Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Sunday, February 1, Matthew 5:1-6 Review

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the easiest extended passages to memorize, if taken "one piece at a time." (an old Johnny Cash song.)

And that is the key: one piece at a time. If you read through this sermon, you see "mini-sermons" within the sermon. First, in the Beatitudes, where the groundwork is laid for us to see what a child of the kingdom looks like.

You see a quiet strength, dependent completely upon the strength, hope and love of God. Nothing like what the world considers strength.

Then you see Christ shutting the mouths of both those who think that they can get away with breaking the Law of Moses, and the self-righteous who think that they can be saved by the Law of Moses. We find that He does not "destroy" the Law, but fulfills it with a new one: the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, which we read about more in depth in Romans 8.

And because He is in complete control, we need not be anxious about anything that has to do with this mortal life, for we'll see that God even numbers the very hairs on our head! We need to fear nothing, and find that God wants to be "Our Father".

We learn how to communicate with Him, and how He communicates providentially with us. We begin to see His heart for the lost, teaching us to forgive as we have been forgiven, for it is only by His grace we have any semblance of love and mercy.

He teaches us when to speak to the lost, and when not to. We learn to discern between those who are His children and those who are not. And we finally learn that we are saved, not by our own, sandy foundation, but by building ourselves firmly on the sure Bedrock of Christ.

And there, rains come, floods descend, and beat upon it, but it will always hold firm, for it is built upon Christ Himself. For we can say, with the Apostle Paul: "For our sake he made himself to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

So, we are all living stones, called "the Church", with Christ the chief headstone. Upon Him all are kept. And He has chosen to work through us, giving us the Holy Spirit as the glue that holds us together. Think about that as you fellowship with the rest of your local "stones" this morning.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"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,

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." (KJV)

Utilize all those helps as you plow through this today. Link the four characters arm in arm, and then attach the "for they or theirs" to each individually. You'll see it comes pretty easily.