James, a comentary on the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
I. Rejoice and be glad in your trials
I. Rejoice and be glad in your trials
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
II. Be perfect and complete
II. Be perfect and complete
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
III. Ask your good and wise God who loves to give good things
III. Ask your good and wise God who loves to give good things
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
IV. Avoid sinful anger before a righteous God
IV. Avoid sinful anger before a righteous God
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
V. Be doers, not just hearers of, of the Word.
V. Be doers, not just hearers of, of the Word.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
VI. God’s heart for the poor in the kingdom
VI. God’s heart for the poor in the kingdom
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
VII. The necessity of righteousness
VII. The necessity of righteousness
“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
VIII. Mercy to the merciful
VIII. Mercy to the merciful
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
IX. Recognize them by their fruits
IX. Recognize them by their fruits
“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
X. Blessed are the peacemakers
X. Blessed are the peacemakers
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
XI. Ask and receive
XI. Ask and receive
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
XII. You cannot serve God and be friends with the world.
XII. You cannot serve God and be friends with the world.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
XII. Blessed are the mourners
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
XIII. Be slow to judge
XIII. Be slow to judge
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
XIV. God’s provision for tomorrow
XIV. God’s provision for tomorrow
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
XV. Do not lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy
XV. Do not lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
XVI. The example of the prophets
XVI. The example of the prophets
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
XVII. Do not swear oaths
XVII. Do not swear oaths
Matthew 5:33–37 (NASB95)
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.