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When we come to Matthew Chapter 5 and verse 43Jesus teaches his disciples, “Love your enemies”, but what does this really mean? Will we ever understand it and will we ever be able to put these commanding words of Jesus Christ into practice?

1 - Love your enemies. What does Jesus mean? It is the word ‘agape’. It describes a particular kind of love – a love for those who do not love us – for those who do not deserve our love – it is an unconditional love – it is the love God has for the sinner.

We are not to wait for…  ( Click for more )

Matthew Chapter 5 verses 43 to 48 – We are reading something of the climax about a righteousness which comes from the heart. There is no value in having a superficial Christianity, and we soon see that reality as Jesus challenges us and confronts us regarding the ways in which we live.

It was thrilling to follow Jesus. He was an exciting person to be with, and here he is sitting down and telling the disciples what type of person they were to become and be. He is teaching – no murder, even by what you say – no adultery – not even a lustful look –…  ( Click for more )

We come to this teaching of Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter 5 and at verse 42. Give to the one who asks. Do not run away from the one who wants to borrow. There may be some unknown reason, as to why someone wants to borrow.

Do not stand on your dignity. Jesus is asking for more than mere non-retaliation. Take positive steps. Be actively generous. It is all so very personal.

This is how we, as disciples of Jesus, can become the salt and the light. We cannot apply this to others.

Jesus is challenging the social trends. These can go against the grain. …  ( Click for more )

We are slowly making our way through the Sermon on the Mount and we reach Matthew Chapter 5 and verses 38 to 42. Are these sections not deeply challenging? They are so relevant and so bang up to date.

Jesus Christ is speaking about how His disciples must be different from everybody else. We are not to do things to be seen – or to be hard or harsh.

Our righteousness – our rightness – is to be from the heart.

This is why these challenges strike so deeply – because they go to the heart.

The Pharisees would go to the Temple and tell…  ( Click for more )

We are reading, and hopefully studying, in Matthew Chapter 5, and we come to this passage beginning at verse 33. We are in what is called the Sermon on the Mount and we have looked at the Beatitudes and Jesus’ speaking about salt and light, and how Jesus came to fulfil the law. We have looked at murder, and settling matters quickly, and adultery, and divorce. These are not ‘easy studies’ but it is Jesus Christ who deals with these topics, when teaching those whom he has called.

Jesus is describing the Christian life – the life of the disciple.

Jesus…  ( Click for more )

When we come to Matthew Chapter 5 and verse 31, Jesus speaks about divorce, and the Church, as I have seen it, has been woolly on this one too. Jesus goes beyond the legal and the superficial.

People were taking the Old Testament law to justify or defend their own wrong doing. The Pharisees and the Scribes were experts at doing this.

This passage could be preached and interpreted hurtfully, if dealt with insensitively.

This passage can raise deep wounds and bring to the surface painful memories.

Now, bear with me. This is not easy, because we do not know the background…  ( Click for more )

When we come to Matthew Chapter and verse 27, Jesus moves on from the 6th Commandment to the 7th Commandment. Do not commit adultery.

Have you noticed how Jesus is dealing with highly relevant and practical issues in the Sermon on the Mount?

We come to a section which could be called – How to avoid sexual sins – and How to avoid divorce. Are we in the moral mess we are in today because these topics have not been taught by the Church of Jesus Christ?

Let us not blame people out there, if we have been silent on these issues.

In heaven, the thoughts of…  ( Click for more )

We come to Matthew Chapter 5 and Verse 21. So we can sit back and think – we are all right on this one – we have not murdered – we have not criminally killed anyone – but, Jesus takes it further. What have your thoughts been – your attitudes – has there been a wrong type of anger in your hearts?

If you say RACA – calling someone a blockhead – or some other seriously negative term – it is this that Jesus is speaking about, as Jesus goes to the heart of the problem – referring to an ill spoken or harsh word. We can…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 5 and we come to verse 21, Jesus Christ is speaking. Our Saviour and Lord is teaching. We keep hearing people say – if only we could live by the teaching of Jesus and not have all this ‘church business’ and ‘theology’ – and if only we could live by His teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, it would all be so much easier! Well, as we have seen already, it is not that easy, and as we read on it does not become easier. It is hard to live like this, even with the presence and help of Jesus and His Word and the Power of the Holy…  ( Click for more )

This is not an easy section of the Sermon on the Mount as we take time to hear Jesus speak about the important of the Old Testament, but as we read through these Chapters in Matthew we can discover that there are no ‘easy sections’ and we have to wrestle with these challenging words of Jesus. We are in Matthew Chapter 5 moving on from verse 17. Do bear with me. This is the teaching of Jesus and we need to understand something of the background.

The Old Testament indicates the reality of sin, and the power of sin, and its devastating effects. We see the problem,…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 5 we have these words of Jesus concerning the law and the prophets and his high regard for these writings. In the Old Testament, God is speaking and saying something specific. Often we have these words, “Thus says the Lord”. Almighty God is speaking – therefore, we should pay attention. Jesus Christ comes to fulfil everything that the prophets said Messiah would fulfil.

God speaks so clearly to Moses – commanding him – and one of the things God is doing as He delivers the Israelis from slavery in Egypt is reminding them they…  ( Click for more )

We are reading Matthew Chapter 5 and at verse 17, where we see that it is possible to think wrongly. It is possible to think in a wrong way about what Jesus Christ came to do, and to think wrongly about the Word of God, and about what God wants us to do as disciples of Jesus.

Jesus Christ came to fulfil the law and the prophets, and yet Jesus was not a legalist.

