Studies 6

Sermon On The Mount - 6

Sermon on the Mount is probably the best known teaching of Christ, yet the least understood and certainly it is the least obeyed.
Sermon on the Mount is so good it is well known amongst most of the religious people.
Sermon on the Mount does not tell us how to become the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ but rather describes the ideal (perfect) character of His disciples. When a believer reads the Sermon on the Mount he sees his own picture, he sees himself.

This Sermon on the Mount is not a prescription for salvation but a description of a saved life, of a person who has surrendered fully to the perfect, will of God.
Only Jesus has achieved this highest level of perfect character that sets goals for every Christian to follow.

Verse 1 “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him”.
In Verse 1, we see two types of people who followed Jesus, one who were uncommitted and the other who were committed. The uncommitted held their distance but the committed came to Him and sat with Him.
The Bible says, those who are committed, God has raised them up from the death of sins and made them sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4-6

Verse 2, “Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying …..”
Jesus always taught with authority and love to attract the sinners, Matthew 7:29. This shows that Jesus does not drive away sinners, nor does He condemn them, rather He loves them and calls them to repent. It also demonstrates the fact that He came for the sinners and not for the righteous, Matthew 9:12-13

Verse 3 “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”.
What does blessed means, it means happy, fortunate
“Poor in spirit”: God will give His blessing to those who acknowledge (admit/ recognise) their spiritual needs and depend on God alone, not on their own goodness.
“Poor in spirit”, also means to recognise your spiritual poverty and say Lord I want more, more understanding of your word,
more revelations of Jesus, to know more about the Holy Spirit, and to know more about Your love. Lord I am not satisfied with
what I have, I am desperate to know more of Your presence in my life. The poor in spirit know that they need God.
If you recognise your spiritual poverty then you can have the Kingdom of Heaven, as the Bible says, “For theirs is the kingdom
of Heaven”.

Verse 4 reads, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”.

Mourn: Mourning over their own failures toward God, and also grieves because of the sin and evil in the world. Mourning and

weeping over the lost souls who are perishing everyday and night also mourning over the politics of the church.

“For they shall be comforted”, God will strengthen them in the present age through forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the

comforter the Holy Spirit.

Verse 5 reads, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”.

Meek: Meek does not mean weak but refers to those who are gentle, humble and submissive to the perfect will of God. In other words who have the mind of Christ, the nature of Christ.

“They will receive all the blessings of this earth”, which God has promised in His word, also all the blessings of Abraham, Galatians 3:14, as well as the blessings of the future, Isaiah 57:13 They will also rule with Christ on the face of this earth when His kingdom comes on earth.

Verse 6 reads, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”.

Who hunger and thirst for righteousness, are those who earnestly desire for the righteousness to prevail in this world. This is also true for those who are hungry and thirsty to know Jesus and to get more closer to Him because the Bible says Jesus is our righteousness.

Hungry and thirsty also means those who are desperate for His presence, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 42, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, o God”.

“For they shall be filled”, God will satisfy their hunger and thirst by filling them with the living water of the Holy Spirit, and many new revelations of Jesus and His word.

Verse 7 reads, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”.

Merciful, are the ones who show kindness and forgiveness to the undeserving as Jesus has. Many times we forgive but not forget that is not forgiving. Forgiving is forgetting, reconciling and moving on. They shall obtain mercy from God and people.

Verse 8 reads, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Pure in heart”, means holy in heart, this being visible holiness, in love, in attitudes and in actions. Pure in heart are the ones who have appreciated the work of the cross and are now fully washed and cleansed by the precious Blood of Jesus. The pure in heart has only one desire and that is to seek God, and they will surely find Him, for their desire will be rewarded.

They shall see God. A defiled heart cannot see God; he must be pure before he enjoys a proper view of the Holy One, only Jesus can make you pure.

Verse 9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”.

The peacemakers are not only peaceable but also peacemakers, reconciling the lost ones to God. They are at peace with their

enemies they bring peace amongst the broken families, and friends at any cost, just as Jesus did. For they shall be called sons of

God. (It grieves the heart of Jesus when Christians are fighting with each other.)

Verse 10 reads, “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

Persecuted for righteousness, these are the ones who are wrongly made to suffer for doing right especially persecuted for preaching the Gospel. For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Verses 11-12 read “blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. ¹²rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”.

Suffering for righteousness makes us part of a great company. We are not encouraged to seek suffering, but when it occurs, it can enrich our lives here and reward us in heaven.