Sermon on the Mount - Part 1

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I invite you to consider listening to the audio version of the note today. I suggest setting aside an hour and a half of your day for this purpose. Think of it as sampling from hearing the Word of GOD. For an even fuller experience, consider another 2 hours or so, to listen to Mike from around the World of COT, too. (Link provided below or on the BlogSpot post on the link above)

Audio Version of the Note (Please Note: The Audio Version is downloadable from SoundCloud)

The House of Bread · Voice Note For 20240921 - Matthew 5 KJV - Sermon On The Mount - Part 1

Matthew 5 KJV

Verses 1-20

[1] And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: [2] and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, [3] Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven. [4] Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. [5] Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. [7] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. [10] Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of heaven. [11] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. [12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. [13] Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. [14] Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. [15] Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. [16] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. [17] Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. [18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. [19] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20] For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.5.1-20.KJV

Note for 20240921

Today, we start with a brief read of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to the multitude that was following Him. Because the Word was preserved for us, we can sit down as if we are on that mountain too. This, for us, follows on our completion of the Book of Revelation, so we are reading it with our destination set on the mountain of GOD and to that Great New City, the New Jerusalem.

Here we first hear of all those that will be blessed. Now you must know that if Christ our Lord said it, it is the Truth. As we learned in Revelation, we can overcome the beast by the Blood of The Lamb, and by the word of our testimony for Christ. But, we must not love our lives unto death. What does that mean?

Let us look at the next two verses in this chapter...

[11] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. [12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Let's look at the verse before it too...

[9] Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Do you remember reading about the city that is on a hill, and the light that lights up the whole house? What of the works of righteousness? What we do and say is the light of Christ in us, if we truly follow Him. Yes, our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. Our lives must testify of Christ, in word and deed. So that His light may shine in us.

Did Christ come to do away with the Law, or to fulfill it? Are we in Christ? Are we the Body of Christ, to Whom do we belong? Who guides our steps? Who is a Lamp unto our feet? By Whom did our instruction come?

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

To follow Christ requires an active participation in the ways of righteousness. It is obedience to the law, not for the fear of death, for our sin is forgiven, but in the love of Christ, for that is how He shall know that we love Him. That we love our Father in Heaven with all of our mind, all of our heart and all of our strength, and our neighbour as yourself. Yes, even to love our enemy, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood. If we are the Body of Christ, which arms shall then reach out to embrace the lost? We sometimes forget that we still stand in a period of grace and mercy. We come with a rod, forgetting that Christ himself will rule with that. No, we are to love and embrace to bring the lost back into the house of GOD. Love covers a multitude of sin, and heals the weary traveler.

So, yes, we can look at the blessings that Christ spoke out for us. But if we cannot embrace the love of Christ, then we will not have part in it. Who will be the help of the orphans? Who will comfort the widows?

Active participation in righteousness, for all will be rewarded (as we read in Revelation) according to their works.

[6] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. [7] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

If it is not in you, how can you give it? If you do not know the Word, how can you follow Him?

Shalom

Exodus 20 - The LAW

Since the The Lord did not come to destroy the law, or the prophets; but to fulfill it; let’s read the LAW as given by Moses.

Exodus 20:1-17 KJV

[1] And God spake all these words, saying, [2] I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: [5] thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; [6] and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. [7] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. [8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [10] but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: [11] for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. [12] Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. [13] Thou shalt not kill. [14] Thou shalt not commit adultery. [15] Thou shalt not steal. [16] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. [17] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

https://bible.com/bible/1/exo.20.1-17.KJV

From the Prophets

Let us remind ourselves from the prophets about what is to come. As it happens, brother Phil sent this to me to read this morning.

Zechariah 14:1-21 KJV

[1] Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. [4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. [6] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: [7] but it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. [8] And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. [9] And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. [10] All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. [11] And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. [12] And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. [14] And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. [15] And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. [16] And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. [18] And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. [19] This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. [20] In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE Lord; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. [21] Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

https://bible.com/bible/1/zec.14.1-21.KJV