When the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the Earth Lord I believe help thou mind unbelief May our testimonies be as deep and strong instead of Jacob who when confronted by one who sought to destroy his faith declared I could not be sicken [Music] Hello everybody welcome back I'm Jared Halverson this is unshaken and we study Scripture here so I hope you're ready for the ride now before we get into this week's material which is magnificent I did want to give one more shout out I mentioned this a couple weeks ago but
in case you missed it there is a new unshaken Saints Instagram page that's amazing and I can say that because I don't deserve any credit for it there are some amazing friends of mine with far more creativity and artistic talent than I could ever dream of who may be in The resurrection but this side of the Resurrection there's no way I can I can compare to what these Amazing Friends do who are willing to sift through the massive amount of content that's on unshaken and and find the Diamonds in the Rough and to make little
video shorts or to make print out printables and and visual aids that you can use in teaching your children or your church classes it really is amazing stuff I knew they were good but the more that I've seen what they've created it's so just beautiful visually appealing and and takes my long-windedness and allows the the wind breath Spirit to remain without all of the length and so great thanks to them and anyone who wants to go check it out just look for unshaken Saints on Instagram uh it's been beautiful to see some of your comments
about that just how grateful you are to these wonderful friends of ours uh who are making making things More accessible and more helpful so so bless all of you for your desire to to dive deep into the word of God and and I'm just grateful for the chance to be able to do it with you okay now what we're going to be doing today and next week is in some ways really intimidating for me as a teacher and I pray for more wind and breath and spirit these next two weeks because we're going to be
studying The Sermon on the Mount I've said this before that Often when I'm in a classroom teaching my students scripture those are the two audiences that I'm most focused on my students and the scriptures namely whoever originally wrote what we find on the page I try to Envision them in the back of the room observing the teaching of their material and if in my mind's eye I see them rolling their eyes at what I'm trying to do then I know I'm not sufficiently true To the text meanwhile if I see my students sitting in front
of them rolling in their eyes I might have shifted to be too text to textual and not sufficiently student-centered in other words there needs to be a balance we're proving countries here in our scripture study and our teaching between what the prophetic writer intended and what the student in front of you needs and if you can keep an eye on both Then hopefully we'll be able to meet students needs and find relevance in scripture without doing damage to their original intent it's a fine line okay but I've often done that with Nephi looking on or
Jeremiah looking on or Esther looking on or just all of these incredible people of scripture but since these next two weeks we are learning from the Savior himself it's Jesus sitting in the back of the room And first of all that should be an honor for all of us in the room anywhere else that we get to learn his words today it's not someone else trying to teach the savior's gospel and it's not just storyline of people trying successfully or unsuccessfully to live it this is the chance to give the microphone directly to Jesus and
let him teach what is arguably the Greatest sermon ever given but to have him looking on from the back staring over the heads of students that he absolutely loves I pray that we can do justice to to what he's trying to convey I I hope he doesn't roll any eyes I hope instead he infuses what we'll talk about with his power because these are his words and his message like I said to students that he loves it's an honor to be able to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ but especially when they're the words of
Jesus Christ himself and that's what we'll get for these next two days this is Matthew Chapter 5 this week and then six and seven next week Luke has his own version of what Jesus taught we call what Matthew recorded the sermon on the mountain now we call what Luke recorded the sermon on the plane and we'll see the difference between Mount and plane as we Get into into them now what we'll see from the Luke version is found in Luke chapter 6. and we'll only get a little of it today and we'll get some more
of it next week but some interesting things that Luke remembered that Matthew did not and speaking of Matthew it's interesting to see if he's the Jew writing to fellow Jews and in some ways organizing The Life of Christ on kind of a a Torah model the five books of of the Torah then there we were seeing five Discourses and this is Numero Uno this is the first and foremost to the longest and deepest of the five uh in some ways a mount would be perfect then for the placement location because we're seeing Jesus as as
Moses 2.0 as that Prophet that Moses said would someday come like unto him and here he has now come and if Moses led the children of Israel through the Jordan River we saw that excuse me through the Red Sea I should say and to The Jordan River we see that in Jesus's baptism back in Matthew Chapter 5 as he passes through the Jordan himself and is immersed we see the Wilderness wanderings Wonder wander die wander die well in Christ's case it was no die but it was 40 days of purification and preparation in the wilderness
before he began his public Ministry so there's that version that's Exodus 2.0 in the book of of Matthew and then what and chronology's not not perfect here But in the midst of all of that Moses comes down from a mount with the law of God and that's exactly what Jesus is doing here in Matthew Chapter 5 6 and 7. this Sermon on the Mount is the highest and holiest version of of the Ten Commandments and all that they're meant to convey what the savior is teaching here is it's meant to go from the stone tablets
to the fleshy tables of the heart And I pray he writes upon us with his own hand it's interesting as a student of American religious history one of the greatest sermons ever given in in American history is Jonathan Edwards famous sinners in the hands of an Angry God and it is an intense culture repentance when he first gave it he couldn't get through the whole thing because people were shrieking and moaning and fainting In the Isles of the chapel and it wasn't because of his Charisma he didn't have any he was not exactly a people
person he was more of a deep thinker and he was kind of monotone and he was not performing things from the pulpit he just kind of read very basic simple monotone he didn't even want to make eye contact with his parishioners because he was nervous about that so he'd stare at the knot on the on the rope that you'd use to ring The bell uh so it wasn't it wasn't shocking odd drama as far as presentation was concerned but it was shock and uh horrors of hell because of the imagery that he invoked it was
a powerful call to repentance and people people repented well by way of comparison The Sermon on the Mount is not Hellfire and brimstone it's not scaring people into change rather it is well it's still a call to Repentance but it is one where the justice of God Is So infused with mercy and Grace since it's Grace for Grace personified that's giving it you can't help but feel a desire to come unto its its source its preacher to be taught something so far above you but then have a desire to climb and Ascend this mount with
the Lord himself knowing that he Can get you to the top now what's the top in all of this the climax of Matthew Chapter 5 is that famous verse that either inspires us or haunts us depending our approach to it the last verse of Matthew 5 is this one verse 48. be ye therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect and that call to perfection who it's a tall order for us mere mortals and like I said it either Inspires us like I can improve I can get better or it it
devastates us with a sense of toxic perfectionism like I'm always falling short and I always will there's this interesting fine line some uh especially with an Evangelical communities they look at this sermon and especially its end of the end of chapter five that call to Perfection as The Impossible Dream and because it's impossible just recognize the impossibility know that You'll never get anywhere near it so just trust in Jesus now that's good counsel to a point yeah we do need to trust in Jesus for every step of the way but it's not merely a pipe
