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Christians spread all over the world can be broadly categorized in to two groups
Christians who are convinced and have firmly accepted Jesus as their their personal Savior
Christians who have yet not firmly accepted Jesus as their savior due to mixed feelings and mainly due to lack of
personal conviction
First decide to which category you belong
For those who have accepted Jesus as your Savior…
May this presentation add some insights to help you continue to grow in Faith and experience the true Joy and the accruable benefits of having an intimate relationship
with Jesus.
For the others…
For the moment consider Jesus as a man who brought us a message. We invite you to follow some of His teachings from the
four Gospels brought forth in this presentation… and we pray that these teachings would reach you so that you
too could experience the Joy of being a true Christ follower.
Lets see what Jesus said and did at the very beginning…
Matthew 4
17From that time on Jesus began to preach, REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, PREACHING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Through out the Old testament we have reference to Heaven. But Jesus was the first to say that “the Kingdom of Heaven” was NEAR. At the very beginning of His ministry Jesus informs us to take note that the Kingdom of Heaven
was near and that we should repent for our wrongs.
He then continued to speak of the good news of Gods Kingdom. Further down in His ministry Jesus also provides us a load of information regarding Gods
Kingdom and His teachings on how we can get there.
This information is found in the four Gospels
The four Gospels contain a narration of the short life of this person whom we know as Jesus, by four persons who were close to Him.
But…in a recent survey it was revealed that 78% Christians who were surveyed had not even read the four gospels….!
Therefore the majority of Christians do not have a firsthand reference to Jesus teachings. For such persons the knowledge of Jesus’ teachings are
limited to third party references such as the School, Sunday school, Church and other limited forms of information
How then could one have an intimate relationship, develop a degree of absolute trust to accept Jesus’ teachings and embrace Him as ones
personal savior...?
Therefore the Key is to start reading at least the four gospels
Then one will understand firsthand the value and depth of His teaching for our Salvation.
With this understanding one will enhance in the level of spirituality and begin to practice and build our lives based on
His teachings as found stated in the gospels… ...if one is seeking to enter Gods Kingdom
the alternative being an Eternity of Damnation……and Eternity is a very very long time!
The Beatitudes
This is the first teaching found in the gospel of Matthew in Chapter 5. This has been recorded by Matthew when Jesus addressed His disciples and a crowd that gathered on a mountainside. This is
known as the Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5 contains some key teachings by Jesus
Matthew 5 • 1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His
disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:• • 3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.• 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.• 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.• 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.• 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.• 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.• 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.• 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.• • 11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of me.• 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way
they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• "Poor in spirit" means to be humble. Humility is the realization that you are NOTHING as compared to God and that all your gifts and blessings come from the grace of God
• This realization fuels the quest for Gods righteousness and as such open to receiving the Word of God.
• By being exposed to the word of God will enable one to realize the level of sinfulness and thus the desperate need of God's grace and seek His righteousness as a life's priority
• The poor in spirit are the ones who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His teachings and through Him achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
• The person who mourns is one who recognizes that he is a sinner before God. This realization can occur in many ways from a divine influenced realization to self influenced realization. Such a person mourns or repents for his sins
• He also realizes that he is empty of righteousness and far from salvation and the joys of heaven. Jesus assures us here that they will receive comforting.
• We find on many instances Jesus’ message of SALVATION (reaching the Kingdom of God) through REPENTANCE.
• Through honest repentance we can unload all our hidden skeletons and sins at the feet of Jesus and start a brand new life…
Just imagine BEING FREE of all that baggage we have accumulated from the time we committed our first Sin…?
“…for they will be comforted.”
…wont that bring you comfort?
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
• A meek person is a man or woman of God whose strength is controlled by God. A person who in thought, word, will, emotion and action lives rigorously to please God.
• The meek man is one who submits, not to his own will or to the will of the world, but to the great and gracious WILL OF GOD.
• The one who has put their faith and their trust in Jesus Christ will be meek before God, but mighty and bold before the world and before Satan and wrongfulness...
We have a promise that we all pray and look forward toeach time we say the Lords' prayer…
Matthew 6:10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
At some point in the future Gods will will be done on Earth… and only people of God will be eligible to
partake in Gods Kingdom and as said by Jesus…
“…for they will inherit the earth”.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS, for they will be filled.
• Righteousness can be defined as RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD.
• Righteousness means living a life in complete accordance with what is just, honorable, and Godly. Righteous person is also virtuous, noble, morally right and ethical.
• Christians are expected as per Jesus’ teachings to live in accordance to a Righteous life style
• When a believer hungers and thirsts after righteousness , the person transforms into a new man that lives by the principals of God. Because of God being Righteous His principals are also righteous.
• Jesus teaches here that such persons who hunger and thirsts for Righteousness will be filled with more Righteousness
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
• Mercy is a word used to describe compassion shown by one person to another.
