Matthew 5:17-20

^{Matthew 5: 17}"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. ¹⁸I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (NIV)

If the Church today forgets this we are in big trouble. Unfortunately from what I see much of the Church has already forgotten. Jesus is very clear here; that He came to fulfill the laws not to abolish them. It is so tempting to claim that we are under the new covenant and therefore the laws of old do not apply. The truth of the matter is that they do apply just as much as with the same serious consequences they've had for centuries. How could we then, as ministers of The Gospel, tell God's sheep any different?

Look at verse 18 again this time from The Message, "Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working." I know the last time I looked up I saw stars in the sky and this morning clouds or not the sun did shine. So, why then brothers and sisters have so many ministers, preachers, pastors, and the like stopped talking about the sin that is in our lives. Have we sold the truth of God's word just to collect a few more dollars in the offering plate. If you are reading this and have found that you have made that small compromise then turn now and repent. For verse 19 says that if you break the least of these commands and teach others to do the same then you will be the least in the kingdom. Yikes, I encourage you to take a moment and seek the Lord ask Him if you have this guilt on your hands. Ask Him for forgiveness and return to the calling to make disciples not just entertain the spiritual dieing among you.

The good news is that if we repent from our wicked ways and turn to follow the Lord ask Him for forgiveness He will forgive us and was us clean by His blood. Will you brothers and sisters follow in the ways of Jesus, non compromising, holding fast to the truth of The Father, fulfilling the law even unto death. Yes, Jesus did not abolish the law but He was the sacrifice that we can be cleaned by if we will plead the blood of the lamb over our sins.

Verse 19-20 in The Message says it this way "Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom."

As this years Christmas celebration approaches take heed of these words and remember also the words of Paul who wrote that if we do these things but have not love then we are nothing for then a clanging bell.

Prosper as your soul prospers, allow yourself to be put through the purifying process of the Lord. That one day you will find yourself resurrected with Christ.

Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5: 13"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Wow! Fellow Christians this is a mouth full. Look, the keys to the kingdom are here in these few verses. You can read pages and pages on how to live a good, successful, even fulfilling Christian life or you can grasp the simple truth Jesus gives us in these 4 verses.

Lets start with being the salt of the earth. If any of you bake or cook you know that even a pinch of salt makes the flavors increase in just about anything you are making. Want to make something a bit sweeter and a pinch of salt. Want to bring out the flavor in a nice steak, add a pinch of salt. Look around you at what God is doing. What part are you to be, inorder to be that pinch of salt. Jesus himself said I must be about my fathers business. Then we too must be about His business. We must be the salt in His perfect recipe. I for one don't want to be cast aside by God because He thinks I have lost my usefulness.

How then are we to be a light? Jesus said I am the light. How then can we be a light? We do what He did. We share with others the love, grace, mercy and compassion that He shared with us. We do for others as Jesus did for them. We correct them when they are wrong we heal them when they are sick, and we feed them when they are hungry. The Holy Spirit is with us to help us establish the kingdom of God in men's hearts, if we will just follow his lead. We lead them to the Lord and He leads them to repentance. Christianity Confesses is just the beginning of this process. We are here to help men confess their sin and lead them to repentance. Christian confession is just the first step once we recognize that there is sin in our heart and life. Therefor be the light to the world take the confession of a brother or sister and pray to the Lord and help lead them along the path of true repentance that they may be saved.

In this day we are called, as many were so long ago, to be a voice crying in the wilderness "Repent, Prepair they way of the Lord." This cannot be done alone in your room, or even just in your prayer closet you must put your voice on a hill top and not under a basket and declair the Lord's work in men's hearts. That is what it means to be a light. Be generouse with your love and the Lord is with His love of us.

Remember we must be about our fathers work.

Matthew 5:10-12

As we conclude the Beatitudes part of the Sermon we get to what is perhaps the least favorite one. Think about when you last read Matthew 5:10-12. Did you hear yourself saying something like, "good to know but I hope it does not happen to me". If you did you are not alone, but that does not make it the correct response. Lets read it now in both the NASB and Message versions.

