Verse of the Day 9/24

 Verse of the Day 9/24

Matthew 5:18-19  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹ So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.  New Living Translation (NLT)

Yesterday we considered how Jesus considered His mission to be to testify of "the truth".  He did this in action and in proclaiming the Word, the truth of the Scriptures.  Here in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is in the early stages of the greatest sermon of all time, the Sermon on the Mount which we have in Matthew 5 - 7.  In this message and elsewhere in His teachings Jesus often begins a key statement with the words "I tell you the truth" (NIV), or "truly I say to you" (ESV) or verily,verily, I say unto you" (KJV).  They are all making the listener and the current reader that Jesus is now saying something important, telling the truth about something which may have been under debate in society then and just as much today.

In this passage He sets the word straight about God's Word, it has authority, it is inerrant, and it is enduring and will endure through eternity.  People have tried to destroy it, discredit it, and proclaim that within a century it will fade away.  That hasn't and will not happen.  Not one stroke of the scribes pen, a dot, a period, and exclamation mark can be erased.

The following verse (19) extends a warning to those who try to "relax" some of the points of Jesus message, they will be held accountable.  There is plenty of "relaxing" going on in the church today in relation to God's Word.  We should all pay attention to what Jesus has said when He has stated "I tell you the truth", take it to heart, and hold to it, there is no relaxing about it.

The Gaither's did a song years ago by the title Something About That Name, on line from that song played in my mind as I read today's verses.  "Kings and kingdom's shall all pass away, but there's something about that name."  That name is Jesus, the Word, the Truth made flesh who came to testify and teach us the truth.  Will we still listen?

Blessings,

 Mike

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Matthew 5:18-20The Message (MSG)

Completing God's Law

^17-18 "Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working.

^19-20 "Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom.