Volume 26, Issue 3
Page 14
WisconsinChristianNews.com
Matthew 5:3-12, The Greatest Sermon (Part One)
By Dr. Mike Spaulding Summer 2025
office will get the job as the wireless opera- tor.’ ” Recently at our church, we began our study of Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount. We learned that in order to enter the Kingdom of God – i.e. be born again – we must come to a place where we see our spiritual poverty; we come to see that we are sinners needing
said concerning the Christian life that no one will leave this place unchanged today. Is there anything we can do as individuals to make sure we hear all that God is speaking to us? I believe there is and I want to point out three things as we begin our study. The first thing we can do is to develop an attentive heart. That is the point of the wire-
spirit. It’s a fact that when we are upset, our capacity to hear diminishes greatly. So, the first thing we can do as individuals to make sure we hear God when He speaks is that we cultivate an attentive heart. The second thing we can do is maintain a “teach- able spirit.” After telling us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, James says “in hu- mility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” How do we receive God’s Word? We receive God’s Word humbly — in humility. This speaks directly to the third thing we can do – develop an obedient walk. The rea- son God gives us His Word is to make us wise so that we will listen and obey. The re- sult of listening and obeying is the salvation of our souls. There seems to be a huge disconnect today within the church though. There are many people who know facts about God but do not know God. They think knowing facts about God is the same thing as knowing God in a saving relationship. That is a lie of the devil. A.W. Tozer, the late pastor and author once wrote: “There is an evil which, in its effect on the Christian religion, may be more destruc- tive than communism, Romanism (Roman Catholicism), and liberalism combined. It is the glaring disparity between theology and practice among professing Christians. So wide is this gulf between theory and practice in the church that an inquiring stranger who chances upon both, would scarcely dream that there was any relation between the two of them. An intelligent observer of our human scene who heard a Sunday morning message and later watched the Sunday afternoon con- duct of those who heard it would conclude that he had been examining two distinct and contrary religions. It appears to me that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right. And so, the di- vorce between theory and practice becomes permanent in fact. Truth sits forsaken and grieves ‘til her professed followers come home for a brief visit. But she sees them de- part again when the bills come due.” Tozer was not one to mince words. The in- teresting thing about his comments here is that he wrote them as a critique of what he saw 50 years ago! Folks, there should be no disparity between what we profess and what we possess! There should be no difference between what we say we believe and our actions! Jesus has not called us to be people who know His words only. He has called us to be people who obey His words always. Continued On Page 15
Around the turn of the century, there was a group of appli- cants waiting to be interviewed for a job as a wireless opera-
tor. With the exception of one person, the en- tire group was busy talking amongst themselves. The one person who was not talking was listening intently to the sound of dots and dashes coming over the loud- speaker. Without warning, this person jumped out of the chair and almost raced into the hiring manager’s office. The rest of the group stopped their talking long enough to chuckle at the sight, thinking the person would cer- tainly be disqualified for bursting into the manager’s office unannounced. Moments later, this same person came out of the office with a huge smile and the excla- mation, “I got the job!” Bewildered, the entire group began to protest and said, “How did you do that?” The person responded, “If you hadn’t all been talking you would have heard the hiring manager’s coded message over the loud- speaker. It said, ‘The person I need for this job must always be on the alert. The first one who hears this message and comes into my
God’s mercy and grace. As I thought about this text, I realized it is possible to hear the greatest sermon ever taught and go away unchanged by it. I’m sure it happened the very day Jesus spoke the words we’ll study today. But I pray that as we look at what Jesus
less operator illustration. James said: “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who de- lude themselves.” (1:19-22). “Quick to hear” refers to an “alert ear.” James is not talking about physically hearing words, because it is possible to hear and yet not hear. We do this all the time with our spouses. When James says we must be quick to hear, he means we must be alert at all times to listen to what God has to say. Jesus con- stantly talked about “having ears to hear.” What He meant by that was people need to have hearts that are attentive to God; that are sensitive, that are listening. We must have a sensitive spirit if we are going to live for God because He is constantly communicating with us. James mentions 2 other things in the pas- sage I just cited that can keep us from hear- ing God’s Word. He says we must be “slow to speak.” What does this mean? It means exactly what it says. Someone once said, “We have two ears and one mouth. That should tell us something about the ratio of talking to listening that God desires.” The other thing James points out in that passage is that we are to be slow to anger. This means we must work to cultivate a calm
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