Two Foundations...the Wayfarer 3/20/13

Two Foundations

3/20/13

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock."

Matthew 7:24

 This week, we will be taking a look at portions one of the clearest, and most beautiful of Christ's teachings.

 the sermon on the mount as is contained in Matthew chapters 5, 6 & 7   and is reiterated again in Luke. 

We will concentrate on the scripture from Matthew.

 We will break this into parts to assure the complete coverage of this scripture.  I would ask all of you to read and study it, in its entirety as we attempt to bring light to the necessity of following Christ's teachings in our own times today. By doing this we are better able to establish an unshakable foundation built upon the rock of His teachings. This series will be given over a period of time ,interrupted by other more pressing sermons, and at times out of sequence, but we will once again complete the series this year.

Matthew 7:25-27 continues:

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."

Life is full of perils and distractions; we face them constantly in our daily dealings with our fellow man. With true faith in Christ, true salvation, we can withstand anything and everything that is arrayed against us.

vs. 27 says:

 "And everyone that heareth these saying of mine, and, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."

It is not enough to merely hear or read the teachings of Christ.

We must accept them as a basis for our lives and do them.

It is not enough for us to have as a motto for our nation, "In God we Trust."

We must live our lives in that trust and in the teachings of Christ Jesus, on which we were founded as a nation.

  All the political, financial and social problems that we have today would not exist if we as a nation followed these teachings.

 A nation, this nation,any nation, broken down to its smallest component is the individual. We are comprised of various states, counties and parishes, cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, families and individual people who compose each of these.

 To have any effect on our society, it is with the individual that we must begin.

It begins with ME.

It begins with YOU!

   Change can only come if individuals change.

That change must come from within. When it does, the influence you exert on others affects them, and that change then also happens to them.

If we found our faith in the unshakable belief in our Savior, we can, not only make a difference in our selves, but throughout the world!  Let us begin then to study, understand and put into practice those things taught by Jesus.

Mathew 5:3 begins Christ's Sermon on the Mount that we will be examining throughout the set of messages taken from  this sermon from our Lord himself:

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Being, "poor in spirit", expresses the need for humility!

 We must come to the realization that we are no better than our fellow human beings.

We may be more fortunate, have more goods, be cleaner of body, smell better, look better, drive a fancier vehicle, be more physically able etc....  than others, but none of these things make us anything, but what we all are, a human being in need of God's love, and a sinner in His sight.

 The only thing that differentiates one man from another is salvation through the grace of God. 

The preacher in the $1,000 suit, with the Cadillac limousine and a large cathedral is no different, or better than the smelly, sick, needful, homeless man begging for change on the street in the eyes of God.

Until we reach this understanding and achieve this poorness of spirit it is impossible to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

vs. 4 continues:

 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

Those who mourn their sin with a broken and contrite heart will receive the comfort of Salvation through Christ Jesus.

Those who deplore and mourn the state of our community and nation may take comfort in the absolute compassion of our Loving God, knowing that through Him all things are possible, including the ability to change all about us as well as OUR OWN  lives.

Those who mourn the loss of loved ones can take comfort in the hope and promise of the resurrection through Christ Jesus.

vs. 5 tell us:

 "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."

Webster's defines meek as:

 1. Enduring injury with patience and without resentment: mild. 2. Deficient in spirit and courage: submissive. 3. not violent or strong: moderate.  a synonym is listed as humble.

Let’s look at this

.

 Enduring, submissive, moderate.

 In order to attain the attribute of meekness, again we must humble ourselves before God and stand steadfast in His teachings.

vs. 6 states:

 "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

We must constantly seek righteousness knowing that we will be filled only by God's Holy Spirit. 

The righteousness exhibited by men is not adequate.

Righteousness is not an outward appearance or attitude to be desired, but an inner hunger and thirst to do God's will and can only be filled by pursuing that will, and the Holy Spirit.

vs. 7 says:

 "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

Only by showing mercy and forgiveness are we eligible to receive the same mercy from God.

 Do you show mercy to others who have offended you, or seek retaliation? We must be merciful to each other.

 We will go much deeper into this later on as we study the Sermon on the Mount!

vs. 8

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

There can be no hidden agenda, nor ulterior motive for the things we do.

  We should treat each other in respect of what God sees in our hearts.

 No man has the ability to divine the intent of perfection of another, only God Himself has that power.

Remember, though, that HE does have that ability.

vs. 9 continues:

 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

It is our duty to do everything possible to make peace with our fellow man.  We must seek peace with the knowledge that for us it is unobtainable without His presence among us.

vs. 10-12 states: 

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

It is here that I shall close for the time being.

 This warns us that those who would do God's will, are constantly persecuted by unbelievers and those who have no comprehension of the true meaning of righteousness.

 We see this persecution daily in the jokes told by fellow workers in factories, rumors and gossip spread throughout our neighborhoods and cities.

We see it in the defamation and derision given daily to others not quite the same ethnicity, social status or beliefs of each other, we see it in the constant efforts of unbelievers to exclude God from all local and national events.

 We see it in the politics and laws of our times that only propagate  the refusal to honor His laws.

We are, however, to rejoice in these persecutions. They are only the proof of a promise made by our Savior of greater rewards that await us.

I salute you in the name of my Savior, Christ Jesus, myself only a simple sinner, saved by God's Grace through faith only in His Son and through the sacrifice of that Son for me so long ago.

 May you be touched by His hand, and blessed by Him, until we meet again.

2 Timothy 1:12 ¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen & Amen
the Wayfarer