15/02/11

The Sermon on the Mount - the Attitude of a Christian

Matthew 5:1,2 - seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,


The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most powerful and extensive teaching of Jesus wherein He used very less symbolization but chewed the food and fed like mothers do to small infants.

The sermon was not for all people but for the disciples only therefore Jesus drew them out of the crowd and taking them to the mount spoke to them. By the amount of text which has been documented by Matthew who used to follow Jesus, it seems there were there for a long time segregated from the crowd.

The topics Jesus touched on were the Beatitudes which gave encouragement for overcoming this world [Matt 5:3-12]. Then Jesus touched upon salt and light which were to do preserving the goodness and shining it unto those who are in darkness [Matt 5:13-20]. Later He touched on personal relationships and how to respect ourselves and others [Matt 5:21-48]. After this He spoke to them about attitude when giving to the poor, standing before God and receiving from the Lord [Matt 6:1-21]. Then He spoke about sanctification of the inner-man [Matt 6:22-34]. The next area He spoke about was presumption and respecting Holy things [Matt 7:1-6]. Then He spoke on our attitude about receiving from God while giving the reality of the result and the reality of God's cannot be fooled [Matt 7:7-23]. And lastly He ended with His role in the whole matter in building the perfect person [Matt 7:24-27].

What we see from a bird's eye view of the Sermon on the Mount, it was more about the attitude of a disciple than anything else. Jesus touched every area of the attitude of discipleship on the Mount.

If we need to be a true disciple of Jesus or in other words a true Christian the most important area other than our work we need to concentrate upon is our attitude. The result is important but also important for a Christian is the means. We can not one day stand before God and say 'see Lord the number of people I made You known too' or 'see all the great things I have done in your Name'. Like Jesus said on the mount we will be given the boot if our attitude does not project God. We need to project His goodness, His mercy, His righteousness, His love, His patience, His tolerance, His perfectness etc...

There are many people spreading the Gospel, serving the needy, ministering to the sick, teaching the Bible etc. but how many of them stand as true disciples?

We are not just soldiers; we are also servants, messengers, ambassadors and royals.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You made us your children in your image. Lord as we bring your light in this dark world let us also by projecting the true You in us for this world does not know You. Lord, You are the potter, as You put us on the spinning wheel by your gentle touch guide us and mold us every day of our live. Speak to our hearts and strengthen our weak areas...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scripture ]
Matthew 5, Matthew 6 and Matthew 7


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