingdom that he carries impurity back beyond the lustful act to the first touch of the hand and the first look of the eye, and back beyond these to the first inception of desire. Nowhere is the inwardness of his teaching more evident. So Christ advocates and requires stringent discipline (IB ). 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine /5

4 enemy. The maxim Thou shalt love thy neighbor is found in Lev 19: The law of love here proclaimed by our Lord in its most comprehensive sense is the most characteristic feature of Christian morality. In the NT God is revealed as Love, as a Father who loves his children with impartial affection. And as his supreme perfection consists in Love, so those who would be perfect must love their fellow-men, even their enemies, as He loves them (Dummelow 644). 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; The word for love is carefully chosen. It is not demanded that we should love our enemies with a natural and spontaneous affection (phileo), but with the supernature Christian love that comes by grace (agape) (Dummelow 644). There are several words in the New Testament translated into love. In this verse love in Greek is agapao which means to be full of good-will for; to wish well, to regard the welfare of; affectionate reverence, benevolence; love enkindled by the Holy Spirit (Thayer 26, Accordance). Bless in Greek is eulogeo which means to speak well of, to bless, praise (Strong 2127, Accordance). The love of benevolence is the love we are to bear towards our enemies. It is impossible to love the conduct of a man that curses and reviles us, and injures our person or property, or that violates all the laws of God; but though we may hate his conduct, and feel deeply that we are affected by it, yet we may still wish well to the person; we may pity his madness and folly; we may speak kindly of him and to him; we may not return evil for evil; we may aid him in the time of trial; and seek to do him good here, and to promote his eternal welfare hereafter. This seems to be what is meant by loving our enemies; and this is a peculiar law of Christianity, and the highest possible test of piety and probably the most difficult of all duties to be performed (Barnes 27). To love one s enemies, though it must result in doing them good (Luke 6:32-33) and praying for them (Matt. 5:44), cannot justly be restricted to activities devoid of any concern, sentiment, or emotion (EBC ). This is an unequivocal and startling demand. It might startle us more if we could fully understand how sharply it cut across the ethic of Christ s day.... In the time of Christ /5

5 enemies were usually hated, and the hatred was not deemed alien from true religion. That ancient world was chasmed by hatreds. Thus the story of the good Samaritan must have seemed subversive folly to those who first heard it....to the Christian the word neighbor is as wide as mankind (IB ). 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Glorious words! The perfection spoken of is the perfection of Love, the supreme virtue both of God and man (Dummelow 644). Perfect is teleios in Greek which means complete in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character; of full age; perfect (Strong 6, Accordance). Perfect in Greek also means brought to its end; finished; lacking nothing necessary to completeness; perfect; consummate human integrity and virtue; full-grown adult; mature; the more intelligent, ready to apprehend divine things; perfect of mind and character (Thayer 5046, Accordance). Sources: The Anchor Yale Bible: Matthew. Introduction, translation and notes by W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann. New York: Doubleday, Barnes, Albert. Barnes Notes on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Kregel, Dummelow, J. R., ed. A Commentary on the Holy Bible. Harrington Park: Sommer. The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke. Ed. Frank E. Gaebelein et al. Vol. 8. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, The Interpreter s Bible. Ed. George Arthur Buttrick et al. 12 vols. New York: Abingdon, Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments. Vol. 2. Peabody: Hendrickson, Strong, James. Strong s Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids: Baker, Cited by Accordance Bible Study Collection (software). Thayer, Joseph Henry, trans. The New Thayer s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Peabody: Hendrickson, Cited by Accordance, Bible Study Collection (software). Abbreviation key: AYB = The Anchor Yale Bible EBC = The Expositor s Bible Commentary IB = The Interpreter s Bible /5