dream that we'll never achieve we'll never achieve it in this life and we'll talk more about that when we get to that final verse at the end of this week's lesson but as far as the trajectory we set for eternity That to me is always I did I did long jump and and triple jump and high jump in in high school track and the interesting thing about a long jump is if you were to take a picture of someone right after they leave after they after they leave the ground okay they've gotten to that point
and they jump and take a still frame photograph you have first they're not very far at all they're not very high and you think wow if that's where we grade this person They've covered what two inches not much of a world record there but God doesn't take still frame photographs he lets the the camera roll and if you will allow for the continued progress of that jump what you just saw in that initial Freeze Frame was they're freezing momentum and trajectory and with all of the sprinting that preceded the leap there's momentum and then just
dipping those hips and Launching off as forward and upward as you can there's the trajectory now of course gravity is going to bring you back down the Earth to the Earth and that's where you hit the sand and that's what they're going to measure the final result of all the momentum and trajectory that you could muster to grade ourselves by the Freeze Frame of right now Even the freeze frame of death that is not the more the point the moment of final judgment and so to me to see what the Lord is inviting us to
do we are building momentum Through The Sermon on the Mount and with that momentum as we establish our spiritual trajectory as high as we can can dream aiming for perfection knowing that we will not reach it in this life And yet with that moment that mortal momentum with that spiritual trajectory death comes and on to the eternities of Eternal progression no gravity bringing us back down to earth that's where that's how we can ultimately achieve the Perfection the Lord intends for us and it's not on us it's not our works that save us Christ is
running alongside us every Step of the way and helping us build the moment the necessary momentum and establish the necessary trajectory so that he can then continue lifting us upward and onward until we reach that Perfection his Perfection perfection in him in fact that's really the goal put it in I'll put it in these terms and it's a bit of a scripture chain if you want to put some cross references down on your page the first one is that one at the end of Matthew five be perfect that's what he's asking for the second one
though then and this helps clarify that this is not simply some kind of uh impossibility that the Lord has set us up for failure no he sets us up for success but it's Success Through him so second verse in the scripture chain is one that we all know well first Nephi chapter 3 verse 7. and in first Nephi 3 7 what does Nephi learn a no and testify of about a Commandment That he'd been given that to his brothers at least seemed impossible he said to his father I will go and do the things which
the Lord hath commanded you see I know this isn't your desire for us Dad this is the Lord's commandment and this was the Lord's commandment in Matthew 5 48. it's coming from him okay so I'll do those things and here's why for I know that the Lord or I should say here's how for I know that the lord giveth no Commandments unto the children Of men save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them keep those two verses hand in hand that if the Lord is commanding
us to be perfect as perfect as his father in Heaven himself then the Lord will give no commandment save he prepares a way for its accomplishment now what way is that here's the third verse to add to your chain John 14 6 Where the Lord says I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father or in this case the father's Perfection but by me so be perfect I'll provide the way I am the way so come unto me and I will perfect you as perfect as the father is in
fact that's the culmination the climax of The Book of Mormon and so the fourth and final verse in our scripture Chain is the end of Moroni chapter 10. look at verse 32. yea coming to Christ and be perfect dead in him and deny yourselves of all ungodliness and if you shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might mind and strength then is his grace sufficient for you that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ than if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ you can in
no wise Deny the power of God you can't deny God's power because you know it was God's power that got you there not you lifting yourself up by your bootstraps and we we can't do it but Christ can and Christ does and Christ will if we'll simply let him don't don't ever ever think of Matthew 5 48 independent of Jesus the person who gave the command in the first place and if our if if our plan if our trajectory is to to be achieve that Level of perfection know that it's perfection in Christ to be
perfected which means there were some rough edges to rub off there was some polishing he is the author and finisher of our faith and there was some finishing needed a whole lot of it Christ is in for the duration until we get there and so that Ed at the end of perfect perfected is the most merciful past participle you'll ever find in the grammar of God Look to Him and as we do exactly that in Matthew Chapter 5 I pray that you will not just see on the page but rather you'll feel in your heart
the grace of God flowing into you a Grace which which Moroni tells us is sufficient to perfect even you and me so let's watch that unfold now like I said we're going to be spending our time in Matthew for the bulk of this week and next with some Hints from Luke as they come along in the Matthew version Matthew 5 comes right on the heels of what we saw last week in Matthew 4 about the Temptations of Jesus we see it after the calling of Simon Andrew James and John the Fisherman to be Fishers of
Men and then Jesus goes and begins those great three verbs of preaching teaching and healing okay and there the ultimate preaching and healing is about to take place here as Jesus teaches this Sermon On the Mount in the Luke version by the time you get to chapter six where this sermon on the plane comes in you see all that we saw in Matthew plus Christ's Messianic announcement at the synagogue in Nazareth several more miracles that Matthew does not bring up until later and so we'll study all those miracles in the in the Matthew account as
we get there a couple of weeks you also see Jesus talking with the Pharisees about law the law of Moses and that's an Ongoing conversation we'll see throughout the entire gospels we'll see a huge portion of today's material this week's material about the law and so think of that as far as Luke's context is concerned that's a conversation that's already begun and so if there's any Pharisees in the audience their heirs are going to perk up as Jesus talks about the law and how he intends people to fulfill it one other thing that happens here
is 12 Apostles according to the Luke account Jesus has already chosen 12 Apostles from among the disciples and we learn their names in Luke and it's on the in the aftermath of that that Jesus then teaches these multitudes the sermon in the Matthew version the disciples are all there but the apostles have not yet been designated as far as which of those two chronologies is more accurate I'd Probably give it to Luke uh Matthew's version has some different purposes and so he's a little looser with the chronology in order to to organize things around a
a mosaic kind of pattern okay but I do love what what Matthew's going to give us uh because his account is by far the fullest version of what Jesus will teach one other thing here from Luke's account before we dive straight into Matthew look at Luke chapter 6 verse 17. and Here's the immediate context Jesus has gone up into a mountain to pray he chooses his Twelve Apostles and then here's the setting for the sermon and he came down with them and stood in the plane now think about this he came down with how do
you say come down in a single word descend and what's the word with in Spanish and romance languages con and so you have a condescension right here Jesus has gone up to be with the Father he's climbed this mountain but then he comes down with his disciples comes down to be with us at our mortal level so far removed from the Perfection he's aiming for and trying to help us Ascend to but the condescension of Christ coming down to teach us the way and better yet to show us the way he's willing to stand in
