We are nearing the end of our journey through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount! For those just joining, please understand that this entire Sermon given by Jesus Christ Himself...Was to bring His people back to the original intent and focus of all of the Laws and Principles that have ever been given in Scriptures!! To let us know that we have become lost in the legalism and religion of His teachings...
And have missed the single most important thing... The ONLY thing in which all of His Commands have ever been about in the first place...The condition of the heart behind them!  Have WE truly been motivated by nothing but love for Him and others?  If not, we have missed it all!

“Stay Gold!" Some of you recognize this line from, "The Outsiders". As Johnny Cade lays dying in the hospital, he says this to Ponyboy, referring to a Robert Frost poem. He meant, "Stay innocent, stay good. Don't lose the golden moment of beauty and purity like the sunrise that soon fades into day." As we walk through some of the last Words Jesus spoke in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus starts by telling us to "Stay Gold" in His eyes as well. Matthew 7:12: What is this statement? The Golden Rule. It sounds so simple and short, but it must be massive, because He says all the Law and Prophets hang on it. Remember the context in which these words are spoken by Jesus. These words follow a series of commands and parables which tell us to stop being legalistic and focus on our hearts, or we've missed it. Specifically, after saying how God the Father does good things for those who ask – because He loves so much. Why would this command seem to be a summary of those words?

We have been studying one of the most important and life changing passages of Scripture in the whole Bible...A Sermon spoken by Jesus Christ Himself... While living on this earth as a Human...
The Sermon on the Mount!
What Jesus has done in this sermon...Is take every thought and every action that you and I ever have... Good or bad...And measure the importance and impact of them... In His eyes...Based solely upon one thing... The deepest motivation of our heart!

We are in the middle of our study in one of the most important sections of Scripture in the Old and New Testaments... The Sermon on the Mount! So far Jesus has told us that...
 
Way too many Christians are focused on outward behavior (religion) and not the heart...
And unless we realize that...We truly are hopelessly selfish without Him...And our actions are hollow and meaningless without the REAL love that only HE can give to us...We are living an insincere and dark life that will end in damnation! The first few parts of the sermon have powerfully peeled back layers of religion in many of our lives... And left our souls bare!
 
This next section peels even another layer away...With such relevance...That I can just about guarantee it will affect everyone here drastically...With open hearts led by the Spirit... Let's delve in again!
 
To Judge Or Not To Judge?

We are on our fifth week exploring Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. We will delve into the next deeply probing section of how Jesus' taught we should be living out His Words. Jesus has just finished illustrating that the heart from which all of our actions stem, good and bad, shows the true condition of our souls. Now He begins to focus on the things which our misguided hearts will often latch onto instead of Him and His love.