Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1939-11-02


GOLDEN TEXT-Be We therefore per-
feet, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect.-Matthew SAB.
Righteousness in the kingdom"
the title of our lesson, properly re-
lates its teaching to the kingdom of
the Messiah which is to come on
the earth, and to the condition
which shall then prevail. At the
same time we agree with DR.. James
M. Gray that lit would be wrong to
press this too far and to say that
the Sermon on the Mount has no
application whatever to the Chris
tan church or the time in which
we live, for God is the same
through all dispensations and the
underlying principles of His govern
ment never change"
Certainly it is true that if all of
the men and all of the nations of
the earth were on this Armistice
Sunday true followers of Christ and
ready to carry out the teachings of
this lesson, there would no longer
be any possibility Of war. This
means that the best peace propa-
ganda is the sending of missionaries
and teachers to all the earth to win
men to Christ.
Our lesson should be studied and
taught with great care lest we con-
fuse morality with Christianity and
make it appear that men are justi-
fed before God by their good works
rather than by their faith in Christ.
/. Christ FulfiIls the Law (5:17-20).
The law of God is eternal, never
to be abrogated, never set aside.
Christ Himself, although we might
properly say that He was in reality
the Law-giver and thus had power
and authority over the law, indicat-
ed His purpose in coming to be that
Of giving the law its full meaning,
not Of destroying it. One could wish
that those who profess to be His
servants might have the same
measure Of regard for Gods law.
II they did, they obviously would
not be so ready to ignore it, so
quick to change it or explain it
away, and far more ready to accept
with their Master every "jot. and
little, /" mat ID, even the minutest
detail Of His Word.
Recognizing Christ as the fulfill
msat IT the law should prepare
one to manifest obedience TO every
moral precept through His grace
and by His strength. Certainly Il
should not lead anyone to lawless-
ness or carelessness regarding de-
tails Of the daily walk. Fellowship
with the Saviour should be revealed
in consistent living ". 20).
ii. Christ Explains the Law Is:
se-45).
Look at verses q to 81. The
spirit of murder is anger wv. 81,
20. A lustful look is adultery wv.
27-30), and it is better to be blind
than to be guilty Of it. Divorce is
linked very plainly with adultery
wv. 81, 3d. Swearing is forbidden
wv. $3.50. Thus Christ strips out
ward conformity to the law of its
apparent virtue and reveals that
with God it is the spirit that gives
meaning to the act.
He goes on to make plain that
God alone is wise enough to take
vengeance, that we ought never to
retaliate with evil for evil. Note
that verse 80 probably refers to an
insult rather than to physical vio-
lence; that in verse 40 it is a ques-
ton Of . difference Of opinion in
which the other man feels that he
has 4 legal right to your coat; and
that here, as in verses II and AZ,
1t Is not a matter Of letting q wicked
or scheming person defraud you of
your rights or property, but rather
Of doing what Is required Of you in
an mgrudging spirit and of being
generous with others who are in
need. In Christ we are to be like
our heavenly Father and love our
enemies wv. 48-45).
III. Christ Illustrates the Law (6:
Ia.
Possibly it would be more appro-
pirate for US to say that Christ here
illustrates the right and the wrong
way Of fulfilling the law. How very
clear He makes it that the one who,
while ostensibly doing the will of
God, actually is seeking the recog-
milton and glory Of men has received
his full reward, for men have APP
plauded his act Of generosity. The
transaction is complete and God has
nothing to do with it at all On the
other hand, the one who gives in
the spirit Of Christ, not wanting men
to know Of his faithful stewardship
". a. and in fact making no reck-
oning Of it himself ". 81, may be
certain that he has a heavenly Fa-
Their who takes careful account of
the loving deeds of His children and
who viii reward him, both in this
world and in the world to come.
Memories Of Happy Days