our personal plane as low as it might feel to us a plain It made me think of Spencer W Kimball's famous words that we have paused on some plateaus long enough and if we are if we've grown a little complacent here on our worldly planes you ready to climb I'm grateful Jesus came down to be at our level but he came down to help us come back up to his so let's see what he says Luke goes on he's in the company of his disciples that I hope we're included in that Number and a great
multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem now that's a Jewish audience but keep going since Luke is the one right into uh to us here and Luke was the Gentile aiming at fellow Gentiles so yes the great multitude consists of people from Judea and Jerusalem and from the Seacoast of tire and sidon oh outside the borders of Israel now we are including a gentile audience which came to hear him and to be healed Of their diseases and like we saw in those beautiful verbs of teaching preaching healing here we see the same thing
to hear him is to be healed by him and Christ's message is the best medicine if you are poor in spirit if you're Mourning over mistakes you've made or over the circumstances in which you find yourself Then I pray that this sermon that you hear will heal you Luke then tells us this in chapter 6 verse 18 through 20. and they that were vexed with unclean spirits and they were healed and the whole multitude sought to touch him for there went virtue out of him and healed them all and he lifted up his eyes on
his disciples and said blessed be ye poor For yours is the kingdom of God and thus the sermon begins with the Beatitudes just like we'll see in the Book of Matthew but before we jump into that pause here and realize what how the sermon is supposed to begin the pre-sermon the preparation for this preaching are you vexed then feel my virtue let my virtue flow out of me Jesus is Saying here we'll see that happen dramatically with the woman and the issue of blood but to see this in a preaching teaching context that his virtue
is coming out of him I feel that sometimes in my own teaching and just wanting to flex every spiritual muscle and hope that spirit and Truth come out of my mouth and not just breath and wind It has to be infused with the spirit of God and for Christ's virtue to flow out of him with every word that's what we're looking to experience in this sermon but also those that are vexed are healed before the sermon begins so that they can actually listen to the sermon with an untroubled heart I look up the the original
Greek word for vexed there now that was a burning Bush to me this time and again anytime that you're studying scripture and you see a word that just captures your attention or Peaks your curiosity pause turn aside to see look things up you don't have to know Hebrew or Greek to do it they'll be there's wonderful dictionaries online and lexicons and just help but just I looked up vexed because that struck me they're vexed with unclean spirits and the word itself can mean Disturbed it can mean troubled It can mean annoyed what's interesting is it
actually comes from a a Greek word that's hardly ever used in the New Testament and it comes from a combination of words that literally mean in a crowd now literally they were in a crowd it's a massive multitude of Jews and Gentiles all coming together clamoring to hear from Christ but what's interesting is this in a crowd it's think about that happening in Your mind isn't that not the the perfect description of being vexed by a million thoughts and all kinds of worries that are pulling your mind in a million different directions imagine being in
a mosh pit at a dance imagine being in the hallway of Junior High during passing period and you just hope you're not get about to get trash canned or stuffed in a locker somewhere but you are jostled and bounced around like a pinball and it's not totally up to you Especially small seventh graders now mentally so often that's how it feels as we approach the word of God or a temple session or a church sacrament meeting times of worship and our worries get in the way of that worship all too frequently because we are vexed
whether it's with an unclean spirit or just a massive to-do list that we're never going to be able to Finish are we vexed by feelings of inadequacy or unworthiness are we do we just have too much else going on in our mind to be able to be still and know that he is God my challenge to all of us is whenever we are are vexed by Demons of distraction then before the lesson begins Pray that the Lord will touch you before he begins to teach you pray that his virtue will offset your vexation and that
you will have a Calm Mind replacing a troubled one so calmly and quietly you can hear his words feel his spirit and be changed by them I've warned my own students about this that sometimes we expect ourselves to go spiritually from 0 to 60 in like two Seconds flat and we open our scriptures and expect to be able to dive straight in and have the veil part and the Angels Sing from the very first letter I don't know about you that's typically not the case for me it takes some warm up any anyone running down
the the track there's some warm-up laps that preceded there's some stretching some calisthenics and if we're willing to do that anytime We are beginning a worshipful experience it's one of the reasons that we pray before we study or maybe we need to listen to beautiful uplifting music first maybe we need to go on a walk and just calm our minds and the beauty the beauty of nature whatever it takes for you to get ready for the lesson that's about to come when I first was trained to be a seminary Teacher the word Readiness was on
our minds frequently and what can we do as a teacher to help our students get ready whether it's a story or a picture or music or a joke or whatever it might be something that builds momentum before the message begins well if if we as teachers were taught to look for Readiness types of opportunities then we as students how can bring so much of that to the table To begin are we ready for this are we ready for The Sermon on the Mount are we prepared for it I pray that we are because Jesus is
about to begin in Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 and 2. and seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain and when he was set his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying And there just as with Luke the Beatitudes begin but notice the difference here and to me I'm so grateful for I would call it a discrepancy if you want to me in some ways it's simply you know two facets of this diamond is it down on the plane or is it up on the mountain oh yes because
Jesus is willing to meet us in the plane and then bring us to the mountain He condescends to our level brings down his glorious message of perfection and then perfects Us in him through the rest of our lives you ready to climb the mountain with me let's Ascend together so the multitudes he's up in the mountain beckoning us to follow he is set and that to me is a fascinating word as well we sometimes say set in our ways as a bad thing but to be set spiritually To be secure I mean seriously if you're
climbing a mountain yeah this just happened the other day we were out in the snow and I was trying to help my wife climb up a step and little did I realize I was not set myself and so as soon as I grabbed her hand instead of her coming up I came down uh not not very wise of me and so I'm not saying that we have to have reached Perfection before we begin to preach because Otherwise we'll never start the lesson but to be set spiritually in a place where we feel we are secure
enough to reach and help other people Ascend as well Harold B Lee used to talk about that to lift people to a higher place you got to be on a higher Place yourself and though we're not perfect by any stretch can we set ourselves more securely it actually makes me think of that beautiful verse in Dr Kevin at section 11 to Hiram Smith before you seek to declare the word seek to obtain the word and then your tongue will be loosed learn as much as you can a study work to become trust in Jesus follow
him and others will then better be able to follow you there's another thing here though about setting the jst actually says set down and the Greek would suggest a sitting posture as far as Jesus is concerned and like we saw in the synagogue in Nazareth You stand to give the word of God and then sit to be able to discuss it and in Christ's case he could have been standing the whole time but there is the the typical Jewish posture in those days to sit and and study to get comfortable we'll see that when Jesus
multiplies the Loaves and the fishes sit in some find some good green grass we're going to be here for a while get comfortable so that you can learn without vaccine distractions But also there's something about from our perspective sitting down is so much more informal than standing up as a teacher there have been times where the best teaching occurs when I'm not the the sage on the stage as they say but the guide on the side when I'm sitting down so that I'm literally on the same level as my students and I don't know there's
