Studying through the...

Sermon on the Mount has been eye-opening, toe-stomping, heart-twisting, soul-convicting, mind-changing truth. A top item on my list of being thankful this year is having been given the time and privilege to really dig into the Sermon on the Mount, and find treasure.

Seeing how the Sermon is connected, how the teaching builds upon itself and reinforces itself is greatly encouraging and instructive. It also makes me grieve for how often and erroneously verses are lifted out of the Sermon's context and used as so much battle axe weaponry or smoke and mirrors magic in the Church, among the flock. Ironically, a large portion of the Sermon is Jesus' strong rebuke of the Pharisees for doing the very same thing to God's Word. He condemns their hypocrisy and mistaken practices without mincing words or sidestepping feelings. With particular care and specifics, Jesus instructs His disciples to live according to His Father's Word--all that is within the Law and Prophets.

From Jesus' description of the essential elements of Christian character described in the Beatitudes to the salt and light influence that a Christian will have to Matthew 5:20 when Jesus requires divine righteousness vested in saving faith versus Pharisaical external righteousness to the practical applications of how distinctive living looks, speaks, and acts. In every teaching Jesus' words are not only connected by His authority but also by how the concepts relate to one another.

Jesus is the King, teaching about His Kingdom, instructing His disciples what they must believe and how they must live to be vital members of the Kingdom. If you are looking for an area of study for this holiday season, I encourage you to read and thoroughly study with a humble heart Jesus' instruction in Matthew 5-7. It's not a program to change your life. It's the Living Word of God to renew your mind and transform your life to the person and will of Christ. May God bless diligence submitted to Him.