The Sermon on the Mount of Jesus (2)

『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. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 』 (Matthew 5: 1-12)

『Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 』(5:7) Mercy means God's mercy. The object of mercy we can think of is man. To love a brother is to save the brother's dead spirit. A merciful person is merciful from God. The Bible says in Leviticus (19:18).『Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. 』 Love means saving the spirit. Brother's spirit is in death, and we must give the light of life.

The Bible says in 1 John (3: 14-15).『We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 』

The Bible says the same thing in 1 John (4:20).『If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 』

『Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 』(5:8) The meaning of cleanliness of the heart can be seen in Psalm 24: 4. 『He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 』

The purity of the heart means "one who does not put his will in vain and does not swear falsely." In Psalm 19: 8『The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 』 He who is pure in heart brightens his eyes and sees God. The law is pure.

Thus, when they try to keep the law, they realize that they cannot keep it, and they discover the Christ of salvation. To discover Christ is to look to God. For Christ is God. In John 14: 9『Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 』 Today, those who keeps the law are not pure in heart.

『Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 』(5:9) Jesus is the reconciler between God and sinners. Sinners cannot come to God. But because of Christ, sinners can reach out to God. When sinners repent and die with Jesus, who died on the cross, all sinners' sins vanish, enter into Christ, and be at peace with God.

Thus, those who are in Christ make other sinners at peace with God. By preaching the word of God, we let other sinners repent and return to God.『Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 』(5:10)

Many church people think that this is "persecuted by the world as they go to church." For in Roman times Christians were persecuted for believing in Jesus.

In "For Righteousness" you should know well that "righteousness". Jesus is telling the Jews who want to realize the meaning of God through the law. The Jews did not even understand the meaning of John the Baptist or Jesus' repentance toward the Jews.

To repent means to find Christ in the law, but not. So Jesus is persecuted by the Jews. Today we are to be freed from the law of the church and to enter into Christ.

Nevertheless, there are many who practice law. Many church people still think that they can only be saved by paying tithing, that the church building is a temple, and that they can only meet God there, and that they can only be saved by repenting their sins every day. All of this comes from legal thinking.

Jesus died on the cross because God is just. Jesus died on behalf of all sinners. But unless sinners repent, God does not forgive sin. Those who repent of their sins that have left God can receive righteousness from God. Repentance is united with the death of Jesus and dying on the cross with Jesus.

There must be judgment in sin. For sin that leaves God, the result is death. Sinners must die with Jesus to be forgiven. The dead with Jesus are forgiven not only of the original sin (the original sin of heaven, the original sin of the earth), but of all the past, present, and future sins of this world. But those who think legally in the Church condemn and persecute these words. What they think is the way to righteousness. They say that they are saved only by faith, but they are not free from legal thought.

『Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 』(5:11) There will be many of these things in the church. As to what happens between the gospel and the law in the church, Jesus spoke in the parable of the ten virgins. The wise five virgins prepared another oil jar, but the foolish five virgins could not prepare another. Another oil barrel means the Holy Spirit.

By dying on the cross with Jesus Christ, we are born again into the body of the Spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit, receiving the filling of the Holy Spirit. But the one who did not prepare for the other oil canisters thought of Jesus as the bridegroom, but still considered the law, saying that there was no holy spirit.

Jesus told the Jews about the eight blessings on the Sermon on the Mount. God gave the people the Law and told them to keep righteousness. The fundamental reason is that you realize that you are sinners who cannot keep the law and are sinners who have left the kingdom of God, and that you cannot be saved unless you find Christ.

So Jesus told the Jews to repent. Blessing is finding Christ in the law, realizing that they are sinners. But the people did not find Christ, and Jesus was crucified.