The Nature of Gospel Salvation. #JesusFollowers

 

The Gospel presents us with clear and comprehensive views of the Nature and character of the Deity. 

It teaches that there is but one God: by this simple principle, expressed in every way which is necessary to make it fully understood and cordially received, putting an end to heathen idolatry.

It teaches us that this great Being is a Spirit; possessed of every natural and moral excellence in an infinite degree; almighty, all-wise, all-just, all-holy, and all-gracious; exercising a righteous moral administration over His creatures; rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked.

In short, He is perfect goodness, pure and unlimited Love, our Friend and our Father; yet at the same time a Being of perfect Righteousness, our Sovereign, and our Judge.

The Gospel teaches us what the requirements of this great and gracious Being are. It instructs, by precept and by example, that we should love Him with supreme affection; that we should exercise a steady faith and a devout and holy communion with Him; and that we should make it our first and highest concern to do His will.

It requires that we should exercise a careful government over our own hearts; that we should suppress all inordinate affections and all high thoughts of ourselves; that we should be sober, temperate, and chaste in all things; that we should be humble and watchful, earnestly desirous to be, as well as to do, what God commands. In short, the religion that is pure and undefiled before God is to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

Jesus is never represented as the cause, but as the effect of the Father's love: and to imagine that God was not disposed to be merciful to mankind till Jesus wrested pardon from him (as it has sometimes been expressed), is to contradict the simple but all-important assertion of the Gospel, that "God so loved the world…" (John 3:16)

It is nowhere stated in the Scriptures that God could not forgive sins without the death of Jesus, or without some other full satisfaction: but many passages prove that though perfectly just, God is also essentially merciful; and which supply us with Divine declarations of pardon to the repentant sinner, and examples of the extension of it, without any reference to the death of Jesus.

The justice of God, as far as we have the means of knowing, consists in the due distribution of rewards and punishments according to the moral condition and character of the objects of His justice.

Jesus suffered for the completion of his spiritual excellence, and it was for the welfare of his followers that he should set them an example that they should follow in his steps – an example of meekness, of fortitude, of patience, of gentleness and mercy, of firm endurance and self-denial, of boundless love to man, and of obedience unto death.

When considering the effects and purposes of the death of Jesus, it should never be forgotten that they were all in view in the apostles’ minds, as a whole, as they should be in ours; and then we cannot fail to perceive that the effects on the spiritual excellence of our Master’s character, and the perfecting of his example, and all their blessed influences in the hearts of his disciples, are among the purposes of his death.

The death of Jesus is of service to only those who through the work of Jesus are redeemed from all iniquity; and its efficacy in effecting our salvation depends on its producing, through the influence of his sufferings, his precepts, doctrines, spirit and example, that spiritual sanctification, and eternal purification, which will make us dead to sin, and alive to God.

If neither our Master himself, during his ministry on earth, nor his apostles whose preaching is recorded in the book of Acts teach the doctrine that the death of Jesus was a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of men, is it reasonable to conclude that it cannot be essential to salvation?

There is no passage in support of the doctrine that the death of Jesus had some mysterious, unknown, immediate efficacy in obtaining from God the pardon of sin.

Persons who entertain this doctrine of atonement, should shrink from the notion that Jesus was in any strict sense punished for the sins of men, or that he was substituted for them to bear the Father's displeasure, or that he thus made satisfaction for their sins: still less should they allow that the death of Jesus appeased the wrath of God, and made him merciful.

Of such a doctrine, often taught by theologians, I do not hesitate to declare that it is not Christianity, that it is not Judaism, that it is heathenism.

(Adapted from an 1843 sermon by Rev. Lant Carpenter)

"Christianity As Jesus Christ Preached It" [JesusFollowers]

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You Have the words of eternal life." JOHN 6:38.

WHO will show us any good? Where are we to look for the clearest, truest setting forth of religion? There is such a variety of Churches, there are such differences of form and of creed, there is such a babel-confusion of ecclesiastical tongues, and so many of them asserting that theirs is the only faith by which any man can be saved; and meanwhile some think it doubtful if any faith can stand. Where shall we find some real light, - some solid ground to rest upon?

