[Biblemat] A) CUT OFF YOUR ARM?

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Friday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here
is an article from my recent files:

CUT OFF YOUR ARM?

     "And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and
cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of
your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if 
your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off
and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one
of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast
into hell" (Matt. 5:29,30).

     These words are quite difficult to accept.  How can Jesus
expect me to literally pluck out my eye, or cut off my hand?
What a ridiculous thing to request!

     However outrageous these words may appear, we must
search to understand what message the perfect Teacher wanted to convey.

     As we back up to gather the context of these instructions,
Jesus is discussing adultery.  He tells His disciples to avoid
not only the act of adultery, but the thoughts of the heart that
lead to adultery.  In fact, Jesus says, "that whoever looks at a
woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" 
(Matt. 5:27,28).  Isn't it odd that Jesus would
tell us that sin really takes place in the heart, and then immed-
iately tells us that the remedy is physical surgery?

     Perhaps these surgical instructions are more spiritual than
they first appear.  Jesus seems to be telling us to eliminate
from our lives whatever causes us to sin.  Is it the eye that
causes us to sin, or is there some control system that govern-
s the eye?  The same question must be asked of the hand.

     Jesus is telling us to gain control of our bodies and use
them for good rather than evil.  But in order to develop such
control there may be drastic steps that must be taken to re-
move special temptations from our lives.  In Acts 19, the con-
verted Ephesians take drastic measures to help ensure their
focus as Christians.  After the true miracles of God are mani-
fested in Ephesus, the magicians of the town (especially the
seven sons of Sceva) are shown to be worthless frauds.  "And many who had 
believed came confessing and telling their deeds.  Also, many of those who had 
practiced magic
brought their books together and burned them in the sight
of all.  And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled
fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the Word of the Lord grew
mightily and prevailed" (Acts 19:18-20).

     What drastic measures -- burning approximately $10,000
worth of magic books!  They could have kept them around the house as 
keepsakes, or sold them for a profit.  These fine
examples teach us, in part, what it means to perform necess-
ary surgery.

     Get rid of that which draws you under it control and away
from the Lord.  It may take such necessary actions to give you the control of 
those eyes or hands that God requires of
each of us.   ----- Josh Lankford in Son Rays, Vol. 29, No. 23,
Sept. 2, 2007.   </HTML>
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