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Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 5] The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-16)
(Matthew 5:1-16)
“And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. ‘You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’”
We read in Matthew chapter 5, verses 1-7 that Jesus spoke to His disciples and to us. Christians have called this teaching ‘the Sermon on the Mount’ since Jesus spoke these things on a mountain.
Blessing to Those Who Are Poor in Spirit
First, if we look at the Scripture from Matthew chapter 5 verse 3, Jesus said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” What the Lord means when he says “blessed are the poor” is that He granted Heaven only to those who are poor in spirit.
His teaching that “blessed are the poor in spirit” is the Truth. It is so. The poor in spirit that Jesus talked about cannot have contentment in this world, and therefore they accept the salvation that the Lord gives. If your spirit has contentment with worldly materials, it would be impossible for you to accept in your heart the remission of sin He allowed through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is why He says that if you are poor in spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven could be yours. God gives forgiveness of sin and the Kingdom of Heaven to you who are poor in spirit.
Blessing to Those Who Mourn Through the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
The second teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:4 says: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This is the teaching He gave as He saw the ones who believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit were in pain due to the sins they committed before God. The Lord said that the ones who mourn before God because of their sins would be comforted by God. Why is this so? It is because such people agonize before God because of their sins. One who acknowledges God, and believes that He is alive, cannot but weep over his sins. God comforts these people by giving them salvation through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
In reality, even though we believe in Jesus, we frequently make mistakes before God and commit sins without exception. However, the comfort of God is there for those who are hurting in their heart because of the sins they have committed, since they have not lived by God’s will, and still commit sins even though they acknowledge God.
We fall short in many ways before God. Of course, some might be insensitive to their iniquities and trespasses for they have reached the determination that acting on God-given instinct cannot be bad. However, we will not receive the comfort that God gives us if we do not even have the heart to mourn when we fall short, when we do not live by God’s will. This is why you and I need to have the heart to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as we mourn before God about our evil deeds, and mourn about our sins with each other. This is the only way that our hearts will truly be comforted through the comfort of salvation that God gave us.
Blessing That the Meek Receive
In Matthew 5:5, the Bible tells us that “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” There is a reason why our hearts must be meek before God. If our hearts are meek before God, then we can accept the words of salvation of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that He speaks to our hearts. If our hearts are not meek but defiant, we cannot accept all the words of God into our hearts. This is why hearts that are not meek would be a problem. This is why the attitude of our hearts before God is important. Hypocrites can fool people temporarily, but they cannot have an eternal fellowship with God unless they accept the Word of God with a meek heart.
In Matthew 5:5, the Bible tell us that “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” These words tell us that those who have received the remission of sins will be inheriting the Millennial Kingdom and the eternal Kingdom of God as the inheritance of the faith. If we accept in our hearts the gospel of remission, that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we receive eternal forgiveness of sin. Anyone who accepts in his heart meekly that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth can accept all the divine blessings of Heaven. These words tell us how truly blessed are those who accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit with meek hearts.
We must accept in our hearts that ‘all the words of God are authentic.’ God spoke to us all through the written Word of God. God says to us through His Word: “you are fundamentally full of sins due to your ancestors.” Then we should all have the heart that acknowledges the words of God. Whatever words proceed from the mouth of God, we must meekly accept them as they are. Whatever words God, who is the Truth, speaks, are all (note: “authentic truth” is not a common American expression) truth. Those who can accept in their hearts meekly all the words of God may have the faith that shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those who have meek hearts before God believe firmly the words that God spoke to us as they are. Therefore, God speaks to them about the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And, He offers the Millennial Kingdom as an inheritance to those who accepted in their hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This faith is the faith that enables us to inherit the new earth.
Blessing That Those Who Want to Serve the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Receive
And in verse 6, it says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” These words mean that those who are hungry for the work of God will be filled by working for the righteousness of God. The righteous are hungry to serve God. Therefore, they do righteous work to eat the food for their spirit. That is because all of God’s words are the food that gives life to everyone’s soul (Isaiah 55:1). All of God’s work is also spiritual provision for the righteous. This truth is a hidden secret to those who are not born again. The righteous acquire full stomachs from righteous deeds through union with the church.
For we who are the righteous through the remission of sins, we are either starving for the work of God or we are starving for carnal desires. For anyone who has a heart that wants to do righteous work for God, God always makes it possible to do righteous work in fullness through His church. God gives us the spiritual faith so that we can do work for God, and lets us be filled as we work for righteousness. Truly, those who want to do righteous works for God learn from experience that they acquire fullness of the spirit.
