After this preamble, Matthew opens the first of five major teaching sections of Jesus in his gospel. The number five is reminiscent of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. Similarly, the reference to Jesus’ ascending a mountain brings to mind Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai when receiving the law. This Mosaic connection is later reinforced by Jesus’ repeated pronouncements, “You have heard that it was said . . . but I say to you” (Matt. 5:21–22, 27–28, 31–32, 33–34, 38–39, 43–44). Matthew’s message is clear: Jesus is a new and greater Moses who authoritatively teaches and applies the law of God (see Matt. 7:28–29).
In this inaugural address in Matthew’s gospel, at the inception of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches His followers about the character of kingdom citizens. As a master teacher, He presents these characteristics in the form of eight memorable Beatitudes, each pronouncing a blessing on those who possess a given character trait, with the addition of two metaphorical attributes, salt and light. Thus, Jesus echoes the Ten Words or Commandments in the law of Moses by positing ten characteristics of those who will inherit and inhabit the eternal kingdom of God. Notably, while “seeing the crowds,” Jesus directed His words to His disciples (Matt. 5:1–2).
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3)
Jesus starts to paint His portrait of the kingdom citizen with a perhaps surprising attribute: poverty of spirit. “Blessed”—that is, eternally favored by God—are those who know themselves to be spiritually poor and needy, like the man in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee is boastful, arrogant, and proud of all his religious accomplishments, while the tax collector, “standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ” (Luke 18:13). Those who know themselves to be spiritually poor keenly sense their need for God and their dependence on Him. They plead for mercy, because they know that they could never stand before a righteous, holy God on their own merits.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matt. 5:4)
In the next beatitude, Jesus affirms a piece of Old Testament wisdom as enunciated in the book of Ecclesiastes: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart” (Eccl. 7:2). In view of the fact that all of us will die one day, we should live in light of our eternal destiny. Therefore, “the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure” (Eccl. 7:4, NIV). Impenitent pleasure-seekers ultimately engage in a denial of eternal realities, while the wise person is conscious of his final destiny, mourning his own sin and the sins of others around him. Conscious of their own shortcomings and rebellion against God, they thrust themselves on God’s mercy and will receive comfort and forgiveness.

Written by Darrell B. Harrison |
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Scripture teaches that all good gifts come from God (Eccl. 2:24-25; 1 Tim. 6:17b), and music is one of God’s good gifts. Sadly, however, many professing Christians today view music as an idol, a “golden calf” that they serve and worship and that they do not want to part with (Ex. 32:4). But as those who have been spiritually reborn in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20), we must not carry on as if music, or any other medium of entertainment in which we engage, is somehow a separate area of our lives to which God’s Word does not apply. 

As professing Christians, the music we choose to listen to can have an adverse effect in terms of our walk with, and witness for, Jesus Christ. Regardless of genre, music can be a tool the enemy uses to draw believers into a state of dullness and apathy about the things of God which, consequently, can impede our spiritual growth (Col. 1:10; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18). As the seventeenth-century Puritan, William Spurstowe (1605-1666), warns in his book The Wiles of Satan, 
“Satan is wholly bent to evil, and makes it his only study to dive and search into men so that he may better fasten his temptations upon them. . . . He does not go forward a step without noting every man’s estate, temper, age, calling, and company so that he may with greater advantage tempt to evil, and thereby bring men into the same misery and condition as himself.”[4]
Music, as well as other forms of media, is not merely a static proposition. What I mean is that the music we choose to listen to never only enters our ears and that is as far as it goes. It is also through our ears that music—and the messages it conveys—enters our minds and, subsequently, our hearts.
There is a dimensional relationship between the music we listen to, our mind, and our heart (1 Sam. 16:23; Ps. 71:23; Prov. 25:20; 1 Cor. 14:15). That is why biblical discernment is so important (Phil. 1:9-10). As Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, writes in the July 2017 issue of Tabletalk magazine,
“Entertainment affects our minds, our homes, our culture, and our churches. Consequently, we must be vigilant as we use discernment in how we enjoy entertainment—looking to the light of God’s Word to guide us and inform our consciences.”[1]
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Consider some recent headlines that really should concern us. One of them says this: “We may have been scammed by asylum seekers, admits Church of England”. Another runs as follows: “Whistleblower Exposes Alleged Asylum Seeker Baptism Scam in Church of England”. The first piece begins this way: The Church of England has admitted for the first time that it may have been “scammed” by asylum seekers falsely claiming to have converted to Christianity to boost their chances of staying in the UK. The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford, conceded it was “very difficult” to look into the hearts of converts and be 100 percent certain that they were genuine.

In the past Christian missionaries in places like India had to be careful of “rice Christians.” These were folks who often pretended to become Christians, but their main aim was to get rice and other goodies from the Western missionaries. Material benefits, and not spiritual ones, was the motivating factor.
It seems we have the same problem today, but in a new form. And this includes asylum seekers who are duping clueless Christians into thinking they have converted to Christ, simply to get free entry into the West. In both cases it was the supposed desire to ‘be like Jesus’ that became part of the problem.
Missionaries back then had to learn to be much more aware and careful as to how they proceeded. The same today.
Contemporary social justice warriors both within and without the church have a tendency to be naïve, gullible and undiscerning when they carry on about how “compassionate” they are. They may think they are being Christlike, but too often they can just be ‘useless idiots’ who serve the causes of various activist groups.
And lest folks think I am making all this up, consider some recent headlines that really should concern us. One of them says this: “We may have been scammed by asylum seekers, admits Church of England”. Another runs as follows: “Whistleblower Exposes Alleged Asylum Seeker Baptism Scam in Church of England”.
The first piece begins this way:
The Church of England has admitted for the first time that it may have been “scammed” by asylum seekers falsely claiming to have converted to Christianity to boost their chances of staying in the UK. The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford, conceded it was “very difficult” to look into the hearts of converts and be 100 per cent certain that they were genuine.
She acknowledged there had been a “small number” of alleged abuses but said the clergy “do the best they can” and it was “ultimately” the job of immigration tribunals and the Home Office to assess and vet the validity of asylum claims. Her comments come after robust denials by the Church of England of claims by senior MPs and whistleblowers that clergy have been routinely supporting “bogus” asylum claims and enabled a “conveyor belt” of thousands of asylum seekers to convert.
Abdul Ezedi, the Clapham chemical attack suspect, was granted asylum after claiming to have converted to Christianity, despite having two convictions in the UK for sex assault and exposure. Friends of Ezedi, an illegal migrant, told The Telegraph that he was a “good Muslim” who bought half a halal sheep every fortnight, despite his apparent conversion. James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, is reviewing the facts of the case to establish if the law needs to be overhauled to prevent such abuses. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/11/we-may-have-been-scammed-by-asylum-seekers-admits-church/

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