33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:33-37)
The Lord Jesus said here that it was said to the people long ago: “Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.” This refers to the people in the Old Testament who swore oaths to the Lord, they should not break their oaths, but should keep them to the Lord. The Lord Jesus said: I tell you, do not swear an oath at all. The heaven is the throne of God, the earth is the footstool of God, Jerusalem is the city of the Great King, that is, the city of God, and the head of man is under the management of God, because man cannot change the color of his hair. These all refer to not swearing to God. The Lord Jesus continued: All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;. The Lord Jesus wants us to be honest and speak the truth. We should not make promises casually to others; the promises we make must be fulfilled. The evil one here refers to Satan, the devil, who is always lying. The Lord Jesus wants us to speak the truth, to mean what we say, let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Gospel Matthew study
Jesus on adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. 31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.(Matthew 5:27-32)
One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament is: You shall not commit adultery. Here the Lord Jesus said: Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Here we see that the Lord Jesus not only looked at the appearance, but He also looked at the heart, and then the Lord Jesus continued: If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Here the Lord Jesus said that if your right eye caused you to sin and stumble, you would rather pluck it out and throw it away than your whole body to be thrown into hell. Here we see the horrors of hell, you would rather pluck out your right eye that makes you stumble than go to hell with your whole body. Here the Lord Jesus used picture language not really ask people to gouge out their eyes and throw them away. The law of the Old Testament says: “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.” Jesus said, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. (Matthew 19:8) The Lord Jesus said that husband and wife are one flesh, and God wants husband and wife to be faithful to each other, he hates divorce. Here the Lord Jesus said that if one divorces his wife not because of adultery, she was made the victim of adultery.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Don’t hate people
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.(Matthew 5:21-26)
The Old Testament says that you should not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. Here the Lord Jesus said that those who are angry with their brothers will be judged, here we see that the standards of the New Testament are higher than those of the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus continued: “anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court”. What does Raca mean?” Raja is an Aramaic word meaning useless. The Lord Jesus went on to say: Anyone who calls his brother ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. The Lord Jesus continued: “if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them;” What the Lord Jesus is talking about here is to be quick to reconcile with your brother who has something against you. What he said later is the same thing, that is, to be quick to reconcile with your opponent.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)
The Lord Jesus came to the world and the New Testament era started. He said that He did not come to abolish the laws and prophets of the Old Testament, but to fulfill them. The Lord Jesus went on to say that if a person sets aside the least of the commandments and teaches others, he is the least in the kingdom of heaven; but if a person keeps the commandments and teaches others to obey them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisees were a sect at that time. They were self-righteous people. The Pharisees kept the small things of the law, but they failed to obey the more important things in the law, namely, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The Lord Jesus told them that they should keep the more important things of the commandments while without neglecting the small ones. The Lord Jesus taught us that our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, that is, we must obey both the important and the least of the commandments.
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Here the Lord Jesus talked about two great commandments, one is to love God, and the other is to love people, which is the summary of all the teachings of the law and the prophets.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
The essence of the law is the Ten Commandments. Here the Lord Jesus said that the Ten Commandments are all included in loving others as yourself. Love others as yourself fulfills the Ten Commandments, and love fulfills the law.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
You are the light of the world
Matthew 5:14-16 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
Here the Lord Jesus said that the disciples are the light of the world, and the light cannot be hidden, just like a city built on a hill cannot be hidden. A man does not light a lamp and put it under a bowl, but on a lampstand to give light to the family. The bowl is used to hold food or drink. What does it mean to put a lamp under a bowl? It means that we should not let eating and drinking, or daily living affect our lamps to shine. We should let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works, and give glory to our heavenly Father.
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Here the Lord Jesus said that He is the light of the world, and those who follow Him will not walk in darkness, but will receive the light of life and become the light of the world.
21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? (Mark 4:21)
In the parallel passage here, the Lord Jesus said that people do not put their lamps under a bowl or under a bed, but on a lampstand. As mentioned earlier, the bowel represents eating or drinking, or daily living, and the bed represents marriage. Here, the Lord Jesus said that we should not let marriage affect our light to shine. We should put a lamp on the lampstand, let good deeds shine before others.
May God bless you and your family.
You are the salt of the earth
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. (Matthew 5:13)
The Lord Jesus said to his disciples: you are the salt of the earth. What does this mean? Salt has the preserving effect, and disciples must have the preserving effect in the world and bring a good influence to the world.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:50)
Here it is said that salt is good, we use good things to influence the world and have a preservative effect. We must have salt in our hearts and be at peace with each other. If one chooses to do evil, he will lose its taste, and you cannot make it salty again.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)
What does it mean to be persecuted because of righteousness? Being persecuted because of righteousness means being persecuted because of God’s righteousness and God’s word, being persecuted because of believing in Jesus, being a Christian, and preaching the gospel. The Lord Jesus said blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Lord Jesus went on to say that if people insult you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you for his sake, you are blessed, for great is your reward in heaven. We have seen that the prophets of the Old Testament were persecuted, the apostles and disciples of the New Testament were persecuted, and throughout the ages
preachers, missionaries, and Christians were persecuted. The Lord Jesus Himself was persecuted and suffered, even died on a cross.
Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. (Revelation 22:12)
Here we can see that when the Lord Jesus returns, he will bring rewards and reward everyone according to their deeds. When we pray and draw close to the Lord, we will be rewarded by the Lord. We will be rewarded by the Lord for the small things we do with love for the Lord. We will be rewarded by the Lord when we suffer and persecuted for the Lord’s sake. When we preach the gospel and help people believe in the Lord, we will be rewarded by the Lord. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and great is their reward in heaven.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9)
What does peacemakers mean? Peacemaker are messengers of peace they reconcile people to God. This can be seen in the following two passages.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Christ reconciled us to God, and also gave us the ministry of reconciliation to reconcile the world to God, entrusted us with the message of reconciliation, wanted us to preach the gospel to the world, and made us the messengers of peace.
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. (Ephesians 6:15)
The Lord entrusted us with the gospel of peace, wanted us to preach the gospel of peace to those who do not know God so that they can be reconciled to God. We are the peacemakers, we are blessed, and shall be called children of God.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
Here we are to pursue peace with everyone, to be messengers of peace, and to pursue holiness. Without holiness, without a pure heart, no one will see the Lord.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
What does it mean to be pure in heart? pure in heart means a clean heart. What does it mean to see God? We cannot see God with our naked eyes, but we can feel the presence of God. To see God is to feel the presence of God.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)
Here it says that if we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. To draw near to God, sinners should confess their sins and repent, and those who are double minded between God and the world should purify their hearts, because the world will affect our drawing near to God. If we seek God with all our heart, we shall find Him.
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. (Psalms 24:3-4)
Here it says that who can ascend to God’s mountain and stand in God’s sanctuary, they are those with clean hands and a pure heart, i. e. those who are pure in heart will see God.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)
God is love. If we live in love, we live in God, and God lives in us, then we have the presence of God, and we can see God. May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
God is a merciful God, and He wants us to be merciful, merciful to the sinners, merciful to those who offend us, if we are merciful to others, we are blessed, we will receive God’s mercy.
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13)
God loves mercy, not sacrifice. The Lord Jesus is merciful to the sinners. He came to call sinners to repentance. Only those who are sick need a physician. When they know they are sick, they will go to the doctor to be healed. When they know they have sins, they will confess their sins and repent and receive God’s forgiveness and God’s mercy. God wants us to be merciful to others. God does not like us being self-righteous and judging others. He doesn’t want us to stand in his position to judge others. Only God can judge people. God wants us to be merciful to others. If we are merciful to others, we will receive God’s mercy.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
God wants us to act justly, to be merciful, to be merciful to the sinners, to be merciful, to forgive those who have sinned against us, and to walk humbly with him. May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
What does righteousness mean? Righteousness is the righteousness of God, God manifests His righteousness in the Bible. The words of the Bible are the words of God, they are the righteousness of God.
Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the word of righteousness. (Hebrews 5:13)
Here it says that the word of the Bible are the word of righteousness, the word of the Bible are the word of God, and the righteousness of God.
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)
Here it says that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God, the spiritual food, If we hunger and thirst for righteousness and hunger and thirst for God’s word, we will be blessed, and we will be filled. This is spiritual satisfaction.
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. (Isaiah 55:1-2)
Here God wants those who are thirsty to come to the waters; to eat and drink the good things He has given them for free, and to be satisfied. The water here refers to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, and God Himself. If we listen to God’s words and seek after God, we can eat good things, be satisfied, have God’s presence, and receive the joy from God and the joy in our spirit. 🙏😀
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
Here it is said that blessed are the meek, why they are blessed, because they will inherit the land.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)
Meekness or gentleness and humility are often used together. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings, but he is gentle and humble in heart. We should learn from the example of the Lord Jesus and learn his gentleness and humility in heart.
Wait on the Lord, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. (Psalm 37:34)
Here it is said that those who wait on God and keep his way will inherit the land, meekness and humility are connected with keeping God’s way and obeying God.
The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. (Psalm 37:29)
Here it is said that the righteous will inherit the land, and the righteous are those who practice righteousness, those who practice the righteousness of God, and those who practice the words of the Bible. Those who practice righteousness will inherit the land and live on it forever. The Lord Jesus will come again soon, and when he comes again, he will reign on earth for a thousand years, after that there will be new heaven and new earth, the righteous will dwell in it forever, the meek will dwell in it forever.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀
