How do you feel when someone criticizes you? We don’t like it, especially if the criticism is unfair and harsh. That is understandable. But not all criticism is bad. Sometimes it is for our good. 

Today there is an idea among Bible readers that is not scriptural. It is the belief that any and all types of judging are wrong. One of the reasons this happens is because society frowns on saying that anything is wrong. Some even say that if you tell someone he has sinned, then you don’t love people like Christians should. And many misquote Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1 to support this idea.

This episode challenges us to read Jesus’ oft-misquoted words in their context of the Sermon on the Mount and in the context of the Bible as a whole. 

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• Scriptures: Matthew 7:1-5; John 7:24
• Inspecting Fruit

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• Luke 6 in "Bible Commentary"

One of the most common problems anywhere in the world is worry. Some have a harder time dealing with it than others. But at different stages of life, and in certain circumstances, we all wrestle with this challenge. Anxiety is not a problem that is unique to our modern age. Some stress may be due to advances we have made in communication and travel, but the human race has always dealt with worry. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us a lesson about worry that is far more profound than any motivational or self-help book will give you today. His teaching is the only instruction that will truly help us. In this episode, you will be reminded not only to listen to what the Bible says about this problem but also to learn from nature.

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• Scriptures: Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6-8; I Peter 5:7
• “Bright Expectations.”

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• Understanding the Times - RENEW 2024

The number one issue on the minds of Americans for years has been the economy. In other words, money. Part of this concern is understandable because we need money to buy food and clothes and medical care and shelter. But it is easy to take this concern too far and become obsessed with money and things. This is an age-old problem. The love of money has infected the souls of people for thousands of years. It is also a challenge to Christians. That's why Jesus teaches us about our attitude toward money in the Sermon on the Mount. If we would only remember what Jesus says in this section, we would not only keep our Christian priorities straight, but we would also enjoy life more and have much less stress. Even if you can afford to put some of your income away in investments for the future on this earth, you cannot afford to neglect Jesus’ financial advice in this passage.

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• Scriptures: Matthew 6:19-24; I Timothy 6:7-10
• Christians and Their Money

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• “America Through the Eyes of Isaiah” 

People all over the world pray. They pray to different gods about different things. Some pray without really knowing whom they’re praying to. They most often pray when they’re hurting or afraid. Regardless of differences in prayer, it is a universally understood practice.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught a lesson about prayer. It’s a general guide for how we should pray. Christians know that they should pray, but we sometimes need the Savior to help us to know how to pray. 

The words of this section, sometimes called “The Lord’s Prayer,” were for generations ingrained in the hearts of people across America. Now there are some who have never heard this section of Scripture. But Christians need to revisit the Lord’s teaching on this subject as well. This lesson takes us inside the things Jesus mentioned that should be in our prayers.

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• Scriptures: Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-13
• Teachers Annual Lesson Commentary 1953, Lesson 10, June 7: Prayer—Matthew 6:9-15

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• “Persistence in Prayer”—Luke 18:1-8

God sees our heart. He knows why we do bad things and even why we do good things. That is why Jesus talks so much about our motive for doing right. Christianity is not just doing the right things. It is doing the right things for the right reason. But why would anyone go to the trouble of doing something good for a wrong reason? Often it is to draw attention, to win praise from others. Jewish leaders were notorious for this in Jesus’ day. Religious leaders are often just as guilty today. The section of Scripture for this lesson talks about not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing instead of sounding a trumpet. The important observer is God, not people.

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• Scriptures: Matthew 6:1-18; Luke 11:1-13; Luke 16:15
• “God Wants Us To Pray For All”

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• Luke 11:1-13, Bible Commentary

We understand that we should love our family and friends, but love our enemies? How is that possible? Books have been written about hard sayings of Jesus. If there is one command that has puzzled Bible readers for centuries, this is it. How are we to understand these words? As always, the key is to let the Bible interpret itself. This lesson will uncover principles in the Scriptures that will enable you to know what these words mean and what they do not mean. This is one of the teachings of Jesus that set Him apart from the founders of other religions. It points to a moral standard above human standards because people just don’t normally think like this. That source is God. 

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• Scriptures: Matthew 5:43-48; Exodus 23:4-5; Proverbs 25:21-22; Luke 23:34
• Right From the Beginning in a World of Wrong

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• Proverbs 25, 10N10 Episodes

The world can be a dangerous place. Christians and non-Christians both agree on this point. But they disagree about how to respond to the problem of violence. Even Christians disagree on this point some believe in self-defense and others do not. The Sermon on the Mount has been somewhat of a battleground on this issue for centuries. Did Jesus teach non-resistance or does he approve of self-defense? The Second Amendment says that we have the right to bear arms. That addresses the legal aspect of this issue, but the moral aspect can only be determined by the Scriptures. In this lesson, we will look at what Jesus said and what He did not say about the issue of self-defense.

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• Scriptures: Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 22:36-38; Exod. 22:2
• The Sermon on the Mount and the Civil State

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“Capital Punishment”, Bible Doctrine

How many people do you know that do what they say they will do? Times haven’t changed. An honest, dependable person was hard to find in Bible times. The even sadder fact was that the very people who were supposed to be teaching people the Bible made the situation worse by their traditions. Jesus confronted this problem in the Sermon on the Mount. The Old Testament taught that if a Jew took an oath he was to keep his word, not break it. But the scribes and Pharisees misused that teaching to control the people and to make themselves wealthy. There is more to what Jesus said than just their abuse of Scripture, however. This section of Scripture teaches us the simple and yet rare virtue of honesty. When we’re honest, a simple yes or know will do.

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• Scriptures: Matthew 5:33-37; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Ecclesiastes 5:2-5
•  “Laws Governing Vows,” Annual Lesson Commentary, 1948. Second Quarter: Lesson 9, May 30, 1948   

How many people in America would you say were divorced in the year 1900? One in one thousand. Eighty years later that number had jumped to over 22 women out of every one thousand. This is just one indication that the more people drift from God and the Bible the worse their morals become. But that is just America in recent years. When we go back to Jesus’ day we find that divorce and remarriage was a common problem among Jews and Gentiles. Jesus specifically addressed this issue in the Sermon on the Mount. Popular religious rabbis were lax in their teaching on this subject then just as some preachers are today. These are critical verses on a serious subject and they deserve our attention. 

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• Scriptures: Matthew 5:31-32; Deuteronomy 24:1; Matthew 19:3-12
• What God Rejoins

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• Bible Doctrine, “The Home, Part 2”

We live in a visual age. As with all progress, there is a good and a bad side to the amazing potential of the screens we use every day. But we must remember that there is nothing really new (Ecc. 1:9). Behind the world of images is the same old human nature. In this lesson, we will look at what Jesus said about men looking at women in the wrong way. This topic could not be more timely and needed. Pornography is the pandemic of our time. It has been called “every man’s battle.” Some surveys reveal that two-thirds of men claiming to be Christians view these images. Jesus makes no excuses for men. He calls it what it is and tells us to take severe measures to avoid going to hell.

Read about this subject

• Scriptures: Matthew 5:27-28; II Samuel 11:2-5; Job 31:1; Proverbs 6:25; II Peter 2:14
• “Warning: Danger,” Living Oracles, vol. 38, no. 3
• “A Battle in Every Age,” Living Oracles, vol. 35, no. 3
• “The History of Pornography in the Twentieth Century” by James Latham