JESUS GIVES US A PICTURE OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER (1 OF 9)
by Jerry Branch
Scripture: MATTHEW 4:23-25, MATTHEW 5:1-2
This content is part of a series.
The Christian Pathway (1 of 9)
Jesus Gives Us a Picture of Christian Character
Gerald D. Branch
Matthew 4:23-5:2
12-28-03
Regarding the Sermon on the Mount, a great preacher and commentator once wrote, "It is as if our Lord says, 'because you are what you are, this is how you will face the law and how you will live it." (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, p. 28)
I want to start today by asking that statement turned into a question...how do you face God's Word and live it?
I believe we all struggle with this at times. Sometimes we wrestle with it until we just give up, and go on and try to do the best we can.
Other times, I believe we give up before we even attempt to wrestle with God's Word, because we know it won't be easy.
So, why then should we look hard at the Sermon on the Mount, which is one of those passages that forces us into wrestling with what it says?
There are probably a lot of good reasons that might come to mind...
We could do so, because it was spoken by Jesus.
We could do so, because we want to find out how to live better.
We could do so, because we want to find out how to have blessings.
In many ways, those are ALL good reasons for looking at this passage that we call the Sermon on the Mount.
From my standpoint as a preacher, though, to preach on the Sermon on the Mount, is not something that I just one day make a decision to preach...because as a preacher of God's Word, I have to have a particular reason to preach on any and every subject or passage...in other words, IF I am going to be true to my calling as a preacher of the Gospel, I simply cannot just decide to preach on the hot topic of the day, like for instance using today's current events, like the Iraq war...it would be easy to say to myself...hmmm...that's something the people could relate to, and now is a good time to tell them what is right or wrong in our country for being involved in this 'war'...no....I can't just make a decis ...
Jesus Gives Us a Picture of Christian Character
Gerald D. Branch
Matthew 4:23-5:2
12-28-03
Regarding the Sermon on the Mount, a great preacher and commentator once wrote, "It is as if our Lord says, 'because you are what you are, this is how you will face the law and how you will live it." (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, p. 28)
I want to start today by asking that statement turned into a question...how do you face God's Word and live it?
I believe we all struggle with this at times. Sometimes we wrestle with it until we just give up, and go on and try to do the best we can.
Other times, I believe we give up before we even attempt to wrestle with God's Word, because we know it won't be easy.
So, why then should we look hard at the Sermon on the Mount, which is one of those passages that forces us into wrestling with what it says?
There are probably a lot of good reasons that might come to mind...
We could do so, because it was spoken by Jesus.
We could do so, because we want to find out how to live better.
We could do so, because we want to find out how to have blessings.
In many ways, those are ALL good reasons for looking at this passage that we call the Sermon on the Mount.
From my standpoint as a preacher, though, to preach on the Sermon on the Mount, is not something that I just one day make a decision to preach...because as a preacher of God's Word, I have to have a particular reason to preach on any and every subject or passage...in other words, IF I am going to be true to my calling as a preacher of the Gospel, I simply cannot just decide to preach on the hot topic of the day, like for instance using today's current events, like the Iraq war...it would be easy to say to myself...hmmm...that's something the people could relate to, and now is a good time to tell them what is right or wrong in our country for being involved in this 'war'...no....I can't just make a decis ...
There are 16884 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
