READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary | The pursuit of materialistic happiness will disappoint over time. But Jesus’ Sermon of the Mount shows us what it means to be truly happy and how Christians should live. It contains the central tenets of Christian discipleship.
The teaching completely reverses the values of what our world teaches. In the Beatitudes, Jesus promises that even our mourning, sufferings and persecutions can lead us to true happiness and a blessed life. While we may not perfectly live out the values and ethical teachings, it is neither impractical nor irrelevant to our lives. In history, many Christians have demonstrated that it is possible to live such a life.
Jesus expects all Christians to live out His teachings in our daily lives. We are to be the salt and light of the world, so that when others look at us, they may glorify and believe in God. We stand as beacons of hope to a world that is decaying and plunged into darkness.
The greatest failure of the church is not our poor evangelism, but our poor discipleship. Christians who fail to be true disciples lose their saltiness and light and become just like the world. Others will not see Jesus unless they first see Him in our lives.
Jesus came not just to fulfil the law, but also to transform the inward attitude of our hearts. God’s law of love is as indiscriminate as God’s sunshine and rain. (Matt 5:45) If our spiritual eyes are healthy, we would see the difference between the temporal and eternal. (Matt 6:22-23) We came with nothing into this world and we will not take anything, not a single cent, out of this world.
The Sermon on the Mount teaches us the wisdom from God, and invites us to re-orient our values, vision, and habits from the ways of the world to whole-heartedness toward God. This is not the law; it is the gospel, the good news and grace. We are invited into a life in God’s kingdom both now and in the future age.
We can either foolishly build our lives on sand or on a rock so the house will stand firm through the fiercest storms of life. Anyone who hears and practices Jesus’ teaching is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. (Matt 7:24-27) This is practical religion and intentional discipleship at its best. Jesus teaches us to be pure, to be peace makers, to live simply and practice true piety before God and men. God has given us the Holy Spirit, His grace and power to live as He taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Do you agree with the preacher that ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ is a teaching that is to be obeyed by all disciples of Christ here on earth and not when we get to heaven? Please elaborate on your responses.
2. What are the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount that you find difficult to obey and live out in your life?
3. Do you agree with the preacher when he says that the greatest failure of the church is not our poor evangelism but our poor discipleship? Please elaborate on your responses.
4. Do you think it is possible to live out the teachings on the Sermon on the Mount?
5. What changes would you have to make to live out the teachings on ‘The Sermon on the Mount” to be an intentional disciple of Christ?
