The wise builder heard the words of Jesus by faith believed what Jesus said is true, recognized Jesus’ authority. Because of Jesus’ authority demanded obedience, the wise builder built his life on the foundation of King Jesus – The rock of salvation. The foolish builder heard the words of Jesus, by faith believed what Jesus said might be true yet failed to fully recognize Jesus’ authority. Because of the failure to believe and submit to Jesus’ authority, the foolish builder built his life on the foundation of his own authority – The destruction of self.
Jesus has reached the climax on the Sermon on the Mount. He has extended an invitation. This invitation demands a response. Sitting idly by and trying to remain neutral is not an option. There are two roads and two gates that stand before us. Our response has eternal consequences.
The guarantee of answered prayer is truly a golden promise. Doing to others what you would want them to do to you is also a golden rule. Like the two great commandments to love God and others, these two nuggets of gold first direct our attention to our God. Then they direct our attention to others. The order is crucial. First, I talk to God about His good gifts. Then, one of these good gifts is the supernatural ability to live out the golden rule.
To judge others without examining and correcting oneself is detrimental, dysfunctional and self-deceptive. However, it is biblical and wise to discerningly judge those who abuse God’s message. Our goal is to treat others as God, in Christ, has treated us.
The great battle of the Christian life are fought in our minds. This is certainly the case when it comes to worry or anxiety. One of the things we are going to learn is that worry is a sin, because it is a symptom of unbelief. We need to remember that the God who took care of our greatest problem at the cross can certainly be trusted to take care of anything else we may face daily in this life.
Jesus says the mark of a citizen of God’s kingdom is that his eyes are fixed on heaven not earth. His spiritual vision is single and not divided and he servers the right master not the wrong one. Jesus understood that we have a limited amount of devotion, love, and service to give. This requires making difficult decisions. The more we love money, the less we will love God. As our obsession for money increases, our passion for God decreases. If you sell your soul to money, then you will forfeit your soul.
The Lord’s Prayer serves as a model prayer, an easily memorized outline that serves as a lesson in how to approach God as Father and how we are to speak to Him. However, it also serves as an outline of the Christian life by providing certain fixed points of concern for the family of God. It underlines life’s priorities and helps us to get them into focus.
In Matthew 6, Jesus deals with how citizens of God’s kingdom practices acts of righteousness. Once again, Jesus is going to address matters that deals with the heart. We need to be careful in how we practice acts of righteousness because motives matter. We should be giving, praying and fasting sincerely before God, who gives eternal reward, instead of hypocritically before people, whose reward fades quickly.
Love for neighbor was the essence of Old Testament ethics, but Jesus deepens that ethic in a surprising way. We are to love our neighbors even when they are hostile and do evil acts against us. Love for enemies is meant to be shown in acts of kindness. The model for this difficult activity is nothing less than God Himself. Like obedient children, we must imitate our Father and act toward evil people as he does. If God can be merciful to wicked as well as good people, so must we.
Jesus teaches us as citizens of God’s kingdom, everything we say should be true and good, because God witnesses everything we say and do. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we reflect the character of our King in the way we treat others. We look to the cross as we see how our King did not respond in violent aggression but laid down his life graciously to save us (enemies of God) so that we can be children of God.
Jesus directly address the popular view of divorce in his day. He teaches that marriage is sacred and we dare not trifle with it. Marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman for life. What makes marriage sacred is because it is a gift from God. God uses our spouses to save us. Divorce may be the norm in our culture, but it must never be the norm in our churches, for God desires reconciliation.
In our hearts there is a place reserved only for Christ. Jesus certainly wants to lead and guide our behaviors, but first and most importantly, he wants our hearts. What he bought, we should gladly and freely give to him. Treasure Christ above all in your heart, and the eyes, the hand and the rest of the body will happily follows its lead.
Jesus’ teaching and His interpretation of the law transcend the literal demands of the law. Jesus surpassed the law by insisting that one should not only avoid sinful actions, but also avoid sinful attitudes. We must guard our hearts before it gives way to evil actions. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we must live at peace with others and seek to reconcile broken relationships.
What you think about Jesus will ultimately influence what you think about the Bible. Our theology of the Living Word (Jesus) and the written word (the Bible) go hand in hand. Because of the lordship and authority of Jesus, the Scriptures proclaim Him as its central message, are completely trustworthy, and require obedience and righteousness from the heart and spirit.
King Jesus continues in His sermon and reminds us, that He redeemed and brought us into His kingdom so that we can be the salt of the earth that is in decay and the light of the world that is in darkness. King Jesus warns us that in this responsibility we cannot lose our purity or our usefulness. We as a light on a hill, a light in a home, must reflect the great light who is Christ and in doing so point others to Him.
Since we are citizens of God’s kingdom, having been redeemed by Christ and brought into this kingdom, we ought to live a certain kind of way among the nations. In the Sermon on the Mount, we learn how to live in His kingdom. The sermon begins with a preamble known as “The Beatitudes”. Where the greatest preacher who ever lived, gave the greatest sermon ever, gives us a portrait of Himself.