Beginning in Matthew 5:1 we find Jesus speaking to His disciples while “great multitudeS” (plural) of people (4:25) listened to what He was saying to them. Think about that for a moment: Jesus is speaking to 12 men gathered around Him. How did the “great multitudes” (plural) hear Him? And did they all speak and understand His language (Greek)? Literally thousands of people hearing what He said to His disciples seated around Him. To that point, we find in Matthew 14:14-21 that He fed “A great multitude” (singular) consisted of 5000 men, not counting women and children. The group total probably ranged from 10,000 to 15,000 people, possible more because people had large families in those days in that part of the world. The “great multitudes” (two or more) would be at least 20,000 MORE people who could hear Him speak.

Question: HOW? Answer: the same way God has shown me that I will speak to world-wide audiences in English and they will hear me in their languages. Everything that is done by God’s messengers is done through the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we have television, the internet, etc., so the scene is easily envisioned. Some of it will be seen and heard in real time. The miracles done by the Holy Spirit will be witnessed throughout the world, just as they were witnessed by great multitudes in the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. People hearing words in their own languages is exampled in Acts 2. For proof that these events will come to pass, read about the Miracle of the Gun. Key word–Gun.

Jesus said in John 14:12 that one who believes (and obeys) Him will “… do EVERYTHING I have done and even GREATER THINGS will he do.” I believe every Word of the Holy Bible and obey what I believe. I also believe that God’s Word is given specifically to individuals–those who have allowed Him to live and “walk) in them as did Jesus of Nazareth. God is no respecter of persons. “Whosoever” means exactly that.

Relative to doing things Jesus did not do, I once cast a demon out of a man without saying a word. Due to the location of the encounter (a crowded cafe), I “spoke” to the demon mentally. It worked instantly and totally. I like to believe that I am off to a good start on my John 14:12 commission. Through the power of the Holly Spirit I raised a man to life who had been dead three days. However, I still have a ways to go to reach the “greater things” level relative to raising the dead–Jesus raised up Lazarus who had been dead FOUR days. But He did say “… EVEN GREATER THINGS” would be done by the believing, obedient, faith-filled saint.

In the first 10 verses of Matthew 5 Jesus is speaking about “… humble, mourning (fasting), gentle, merciful, pure, peace-making, persecuted disciples. He is saying that anyone possessing those qualities would be blessed by their heavenly Father. In verse 11 He changes His focus to His 12 disciples by addressing “you”–those who would be His messengers (apostles–“sent ones”) who would be persecuted and slandered “… for MY NAME’S SAKE.” The word “NAME” in this context refers to His power which the apostles would use to speak the Truth of God which would prove that the hearers were not God’s people. Trust me, I know how that goes over with the church crowd.

Jesus knew that this would greatly upset the Jews who believed that, because they were the descendants (seed) of Abraham, they were automatically embraced by God and that nothing could change their exalted status. A Jewish disciple named Stephen was stoned to death for pointing out how the Pharisees and Sadducees–elite Jews who viewed themselves as God’s gifts to mankind–were in fact His Satan-serving enemies. Not only did Stephen say things these men hated, he performed mighty miracles among the Jewish people, causing many of them to embrace Jesus as their Lord (Acts 6:8-7:50). The 12 apostles would suffer in the same way and for the same reasons. All but John were martyred at the Jew’s bidding. The Apostle Paul was killed by the Roman Government because he won many Gentiles to the Lord. The Romans killed anyone who did not worship and serve their god–Ceasar.

In verse 12 Jesus reminded the disciples of their “reward’ which was at that time in heaven, as was Paul’s reward, which he called his “crown” (2 Tim. 4:8). The true saint’s “reward/crown” will remain in heaven until Christ returns to earth with salvation (Heb. 9:28/ 1 Pet. 1:5). Jesus noted that the Old Testament prophets were also persecuted–some to death–and for the same reason–EXALTING THE WORD OF GOD–THE LAW. Their crowns also await in heaven. Nothing has changed except the extent to which people can legally express their hatred toward God’s messengers. As I have explained in past series, that will change, and change drastically. We are barely into what Jesus called “… the beginning of sorrows” in Matthew 24:8. The Great Tribulation and the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord will, as Jesus said, be worse than all of the curses that have ever afflicted mankind COMBINED (vs 21).

In verse 13 Jesus tells the disciples that they are the “salt of the earth” and would remain so as long as they maintained their effectiveness (obeyed God’s Law as He did–Jn. 15:10). Like Jesus, they (and we) can remain in God’s love ONLY THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO THE TEN COMMANDMENT LAW. Read John 15:13,14 carefully along with the series on Christ’s Friends. Key word–Friends.

In verse 14 through 16 Jesus refers to His disciples (then and now) as the “light of the world.” In John 9:5 He said of Himself that, as long as He was in the world, He would be the “light of the world.” The disciples understood that they had to walk (conduct their lives) even as He did in order to retain their “light” status. Jesus obeyed God’s Law, including commandment #4. In Luke 4:16 we are told that it was Christ’s custom to attend worship services on THE (God’s) Sabbath. In verses 15 and 16 Jesus tells the disciples to let their LIGHT be seen by everyone. They were to not only speak God’s light (His Word/Law), but to live it in terms of their actions and thoughts. This is what He is referring to as “good works” designed to glorify God. This is what John meant in First John 2:6 when he wrote that if we claim to be Christ spiritual brethren (true saints), we must “walk even as He walked,” which includes “overcoming” (Satan) as did He (Rev. 3:21). Jesus goes on to remind us that our “GOOD WORKS” will let others see God in us and glorify Him. As He said: “They who have seen Me have seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9). When people see a true saint, they are seeing the Father. But bear in mind, most people did not like what they saw in Jesus because His light exposed their darkness. Nothing has changed. The same is true for His saints today.

Notice that, following His commands to be obedient to God, Jesus immediately tells us how to do that–BY OBEYING THE TEN COMMANDMENT LAW. In verse 17 He tells us that HE DID NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW OR THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS, BUT TO FULFILL THEM, MEANING TO OBEY THEM COMPLETELY AND CONTINUALLY. He goes on to say that no changes can be made in the Law–nothing can be added to it, nothing can be removed from it. Not one jot or tittle (smallest part of the written language like the English comma or period) can be changed. Sabbath deniers defy the Lord by breaking both the “removing from” and the “adding to” commands relative to the Law. They do this by 1) removing God’s Sabbath Day and 2) adding Satan’s sabbath day. In this way the church commits a double sin each Saturday and Sunday. As Paul warned in Romans 2:5, they are “treasuring (saving) up” their sins and God’s wrath until the Day of Judgment. Notice that he is writing to church people. L.J.