Jesus climbed on a mountain and taught the crowd.
The Blessed Ones
1. The poor: Unlike the rich, the poor (in material wealth) can easily enter God’s kingdom (Mathew 19.23-24, James 2.5). The Lord wants us to be rich in spirit (Rev 3.18, Luke 12.33, Mat. 6.19-21)
2. The sorrowful: Those who mourn in this present world will be comforted in paradise.
3. The humble: The meek are blessed because they shall inherit the earth.
4. The hungry souls: Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.
5. The merciful: Those who show mercy shall receive mercy.
6. The pure in heart: The pure in heart shall see God.
7. The peacemakers: They shall be called the children of God.
8. The Persecuted: Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake shall inherit kingdom of heaven.
9. The Despised: Those who are being reviled and falsely accused by men for the sake of the Lord Jesus should rejoice and be glad, for great is their reward in heaven.
The Cursed Ones
The Rich, the Well-Fed, and the Well-Spoken off: Cursed are those who are wealthy in earthly goods. Cursed are those who are living comfortably and reputably. They would no more be comforted in the afterlife.
Salt and Light
The Christian is the salt and light of the earth. The believer must not lose his saltiness (his faith and obedience to God) but must let the light of his good deeds to shine before all men.
New Standards of Holiness
The whole law is summed up in love (Mathew 22.36-40). The old written laws could only address outward behaviors but never reached elements of the heart. The Law of Christ is written in our hearts. The law of the spirit brings its subjects to perfect holiness and accomplishes that which the old law could not do (Romans 8.2). The holiness of Christians must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees.
Anger: Unjustifiable anger is murder.
Adultery: Desiring a woman in your heart is adultery (Mathew 5. 27-28).
Oaths: Words must be without oaths. They should flow from the truthfulness of the heart.
Revenge: Do not repay evil for evil rather repay evil with good.
Love: Give cheerfully to all (the lazy, the wicked, the unthankful, the proud, the unworthy, the bad, etc.) who ask. Your reward will not come from them. It is the heavenly Father who will reward you. Love your enemies. Lend to people without expecting repayment. Pray for those who mistreat you. Greet your enemies. All these must be done from the heart and not for any other selfish motive. Love others as you love yourself.
Secret Alms, Prayer and fasting:
Alms, prayer and fasting must be done in secret unto God and not for public admiration.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in Heaven: Prayer should be addressed to the Heavenly Father and not to the god of a denomination or human.
Hallowed is your name: His name is above all other names. His name must be honored.
Thy Kingdom come: The spiritual kingdom has already come and exists in the hearts of some men. We must pray for his kingdom to reach all hearts on the earth. We must pray that he will rule the whole earth as he rules the whole of heaven.
Thy will be done on earth as it done in heaven: We must pray that all men on the earth will obey the Lord as he is obeyed in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread: We must pray that the Heavenly Father should feed us each day with the living bread (his word) as he fed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna each day. We can also pray for our daily bodily needs as well. We should pray each day for each day’s needs. We must not pray for tomorrow’s bread today.
Forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors: We must forgive those who have done us wrong as thoroughly as we have been forgiven in Christ. We owe them the humble love of forgiveness. When we forgive, our Father in Heaven will also forgive us.
Heavenly Treasure
The Lord Jesus wants man to be rich in Heaven (spiritual riches). He does not want us to store up earthly wealth. A man rich in earthly goods cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven (the rich young ruler) except he gives up his riches. Earthly treasures fade away, but heavenly treasures is for eternity.
The Lesson of the Sparrow
The birds do not plant, gather nor store yet the Heavenly Father feeds them daily. We are of more worth than many sparrows (small birds). We must trust God daily to provide for us as he provides for the birds. We must not live for earthly things as sinners do but do all we can to obey God.
Judge Not
We are not to judge anyone unto condemnation or evil punishment, for the measure we use on others will be used on us.
We are required to judge unto repentance. Tell your brother his fault to bring him to repentance. Punishment should cease once the offender repents or changes his behavior.
Ask from God
We should ask God for anything that is in accordance to his will. We must not lose faith but keep asking, seeking and knocking until we receive answers from God.
The Golden rule
Do unto your fellow man what you will love to be done to you (Mathew 7.12).
The Narrow Way
The narrow gate is the hard road of self-renunciation and loss. The wide gate is the gate of self-indulgence, riches, and independence. The right path in life is not the path that leads to wealth and self-pleasure (the wide road). The right path in life is the path that leads to life (the narrow road).
Warning on False Teachers
False Prophets are known by their fruits and not by what they teach or the signs they perform. Believers must seek the truth (to know Jesus) and not follow signs. Greed, sexually immorality, sorcery is the fruit of a false teacher. Watch out for these signs.
True followers of Christ Jesus
A true follower of Christ Jesus is one has:
Has repented of sin
Has given up his earthly riches to the poor
Loves the Lord more than any other man
Denied himself to completely obey the Lord
Obedience, simplicity and the love of God is the fruit of a true disciple of Christ. Not all who call him Lord will enter the Kingdom of (Mathew 7.21-29).