THE NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STORY #6

 THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  BIBLE  STORY  #6

WRITTEN  ESPECIALLY  FOR  CHILDREN

Chapter Fourteen:

The Great Sermon on the Mount (part two)

Continuation with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

     And Jesus went on to say:

     "Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly; to be

     admired, because then you will lose the reward from your

     Father in heaven. When you give gifts to someone in need,

     don't shout about it as the hypocrites do - blowing trumpets

     in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their

     acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the

     reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone,

     don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing.

     give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all

     secrets, will reward you."

     We also need to be careful in understanding what Jesus was

MAINLY getting at here. In a great many cases it is just not

possible to give to someone, especially if it is a large gift,

without someone knowing, and then the possibility they tell

others about your kindness. If you are famous in the public eye,

it will be even harder to give to others in a secret way. And if

you are famous and give huge amounts to charity then it is harder

still to "do it in secret." The founder of Microsoft and the

famous "Windows" nearly everyone in the world uses on their

computers, Bill Gates, is one of the very wealthiest men in the

entire world. He must be among the top half dozen wealthiest

people on the planet. It has been said that he "gives away" more

money in any single year than the total revenue of some

"countries" of the world. You do not hear about his charity

giving very much at all, so Bill Gates, for being a famous man,

has done a pretty good job of keeping his "good deeds" to

himself, without any loud publicity about it. He lives in a large

and relatively expense home, but when you see him on TV he is

dressed very modestly, even casually, and you would never think

to look at him that he is one of the top six most wealthy persons

in the world.

     

     The main thing Jesus was getting at here is that we be

humble, quiet, laid-back so to speak, in our good deeds giving.

That we have an attitude of doing it yes, helping others when and

where we can, and how we can, but doing it all in relative

quietness, with no big blaring  sounds of announcements to the

neighborhood, town, or world, that you are "giving to others."

     Many in Jesus' day were doing just that. They were literally

hiring people to blow trumpets in the churches and on the street

corners to get the attention of people, and then having it

shouted out they were doing such and such good deeds. Most of

these people Jesus knew (because He knew the hearts of people, 

could see into their heart and know their motives) were hypocrites,

play-actors, pretending to be someone they really were not. Their

religion was all about "acting" a part, pretending, putting on an

outward show to make people think they were so righteously in

tune with and walking in the ways of the Lord. The truth was they

were anything but true God fearing and humble children of the

Father.

     Jesus taught that we should do good deeds to others, but in

doing them, to be humble and try to do them all as much as

possible without anyone knowing about it.

     Jesus then turned His attention to the subject of prayer,

another religious deed that had been greatly abused by certain

ones, to again make people think they were "very religious."

     "And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the

     hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners

     and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure

     you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you

     pray, go off by yourself, shut the door behind you in your

     room, and pray to the Father secretly. Then your Father, who

     knows all secrets, will reward you openly.

     When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other

     religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by

     repeating their words over and over again. Don't you be like

     them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even

     before you ask Him!

     Pray after this manner:

     Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored and praised.

     May your Kingdom soon come. May your will be done on earth

     as it is being done in heaven. Give us our daily

     requirements. Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those

     who have sinned and done evil against us.  Lead us not into

     trials and temptations, but deliver us from the evil one.

     For your is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

     Amen."

     Jesus' instructions on some points of prayer are pretty

simple and straightforward. You are to pray basically in private.

Now that does not mean a husband and wife cannot pray together.

In marriage two become one as ordained by God way back in Genesis

chapter two. It does not mean congregations cannot get together

and pray. We have examples in the book of Acts (that we shall see

in detail much later) where the Church of God did meet and have

times of prayer together (usually under some severe trial that

was upon them or some of their members). What Jesus is addressing

here is our regular basic everyday prayer life. It was to be a

private matter, not something that was done on the street corners

and with the attitude of "look everyone, I'm so godly I'm

praying, you can all see then I'm so religious." Some were

performing their prayer life exactly like that, making a it a big

public production. Again, Jesus knew their hearts and they were

in the main religious hypocrites so He said.

     Our prayer life is mainly to be a personal thing, done in

privacy, and the Father who then sees in private, will reward us

"openly" as it is in the KJV translation. We are also not to use

vain repetitions. Our prayers are to be from the heart, not

something like reciting a poem and maybe doing it over and over.