Am I mistaken in saying that this is a craving widely felt at the present time? The heart of society just now is in a curiously puzzled and perplexed condition. It is not satisfied. Men have the answers of their various Churches. These tell them in creed and catechism, in article and confession, what it is that man must believe, and which shall be "saving faith" to him. And all the points are well backed up by "proof texts," which sound clear and unmistakeable; yet, when all is said, people are not satisfied. It may not be that they have come actually to disbelieve these doctrines, but they do not feel that they go to the root and reality of the matter. The creeds may be all right and true, and yet even those who still hold them, or think they do, do not like to hear them much insisted on; they feel that there is something deeper. They feel that, behind all those doctrinal differences which separate them, there are there must be some deeper realities, a few great thoughts of faith and love, something far simpler and more practical than these matters that divines have wrangled over, and something on which they might join hands, and feel brotherly and friendly, and get rid of all their miserable doubts about each other's acceptance and salvation in the world to come.

Now I want to set before you what I believe to be the true way out of these perplexities and doubts, the true way to this broader, simpler, more practical religion, upon which men might be able to agree, -or at least to see their differences in their true light, as minor matters. That way, I believe to be, to look simply to Christianity as Christ preached it; to go back, as near as we can, through the narratives of the Gospels, to Christ as he went about among the people, himself preaching his own "good tidings," his own religion. See what he himself said; how he answered people's questions; what he urged them to believe or to do; what it was that he was constantly putting before them in his parables, and beautiful deep sayings. You know that often-quoted saying of Chillingworth's: "The Bible, and the Bible only, the religion of Protestants." Well, we Unitarians want to bring that idea to a brighter point still, and would say, -" Christ, and Christ only, the special teacher for Christians."

See, at the outset, one thing which surely should be a great recommendation of this principle. It is not a new principle, and it is not a sectarian one, nor in any way a partial or exclusive one. The thought which lies at the bottom of it, and on which it is founded, is one which is owned by every church in Christendom. There is not a church throughout the world that does not own Christ to be its teacher; there is not one that does not wish its belief and its thought to be his thought and faith; there is not one that does not hold its doctrines under the idea that they are those which he meant men to hold. Why, the man who wrote the Athanasian Creed, wrote it because he believed that he should by it make clearer to men the thought of Christ. John Calvin, in all his sternest, gloomiest doctrines about some being elected to be saved, and the rest of mankind being elected to be damned, sincerely believed that he had penetrated to Christ's deeper thought, and was interpreting it more clearly than ever before. Martin Luther attacked the Papacy, because he believed that it had hidden Christ from men. John Wesley went forth to the hill-sides and by-ways, because he felt that the churches of his time were not preaching "Christianity as Christ preached it." So that it is a very broad, comprehensive principle, and one which in the abstract the members of all Churches must gladly approve.

The real difficulty occurs when we come to the practical application of it. Many of those who quite believe, in the abstract, in holding for Christianity as Christ preached it, have been accustomed to fancy that, in some way, that light of Christ's teaching operates and shines throughout the whole Bible. So they will admit a text from one part just as readily as from another; and they are apt to think that any other plan amounts to rejecting the Scriptures. People have said to me sometimes, when I have been urging this matter, "What? are we to have nothing to do with the rest of the Bible? are we to put it all aside as useless or superfluous, and to read the four Gospels only?"

