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The Sermon on the Mount

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posted on Jul, 29 2012 @ 03:23 PM
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Originally posted by 5pooky
I cannot top these word! Just beautiful!

Amen. I'm glad that most people here can see wisdom and truth for what it is, regardless of the source or fan base surrounding it.



posted on Jul, 29 2012 @ 03:29 PM
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reply to post by visualmiscreant
 


I asked some very simple questions, I'll fight tooth and nail for the op to have the right to believe what the hell he likes.



posted on Jul, 29 2012 @ 03:32 PM
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reply to post by DarkKnight21
 


Great thread. For me, I see in this that we are being shown our own utter lack of ability to follow these words in full. The first few times I read the sermon on the mount, I realized that this is not something we can do fully. Jesus came to fulfill this law Himself. By speaking these words, he is reaffirming the fact that we must step away with him rather than try it on our own. For the Christian, we are charged with rising to Christ, but this is not something we can do here and now. The Holy Spirit is here now as a comforter while we wait. This Holy Spirit is then something we receive as our own Spirit when God sends the Son to us face to face over the next 1000 years. Salvation comes at the appearance of Christ according to Hebrews 9:28. Until then, we have been waiting. You must be born again. In Acts 24, Paul speaks of the last days when the righteous and wicked are raised together back to life. Isaiah 26 speaks of this same event. Job said:

I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes —I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Revelation 1:7 states that, all eyes will see and all knees bow when Christ comes again, even the wicked generation that pierced Christ. How can this be unless we are all here now to see it happen? 7 billion souls are here now. I don't this number as random. The resurrection has happened. Elijah prepared the way. How do I know Elijah prepared the way? Read 1 Kings 17 and make the connection with John the Baptism, water and baptism being the immersion of the soul as the child is brought back to the mother's arms.

Paul said this in Acts 24

I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

James 4

4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

We cannot rejoice or take joy in this world, even when we feel like we are above sin and death. I think James is pointing out that we are to see ourselves as we are--sinners. On our best day, we should still grieve, mourn and wail at the fact that we cannot save ourselves. It's not about what we do, but about what has been done for us. As a reflection of our humility and vision of our true nature, God steps in and lifts us up. We do not do it ourselves. Faith is the key and love is the law to be fulfilled.

Another relevant set of verses comes from Galatians 3

23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In light of the words that continue to tell us that we can never make it to heaven apart from the perfections listed in these verses, how then can we make it? Faith. God develops our faith over time. The only thing that hinders him taking the spirit back to himself is our own pride. That's the key in the end. It's not what we do, but what is done for us. With God, all things are possible.

I thank God that we are not justified by works. Faith is God's work in us.



edit on 29-7-2012 by EnochWasRight because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 29 2012 @ 03:32 PM
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Originally posted by ChristianJihad
reply to post by visualmiscreant
 


I asked some very simple questions, I'll fight tooth and nail for the op to have the right to believe what the hell he likes.


I respect your answer as well. Thank you for your reply.



posted on Jul, 29 2012 @ 09:00 PM
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reply to post by DarkKnight21
 


Bless the Name of the Son of the Most High, Jesus. Let His praises be sung forever. That sermon is amazing. And applying it to one's life won't only prosper them, but will bless everyone they come into contact with.



posted on Jul, 29 2012 @ 09:04 PM
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Originally posted by benrl
Any person that claims to follow Christ and is Wealthy needs to seriously take a look at their beliefs...

This includes a good majority of the Republican party...



Be careful. Even the poorest among us here in the USA are "rich" compared to the rest of the world. We all need to head the Lord's advice on that one. If a person makes more than 2500 USD per year they are in the top 3% of wage earners on the planet.



posted on Jul, 30 2012 @ 01:28 PM
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Originally posted by DarkKnight21

Do Not Worry


25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


I want to touch on this one for a moment. These verses came to mind the other day when I was shopping in a convenience store and a minor robbery took place. The situation quickly escalated out of control. The store clerk used himself as a human wall to keep a teenage girl from leaving the store with a few bags of chips which she probably couldn't afford. As she forced him through the front doors, he tried to grab the chips from her and a bag ripped open. She quickly took off running.

