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Summary of the Sermon on the Mount

After reading the Sermon on the Mount you might be thinking to yourself that no one can achieve the perfection that Jesus teaches here, but if you are thinking this, you are missing the point.  We are not here to judge ourselves or others as to whether we are perfect or not, but whether we really love the one who is perfect.  Paul understood exactly what Jesus was teaching and reflected it in his writings to the Philippians:

Philippians 3:12-14 (KJV)
12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

We are called to strive toward the upward call of God in Christ.  The truth remains that we cannot accomplish the goals set for us in this sermon by our own willpower nor achieve it by the use of self-help books.  But such weakness is not an excuse for our failure. Realizing this brings us much closer to understanding Jesus’ teaching.  What Jesus expects from us is to love the character that he just described in his sermon.  This character is, in fact, a profile of Jesus himself.  If we say that we believe in Jesus, this is the Jesus that we must believe in.  This is the true Jesus who lifts us out of sin by his own character through love.

The Sermon on the Mount cannot and should not be reduced to one idea or simplified into a cliché. It is complex and speaks to us differently at different levels at different times in our lives.  Today, many have taken Jesus’ teachings and transformed them into a behavioral psychology in order to satisfy man’s psychological needs. We see this frequently when pastors take the words of Jesus and conform them into motivational techniques in order to publish best-selling Christian self-help books.  These are mere imitations of the true teachings of Jesus. We must understand that what started out as divine teaching has now been transformed, conformed, and finally adapted to the needs of humanity as a technique to improve the quality of life and not the divine teaching of God that brings eternal salvation.

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Judgment (Matt 7:1-6, 7:15-20)

I would be the first to say that we are not here to be judges against sinners, but rather to bring salvation to them and bring them into the freedom from sin that Jesus offers.  We are to be what he was, which is an example of holiness and righteousness rather than judges of their sin. .

When it comes to sin we would be much better off looking within ourselves in order to purge ourselves of all sin before we go out looking at the sin of others.  Jesus taught this directly by his parabolic example of those more concerned with taking out the splinter (mote) from their brother’s eye rather than removing the log (beam) from their own.  However, we must take this advice in the greater context which includes his attitude towards the hypocrite and false prophet.  Although he does warn us against judgmentalism he also warns us not to bring his holy word to those who are so depraved of truth that they will turn on us to destroy us as found in verse 6.  So in order to determine just who these people are who are depraved of truth we must make a judgement.  So Jesus is not only permitting us to judge such people, he is commanding us to do so for our own safety.

The problem I see here is that many people tend to stop reading after verse 4 where Jesus warns against judgmentalism and they never get to verse 15 where Jesus tells us to beware of false prophets. When he tells us to beware and judge their fruits he is telling us that we must make a judgement as to their truthfulness, sincerity, and holiness. In verse 17 he even refers to them as corrupt.  Determining if someone is truthful, sincere, holy or corrupt is a judgment—is it not?

So to summarize Jesus’ teachings on judgement we have to say that, first of all, we are not here to be judgmental of others simply because they don’t agree with us. Neither are we here to judge the sins of the world—for that would be a never-ending job that would take us away from our true mission of bringing salvation—besides true conversion can only come when they feel the judgment of God not ours.

We are here to judge what is holy and righteous from what is evil and sinful mostly for our protection and the protection of our faith. Our judgment is to be made against those who say they believe, but continue to live in sin.  Their rejection of all judgment of sin challenges the existence of sin itself for by denying sin they justify their own practice of it while still claiming to be Christians. Such people fall in the category of being false prophets and hypocrites and must be called out for being such. 

We cannot become absorbed in the sins of others for then we become distracted from our true mission to the world of sinners which is to be models and examples of holiness for the purpose of bringing them to the Lord.

Our judgment must not be based upon our desire to make ourselves look righteous for this is self-righteousness, but must be to preserve the holiness and righteousness of Christ as he manifests these through the believers of the church.

Posted on by rschut1945

Giving to the Poor (Matt 6:1-4)

In these verses Jesus gives us advice on what holiness looks like when it comes to giving. But this advice can also be used when it comes to the value that we place upon money and other material things that we receive from others as well.

If we give for the purpose of having others see how generous we are or even for that good feeling we have about ourselves when we give, we are in jeopardy of losing our true reward which comes from our Father in Heaven.  When we give so others see us, or give because it gives us a warm feeling inside, these things puff us up so that we place a material value upon our generosity. This takes us away from the purity of heart that brings us closer to our heavenly Father.

If we receive the praise of the world, it overshadows that praise that comes from God.  What exactly is this praise from God?  It is the way that true giving transforms us into the image that God wants us to be.  The end result of humble giving is true holiness.  I don’t believe that our holiness is based upon God keeping track of how much we give to the poor, but rather it is in the results that proper giving has upon our character where the holiness takes place.

Those who gladly receive people’s praise for their generosity have already received their reward for it has enlarged their self-importance.  So all those wealthy pastors who receive the treasures of this world for their Christian duty have already received a worldly reward instead of a spiritual one.  Heaven may be very disappointing for such people.

So Jesus tells us that when we give to others, whether it is financial or even pastoral, we must not keep a mental record of what we do.  Just give our offering and forget it as though the left hand does not know what the right is doing. That’s when we receive the eternal reward from our Father and this reward is the transformation of our soul from being worldly to becoming more spiritual.  In this state we become more aware of God’s truth and presence in our life.  John tells us in his first letter:

1 John 2:3 (KJV)
3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

So when we obey and do things the way that Jesus taught us we become more assured and confident in his presence in our lives.

