365 Days in the Gospels and Spirit of Prophecy
Radical Love — March 7 [Description]
Bible discovery
Matthew 5:38-48 365D 66.1
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 365D 66.2
39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 365D 66.3
40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 365D 66.4
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 365D 66.5
42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. 365D 66.6
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 365D 66.7
44 [o] But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 365D 66.8
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 365D 66.9
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 365D 66.10
47 And if you greet your [p] brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the [q] tax collectors do so? 365D 66.11
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. 365D 66.12
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 365D 66.14
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 365D 66.15
29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 365D 66.16
30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 365D 66.17
31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 365D 66.18
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 365D 66.19
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 365D 66.20
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 365D 66.21
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, [h] hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 365D 66.22
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. 365D 66.23
Spirit of Prophecy Reading
The Desire of Ages pp.311-312: 365D 66.24
God pours His blessings upon all. “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” He is “kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” Luke 6:35. He bids us to be like Him. “Bless them that curse you,” said Jesus; “do good to them that hate you, ... that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” These are the principles of the law, and they are the wellsprings of life. 365D 66.25
God's ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” This command is a promise. The plan of redemption contemplates our complete recovery from the power of Satan. Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul, to keep him from sinning. 365D 66.26
The tempter's agency is not to be accounted an excuse for one wrong act. Satan is jubilant when he hears the professed followers of Christ making excuses for their deformity of character. It is these excuses that lead to sin. There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God. 365D 66.27
The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. As the Son of man was perfect in His life, so His followers are to be perfect in their life. Jesus was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He was hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He shared the lot of man; yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was God in the flesh. His character is to be ours. The Lord says of those who believe in Him, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16. 365D 66.28
Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, the base resting on the earth, and the topmost round reaching to the gate of heaven, to the very threshold of glory. If that ladder had failed by a single step of reaching the earth, we should have been lost. But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome. Made “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3), He lived a sinless life. Now by His divinity He lays hold upon the throne of heaven, while by His humanity He reaches us. He bids us by faith in Him attain to the glory of the character of God. Therefore are we to be perfect, even as our “Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 365D 66.29
Jesus had shown in what righteousness consists, and had pointed to God as its source. Now He turned to practical duties. In almsgiving, in prayer, in fasting, He said, let nothing be done to attract attention or win praise to self. Give in sincerity, for the benefit of the suffering poor. In prayer, let the soul commune with God. In fasting, go not with the head bowed down, and heart filled with thoughts of self. The heart of the Pharisee is a barren and profitless soil, in which no seeds of divine life can flourish. It is he who yields himself most unreservedly to God that will render Him the most acceptable service. For through fellowship with God men become workers together with Him in presenting His character in humanity. 365D 66.30
The service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense. “Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.” By the life we live through the grace of Christ the character is formed. The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun. They have Christ's joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity. They have the honor of being accepted for the Master's use; they are trusted to do His work in His name. 365D 66.31
“No man can serve two masters.” We cannot serve God with a divided heart. Bible religion is not one influence among many others; its influence is to be supreme, pervading and controlling every other. It is not to be like a dash of color brushed here and there upon the canvas, but it is to pervade the whole life, as if the canvas were dipped into the color, until every thread of the fabric were dyed a deep, unfading hue. 365D 66.32
“If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” Purity and steadfastness of purpose are the conditions of receiving light from God. He who desires to know the truth must be willing to accept all that it reveals. He can make no compromise with error. To be wavering and halfhearted in allegiance to truth is to choose the darkness of error and satanic delusion. 365D 66.33