Later, as I was leaving the store, I noticed that a few birds had flocked to the store entrance to eat the chips that had fallen on the ground. I immediately thought about how even though this girl was a thief, God had turned the situation around for something good and provided for the birds. I like to think that He operates the same way with people. A lot of atheists are using this Aurora tragedy saying "where was God?" as if it is somehow proof for nonexistence. The truth is, we hand Him sin and suffering and He turns it around into something good. As the most pure form of giving is done in secret, so these "sin refunds" as I like to call them can sometimes go unnoticed.



posted on Jul, 30 2012 @ 02:05 PM
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Originally posted by EnochWasRight
reply to post by DarkKnight21
 

In light of the words that continue to tell us that we can never make it to heaven apart from the perfections listed in these verses, how then can we make it? Faith. God develops our faith over time. The only thing that hinders him taking the spirit back to himself is our own pride. That's the key in the end. It's not what we do, but what is done for us. With God, all things are possible.

I thank God that we are not justified by works. Faith is God's work in us.


Thank you for sharing this. 5 years ago if someone had tried to share the Gospel with me, I'd have torn their testimony to pieces and, like swine, turned and trampled them. Everything was a debate to me. Everything was about ego. Since I have been baptized by fire my faith has strengthened like the muscles in my body. I went from being a staunch atheist to a confident believer. And I'm at peace with my God and my belief. I'm reminded of this quote by CS Lewis.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
edit on 7/30/2012 by DarkKnight21 because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 30 2012 @ 03:00 PM
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There is a lot of excellent teaching in these verses.
Would you consider, perhaps, starting threads to focus on smaller portions of them and teasing out the meaning and implications?
(This is exactly what the Theology sub-forum is supposed to be about, so ignore the trolls)



posted on Jul, 30 2012 @ 03:08 PM
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reply to post by DISRAELI
 


I once created a thread outlining why worry separates us from God, so I have done it before. To be fair, each topic deserves to be picked apart and explored in detail. There is so much wisdom there.

However I kind of thought the entire speech deserved its own topic since it's my favorite part of the NT. It's the meat-and-bones of Jesus's ministry. Also, it might be important to note that Obama calls it "radical".



posted on Jul, 30 2012 @ 09:15 PM
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Originally posted by DarkKnight21

Originally posted by EnochWasRight
reply to post by DarkKnight21
 

In light of the words that continue to tell us that we can never make it to heaven apart from the perfections listed in these verses, how then can we make it? Faith. God develops our faith over time. The only thing that hinders him taking the spirit back to himself is our own pride. That's the key in the end. It's not what we do, but what is done for us. With God, all things are possible.

I thank God that we are not justified by works. Faith is God's work in us.


Thank you for sharing this. 5 years ago if someone had tried to share the Gospel with me, I'd have torn their testimony to pieces and, like swine, turned and trampled them. Everything was a debate to me. Everything was about ego. Since I have been baptized by fire my faith has strengthened like the muscles in my body. I went from being a staunch atheist to a confident believer. And I'm at peace with my God and my belief. I'm reminded of this quote by CS Lewis.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
edit on 7/30/2012 by DarkKnight21 because: (no reason given)


That is so good to hear. I just bought the complete works of CS Lewis. Good stuff.



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 07:02 AM
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Originally posted by DarkKnight21

Originally posted by EnochWasRight
reply to post by DarkKnight21
 

In light of the words that continue to tell us that we can never make it to heaven apart from the perfections listed in these verses, how then can we make it? Faith. God develops our faith over time. The only thing that hinders him taking the spirit back to himself is our own pride. That's the key in the end. It's not what we do, but what is done for us. With God, all things are possible.

I thank God that we are not justified by works. Faith is God's work in us.


Thank you for sharing this. 5 years ago if someone had tried to share the Gospel with me, I'd have torn their testimony to pieces and, like swine, turned and trampled them. Everything was a debate to me. Everything was about ego. Since I have been baptized by fire my faith has strengthened like the muscles in my body. I went from being a staunch atheist to a confident believer. And I'm at peace with my God and my belief. I'm reminded of this quote by CS Lewis.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
edit on 7/30/2012 by DarkKnight21 because: (no reason given)


If you like Lewis so much may I suggest Charles Haddon Spurgeon? Amazing preacher, teacher, and evangelist.



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 10:17 AM
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Originally posted by EnochWasRight

Originally posted by DarkKnight21

Originally posted by EnochWasRight
reply to post by DarkKnight21
 

In light of the words that continue to tell us that we can never make it to heaven apart from the perfections listed in these verses, how then can we make it? Faith. God develops our faith over time. The only thing that hinders him taking the spirit back to himself is our own pride. That's the key in the end. It's not what we do, but what is done for us. With God, all things are possible.