As Jesus said there are some religions that teach only through a

set repeating of certain words can their prayers be answered.

That was not the case with the Father, Jesus explained, for He

knows our thoughts and needs and requests even before we begin to

pray.  Of course that does not mean we should not pray. It is a

lot like an earthly father (or mother also) knowing the needs and

desires of his or her children (what they would like for their

birthday, and that sort of thing), but still wanting their

children to talk about it them to them.

     Jesus then went on to give a basic outline of prayer. There

maybe many other things we can pray for and talk to our heavenly

Father about, but here we find some of the very basics that

should be a pretty regular part of our prayers.

     The supreme God in heaven is "our Father."  It is clear from

reading all the Gospels that Jesus taught a "family" relationship

between the Himself and the Father and us. That we were all part

of one large heavenly family, with the Father God being the

supreme head in authority, but still our Father, with all that a

"father" is within a family unit. Wonderful and glorious it is

that God is our "father" and we are His sons and daughters.

     We need to honor and praise our Father in heaven and honor

His name, just as we should try to honor the name of our own

earthly family. We need to be always full of praise, thanking God

for all the wonderful blessing we have, both spiritually and

physically. Stop for a moment now, put this book to one side for

a little while and think of some of the many good things you

have. Then praise the Father for them. Make this meditation and

praise a part of your regular prayer life.

     Praying for the soon coming Kingdom of God should be a

constant priority. If you have read about that Kingdom and how it

will govern the entire earth one day, as related by all the Old

Testament prophets. If you understand what that age will be like,

and you reflect on the evil, sorrows, pain, hardships, wars,

sicknesses, of today's age, then you will want to cry out for

God' s Kingdom to soon come, to deliver this world from Satan and

all his wrong ways, and to see the knowledge of the Lord filling

this earth as the waters cover the sea beds. 

     You will want to see God's will done on earth as it is being

done in heaven. You will want to pray that the Lord's children

will stay faithful, and be a light of doing God's will to all

around them. You will want to ask for help from God via His Holy

Spirit to love and obey His word, His will, His commandments.

     Yes, it is okay and fine to ask our heavenly Father for our

daily needs. He knows we are physical human being that need

physical things each and every day in order to live our life. It

is "daily"  needs we need to ask for, not to amass stock-piles of

"goodies" for a time far into the future. It is not wrong to have

a nest-egg or two (the book of Proverbs teaches us that) but

praying that the Lord will grant us what we need (and that

could be spiritual, emotional, as well as physical) for each day,

as the day comes, is the focus in this basic outline of prayer

from Christ.

     We are to remember we are sinners, and to ask for

forgiveness, as we forgive others for sinning against us. 

Notice, it is being forgiven, asking to be forgiven, AS, in like

manner as, we forgive others who do wrong to us. Just a few

verses down below this prayer outline, Jesus said, "If you

forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will

forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father

will not forgive your sins."

     Kind of plain would you not say? We must be willing to

forgive others, if we expect our Father in heaven to forgive us.

Sometimes others come to us asking for us to forgive them, when

they acknowledge they have done us wrong. Sometimes, they have

done us wrong and cannot see that they have or will not admit

they have. We still must have forgiveness towards them, at least

within ourselves, a kind of "Forgive them Father for they know

not what they do" attitude, as Jesus did when surrounded by those

who nailed Him to the cross and wanted to see Him dead. Letting

go and forgiving someone does not mean you are a sitting duck for

them to trample all over you again and again. But it does mean

you "let go" and are not having sleepless nights over the matter,

or figuring out how you can "get back at them."

     Having this kind of forgiving attitude towards human beings

means that you will sure obtain forgiveness from the Father in

heaven when He needs to  forgive you for your wrong doing 

towards Him.

     We need also to pray that God will not lead us into

temptation. Hummm, a little hard to understand for James was

inspired to write that God does not tempt any man (James 1: 13). 

God  does not try to break us down by He Himself putting a snare

or trap into sin, in front of us. But He does allow sin to be

around us. He does allow Satan and the demons to do their evil

work. He does allow various trials, test, and troubles to come

our way. The best way to understand what Jesus was saying, 

is I think, to ask God that He will lead us "out of" trials and tests

that could lead us to sin. To ask God for wisdom (James chapter

one again) in dealing with life situations, for the ability to be

corrected and to learn from life the lessons we need to learn,

and then after learning them to not fall into the same errors

again. We ask God for all this, and so in granting it to us, He

is leading us out of the sore trials that can come our way, and

throw us into a real mess. We ask Him for help from the ways and

influence of the evil one. For the evil one is always there like

a roaring lion sneaking about searching for whom he can devour 

(1 Peter 5: 8). One of the great ways to stand up against the devil

and not be slain by him is to do as the apostle Paul said, put on the 

whole armor of God. We can pray for help to do just that 

(see Eph. 6: 10-18).