We do not mean anything of the kind For my own part I believe that the whole of that old Hebrew literature, for it is a literature rather than a book, which is bound up together as our Bible, is helpful and valuable. But it is not all helpful in the same way, nor in the same degree. Nobody would say that the histories of the Wars of the Israelites are as useful as the Parables of Jesus, or as the Sermon on the Mount. Even those who believe that every writer in the Bible was inspired would hardly say that they were all equally inspired, and that the light of the religious truth revealed shines equally brightly and equally clearly in all parts. And that is all I ask, in order to bring out the principle I am advocating; for surely that light of the world, which shines all through the course of the Hebrew religion, came to its very brightest in Christ. It was only twilight before, compared to that perfect day. And I think no one would say that it was ever quite so bright again. The light was wonderfully reflected in the Apostles, and in all the early Christian life; but it kept fading a little. Even Paul, and John, and the rest, holy men as they were, were not preserved from all errors by their inspiration. As Emerson says, "When God makes the prophet he does not unmake the man." Paul had to withstand Peter to the face, once. They preached the Gospel with all their might; and still, if they had been asked whether they or their Master best understood and best taught the Gospel, can any one doubt what their answer would have been? I should be sorry if Paul's epistles were lost, but still, if the four lives of Christ were left us, surely we should not lose the knowledge of what Christianity is. They would be sufficient, -those four Gospel accounts of how Christ himself preached, -surely not only sufficient, but the best of all would be left to us. And so, even though we are thankful that they are not all that is left us, yet still we ought to give them the very first and highest place. Did you ever read what Luther wrote to Eck, one of his adversaries, who was defending the authority of the Catholic Church? He said, "It is certainly impudent in anyone to teach as the Philosophy of Aristotle any doctrine which cannot be proved by his authority. You grant this. Well, then, all the more, it is the most impudent of all things to affirm in the church, and among Christians, any thing that Jesus Christ himself has not taught." It is true that Luther himself did not half keep to his principle; but that is no new thing in the world. The principle is good, and it is exactly the principle that we plead for.

It is, then, to the Gospels, as giving us Christianity as Christ himself preached it, that, as Christians, we ought to look. We may not have a perfect record, even there, of all that he was, or of all that he taught; but we have at least one so full-or rather four, so full, so artless, so bearing the mark of being honest personal recollections of him, on the face of them, that we may be sure we lack no material feature in his character, and no essential part of what he taught us. 

And, look for a moment at what a simplifying of the problem of Christianity this is. Why, what a task it is that any one has before him who shall sit down to the whole Bible without any feeling of any one part being more especially adapted for him than the rest! Christianity was given to be a "glad tidings" for the poor; but what could poor unlearned a poor make out of it, turned loose upon the whole Bible, without any guidance as to where he may find what he wants most clearly put? Fancy him trying to make his way through the strange visions of Ezekiel or Daniel! Imagine his difficulties with some of David's curses for his enemies in the Psalms! Think how much light he would get from that mystical book, the Revelation, the meaning of which is quite as much disputed by those who believe it inspired as by those who do not. Why, is it not exactly this way of consulting the whole Bible, indiscriminately, as if it was all on one dead level of authority-is it not this which has led to so much diversity and contradiction among Christians? Men have thought they found this or that doctrine stated, somewhere--and, anywhere in the Bible it must be absolutely true; and so everything else must be consistent with it. Thus one sect has started from one point, and another from a different point; and from those different points they have argued against one another, and might go on arguing, and never agreeing, to the end of time! And is it not a wonderful simplifying of the matter to be able to say :-Turn to the Gospels; there you have the life of Jesus himself, his very teachings as he went about trying to convert men to his Gospel. There you have everything that you need, and there you have it in its greatest simplicity. There you have the very heart of Christianity. Make that the chief study. Let that be the criterion of what the religion of Christ is. If any doctrine be put before you, and urged upon you as part of Christianity, turn to the Gospels, see whether Christ preached it. If you have been accustomed to regard any doctrine as part of Christianity, if you have been used to think that, without that doctrine, any system of religion must be a questionable sort of Christianity, again, I say, -turn to the Gospels: see whether it is something that Christ taught. Even if you fancy you can discern some trace of it in his words, do not be satisfied with that! See if it is really something that he put before men and urged upon them, if not, then do not admit it as any essential part of Christianity! That is no reason for not thinking about it; there are points that Christ did not touch upon, which we cannot help thinking about, and forming some thought or hope about. It was meant to be so. Jesus Christ is "the Foundation," not the Building,- the strong foundation of religious truth on which our thoughts are to build and climb. 

So think, and build, but do not insist upon what you make out as, a part of Christianity! For that, keep to "Christianity as Christ preached it."

Adapted from an 1875 Sermon by Rev. Brooke Hereford

The Unique Character Of Jesus #JesusFollowers

Guest sermon by Dr. William Ellery Channing

In the Gospels, we're struck with the uniqueness of the Author of Christianity: that while all other men are formed in a measure by the spirit of the age, we can discover in Jesus no impression of the period in which he lived. 