I thank God that we are not justified by works. Faith is God's work in us.


Thank you for sharing this. 5 years ago if someone had tried to share the Gospel with me, I'd have torn their testimony to pieces and, like swine, turned and trampled them. Everything was a debate to me. Everything was about ego. Since I have been baptized by fire my faith has strengthened like the muscles in my body. I went from being a staunch atheist to a confident believer. And I'm at peace with my God and my belief. I'm reminded of this quote by CS Lewis.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
edit on 7/30/2012 by DarkKnight21 because: (no reason given)


That is so good to hear. I just bought the complete works of CS Lewis. Good stuff.



Mere Christianity is a great place to start. It isn't a book you read just once and put it down. I constantly find myself using it as a reference. Lewis certainly has a way with words, and his approach is sound and logical.



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 10:18 AM
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reply to post by NOTurTypical
 

I've read a few quotes here or there, but I'll have to check out more of his stuff. Any books specifically you would recommend?



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 10:29 AM
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Originally posted by DarkKnight21
reply to post by NOTurTypical
 

I've read a few quotes here or there, but I'll have to check out more of his stuff. Any books specifically you would recommend?


Oh man, any are great he wrote so many. "The Soulwinner" is my personal favorite. And all of his sermons can be found online.



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 12:34 PM
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Originally posted by windword
reply to post by DarkKnight21
 





3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


What does that mean? What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Does it mean that one is depressed and sad, or lacking in faith or both? How do the being poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven?


The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer

"The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul poverty and abnegation of all things. The blessed ones who possess the Kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing. These are the "poor in spirit." They have reached an inward state paralleling the outward circumstances of the common beggar in the streets of Jerusalem; that is what the word "poor" as Christ used it actually means. These blessed poor are no longer slaves to the tyranny of things. They have broken the yoke of the oppressor; and this they have done not by fighting but by surrendering. Though free from all sense of possessing, they yet possess all things. "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.""



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 01:24 PM
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reply to post by mojo2012
 


Tozer is another classic pastor/author.



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 02:30 PM
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reply to post by NOTurTypical
 





Be careful. Even the poorest among us here in the USA are "rich" compared to the rest of the world. We all need to head the Lord's advice on that one. If a person makes more than 2500 USD per year they are in the top 3% of wage earners on the planet.


Yes but take in cost of living index etc, there could be an argument that some of the US poverty areas face just as much things like famine, the US just hides it well...

Don;t get me wrong I struggle with this all the time, Do i really need a new Ipad or Iphone when there are starving people in my own community.

IM a horrible christian in that respect, I know it, and I try to do better daily sometimes I do and some times I don't.

I try to help as many as I can, I prefer the personal touch, we have 2 people in my house that we have essentially taken off the streets and have helped them establish themselves .

What is enough for Christ? I know my standards fall far short of what is asked of me, I am in the process of simplifying my life as much as possible.

Both with the situation in the US, and my own views as a Christian, I don't need a Mcmansion, I Don't need 2 new cars in the family.

My point is we all can be better Christians, and if the Church focused on that, instead of Multi media services, large cathedrals, super churches, Perhaps the world would not treat us all as a Joke.

Maybe if the US saw every christian that had the room adopting a parent-less child, there might be less abortions in the US when people would know the child would have a good home somewhere. Maybe, just maybe people would listen to our abortion stance than.
edit on 31-7-2012 by benrl because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 02:59 PM
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reply to post by benrl
 


Cost of living really doesn't matter, even the poorest of poor here in the states are "rich" compared to most parts of the world. Heck if you're poor here u can get food stamps, free medical care etc. The squalor in most countries is unfathomable. We truly are extremely blessed here, even the "poor" by our standards compared to the rest of the world at large are actually well off.

Materialism has taught us not to be thankful for what we do have, but to be wanton for what the guy down the street has and we do not. It's completely backwards.


edit on 31-7-2012 by NOTurTypical because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 31 2012 @ 04:09 PM
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reply to post by ChristianJihad
 

Have you considered however, the reasoning and the rationale woven through the words and the teaching of the SOTM?

I'm not so sure you CAN just write it all off as fairy tales and nonsense and crapola, you could try I suppose, but it would be a fool's errand wouldn't it?



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