     We finally once more give our heavenly Father praise and

honor and glory, for He indeed has the power and the glory for

all things, and certainly to answer our petitions. His is the Kingdom 

that is in heaven and that will one day come to this earth, which 

we can be a very part of for all eternity.

     Another tool that has always been used by the people of God

to obtain victory, spiritual strength, and closeness to the Lord,

is that of physical "fasting" - going without food and water for

a period of time. Jesus now instructs on this matter.

     "And when you fast, be not  as the hypocrites, of a sad

     face: for they change their faces in different ways that

     they may appear to people to be fasting. Truly, they have

     all the reward they shall get. But you, when you fast, put

     on hair cream, and wash your face, be in your physical

     appearance so people will not know you are fasting. But your

     Father which is invisible to you, but sees all secret

     things, He will reward you openly."

     Moses fasted for 40 days (Deut. 9: 18); Elijah also did the

same (1 Kings 19: 8); Esther fasted (Esther 4: 16); David fasted

(Psalm 35: 13);  and Jesus fasted for 40 days (Mat. 4: 2).

     Fasting had always been apart of the life of God's people.

Jesus here did not say "if" you fast, but "when" you fast, taking

it for granted that His followers would fast.

     It was to be done again without public notice, in fact in

such a none noticeable way that people would not know they were

fasting. This was quite opposite from the way many in His day

practiced fasting. They wanted people to know, and went far out

of their way to make sure they knew they were doing it. All to

put on the false face that they were super religious. They had

their reward of acclaim from the public, but their practice of

religion got no higher than the ceiling with God.

     But the Father knows the heart, and He can see when His

children serve Him, even if the world does not, and He will

reward them, sometimes even in an open way in this life time. If

not in this life then surely in the age to come, in His Kingdom.

     For most people today to fast more than three days without

food or drink will be beyond them. Then you can fast for half a

day, missing one or two meals. Our time should be spent in

prayer, Bible reading, and meditation, when we fast. The whole

purpose behind it is to get close to God.

     Naturally, as we live in a physical world and must have

certain physical things to sustain us, Jesus had to speak on this

subject also.

     "Store not for yourself physical treasures on this earth,

     where moths and bugs and rust can eat them up and destroy

     them, or where thieves can break in and steal them from you.

     Store your treasures in heaven, where it really counts, and

     where they will never become moth eaten or crumble away with

     rust, and where they will also be safe from thieves. Where

     your true treasure is there will be your heart also.

     Your eye of the heart and mind is the lamp of your body. A

     pure eye lets in the sunshine into your life. But an evil

     eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If

     the light you think you have is really darkness, oh, how

     deep indeed is that darkness you have!

     No person can two serve masters. For you will hate and

     despise the one while you love the other, or you will be

     devoted to the one and disregard the other. So in like

     manner you cannot serve and be slave to God and at the same

     time to physical money and goods.

     So I am telling you, don't be overly anxious and worried

     about everyday life - whether you have enough food, drink,

     and clothes. Does not life consist of more than food and

     drink and clothing? Take a look at the birds. They do not

     need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your

     heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to

     Him than the birds. Can all your over anxious and fretful

     worries add a single moment to your life, or food to your

     stomach?

     And why be fretful about your clothes and what you shall put

     on from day to day? Take a look at the lilies and how they

     grow. They don't sit and fret about their clothing.

     Yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully

     as the lilies are. And if God cares so wonderfully about

     flowers that are here for only a short season and then they

     are gone, do you not think He will care for you even the

     more? Oh, you that have so little faith!

     So do not fret and be overly concerned about having enough

     food or drink or clothes. Why be like those without God who

     indeed are concerned about such things? Your heavenly Father

     already knows all the physical things you will need in order

     to live, and He will provide these needs for you from day to

     day if you will first of all seek His righteousness and make

     being a part of His kingdom your primary concern in this

     life.

