What
if you were driving down the road and saw on a church’s sign that Jesus was
preaching that next Sunday? Right there in that little church that you have
passed by so many times, Jesus was going to take the pulpit and preach a
sermon. The real Jesus, in the form of a man, but the actual Son of God, who
was there when the earth was formed and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.
I
guarantee that church would be packed and there would be news vans from all
over, parked outside, ready to broadcast that sermon. Believers and unbelievers
alike, would show up in droves.
Not
only would people show up, they would listen attentively. It would be an
amazing day.
As
a Christian, would you listen? Would you believe Him? Would you do what He
said? If you answer yes to those questions, then buckle your seat belts,
because I have news for you.
Jesus
did show up and preached a sermon to the crowds and we have the recorded words
of what He had to say. We do not need Him to come back to our churches, He has
already spoken. The truth is that He gave us a sermon and we are to listen to
it attentively. We are to believe Him. We are to do the things He said. And
what He said is radical. But Jesus said things in His sermon that needs to
change our lives and turn us upside down in how we react to people.
Open
your Bibles up and read Matthew, chapter 5 through chapter 8, verse 1. Then
read Luke 6, 17-49 for the shorter version. This morning I want to share
fourteen things Jesus preached that we, as Christians, are to do if we want to
be His disciples. Prepare yourselves; it is radical stuff and goes against
everything our natural being wants to be.
1.
Love
your enemies
2.
Do
good to those who hate you
3.
Bless
those who curse you
4.
Pray
for those who abuse you
5.
Don’t
strike back when struck
6.
Don’t
worry about what they take from you, give them even more than they take
7.
Give
to all who ask or beg
8.
Don’t
want back anything taken from you
9.
Do
unto others as you wish to be done to
10. Lend without expectation of repayment
11. Be merciful, even as God is merciful
12. Don’t judge
13. Don’t condemn
14. Give
But
there is no doubt Jesus is preaching to us and He is telling us that we are
never to react to the unjust acts of the evil world’s people as non-Christians
do.
I
suggest we study this sermon everyday of our lives and make it the goal of our process
to be more like Jesus. Jesus had the authority to command this behavior from
us. Listen to how the crowd reacted.
Matthew 7:28-29, 8:1
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
Large crowds followed Him, but the
truth is if you read the rest of His story, most of those people ended up
leaving Him. They were not true disciples because they did not want to obey the
words Jesus spoke.
How about you and me? Will we obey
this sermon? Or are we just following Him because His words amaze us and though
He speaks with authority as God, we have no intentions of making this type of sacrificial
living. We like the whole heaven idea, just not the idea of really living as Christ
calls us to. But the truth is, true disciples follow their teacher and they
obey. Unless we come to that end, we will not be where we hope to be.
Be blessed. I leave you with the
Word of God who has spoken.
Matthew 17:5
He {Peter} was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
He {Peter} was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
