38. Ye have heard that it hath been said, 1 An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But 39. but I say unto you, was That ye resist not him that is evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40. And if any man would go to law with thee, will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him smiteth have thy cloke also. thy 41. And whosoever 2 shall compel thee to go o mile, go with him twain. 1 Ex. 21: 24. 2 Matt. 27: 32; Mark 15: 21. highest manhood, and is now regarded in the best circles as ungentlemanly as it is unchristian. The spirit of truthfulness will abolish swearing. - Vs. 38-42. An The Principle Illustrated by the Law of Retaliation. eye for an eye. A rule for punishment of offences coming before the civil court, and founded in justice, much more so than the modern system of fines, which favors the rich. This rule is found in the lately discovered Code of Hammurabi (B.C. 2000) "tooth for tooth, eye for eye, limb for limb, son for son," etc.. Cook's Code of Hammurabi, 249. The Pharisaic perversion of this rule was the application of it to private wrongs, and the dealings of man with man, while it really applied to magistrates, to government. Most of the difficulty in this command comes through confounding civic with private duties. We see the difference continually in our own country. It is one thing that murderers should be tried by law and punished. It is an entirely different thing for a man to shoot in private revenge. One aids morality and virtue and justice; the other spreads evil passions, disorder, crime. But in no case should there be anything but love in punishing men by law,—no malice, no hatred, no revenge. The late Dr. H. Clay Trumbull was very clear in this distinction which he drew between mere self-protection as such, and self-protection as a means to the protection of others. 39. But I say . . . Resist not evil, or "him that is evil." The Greek can be Coat and Cloak. read either way. Resist not evil by evil, but overcome evil with good. Christ's life is full of examples. Four examples are given as specimens. (1) Smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also, not literally, for that would be like the Rabbis' interpretation, but act in that spirit; exactly as Christ did to the man in the trial who struck him with a rod. He did not turn the other cheek, but expostulated in a dignified manner, and did not resist by force, or ask for revenge. The form would be easy, but to check one's anger against those who insult and misrepresent and injure us - that is victory indeed over self, and over the enemy. (2) 40. If any man will, wills to, proposes to, sue thee at the law, has some quarrel with you or thinks you have wronged him, and wants to go to law about it, and would take away thy coat (chiton), the undergarment or tunic, the less expensive garment, let him have thy cloke also, the himation, the more costly upper robe, mantle, toga. (3) 41. Compel thee to go. The Greek word throws the whole injunction into a picture which is entirely lost to the English reader. "It denoted first to requisition men, beasts, or conveyances for the courier system described in Herodotus VIII., 98; Xenophon's Cyropedeia VIII., 6, 17; next in postclassical use under the successors of the Persians in the East, and under the Roman Empire, it was applied to the forced 42. Give to him that asketh thee, and 1from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Was 43. Ye have heard that it hath been said, 2 Thou shalt love thy neighbour, 3 and hate thine enemy: = 3 Deut. 23:6; Psa. 41: 10. transport of military baggage by the inhabitants of a country through which troops were passing."- Exp. Greek Test. A mile, a Roman mile 1% of our mile. Go with him twain, do more than is required, to show that you are not harboring hate on account of the injustice which is on the part of the government rather than of the individual who requires it. THE SECOND MILE. Several good sermons have lately been preached on this text. The first mile you are compelled to go. To obey this requisition shows nothing of your Christian character. But the second mile makes a free, joyous service of that which was meant for a slavish one; and thus outwits and overcomes evil by doing more and better with a higher motive than a lower one would lead you to do. This is the spirit of victory, of heavenly triumph. (4) 42. Again the spirit of love in dealing with evil is shown by the character that loves to give. Give always to him that asks, not always what he asks, but what is wisest and best; as God answers our prayers. "Love is not to be divorced from wisdom and experience.' "These precepts are not meant for fools." Alford well remarks: "To give everything to every one - the sword to the madman, the alms to the impostor, the criminal request to the temptress would be to act as the enemy of others and ourselves." But the spirit that loves to give, that gives as much as possible in the wisest way, is Christlike and divine. A stingy Christian is a contradiction in terms. And from him that would borrow. (See Deut. 15: 7-11.) Here the same principle applies. Delight to help by lending. ILLUSTRATION. At a meeting of ladies the subject of cures came up, when a newcomer was asked to give her experience. "I don't mind telling, but I guess you'll think it's a funny kind of cure," Mrs. Glen replied, with a smile. "Once, years ago, I had a dreadful headache. I hadn't slept a wink the night before I was grieving about a friend that hadn't treated me right. "I was just brooding away, going over and over in my mind what I'd say to Mehitabel Record some day, when I saw that a big grudge was growing right up inside of me. 