What stubborn people we can be! Selfish to the core, we want our way, not someone else's . . . and certainly not God's. Shortsighted, we see the immediate and the obvious, not the ultimate and the hidden. Easily irritated and impatient, our first reaction when taken advantage of is to retaliate, to establish a defensive posture and not give anyone an inch. Those efforts only intensify when faced with an adversary. Then we aren't satisfied with simply standing our ground and being determined . . . getting even becomes our agenda. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offered revolutionary, even strange, advice for His people. Without pulling His punches, Jesus addressed the very best way to handle sensitive situations with those who threaten our personal rights. He offered countercultural counsel and dared us to obey. In place of retaliation, release . . . instead of hate, love . . . don't get even, pray. It's with this counsel in Jesus's sermon that most people have their greatest struggles.
Simple Advice to the Selfish and Strong-Willed
Message 6
Pastor Chuck Swindoll • Matthew 5:38–48
Let's Keep It Simple
Pastor Chuck Swindoll • Matthew 5—7
Of all the sermons that have been preached, none is more famous, more profound, or more convicting than the one Jesus preached on the mountain. It is timeless, ever-relevant, and never dull. With penetrating power, Jesus exploded the brittle veneer of Pharisaic hypocrisy and explained the essence of true righteousness. Weaving threads from the Old Testament through this new garment of truth, Jesus set forth principles that, to this day, refuse to be ignored. Yet how few truly embrace His words! We analyze and interpret them. We outline and compare them. We admire and quote them. But those activities, while worthwhile, are not the reason Jesus preached this sermon. He preached it so that change might occur—so our lives might be different in this world gone wrong. God's people are to be thoroughly Christian—a divine minority who live in contrast to a secular majority.
The Qualities of Simple Faith
Pastor Chuck Swindoll • Matthew 5:1–12
We can read Jesus's Sermon on the Mount in fifteen minutes or less. No teacher or preacher has ever packed more truth into such a brief period of time. For centuries, these words from Matthew's gospel have been scrutinized by millions of Bible students, authors, pastors, and missionaries. Yet, no one has even come close to exhausting Jesus's message. Our hope in this study is to glean a few fresh, practical insights that will enable us to stay on course in living lives that are distinctively different. For as we shall be periodically reminded, the underlying challenge of this sermon is: be different! With this primary theme woven throughout, it's no surprise that our Lord began His famous sermon with a list of character qualities unheard of in a dog-eat-dog society.
A Simple Counterstrategy: Shake and Shine
Pastor Chuck Swindoll • Matthew 5:13–16
Influence . . . always a timely subject! We influence others when we direct them without exerting force over them. In numerous, intangible ways, we sway people's opinions and modify their lives. It's commonly called “impacting.” Parents impact children. Teachers impact students. Leaders impact organizations, teams, and nations. The media impacts our thinking. But much of the impacting we see today is either negative or temporal. Power-obsessed people abuse their authority, relying on money, prestige, or even brute strength to get their way. As Christians, we must focus on making a lasting impact for good—influencing others without resorting to force or other means of control. The crucial question is how? Jesus's answer in Matthew 5 is still the best. Though His words are familiar, we must apply them with greater diligence and more confident faith. They work!