Matthew 5:34a But I tell you, do not swear at all. Yeshua is covering a lot of ground in this part of His “Big Sermon.” There is a definite call to holiness. For example … Matthew 5:29 And if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away! It is…
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Matthew 5:25-26 “Make friends quickly with your opponent while you are with him on the way. Otherwise, your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back…
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Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. When a verse starts with the word “therefore,” we have to…
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Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and Torah scholars, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven! Yeshua is about to explain what he means by this verse. The next few verses go into great detail, as He explains what He means by righteousness that “exceeds.”…
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Matthew 5:19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. “Therefore!” That word demands that we continue our thought from the previous…
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Matthew 5:18 Amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or serif shall ever pass away from the Torah until all things come to pass. “It’s semantic!” How many times have we heard those words. They are all too frequently used to dismiss a valid thought as being out…
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Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. The verse begins, “Do not think …” This raises the question, “Well then, what should we think?” Let’s move the negative “not” to the last part of the verse. “Do think…
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Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are upon us. There is so much misunderstanding concerning these fall feasts both within the larger Jewish community and in the much narrower Messianic Jewish community. Most holidays celebrate or memorialize some historical event; something that has already happened. For example — Pesach, Chanukah, Purim, and even Shavuot which…
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Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. Jackpot! I can’t believe this is our verse today. How fortunate… for me. This verse has to “fly in the face” of the hyper-grace movement. Of course it is one of…
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Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. What’s this? The result of letting your light shine is that men will see your good works. 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”…
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