Matthew 5 The Sermon on the Mount Part 1
32 – Teaching the People pt. 1
Jesus, realizing the crowds who had come to Him needed to be taught more, went up a little higher on the hillside and sat down to teach His disciples. He said, “Happy are those in life who are humble hearted, they will find the truth of the kingdom of heaven. Happy are those who react to the sadness of life with sorrow, for they will be comforted. Those who are gentle are happy because they will have people who respect them and honor them. Those who seek satisfaction from the things of this world will not find it, but those who desire to know the ways of God will find peace and contentment in this life. Do you want to be happy? Treat others with mercy and forgiveness, and others will treat you in the same way. Happy are those whose hearts are pure; they will be in a position to recognize the presence of God. Happy are you when you seek to make peace, not just in your own heart, but between foes you encounter in this life, this is the way a child of God would act because God desires reconciliation at every turn. You will be insulted, excluded, condemned, and often persecuted when you believe in the Son of Man but be happy knowing that this will only last for a short time, and you will see the kingdom of heaven around you. When you choose to find happiness in Me, people will not like you. They will say evil things about you and seek to bring harm to you. Be happy, they are not upset with you, but they see Me in the way you live. People have persecuted the prophets of God since the beginning of time.
Those who are full will one
day be hungry. Those who laugh now will soon weep and mourn. Those who get
accolades from others will one day find that they have received empty praise.”[1]
Jesus is bringing gentleness into the harshness of the Roman occupation and bickering political environment. People have forgotten to love one another and can only see life with God from the legalistic perspective of the Pharisees and other religious teachers. In the midst of this Jesus speaks a goal for people to strive after. These are often called the ethics of the future kingdom of God.
The apostle John says that Jesus did not come to heal but to humble people, turn them back to God. He did not come to instruct so much as to train, to get people thinking and acting differently. He even said He did not come to bring relief from the pressures of life but to teach people the value of long-suffering.
Happiness, according to Jesus, comes in humbly believing in God and seeking to learn to treat other people, all other people with mercy and forgiveness.
He offers people a new way to accept the current difficulties by looking at the future reward, the lasting benefit, of living life with humility before God and gentleness with one another. True joy is not a product of circumstances, i.e., difficulties, trials, and persecutions, but true joy comes from a mental choice based upon a firm conviction about a beautiful future that God has waiting for us as we continue to walk in His ways.
We have the opportunity to set the standards of our own happiness. Yet, according to Jesus, people have chosen the wrong standards in order to find happiness. We react to the circumstances of our life rather than the truth that tells us that the circumstances are just obstacles that come our way from time to time. Seeing the obstacle as a permanent impediment stifles our happiness and defeats our joy. On the other hand, Jesus says, accepting our situations as a part of life and choosing to work through the obstacle with hope and confidence in God’s love, allows us to maintain our joy in the midst of the difficult situations in life. We cannot choose the obstacle or when it will come, but we can choose our reaction, and by choosing calm, humble, gentle, merciful, and peace-seeking attitudes, we will maintain our joy and plow through the difficulty with positive gain rather than a negative drain.
Years later, the apostle Paul said that the sufferings of this world have no power over him because of his hope for the future glories of the eternal kingdom of Jesus. He even called the struggles of this life, ‘momentary light afflictions’ when he compared them with the future life with Jesus. James, one of the followers of Jesus, even suggested that we should, “think it a joyous occasion when we run into a trial of any kind.”
At this beginning of Jesus’ teaching, He is encouraging us all to accept the circumstances of our life as just momentary blips in the road and seek to find benefit in the situation, and to find a solution to help us move through the difficulty. Rather than letting the circumstances of life defeat us and take away our joy, we can choose to maintain our joy and look forward to whatever solution God might have in mind for our life.
T59 - Matthew 5:3; Humility will find the true meaning of life and God’s blessing.
T60 - Matthew 5:4; Honest mourning,
sadness, at the circumstances of life, shows forth our compassion and others
will bring comfort to us.
T61 - Matthew 5:5; Gentleness of
attitude will be respected and honored by those around us.
T62 - Luke 6:25, Matthew 5:6; Seeking
satisfaction from the things of this world will only end in disappointment.
Seeking to know the ways of God will produce for us unlimited peace and
contentment.
T63 - Matthew 5:7; Treat those around
us with mercy and forgiveness and people will treat us in the same way. We can
expect people to treat us in the same way we treat them.
T64 - Matthew 5:9; Seek to find peace
in all circumstances, this is the way a child of God would act. It is
consistent with God’s nature.
T65 - Luke 6:22; Persecution for
Jesus' sake produces great rewards. Insults and beatings will only last for a
short time. We have eternity to enjoy the presence of God and His blessings.
T66 - Matthew 5:11; Making the choice
to follow Jesus will not always be popular. People will dislike us and mistreat
us. Keep in mind that they are not upset with us, but with Jesus. People have
always been mistreating those who speak in the name of God.
T67 - Luke 6:24; Wealth can bring
complacency and that will lead to dissatisfaction. The things of this world,
lose their meaning over time. Life without God’s influence will soon become
stale.
T68 - Luke 6:21; Laughter will replace
weeping. Weeping is for a short period of time, and then we will laugh again.
