Highlighted New Testament Bible

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Friday, December 31, 2010

St Matthew, Chapter 7, verses:3 - 5, Sermon on the Mount: Be not a hypocrite, cast out thy own evil and then help others.

Today's paragraph topic is:  (Avoiding judgments) Part 2.

We continue our sermon under the topic of avoiding judgement.  Christ tells us today about being a hypocrite.  He asks us why do we see faults in others and are unable to see our own faults.  He calls our faults a beam as tough he is talking about logs of wood and the faults in others as a speck.  While we have glaring faults, Christ ask us how it is that we tell our brother that we can help him remove his faults when we have large faults ourselves.  This is like the old saying, the pot calling the kettle black, both are black and both have faults.

This can be a touchy subject for Christians, because for those in the church, who are saved,  it is easy to be critical of others.  Christ calls us a hypocrite.  It is said that some of the biggest devils are in church.  That the church has faults is a given, since it is filled with imperfect people seeking to know and imitate ChristHe is telling us here, to think about our own faults first.  He is giving us the opportunity to deal with the faults and failures that we have as individuals.  He is telling us that keeping the focus on ourselves is more important than trying to focus on others and help them with their problems.  

When we join a church we are lost and need direction.  We cling to those who we believe are in the know.  We search for those that are active in the church and follow their example.  Everyone wants to be a deacon.  Everyone wants to be a church mother that is liked and respected by all.  However, people talk, behind their backs, under their breathes, between their teeth, and under their tongues.  People allow themselves to say things that should not be said in the streets.  Gossip in the church is worse than it is in the beauty shop and barber shop.  Who I saw at the bar with whom and who I saw coming out of whose house, is food for choice lips to spread throughout the fellowship.  Who this person thinks they are and what they think they have are conversations  whispered across the pews in church before services begin.  If you want to hear the latest gossip get to church early.  If you want to have something to talk about arrive early so you can get a good seat to see others arriving in the church and what they are wearing today.  This is the nature of the talk that goes on in church today.

This is what we Christians do to fill our time and provide for entertainment in the church.  And the preachers and ministers have a difficult time just doing their jobs without all of the other stuff going on in the church.  Listen to any sermon and the preacher will, without a doubt, give an example of something that he has experienced, without mentioning any names.  And the seats start to burn in the church and the gossip goes around after the sermon.  Yet we are supposed to be loving church going believers.  Christ tells us to remove the beam from our eye first.  Christ tells us to stop gossiping about others first so that we can be an example.  When we do this, when we remove the fault from ourselves then it is possible to show others how they can do the same.

How is this possible?  Acceptance is the key.  Acceptance of the truth that God the father is the final judge of all.  Acceptance of the truth that we have no authority other than that given to us by God.  Acceptance of his will for us.  Acceptance of a simple truth that we are sinners, the lowest of the low, who without the grace of God would not be saved.  We should walk in humility and gratitude that we are even alive.  We should be thankful that God did not allow us to see death before we were saved.  We should be ever mindful that Christ alone was perfect, everyone else cannot compare to him, including ourselves.  We are imperfect beings, subject to make mistakes and to sin.  It is only by God's grace that we are daily, able to fight the battle with sin and Satan.

Let us not become so righteous that we forget the depths from which we were delivered.  Let us not exalt ourselves with such dignity that we forget that the respect we have comes from God and not ourselves.  Let us humble ourselves, not in the eyes of men but before God that he may see in secret our true intentions.  Let us get down on our knees daily and thank him for the peace that he provides from the storms of the world.  Let us take the focus from others and place it upon ourselves so that we may truly know that we are sinners.  Let us seek to know his love for us and his love for our brothers and sisters and to share that love with each other.  Let us forgive freely and lovingly because God has forgiven us our sins.  

As this old year comes to a close and a new one begins, let us resolve to be of one voice and one mind and one heart in Christ.  As Christ is in one in the Father, let us be one in him in peace and love.