Matthew 5:10"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

12"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NASB)

Some key words in this version are: righteousness, persecution, falsely, reward, and Me (Jesus). We will look at these words closer in a moment but first let continue and read the Message version.

Matthew 5:10"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble. (The Message)

Some corresponding key phrases in this version are: commitment to God, drives you even deeper, speak lies about you, trouble.

Lets begin now and look closer at Matthew 5:10. What righteousness, mine or Jesus'? Is that the same as commitment to God? I looked up the Greek to try and understand this better and see if the Spirit would show us something from it. The word in this passage for righteousness is "Dikaiosune". And simply put righteousness is a state or condition that is acceptable and pleasing to God. This is impossible without the blood of Christ. In the Message version the corresponding phrase is "commitment to God". A commitment to God does not put us in a state of righteousness acceptable to God. However, it takes nothing less than a complete commitment to Christ to receive the cleaning of His Holy blood and His righteousness.

When we look at Cain and Abel both of them were committed to God, but only one as acceptable. Cain was committed to God because he wanted to bring Him an offering but when his offering was refused Cain's response to God's rejection of his offering caused him to fall to sin. This is just one example of where only having a commitment does not bring about righteousness.

Now persecution is something none of us want if we are honest with ourselves. It is simply no fun. But the Message version states something very key to what this persecution does when we do encounter it. If, unlike, Cain we respond correctly it will drive us deeper into our relationship with the Lord, and deeper into His kingdom.

Before I talk about Matthew 5:11 let me make a point of fact. The key words in this verse are falsely and lies. Now, if what people are saying about you is true, then you may need to examine your own heart and see if you are truly representing Jesus by your words and actions. But this verse refers to when you are being persecuted and false things are being said about you because of Christ or in order to discredit God. The Message version elaborates a bit more to explain why people do this when the truth is staring them in the face. And I think it states it really well. "What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable."

Brothers and sisters. If this is you, and you are being convicted then take this opportunity now to ask the Lord to forgive you. We have all heard the saying, "Pride comes before the fall", and I would hate to think that any of you is willing to take that fall.

Matthew 5:12 is a word of encouragement. Jesus wants us to know that we are not alone when this happens to us. And that we should not expect to be free from it either. Instead, be of good cheer, because many saints before you have been treated this way. Too many to name here. Even Jesus was falsely convicted because of His willingness to follow the Father and only speak truth. How could we servants think we would escape the treatment our master received?

I pray that this somewhat slow walk through the Sermon on the Mount is blessing you, and causing you to seek the Lord deeper than you have before. I feel like His invitation to all of us this year is to come another step (perhaps more if you dare) closer to Him. Allowing Him to continue the work He started in you.

Blessings.

Matthew 5:9

This has been a difficult text to write about. Each time I sit to write either the Lord tells me its not the time or I just don't know what to say. I have been for what seems like for ever for an authentic understanding of this passage. I believe I now understand it to some degree and it is not what I thought and perhaps this blog will cause you to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal to you the true meaning of this passage.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (NIV)

Who are the peacemakers? People who teach passivism, or the people who make war against evil? Or is it the people who try to stop and argument at all cost, or the people who are doormats because they don't want to break the peace?

Each of these attempts to define a peacemaker make mu stomach churn. But there is one that does not turn my guts into knots. There are people in this world now whom I think this scripture refers. and as I prayed about it and have finally started to write some notes I think that this is a least part of the picture.

The peacemaker I believe Jesus refers to here are those men and women who help others reconcile their lives to Christ and find true lasting peace in His holy presence. Peace from the torment of the enemy, peace from the worry of their final destination. Are these people few or many that I do not know. But those of you who know, and work out Christ calling to go out and make disciples you are the peacemakers.

Here is a simple question to ask yourself to know if you are such a person. Is the "work" I am doing for the Lord bringing peace to their relationship with Christ and the Father? Are you interceding on their behalf as Jesus did for me and you, making peace between us and the Father?