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Retribution (Matt 5:38-42)

Retaliation or retribution can come in many forms.  Jesus tells us something here that many think is absurd.  If someone strikes you on the right cheek you should turn to him the other cheek.  Now under the law we are certainly entitled to take an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth and this is what we tend to do from childhood to adulthood.  But Jesus is making a distinction here; yet, he is not contradicting the law.  Lex Telionis (law of retribution) stands as a law, but it is not necessary that man takes this action on his own accord.  If we choose not to retaliate we are choosing to show mercy instead.  Even God showed that he was a merciful God, especially when Jesus forgave those who put him to death on a cross.  Those who repented for their sins always received mercy.  So we can see here that there is a distinction between Moses’ retaliation and Jesus’ mercy.  By turning the cheek or giving the cloak in addition to the coat to the man who sues us we are showing him true charity. 

According to the law we are almost dutifully required to retaliate at least legally, but Jesus is telling us that we must go beyond the law that was imposed upon the flesh and live by the new law imposed upon the spirit.

We have to understand that this is not just an isolated commandment by Jesus, but an entire different way of living life. It is a new attitude towards others, ourselves and even God.  We have to remember that Jesus was not destroying the law that was imposed upon the flesh, but that he was fulfilling the law within himself. This new kingdom is not of the flesh, but of the spirit. Those who want to live in such a kingdom must abide by these new commands aimed at perfecting the spirit.

The lesson here is that we must always be prepared to show love to everyone including those who would take advantage of us.  We will see in the next verses that Jesus even extends this to our enemies.  We will discuss that next.

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The Salt of the Earth & Light of the World (Matthew 5:13-16)

SALT OF THE EARTH

Who are we as Christians? This is not a question of defending our doctrine and beliefs.  It is an existential question as to what is our purpose as “being” a Christian.  Jesus answers it by telling us that we are the “salt of the earth.”  We are supposed to be what the purpose of salt is to the earth.  This means that we are to be the ingredient that cleanses or makes things pure.  We are to be known by the reputation of being pure in character. Our word and reputation must be without spot. If we are not living a life of such purity than we have lost our purpose for which God has chosen us.  What do we do when salt no longer has the quality of purity?  We throw it away.  Jesus may sound harsh here, but I think that he truly and fully knows the hearts of men.  These verses are a sober reminder as to our true purpose in life.

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

How do we appear to the world?  Jesus says that we must appear as being lights in the sense of our works, goodness, and character shining over others.

What do we do as lights?  We must let it shine before men.  We cannot hide ourselves because of false humility or fear of judgment.  We don’t need to brag about ourselves, but we do need to let others see our works and character so that they can see how the Father works in us so that they might come to him and worship him because they see him in us.  It is by being lights in the world that we glorify our Heavenly Father.  So if you sing praises to God through songs on Sunday at church, sing those praises to him through your good works so that others beside those sitting next to you in church can see your Father’s glory. 

Posted on by rschut1945

The Importance of the Beatitudes

BEATITUDES (Taken from the Sermon on the Mount)

I always enjoy a lively debate over philosophical and theological points of the Bible, but there is one thing that makes such arguments seem very small and unimportant.  This one thing is what called me into service for the Lord over 50 years ago.  There are times that I drown out its quiet voice with what I think are more immediate concerns, but it is always there whispering to me and it is only when my spirit becomes quiet enough to listen that I once again here it plainly call me back.  It is the very words of Jesus which express who he was then and is now and the standard that he sets for us as his beloved.

There is no pastor or teacher who can teach a greater lesson than what comes to us in the Sermon on the Mount.  It is not just beautiful poetry that Jesus created to move us emotionally, nor is it a lesson in theology through which we can show off our knowledge of scripture.  It is a portrait of Jesus in perhaps the purest written form available to us today.

The Sermon is found in Matthew 5:1-7:29. The Sermon begins with what has been called the Beatitudes (Latin).  A beatitude is a great blessing of happiness.  Each blessing written is both poetic and inspiring, but it is not something that we should simply place on our walls so others might know we are Christians. It is something that we place in our hearts to give us strength as we go through life’s daily trials. 

In these blessings Jesus turns everything upside-down concerning what it means to be blessed. The Jews, much like many Christians today, believed that good health, wealth, prestige, and fame were the true blessings of God, but in the Beatitudes Jesus changed all that.  He taught that the blessed of God are those who are low in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek and mild.  They are the ones who have a hunger and thirst for doing what is right in God’s eyes no matter what the cost. It includes those who show mercy to others rather than retaliate when they are wronged. He promises that those who are pure in heart will see God. And those who seek to bring peace shall be known as children of God.  Finally, those who are persecuted, taunted, and reviled by others for being Christians will be greatly rewarded. 

This is not what most people think of when they think of the blessings of God.  Even though many have read these verses and perhaps even display them in their homes, few actually believe and practice them the way Jesus intended.

Within these verses lies the true personal power of God through his Holy Spirit.  These verses not only give us confidence in spite of worldly struggles, they give us a means to measure ourselves as to our spiritual maturity.  For what lies in these verses is the very character of the Holy Spirit of God.  Without this humble attitude we can never really see the world as Jesus did. 

So as you read these verses which follow don’t filter them out with reason and logic or whatever you think is impossible for you to accomplish. Read them with the intent of learning who Christ really is.  Then and only then can you decide if you really and truly love the real Jesus or some false Christ created by yourself or others.  Herein is the true Christ that saves.

Matthew 5:1-12 (KJV)
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.