Through this whole school year, we will be learning about Jesus’ greatest sermon: The Sermon on the Mount. Following the verses above Jesus is about to share the secrets of the Christian life.
The Sermon on the Mount is not telling us how to live as Christians but giving a description of how true Christians live. The Sermon on the Mount is not a Code of Ethics of New Ten Commandments to be followed! It is a description of what we will be as we serve the Lord with all our hearts. The words of the Sermon on the Mount were not spoken to those who do not believe in Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount was not preached to unbelievers, but to true Christians. The Sermon on the Mount has nothing to say to the person who has not already put faith in Jesus Christ.
Over the course of this series we are going to discuss what kind of person the Christian is. What does it look like to be a Christian? The description is right here in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
The Sermon on the Mount is a call to discipleship. It is a call to follow Jesus fully. The Sermon on the Mount teaches us how Christians ought to live in relation to the world. God tells us in His word that His Kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is of heaven, but it is now here in the world. The kingdom of God is wherever God is set up on His throne. And as Christians He has set up His throne in our hearts. We are of God’s kingdom. This kingdom is a heavenly kingdom, but we live in the earthly kingdom. We are of a spiritual kingdom, but we live in a physical one. The Sermon on the Mount simply shows us how to live as spiritual people in a physical, ungodly world.
Just like the Old Testament law like the Ten Commandments and other commandments were really hard for a person to keep, a person might find it hard to do all the things Jesus says in this sermon. It’s hard to look at the world they way Jesus tells us to here. “Turn the other cheek when a person hurts me? Ridiculous!” “Don’t worry when things go wrong? Impossible!” The Sermon on the Mount both shows us how a Christian ought to live, and also shows us that we cannot live as a Christian without God’s help. Try to obey the Sermon on the Mount and you will find yourself failing miserably, if not at first, eventually you will fail to live up to the standard Jesus laid down.
“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.” – C.S. Lewis
Put aside any desire to try your hardest to live up to this standard. You are not a Christian because you obey the words of Jesus; you obey the words of Jesus because you are a Christian! It’s not about getting His approval. It’s not about winning salvation. It’s about our response to His who He is and what He has already done for us!
“We are not told in the Sermon on the Mount, “Live like this and you will become Christian’; rather we are told, “Because you are Christian live like this’. – Martin Lloyd-Jones
True holiness and blessing in life is found in obeying the plain teachings of Jesus! Living out the Sermon on the Mount is a life-altering experience! IT not only impacts oneself, but others as well! The best way to reach your peers for Jesus is to live the way Jesus told us to live! When unbelievers see a real demonstration of God’s Word in a person’s life they are drawn to it!
I am a firm believer that if you as young people will take the plain teaching of Jesus to heart and live the words of the Sermon on the Mount revival will be inevitable in the schools! History has proven that men and women that live the words of Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount have impacted the world for God’s kingdom more than any other people!
As we go over the Sermon on the Mount this school year, my hope and prayer for you is that you will live it out in front of your peers and classmates. My prayer is that you will impact the people around you by demonstrating what it really means to serve Jesus and to live in His kingdom
