Audience: Misc Jewish followers
Biblical context: Jesus during early in his ministry delivers this message to his followers.
Message:
Blessed are those who are humble before God. -The Beatitudes. (Matt 5: 4-12, Luke 6:20-26)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Remember that you will be blessed with greater rewards when you are mistreated and hated for what's right. People have always hated and mistreated gods servants and prophets. On the other hand beware if you are rich, prideful and well accepted by worldly people for you might laugh now but in the last judgement you will weep.
Our call to be a light to the world (Matt 5:13-16)
You are supposed to be out making the world better but if you don’t do this, what are you good for? You are supposed to be a light in the world. You don't light a candle and then hide it, you put it up so everyone can see it. Live in a way that shows people who God is so they will desire to know and praise him.
Law of Moses- a preparation for a higher law. (Matt 5:17-20)
I am not here to destroy the Law of Moses. I am the fulfillment of those rituals and prophecies. In me every bit of the Law of Moses will be fulfilled and you are expected to be able to live the Law of Moses in preparation for the higher law I bring. So if you break these commandments or teach people to break them you will not be able to handle the higher laws of Gods kingdom which I am bringing to you. But if you obey them and teach others to do likewise you will be prepared to be part of Gods Kingdom. Unless you are at least as righteous the people who follow the Law of Moses, you won't be prepared to enter my kingdom.
The Higher Law. (Matt 5:21-48) (Luke 6: 27-36)
We have been taught not to kill, but I say that if you are angry without a just cause you are already sinning. Don't come and pretend you are a good person when you know in your heart you have bad feelings towards another person. Go and make things right with them so you really will be a good person. Resolve conflicts quickly so they don't escalate into a mess.
We are taught not to cheat on our wives, but I say that if you even look at another woman and desire her you are already committing adultery in your heart. So if your eyes or hands are making you sin, cut them off. It is better to go through life without an eye or a hand than to end up in hell. We have been taught that if things don't work out and we separate with our spouse to get a divorce then everything is fine. But I say that if you leave your spouse and get a divorce over something less than sexual infidelity you are causing any parties involved in this to sin.
We often make trivial promises with others that we don’t intend on keeping, but I say this is wrong. Be honest with people, keep your word and mean what you say. Say yes or no and mean it; anything else causes problems.
We have been taught to get revenge on those who harm us. But I say this is wrong. Don't return harm for harm. Just because someone mistreats you is no reason to mistreat them. Do good to others and help them. We are taught to love our friends and hate our enemies. But I say to love and do good to everyone, even those who treat us poorly. By doing so you become more like your Father in Heaven. After all, he loves all his children whether they love him back or not. So what if you love people that love you, even bad people do that. God wants us to be perfect in the way he is perfect.
Seek to please God, not your ego. ( Matt 6:1-7, 16-18, 22-24)
Don't be a like some people who do good so they can be recognized by others. Do whats right for God and God will reward you more than mankind ever could. For instance, give to the needy without expecting anything in return or praise, pray and fast personally and sincerely without thinking about if others will be impressed. You are meant to be a light to the world so people glorify God, not you. You can't have both light and darkness in you. You cannot serve two masters. You must choose who comes first, God or the desires of man, you can't have it both ways.
How we should pray. (Matt 6:7-15)
Don't pray repetitions, be sincere and remember God already knows what you need. Here is an example of what you might say:
Our Sacred Father in Heaven, may your kingdom come into the world as we do your will to make earth like it is in heaven. Bless us with what we need and forgive us for the wrong we do as we forgive those who wrong us. Help deliver us from the temptations and evils we face. In the end this is your kingdom, your power, and your glory, Amen.
You will notice in the prayer I only asked God to forgive us as we forgive others. If you don't forgive others you can't expect God to forgive you. Don't be a hypocrite.
Seeks eternal treasures. (Matt 6:16-21, 25-34)
Do not spend your life storing up material wealth which all will be gone in the end anyway. Spend it storing up things of eternal significance that will last forever. Whatever you seek indicates where your heart truly lies.
So considering all this why worry about the little things in life like how you are going to provide for yourself. God takes care of the flowers and the birds as they do what he has designed them to do, why would he not do the same for you if you just had the faith to follow him? The father knows what you need and if you seek to bring his heavenly kingdom to the earth he will give will give you everything you need. So stop worrying about tomorrow, it will take care of itself, just have faith and focus on today and what you need to do now.
Look inward first. (Matt 7:1-5)
Quit looking down on people because they have shortcomings. Keep in mind that the way your judge other people is how God is going to judge you. Why do you focus yourself on judging the little flaws in another persons life while ignoring all the huge flaws in your own. If you want to be able to help others you need to look inward first because you can't lift someone higher than you stand.
God will give you more than you can imagine. (Matt 7:6-12)
Be careful not to present precious spiritual things to those who are not ready to understand them as they generally will disregard them as foolishness. However, to those who are seeking God and to bring his kingdom to earth these things will be precious. So seek God and you will find him. He knows what you need and will give it to you. We all give our children good things and God being the greatest of all will give us greater things than we could ever imagine. So follow God and treat others as you want to be treated, that is his law and the message the prophets have been trying to convey since the beginning.
The narrow entrance to Gods path for us. (Matt 7:13-23)
You need to get on the path that leads to the destiny God has for you. Its really easy to fall into spiritual (and even temporal) destruction because there are so many big and easy paths that lead there, but Gods path has a narrow entrance and few ever find it. Therefore, you need to beware of false Prophets who may seem good on the outside but on the inside are not right. How will you be able to know the difference. A fruit tree produces fruit, in a similar way a Prophet reveals God's will. A good tree will produce good fruit. So if the things that come from a prophet is not the will of the father, it is bad fruit. Just because a person goes around saying "Lord Lord" does not mean you are part of my kingdom. Unless you do the will of God it will be as if I never knew you.
Don't just listen, go do it. (Matt 7:24-27)
So if you are hearing what I am saying, do what I am telling you. If you do you are building your life upon a solid foundation and when the storms of life rage you will have the power to withstand the storms. For those who just listen and don't do what I have said, you are like a person who built his house on sand and the storms of life are going to bring things crashing down on you.
