Sermon on the Mount
259
yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was God in the flesh. His
character is to be ours. The Lord says of those who believe in Him, “I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people.”
2 Corinthians 6:16
.
Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, the base resting on the earth, and
the topmost round reaching to the gate of heaven, to the very threshold
of glory. If that ladder had failed by a single step of reaching the earth,
we should have been lost. But Christ reaches us where we are. He
took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might
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overcome. Made “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (
Romans 8:3
), He
lived a sinless life. Now by His divinity He lays hold upon the throne
of heaven, while by His humanity He reaches us. He bids us by faith
in Him attain to the glory of the character of God. Therefore are we to
be perfect, even as our “Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Jesus had shown in what righteousness consists, and had pointed
to God as its source. Now He turned to practical duties. In almsgiving,
in prayer, in fasting, He said, let nothing be done to attract attention
or win praise to self. Give in sincerity, for the benefit of the suffering
poor. In prayer, let the soul commune with God. In fasting, go not
with the head bowed down, and heart filled with thoughts of self.
The heart of the Pharisee is a barren and profitless soil, in which no
seeds of divine life can flourish. It is he who yields himself most
unreservedly to God that will render Him the most acceptable service.
For through fellowship with God men become workers together with
Him in presenting His character in humanity.
The service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense.
“Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.”
By the life we live through the grace of Christ the character is formed.
The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes
of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine
begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and
work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with
the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has
begun. They have Christ’s joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity.
They have the honor of being accepted for the Master’s use; they are
trusted to do His work in His name.
“No man can serve two masters.” We cannot serve God with a
divided heart. Bible religion is not one influence among many others;