Sermon on the Mount

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Kids’ Zone

1 Samuel 3:1–10 CSB

1 The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread. 2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. 3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Then the LORD gave Samuel specific instructions to tell Pastor Eli a message - a message that Pastor Eli already knew, but he wasn’t listening to the Lord.

So Samuel did - and everything the Lord told Samuel about Eli and his family came true.

Then scripture says 1 Samuel 3:19-21

1 Samuel 3:19–21 CSB

19 Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word.

BIG IDEA: God wants to speak to me! He knows me by name, and wants me to be His messenger to the world.

Intro

Things change when God speaks.

Throughout scripture, we read of moments in history where God had a one-on-one conversation with a person.

Genesis mentions several occasions where God actually sought out and met and conversed with people.

We have Adam and Eve in the garden - where God had regular meetings with them before their fall.

We read about Cain where God spoke to him directly after Cain killed his brother, Abel.

We read about Noah, when God was fed up with humanity’s wickedness and scripture says God relented He even made man - but He found a friend in Noah, and through Noah, the world continued.

We read about Abraham, and God met with Abraham and sat and broke bread with him and prophesied into Abraham’s life - changing the course of world history.

We read where God spoke directly to Moses several times (we remember the burning bush moment). But God also met Moses, and his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, and how he had to intervene in their sibling squabble because - essentially Moses entered into an inter-racial marriage.

Samuel had a direct encounter with God when God called Samuel by name as a child. And Samuel grew in favor with the Lord and became a mighty prophet for the Lord’s glory.

Joshua, Gideon, Elijah, King Belshazzar, Job - they all had holy encounters with God meeting them at a place in time and conversed with them. Some were positive, some were negative - but all were Holy moments.

It should be no surprise then that GOD would also want to speak with you and me - personally.

Acts 10:34–35 CSB

34 Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

Sermon on the Mount

(Reflections on Matthew 1-4)

Matthew and Luke give accounts of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew gives context to where Jesus came from in the first two chapters.

Then in chapter 3, John the Baptist recognizes Jesus as the Anointed One whom John said he unworthy to untie Jesus’s sandals. Jesus is then launched in to ministry at His water baptism.

Immediately, in chapter 4, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tested and tempted. He successfully defeats Satan with the Word of God - having been tempted in every way you and I are but never sinned.

Jesus never failed.

Matthew there records that Jesus then goes and chooses His disciples - He goes teaching in synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

The sick. The pain-suffering. The demon-possessed. The epileptics. And the paralytics.

He healed them all.

And so there’s this gathering now from all over - Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan river.

Luke’s account in Luke chapter 6 notes the same actions were taking place and people were even coming from Tyre and Sidon.

Jesus has a following. The miraculous is taking place. People are making effort just to even touch Him as He walked through the crowds to receive the deliverance . The Kingdom of God is near to man.

And in a moment, Jesus stops, sits down, and begins to speak.

God has come down from Heaven, sat down with the multitude, and He, God, gave a sermon.

God wants to speak into your life.

There may be some of us here today that feel God’s presence more like God’s judgment. Maybe many times, we feel more concerned that if God is speaking to us it’s bringing more rebuke and wrath than real change.

Sometimes that’s true.

But the overarching theme as we read the Bible is that God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that by through Him we might be SAVED.

And this is the paradox that we find ourselves in when trying to relate to who God is.

Yes, He is Holy, He is an All-Consuming Fire, He is Judge and Perfectly Judges the world.

AND yet, He is merciful. He is full of grace. He is compassionate. He is love. And His desire is to save you from His own wrath.

It’s like sometimes when you come to God you flip a coin in not knowing which side of God you’re going to get.

God of Love, or God of Wrath.

Two-Face. Any Batman fans in the crowd today? Two-Face is one of my favorite characters in the Batman comic. The writers have so much flexibility with the character - sometimes he’s good, and often he’s psychotically evil. Harvey Dent is Bruce Wayne’s friend, but Two-Face is Batman’s nemesis. Two-Face always has a coin - he makes his judgments on people with the flip of a coin - ending in either mercy, or his judgment.

Sometimes this is how we identify God - as a two-faced monster playing with your soul - pleading Him to help you with your needs while simultaneously hoping He doesn’t smite you when you walk through His doors.

I want to submit to you this morning that the Sermon on the Mount is like that coin.

A coin where one side has the Face of God that we pray - Numbers 6:24-26

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

And the tales side is where God’s face is turned from us, His rejection is upon us. Like it says in Isaiah 59:2

Isaiah 59:2 CSB

2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.

A coin of judgment presented before you and me today.

But God wants to speak into your life.

Instead of God flipping the coin of judgment on your life this morning, He presents the coin to you.

He presents the coin to you and me today and says CHOOSE.

Joshua 24:15 (CSB)

15 But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship—the gods your ancestors worshiped or the gods in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”

GOD SPEAKS BLESSING

Jesus, in His first recorded sermon, lays out the Kingdom of God, and what is not.

And Jesus speaks with reassurance to you and me:

God wants to speak into your life.

Matthew 5:3–10 CSB

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

God wants to speak into your life. God wants to speak blessing into your life.

God -

Nehemiah 9:6 CSB

6 You, Lord, are the only God. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their stars, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and all the stars of heaven worship you.

This God that we read in Gen 1.

Genesis 1:1–3 CSB

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

This GOD who David referenced in

Psalm 33:6 CSB

6 The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth.

This same GOD who knows you and we declare

Psalm 139:14 CSB

14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.

Jesus pronounces both blessings and woes throughout His sermon.

Although Jesus’ disciples - that’s Jesus followers and believers - we may be marginalized in this world now, we are blessed because of our identification with him, to include eternally in the future.

On the other side of the coin, those who do not follow Jesus and seek the blessings of this world now will experience condemnation in the future.

Some view God as Two-Face, one side angelic savior, the other wrathful judge.

In reality, it’s AND.

He’s angelic Savior AND wrathful judge.

He places the choice in our hands.

God wants to speak into our lives.

Jesus’s First Speech to the Masses

Matthew 5:1–2 CSB

1 When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to teach them, saying:

Jesus’s first speech to the masses - God, as Emmanuel, His first sermon tells us everything we need to know about God’s character and disposition towards you and me.

We call them the Beatitudes - what it is to be blessed; and what it takes to live a blessed life.

God’s desire is for you to live a blessed life. And we read - in the red letters - that God as the center of your life is what leads to a blessed life.

God wants to speak into your life. Won’t you let Him?

Won’t you let Him in? He’s all good. He’s perfect. His love is unwavering. His children provided for. His kingdom establishes peace with God.

Wont’ you love Him?

Closing

God is God anywhere and everywhere. Yet when we look at several moments in History - God has a special place on the mountain.

The mountains are spectacular here. As we drive through the Alps, I’m always amazed at God’s handiwork - how by His hands this earth is formed.

That’s a lot of earth.

Holy moments happen on mountain tops. I actually encourage you to find some personal mountain experiences while you’re here.

God’s provided this opportunity for you and me to be here - geographically, and spiritually.

I love how 1 Samuel 3:19

1 Samuel 3:19 (CSB)

19 Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he “never let Samuel’s words fall to the ground”. (he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied)

What if your blessedness this morning totally rests on the words you’re telling yourself today about who God is - and your involvement with His word for you?

Would you redirect your path? Would you change your course in life? Would you turn your ear more towards what He has to say to you?

Psalm 145:8 CSB

8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love.

He’s calling you by name this morning. He’s taken a seat, He’s inviting you to come near, and He wants to speak into your life.