this certain informality that comes I Actually joked with several classes as I've sat down and go today we just need to be on the same page I want to understand where you guys are coming from on this I'm not coming from a higher position of authority I need you to teach me and understand where you're coming from on certain issues so we can wrestle with some of the things that the Lord is asking of us I've actually even noticed that in some classes We give the we have an amazing lesson a good experience in class
the closing prayer occurs and then students want to just kind of linger and so I've just come over and it's these small groups and we end up having a discussion that was so much better than anything that happened in class and I laugh sometimes and I say to the students hey guys where was that like during the hour we had How come you guys were so much more vocal and willing to share and vulnerable and open after the closing prayer and it's this weird sort of well I don't know it just feels like this is
we can be ourselves now the class was kind of your time and this is our time but we still have some questions and we want to just I don't know and I'm like I actually remember one class going I brought that up explain that strange Phenomenon and the students all kind of got it like yeah we do do that don't we and I said what if we called our opening prayer the closing prayer and then let the next hour where we can actually be together study in Scripture have that kind of post-class informality where everybody's
comfortable being themselves and just giving their perspective on stuff can we make it feel like this is our closing prayer and then enjoy class do I need to sit down with You in just small groups or around a circle somewhere do we need to leave the classroom and go out I don't know in the atrium somewhere go sit down on a blanket underneath the tree go find a mountain to climb and just chat on the hike I love that Jesus whether it's the Jewish version or or our more modern version of informality I love that
he just wants to sit a spell and let's talk as teachers and as parents especially we need to take advantage of all of the informal moments of instruction actually not even instruction that's still too formal of conversation and if we can help our conversation partner feel comfortable in that kind of way though the heart will begin to open and truth will seep through The best youth interview I ever gave with an inactive young woman was when I went to her house and noticed that their chain link fence was broken in all kinds of places and
as a high school kid start trying to earn money for my mission I worked on a chain link fence crew and so I asked her with the mother's permission uh can you go out with me and show me some of the spots on the fence that we can I'll show you how to fix it Yourself and she was excited about that and little did she know that was the youth interview and I made a point of not looking her in the eye very often and of interrupting our conversation to ask things about chain link fence
just so it wouldn't feel like we were going too too much into personal kinds of things and it was just it felt so casual and she felt so free to be herself and open up and share what she was going through And where she was coming from and I could share some insights and things and that was a glorious experience because in some ways I was sitting down instead of standing up teachers leaders parents some good things can happen if we sit one other phrase here worth mentioning is what it says and he opened his
mouth and taught them saying in some ways that's really redundant isn't it of course if you're going to teach you Better open your mouth first well not necessarily you probably heard this old saying always share the gospel and when necessary use words Jesus never stopped teaching this time he just happened to use an open mouth to do it and we we should always be sharing the gospel we should always be teaching truth And on occasion we should use words to do it actually had a Seminary Student super shy little girl uh wonderful soul but incredibly
kind of socially anxious and at one point she had the courage to raise her hand we were talking about bearing testimony and she raised her hand and she said uh I think it was the only time she ever spoke in class she said does that mean we have to like give our testimony like verbally in church and Like in Fast and testimony meaning you could tell she wanted the answer to be no and as one who loves my students and and doesn't want to how hurt feelings or scare them I was as reassuring as I
could that there are more ways than one to Bear testimony that living the life of discipleship is a testimony in third Nephi taking the sacrament is a testimony there's so many ways you can bear your testimony and you Could just feel her starting to relax like it's okay I never have to go up there and use I don't I don't have to open my mouth and then it was the weirdest thing for me as a teacher doing trying to be as gentle as I could for her sake and I felt so clearly the spirit saying
no that's good advice on some occasions and she needs to know that's okay but she needs to Bear her testimony verbally as well and it was the weirdest thing and So all of a sudden I found myself going actually yeah there are times where you do need to get up and bear your testimony and just like ah I like the first half better I'm like yeah I know you would sorry uh but open your mouth let it be filled and teach and what does he teach he teaches the Beatitudes first from verse 3 through verse
12 and beatitude comes from a word meaning blessed and that's how all of These begin so he begins with blessedness here's the positive coming before any kind of constructive criticism before any and it's not going to be negative when it comes from Jesus but gentle calls to repent even gentle ones can be and should be preceded by what we see that is positive and here's his first one not in King James but in the Joseph Smith translation of Matthew chapter 5 Verse 2 by inspiration the prophet reveals blessed are they Who Shall Believe on me
which puts everything in the context of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by foregrounding faith then it's Through The Eyes of a believer in Christ that I'm going to approach the other things that he's going to teach me here okay so blessed are they who believe on me and again more blessed are they Who Shall Believe on your words when ye shall testify that ye have seen me and know that I am so faith in the direct words of Jesus is wonderful it's blessed but even more blessed is if you have sufficient Faith to trust
in a second-hand witness to start I'm not saying we end with that we want our own independent witness ourselves we want to come unto Christ and learn it directly from him but on the way we typically have to Trust in the words of others to start the process faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and who are we hearing others who heard him first no wonder this is important for us to understand so far removed in time and space from Jesus himself all we have are the testimonies of others Matthews and
Luke's and so on do we trust them because if we are willing to trust one Another on the way to gaining an independent witness from God directly then not only are we connecting ourselves vertically to heaven but we're connecting ourselves horizontally to one another along the way and both of those two great Commandments are essential as far as the Lord is concerned so more blessed it's almost doubting Thomas kind of you're blessed because you know for yourself you would have been more Blessed if you would have exercised Faith along the way including faith in one
another the jst then goes on yea blessed are they Who Shall Believe on your words and come down in the depth of humility and be baptized in my name for they shall be visited with fire and the Holy Ghost and shall receive a remission of their sins this is putting Matthew 5 in the context of Matthew 3 of Jesus baptism this is putting The Sermon on the Mount in the Context of a climb up the Fourth Article of Faith the faith and repentance there's the humility that brings you down to the depths to be baptized
and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost here it all is Jesus is calling for a new beginning to prepare us for the second law the higher law that he's giving us and if we're worthy to receive it then blessed are you with every step that follows verse 3 for example blessed are The poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and that kingdom is coming right repent before the kingdom of God is at hand this is not the high and mighty that enter that they lack humility but those who are poor in