Are you hungry for the righteous work of God? If so, you will receive fullness of your spirit by spreading the gospel of the water and the spirit and doing the work of God. You must know that even though your outer self might have a heart that pursues carnal desires, the Holy Spirit inside you is hungry for the righteous work of God, and always wants to do righteous work.
Our Lord said in Matthew chapter 4 that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” When Jesus was fasting for 40 days, the devil appeared in front of Jesus and said, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” The devil tempts both Jesus and everyone else, saying ‘the bread for the body is life.’ However, that is not so. That is because Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” A man cannot live by bread for the body alone. That is because human beings have spirits. Therefore, men need to eat the bread for the body, but they also need to eat the Word of God that proceeds from the mouth of God, which is food for the spirit. This is the only way our flesh and spirit can live.
In essence, this truth tells us that the Word of God that God spoke lets our spirit live. We, the righteous, could not live by bread for the flesh alone, but by hearing and believing in the Word of God that proceeds from the mouth of God. No matter how much bread a born-again saint eats, there is sense of hunger and thirst because the spirit is hungry for the righteous work of God. Since the Holy Spirit lives within the heart of the righteous, we must live by doing righteous deeds. That is, the righteous can live only by hearing and believing in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This shows that we can live only by believing in every word of God and by following the Lord with faith.
The spirits of born-again saints are hungry for the righteous work of God. Men do not live by bread for the flesh alone, but by hearing and believing in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The spirit of the righteous can enjoy spiritual fullness by spreading the gospel of the water and the spirit to others. The spirit and flesh of the righteous live by doing the righteous work of saving others from sins.
There is desire in the heart of born-again saints to do righteous works. We, the righteous, absolutely cannot live by what is of this world alone. We absolutely cannot live with that of flesh alone. Among the righteous, ones with weak faith have thoughts like this: “Since I have received the remission of sins, I can now live if I only take care of the problem of food, clothing and shelter.” The righteous person with thoughts like that ends up following his own desires, and eventually loses his life.
However, a righteous one cannot live by following the desires of the flesh alone. Even if the righteous person follows the desires of the flesh, the flesh cannot accomplish its desire. If he only follows the desire of the flesh, the heart of the righteous one becomes destitute. On the other hand, we, the ones who are born again, are hungry and thirsty for righteous deeds, and therefore we are always joyous in spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. A righteous one experiences the wellness of the spirit and the wellness of the flesh by believing in the Word of God and doing righteous works.
New believers often do not understand this truth of faith. Therefore, people who are of weak faith often are killed in spirit after living a life that pursues carnal desires. The righteous who pursue carnal desires are tempted by the devil with the things of the flesh. If the righteous one gives in to that temptation, he surely dies.
This is why the Lord said the blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And you and I have now become people who carry out the righteousness of God. Then the true provision for our spirits is spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is working for the righteousness of God. As we spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it becomes a true provision of the spirit to you and me.
When our Lord was here on earth with His disciples, there were times that our Lord needed food for the flesh as well. Once in Sychar, a city of Samaria, the disciples of Jesus had to go for a long way for food. When the disciples held out the food, saying, “Lord, eat this,” the Lord said, “I have food that you do not know about.” That food He mentioned is in the work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is what Jesus said when He was telling the woman by the well that He Himself was the Messiah.
We must know that Jesus made food for His Spirit by carrying out the Will of the Father. Since the disciples did not know this truth because they were still young in spirit, Jesus said this to them. That is, these were words for you and me and other born-again Christians.
As a matter of fact, the way for the spirits of the righteous to live is to follow and believe and carry out the righteousness of God, and therefore be filled everyday. The righteous are filled by believing and carrying out the righteousness of God. We are filled when we carry out the righteousness of God, and are able to live as we praise God.
There is a blessing for people who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. Do you hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God? ―Yes.― I thirst for the righteousness of God, too. So, after I do this part of the work of God this time, I do other work for His righteousness, and I do the work of God, and continue to seek and carry out righteousness.
One day, I watched a TV program called ‘World Travel.’ In this program, people who had traveled to all different parts of the world were showing the film that they had taken from many different countries in the world. As I watched the program, I thought ‘I should pass on the gospel of the water and the Spirit to that country.’ Even when many people who watched the program thought it was fun or were interested in the new culture, I, the righteous one, came to realize that the people in that country needed the gospel of the water and the Spirit as I was watching it. Because the righteous ones hunger and thirst for righteousness, regardless of what it is they see, they see with a different perspective. We, the righteous ones, feel the necessity of passing on the gospel of the water and the Spirit to those who do not know the righteousness of God in the world.
