Authoritative Speech

Mat 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

We find these verses at the conclusion of the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5, 6 and 7 have had more impact on our society than all other speeches of all time.

The Beatitudes, salt and light, go the extra mile, love your neighbor, love your enemies, the prayer closet, don't let the left hand know what the right hand is doing, the Lord's Prayer, lay up your treasures in heaven, no man can serve two masters, consider the lilies of the filed, seek first the kingdom, judge not that ye be not judged, take the beam out of your own eye first, don't cast your pearls before the swine, ask, seek and knock, enter in at the straight gate, you shall know them by their fruits, build your house upon the rock.

These are just a few of the lasting and dearly valued truths taught by the Lord in His 25 minute sermon on the Galilean hillside that afternoon.

They changed the world. When we say "It's the Christian thing to do," We probably are referring to some of the values Jesus taught that day.

Last evening, one of my teens told me that she used me in her school report that day as her example of the most moving speaker she has ever heard. My first thought was, she hasn't heard many speakers. But I was honored, humbled and moved to tears by her kind sentiments.

But I only wish I could have just one little infinitesimal modicum of the effect on people and society in a whole year of my sermons as Jesus did in that one powerful, authoritative sermon.

Read it again, love it, live it!