spirit that admit that I'm not already in the Kingdom of my own construction but rather the Lord himself is coming with his kingdom and I want to be worthy To enter I am poor in spirit I don't yet have the kind of spirit that God himself wants to pour out upon me and so I come I come to the kingdom now recall though that there's there's something added in well I'll put it this way this is one of those incredible sermons that we not only get a version of in Matthew and a shortened version in
Luke but we get A second witness and a second chance to learn in what we might call the Fifth Gospel which is third Nephi when Christ comes to among when the resurrected Christ comes Among the Nephites sends there at the temple in Bountiful that's why the third Nephi version of this is called the sermon at the temple that puts things in an interesting context too the the best place on Earth for planes to become mountains is in the House of the Lord to ascend the mountain of the Lord himself right so we're at the temple
Sermon on the Mount it's kind of redundant right synonymous but for Jesus to come there and to teach this all-important life-changing message to the the Nephites that were worthy of his coming Ah that's there's worth a second witness right there there is an incredible amount of similarity between what we see in Matthew 5 6 7 and what we see in third Nephi 12 13 14. Skeptics jump on the similarities but avoid making sense or attempting to make sense of the differences the similarities to me are easily explained if it's if the sermon's this important yeah
I'm going to repeat myself I do that as a teacher all the time you probably are aware of that but uh the differences are are Enlightening as well here's one example of that and so if you ever have the time to have Matthew 5 6 7 in one hand and 35 12 13 14 in the other and just let your eyes keep bouncing back and forth It's amazing to see the differences between them and this is one of those examples the nephite version of this says blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and that's such an important difference if Being poor in spirit in and of itself constituted blessedness like we've already arrived like hey I'm poor in spirit that's one a wonderful preliminary step that's preparing the soil for the seed to be planted that's to be in a preparation for the word as Alma 32 describes it but it's not getting there the seed hasn't grown yet you're poor in spirit you recognize you need something that You don't yet have well guess who has it my grace is sufficient for you to
be perfected in me so come come unto me and that poverty of spirit will become the riches of my grace as I pour myself out into you that's what the Lord is offering here and inviting us to do here come unto me if if mere Affliction or tribulation was the was the source of all blessedness we'd all have phds in spirituality by now Because we all suffer it's what we do with that suffering it's whether or not we allow it to turn us unto Christ that makes the difference it then prepares us for the next
step verse 4 blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted and again is that simple morning it's just good you need a good cry now and then well that may be that may be true But is there a more Celestial form of Sorrow is there a more meaningful morning that Jesus is hinting at here you see if it's mourning with those that mourn to borrow the language of the baptismal Covenant in mosiah 18. then yes blessed are you if you mourn with those that mourn not only will you be comforted but more importantly
they will be too comforted through your compassion through your Empathy what if it's morning in terms of being open to our own humility and mourning that we are not yet all we need to be the morning of humility oh yes blessed are you for that in fact there's a more specific form of that that Paul calls Godly sorrow in his letter to the Corinthians and that to me might be the most important form of mourning in order to be comforted because of his Godly sorrow Over our sins then yes guaranteed Comfort will come as the
atonement of Christ sweeps away your guilt and replaces it with joy if you thought that Matthew's version of this was good Luke's is even better Luke's is intensified and in Luke 6 verse 21 he says blessed are ye that weep now for ye shall laugh it's more than just Comfort it is true Joy You remember laughter in the Old Testament is Yitzhak it's Isaac and when Sarah and all of her sorrow is Swept Away in a burst of laughter in a period a time of rejoicing her sorrow was replaced with a son that she named
after her own rejoicing laughter I read a book once about Sarah that called her the mother of humor in the Old Testament the mother of laughter she's the mother of Joy she named Isaac that And so if you are mourning now if you're weeping now and one of the great things about Luke's version is there's this sense of immediacy he keeps using the word now and Compares it to this suggestion of them someday uh and to see yeah right now might be rough it might be horrible what you're going through may be absolutely devastating and
I've heard from several of you recently that that describes your Current condition to a T but if you're weeping now just look to tomorrow and those tears will become tears of joy you'll be laughing and wiping your eyes because you just can't keep the joy in that's a beautiful promise as my wife and I have sometimes said when when in the middle of something really hard we've sometimes said someday we're going to laugh about this And if we're going to laugh about it in the future we might as well start laughing now and we tried
we tried we eventually get there my wife has an amazing sense of humor she'd have to put up with me yeah if you think about the verse in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 about to everything there is a time and a season you can hear the birds singing in the background right but this one Ecclesiastes 3 verse 4 a time to Weep and a time to laugh time to mourn and a time to dance the Luke version seems to be a little bit closer to the Ecclesiastes version and yes today might be a time to weep but
prepare the time to laugh is right around the corner dance if you will verse 5 then the next beatitude blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth so simple so straightforward but Meekness is so misunderstood we too often equate meekness with weakness and it's anything but if Moses was the meekest of all men in the Old Testament weakness that never described him to understand his power his strength but his recognition of the source of that strength and his willingness no matter what to obey that Source that's meekness as far as I can tell
and what's their promise they'll inherit the earth This is a beautiful role reversal because so often in life kind of the Now versus the then that you get in Luke now the meek get nothing the meek are shoved to the back of the line and they're willing to do it but sadly that maybe that's why we equate meekness with weakness because they get walked all over but see what the Lord is doing for their sake we see elsewhere in scripture the Promise that the last shall be first and the first shall be last well if
the meek come in last in the world's lions then what is the Lord doing in some ways it reminds me of family dinner when everyone's fighting over the food because if you've got a big family and if you don't fight to get your portion you won't get a portion everyone else will gobble it up before you get there Well imagine a kind of free-for-all when the dinner bell rings and everyone comes running into line kind of cafeteria style let's go with that okay and there's the the table with the with the food and everybody's lined
up and it's usually the the big guys jockeying for position and the meek are left in the back well imagine if the the host of this meal Capital H we're to say okay is everyone In Lion you ready to eat and these big Burly boys at the start are like you know salivating already and the Lord says wonderful please maintain your position and then he picks up the food and he walks to the back of the line has everyone do an about face and says now we'll begin serving that's what it means for the last
to be first I've sometimes wondered if we could do That in a classroom where everybody comes and sits down and then I instead of standing at the front of the room move to the back and ask everyone to turn around all of a sudden the back row students are the front row students and they don't feel I wish sometimes we could do that at church because the people who are struggling to get their kids on time and they're sitting there in the back in the Overflow man you are at a distance and perhaps at a
