When
Jesus climbed the mountain, He left the multitude behind. Mountain peaks are
never crowded. I've climbed many mountains and I was almost always alone. Why?
Because it's hard work. Not very many people desire to climb mountains. It's
lonesome, and you have to leave everything behind to do it. You'll probably
get lots of scratches and bumps, and it might even cost you your life.There is more light on the mountain. Long after the valley is in darkness, you can still see the sun. The valley is almost always dark--full of people and things, but usually in darkness. The mountain is windy and cold, but thrilling.
If you're going to climb a mountain, you have to have the feeling that it's really worth dying for!--Any mountain--the mountain of this life, the mountain of accomplishment, the mountain of obstacles, of difficulty--if you're going to climb them, they have to be worth dying for, to brave wind and cold and storm, symbolic of adversities. But on the mountaintop alone, you feel so close to the Lord! The voice of His Spirit there is so loud it's almost like it's thundering! The silence on the mountain peak is deafening! You get a real high" on top of a mountain! It's a thrill! It's almost terrifying! Whereas in the valley, the voice of the multitude is so loud, you can't hear the voice of God.
Of course, mountain climbing is extremely dangerous. You're never so near the abyss as you are when you're on the brink! One little misstep will end you right down at the bottom again. It's a strange thing about mountain climbing; it's much easier to climb up than back down again. Once you're up you may never get back--one of the prices you pay for climbing mountains. Many mountain climbers who died were lost in the descent, because when you are climbing up, you can see where you're going, but when you're descending, you can't really see.
How many people who turn away from the Lord and His service really see what they are getting into? They think they're going back to the easy way, but they never realise what they're getting into by going back.--A terrible letdown! You have a peculiar feeling like you don't want to leave the mountain, there's no inspiration in going back down. Whereas there is a certain drive, almost a spiritual inspiration going up, you'll risk anything. But going down?--There's no inspiration, no goal, no accomplishment. You're just sliding back down into the slough--back into the morass of humanity and the mire of the multitude.
ONLY pioneers climb
mountains--people who want to do something that no one ever did before, people
who want to get above the multitude, beyond what has already been done and accomplished.
Pioneers must have vision--vision to see what no one else can see; faith--faith
to believe things no one else believes; initiative--initiative to be the first
one to try it; courage--the guts to see it through! But on the mountain you
are the first to see the sun rise and the last to see it set! You see the full
circle of God's glorious creation! You can see the 360 degree circumference
of the horizon--the entire scope! It's like seeing all of life from its beginning
to its end and understanding.You feel like you're living in eternity; whereas, down below they're living in time. You see the World in its proper perspective with range after range to be conquered and a world beyond the vision and horizon of normal men! You see distant peaks yet to be climbed, distant valleys yet to be crossed! You see things that the men in the valleys can never see, or even comprehend.
In the valley, you become involved in the multitude and the make-believe and materialism, and you can't see anything but time and creatures of time and things of time, which are soon to pass away. But if you thrust your head above that multitude, you yourself become a type of mountain in their midst, and the multitude will resent and resist and fight you because they can't understand you and don't want you. They don't even want to know there are mountains! They don't want others to hear there are mountains, or have a breath of fresh air from that crystal peak! They want to keep them shut in down in the valley, in the mud and mire!
When you appear to be on a mountain while they are in the valley, they hate you, because it's obvious you are above them, and they don't want anyone to be above them. They want to keep you stuck in the mud like the rest of them. They don't want it to be known that there is any other place to go than the valley, and they will do everything they can to discourage you from climbing the mountain.
DO you realise that since time immemorial, wars have often been fought between the people who lived in the valleys and the people who lived on the mountains? That's history, believe it or not. The mountain people are always tougher, huskier, hardier, and fewer, but they survived, because they always had their mountains to flee to. The valley people would never follow, as they weren't tough and husky enough to climb, so they would chase the mountain people up a little way and let them go. They just wanted to get rid of them. The valley people didn't want to conquer the mountains, they just wanted to get rid of the mountain people, who were thorns in their flesh and pricks in their side. The mountain people proved someone could live somewhere other than in the valley, something they said was impossible. History is full of examples of mountain people conquering valley people, but seldom of the valley people conquering the mountain people.
However, the real
danger has always been that when the mountain people had conquered the valley
people, they themselves settled down in the valley. So we learn from history
that it's better for mountain people to stay at war with the valley people--unending,
continuous, inflexible war with the valley, lest the valley capture them too.
The greatest danger is when you make peace with the valley, when it becomes
safe for you to go down into the valley. The greatest danger is safety and security,
because then you lose that freedom and liberty of the mountain, the wild freedom
of the mountain!The valley land is Man's country--the high lands are God's country. Man dominates the valley, but only God dominates the mountain, and the men living on the mountains know this. But men living in the valleys think they are God, because they dominate themselves. They have become secure and they think they don't need God because they have forgotten there is any God, for they can't see the sky any longer. But those on the mountains experience things which are so frightening and dangerous that they have to live close to God.
It's a rough and a rugged road, and you have to carry a hard and a heavy load.--And the people you meet on the mountain aren't always kind, but they're even worse down in the valley. There aren't many places to live on the mountain--just little rugged shelters and lean-tos. There's not much to eat, it's cold and windy, but it's a thrill even to die there. It's better to die on the mountain than to live in the valley! Whoever read in the newspaper about the man who slipped and fell on the city street? But the man who dies on the mountain, even in a far away country, you'll read about it in the newspapers, because at least he dared to try!
Joshua and Caleb, two of the Hebrew spies in the Old Testament, were real pioneers and mountain men! They were the only two of the older generation who survived the forty years in the wilderness. They must have been close to the same age. Joshua conquered a nation, and at 80 years of age Caleb as good as said, Let the rest of the weaklings take the valleys."--He was still a fighter and a pioneer. He said, I'll take the mountain!"(See Numbers 13:30.) Beaten paths are for beaten men, but mountain peaks are for the mighty pioneers.