     So do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring

     enough of its own problems and troubles. Today's troubles

     are enough to be concerned about without added what may or

     may not come tomorrow" (Remember I am paraphrasing Jesus'

     words).

     The Bible is a complete book and we must read it all and

take into discernment all parts of what God teaches us on any

particular subject. The book of Proverbs, as well as elsewhere in

the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament, show us that is

it not wrong to be wise in this physical life, to have some put

away for a rainy day as they say.

     Jesus, we shall see, also taught us to be good stewards of

all the physical things we have. God does not want us to be

spendthrifts, lazy, living with a “Oh, I couldn't care less"

attitude, and sponging off other people as if everyone owns us a

living.  There are so many passages in the Bible that show that a

Christian is to work (if he/she at all can), not to be a "lazy

bum" to put it bluntly.  To take care of his own (as the apostle

Paul once said), to be a responsible person, one who uses and

actually increases with what God has given him to use.

     What Jesus was saying then, in the light of all the totality

of the word of God, is that our life, mind, heart, thoughts,

should not be wrapped up in the physical things of this life; how

we can get more and more, how we can stockpile more and more

material goods. We are not to be consumed, anxiously concerned

and fretting over making sure we have huge amounts of more than

enough to live on.

     This is true what I'm about to tell you. I once met a man

who had been away for a four day week-end, and he had not slept

at all, for he was on some course that went through the nights

even, teaching, teaching, and still more teaching. I was amazed

when he told me this and he could see it in my facial expression.

"Oh, that is nothing!" he exclaimed, "I was once in California on

a 7 day course and we never slept for 7 days, the teaching

continued day and night."  Then in a matter of fact manner and

with absolute sincerity and meaning every word, he said looking

me straight in the eye with a cold serious face, "Hum, I want to

be a millionaire."

     Jesus on the other hand said your heart, your mind, your

life, should first of all be seeking God's righteousness and His

Kingdom. That, He said, should be the most important mission in

life for you. As we have seen, Jesus taught that to serve Him,

sometimes we would have to part with certain physical things,

maybe a job, or a person once close and dear to us, and there may

comes times we would wonder how we were going to have the

physical things we need in this life just to continue living.

When we read through the letters of the great apostle Paul we

find that sometimes he was in great need of the physical things

in life, but God always saw him through and provided for him, not

always as much as he may have personally wanted, but enough.

     Jesus was saying and telling us that we need faith, we need

to trust our heavenly Father. He knows what we need for each day,

so trust Him to provide it for you, seek first His righteousness

and His Kingdom, and be assured God will give you your needs 

for the day.

           

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU JUDGE

     Jesus said, "Do not judge unfairly, that you be not judge

     unfairly. For others will judge you as you judge them.

     Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used

     to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck

     in the eye of your brother or sister or friend, when you

     have a log in your eye?  How can you even think of saying,

     'Friend, let me help you get the speck out of your eye,'

     when you cannot see past the large log in your own eye? 

     Hypocrites! First get rid of the log in your eye; then

     perhaps you can see clearly to get rid of the speck in your

     friend's eye."

     We know from the rest of the New Testament, that to discern

right from wrong, to judge the righteousness or sin of an act or

way of life that someone may have done or may be living, is not

wrong.  We can see from 1 Corinthians chapter 5, that Paul said

he had judged the matter of an unrepentant sinner in the

congregation at Corinth, and told the people of the church there

that they also needed to judge the matter.

     Jesus on another occasion, said of Peter, "You have rightly

judged" (Luke 7: 43). And at another time said, "Judge not

according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement" (John 7:

24).

     So, it is evident, Jesus was here in Matthew chapter 7

telling us that we need to be very judicious, circumspect, guard,

mindful, attentive, on how we judge others and their actions. We

need to be careful not to jump to wrong conclusions. We need to

have all the facts on the situation. And we also need to be able

to look into ourselves and see our faults, weakness, errors,

before we start to bring down the hammer on the faults of

others.

     It is very important that we always remember and apply the

words of Paul as found in Galatians 6: 1-3.

     The Gospel writer Luke gives us a few more words that Jesus

said in this context of judging righteously and correctly (Luke

6:39,40).