disadvantage to have the kind of experience where you really feel that the speaker is connecting to you I love that Jesus is willing to flip things yeah this is the lowly let's start with you and let's let the meek inherit the earth after all the Earth is going to be to receive its paradicycle Glory It will become the Celestia Kingdom that's an amazing promise of things to come but the meek will be the ones to inherit it and I think that word is used on purpose also what is a younger Child Left to inherit after
the birthright gets their double portion well no wonder so often in scripture it's not the firstborn that gets it it's an able not a cane it's a Jacob not An Esau it's a Joseph not a Reuben it's a Nephi not a Layman interesting role reversals there too verse six blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Luke's version of that gives this sense of immediacy Now versus Ultimate then blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled so this now of hungering like the now of weeping
like the now of so many things That we go through in life it's just temporary the blessedness is permanent you just have to wait for it to come are we sufficiently patient to receive it and notice here also blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness they'll be filled great with what filled with living water that's what the one of the well was hoping for filled with the bread of life well wait For the multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes but if you're hungering and thirsting after righteousness then what is your reward according to
the third Nephi version those that hunger and thirst in that way will be filled with the Holy Ghost and what a promise in fact he runs throughout this the poor in spirit oh the spirit himself will change that that poverty to wealth Those that mourn you'll be comforted and what's the holy ghost's title comforter with a Capital C me inheriting the Earth as it receives its its spiritual Recreation and here the the hungry and the thirsty filled with the Holy Ghost think about hunger and thirst as literal things where you eat and drink and as
a result of that particular eating and that particular drinking you Are given the promise of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost what's that sound like to you sounds like the sacrament to me where if we come truly famished wanting more than anything else we're talking fast Sunday kind of feeling wanting more than anything to be filled with the Holy Ghost then we do come with broken hearts and contrite Spirits we do come to the Sacrament table that sacrificial altar willing to lay down our lesser selves and become more like the Savior willing to take
upon us his name if only he'll give it to us willing to keep his Commandments willing to always remember him that we might always have his Spirit to be with us that's what fills the empty stomach or in this case The Empty Soul what a beautiful promise it's actually interesting I remember Years ago being really struck by this and so I dug it up and found the old talk it was given very early on in the ministry of someone you may know and love named Russell and Nelson back in 1986 he'd only been an apostle
for two years but he gave a talk in which he described an experience he had in Israel with a senior Apostle Elder Marky Peterson and this is what then Dr Nelson said about the experience I was with elder Marky Peterson in the Holy Land in October 1983. during his last mortal Journey Elder Peterson was not well evidences of his consuming malignancy were so painfully real to him yet he derived strength from the savior he served now remember this is a doctor looking on seeing this consuming malignancy Dr Nelson goes on following a night of intense
suffering aggravated by pangs of his Progressive inability to eat or to Drink Elder Peterson addressed throngs assembled at the Mount of Beatitudes to hear his discourse on The Sermon on the Mount can you picture being there on site to talk about a field trip and hearing a modern apostle give voice to the words of the Savior himself Elder Nelson explained that after Elder Peterson recited blessed are they which Do hunger and thirst after righteousness he departed from the biblical text and pleaded this question do you know what it is to be really hungry do you
know what it is to really be thirsty do you desire righteousness as you would desire food or drink under extreme conditions the Savior expects us to literally hunger and thirst after righteousness And seek it with all our hearts and Dr Nelson looking on knew that there was so much more to this message than surface level statements he said I was one of the few present on that occasion who knew how hungry and thirsty Elder Peterson really was his encroaching cancer had deprived him of relief from physical hunger and Thirst so he understood that Doctrine he
withstood the trial he thanked the Lord who lent him power to preach his last major sermon at the sacred site where his Lord Jesus had preached talk about knowing of what you speak have you ever been that hungry and in his case unable to satiate those hunger pangs maybe that's why people are so Desperately looking for things escapes satisfactions in drugs or alcohol or immorality or anything that gets their mind off the things that are gnawing The Emptiness that's gnawing at their soul but not to be able to satisfy talk about changing stones to bread
that rock will not change the hunger Within but come to the rock of our salvation and be filled with the fruits of his righteousness the fruits of the spirit That fruit is so sweet you'll never hunger and never thirst again the next beatitude in verse 7 blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy in that case we get what we give this is the law of the Harvest you reap what you sow this is the yo-yo principle send it out it'll come right back and however particularly however you treat someone else is the way
God will end up treating you Talk about a difference from this dog eat dog world that we live in talk about flipping things to start serving those at the back of the line be merciful to others even when they don't deserve Mercy reminds me of you in a way don't don't receive don't deserve Mercy either but we'll receive it if you'll just hunger and thirst after my righteousness if you just come unto me in faith you will obtain Mercy Next verse 8 blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and not see
God in some sign-seeking oh demanding proof sort of a way this is not share on demanding a sign this is not korahord demanding a sign this is not scribes and Pharisees demanding signs as we'll see later in the Gospels this is Miracles coming on the heels of exercise to Faith This is purity a pure heart an open mind a trust in one another no skepticism here no cynicism here just a pure heart I believe and here comes the reward of that belief perfect knowledge seeing God himself it does take more than mere mortality to discern
Divinity itself And so to this is like what section 130 I think of the doctrine covenants that even spirit is matter but it's such finer matter that it takes more Discerning eyes to be able to detect it takes that level of purity pure Humanity to discern pure Divinity but if we can achieve that level of Purity in Christ then we will see Christ and we will see God we'll see him as he is which is Purity personified in fact think of that in Terms of this verse first John chapter 3 verse 2 and 3. when
he shall appear second coming of Christ that is we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is how's that foreseeing God and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure how's that for the pure in heart pure in heart will see God because they will purify themselves in God through God As a result they will see him as he really is and see themselves as someone who has taken upon themselves his likeness has he engraven His Image in your accountants are we sufficiently pure for
him to come close enough to see verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God and the connection there in my mind is To be a child of God there's got to be family resemblance it has to be like father like son like mother like daughter and as we become like our Heavenly parents who love all of their children no matter who and no matter what no wonder they're asking us to be peacemakers when I see my children making peace with one another especially when there's been some Friction and
rather than turning into us and you got to punish that person you're their parent yeah I am which means I love them and punishing them hurts me you think there's any way that the two of you can sort this out work it through make it right can you be a little bit more forgiving and them a little more careful can you be a little more patient and Then try a little harder to be kind if we can be peacemakers then we are children of the Prince of Peace himself and that's the goal that's his goal
