The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-11-04
Sunday School Lesson

of this sermon has been profound
and has greatly influenced the
conduct of men of all ages. St.
Augustine, in the Fourth Cen
tury, gave it its name. Other
writers have called it the Magma
Charta of the Kingdom of God.
In any consideration of the Ser
mon on the Mount, it would be
well for us to remember that it is
not, like the Ten Commandments,
a code of laws, but it is Jesus
own Interpretation of religion in
its application to every day
life. Jesus did not come to re-
place the law, as expounded in
the Old Testament, with a new
code of laws. He declared, Think
not that l am come to destroy the
law, or the prophets; I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfill.
His mission was to confirm the
teachings of the Old Testament, to
interpret their spiritual signific-
ance and to demonstrate their
practical application in righteous
! living.
In recent years, even sincere
Christians have Stunned the
term righteous. Connected with
the word has been so much hy-
pocrisy and sham that few as
! pire to be considered righteous.
But just what is meant by
Righteousness? We believe that
any Christian, sincerely and hon.
estly trying to live right, doing
those things which they feel they
should do as followers of Jesus
and leaving undone some things
which are unworthy, may be
termed righteous persons.
What does Jesus have to say
about right living? First, we
think he insists that our lives
must live up to our professions
that our religion must be of the
heart, as we'll as of the lips. The
pharisees and scribes of Jesus
day had become professional re-
ligionists. They had hedged true
religion around with so many
barriers and restrictions, that the
people had become discouraged
and had lost interest in trying
to be good.
Jesus also declares that those
who would live right, should
cultivate the habit of non-resist-
ance. The Old Testament law
had permitted retaliation-"An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth, and yet, Jesus said that
we are not to strike back or seek
revenge. This is a hard teaching
for most of us to swallow. We
live in a world that seems to de-
mand an "eye for an eye, and
tooth for a tooth, and yet, Je-
sus prescribes the spiritual prin-
ciple that we should let ourselves
be imposed upon. We should re-
member that the Heavenly. Fa-
Their gives unto the just and the
unjust.
In this time of war, when it is
so easy to take sides with one fac
ton or the other, the injunction
of Jesus to love your enemies"
is timely. Love your enemies,
he says, "bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which de-
spitefully use you, and prosecute
YOU. Jesus himself was the out
standing example of this teach
ing. Surely, Christians can do
no less than their Master. In
place of hate, he gave love; for
cursing, he gave blessing; for
malice and scorn, he gave kind
ness.
In Matthew ella, given as part
of our scripture passage. Jesus
again calls for sincerity in re-
ligion-for honesty with God.
There is no place in our religion
for DESTINATIONS and show. If
we give aims only to "be seen of
men,, we will not receive the
consequent blessing from God.
If we give because of our love
of our fellowmen and as an. act
of gratitude to God for his bless
ings to US, then we shall receive
his blessing. After all, love is
the only true motive for giving.