I plan to begin a new sermon series this Sunday from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29). In Matthew's Gospel, there is a general pattern of narrative backdrop followed by an extended portion of Jesus' teaching. You may want to read chapters 3 and 4 for the backdrop to the Sermon on the Mount.
D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, London's WWII pastor, wrote concerning this text,
If you want to have power in your life and to be blessed, go straight to the Sermon on the Mount. Live and practice it and give yourself to it... Face the Sermon on the Mount and its implications and demands, see your utter need, and then you will get it. It is the direct road to blessing.
...I suggest to you it [this passage of Scripture] is the best means of evangelism... The world today is looking for, and desperately needs, true Christians.
...If only all of us were living the Sermon on the Mount, men would know that there is dynamic in the Christian gospel; they would know that this is a live thing; they would not go looking for anything else. They would say, 'Here it is.' And if you read the history of the Church you will find it has always been when men and women have taken this sermon seriously and faced themselves in the light of it, that true revival has come. And when the world sees the truly Christian man, it not only feels condemned, it is drawn, it is attracted."
Looking forward to this series. Pastor, I am praying for the Holy Spirit to work in you and through you to proclaim these truths.
ReplyDeleteAfter this morning's message, I looking forward to the series even more. Will be doing my homework.
ReplyDeleteThank you pastor for setting a firm foundation of scripture that we can build upon for this series.
ReplyDeleteGreat message. I am looking forward to the rest of the series as well. I appreciated your insight into the temptation of Christ. The place where so many people find themselves, trying to clean up enough to come to God that Israel had been also. They thought their obedience would bring about the kingdom. You stated in your message, "Their obedience wasn't going to usher in the kingdom but the kingdom broke into their disobedience. Jesus Christ comes and breaks in. God says of him, 'This is my Son with whom I am well pleased. My fully perfect, completely obedient Son. He is the obedience I look for.'" That is the message the unsaved need to hear that Jesus wants to break into their disobedience. And for the saved, it cries out even more of how amazing God's grace truly is.
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