for us to Jesus's original audience that would be peace with the Samaritans go ask the woman at the well it would be peace with the Gentiles if according to Luke's version you're Sitting next to a few there they are mixed multitude can you get along how about with the Romans I'll talk about publicans in a moment and that's we're getting close can we be peacemakers in order to be the children of God and then the final Beatitudes 10 through 12. this is where in some ways it might even be harder blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake and yes it better be falsely because if it's true then maybe you deserved it okay but make sure that what they're saying about you is not true that you don't deserve that kind of opposition and if you don't deserve it but you're accepting it anyway if you're turning Cheeks as we'll see later in the sermon then blessed are you in fact rejoice
and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you you see the kingdom of heaven will not be gained without opposition believe me I'll face it more intensely than any of you ever could but if you're preparing to follow me Then prepare to be persecuted prepare to be shunned or scorned unfollowed on your social media in fact it's interesting the way that Luke version couches this frames it Luke 6 22-23 similar but with enough difference it's worth noting blessed are ye when men shall hate
you and when they shall separate you from their company that's an interesting one that's when you're ostracized and unfriended Not just rejected and reproached okay you've been separated from their company keep going they shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake that's an interesting phrase too to cast out your name which is either to throw it away from them or just to put it out there but attach it to some kind of wrongdoing well those Mormons they're not Christians oh you've cast out my name as evil If
that's happened to you for the son of man's sake then rejoicing in that day in fact leap for Joy there's more of that Lucan intensity get danced like you said earlier lead for Joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets you see what both the Matthew and the maluk version end with is that sense of companionship With the prophets and martyrs that have gone before you that's amazing to me and in those times where I have been attacked often simply for trying I I
never try to fight fire with fire I am not an Elijah in in that case I much prefer the non-confrontational I'll stand up for truth and I won't name names of those that are opposing it I want to be their friends I want to turn the other cheek I learned that from Jesus But when I have been attacked sometimes by name uh sometimes with strong language sometimes with mischaracterization and misrepresentation sometimes with malice this is the verse that always comes to mind and as long as I don't claim it pridefully and use it to put
myself above my attackers Then at least it puts me on par with some of the best people that have ever lived no and don't misunderstand me here I'm not on par spiritually with those prophets that went before this just might be the only thing we have in common that we've been opposed or persecuted or our names cast out there as evil or shunned or or separated from their company Wait a minute I guess I'm still in a company aren't I a company of the converted I'm I'm friends with the faithful I'm to find partnership with
prophets and apostles of all that's amazing to me and to think president Benson actually president Hinckley once gave a talk called the loneliness of leadership and he knew it think of uh the final Moroni of the Book of Mormon wandering alone for all those decades to stand up for truth and righteousness can be a lonely thing especially when you're separated from other people's company but by being separated from that company you're welcomed into this one and Prophets and apostles Martyrs and Saints will be able to smile and Nod and mourn with those that mourn and
comfort those that stand in need of comfort Saying I know exactly how you feel and our leadership is no longer so lonely because we have each other this might be what Paul himself described as what Jesus went through and then invited us into his phrase was The Fellowship of his sufferings there's some beautiful Fellowship here to me that is a price worth pain even if the price is persecution By the way in that passage where it first says blessed are you if you're persecuted for righteousness sake and then the second round blessed are you if
you're persecuted for my sake and I wonder is there a difference maybe not I mean the jst changes righteousness sake for my name's sake so it's still Jesus either way but if you hold to the King James and and use it as this idea is there a difference could there be a difference To me it is worth wrestling with because I think sometimes we are persecuted for righteousness sake but it's not so personal a connection with Jesus like we're being persecuted for his sake sometimes we're persecuted because we're lumped into the mix and oh you're
a Mormon you're a Latter-Day Saint and we don't want anything to do with you well okay that's persecution because of Your the tribe you're a part of sometimes you're persecuted for your standards okay but is that just mere a merely a lifestyle or the culture that you've grown up uh a part of to me there's something far more personal when it's for Christ's sake rather than just righteousness sake why are you righteous is it because of your personal relationship with the Lord In some ways it's the difference between being part of the military and fighting
to defend the cause or being a secret service where you are protecting the president now or maybe even more close close to this it's one thing to protect be on secret service for a president you didn't vote for in which case I'm just doing this because it's my duty okay this is for righteousness sake I'm Trying to defend the United States and its president whether or not I like the guy but if it was a president you voted for President you would have campaigned for if you could if it was someone you were so close
to that it's not just Duty compelling you but it's love that leads you into Harm's Way that I would give my life for you because I know you would and in fact in Jesus case you will do the same for me I hope my connection to Christ is personal enough that when I'm persecuted it's for his sake not just because I'm trying to do what's right or because I'm part of a church I believe in now this is relational As it should be now one thing to say here before we leave these Beatitudes behind we
need to understand that they are not merely unrelated attributes that Jesus is kind of thrown out Buckshot and saying here's a bunch of things to work on now I really do think these are things to work on in order as you strive to grow up in God as we start moving up the trajectory And aiming for that that Perfection when all is said and done that perfection in Christ the reason I say that is when Peter talks about taking on the divine nature in his Epistles and becoming like Christ there's the divine nature if I've
ever seen it to come unto him and become like him how do we do it Peter's version is you do it step by step this is Grace for grace and then progressing Grace to Grace until we Receive a fullness and if each step on the ladder each rung on Jacob's Ladder each step on The Stairway to Heaven is another level of Grace it's another principle or ordinance of the Gospel that I'm ascending through then it is a cumulative Crescendo in Christ and the way Peter says it is start with this and then add to it
this and then from that add to this and then add this And grow up in God along those lines what if the Beatitudes are intended for a similar ascent What If We Begin by being poor in spirit but we recognize that fact and we know that the source of the strength we need the source of the spirit that we're so poor in is Jesus so we come unto him borrowing from the 35 version isn't that faith I know where to find what I lack it's in Christ my faith is in him and so I come
and but what and what keeps me from coming all these sins with which I'm beset well then mourn over those sins experience the necessary Godly sorrow to leave them behind in your past and that kind of sorrowful repentance will lead to comfort in Christ faith in Christ poor in spirit come to Me repentance mourn and be comforted Meek I do see meekness in baptism because what like we saw when we studied at Matthew 3 Meek the meek Messiah Jesus himself was willing to descend below all things condescend to be baptized like us mere mortals us