Friends, I have met many in ministry that do this and unfortunately many that do not. To those of you who are then be blessed and know that you are a peacemaker, not by the worlds standards perhaps but by the standard that counts for eternity.

I pray that each on of you would know the love of the Father and make peace within your heart.

Matthew 5:8

Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (NIV)

Matthew 5:8 "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." (The Message)

What a fascinating and delightful verse in this opening portion of the sermon. When I read this I long for the innocents of my youth. I look upon my little boy now and pray to the Father daily that he will protect my little man and help keep him pure as he grows into a man. And at first glance this is a great interpretation if you are innocent and clean from sin in your life. But the Bible tells us that no one is without sin.

So is it impossible then to be pure in heart? Brothers and Sisters the Lord never told us to do anything that was impossible. We may need His help but it is possible. So then how is it possible to be pure of heart?

According to the Strong's the word pure comes from a word of unknown origins "Katharos" this word has many meaning and found 22 times in the bible. This word has a different meaning than just having a "clean heart". One of the definitions used in the context is to be purified by fire. the other is to be pruned like a vine so that it is fit to bear fruit. When I learned the meaning of the word pure I realized just how incapable of purifying my heart I was and how desperate I was for the Lord to purify my heart.

I pray that the Lord is showing you something today. If you have the same understanding that I did before then you probably feel doomed and forever incapable of receiving the blessing of the Lord. Well brothers and sisters I feel that this is a lie from the enemy. Again the Lord never asks more of you then you are capable of in Him.

The Lord can and will purify your heart like gold refined in the fire if you ask Him and submit yourself to the cleanings. Jesus himself referred to the Kingdom as a vineyard where the dead vines would be pruned away and living vines grafted in. The Lord has all the "right" tools at his disposal for cleaning and purifying you heart. And there is not much you can do except be willing to submit to the process.

Friends take a a moment or as long as it takes to seek the Lord and ask Him to purify your heart. I will not promise you it will be easy in fact it is not much fun at all to tell you the truth most of the time. The Lord has been working on my heart for a little more than 13 years and though I have found great joy in the midst of His work my flesh often cries out for escape from the refiners fire. It is hot, and melts down the things I thought made me strong.

Pure 24k gold refined in the fire relatively soft and malleable. Most gold for jewelry is combined with steel or another metal to harden it. This is done so that the jewelry can stand up to the riggers or daily use. But the Lord wants us to have a soft heart. Not a hard heart that is not easily molded like soft wax.

So dear readers the Lords wants to ignite the fire in your heart and purify it. He wants to give you the blessings that He promises when He said. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

Matthew 5:7

When we hear the word we often think back to the game of uncle when you had to yell mercy or uncle to stop the person from twisting your arm behind your back. In this country there is little in the way of persecution that drives us to cry out like in that child hood game (or is there). As adults who in the world would you cry out to? The lenders do not care, OPEC does not care, when you cry for mercy who will hear you? In Matthew 5:7 we read and understand that if someone cries out for mercy from us we are blessed if we give it.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (NIV)

7 "You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for." (The Message)

7 "Happy the kind -- because they shall find kindness." (Young's Literal Translation)

Mercy Definition: (of an act or event) giving relief from pain or suffering. Oh but you say that you have no part in causing others pain. Let me point out a few things I have witnessed lately that just may change your mind.

You see we can give out mercy or be merciful even if we are not the ones causing the pain. What is your reaction to the hopeless smelly drunk guy downtown when he asks you for money for food? (What if he really is hungry). What about the young family down the street who's husband just lost his job and they are facing foreclosure on their home.

I know it is hard to know what to do with situations like these. Around Christmas it is easy and fun to help less fortunate families with gifts for their children but what about the family who need a roof over their heads. Or the widow to is so lonely, staring out the window everyday waiting for the husband or wife that will never some home again. Jesus says in Matthew 26 that we will always have the and widowed with us. Therefore there will always be a opportunity to be merciful.

Brothers and sisters as you seek the Lord in your daily prayers and worship be open to His heart to those less fortunate than you. Be willing to part with what you have to give to those who do not. Give of your money, time, love, friendship, and of your relationship with Jesus the Christ. Listen for his small still voice promoting you to be merciful.

Matthew 5:6

Have you ever been hungry or thirsty? I not talking about the hunger from missing a meal by choice I am talking about real hunger from a hard days work, and thirst that comes from a dry mouth on a hot dusty day. The kind of hunger and thirst that you notice only after you realize how much food and water consumed when you were finally full. Our next B-attitude is

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (NIV)

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat." (The Message)

You see when we hunger for righteousness, the way Jesus is talking about we work ourselves to the point of needing His righteousness in our lives. There is nothing we can or should try to do like fasting from righteousness so we will hunger for it. No, this is a kind of hunger that comes from working hard for the Kingdom and at the end of the day you find yourself in need of His righteousness to sustain you. So you sit yourself down at His table and eat and drink of His Word, Love, Faith and Truth for you.

When you sit down at His table there is always plenty to eat. His table is always full. The Lords banquet is flowing with Milk and Honey. It is a feast. The drink is like none other. Not even Gatorade understands how to quench this kind of thirst.

I know some of you may be thinking that it is not fun to hunger and, if that hunger persists you are exactly right. But that is not the Lord's will for you or me. He wants to fill us. The promise of that is right in this verse. If you hunger, you will be filled. I love to work hard all day and come home or go upstairs for a good large meal with a big glass of ice water. This kind of meal puts a punctuation at the end of the day that says to me "job well done". This meal that the Lord wants to give you is the same kind of meal. When you eat of it He will be telling you "Well done my good and faithful servant."

This is not a promise for tomorrow alone or for today alone. This promise is reoccurring as often as He wills it for you.

So, my brothers and sisters I encourage you to Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness for you shall surly be filled.

Matthew 5:5

The different English translations of the Bible always amaze me. I love reading a portion of scripture in many different versions then meditating on it and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak the truth of the scripture to my heart. Many times you can read a passage in different versions and each will speak the truth but give it a bit of nuance that again touches the soul.

As we continue our series on the Sermon we move to the next verse Matthew 5:5. Read with me from these three very different translations.

"Blessed are the gentle , for they shall inherit the earth." (NAS)

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought." (Message)

"Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!" (Amplified)

"Gentle", "meek", "content with who you are", - very different emphasis in each. The Greek word used here is praus which means to be "mild in disposition, or gentle". This can be very different than simply being content with who you are. What if who you are is not meek or mild and you like it that way?

Websters defines meekness as "enduring injury with patience and without resentment" and "not violent or strong". How then can it be that being meek will allow us to inherit the earth?

Scattered throughout the bible is story after story where the Lord looked for the week in order that He might show Himself strong. Take the story of Gideon from the book of Judges. Gideon says in chapter 6:15 ...“how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” Later in the same story the Lord reduces Gideon's army to 300, just so they could not say that they had won the victory, that the Lord is the only one who could have done it.

This is the point of this b-attitude. The Lord does not want us to inherit the earth under our own strength if we try we will fail.

This on one promise of God's that takes a good amount of faith to walk out in our daily life. It requires that we lay down our pride, ego, and yes even our rights. It is at this moment in our life where the Lord will finally step in on your behalf. It is at this point when the Lord can tell you which direction to go and you will go without question.

The former pastor at our church once described it like a horse getting broke in. Only then can the master of the horse mount up on it and give it gentle direction and the horse will respond no matter what. It is when we are meek in spirit that we must rely on the master and put our full trust in him for everything. A horse that has been broken and forms that new trusting relationship with his master will go into battle no matter what is going on around him because all he know to do now if follow the command of the rider.

This is one view of the type of relationship the Lord desires from us. He calls us to humble ourselves so that He can mount up the cherubim and ride into victory. (2 Samuel 22:11) This cherub is the redeemed man. The man who submitted themselves to the cleansing fire of the Lord. (Smiths Bible Dictionary)

Dear readers it has taken me the past few weeks for the Lord to reveal this to me and even when I started typing I was not sure what it was all about. But has as I sit here my mind is flooded with thoughts and pictures of this, and how it is the truth of the Kingdom.

