Not to the multitude here, but to an inner company, who were to pass through a time

of persecution (5: 10-12) and whose forgiveness depended upon their forgiveness of

others (6: 12, 14, 15). Seen in its proper setting this `sermon' belongs to the period with

the bread which comes down upon them ("daily bread" 6: 11 reminiscent of the O.T.

manna). Compare the conditional forgiveness with Paul's later statement relevant to the

Body of Christ in Eph. 4: 32.

Such then are some of the keys which help our understanding of truth. Many of them

are provided in the title of a book, as for example, "The vision of Isaiah . . . . . which he

saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem . . . . ." (1: 1). Other keys appear in the body of a

work. The Lord once complained about some in Israel that they had "taken away the key

of knowledge". Let us see that we neglect not those keys given us to unlock the

understanding of God's Word.

BRIAN E. SHERRING