• In Matthew 22– 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.'[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.“
We have to have LOVE AND COMPASSION for one another. That is whatis thought by Jesus. When one has love and compassion the personwould be overwhelmingly Merciful…
• The merciful are those that are tender hearted and who truly feel in the deepest parts of their beings the pain and the suffering of those who need mercy.
• But most importantly the merciful are those special individuals who go out of their way and make the additional effort to help.
• Having compassion on those that need comforting and hurting is only the first part. It can be described as BENIGN MERCY…in other words the person is not a good Samaritan.
• Doing something about it, is the most important aspect of Mercy... TO BE A GOOD SAMARITAN.
• Therefore, the merciful are those special individuals who go out of their way and make the additional effort to help.
• Jesus tells us “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”.
• Jesus is telling us that if we can live a life being merciful then we can expect mercy.
• Remember we are all sinners and this promise of Mercy may come in handy…
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
• The path to a pure heart begins with the realization that we have impure hearts. The entire Bible revolves around the central theme that the Lord looks at the heart of the person and not at their external appearance, their behavior, or their achievements. The Lord does not acclaim education, intellect, business success, or social position, as the world does.
• We see in In Psalms 119:9 "How can a believer keep his heart pure? By keeping it according to The word
of God".
• If we read the word of God then we are exposed to His teaching to us for living a righteous life.
• This enables us to refrain from displeasing God by sinning. • Sin begins from an impure heart.• Jesus tells us that THE PURE IN HEART are blessed and that they WILL SEE
GOD… ( reach Gods Kingdom)
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
• The term "PEACEMAKERS" includes all who make peace between men, whether as individuals or as communities.
• In this context “Peacemakers” are those who not only have great love for God, but also have LOVE FOR ALL OF MANKIND
• It is to love, desire, and delight in peace. • As Christians we have to attempt to do everything possible for the
advancement of peace beginning from home… community… country… and even in the world!
• However this also includes even those who endeavor to make peace though they may fail.
• Jesus tells us that Peacemakers be called sons of God.• If we can live such a life, we are promised that we will be called a
Son of the King of Kings.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Righteousness can be defined as RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD.• If a person is in right standing with God, it means that he or
she is living a life in complete accordance with what is just, honorable and Godly.
• Righteous person is also virtuous, noble, morally right and ethical.
• In this world gone wrong this may be difficult…But we are expected to… we have to make all endeavors to live righteous lives.
• Jesus tells us that if a person is persecuted for being righteous, theirs will be the Kingdom of Heaven
11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
How many of us CHRISTIANS are prepared to stand up for Jesus?
Would you endure INSULTS…PERSECUTIONS…FALSE WITNESS
AGAINST YOU…EVEN IF THEY DO EVEL THINGS TO YOU BECAUSE
OF JESUS…Most often when we are faced with such adversity we back step because of our lack of FAITH AND BELIEF in what Jesus has said.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
Jesus tells that if we have to face such adversity we are promised of a great reward in Heaven.
THROUGH THE BEATITUDES JESUS HAS TOLD THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM (CHRISTIANS)…
…to be persons who are poor in spirit, …to be Humble and without an ego and be submissive to the word of God
…to be persons who mourn and Repent for our Sins, …through Repentance we can seek salvation and unload all our hidden skeletons and
sins at the feet of Jesus and start on a brand new life
…to be persons who are meek, …through our FAITH and trust in Jesus Christ we will be meek and submissive before
God, but mighty and bold before the world and before Satan and wrongfulness...
…to be persons who hunger and thirst for righteousness, with Jesus as our strength to be persons who steadfastly seek to lead a
virtuous, noble, morally right, fair and ethical life…
…to be persons who are merciful and receive mercy. As told to us by Jesus have LOVE AND COMPASSION for one another as much as to
oneself.
…to be persons who are pure in heart, to practice and abide by Jesus’ teachings and refrain from displeasing God
by sinning.
…to be persons who are peacemakers, to live in peace and be a promoter of peace at all times beginning
from home… community… country… and even in the world!
…to be fearless even if persecuted because of righteousness, to live a life in complete accordance with what is just, honorable and Godly even
when at the risk of persecution.
11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Jesus tells us… 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in
heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Soon after what we know as the BEATITUDES, Jesus tells us Christians a very important thing…
Matthew 5 13 YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer
good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14 YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND PRAISE YOUR FATHER IN
HEAVEN.
What is important is that Jesus tells us that if one can live a life in keeping with these teachings
(Beatitudes), then He compares such persons to Salt – an essential commodity for humanity. He also tells
us that if we loose these virtues then we are worthless as Salt that lost its saltiness.
Jesus compares persons who abide by these teachings to THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…
…and thus cannot be hidden (should not be hidden?)
and like a city on a hill, persons living within these teachings by Jesus, will be seen and noticed by others…
…so that Christian conduct becomes an example unto others
Matthew 5:16“…and because of YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND PRAISE YOUR
FATHER IN HEAVEN”.
Thank youGod Company Sri Lanka
Email: [email protected]: http://www.slideshare.net/Thornmd/presentations