I pray that you too will take the time to ponder the true meaning of this powerful sermon delivered not by just any man but by the Lord or Lords and the King of Kings. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the truth in His words.

Circumcises your heart, turn to Jesus, He is calling you!

Who will respond?

Matthew 5:4

As Christians you and I have probably repented of a sinful behavior the moment we accepted Christ. Sometime after that if you're like me you missed that sin and what it did for you. You see the issue is not that we have not been forgiven and its not that we are about to give into those old temptations again, it that we probably did not take the time to mourn the loss of that old lifestyle, or that old sinful behavior. To understand this better lets take a look at Matthew 5:4 as we continue to look at the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:4 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Now I don't know about you but at a time of mourning is when I feel the least blessed. Lets look at this in the Message and see if we get any other understanding from this passage.

5:4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you."

When I read this lots of different pictures come into my head, the story of Job loosing his family is a big one that keeps coming to mind but I am not convinced that is what Jesus is talking about here. I for one long to be comforted by Jesus. I come to Him daily and worship Him with all my heart. Would He really want me to loose everything dear to me just so I could be blessed by His love.

The answer is simple yet so hard to understand without the Holy Spirit quickening it to your heart. I see the answer as this: Yes, if what is most dear to you is your sin. You must mourn the loss of everything (most dear to your flesh) to be blessed if, holding on the sin or not mourning its loss would stand in your way of His place in your life.

When His holy fire comes to remove something from your life, mourn the passing of that old part of your life and you will find yourself comforted by the Holy Spirit who will enable you to move on and not look back. Lot's wife was unable to mourn the last chapter in her life when she and Lot fled. Because she could not mourn the loss and move on she was trapped by looking back on that life and what it offered.

One definition for mourn is "to show deep regret for something" (i.e mourning the wasted years). This definition fits with what I think scripture tells us. In this context mourning is a form of confession. In order to mourn you must acknowledge that the past was not what it should have been then the act of mourning is the confession lived out. And confession leads to repentance. Repentance leads to freedom.

So my dear brothers and sisters. When you find yourself that place where the Lord is removing the old, cleaning up the past, take the appropriate time to mourn and then let the Holy Spirit show you how to move on to victory.

Matthew 5:3

The Sermon on the Mount, perhaps the best face forward oration from Jesus where He lays before us the governing principles of His Kingdom. Most of you have hear countless modern sermons trying to bring light to these words. There are hundreds of books written on it and how it should apply to our life. So why is what it teaches us still so foreign to our daily lives. Oh sure we can recite it, quote it, give out the address of it at a moments notice but what impact has Jesus' sermon really had on your life?

Join me today as we start to look at this sermon and what it means about our daily walk with Christ. Lets begin with just the B-attitudes. Read the first one in each version:

5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (NIV)

5:3 "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." (The Message)

5:3 "Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!" (The Amplified)

I have heard this and read this many many times. And every version gives a bit different picture in my mind. So, how about you? What does it mean to be poor in spirit? The word "poor" here is the Greek word "ptochos" which means to be reduced to begging, desolate of wealth, and lacking in anything. And in this context the word spirit "pneuma" is your soul, the part of you that gives life to your flesh.

So, this is what I get from these different translations and the word study. The Lord will bless you when your soul is at the point of crying out for Him and only Him, where you are reduced to seeking Him like a person begging for a meal. Where you cry out to Him as your ONE Lord and King. It is at that point that He gives you the understanding of His Kingdom and how it works right here and right now. Not some time in the future not some time after your body dies and you go to Heaven. It is at this point that He will open your eyes to the very truth of how to walk in the Kingdom of Heaven right in this very present day.

Blessed are you when you reach the point where your soul longs for Him above all else, that is when you find the Kingdom of God.

Proverbs 3:5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
a father's delight is behind all this. (The Message)