The Sermon on the Mount (Final part)

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying: – Matthew 5:1-2 NIV

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teaches of the law – Matthew 7:28-29 NIV

INTRODUCTION.

Today we bring you the final part of the Sermon on the Mount, for it is God’s values for every Christian. We are expected to uphold it, because it contained the Beatitudes and Jesus’ teachings about God’s law. To that end, let us receive His Kingdom by faith and we should live according to its message of love.

• A Christian’s Ambition

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life— whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the fi eld and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fi re tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” – Matthew 6:19-34 – NLT

The ‘worldliness’ which Christians are to avoid can take either a religious or a secular shape.

So we are to differ from non-Christians not only in our devotions, but also in our ambitions. In particular, Christ changes our attitude to material wealth and possessions. It is impossible to worship both God and money; we have to choose between them. Secular people are preoccupied with the quest for food, drink and clothing. Christians are to be free of these self-centered material anxieties and instead to give themselves to the spread of God’s rule and God’s righteousness. That is to say, our supreme ambition is to be the glory of God, and neither our own glory nor even our own material well-being. It is a question of what we ‘seek first.’

•A Christian’s Relationship

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.

Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fi sh, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or fi gs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces
bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fi re. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions”- Matthew. 7:1-20 NLT

Christians are caught up in a complex network of relationships, each of which arises from our relation to Christ. Once we are properly related to Him, our other relationships are all affected. New relationships are created; old relationships are changed. Thus, we are not to judge our brother but to serve Him Matt. 7:1-5. We are to avoid offering the Gospel to those who have decisively rejected it, to keep praying to our heavenly Father and to beware of false prophets who hinder people from finding the narrow gate and the hard way.

• A Christian’s Commitment

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgement day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”- Matthew 7:21-27 NLT The ultimate issue posed by the whole Sermon concerns the authority of the preacher.

It is not enough either to call Him ‘Lord’ Matt. 7:21-23 or listen to His teaching Matt. 7:24-27. The basic question is whether we mean what we say and do what we hear. On this commitment hangs our eternal destiny. Only the man who obeys Christ as Lord is wise. For only he is building his house on a foundation of rock, which the storms neither of adversity nor of judgement will be able to undermine. The crowds were astonished by the authority with which Jesus taught Matt. 7:28-29. It is an authority to which the followers of Jesus in every generation must submit. The issue of the Lordship of Christ is as relevant today, both in principle and in detailed application, as when He originally preached His Sermon on the Mount.

STAY BLESSED!!

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By Dr Joyce Aryee