There is a message recently brought to my attention in Matthew chapters 5-7. We all know the sermon on the mount. Don’t just not kill, also don’t even be angry. Don’t just not commit adultery, don’t even lust. Be ye therefore perfect.
What comes next though? I haven’t before considered how the next chapters lead to a great message, a culmination of how we should behave and how we should try to be.
What does the Sermon on the Mount transition into? What is the theme of chapter 6?
Matthew 6:1 –
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:20 –
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”
Matthew 6:38 (JST) –
“Wherefore, seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness”
Matthew 6 is all about our motives. In chapter 5 you seek to be perfect by your behavior. Chapter 6 asks, “why are you seeking to be perfect?” Is it for the glory of the world? Is it for more temporal possessions and blessings? Chapter 6 looks at your heart and asks your intention. We should want to be perfect because we love God and we love others. We should want to be perfect because it’s right. Perfection shouldn’t be about us or what it does for us. We should want to be perfect because Christ was perfect, perfect love, and our example. Chapter 6 tells us to look heavenward in all things.
Which leads us to chapter 7. What does chapter 7 teach us?
The message of chapter 7 is summed up by verse 1 (JST) –
“Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgement.”
You’ve worked hard to fix your bad habits, to be loving, to treat others as you want to be treated. You’ve then addressed why you’re doing these things. Your heart is pure, you love others because it’s the right thing to do you. You look heavenward. Chapter 7 is about understanding that not everyone is at the same point on their own journey to perfection. Just because someone is working along their path, and in your mortal eyes may seem to be “behind” you, they’re not. Judge not others. They’re working their way down the path of perfection just as you are.
That said, we still judge others righteously. Righteous judgement is loving judgement.
Matthew 7:9 (JST) –
“Go ye into the world, saying unto all, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come nigh unto you.”
D&C 6:9 –
“Say nothing but repentance unto this generation.”
D&C 15:6 –
“the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people.”
D&C 16:6 –
“the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people.”
D&C 14:8 –
“And it shall come to pass, that if you shall ask the Father in my name, in faith believing, you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see, and also that you may declare repentance unto this generation.”
What Christ’s apostles at the meridian of time were told to preach was the same thing those who were instrumental in the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ were told to preach. It’s the same thing we’re supposed to preach today.
Repentance.
That’s what brings us and those around us closer to Christ.
So, work on yourself first, Matthew chapter 5. Work on your motives second, Matthew chapter 6. Then, preach repentance to those on a different part of the path than you. Preach repentance with love and understanding. Never forgetting that you’re on the path too, trying to be your best. That’s all we can ask of each other. Do your best.
From the book 40 Years And Marching On, an article by John W. Welch (p. 228) he says:
“First is the acknowledgment that all people are at different stages in the eternal journey toward the glory of God, which is intelligence.”
This is the message of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s not a one-part lesson, it’s 3 parts. Be perfect – be perfect for the right reasons – accept that others are not perfect (yet).
No Coincidences 