We know with considerable accuracy the state of society, the modes of thinking, the hopes and expectations of the country in which Jesus was born and grew up; and he is as free from them, and as exalted above them, as if he had lived in another world, or, with every sense closed to the objects around him.

His character has in it nothing local or temporary. It can be explained by nothing around him. His history shows him to us a solitary being, living for purposes which none but himself comprehended, and enjoying not so much as the sympathy of a single mind.

His apostles, his chosen companions, brought to him the spirit of the age; and nothing shows its strength more strikingly, than the slowness with which it yielded in these honest men to the instructions of Jesus

Jesus came to a nation expecting a Messiah; and he claimed this character. But instead of conforming to the opinions which prevailed in regard to the Messiah, he resisted them completely and without reserve to a people anticipating a triumphant leader, under whom vengeance as well as ambition was to be glutted by the prostration of their oppressors, he came as a spiritual leader, teaching humility and peace.

This hostility to the hopes and prejudices of his nation; this deliberate exposure of himself to rejection and hatred, cannot easily be explained by the common principles of human nature, and excludes the possibility of selfish aims in the Author of Christianity.

One striking peculiarity in Jesus is the extent and the vastness of his views. While all around him looked for a Messiah to liberate God's ancient people, while to every other Jew, Judea was the exclusive object of pride and hope, Jesus came, declaring himself to be the deliverer and light of the world, and in his whole teaching and life, you see a consciousness – which never forsakes him – of a relation to the whole human race. This idea of blessing mankind, of spreading a universal religion, was the most magnificent which had ever entered man's mind.

Compare next these views of Jesus with his station in life. He was of humble birth and education, with nothing in his lot, with no extensive means, no rank, or wealth, or patronage, to infuse vast thoughts and extravagant plans.

The shop of a carpenter, the village of Nazareth, were not spots for ripening a plan more aspiring and extensive than had ever been formed. It is a principle of human nature, that except in case of insanity, some proportion is observed between the power of an individual, and his plans and hopes. The purpose to which Jesus devoted himself was as ill-suited to his condition as an attempt to change the seasons, or to make the sun rise in the west.

That a young man, in obscure life, belonging to an oppressed nation, should seriously think of subverting the time-hallowed and deep-rooted religions of the world, is a strange fact; but with this purpose we see the mind of Jesus thoroughly imbued; and, sublime as it is, he never falls below it in his language or conduct, but speaks and acts with a consciousness of superiority, with a dignity and authority, becoming this unparalleled destination.

The most striking trait in Jesus was, undoubtedly, benevolence; and although this virtue had existed before, yet it had not been manifested in the same form and extent. Jesus' benevolence was distinguished first by its expansiveness. At that age, an unconfined philanthropy, proposing and toiling to do good without distinction of country or rank, was unknown.

Love to men as men, love, comprehending the hated Samaritan and the despised publican, was a feature which separated Jesus from the best men of his nation and of the world. Another characteristic of the benevolence of Jesus was its gentleness and tenderness, forming a strong contrast with the hardness and ferocity of the spirit and manners which then prevailed, and with that sternness and inflexibility which the purest philosophy of Greece and Rome inculcated as the perfection of virtue.

The character of Jesus, then, was real. Its reality is the only explanation of the mighty revolution produced by his religion. And how can we account for it, but by that cause to which he always referred it, a mission from the Father.

- Written by Dr. William Ellery Channing, 1826, adapted from "Discourses on the Evidences of Revealed Religion" in Tracts of the American Unitarian Association, Vol. 1, 1827.

The Beatitudes: Jesus' Doctrine of Happiness #JesusFollowers

            

The Beatitudes: Jesus' Doctrine of Happiness [#JesusFollowers Weekly Message]: 

Matt. 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23

The Beatitudes contain Jesus Christ's doctrine of happiness. A strange doctrine it must sound to worldly ears! It seems a series of paradoxes, or even contradictions, amounting together to a declaration that the miserable are the happy. Nowhere does the boldness of the preacher of Galilee appear more conspicuously than in the opening sentences of the Sermon on the Mount.

