Sermons on Matthew 5:13-48:

Dealing Wisely With Unbelief & Opposition Series

Contributed by James Wallace on Mar 10, 2021

If we stand for Jesus, we will inevitably face the same kind of opposition that He did. How do we respond? His example gives us a clue as he faces both the unbelief of his own family, and the deadly opposition of israel's leaders.

It’s been more than 20 years ago now since I initiated a lawsuit in the name of the church against the Washoe County School District. As a few of you know, and even fewer of you probably remember, it was about the matter of Equal Access—equal access to public school facilities for churches and ...read more

Scripture: John 7:1-15, Matthew 5:44, Matthew 7:6, Matthew 10:16-18, 1 John 2:15-16, Mark 6:3, Mark 3:21  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Bible Church

The Power Of Prevention

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

Remember, it is not just what happens, but what does not happen that makes life victorious. God's providential prevention is a part of every life that is truly blessed

A great cholera epidemic sweep through London in the 19th century. John Snow observed that those who pumped water from the Broad Street pump tended to get cholera, but those who took their water from other pumps did not get it. He knew nothing about germs, bacteria, and polluted water, but he ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

The Luminous Life

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

Jesus has a plan to penetrate this world's night of ignorance with the light of knowledge. The plan is very simple. It is to advertise. Every Christian is to be a living commercial for the Producer of the program of life.

William Sangster, the great British preacher, tells of one of the strangest taxes ever imposed. He asked his father one day why so many of the homes in London had blocked up windows. His father explained that back in 1695 every house that had more the 6 windows was taxed for the extra ones. Many ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

The Law And The Lord

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

Christ was the event toward which the whole history of the Old Testament moved. Without the Old Testament we cannot know what it was that He fulfilled, and, therefore, the Old Testament is a vital part of the Christian faith.

Misunderstanding is a part of life, and much of the laughter of life is due to it. One little guy surprised his whole family one evening at the supper table by asking which virgin was Jesus' mother? Was it the Mary virgin, or the King James Virgin? He had misunderstood one word and was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20

The Trivial And The Tremendous

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

As the light of the world, it is the Christians job to help the world see the difference between the truly trivial, and the trivial that can be tremendous.

On April 18, 1906 San Francisco went through the worst catastrophe of California history. An earthquake devastated the city, and a fire broke out that left that once thriving metropolis a heap of smoldering ruins. The cost in lives and property was beyond calculation. Yet, in the midst of all this ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:18-19

Legalism Versus Love

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

We are in a world of great religious competition. We will all tend to follow one of these two strategies: The legalistic or the loving, the rule book power, or relationship power.

We live in a world where competition is a master motive. When the news reach Russia in 1945 that the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Stalin ordered secret scientists to find a way to catch up to the U.S. Andrei Sakharov was only 24 years old then, but his brilliant mind was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:20

Respect Versus Contempt

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

All that is hateful and unloving is to some degree evil. Jesus says we need to be aware of this, and deal with it in its early stages, and so prevent all the serious consequences of thinking that negative attitudes are alright as long as you don't murder anyone.

Alexander the Great conquered the world, but anger conquered him, and turned him into a murderer. Like so many of the murders of history, it was not intended or designed. It happened because men do not understand that anger is the beginning of murder. Clitus, his best friend, was teasing ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

The Now Life

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

The Lord's Prayer in chapter 6 is a now prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. All of its petitions are for now. Hallowed be your name-now. Thy kingdom come now. Thy will be done on earth-now.

Marguerite Higgins, Pulitzer Prize winner for international reporting, stood by a marine during the Korean War. It was 42 below zero, and the soldier was weary and covered with frozen mud. She asked him, " If I were God and could grant you anything you wished, what would you most like?" ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

The Lure And Cure Of Lust

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

It is no wonder the Pharisees wanted Him out of the picture. He just made the majority of the human race murderers by making anger equivalent to murder, and now He makes the majority adulterers by making lust equivalent to adultery.

Show me the man who has never looked at a woman with lust, and I'll show you a man with a white cane who was blind from birth. None but a blind man could get through life and not be captivated by God's crowning work of creation-woman. Anyone with an ounce of artistic appreciation knows ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

The Cause And Cure Of Divorce

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

Where lust is in power divorce will rise. Where lust is controlled by love divorce will subside. There is a direct connection between lust control and divorce.

Jo Fleming in her book His Affair reveals that almost every sinful emotion and action known to man is kindled by lust that is not controlled. Her husband of 26 years went to the apartment of a woman he worked with to return some books. This was an action he could have avoided, but he chose not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32

Simplicity Versus Complexity

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

We need to see that the primary problem of the Pharisees was that they were too religious. Some people go bad because of their vices, and others because of their virtues.

Human nature loves to magnify the minute and give significance to the insignificant by the simple method of stretching the truth. An army cook, for example, feed a mob of men with scrambled eggs, and then he sat down and wrote to his girl friend: "Dearest, for two hours shells have been ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37

The Reversal Of Revenge

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

Revenge may be sweet for awhile, but it turns so bitter that it is never a long range value. This reversal of revenge, however, can add sweetness to life that lasts for time and eternity.

Aaron Burr could have been a great name in American history. He was elected to the U. S. Senate, and in 1800 he was a candidate for President of the U. S. Thomas Jefferson won that election, and Aaron Burr became Vice President. His future was bright, but then he was insulted by another famous ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42

Loving Our Enemies

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

This means the Christian must love the non-Christian, and even the anti-Christian. He does not need to like them, but he does need to love them.

Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States and one of the most popular presidents ever. After two terms he left office with greater popularity than when he entered. He is one of the most interesting presidents to study, for the record would indicate that he had no business being ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-43

Turning The Other Cheek

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 13, 2021

The religious leaders of the world can quote their wise and holy men in ways that show they too have many of the values of the Sermon on the Mount. But they have nothing to match the teachings of Christ on the love of one's enemies.

Almost everybody agrees with the Sermon on the Mount in general, but almost nobody can agree to the specifics of the last part of chapter 5. Even Nikita Krushev, an atheist, when he was the leader of Russia, could say he agreed with the Sermon on the Mount, for even in Russia they do not consider ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

Spong Vs Spong Part 5 The Hebrew Scriptures

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Jul 1, 2020

What did Jesus and the Apostles say about the Hebrew Scriptures?

What did Jesus and the Apostles say about the Hebrew Scriptures? Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-19, Acts 28:23, Romans 3:31, Romans 7:12, Acts 26:22-23, Zechariah 7:9-10, Matthew 7:12, Acts 24:14-15, Mark 7:9, 1 John 5:3, 2 Corinthians 3:4-6  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist