Conditions and Promises

Jesus began His public ministry when He was already 30 years old and after He had won the big war against the devil in the wilderness. As he wandered in the city or by the shore of the Sea of Galilee He called some men to follow Him. BUt they were not the only ones who followed Him, since we read: “His fame went throughout all Syria… great multitudes followed Him – from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan.” (Matthew 4:24,25)

As He saw the crowd He went up on ,a mountain where He sat surrounded by His disciples and the big crowd. When everyone was seated He opened His mouth to utter words of heavenly origin. These words that brought up a complete set of new principles, words to which people’s souls could not remain indifferent; simple words that entailed a condition and a promise, a condition set on the present and a promise foreseeing to’ the future; Words that led to the sad acknowledgement that one did not meet the requirements for such a high goal and that something had to be done in that regard.

The Sermon on the Mount was not only addressed to that anonymous crowd on the hills of Palestine 2000 years ago, but it was meant for men and women throughout the centuries up to our days – the end of times.

A certain parallel may be drawn between this sermon and some of the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation which also entail a condition and a promise regarding the life to come.

“Blessed are the poor of spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Humbleness is the top virtue in a Christian character. To be humble is to be Christlike. Jesus’ invitation is for us to learn from Him gentleness and meekness. The kingdom of heaven inhabited only by beings who live in total surrender to God’s will and praising His holy name can only belong to someone who can fit into such an environment, someone whose heart is not in rebellion, is not proud and has no tendency to feel superior.

The addresses at the church of Laodicea are deprived of this blessing. They are not qualified to possess the kingdom of heaven because what characterizes them is self- sufficiency, they think they are rich and have need of nothing. They lack the naivety and meekness of a little child which are necessary to accept everything by faith and live by it.

Among the crowd listening to Jesus there were thousands (if not all) who did not meet this condition and could have stood up already at the first. blessing: and gone back home, The same may happen in the church of Laodicea, but he who has ears can hear also the message that says that Jesus is at the door and wants to dine with us. To dine wit4 Jesus means to receive from him the cup of wine, the symbol of his blood shed for us, and ,to eat the bread He breaks, the symbol of His tom body. It means to have a very close communion with Him. It is only through this unique relationship that we may be overcomes. The promise to all overcomes is: “to sit at the Lord’s throne”, in other words, the kingdom of heaven is his, the same promise given at the Mount of Blessings.

Therefore, is the fact that we may acknowledge there is pride in our heart a reason to leave the church or stop listening to Jesus’ words? By no means! Nebuchadnezzar, whose pride was as outstanding as the hanging gardens in the gorgeous city he had built, says: “And those who walk in pride He is able to abase.” (Daniel 4:37)

“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Many mourning souls were sitting around Jesus on the slopes of the mountain, many widows and orphans and also many believers who were disappointed by the attitude of the priests in the temple and the many rules of the Pharisees, sincere souls who yearned for the living God and a living religion.

Many such mourning souls filled the church of Ephesus where the Nicolatians had distorted the truth and the church of Pergamus as they saw the leaders compromising with the worldly authorities. To them there is also a promise: to eat of the tree of life and manna, and to have a new name engraved on a stone. What bigger comfort can there be than to have the assurance of eternal life to be restored to God’s image – to pass from being a Jacob (supplanter) to being an Israel (overcomer with God)! Yes, those who mourn will be comforted!

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called of God.” There are two ways of making peace: one is by convincing the enemy, in a humble and loving way, that he is wrong, a work that can be done only through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the other one by compromising. The latter was the one chosen by the leaders of the church of Pergamus who, tired of persecution abandoned their principles of faith for the sake of security. Thus the church began to lose its light and to adopt pagan practices, imitating the ceremonial rites of heathen cults and the garments of the emperors. Such kind of peace does not last long because it is not based on love but on fear and “there is no fear in love.”

Jesus is the Prince of peace. He came to reconcile the world with the heavenly Father and those who receive Him are given the possibility to become children of God. Christ’s disciples cannot be other than peacemakers since they are His ambassadors through whom God pleads the world to be reconciled with Him! God’s children are called to be faithful by all means and they are given the promise to become pillars in His temple. Pillars sustain the weight of the whole building and believers who do not compromise, who hear the voice of the Spirit and are imbued with brotherly love, as is the case of the church of Philadelphia, are the pillars, that is to say the support of the spiritual building that is God’s church. Only he who can love his brethren, his family in Christ, is able to be an ambassador of peace and bring the message of reconciliation, since the world will believe that God sent Christ when they see unity among His followers. (John 17:21)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus was presenting a religion that, if lived out, would arise persecution. He was pouring a blessing as well as giving a promise to those who would be courageous enough to live according to principle instead of tradition.

The church of Smyrna knew what price had to be paid to keep the doctrine pure and live according to the Master’s teaching. “All who desire to live godly, in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”. (2 Timothy 3:12) The Roman emperors took care of fulfilling this prophecy by punishing the believers for the purity of their childlike faith in the hope that they were going to make them renounce it in view of the cruel treatment they received. But to them the crown of life, although invisible, was more precious than the laurel wreath of the pagan heroes. Although it was a highly tried and poor church the Lord considers it rich, just the opposite of the church of Laodicea that thinks it is rich but the Lord sees it in a miserable condition.

The crowd that heard the Sermon on the Mount on that glorious day could not remain the same. A great appeal was addressed to their conscience and since “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 6:29), they followed Him even as He came down from the mountain because in Him was to be found the solution for their shortcomings. Neither can we remain indifferent to these words or to the messages in the epistles to the churches dictated by Him who has the two-edged sword (Revelation 2: 12) “that pierces even the division of the soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Most of the churches receive an appeal: “Repent” and many of those who listened to the sermon “in vivo’. were reminded of what Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist, had been preaching in the wilderness: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. If it was at hand then, how much more must it be now, or as Paul says: “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11) Our SALVATION is nearer because “the Son of Man has come to SA VE that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Do you feel, dear brother and sister that you are lost in the church? Do you wonder if there is still any hope for you? Yes, there is. We only have to heed and respond to the message to the church that had lost its first love: “Remember from where you have fallen and repent.” (Revelation 2:9)

May the Lord’s grace lead us into repentance, grant us again the gift of forgiveness and fill our 1anlps with oil that we may be counted among the wise virgins upon whom all the blessings of the Sermon on the Mount may be richly poured.
AMEN