This man has faith in the power of his Gospel to cope with every evil. He speaks as one who has Good News for all classes of men, and for all possible conditions. There is no human experience which Jesus regards with despair, and his doctrine is as original as it is bold. 

It is not to be confounded with that of any philosophical school. It is not Stoicism. The Stoic preached submission to misery as inevitable, and offered to his disciples the peace of despair. Jesus looks on evil as something that can be transmuted into good, and all sufferers have a hope, a reward, an outlook. It is not mere optimism, however. The optimist denies evil or explain It away, and thinks to cure human misery by fine praises. 

Jesus admits the evil that is in the world, And speak of it in plain terms; only, unlike the pessimist, he declines to regard it as final and unsurmountable. 

The kind of happiness that Jesus offers is obviously something different. Its both novel and peculiar. When he says blessed are the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful, he means either that they are blessed In spite of their misery or that they are blessed through their misery. In either case, the blessedness must be something different from what the world usually counts as happiness, something in the soul. Jesus invites us to reach felicity by the method of inwardness, Representing it as within the reach of all, just because that is the way to it.

These sayings on happiness prefixed to the Sermon on the Mount might have formed a part of the sermon in the synagogue of Nazareth on the Acceptable Year of the Lord. It is only once written in the Gospel narrative, but they might have been spoken by him many times. They would have served to show the nature of his message. They might have been, and probably were, themes sounded by Jesus many times in his ministry. 

They are certainly among the most characteristic utterances of the new era of Hope. It has been remarked of the Sermon on the Mount that it seems to be a mixture of two distinct sorts of doctrine, one specially suited for the ears of disciples, and the other such as would more suitably be addressed to the multitude. 

In the judgment of critics, the former kind of doctrine predominates, so that the Sermon may be represented as a disciple-discourse with popular elements, interspersed.

There is a certain amount of truth in this view, and the mixture, discernible throughout, is traceable at the commencement. Some of the Beatitudes are for all of humanity, while some are spoken specifically for the benefit of the disciples. 

One set seems specifically for the woes of humanity at large, another brings consolation for the tribulations of Believers. The distinction is most apparent in Luke's version of the Sermon. There, three Beatitudes are spoken to the hungry, the poor, those that weep; then follows one comprehensive Beatitude for the faithful servants of the Kingdom suffering for truth and righteousness. 

It was necessary that there should be Beatattudes for both. No Gospel is complete, which has no consolations for both ordinary suffering mortals and those saints who were already battling moral evil.

In Luke's version of the discourse, they seem to refer to literal poverty, hunger, and sorrow. Christ Jesus appears there, saying, "Blessed are you poor;” “Blessed are you that hunger now;” “Blessed are you who weep now.” 

In Matthew's version, the terms employed to describe the classes addressed in the two first sentences have attached to them qualifying  phrases which make the characteristics spiritual, and limit the scope of the sayings, turning them in fact into special Beatitudes pertaining to the children of the Kingdom.

If the question is asked: which of the two forms is the more original? Our judgment inclines to that of Luke. Speaking generally, the more pregnant, kernel-like form of any saying of  Jesus is always the more likely to have been likely to have been that actually used by Him. The briefer, less developed form is most in keeping with the striking originality of His teaching. 

Jesus, as befits the Sage, loved short, suggestive sentences,  revealing much, hiding much, arresting the attention of the memory, provoking thought, demanding explanation.

(Adapted from the book "Galilean Gospel" by Dr. Aleander Balmain Bruce, 1882)

What Does the Bible Say About Human Abilities? #JesusFollowers

The Bible tells us that human beings were fearfully and wonderfully made, and created in the very image of God, the creator of all the universe. (Psalms 139:14, Genesis 1:27)

It includes no call for us to have a low opinion of God's creation, and the fact that God created us all in His image means that the teaching of Jesus that we are to love our neighbors exactly as we love ourselves is a pure reflection of this truth. (Mark 12:31)

Further, Jesus teaches us to have incredibly high ideals for ourselves and to seek them in our daily lives every day.