What happens if we pass on the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them? They receive deliverance from all sins, don’t they? That is right. If we want to pass on the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the people in that country, there is something we must do first, and that is finding someone who understands the language and the culture of that country. That’s why we are trying first of all to find good translators of various languages first of all.
God always helps those who hunger and thirst for righteousness to do righteous works. As we tried to find people who can translate, we found out that we could find them if we put up an advertisement on the Internet, and put up advertisements. Finally, we have some responses. Many interested people have applied, and we have entrusted translating work to them after selecting competent translators in each language.
We are righteous people who are doing the work of passing on the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the people in the world. The righteous want to pass on righteousness to every lost soul in the world. We, the born-again, hunger because we want to spread the righteous gospel to everyone in the world.
Since the righteousness of God is the true provision of life for the spirit of the righteous ones, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Righteous people cannot live without carrying out God’s righteousness in this world. Without spiritual food, they end up dying from starvation of the spirit. Spiritually speaking, the righteous are like good trees that bear good fruit. Just as people become hungry if we do not eat food for the flesh, the righteous ones who have received the remission of sins cannot live due to starvation of the spirit if we do not carry out righteousness. Fellow Christians, try living a life that does not carry out righteousness or that is not in union with your church. Then, you will keenly feel that your spirit is starved for the righteousness of God. Because the hearts of righteous people hunger for righteousness and want to carry out the work of God, they want to eat the provision for the spirit.
People who are young in faith need to keep being fed provision for the spirit, but if the faith grows to certain point after eating a certain amount of spiritual food and carrying out righteousness, they can enjoy the joy of salvation on their own. This is why the predecessors of the righteous faith pursue the life of righteousness. I often say to my colleagues, “Let’s take a break after this,” however, it is hard to do that. How can we help it when we die in spirit if you and I do not carry out the work of God! We have to carry out the work of the Spirit.
Fellow Christians, do you not eat when your body is hungry? If you feel you are starving to death, you have to eat. Therefore, anyone who hungers and thirsts for the righteousness of God must do the work of God. People like that are blessed people. Our Lord always tells these words to the righteous ones. We, who are the righteous ones, become full in spirit when we do the work of God. Dear fellow Christians, if you want to be fulfilled, be diligent in the work of God!
However, you cannot do the work of God alone. Therefore, we must carry out the work of God in union with one another. Hearing the word of God is righteousness, and reading the Word of God and praying to God to request help is for the righteousness of God and working loyally in each position is also for His righteousness. The Lord said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” God said to us to seek His righteousness first. That means we think of the work of God first and the matters of the flesh secondly. If that is how we are before God, we receive all blessings from God in flesh and spirit. This is the truth of the spirit that God has spoken to us. This is the truth that Christians and the servants of God should never forget.
Blessing That the Merciful Receive
Matthew 5:7 states, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” In the Bible, being merciful toward others means having a compassion for sinners. When we see people who are sinners, we think to ourselves ‘how pitiful.’ When we, the righteous ones, look at the souls that are not born again, they look pitiful. This is not just people from our country, but it is the same when we see people from many other countries in the world.
During my first mission trip to China, I dropped by a coffee shop in Beijing to take a rest with my colleague. I found two western travelers were seated beside us, having ordered a piece of bread and only two cups of coffee. While we were talking about the mission plans for the country seriously, they kept company with each other for over two hours. When one person talked, then the other listened and said ‘ha,’ and when the other talked, then the first person said ‘ha.’ They really enjoyed talking and listening to each other. Whatever the content of their discussion might have been, their hunger for discussion looked very sincere.
At any rate, when I see people like that, I feel sympathy as well. They are so serious when they have a discussion about trivial matters that are of the flesh, but they need to hear the gospel of the water and the Spirit from us. And this is the most urgent topic they have to discuss. I feel sympathy when I see such people. Even though they go around boasting, it is pitiful since they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
In the hearts of the righteous ones, we have the desire to make books as the provision for the lost souls, and distribute them to each person. However, they would not even know how pitiful they are. Though our country may not have as much wealth and national power compared to the advanced western countries, and therefore they may look at us as the people of a weak country, we, the righteous ones, have spiritual compassion on everyone in the world. Even the people of countries with considerable wealth are pitiful when righteous people see them.
“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” This means those who have compassion for others will receive mercy. How numerous are the people for whom we should have mercy! This is true all over the world.
Blessing That Those Who Have Forgiveness of Sin Receive
The Lord said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” He said that those who are pure in heart will see God. Dear fellow Christians, in essence, those who are pure in heart are the ones who have received the remission of sin in their hearts by believing in the Word of God and in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who do not follow the desires of the flesh but the gospel of the water and the Spirit are pure in heart.
