{"id":1609,"date":"2014-07-28T07:11:21","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T13:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?p=1609"},"modified":"2014-08-06T08:12:08","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T14:12:08","slug":"sermon-on-the-mount-the-higher-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?p=1609","title":{"rendered":"Sermon on the Mount: The Higher Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #373737;\">In Charles Dickens\u2019 A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge vowed \u201cI will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.\u201d I am going to keep Christmas all the year by remembering my Savior and studying His life each week. Scrooge isn\u2019t the only one who can\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"color: #1982d1;\" title=\"Vision Climb\" href=\"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?page_id=55\" target=\"_blank\">make a change for the better<\/a><span style=\"color: #373737;\">. I can and you can. Elder Richard G. Scott promised, \u201cThe best way to make a permanent change for good is to make Jesus Christ your model and His teachings your guide for life\u201d (<\/span><a style=\"color: #1982d1;\" title=\"A Personal Study Plan\" href=\"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?page_id=238\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cHe Lives! All Glory to His Name!\u201d<\/a><span style=\"color: #373737;\">). Please join me and invite your family and friends to join us in keeping Christmas all the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ik0aS368Kv0?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.\u00a0<\/em><em>For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them,\u00a0the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.<\/em><em>\u00a0For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed\u00a0the righteousness\u00a0of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:\u00a0<\/em><em>But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;\u00a0<\/em><em>Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.\u00a0<\/em><em>Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:\u00a0<\/em><em>But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast\u00a0it\u00a0from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not\u00a0that\u00a0thy whole body should be cast into hell.\u00a0<\/em><em>And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast\u00a0it\u00a0from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not\u00a0that\u00a0thy whole body should be cast into hell.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:\u00a0<\/em><em>But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:\u00a0<\/em><em>But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God\u2019s throne:\u00a0<\/em><em>Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.\u00a0<\/em><em>Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.\u00a0<\/em><em>But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:\u00a0<\/em><em>But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.\u00a0<\/em><em>And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have\u00a0thy\u00a0cloke also.\u00a0<\/em><em>And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.\u00a0<\/em><em>Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. B<\/em><em>ut I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;\u00a0<\/em><em>That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?\u00a0<\/em><em>And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more\u00a0than others?\u00a0do not even the publicans so?\u00a0<\/em><em>Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/nt\/matt\/5.17-48?lang=eng#16\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew 5:17-48<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<ol>\n<li>Jesus teaches a higher law inviting us to control our thoughts, our hearts, and our actions. Think of a time when you were reconciled to a brother, turned the other cheek, or loved an enemy. How did this experience bless you on your pathway to perfection?<\/li>\n<li>Are there some things or people in your life that offend you or cause you to stumble? How would your life be better if you were to &#8220;pluck it out,&#8221; &#8220;cut it off,&#8221; and &#8220;cast it from&#8221; you?<\/li>\n<li>Who are your enemies? How can praying for\u00a0your enemies change you and change your relationships? Consider this from &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.lifemanifestos.com\/pondering-enemy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pondering with the Enemy<\/a>&#8221; by Stephen Palmer: &#8220;Praying for our enemies is not about them.\u00a0It\u2019s a powerful mechanism for generating self-honesty and overcoming self-deception. We cannot pray for an enemy without being softened, opened to reflecting on what we have done to contribute to conflict.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>What does it mean to you to &#8220;be perfect&#8221;?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p>Click <a title=\"New Testament\" href=\"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?page_id=673\">here<\/a> for additional New Testament posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Charles Dickens\u2019 A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge vowed \u201cI will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.\u201d I am going to keep Christmas all the year by remembering my Savior and studying His &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?p=1609\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,22,4,28,8,24,11,25,19,17,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charity","category-choice-accountability","category-climb","category-forgiveness","category-freedom","category-happiness","category-jesus-christ","category-new-testament","category-obedience","category-peace","category-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1610,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609\/revisions\/1610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}