When it was morning Jesus went down among His disciples, and chose twelve of them to help Him with the work. He called them “Apostles.” They were: John, James, Simon Peter, Andrew, Philip, Nathanael, and Matthew, another James, another Simon, Thomas, Thaddaeus, and Judas.

      While Jesus was choosing these apostles, men and women were gathering to hear the Lord’s morning lesson. It was hard to talk to so many people when they were pressing so close to Jesus. So, the Lord went a little way up the side of the mountain, where He could be just a little higher than the people. There He could be seen and heard by everyone. The apostles stayed very near Jesus, anxious now to hear every word He said, because they would soon be going out to teach the same lessons. So, they wanted to listen closely to everything the Lord was going to teach the people.

      In clear tones Jesus taught the apostles and the crowd the most wonderful lesson the world has ever heard. It is called the “Sermon on the Mount.” Ever since Jesus taught this lesson, everyone who loves Him loves to read it over and over again.

      First, Jesus gave them the rules for being happy. These are called the “Beatitudes.” Every rule of the Beatitudes begins with the word “Blessed,” which means happy.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

      What does it mean to be poor in spirit? When we are poor in spirit, we are:
      * Gentle
      * Willing to be controlled
      * Not quickly or easily angry with other people
      * Always trying to be better

“Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.”

      To mourn is to be in sorrow because of some loss or some trouble. It does not seem as if being in trouble could make us happy, does it? Yet it does. Because our heart becomes tender, and we feel very close to God. If we never had any trouble in our lives, then we would never know how to feel sorry for others. If we never had any trouble in our lives, then we would grow selfish and hardhearted.

“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”

      Those who are meek are patient when things do not go just right. Those who are meek think more about the needs of other people than they do of their own comfort, and they do not try to get the best of places and the most attention for themselves.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.”

      Were you ever so hungry that it seemed as if you could not wait another minute for something to eat? And were you ever thirsty? Jesus said that if you want to be happy then you must long to be good, just as you long for food when you are hungry, and for water when you are thirsty. Jesus said if you do that, then you will not want to do wrong.

“Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.”

      To be merciful is to be kind to other people and every living thing. It is those who love everybody who are loved by everybody. If you do little deeds of kindness whenever you have a chance then you can expect to be treated kindly yourself.

“Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.”

      Only by driving out the bad thoughts that come to us, and filling our minds with good, sweet thoughts, can we keep our hearts pure. If we do not think wrong, we will not do wrong.

“Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.”

      Peacemakers do not tell tales or do anything else to make trouble between people. A peacemaker always tries to stop a quarrel. And, when someone speaks harshly to a peacemaker, the peacemaker gives back a kind and gentle answer which turns away anger. If you try to be a peacemaker, if you try and help others around you not to be angry, then you are God’s own child.

“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 exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

      Jesus knew that before long His good friends would be treated badly by others just because they were His friends, because they listened to Him, and because they tried to obey His teachings. These two Beatitudes were given to encourage His good friends when bad times came in their lives. Jesus gave us these two Beatitudes to teach us that when we are in the right, we should not be afraid of anything someone might say or do to us. God will help us get through whatever happens.

      Jesus called His disciples the 'salt of the earth' and the 'light of the world.' Do you know how useful salt is in saving food and making it taste good? Your mother would not want to be without salt when she works. Neither could the world get along without followers of Jesus Christ, who live by His rules.

      But if salt should lose its taste it would be good for nothing at all. It would be thrown away. In just the same way if the followers of Jesus Christ forget to live like Him, they cannot do any good.

      Jesus said that He would give them light. That means that He would make them understand His teaching. Then they must let their light shine. In other words, they must do good works and let people know that they did so because they had been with Jesus and learned from Him. A light is no good if it is all covered up, and not allowed to shine out. So the light Jesus gave them would do the world no good if they did not let it shine.

      Jesus said ...

“Do not think that I have come to destroy the laws you already have. You must obey these laws even better than you have done, and I will teach you how to do it. The law says, ‘Thou shalt not kill;’ but, in God’s sight, angry words and hatred are just as wicked.”

“The law says, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth;’ if any one does harm, he must be paid back in the same way. But I say: ‘Resist not evil. If any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.’ Do not pay any one back who does you harm, but bear it patiently, and try to do him good.”

“The law says, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor (or friend) and hate thine enemy;’ but I say unto you, ‘Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those that ill-treat you. You must do these things to be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he is good to all whether they love him or not. You do not earn praise if you are kind only to those who love you and are kind to you.”

      Jesus taught His good friends how to be generous, when He said ...

“When you give money or anything else to poor people, it must not be in the synagogue or on the street corners, where people will see you and praise you for what you have done. You must do it in secret and let no one know anything about it.”

      The Lord also taught them how to pray ...

“When you pray you must go to some place where you will be alone with God. Then you must not say over a great many words which do not mean anything to you, but must speak to God as you would to your father, whom you love.”

      It was in this sermon that Jesus taught the prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer ... Our Father which art in Heaven.

      Jesus also spoke about us spending so much of our time getting money and laying up treasures on earth where moths and rust can spoil it, and where thieves can steal it. He told them to trust their heavenly Father to take care of them as He did the birds and flowers. Jesus said ...

“Look at the birds flying about in the air; they do not sow nor reap, nor gather the grain into barns for the winter. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they are? And why be so troubled about your clothes? Think of the lilies in the field, how they grow. They do not work; they do not make their clothes, and yet Solomon with all his glory and all his riches was not clothed so beautifully as they.”

“If God takes such care of the grass and flowers in the field, which today are growing and tomorrow will be put into the fire, will he not be even more willing to take care of you, and give you food and clothes; even you, who have so little faith? So do not be anxious about your food and your clothes, for only those who do not know our Father need be anxious about them. Your heavenly Father knows just what you need, and if you love him and think more about doing what he wants you to do than about what you are going to get for it, you will be given all that you need.”

      Jesus did not mean that they were not to do any work. The Lord did not mean that they should not earn money and buy food and clothes for themselves and their children. Yes, God does feed the birds, but they must fly around and hunt for the food God provides for them. People will always have to work for the money to buy these things, but they must not be anxious and worry about it. How foolish it is to spend all our time and thought on getting money which will only buy the things we want while we live on this earth. But if we love God, and try to do those things that make our minds and our hearts better, we shall have something in heaven belonging to us. And this treasure cannot be spoiled by moths or by rust. If we are really God’s children, He will give us all that we need, if we do the best we can.

      Jesus told His good friends not to judge other people. He told them to be sure that they did everything just right before they found fault with what other people did, and before they blamed other people for what seemed wrong. If you are always judging those around you, then people will begin to judge you. They will say that you have no business finding fault with them when you do wrong things, too. So, first be sure you are doing right, then you can help other people to be better.

      Another thing Jesus said was, that if they asked they would receive good gifts from their Father in heaven. Jesus said ...

“For if your children ask you for bread will you give them a stone, which may look like bread, but which they cannot eat? And if they ask for a fish to eat, will you give them something that will make them sick? And do you not think that if you are willing to give good things to your children when they ask, your Father in heaven will be willing to give you what you need, if you ask him?”

      Jesus then gave them a rule to learn and live by that is worth so much that it is called The Golden Rule ...

“Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them.”

      Another thing Jesus said was ...

“Enter in at the narrow door; for the door that leads to destruction is very wide, and the road is very broad, and it is easy to find it.”

      But the way that leads to heaven is narrow, and there is only one door and one way to find it. How can we find that door to heaven? By coming to Christ and doing what He wants us to do. At first, it might not be so easy, but if we try and try and try, we will soon find the way. When we come to Christ and follow Him, we will always be very happy. Why will we be happy? Because we will have our Father in heaven with us all the time!

      Jesus then taught them how to choose their friends. He showed them how they could tell when people were good. He said ...

“Every tree is known by its fruits. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, neither can a poor tree bear good fruit. You do not pick figs from a thorn bush, nor grapes from a bramble bush. So it is with people; a good man out of the goodness of his heart does that which is good, and a wicked man out of the badness of his heart does that which is wicked.”

      So we can know by watching people whether they are trying to be good or not.

      It was a long sermon that Jesus preached that day. We have talked about only a very little part of it. Someday you will want to read it all. If every one learned these lessons and obeyed them, what a happy world we would have. Jesus Himself said ...

“Whosoever hears these sayings of mine and obeys them, is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not blow over, for it was built upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine and obeyeth them not is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it.”