I watched a historical drama on TV yesterday. In the drama, one of the king’s subjects finally rebelled against the king and attacked the palace. The one on the throne was dismayed by the rebellion. The subject of the king finally plotted treason with the support of his subordinates. At first, the subject was against taking the throne. “I could never do that. Betraying the king as his subject is against my principles.” It almost looks as if he understands principles and it seems he is righteous, but he is nothing more than a coward. He had been waiting for the opportunity to ascend to the throne, and finally accepted his subordinates’ wishes to overthrow the king, pretending that this was against his will, but doing it because of his wife’s persuasion. Those who start a revolution in this world are all the same. So, it is right, as someone said, that politics is the process of making everyone’s private interests into public interests.
Dear fellow Christians, can our Lord lose our support? No, He cannot. The Lord is the absolute King of kings and a good King to us. The King of kings lowered Himself and saved His people from their sins. He wiped out all the sins of His people and saved them with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then, would His people follow the Lord loyally or not? They volunteer to follow their King.
Jesus Christ, who is the King of kings, is the King of the righteous. Jesus Christ, who is the King of the universe, is God to us. When we look at the records in Matthew chapters 1 through 7, we can clearly understand that Jesus Christ was not a person who was a creature such as Confucius, Socrates, Plato, or Buddha. Jesus Christ is the Absolute Being to all of us and our Savior. And He is the King who reigns over heaven and earth.
Our Lord said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who could possibly say these things? No one can do that. Our King is only our Savior, Jesus Christ. Today, there are many theologians who deny the deity of Jesus. However, it is the Truth that Jesus, Jesus’ Father, and the Holy Spirit are the God who created the heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1). The Lord said to His disciples “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
Is there anyone who doubts the deity of Jesus among those of you who have received the remission of sin? We cannot deny for one moment that Jesus Christ is a Person of the Triune God, and the King of kings. The Lord came to this world and saved us from our sins and the judgment of sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God the Father lets us be saved from all our sins once and for all, if we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior along with the true gospel. We believe in the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
If Jesus Christ was not God, mankind cannot receive deliverance from sin. If Jesus Christ is not the Absolute Being to us, all of His work was not absolute, either. And, if that is the case, then we cannot receive salvation from all our sins by believing in Him as our Savior. It is because the Son of God came to this world as the Savior and saved us from all the sins of the world that we receive salvation from all our sins by believing in Him.
Blessing That the Peacemakers Receive
The Lord said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” The Lord calls us, the born-again Christians, spiritual priests. Spiritually speaking, we are priests, who stand among the people in this world and reconcile them to God through Christ. Those who have become priests before God work hard for the reconciliation between God and the people. If we pass on the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and the truth of the remission of sins to the people in this world, we work on the reconciliation between them and God. Also, the righteous pass on God’s salvation, the will of God, to the people.
They pass on this truth: “People have sinned before God. Therefore, they are headed towards destruction due to their sins. They will go to hell. Therefore, receive God’s love and salvation by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then you will receive salvation from all sins.” We truly love the gospel of salvation and pass it on. We free the people and make reconciliation between them and God by passing on the Law of God and the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Our mission school students are going around these days reaching out to people, and if we want to reach out to people, we must sharpen the spiritual sword of the Word when reaching out. We understand and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we affirm this gospel that we believe in to the lost souls. Therefore we must first mark the passages where the gospel that is about the water and the Spirit is recorded, and then we can go to reach out. Only then can we meet the souls captivated by sin and teach them correctly. In everything, there is a difference between doing it with faith and without faith. These words of the Bible are spiritual weapons to the righteous ones. To every born-again Christian, the Word of God is a powerful weapon.
The Lord said that the peacemakers are blessed. This means that there is blessing to those who pass on this gospel of the water and the Spirit. He said these people would be called the sons of God. Truly, only the sons of God could pass on the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and those who hear the gospel could make peace with God. The righteous ones are faithful in preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, they receive abundant blessings from God in flesh and spirit.
Blessing That Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake Receive
In Matthew 5:10, it says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and carry out this work will have the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake are blessed.
Dear fellow Christians, have you ever been persecuted for righteousness’ sake? Have you ever been persecuted by the sinners for the righteousness of God, for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, for keeping the gospel of the water and the Spirit, for having union with the church of God and the Kingdom of God and for doing the work of God? Have you ever been disregarded by people because of your faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? That is being persecuted for the righteousness of God. The righteous are even persecuted by their own biological families for the righteousness of God. There is blessing from God to those people.
