THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
JE-SUS left the crowd, and went to a lone place to pray to God. And he
spent the night there. The next morn he chose twelve men, that he might
send them out to preach, and to heal those that were sick, and to cast
out dev-ils. Their names were Pe-ter, An-drew, James and John, the sons
of Zeb-e-dee, Phil-ip, Bar-thol-o-mew, Thom-as and Matth-ew, James and
Leb-be-us, Si-mon and Ju-das Is-ca-ri-ot.
[Illustration: THE SER-MON ON THE MOUNT.]
And the crowd was so great that Je-sus went up on a hill, and the twelve
went with him and he taught them there. He told them that those who were
in a high state of joy, with not a care to vex them, were called
blest. And he said, not in these words, but in words that meant the
same:
Blest are the poor in spirit, for God is with them.
By poor in spirit he meant those who did not think too much of
them-selves, who were not vain nor proud, but rich in love to God. And
he would be with them, and bless them all their lives.
Blest are those that mourn, for their tears shall be dried.
To mourn is to weep, and to grieve. Je-sus meant that those who wept for
their sins should shed no more tears, for Christ had come to save them,
and the good news should make them glad.
Blest are the meek, for the whole earth shall be theirs.
Je-sus meant by this that those who were fond of peace, and did not love
strife, might dwell where they chose, and would be blest in this world
and the world to come.
Blest are those who hun-ger and thirst for that which is good, for they
shall be filled.
This meant that those who sought to do right and to grow in grace had
but to pray to God, and he would give them all the strength they might
need from day to day.
Blest are those who are kind and good, for the Lord will be kind to them
in their hour of need.
Blest are those who are pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Those who are pure in heart will be fond of good works, and will lead
good lives, and God will not turn his face from them.
Blest are the peace-ma-kers--those who try to keep the peace and to put
an end to strife--for they shall be called the chil-dren of God.
Blest are those who are ill-used for my sake, for the more the world
hates them the more will God love them.
Je-sus told them that when men said hard things of them for his sake,
and called them vile, and were harsh with them and full of spite, they
were not to grieve but to be glad. For so did bad men treat the seers of
old who told them of their faults and their sins and tried to lead them
to Christ.
Salt is good, and gives a taste to our food.
Je-sus told them they were to salt the earth. This meant that they were
to tell the good news in such a way that men should want it and need it
just as they did salt.
He told them, too, that they must let their light shine; he meant that
they should let it be seen and known that they loved God, and tried to
do his will. They were not to hide it from men, but to do such good
works, in Christ's name, that those who did not love or care for him
might be drawn to Je-sus--the light of the world.
Je-sus said that if we do as we ought to do our-selves, and teach men to
keep all God's laws, we shall be called great in the place where God
dwells. But if, like the Scribes and Phar-i-sees, we teach what is right
and do what is wrong, we shall not see God's face, or live with him on
high.
He said, you have been taught not to kill; and that he who puts one to
death will be brought to the judge, and made to suf-fer for the crime.
But I say to you that it is a sin to hate those who have done you no
harm, and God will pun-ish you for it.
Then he said that when they went to church to wor-ship God they must try
and think if they had done wrong, had been harsh, or had said what was
not true. And they were to go at once and do right to those whom they
hurt in this way, for God did not care to have them bow down to him if
their hearts were full of sins they were not sor-ry for.
We must be good and pure, Je-sus says, in all that we say and do: we
must do no harm to those who harm us, but must be kind and good to them,
and pray for them, and love them.
Bless those that curse you, and do good to those that hate you. This is
a hard task, and none but those who have the love of Christ in their
hearts can do it. But if we pray for strength, the strength is sure to
come, and love takes the place of hate.
Some folks when they do good deeds like to make a great show and noise,
that they may be seen of men, and have much praise from them.
Je-sus told the Twelve that they were to do right, not to please men but
to please God. When they gave to the poor they were not to tell of it;
and when they prayed they were not to choose a place where they could be
seen of men--just to show how good they were--but were to go to their
room and shut the door, that no one but God could hear them. Then God
would give them what they asked for.
Je-sus taught them how to pray, and what words to use; and these words
each child ought to learn by heart and use at least twice a day:
"Our Fa-ther which art in heav-en, Hal-low-ed be thy name. Thy King-dom
come. Thy will be done on earth as _it is_ in heav-en. Give us this day
our dai-ly bread. And for-give us our debts, as we for-give our
debt-ors. And lead us not in-to tempt-a-tion, but del-iv-er us from
e-vil: For thine is the King-dom, and the pow-er, and the glo-ry, for
ever. _A-men._"
When they should fast they were not to look sad as those did whose wish
it was that men should see them fast, but they were to hold up their
heads and wear a look of cheer that no one but God should know it. And
God would bless them for it.
Je-sus said we must not want to be rich or to lay up wealth in this
world, for when we die we can-not take it with us. But we should give
our hearts to thoughts of God, and try to live so that we can share his
home, where we shall have more things to please us than all the gold in
the world can buy.
Je-sus said that no man could serve God and serve Sa-tan too. We serve
God when we do right; and we serve Sa-tan when we do wrong.
So we can-not do the will of both, and must choose which one we will
serve.
He told the Twelve not to judge folks; he meant that they must take care
how they found fault, and blamed them. For they may not have done wrong,
or if they did they may have meant no harm. We can-not see men's hearts,
or know how they felt at the time they did the deed. But God knows all,
and may not blame them as much as we do. Je-sus said that we should
strive to do right our-selves, and then we should see with clear eyes
who did wrong, and have a right to tell them of their faults.
He said, that what we want men to do to us we must do to them. If we
want them to be kind and good and to treat us well, we must do the same
by them.
He said, Strive to go in at the strait, or nar-row gate; for wide is the
gate and broad is the way that leads to death. He meant that the good
and the bad ways are like two gates in our path, for us to choose which
one we will go through.
The good way is small and hard to find, and we have to search for it
with great care. But the path is one that leads to life and joy.
[Illustration: THE UN-FRUIT-FUL TREE.]
The bad way is like a broad gate that stands o-pen and in plain sight.
This wide gate leads down to hell, and crowds and crowds go that way,
while but few are found in the good way that leads to bliss.
Je-sus said that at the last day some would call him Lord, Lord, and say
they had served him and taught as he did. But he would say that he did
not know them, for they had bad hearts, and had led lives of sin, and
were not fit to dwell with the good and pure in the home on high, where
all is love.
He said that men were like trees. Good trees brought forth good fruit;
but a bad tree could not bring forth good fruit. And men were to be
known by their works, just as a tree was known by its fruits.
Then he spoke of two men, each of whom built a house. One chose to build
on a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house, but it stood firm and the storm did it no harm.
But one of the men built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell
with a great crash, and was swept out of sight.
Je-sus said that those who heard his words and did as he told them were
like the wise man who built his house on a rock. Christ is our Rock. He
stands firm. No storms can move him. If we cling to him he will save us.
Je-sus said that those who heard his words and did not do as he taught
them, were like the man who built his house on the sand. When the storm
came on the last day, when God would judge the world, they would be
swept out of sight. And oh! what a sad, sad day that will be for all
those who have led bad lives, and done not the least thing to please
God, who took care of them and gave them all they had.
We must strive to be good all the time, and to love Je-sus, so that he
will be near us, and will take us home to live with him when we die.