Matthew, chapters 5-7, comprises what is known to the Bible reader as the Sermon on the Mount. These next few posts do not serve as an exposition of the passage, but rather just some of my thoughts concerning portions of it.
Preparation for the Sermon
As for the Sermon on the Mount, Christ made preparation for that great sermon. Now, when I say “preparation,” I am not speaking of the preparation of reading and studying. I certainly believe that every preacher ought to spend time in prayer and study, preparing for each message he delivers. In no way am I attempting to disregard the importance of preparing for a message in that fashion.
However, when I say that Christ made preparation, I am speaking of Christ’s preparation in Matthew 4, the verses just prior to the start of the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 4:23-25 – “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.”
Notice some of the works Christ wrought on the shores of Galilee before He delivered what we call the Sermon on the Mount. He was “healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people;” He delivered those who were possessed with devils; He cured the lunatic; and He healed those who had the palsy. Then, in chapter 5, Christ said, “I’ve got something to say.” And since, by His works, the fallow ground of the people was broken up, the people were ready to receive anything He had to say. Let us not merely speak what needs to be spoken, but let us prepare people’s hearts for it by showing them that we care. Once people know that they are loved by the soul-winning Christian, the soul-winning Christian can say nearly anything.
