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Sermon on the Mount
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world from corruption. If those who serve God were removed from
the earth, this world would be left to destruction. The wicked owe
even the blessings of this life to the presence in the world of God’s
people whom they despise and oppress. But if Christians are such
in name only, they are like salt that has lost its savor. Through
misrepresentation of God they are worse than unbelievers.
“Ye are the light of the world.” Salvation is like sunshine; it
belongs to the whole world. The religion of the Bible is not to
be confined between the covers of a book, nor within the walls
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of a church. It is to sanctify the daily life and manifest itself in
all our social relations. The principles of righteousness must be
enshrined in our hearts. The consistent life, the unswerving integrity,
the benevolent spirit, the godly example—these are the mediums
through which light is conveyed to the world.
Jesus knew that spies stood ready to seize every word that might
be wrested to serve their purpose. He said nothing to unsettle faith
in the institutions committed through Moses. Christ Himself had
given both the moral and the ceremonial law. He did not come to
destroy confidence in His own instruction. While He set aside false
interpretations of the law, He carefully guarded against yielding up
the vital truths committed to the Hebrews.
To the Pharisees the Saviour’s words sounded like heresy. As
He swept away the rubbish under which truth had been buried,
they thought He was sweeping away the truth itself. He read their
thoughts, and answered them, saying, “Think not that I am come to
destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill.” His mission was to vindicate the sacred claims of that law
which they charged Him with breaking. If the law of God could
have been changed or abrogated, then Christ need not have suffered
the consequences of our transgression. He came to explain the re-
lation of the law to man, and to illustrate its precepts by His life of
obedience.
Obedience Leads to Joy
God loves mankind. To shield us from the results of transgres-
sion, He has revealed the principles of righteousness. When the law
is received in Christ, it lifts us above the power of natural desires