Micah 6:8 NIV1984

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly  and to love mercy and to walk humbly  with your God.

Matthew 3:1-2 NIV1984

1  In those days John the Baptist  came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2  and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven  is near.”

Matthew 3:6-8 NIV1984

6  Confessing their sins, they were baptized  by him in the Jordan River. 7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  8  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Matthew 3:10-12 NIV1984

10  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  11  “I baptize you with  water for repentance.  But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit  and with fire.  12  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 4:17 NIV1984

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven  is near.”

This Leads to The Sermon on the Mount

SOTM (Sermon on the Mount) Thoughts and Questions:

The setting for the SOTM was a message of:

1. Repentance
2. Bearing fruit in keeping with repentance
3. The coming judgment of God individually
4. The judgment of God nationally
   1. This is what the Jews were expecting
      1. A coming Messiah to save them from their enemies (Roman tyranny)
      1. Setting up of the kingdom of heaven/God where the Messiah would reign over the nations with them in charge

Jesus’ message was different than what they expected.  His message was a continuation of John’s message who “prepared the way” for Jesus.  It was one of personal responsibility and an inward change that affected how one lived their life.  This is where the SOTM picks up.  The SOTM is a synopsis of Jesus’ teaching of how to live a life of repentance.  Remember His message was “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” and then this is how you live out repentance.  Jesus didn’t just say to repent and then leave us hanging.  He also said, this is how you do it!

Thought On Saltiness

Thought on saltiness: this is a picture of Israel’s relationship with God throughout history.  Through them all nations on earth were to be blessed.  However, they kept wandering away from God to commit adultery with idols of the nations around them.  They lost their “saltiness” and were good for nothing.  He sent them into captivity to be “trampled by men” because they were no longer being what He called them to be.  He did reserve for Himself a remnant each time this happened to show His faithfulness for His people and those who would seek for Him with all their heart.

Jesus goes from “national” to “personal” when talking about salt and light.

Walk Humbly With God

In the block of 5:17-20 Jesus sets the interpretation of the rest of the SOTM.  He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, not to abolish it.  He demonstrated His authority by using the phrases “You have heard that it was said…” followed by “But I tell you…”  This was to accentuate His statement in the previous section “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” 

The religious authorities of Jesus’ day were teaching legalism.  God’s requirement was set down in Micah 6:8

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

God’s requirement given by Micah was preceded with some questions for the Jews (and us all!) to ponder (Micah 6:6-7 NIV 1984):

“With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

The implied answer is NO. God is not looking for sacrifices. The whole sacrificial system was given to point to Christ and our need for a savior. What God was looking for was to act justly, show mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Does Jesus Know You

Matt. 7:21 –“Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven…Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

• What is the father’s will:
  • Micah 6:8 – He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.Look up “and this is God’s will concerning you.” 
  • A few other scriptures are:
    • 1 Thess. 5:18  – give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus 
    • 1 Timothy 2:3-4 – 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
    • 2 Peter 3:9 – 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
    • 1 Thessalonians 4:3 – 3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
    • Ephesians 5:15-20 – 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• When Jesus said “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers” the question I need to ask myself is “does Jesus know me?”  I can do a lot of service in Jesus’ name but like the Pharisees, it’s only works.  Salvation is by grace, through faith. Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV1984 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works,  so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship,  created  in Christ Jesus to do good works,  which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Matt. 7:24 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice…”  This is the premise of Jesus’ teaching.  Repentance is hearing His teachings and putting them into practice. The coming storm is God’s judgment on the world.  Is my house built on the rock (Jesus’ teachings) or on the sand (the teachings of the world)?  According to the Beatitudes, repentance is being poor in spirit (recognizing my sinfulness), mourning over my sinfulness, meekness (giving my life over to Jesus, seeking for His will be done), hungering and thirsting after righteousness (desiring to live according to Jesus;’ teachings), being merciful (a step of living a godly life in God’s will in Micah 6:8), being pure in heart ( maintaining a walk of repentance with Jesus), being a peacemaker (living and teaching others how to have a walk of repentance and salvation), with an end result of attaining the kingdom of heaven (by grace, through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross).  We will be persecuted for living our lives according to Jesus’ teachings and not following the ways of the world; calling out their sinful ways and being in need of a Savior.  Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  Paul reiterated this in 2 Timothy 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus further told His disciples in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble (tribulation – KJV). But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
While this all seems to be a daunting task we must remember that God loves us with an everlasting love and as Paul said:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV1984).

God is on our aside. Are we on God’s side or our own?

Also, this is not something we do in our own strength and power. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit we live a life that is in submission to God. We live by the Spirit so not to please the desires of the flesh (our sinful nature).

Matthew 7:28-29 NIV1984 – “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,  because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”

The teachers of the law quoted other scholars and propagated false doctrine as a result. Jesus was The Word of God who wrote the scriptures and taught THE truth. Jesus is The Truth, The Way, and The Life! He is The ultimate authority.