We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We are to be merciful just as God is merciful. We are to love God with every fiber of our being. And yes, we are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Matt. 5:48, Luke 6:36, Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:31)

There is nowhere in the teachings of Jesus to support the idea the God believes we cannot do all that He asks of us, or that these ideals are placed before us in order to tease us with our imperfection and inability to achieve them.

Indeed, there is nothing in Jesus' teachings and nothing in the writings of the Hebrew Prophets for which we can justify or excuse mediocre behavior towards God, who nonetheless is merciful towards us when we fall short of those ideals and ask humbly for His forgiveness.

The Hebrew Prophet Micah says, "Who is a God like You, Who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgressions of his remnant of His inheritance?" (Micah 34:7)

So, everything Jesus said points to the fact that we are wonderfully made creatures in the image of God, innocent children who are capable of acting in a Godly manner.

And of course this is utterly consistent with the Hebrew Bible's teachings - teachings with which Jesus was completely familiar and believed were Scripture inspired by God.

Once we recognize this, new vistas open up on the pages of Scripture and in the teachings of Jesus because they become the art of the possible, and a reasonable and joyous challenge for us.

The teachings of Jesus thus become for us a template for living, an actual guide for Life as God wishes us to live it.

The Hebrew Bible, especially the Wisdom books in the moral teachings of the Prophets, is filled with verses calling human beings to achieve great things and live active lives of holiness and service to others.

"Be holy, for I am holy," declares God in Leviticus (11:44). "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21:3). "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked." (Psalms 1:1). "Depart from evil and do good." (Psalms 34:14). 

In these Scriptures, we are viewed as noble and able beings, capable of achieving what God has called us to do.

"A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things," says Jesus. (Matt. 12:35) 

But yes, this same Bible is filled with people, and entire nations, who failed to live up to those standards.

Let us not be fooled by these Scriptures' ample examples of those who fell short of the ideals set by God.

The very fact that those were made examples for us means that they are there on the pages to inspire us to avoid such mistakes and to do better than they did.

For example, King David was guilty of great sins and misdeeds. He repented of these (Psalms 7) and went on to serve God in holiness, saying, "Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me." (Psalms 18:20)

We, too, are called to Holiness and to piety by King David's example and by that of Jesus, who pleased God and did all the things that He asked him to do (John 8:29) and was chosen as his spokesman and Son at his baptism (Luke 3:22). He calls us to follow him, and to do all that he did. (Matt. 4:19, John 13:15, 14:12) And unless those are empty words, our Master meant for us to do just that.

We know that with the help of our Father in heaven, we may humbly seek to walk in the steps of His Son, Jesus, taking up our cross daily to follow him. By this, we become the beings that God created us to be, and we build God's kingdom on Earth with our acts of kindness and service.

Our Search For Godly Wisdom [#JesusFollowers]

“VANITY of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” - Ecclesiastes 1:2-10

This is recorded as the declaration of one of the wisest, if not the wisest of all the men that recorded history give us an account of: and from what is recorded of him and of his sayings and doings, we have reason to believe that he was. 

And when he was raised and exalted upon the throne of his father, David, he was humbled, no doubt, under a consideration of his incapacity, at that time, to govern and rule so great a people. 

And having done some work that was grateful to the Almighty, He made him an offer, to ask of him what good he should choose? It was not for long life, nor riches, nor honor that he asked, but that the Lord Almighty should endue him with an understanding heart, and wisdom that might qualify him to judge and rule so great a people. 

And his request was granted - the Almighty gave him greater wisdom than any other man; and from the account recorded of his wisdom and acts, it seems verified. 

Now, there is a good deal to be learned from this account of that great and wise king. By looking to this same Source for wisdom and understanding, we shall gain more true knowledge than we were ever able to arrive at through mere human, rational science. 

It is that only which can enable us to fill up our place in creation, agreeably to the design of a great and gracious Creator. 

By attention to the manifestations of God’s will, He will certainly give us this same knowledge, for we must know his commandments, and what he requires of us before we can do them: and therefore He has given to every man and woman a measure of His own Spirit.  

When we repent, and are sincerely sorry for what we have done, He grants us the gift of forgiveness, and we come to experience remission of sins, and reconciliation with our Heavenly Father. 

