(The Sermon on the Mount and Prayer - Session 1) - Part 3 — Gerhard Du Toit

The Beatitudes, Persecution, and the Kingdom of Heaven

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Salt and Light Before the World

Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its Saviour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thencefore good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men. Ye are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be heat. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick can it give light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Private Prayer Rather Than Public Display

Chapter 6, verse number 5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have a reward. Thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. When thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Avoiding Vain Repetitions in Prayer

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things you have need of before ye ask him.

The Lord's Prayer and the Necessity of Forgiveness

After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. It's a wonderful thing when we begin to study the New Testament. And when you study the New Testament, you will discover that there are 7 ,957 wonderful verses in the New Testament.

Studying the New Testament and Forming Christian Character

I think one of the greatest things that we can do as Christians is to take the New Testament and ask God to help us to memorize every single one of those verses in the New Testament. And when you and I study the New Testament and allow the New Testament to become part of our lives because of the fact that the Old Testament is revealed for us in the New Testament and the New Testament lies hidden for us in the Old Testament.

And because of the fact that we cannot take people further spiritually than we are ourselves, we can only impart to people that which we possess in our relationships with God. And we are born with personality, but God is in the process of building up Christian character.

So what God does is that He uses Word and His Word needs to become part of our relationships with God. Today as Brother Denny and myself were driving back from the airport, we were sharing with one another and one of the things that God has laid upon my heart is to make a commitment for five years to systematically go through the New Testament between 25 and 30 times every year.

And that takes a lot of time, about three hours every day. Amen.