     To be able to judge righteously means you must become like

the one who is the holy righteous judge of all people's hearts

and minds. The disciple is never above their teacher, and

everyone who acquires the full teaching of their teacher, will be

like their teacher. In this instant Jesus was talking about the

children of God becoming like God in righteous judgment. If they

did not then they were still as blind men, and would be leading

and teaching others to follow that blindness, and hence blind men

would be leading blind men. Such blinded ones would both fall

into the ditch as they tried to lead each other in the wrong ways

of judging and condemning sin and sinners.

     Then another key that is required to unlock the door of

righteous judging is what Jesus went on to add in verses 41,42 in

Luke chapter 6 (also in Matthew). It is the key of first being

able to examine yourself, look at yourself honestly, admit to

yourself your errors, sins, and where you miss the mark at times.

You must first be able to see the log of sins in your life, if

you are going to be a true effective and helpful judge of errors

and sins in other people. By doing this in your life, you will be

humble in how you try to help another with their problems of sin,

and weaknesses of the human flesh. It is not wrong to convert a

man from the error of his way (see James 5:19,20), but it must

always be done in the context of what the apostle Paul was

inspired to tell us must be the context of such righteous judging

(see Gal.6:1-3). 

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU HAND OUT YOUR TREASURES

     This may shock some people, but Jesus taught that sometimes

it is not prudent to give out the holy and fine pearls that God

gives us, to other people. 

     "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast

     your pearls before the pigs, for they may simple trample

     what you give them under their feet, and even turn and beat

     you up" (Matthew 7: 6).

     Sad to say, but some out there are so against and so hate

the holy and fine pearls of God, that they will only laugh at

them, disregard and immediately trample them under their feet,

and some may get so violently upset at what you are trying to

give them, they will literally try punching you out.

     We need wisdom in ascertaining the heart and mindset of

people towards what we know as the holy things of God. Wisdom to

know when and where and with whom, to share such holy things.

EFFECTIVE PRAYER AND REQUESTS

     Jesus also knew that praying or requesting something from

the Father in heaven, was not always answered the first time, but

it would be answered and you would receive that which is best and

good for you.

     "Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for.

     Keep on looking, and you will find it. Keep on knocking and

     the door will be opened to you." The original language of

     the New Testament shows that Jesus said it this way, KEEP ON

     asking...looking....knocking...

     Jesus continued, "For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone

     who seeks finds. And the door is opened to all who knock.

     You parents, if you have children and they ask you for a

     loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they

     should ask you for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?

     Of course not! If you being sinful people know how to give

     good things to your children, how much more then will your

     heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him."

     God the Father loves His children. He wants the very best

for them. He will give us that which He knows is good for us.

Sometimes, as James told us, we may ask amiss (James 4:3), so of

course we will not receive. The apostle John was inspired to give

us two other conditions in order to receive from the Father. "And

whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His

commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight"

(1 John 3: 22). And, "And this is the confidence we have in Him,

that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us" 

(1 John 5: 14).

     So we see that the "whatsoever we ask" must be according to

His will. We may not receive the good gift  from above (James 1:

17) immediately. So as Jesus said, we must keep on asking. Later

we shall see where Jesus gave a parable especially to teach

that God's people must not faint, but continue is prayer,

supplication, and request, and the Father will, in His time,

answer and give.

DOING GOOD TO ALL PEOPLE

     How should we live our basic day to day lives as we mingle

and converse with other people? Jesus told us how. 

     "Therefore all things whatsoever you would that people

     should do to you, do you even so to them, for this is the

     summary of all that is written in the law and the prophets."

     Most of us like to be treated by others in a nice respectful, 

even kind and helpful manner. So, said Jesus, we must likewise

treat others in the very same kind and respectful manner,

for this is what God has taught from the beginning, this is what

in the overall way, the Old Testament was teaching through its

many laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts.

THE NARROW GATE - ANOTHER SHOCKING STATEMENT

     Oh, some of the teaching and statements that Christ made are

truly shocking and in many respects quite the opposite of what a

lot of theologians of the Christians religion today tell you. A

lot of them preach that it is as easy as falling of a log to get

as they may say "to heaven." Jesus taught exactly the opposite!

     Listen to this! 

     "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the NARROW gate.

     The highway to destruction is BROAD, and its gate is WIDE

     for the many who choose the EASY WAY. But the gateway to

     eternal life is SMALL, and the road is very NARROW, and ONLY

     A FEW EVER FIND IT."

