Continued: Chapter XXI-The Manifesto of Jesus the Messiah

VII. THE DANGER OF HAVING A SUFFICIENCY
(Matthew 6:34)

A person's having a sufficiency of all things is the occasion of evil in the correct sense of that term. When a person knows that he has everything that he can use or wants, unknown to him there subtly develops in his heart the spirit of independence and self-sufficiency. Whenever such a spirit dominates a person, he is incapable of seeing himself as he is in his utter dependence upon God.

Instead of developing a spirit of self-sufficiency and independence of God, each one should pray as the psalmist prayed in Psalm 39:4-8:

4 Jehovah, make me to know mine end,
And the measure of my days, what it is;
Let me know how frail I am.
5 Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;
And my life-time is as nothing before thee:
Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. [Selah]
6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show;
Surely they are disquieted in vain:
He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them.
7 And now, Lord, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions:
Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

Men are prone to think that they can largely determine and shape their destiny by their own sagacity and efforts. To those holding such a philosophy, James declares:

13 Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain: 14 whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that. 16 But now ye glory in your vauntings: all such glorying is evil (James 4:13-16).


VIII. THE GOLDEN RULE
(Matthew 7:12)

In Matthew 7:12 the Lord Jesus states what has become known as the Golden Rule: "All things, therefore, whatsoever you will that men do to you, in like manner also keep on doing to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Never had mortal man uttered such a far-reaching, fundamental principle of conduct as this one stated by the Son of God; at least, there is no record of anyone's having done so. It is all inclusive.

If every human being could and would practice this fundamental principle, the world would be changed instantly into a veritable paradise; but, on account of the fallen nature of man, he cannot of his own self carry out this principle in practical living. But one who has been regenerated and saved can, by the aid of the Spirit of God in his heart, live in accordance with this high and holy principle.

Sometimes we are told that Confucius, the great Chinese moralist, enunciated this same principle. This claim is incorrect. He stated a negative principle, that men should not do to others as they would not have others do unto them. One could follow this negative principle without obeying the Golden Rule, which commands one to do good, not merely to refrain from evil. It is also claimed that certain of the sages of Israel who lived after Jesus of Nazareth taught the Golden Rule. Though they may have done so, it is logical to conclude that, since they lived at a later date, their utterances are simply echoes of those of Jesus of Nazareth.


IX. THE TWO BUILDERS, ONE ON THE, ROCK, THE OTHER ON THE SAND
(Matthew 7:24-27)

In this Sermon on the Mount, Christ concludes with an illustration drawn from nature. He declares that the one who hears His words and does them, in the right spirit, of course, will be like a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The rains descended and the floods came and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it was founded upon a rock. On the other hand, the one who hears the words of Jesus, but does not do them, is like the man who built his house upon the sand. The rains came, the winds blew, the floods beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. This parable is, of course, an illustration showing the absolute necessity on the part of every individual of seeing, accepting, and acting upon the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Speaking by the Spirit of God, Moses foretold that God would raise up a prophet from the midst of Israel, who would speak the very words of God. Concerning this prophet God declared, "... I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him" (Deut. 18:18,19). This prophet was undoubtedly Jesus of Nazareth. To turn from Him is to sin against one's soul.