Of all the great sermons that have been preached many believe that the Sermon on the Mount was the greatest. The author and preacher were both God in the flesh. The sermon challenged popular misconceptions about God’s Law. People who once looked at Ten Commandments as their comfortable old friend were now forced to see it as the horrifying mirror God created it to be.
No longer were thoughts safe. Could an unkind word warrant an eternity in hell? A slip of God’s name in a careless oath wasn’t allowed. Who had ever considered ripping out an eye or lopping off a hand until Jesus asked which is better? “Should I enter hell a whole person, or enter glory maimed?” God doesn’t really want eyes popped out, but he does want us to consider the seriousness of our sin.
There are sermons, Bible Classes, and blog posts galore over the little gems we call the beatitudes. How does every Christian mourn and how will every Christian be comforted? Watch and find out.
Before I leave you, consider this one last damning question. Does God really want perfection?! Let’s back up a second. Is God perfect? The answer Scripture offers leaves no other option. God is not only perfect in every way, but he is perfectly loving and just at the same time. In last week’s sermon from the Gospel of Luke Jesus called all fathers on earth evil. He wasn’t trying to be critical – he said we knew how to give good gifts. He was comparing our Heavenly Father to all fathers. In that comparison all fathers are evil. None of us is perfect. Other faiths, even some under the banner of Christianity, try to water down this last crushing command. The problem is that when they do so they weaken the message of the greatest sermon ever told. More importantly they weaken a Savior whose sacrifice was enough to cover the sin of the world.
This is the sixth Bible Class on our summer series – VIC: Very Important Chapters of the Bible.
Please click HERE to view the Bible Class slides.