     

     Coming to Christ in repentance (knowing and acknowledging

you have sinned, that you are a sinner) may be relatively easy

(but many today who accept Christ as their Savior don't even know

what sin and repentance is), but that is just the beginning of

the road to salvation, we must continue to walk its path, to

"grow in grace and knowledge" as Peter wrote (2 Peter 3:18) and

we must make our calling and election sure by doing the things

Peter listed in 2 Peter 1: 3-11.  We must "endure to the end" as

Jesus said in Matthew 24: 13, and then we shall be saved into the

Kingdom of God.

     Yes, Jesus knew there was much more to "being saved" than

just "giving your heart to the Lord" as many preach today. The

fact is, you can think and argue with all the arguments in the

world, but the words Jesus spoke here are CLEAR and SIMPLE—  

the road to eternal life is NARROW, the doorway to enter is SMALL,

most in this life will not walk that narrow way, and only the FEW

in this age will enter the Kingdom.

FALSE PROPHETS AND FRUITS

     Jesus warned us that many would come along telling you they

were Christians, telling you they knew Christ, accepted Him as

Savior, telling you they were speaking in His name (Mat. 24:

4-5), but they would be deceivers. Here He says:

     "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless

     sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart and

     eat you up. You can detect them by the way they act, just as

     you can identify a tree by its fruit. You do not pick grapes

     from a thornbush, or figs from a thistle bush. A healthy

     tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad

     fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree

     cannot produce good fruit. So, every tree that does not

     produce good fruit is eventually chopped down and thrown

     into the fire. Yes, the way to know and identify a tree or a

     person is indeed by the kind of fruit that is produced."

     Jesus is speaking in a very personal way here, of personal

fruits, the way of life, that people live. He is not speaking

about people who have large numbers of other people following

them, as fruit. There have been some very evil men down through

the centuries, such as Hitler, in the 30s and 40s who had

hundreds of thousands devoted to him and his cause and desire to

rule the world. Having people follow you is not what Jesus was

talking about at all. It was the personal fruit of the person in

their day to day lives, how they lived according to the way of

the Lord, and how they lived in relation to others, as taught by

the Word of God.

     Jesus continued:

     "Not all people who sound religious are godly. They may

     refer to me as 'Lord, Lord,' but they still will not enter

     the Kingdom of heaven. The decisive and pivotal issue is

     whether they OBEY my Father in heaven. On judgment day many

     will tell me 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, and

     even cast out demons and evil spirits in your name, and

     performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply to

     them, 'I never knew you. Go away; you that continued to work

     lawlessness.'"

     There it is again, from the very lips of Jesus Christ

Himself, from the one that many claim to know and follow and

believe in as Savior of the world. Many want to have Jesus as

Savior but will NOT BELIEVE what He said and taught. He clearly

said you can have His name, call yourself a Christian, do all

kinds of seemingly "good" things in His very name, yet on

judgment day He, Jesus, will not know many of these people. He

will tell them He never walked with them, never lived in them. He

will tell them to depart from the Kingdom, and the main reason He

gives is that they were LAWLESS!  They did not do what He had

just said above, OBEY the Father in heaven. They were not within

the laws, commandments, statutes, and precepts, of the Father.

They did not live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of

God (Mat.4: 4). They did not do what Jesus had already expounded

previously in this sermon on the mount as we covered in Matthew

chapter 5: 17-20. 

     To ensure a place in the Kingdom Jesus went on to say,

     "Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is like a

     wise person who builds a house on a good solid rock. Though

     the rains and storms come in mighty torrents and the

     floodwater rise and the winds beat against that house, it

     will stand and not fall because it is built on rock as a

     foundation. But anyone who hears my teachings and ignores

     them is like a foolish person who builds his house upon the

     weak and shifting sand. When the rains and floods come and

     the wind blows hard against that house, it falls with a

     mighty crash."

     Believing and obeying what Jesus taught is just as important

as believing in Him as personal Savior. The two go hand in hand,

like a horse and buggy, like a car must have a steering wheel and

tires as well as a motor, to correctly move along the correct

road, so too, the whole life of a Christian must consist of

believing ON Jesus and believing IN Jesus, believing and obeying

what He taught. As one famous hymn says, "Trust and obey, for

there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and

obey."

     

     Matthew then records:

     "After Jesus finished speaking the people were amazed at His

teaching, for He taught as one who had real powerful authority -

quite unlike the lawyers of the law called scribes."

     Jesus had finished His sermon on the mount.

                  ..........................

Written September 2002