'Now,' said I to myself, 's'pose Mehitabel Record did really do it, is that a reason why you should grow a grudge?' "So I set right about forgiving her as hard as I could, and pretty soon I just loved Mehitabel Record, no matter what she'd done." The needles were motionless. The speaker, although flushing under the gaze of many eyes, continued: "And when I'd thoroughly forgiven Mehitabel - why, my headache was gone, and I felt nice all over. It set me to thinking. After that, whenever I had an ache or pain, I practised going away by myself and forgiving some one. It worked wonderfully." "Did you always have some one," asked the minister's wife, softly, "to practise on?" "Deary me, no!" said Aunty Glen. "Everybody's always treated me so nice, I ran out of folks to forgive long ago. "How did you manage your 'cure' then?" "Oh, along about the same time I ran out of aches and pains, too. I haven't lost a day in bed in forty-five years.' There was a pause. Miss Everett, with shining eyes, broke the silence: "Ladies, I move a vote of thanks to― to dear Aunty Glen, for a bit of very deep and very dear philosophy. And I move, also, that we adopt her cure and practise it.”. -Youth's Companion. Love the Fountain and Source of All These Manifestations of the Christian Life. Vs. 43-47. Ye have heard. It is the common teaching. Thou shalt love thy neighbour. (Lev. 19: 18.) Good teaching as far as it went. But it was limited (1) by their definition of " neighbor as applying to those of their own race and religion, and not extending to all with whom they came in contact; and (2) by their addition of and hate thine enemy. They probably inferred the addition from the instances in which they 1 bless your enemies, and pray for curse persecute But I 44. but say unto you, Love them that do good to them that hate you, and pray 2 for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; you'; sons 45. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for 3 he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 4 that 46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? I Luke 6: 27; Rom. 12: 14. 3 Job 25: 3. were taught to utterly destroy their enemies (Deut. 7: 2; 23: 6; Psa. 137: 8, 9), where the destruction of their enemies was ordered, not from hate, but because it was necessary for the preservation of the kingdom of righteousness on earth. Yet in Prov. 25: 21, is the precept, "If thine enemy hunger, give him bread." 44. Love your enemies. The word here, and in v. 43, used for "love" is equivalent to the Latin diligo, emphasizing choice, friendship, well-wishing, rather than delight in their character. It is the word that is used of God's love to sinners. NOTE in the following clauses the climax in the modes of expressing this love toward various degrees of enmity. The best commentary on these matchless counsels is the bright example of him who gave them. (See Luke 23: 34; 1 Pet. 2: 21-24; and cf. Rom. 12: 20, 21; 1 Cor. 4: 12; I Pet. 3: 9.) There is no other way to overcome evil but by good. To hate an enemy makes two wrongs, and two bad people instead of one, and both are made worse by the process. If the enemy still remains an enemy, yet he that loves his enemy becomes better and stronger by his efforts. The effect on the world will be a proof of the reality of our religion, a visible evidence that we have the spirit of our Master, and an attraction to lead them to our Saviour and our Father. ILLUSTRATION. The fable of the cannibals that the courage and virtues of the enemy they have captured and eaten go into the body of the one who eats him, has a truth in it spiritually for those who conquer an enemy by love. ILLUSTRATION. "The true way to overcome evil' is to melt it by fiery coals of gentleness. That is God's way. An iceberg may be crushed to powder, but every fragment is still ice. Only sunshine that melts it will turn it into sweet water. Love is conqueror, and the only conqueror, and its conquest is to transform hate into love." THIS DUTY AND PRIVILEGE is enforced by two arguments. (1) 45. That ye may be the children of your Father, by being like him, and acting like him, so that men will recognize you as sons of God by your family likeness. Sun to rise on the evil and on the good. The laws of nature are perfect, and made on purpose to bring happiness, intelligence, help, character, and means of usefulness to all. So he sent his Son for all men. He imparts to all alike, but all do not receive alike: men may sit in darkness in spite of the sun, or suffer hunger for idleness in spite of the rain. And there are lost souls in spite of God's love that would save all. Under the blest influences of sun and rain there may spring up thorns as well as flowers, and thistles as well as wheat. But it is intended to bestow on man the things he needs, and every one can have them if he wills. (2) The other argument is, that the harder, higher, nobler deeds are the proof to yourselves and to others that you belong to the family of God. 46. For if ye merely love salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? publicans so? Gen'tiles the same? 48. 1 Beye therefore do not even the heaven is perfect. Ye shall be even 2 perfect, I Gen. 17: 1; Luke 6: 36. 2 Eph. 5: 1. them which love you, and if ye salute your brethren only (v. 47) you have only the virtues of publicans and heathen whom you despise. Love is not only "the greatest thing in the world," but it is the hardest, highest, noblest thing in the world. William Secker's the Nonesuch Professor in his Meridian Glory develops this truth finely. "Learn from yon Orient shell to love thy foe A distinguished statesman in nominating a candidate for the presidency of the United States, said, "They love and respect him not only for himself, for his character, for his integrity and judgment, but they love him most of all for the enemies he has made. The Ideal and the Goal.-V. 48. Be ye therefore perfect. The A.V. is better here than the R.V. translation. "Perfect means complete in every part, having every element of the heavenly character in the fullest degree. The perfect "are those who have reached the goal, have attained maturity." In Eph. 4: 13, 14, "perfect" describes full-grown men in contrast with babes. "It is the goal of human excellence," the complete development of being, the embodiment of all the commands of the whole moral law. "Perfect I call Thy plan; Thanks that I was a man! Maker, remake, complete- I trust what Thou shalt do!" Even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. With every element of goodness which shines in him, with all the fulness of which our natures are capable, without flaw or imperfection in spirit or in action. ILLUSTRATIONS. The lamp, though infinitely smaller than the sun, shines with perfect light. Every color, every power of the sunbeam may shine in the candle ray. The image on the retina of the eye may be a perfect picture in every detail of a landscape that extends over many miles. THE FATHER shows us his wisdom and love and goodness in the laws of nature under which we live and grow. To find them out and obey them and thus grow into the knowledge of God is the privilege of all. BUT JESUS HIS SON shows us by his teaching, his character and life, just how our Father in heaven would act in a life in this world like ours. He is the interpreter of the Father. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ : " and may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4: 13, 15). 66 "Sweet Cynosure far fixed in spotless fields Thou servest a waymark to the sons of time." THE VALUE OF THIS GOAL. "We sometimes hear it said that to set up perfection as our goal is to smite effort dead, and to enthrone despair.' Maclaren. On the contrary a low ideal takes heart out of endeavor, while a perfect ideal, attained by some one, approached by many in different degrees, some approaching perfection, inspires hope, awakens every motor impulse of the soul, like the Songs of Degrees sung by the companies of Jews going up to Jerusalem; a burst of song from those who first saw the shining towers of the Holy City being taken up by company after company till its echoes reached and cheered those still far away beyond sight of its walls. We have courage because we see the saint in the boy, the butterfly in the chrysalis, the oak in the acorn, the bride of Christ in the imperfect church, the millennial times in the disordered present. "I asked the roses as they grew What made their tints so rich and bright? ILLUSTRATION. "In the Royal Gallery at Dresden may be often seen a group of connoisseurs, who sit for hours before a single painting. They walk around those halls whose walls are so eloquent with the triumphs of art, and they come back, and pause again before that one masterpiece. Weeks are spent yearly in the study of that one work of Raphael, with its matchless forms. In our picture gallery of Bible characters we may study many beauties of form and feature, but for the masterpiece we must return continually to our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Prof. Austin Phelps in The Still Hour. LESSON VI.- February 6. ALMSGIVING AND PRAYER. Matthew 6: 1-15. COMMIT v. 6. GOLDEN TEXT. - Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them. — MATT. 6: 1 (r.v.). INDUCTIVE STUDY OF HYPOCRISY versus SINCERITY. Insincerity is absolutely fatal to goodness, to usefulness, to manhood, to religion, to the favor of God, to all true success. Make a study of the following and other words of Scripture, and report what you learn, as to warnings, examples, results. Job 8: 13-15; 27: 8-10; Psa. 78: 3; Prov. 21: 27; Isa. 1: 13-15; 29: 13; 48: 1; 58: 3-5; 61: 8; Jer. 5: 2; 7: 9, 10; Ezek. 33: 31, 32; Hos. 7: 14, 16; Mic. 3: 11; Mal. 1: 13, 14; Matt. 7: 21, 22; 23: 5, 25, 26; Luke 11: 42; 12: 1; Rom. 2: 13, 21, 23; 2 Tim. 3: 5; Jas. 1: 8, 22-26; Jude 12, 13. |