C12 - Luke 6:23; Learn the value of positive thinking, expecting good to come in the future.
- See all things as a blessing from God.
- Be glad in the day of persecution.
- Focus on the future reward as you go through trials.
“I did not come to do away with the Law and the prophets, they still have great value. I am here to fulfill the things they prophesied. I tell you the truth until the time comes for the end of this world, not one letter or punctuation mark of the Law will change for the will of God must be accomplished completely. If someone were to discount even the smallest of the commandments, and then teach others to do the same thing, that person would have the lowest place in the glorious kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, those who obey the Law and teach others to observe it shall enjoy one of the highest places in that eternal kingdom.
“Listen to me, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, a person’s righteousness would need to go way beyond the teachings of the Pharisees and their scribes.
“It says in the Writings of God, ‘Do not intentionally kill another person' and if you commit murder, you will be guilty in the courts. Let me change things up a little by saying that being angry with your brother is the same as murder and you should be guilty. Even when you say to your brother ‘You are worthless and have no value,’ you have enough evidence against you in the highest courts in the land, and if you might call your brother a ‘fool’ you would be a candidate for hell itself. When you come to church to bring your offering to God, whether it is your heart or your gift, and at that moment you remember a friend who has some sour feelings towards you, leave what you brought to God, go to your friend, and seek to be reconciled with them. Then come back to church and offer your gift. When you have an opponent at the law courts, settle your case, no matter the cost to you, before you get to the judge. It is better for you to be wronged than to be under the decision of an unrighteous judge who will throw you into prison. The period in prison will be far more pain and anguish than losing a little pride and money.
“It says in the Writings of God, ‘Do not take another man’s wife.’ Let Me change things up a bit and say that when a man desires a woman he looks at, he has as good as taken her from her husband because he has violated her in his heart. If this is a problem you have, looking with lust at a woman, it is better for you to rip your eye out of its socket and become blind. The choice is between a part of your body and the eternal death of your soul, which do you choose? The same would be true of your hands, cut them off if they commit sin, better that, than you being tormented in hell.
“I know it says, ‘If you no longer want your wife, write her a certificate of divorce, and let her go.’ Listen to Me, the only real reason for a divorce is unchastity, otherwise, you send her away and make her commit adultery, and when you marry a woman who is divorced you commit adultery as well.
“It says in the Writings of God, ‘Do not make empty vows before God that you do not plan to keep.’ When you claim you will do something, do not bring God into it, professing to have Him on your side. You have no more to stand on than any other person, not God, not earth, not even Jerusalem. If we are being honest, you do not have the power to make a hair of your head, black or white. Just say a simple yes or no. When you promise more than that, it is of the devil.”[2]
Rather than just saying the Pharisees were wrong in what they were doing, Jesus went on to explain the difference between obeying the Law in a legalistic manner and obeying the spirit or intent of God’s Law. What a difference. It makes us wonder how anyone could obey God’s law. We are all guilty of disobeying.
T69 - Matthew 5:17, 18; Jesus did not come to earth to erase what the Law of Israel said or what the prophets tried to do. He came to fulfill the Law and the prophets. What God has Written, it the truth and will in time come to pass if it has not already happened.
T70 - Matthew 5:20; The
teachings of the Pharisees and the scribes are limited. They teach the law, but
they lack the substance of the law.
T71 - Matthew 5:21,22; To
fully understand the intent of the Law of God, being literal about killing and
murder is not enough, the command to not kill means that we should not be angry
with our fellow man or even think they are less of a human than we are.
T72 - Matthew 5:25,26;
Being right is not always the best policy. We can be right but end up in
prison. Jesus wants us to learn to be loving towards others and if need be, let
them have their way. It will be more beneficial to us in the long run.
T73 - Matthew 5:27-30; To
fully understand the intent of the Law of God, being literal about adultery is
not enough, the command to avoid adultery means that we should not be looking
married people with a desire or lust to be with them. It is a form of adultery
just to desire another person’s spouse.
T74 - Matthew 5:31-32;
There is really no reason to get a divorce. Marriage is designed to be a
testimony to God’s love for humanity and we learn what He goes through to love
us when we work at developing our love for our spouse. Unchastity might be an
acceptable reason, however, marriages have overcome that and so much more in
the past.
T75 - Matthew 5:37; Promises
are difficult to keep for anyone. We do not know what the future holds for us.
Just say, “yes” or “no.”
C13 - Matthew 5:14; Find ways to show forth your love and joy to the world around you, do not keep it bottled up.
C14 - Matthew 5:19,20;
Obey the commands of God.
C15 - Matthew 5:19,20;
Teach others how to obey the commands of God; it will be of great benefit to
us.
C16 - Matthew 5:23,24;
Resolve any differences we have with others, to the best of our ability, before
we come to make an offering to God, whether it is a gift or the gift of our
heart.
C17 - Matthew 5:25,26;
Resolve any legal matters with others outside of the courts. Be willing to be
wronged than to have the judge be able to make a decision against us.
[1] (Luke 6:20-26; Matthew 5:3-12)
[2] (Matthew
5:13-37)
Pastor Edd
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