The Sermon On The Mount - Introduction Series

The Sermon on the Mount -- Part #1

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

Sermon #1: Hearing Jesus’ Words

Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:1-2

’And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him; And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying,..."

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Introduction:

This day probably began like any other day, but before it would be over the multitudes would have heard the grestest one who ever spoke a word, pour His heart out to them. They would hear the greatest sermon ever proclaimed and it would be spoken by Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, the Redeemer of all mankind. It would be recorded in the greatest book ever written and it would be preserved throughout the endless ages of time. It posseses the power to change lives and to make their lives happy and productive and free from the condemnation of sin. What a preacher and what a sermon!

For hundreds of years the voice of God had been silent. What they heard from the Pharisee priests and teachers was the voice of the law and its letter of perfection. However, it had no saving, changing power to offer Yet, Jesus spoke to them with a fresh word from His heavenly Father and there was a hunger among the crowds. They were desiring a WORD FROM GOD that would bring about a difference in their lives, something with power and annointing. That is exactly what Jesus spoke to them. He spoke with great power and authority.

As you begin to study this Sermon on the Mount,and take note to the greatest sermon and the greatest preacher, you must first realize something very important. It is possible to sit at the feet of the greatest speaker, the most annointed speaker, and hear every word that was spoken, and still walk away from it totally unchanged. That is one way the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST differs from the LAW of MOSES, Jesus will not force His commandments upon you. It has to be the individual’s personal choice to accept them. The words of Jesus has to be received with meekness and His words have to be able to take root inside of your hearts and then in ample time and season, His fruits will come forth from those roots. His loving, gentle, compassionate and holy spirit will flow through you and will become a light for others to follow. However the choice is yours.

The voice of Jesus is still being spoken unto us today. Every Sunday morning in churches throughout the world, annointed ministers stand before their congregations and through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Jesus speaks through them as He did to those in our scripture text. Man steps behind the cross and Jesus is before them working through His servants. What can you do to make sure that you hear His voice today? For you know that every time you come to listen to the voice of God, Satan also comes along to distract you and to get your minds upon anything other than Christ. How many sermons have you sat under, totally untouched and placing all the blame upon the poor preacher without the annointing upon him. Around the Sunday dinner table the preacher is the subject of the conversation. "He just did not get into it this morning." "I’ve heard him do better than what he did today." "He should have stopped way before he did, for he lost the annointing." It may never dawn upon you that the problem was not the preacher but the congregation, perhaps even you.

Regardless of who the minister is before you, it is hard to feed sheep who are already filled with other things. Being a minister I know that it is difficult to feed people who did not come hungry. When I was a very young boy my mother would play a game to get me to eat my food. She would take a spoon full of food and pretend it was an airplane coming in for a landing. My open mouth would become its landing strip. However, Jesus will not play games to get us to eat. Yet, if we hunger and thirst after Him we shall be filled.

Let us take a look at some points that may help you to receive the words of Jesus.

#1:)

HAVE AN ATTENTIVE HEART:

JAMES 1: 19-21a ’This you know my beloved brethern. But let everyone be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger,for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness...’

The first thing you need to do is to cultivate an attentive heart. Prepare your heart to receive the Word of God. Be swift to hear God’s word. Tune in to the channel God is speaking through. It is possible to "hear" and yet not "hear." The spoken word really didn’t settle into your heart and mind. It just sort of floated into one hear and floated out the other ear. When the sermon is over you have not the faintest idea of what was said. Your mind was else where, at home, what things you will do after church, the next week’s events, and etc. Sometimes people spend more time at church thinking about where they will go eat at after service, than thinking about the goodness of God. I’ve watched people pass notes around while the Word is being declared. I’ve watched people pass about Avon books and Tupperware books. There is no way those people will be touched by the Word. They did not come to be touched by the Word.