This is the way in which we can fulfil the first and great commandment, “You shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” 

We give all up for Him, and for His sake; not only all that is dear to us here on earth, but our own lives. This was shown in the example of our great and blessed pattern, Jesus; who, for the love he bore to the truth and the God of truth, readily surrendered his will and life, to the will and mind of his Heavenly Father - such was his love to him. 

When we come to love God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, it becomes the most excellent, and beautiful, of all things.

Therefore, as this comes to be our experience, it fixes and impresses upon our minds a care, that every step we take may be conformable to our duty to God, according to His requirements. 

Here, now, when we come to know God, and feel him to be continually with us, an observer of all our works, and watching over us continually for good, it enables us to put in practice the saying of the wise man, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” 

Our duty to our Heavenly Father, and our own best interest, can never be divided: they are one, because Almighty Wisdom has ordained that every act of a man's life shall have its consequent reward, let it be good or evil.

- Adapted from a sermon by Elias Hicks, given at the 12 Street Quaker Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Dec. 10, 1826.

God-Blessed: The Beatitudes [#JesusFollowers]

THE SERMON OF SERMONS - God-Blessed: The Beatitudes [#JesusFollowers Weekly Message]: This world isn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. Sometimes, it’s the opposite of Good. Often, it’s frustratingly bad. 

When everyone is seemingly coloring outside the lines, swerving into your lane, and making up their own rules as they go along (often hurting us in the process) we have to wonder whether there’s a way we can model Goodness for the world – for our own sakes as well as that of others.

The good news is that we have just such a thing: the teachings of Jesus; namely, the Sermon on the Mount.

If we had nothing of Jesus’ teachings in existence today other than the Sermon of the Mount, we would have almost all we would ever need to live our lives in a way pleasing to God and as an example for others.

These three chapters in the book of Matthew are the very core of Jesus’ message to us. And if we believe that Jesus is the man whom God chose, anointed, and sent out to us to preach how God wishes us to live and love, then these are very important chapters indeed.

The opening lines of the Sermon, the "Beatitudes," are among the best known verses in the Bible.

Many of these we remember from our youth:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matt. 5:2-12)

Some Bible versions translate the word “Blessed” as “Happy” (a Latin word for “happy” actually is “beatitudus,” though of course Jesus didn't call them Beatitudes, because he didn't speak Latin.)

But "Happy" really isn't a strong enough word in English to convey what’s meant here. "God-Blessed" may be closer, because Jesus is conveying something important about God and what God does for us. 

God blesses those who are weak, who have a broken spirit, who are thirsting for righteousness, yearning for mercy, and who are being reviled, persecuted and abused.

But these statements weren't meant to be passive, cold assurance that ONE DAY our needs would be met by God and God alone. Jesus meant for us to adopt them into our own character, and to guide our actions. Further, they are the basis for the Kingdom of God, which Jesus inaugurated when he began preaching. 

These teachings of Jesus are not far-off ideals, or commands we cannot keep. They are clear, bold challenges that God, through His chosen Spokesman, Jesus, tells us we can achieve.

Later in the Sermon, Jesus will tell us we must be perfect (as in perfectly complete and mature) JUST AS God is perfect. (Matt. 5:48) And, in similar language, says, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you DO them.” (John 13:17)

Jesus assures us that while we won’t be immediately morally complete, that isn’t the expectation of God. He assures us that God forgives us when we forgive others for falling short. (Matt. 6:14-15)

And this hints and the second half of each Beatitude, mirroring the pain, suffering, heartache and troubles we suffer with the comfort and love God gives to us, if we only ask Him for it.

Jesus does not allow us to make God the sole comforter, love-giver, and mercy-bestower. We have work to do, as well. Just as we must forgive others to be forgiven, we are to serve others to be served. 

Following the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that we are to be the salt and light to the world, and that we must let our light shine before others, so that they will see our good works, and praise our Father in Heaven. (Matt. 5:13-16)

We are clearly called, therefore, to be the hands of Jesus here on earth, bringing in the Kingdom of God here and now. We must do as Jesus did, and even greater things! (John 14:12)

We may draw hope from these teachings of Jesus, and they are living water for us that we can share with others in our daily lives, being the salt and light our world yearns to see.