The righteous should not be embarrassed about being persecuted for the righteousness of God. That is the blessing from God. If the righteous live for the righteousness of God, they are to be persecuted even by sinners. Righteous ones are even persecuted by their friends. If you try to be in union with God’s church, you will surely be persecuted. It is the will of God for the righteous to be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). They persecute the righteous in words, saying, “Do you really have to go to every service rather than having a life of haphazard faith? Are you not busy? Take it easy, man! Doesn’t it matter if you do not attend the Sunday service just once a year? Do you really have to live by faith? Do you really have to do that?”
Do they or do they not? They do. “Do you really have to do it and break our close relationship? It seems that your faith in Jesus is wrong.” This is what people say. When people in the world say peace, they think being in union with them is peace, but the true peace is being persecuted for the Kingdom of God, for the gospel of God, for the salvation of souls. This is what it means to be persecuted for the righteous gospel of God.
Making peace for yourself, for your pride, for fame, to avoid your own loss is not being persecuted for righteousness, but being persecuted for yourself. These are not persecutions for the righteousness of God. These persecutions are the kind of persecutions you have for yourself. What our Lord spoke about is the persecution for righteousness, for righteous deeds, for the salvation of souls, and for the Kingdom of God.
When someone reviles and persecutes you, and says all kinds of evil against you falsely for the sake of God’s righteousness, you can react to him in mind, saying, “Even though he persecutes me because he does not understand me, I must do this to save that person from his sins.” The Kingdom of Heaven is for people like you.
Today, many of those who have heard the true gospel do not want to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake. So, they are afraid to have true faith in Christ. Some people know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but do not pass it on to others; and some side with the sinners rather than with God in order to avoid persecution. These are not the people who have blessings. Even if they have received the remission of sin, if they are not persecuted for the sake of this gospel of the water and the Spirit, they end up betraying the true faith on the way rather than keeping their faith until the day they stand before the Lord. It is acceptable of someone to be weak, but if he denies the true gospel from the core of his heart and holds hands with the people in the world to go against the gospel, he is not a blessed one.
Just as the fishermen gathered the good fish into vessels, but threw the bad away, God will separate the wicked from among the just (Matthew 13:47-49). This is in the parables of Heaven in the book of Matthew. However, in reality, anyone with the Holy Spirit cannot avoid persecution for righteousness’ sake. Rather, a man cannot but live for righteousness after believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receiving the remission of sin. It is absolutely not possible for one to consult one’s own interest, if he is truly guided by the Holy Spirit within his heart. A righteous man receives persecution for righteousness’ sake.
The fact that the righteous man suffers difficulty, is that in itself all bad? That cannot be. Sometimes, we suffer difficulty to pass on the gospel, but is there anything that is not difficult? I hope you are all those who are persecuted for the righteousness of God. Also, I myself first want to be someone like that first. As a righteous person, I hope you are not unnecessarily persecuted for many misdemeanors, such as, being caught as you drive recklessly after heavy drinking, being arrested as you steal in a store, or being caught and going to jail for swindling. God will not be happy with that.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” He said that we will be blessed when we are reviled and persecuted, and when someone says all kinds of evil against us falsely for His sake.
People in the world often persecute the children of God and God’s churches. What does that mean? That means we, the righteous ones, are blessed. If we are reviled by people in the world for believing and pursuing the righteousness of God, we will be blessed by God. Righteous ones like this are blessed because they are persecuted for the gospel of God and God’s church. But some do not have faith in His Word so that they try to avoid the persecution that comes to them for the sake of God.
Those prophets and the servants of God in the Old Testament, who are our predecessors in faith, were persecuted much more than we are for God’s sake.
We Are the Salt and the Light of the World
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” We, who are the righteous ones, are the salt of the earth. That the righteous are the salt of the earth means that they are necessary beings in this world. People who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are necessary beings in this world.
However, what if the salt loses its flavor? What does it mean that the salt loses its flavor? That means it cannot work as salt. A righteous person loses his power because he throws away the Truth and walks according to the course of this world rather than living for the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
In Matthew 5:14-15, it says, “You are the light of the world”. It says: “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
The righteous ones are the light of salvation. The world hears the gospel of the water and the Spirit from the righteous ones. In other words, sinners receive salvation from sins through us, the righteous.
In Matthew 5:16, it says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We live glorifying God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and receiving the eight blessings by faith. We must always continue this life of faith with the faith that believes in the Lord. We thank God, who gives us divine blessings. All this truth is the Sermon on the Mount that the Lord spoke.
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission