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No Falling Word
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Jesus warned His followers to beware of practicing their righteousness before men, and that they couldn’t deceive their Father in heaven, because He sees the heart and judges accordingly. Liam Goligher continues his series on The Sermon on the Mount, and warns us to do everything as under the eye of God and for His eternal reward.
The Beatitudes present a picture of what a Christian’s life should look like, and Jesus makes a sharp contrast between the lives of the Pharisees and the lives of His followers. Yet the Pharisees were respected and took their religion seriously. What was it about these leaders that drew Jesus’ wrath?
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day created a complicated system of man-made rules that had its roots in the wrong interpretation of God’s Law. Join Liam Goligher as he continues his study of The Sermon on the Mount from Matthew chapter 5, as Jesus give us six illustrations of how we are to apply the spirit of the law, and what it means to have “the Law written on our hearts”.
As Christians living in the age of grace, we’re prone to diminish the importance of the Law as a thing of the past. But Jesus’ own words show that the Law didn’t end with His coming. Jesus never claimed to do away with the Law that He, Himself, as law-giver set down for His people. What, then is the role of the Old Testament Law in the lives of New Testament believers?
How are today’s believers supposed to interpret the Law of the Old Testament? Is it a series of harsh rules that must be lived by, in order to gain God’s acceptance, or did God have another purpose in mind for His Law in this age of grace? The Law, rightly understood, does nothing to oppose the Gospel, but goes hand-in-hand with it, showing us what a life should look like that has been saved by grace.
Most of us would relegate the Law to the teachings of the Old Testament. We believe that rules and regulations have little place in the age of grace in which we live. We might be surprised, however to learn that this was not what Jesus taught.
An old hymn of the faith proclaims “The light of the world is Jesus,” but the world has neither looked to the Light, nor understood it. The world looks, instead, for other light of its own making.
God has promised an inheritance for His people, and that inheritance is entrance into the kingdom of heaven and everlasting joy. Before that time comes, however, Christians will be reviled and face persecution from the people of this age. Out of those hard experiences we’re not to be defeated or cast down. We’re to play an important role in God’s plan of redemption. Turn to Matthew chapter 5 as Liam Goligher shows us that we have a great influence on the world around, and that we are not to someday become salt and light, but as followers of Jesus Christ, we already are salt and light and we impact this age with our very presence.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount paints a picture of the elements of the proper heart condition of His followers. It was meant for those who had experienced the “new life” in Christ, a relationship which would allow them to face persecution in an entirely different way from the world’s norms. Turn to Matthew chapter 5 as Liam Goligher shows us that the Beatitudes were really meant to reflect the inward heart condition and the outward actions of a life totally surrendered to Jesus.
The Sermon on the Mount’s been interpreted in many ways by many people. It’s been labelled a lesson on morality, a pattern for living, and the rule book of a great teacher. But Jesus’ well-known message had only one meaning, and was meant for only one people. Turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 5 as Liam Goligher reveals that the instructions in Christ’s great sermon were not meant as a moral compass for mankind, but for those who are members of the Kingdom of God.