sinners that really needed to be cleansed By the Waters of baptism by that Covenant with Christ if you're Meek to make a Meek enough to Make a covenant to stay connected to the power source he'll inherit the earth in fact One Step Beyond that if you hunger and thirst after righteousness you'll be filled with what with the Holy Ghost we've seen we've ascended now through the Fourth Article of Faith the first principles and ordinances of the gospel and then what follows blessed are the merciful what are we Doing now we are working on christ-like attributes
Mercy is only one of many but now that I've established Christ in the Forefront of my faith and begin to allow my behavior to fall into line with his lessons is his example once I've immersed myself in that kind of lifestyle and covenanted to to stay that way once I've been confirmed in it and the spirit is beginning to change me then let it change me let help me become more like Christ attribute by attribute Grace by grace now I'm not done there because what does Jesus next ask for be pure in heart because sadly
I think we can be working all on all kinds of christ-like attributes and still not be pure do we need to purify our motives and all that we're doing so far we'll see that next week in Matthew 6. do we need to purify Our approach do we need to just purify our our Des our hopes our desires our actions if virtue is Flowing out of him are we letting it come in to make us as virtuous as he is to be pure even as he is pure that's to me the next step and then what
follows after that the peacemakers up to this point how much of that can I do on my own out on an island somewhere in fact it might be easier to develop christ-like attributes if there's no one out there And to call them into question nobody to test my patients this is Castaway where it's just Tom Hanks and Wilson volleyball and yeah I bet I could become a pretty christ-like person in isolation but then push me and test me and persecute me oh that's what comes next can I still be a peacemaker with other people all
thrown into the mix if I can do that if I can make peace With one another and continue to do so even in the face of actual opposition real persecution for Christ's own sake maybe I'm now growing up in God maybe now I'm becoming all that he asks of me and that's the savior's hope so far in this Sermon on the Mount he's about to go on with being salt and being light and making a difference all around you But if we could pause just for a moment before going there and let Luke get another
word in edgewise Luke's version of this sermon he not only gives us these blessednesses these Beatitudes he gives us some cursednesses as well do we call those the be not tattoos I don't know but things that we should not be because it's anything but blessed in second he find 9 when Jacob's talking he uses a bunch of O's and a bunch of Woes and it's this rejoicing of oh the goodness of God and oh his mercy and his grace and oh and his great plan and but then it's like woe unto the liar and woe
unto the adulterer and whoa whoa whoa and it's fun to read second Nephi 9 looking for the O's and the woes well in The Sermon on the Mount the O's are all those Beatitudes and the woes are only found in Luke's account but there in chapter 6 verse 24 25 and 26 each verse gets its own woe first one verse 24 but woe unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation we talked about the poor being blessed the rich why the woe well sounds like because you already have been blessed and you
got your blessings in the here and now remember Luke's focus on that is the Now versus the then and so those who are rich now we could say Will your riches last are you laying up Treasures in Heaven or only here on Earth where moth and rust doth corrupt to understand that's what he said at the beginning you've already received your consolation you were in the front of the line and you got the the good stuff because life doesn't tend to go around to the back and start from the other side I've sometimes thought to
myself How many mansions can one person end up with because God promises mansions in heaven that he's preparing for us would I rather have my Mansion here on Earth now please don't get me wrong there are incredible people in the world that will end up with both mansions that live in a mansion here but still are more focused on the Mansion yet to come And in that case blessed are you if you seek for riches for you will seek them with the intent to do good that's how Jacob said it you will you will use
your prosperity to help everyone else around you prosper as well and that's a great that's a great thing it's the others that I worry about that decide for themselves now the the Mansion on Earth is all that I need in which case ah what a bummer You'll only get one and you're getting it now instead of them you already received your consolation this would be like Jesus accepting Satan's third temptation of the kingdoms of the world you can have them now ah no thanks I'll take them later when they come in the right way the
second woe is in verse 25 woe unto you that are full for ye shall hunger Well unto you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep you see this is being on the wrong end of the role reversal we already saw the last becoming first here we're seeing the first becoming last you see if you already think you've got all you need then of course we close ourselves for all the extra that the Lord is offering thinking we've got things covered if we are laughing now especially laughing at someone else's expense then we won't
be Laughing when all is said and done this is such a Lucan thing to say by the way it reminds me of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus which is also only found in the Book of Luke Luke loved role reversals and in case you didn't see it on the positive end the poor becoming the richian God he dramatizes it by flipping around and showing you its opposite the rich of this world becoming poor in the Kingdom of Heaven and then the last one verse 26. woe unto You when all men shall speak
well of you for so did their fathers to the false prophets which again is the flip side of what the Matthew version said that you're in good company if you're persecuted well in this case you're on the wrong side of that persecution you've joined the enemy and of course they have nothing negative to say about you you're on their side you understand what Paul is worried about when he talks about itching ears And people that are laying up preachers to their own lusts please come scratch me where I want where I need it tell me
what I want to hear there's priestcraft for you now that is not calling evil evil it's not calling things out it's not crying repentance it's just trying to fit in and go with the flow and be swept Downstream in the currents of culture oh you'll be you'll have friends in this Life you just don't want to end up where that stream is taking you I I do love what Luke adds to the mix by helping us see the flip side of it and if I'm if I don't have any enemies again I'm not trying to
make enemies I'm not trying to justify those who are attacking me I'm trying to turn other cheeks and love my enemy and pray for them and so on we'll see more of that a Second round of that by the end of this chapter but to see if my if my lack of opposition comes because of my lack of allegiance to the Lord then that's a problem if I don't want to ruffle feathers or rock the boat and so I'm not going to say anything I don't want to be cast out I don't want to have
my name put out there as evil Then I'm out of balance in this law and love contrary I'm trying to fit into the world I'm just telling people what they want to hear and that's the mark of a false prophet Sammy the laminite said it would be that way he warned his hearers you are trying to cast me out throw cast your stones and throw and shoot your arrows because I'm telling you that there's Things to change you call me a false prophet because I'm speaking truth whereas those who would speak falsehood to you and
tell you just what you want to hear those are true prophets in your book do you not see how you have turned truth and morality on its head do you not see how you're making good become evil and evil become good just like Isaiah said it would be That's the world we live in and it's a world we need to stand up to it is a fine line and a delicate balance to do that to speak for truth and righteousness in such a way that even those who oppose us might end up having ears to
hear my friends so far we're only what maybe a third of the way through the Sermon on the Mount But to see what Jesus is calling us to become oh he is lifting our sights he's reaching down from his set position of strength to lift us to higher levels so far may we be blessed along the lines of the Beatitudes because if we have arrived at that point the Lord is now ready to turn us around so we can let our lights shine [Music]
