Below, I summarize Jesus’s instructions in His first sermon with links to the related post to learn more.
Matthew 5:13-20 – Be the salt and light for the world by showing our faith by our good works and giving glory to our Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:21-24 – Do not murder by being angry and insulting a fellow Christian; instead, seek peace.
Matthew 5:25-26 – Appeal to your accuser and make it right with the person you wronged.
Matthew 5:27-32 – How to control defiling thoughts of lust.
Matthew 5:33-37 – Do not take oaths. Let your “yes” be yes, and your “no” be no.
Matthew 5:38-39 – Do not retaliate.
Matthew 5:40-41 – Give extra to those who ask.
Matthew 5:42 – Give to beggars and borrowers.
Matthew 5:43-48 – Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 6:1-4 – Do not practice your righteousness to be noticed by others.
Matthew 6:5-15 – Pray to your Father in heaven and forgive anyone who has sinned against you, just as your Father in heaven has forgiven you.
Matthew 6:16-18 – Do not fast or give to be noticed by others. Our reward is from God.
The Wise Person Helps the Poor
Matthew 6:19-24 – Serve God, not money.
Matthew 6:25-34 – Do not be anxious (concerned) about anything but seek first God’s kingdom.
Matthew 7:1-6 – Be careful how you judge.
Matthew 7:7-11 – Ask, seek, and knock through prayer and expect answers.
Matthew 7:12 – Treat others as you would have them treat you.
Matthew 7:13-14 – Enter by the narrow gate and not by the wide gate that leads to destruction.
Matthew 7:15-20 – Recognize false teachers by their fruit and avoid them.
Matthew 7:21-23 – Do your heavenly Father’s will to enter His kingdom.
What is your impression of Jesus’s first sermon? Would you attend His church if He was the pastor, and you heard this sermon? No doubt, His teachings are hard to understand and follow in our earthly minds. Understanding Jesus’s lessons requires the Holy Spirit’s help. For those who received Jesus by grace through faith are raised up and seated in the heavenly place with Him (Eph. 2:4-9). So we need to set our minds on the things above, and then Jesus’s teachings will make sense (Col. 3:1-2). Jesus’s first sermon is about being heavenly-minded, not earthly-minded. He begins by telling us how we will be blessed when we focus our fleshly minds on what is important to God and His Kingdom. The rest of His sermon is about how a citizen of heaven lives as an ambassador on earth (Phil. 3:20 and 2 Cor. 5:20). Jesus said we are to be the light and salt on the earth by doing what He wants us to do.
Building On a Rock Verses Sand.
Jesus ends His sermon with this analogy. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” ̶ Matthew 7:24-27.
What rock should we build our house on?
If Jesus Christ is our rock, then by faith in Him we will stand firm. Romans 9:33 states, “As it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” And 1 Peter 2:6-8 tells us, “For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ 7-8So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” When we stand firm in our faith in Jesus and obey his instructions, we will not be destroyed by the storms that will certainly come. So, when people fall away from the Lord, it is because they have a shallow faith and do not obey His instructions.
Jesus taught us what He expects of us if we were to be wise and follow Him. Building on a rock gives your house a solid foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:11 states, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Obey Jesus’s instructions and build your spiritual lives on His truths, then you will not fall. If you ignore His instructions and build your life on the sands of self-centered living, human opinions, unhealthy beliefs, and worldly wisdom your life will fall apart. You will know who is Christ-centered and built their spiritual life on the rock because they won’t be destroyed when trials and difficulties come. Likewise, those who fall away and leave the church because of being offended, their spiritual life was built on the sands of self-centered living.
Conclusion
Too many Christians have a casual interest in Jesus’s teachings and do not want to follow and obey Him. Jesus is not hell insurance. He wants a love relationship with us. Do you love Jesus Christ and desire to obey His instructions? Only those who love Jesus will obey Him and do His will. Jesus tells us in John 14:21, 23, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Verse 23, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Also, John 13:35 tells us, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” So, if you were to be arrested and taken into a courtroom, what is the evidence to show that you love Jesus and love others?
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