A New Walk On An Old Path - The Sermon On The Mount

by Don Hatfield

him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication causes her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.” James then looked at me and said, “Isaac, we must as believers quit following all the little man made things that we as men have made up. These little laws and escape clauses that we write into God’s grace must come to a stop. We put them in place so that we can have an excuse for our sin and then say it is alright to do them and God’s blessing is upon it. There could be nothing further from the truth for God always does the right thing and if we were really seeking Him we too would do the right thing. Instead of going to Him for council we go to other men just like ourselves pretending that we are going to them for council when we are really just wanting them to go along with our sin.” I said to James, “God is looking for real people isn’t He? He is looking for the heart because He will put His law in our heart and as we yield to Him then we will become like Him. It is by His power and His grace that we will do the right thing.”

  James smiled and responded, “Isaac, not only are you learning of our Savior but you have led me to the very next thing that Jesus said. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou shall not forswear thyself but shall perform unto the Lord thy oaths. Isaac, men have said that you should do as you say you are going to do. Do not swear that you are going to do a deed just to impress others when in your heart you know that you are not going to do it. Many times we even swear that we are going to do something with the intention of doing it and then actually never do it. On that day when Jesus stood here He said something completely different. He said to all of us but I say unto all of you swear not at all neither by heaven for it is God’s throne. Nor by the earth for it is His footstool neither by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great King. Isaac, why do you think He said those words?” I thought about those words for a moment and then my mind seem to zero in on just one of them the word swear. Then I began to see a little of what Jesus was talking about. I responded to James, “To swear is to guarantee or affirm that something is true and that it is exactly the case. Or perhaps to vow or pledge to do something such as saying to someone I swear I will never tell. To do that and swear to heaven or to the earth or to Jerusalem is to vow to something that belongs to God. As a matter of fact I think that it might be full of self-pride for us to think that we could swear about anything because none of this belongs to us but it all belongs to God and He is just gracious enough to let us use it.” With that I stopped and look at James hoping that I had come close to seeing what Jesus meant. James said Isaac, “Have you ever heard the term hit the nail on the head?” I smiled and tapped my head and nodded yes. “Well, Isaac you hit it with your statement because Jesus even took it a step farther than swearing by Heaven or earth when He said, neither shall thou swear by thy head because thou cannot make one hair black or white.” Again I asked James, “then what should we do?” James said, “We should do just as Jesus said we should let our communication be yea, yea or nay, nay for whatsoever is more than this comes of evil. Isaac, when we jump in and start rattling off our opinions when they have not been ask for we often end up slandering or gossiping about things that we have no business talking about. We must be very careful and learn to control these tongues of ours. No, let me take that back we must learn yield these minds of ours to the Spirit and we will avoid many rash and uncalled for problems.”

  I said to James, “When Jesus spoke that day He was introducing a whole new way of thinking. Most of what you have told me is completely the opposite of the way that I have been taught to think. How in the world will I ever get this nature of mine to think in the way that Jesus would have me to think? James, it just seems impossible.” James answered back, “It is impossible Isaac and that is just where we believers go wrong. When we see the impossible most of us give up instead of going to the one who makes all things possible. He has given us His Spirit and if we will just admit that we cannot do it and look to Jesus in heaven to do it. We will be amazed that His Spirit that dwells in us will do it.” I felt like my head was spinning round and round after James said that. I know I looked perplexed and puzzled but what He said next brought me back to reality. He smiled and said, “Isaac, reduced to its simplest terms just keep looking to the throne of grace where our Savior sits and He will do what you and I cannot. Let me go on with what Jesus said that day and as you call it His new way of thinking. He said to all of us who were there ye have heard it that it has been said an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth but I say unto you that ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also. Isaac, Jesus was not saying that justice should not be served or that we should just set by and watch our families or friends be killed. But He was saying to just seek revenge for every little matter is not the right thing to do. Sometimes, no, many times it is better to ask yourself this question when offended or done wrong. In the course of my life if I take this action to defend myself or revenge myself how much will it matter when my life is all over? On the other hand if I just let it go perhaps God may in some way use it to bring someone else to the Savior. Isaac, Jesus made this even clearer when He said, and if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloke also. Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him two. Give to him that ask and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away. Isaac love as you have been loved by your heavenly Father. Give as it has been given to you from your Savior Jesus. Lead as you are being led by the Holy Spirit. Again Isaac always be ready to reconcile, always be ready to take the lowest place, always be ready to put others first. Most of all keep looking at the throne for this grace and power for that is the only place you will find enough of it to live this new way as you call it.”

  I stood there a different man with a different way of thinking. I knew I had miles to go for the end of the journey and the end of my learning would only end when I knelt in front of my Savior. It was then that I decided that I wanted to be more than a believer for I had come to the place where I wanted to be a disciple for I knew that only Jesus could satisfy this longing that He had put in my heart to live in this new way. James interrupted my thoughts when he said, “Isaac, here is something else to add to your new way of thinking. Jesus said you have heard that it has been said thou shall love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that which despitefully use you. Isaac we Jews have always felt special because God has chosen us as His people. We have always favored each other more than any other nation because of that. That day Jesus told us that this kind of thinking was not the way. We should love those who are not of our nation even if they do not love us for we can see the end of matter which is eternity. We know or should know that eternity is waiting for each and every person and we must all stand before God. Though we as believer’s are sometimes now threaten, accused falsely and insulted we should pray for all men to come to know their Savior. Heaven forbid that as we take our blessed place with the Savior that we should see the face of one who we could have prayed for or spoken to about Jesus come up before us. Jesus has broken those chains of hatred and by His cross said that all whether black or white, Jew or Gentile need to know of His forgiveness.” Again a slap in the face with the words of truth. I could see how wrong I had been for most of my life even after coming to know Jesus. I asked James if we could pray that God would open my heart to others as He had opened His heart to me. James and I prayed their on that hillside asking forgiveness for our blindness.

  After praying James said, “Isaac, if we let Jesus have His way with us we will receive a wonderful blessing.” I said, “After seeing how shallow I am I could use a blessing please tell me about it.” James then told me what Jesus said next,” That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. Isaac we who have come to know our Savior have become special
to God in that He esteems us as sons whom He loves, protects and benefits above all others.” I stopped James and said, “I do not understand because if He esteems, loves, protects and benefits above all others then why are we persecuted and hated so much by so many. “Why? James responded and then he ask, “Isaac, why did Jesus have to go to the cross.” I responded, “To get pardon for our sins.” James said, “Yes that is true but if we the Jews had obeyed God’s laws we would have drawn the unbelievers to us because of the blessing’s God bestowed upon us from our obedience. Did we do that?” I shamefully had to say no and then added we failed miserably. Then I saw a little of what James and the Lord were trying to reveal to me. I said, “Adam, disobeyed though blessed beyond measure. We have disobeyed even with the promise of blessings beyond measure. Jesus had to take different measures and those measures were the found in the cross and sufferings. This new way is found by seeing that no matter how much God blesses us.