If fact, Jesus got into trouble with the religious leaders of the day because He did not do what they thought he should be doing.

Jesus came to fulfil the law, and Jesus speaks highly of the writings of Moses…  ( Click for more )

As we come to Matthew Chapter 5 and verse 14, Jesus continues to teach – you are not only salt – you are the light of the world.

The fruitful life is like a lamp.

That seed which germinates and grows transforms that man into a lamp.

The main purpose of a lamp is to shine - to illumine - to enlighten.

The true disciple of Jesus Christ is like a lighthouse. He gives light to guide other travellers - but he also warns of the dangers. Not everybody appreciates the second aspect of the lighthouse.

To hide the light which God gives us is SIN.…  ( Click for more )

Living this kind of life taught by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew Chapter 5, affects not only the disciple, but also affects and influences those around us. These are well known biblical phrases, in verses 13,14.

We have the characteristics of the disciple of Jesus in these earlier verses, and now right away we are encouraged to impact the world.

We are to be willing and prepared to count the cost. Counting the cost first avoids the need to resign, or run away, or compromise later on. Why count the cost? Surely that is one way to put people…  ( Click for more )

We are reading the Beatitudes in Matthew Chapter 5, and when we come to verse 10 we hear Jesus Christ say, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men hate you - when they exclude you - when they insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day.”

Is that not one of the very last things you want to do when you are going through these experiences?

From the beginning Jesus makes it clear. Follow me and you will be blessed. Follow me and…  ( Click for more )

We come in Matthew Chapter 5 verse 4 to these words of Jesus where He says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”. Does this not include those who mourn over sin – the very thought of hurting and offending Almighty God? Will I never free from this behaviour that grieves Him? You will be comforted or fortified, or fortressed. Jesus is so clear and also so simple.

“Blessed are the meek.” This is not weakness. This is being submissive to God, and humbly obedient to God. This requires real strength of character. They…  ( Click for more )

We are in the Sermon on the Mount and have read the concluding verses in chapter 7 for a very specific and pragmatic reason we now turn to these opening verses, which have been popularly called “The Beatitudes” Do read Matthew Chapter 5 verses 1 to 12, and consider the setting. Jesus Christ has been healing people, wrestling with niggling criticisms of the Pharisees and legalists, and calling these twelve men to be disciples.

This passage deals with our relationships – our relationship with ourselves - with other people – and with God. We could…  ( Click for more )

In the Sermon on the Mount, there is what might be called “The Secret of Holiness”. This is the secret of being different, and the practical implications are profound and immense, spiritually and physically and even materially. So let’s start this study afresh and anew and be open to what God says to us through His Holy Word, and I suggested we read Matthew Chapter 7 verses 24 to 29 for a very specific reason.

Jesus gives us an illustration from His building days. Remember, He was in the building trade for around 18 years.

Jesus says - I will show…  ( Click for more )

Having completed a series of studies in the Gospel of John, I was about to embark on the book of Revelation, when I thought we should take a few weeks to read and study what is called, “The Sermon on the Mount”.

What is the Sermon on the Mount all about? What can it accomplish? What may it achieve? Many people know parts of it and can quote from it, without reading the Bible.

This ‘sermon’ of Jesus is for those who are living in the Kingdom of God – or – how to live the Christian Life, or how to construct or build our lives.

Our…  ( Click for more )

We come to our final passage in John’s Gospel. We are in John Chapter 21 at verse 15 and we have spent well over two years in this profoundly revealing book.

We have been reading of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – some of the hard facts of that amazing day. We read of these seven men going back to the fishing, and Jesus waiting for them coming ashore with empty nets. We spent some time reading that incident in the life of Thomas.

Peter had gone back to the fishing, and had caught nothing. Peter had jumped into the water when he realised he had been found…  ( Click for more )

We are in John Chapter 21, where Peter and six others return north to the Galilee and go out fishing. Leaders lead positively or negatively. We sometimes do not recognise this fact. These men have been called ‘the unmagnificent seven’.

They were out all night and they had nothing to show for it - nothing. Now, fishing had been something they had been good at. They would feel fairly confident at fishing, but they became so absorbed, momentarily, in the fishing, that they almost forgot about Jesus Christ - risen from the dead.

They are frustrated and…  ( Click for more )

We move into John Chapter 21. You cannot turn the clock back, but sometimes disciples of Jesus Christ want to turn the clock back. It is as if these disciples of Jesus wanted to turn the clock back some three years, but it was a bit of a disaster to try to do this as we shall see.

We normally make this attempt to return to yesterday, because we might have thought things were better. The world refers to the good old days, but they were not always that good.

The Bible warns us about thinking that days gone by were better.

Can it be possible to have met the risen…  ( Click for more )

We are in John Chapter 20 and we have been reading of the risen and living Jesus meeting with His disciples in the Upper Room on Resurrection Evening. To begin with there were various confusions and conflicting emotions and Jesus appears to deal with the crucial spiritual situation.

One of the disciples was missing. Thomas was not with them. We do not know why. Did he have something else to do – or somewhere else to go – or something on his mind which was troubling him following the trauma of Calvary?

When he did come back the others said, “We…  ( Click for more )

In John Chapter John 20 and at verse 19 we see the disciples of Jesus Christ in a room – the Upper Room – and the doors are locked because these men are afraid. Jesus, their Lord and Master, had been betrayed by a friend, arrested, led away, and crucified, and these men thought they might be next on the list. By now, rumours were rife.

Some had said that they had seen Jesus alive! Some were also saying – don’t be silly – we saw Him crucified – we saw Him laid in the tomb – we cannot believe what they women said – they are…  ( Click for more )