If you take the mountain, you'll leave the multitudes behind, and then you'll know who the disciples are! On the mount, only Jesus' disciples came unto Him. When He went up into the mountain, they were the only ones who had the priceless privilege of hearing the World's most famous sermon. The only ones who really heard from Heaven that day were the ones who left the multitudes and took the mountain--the ones who followed Jesus all the way. (See Matthew 5:1.)
I wonder how many tried to go along with them for a while and got left by the wayside huffing and puffing. I'm quite sure it weeded out all the people who were looking for the loaves and fishes and What's in it for me?" because the price was too great! What's the use of climbing this big mountain with those crazy nuts! They're fanatics anyway or they wouldn't be climbing this mountain! They're fools! Don't they know it's never been climbed before? Don't they know you can't do it? Why should we go up there and risk our necks even if we do see a miracle or get another fish sandwich? No use wearying ourselves with this mountain! Let's sit down here and see if they ever make it back down again. We'll sit here and twiddle our thumbs and enjoy a nice rest while they climb the mountain. Wait and see if it can be done first."
Well, you rarely
ever hear about the people who wait to see if it can be done. You only hear
about the people who either made it, or died trying. But when you make it, the
mouth of God will be opened unto you! He'll speak to you face to face and He
Himself will teach and reveal to you the greatest of His secrets!SO what do you hear on the mountain? You hear things that are going to echo around the World. What do you hear in the stillness? Whispers that are going to change the course of history! The greatest laws ever given to Man, whereby most of the civilized World is still ruled, were given to one man alone on a mountain! One man, Moses, came down from a mountain with the Ten Commandments, and the Hebrew nation was never the same, nor was the World!
The greatest so-called sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount", was given to a handful of mountain men by the greatest mountaineer of all, Jesus, Who finally climbed His last mountain--Mount Calvary, Golgotha--and died alone for the sins of the World. That was a mountain that only He could climb for you and me, but He made it! After Jesus' disciples heard His Sermon on the Mount", they came down and changed the World! They were never the same. What changed them that changed the World?--When they heard the voice of God teaching them things that were completely contrary to what was being said in the valley! In the valley they were saying, Blessed are the Romans--the proud, and haughty and powerful. Look what they've done! They've conquered the whole World. It pays to be a Roman!" But on the Mount, Jesus was saying just the opposite:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, [the humble] for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Matthew 5:3). Simple little illiterate fishermen were listening to a Carpenter tell them something that would make them greater rulers than the Caesars of Rome!--Rulers of a greater empire than Rome! Blessed are the poor in spirit."--His poor little old ignorant and unlearned disciples--for theirs is the Kingdom" that is going to rule the Universe!
How dare you intrude upon our valley and tell us things said upon the mountain! We have no king but Caesar! How dare you tell us that there is any other king! Away with you! We have no king but Caesar!"--And when they martyred the followers of Jesus, they merely promoted them to the Kingdom of Heaven which will one day obliterate the valley kingdom.
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). Blessed to mourn? More blessed to have problems and sorrows? Yes, because you will be comforted. In the valley they are saying, More blessed to rejoice and be happy and have a parade! This is our rejoicing. How dare you come among us with warning, telling us to change!"--But you will be comforted and they will be cursed!
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth" (Matthew 5:5). Those who don't fight back violently and are willing to die for the Gospel, are going to win the greatest battle of all--that for the whole World! Those who have to go to jail for their faith, take it on the chin and be persecuted are the rulers of the next World, the World to come! The poor in spirit are a mountain people. They that mourn dwell on the mountain. The meek are from the mountains.
Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled"
(Matthew 5:6). The people on the mountain hunger and thirst for the Truth and
only God can satisfy them. The people down in the valley can't see any further
than the end of their nose and are satisfied with themselves and are full--and
He sends them empty away! (See Luke 1:53.)Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). The merciful are from the mountain. You rarely hear of St. Bernard dogs in the valley. Some of the most famous dogs in the World are mountain dogs; they rescue and have mercy on the mountain people. They are the ones that obtain mercy and glory and fame!
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). There is no condemnation on the mountain. Melted snow is the purest water in the World, distilled water, completely pure, straight from God! Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool!" (Isaiah.1:18). Pure in heart. King David wasn't always pure, but because he loved the Lord and knew he was a sinner and obtained mercy, God counted it unto him for righteousness and he was pure in heart. There is no smog on the mountain. The air is pure. The water is pure. The people are pure in heart. They see God!
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Peacemakers with whom? Make peace with the enemy? How can you be at peace with them? How can you be at peace with the valley when the valley refuses to be at peace with you? You come to preach peace but what happens? They are for war! You cannot make peace with those who want war!
Who then can you make peace with?--Peace with God and peace with the peacemakers, those who want peace. At the birth of Jesus, the angels sang, Peace on Earth toward men of good will." Not good will toward men, but as the Catholic Bible says, toward men of good will." How can you have peace with men of evil will? With them it is impossible! No peace to the valley people.--Just war. There is never peace between them because they don't even begin to understand each other. The only thing you can do is conquer them, and the easiest way to do that is to let them rot in their own iniquity, so they become weak and lazy, corpulent and fat and sick with their own sin. Then they're no match for the mountain people! This is history for thousands of years. Mountain people always conquer the valley people. Always!
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. . ." (Matthew 5:10). They come down from the mountain and offer the peace of the mountain to those in the valley and they are mobbed and jailed and crucified!--But they are blessed! It is more blessed to be mobbed and jailed and crucified, when you know you're from the mountain, and you have the Truth, and you know you're right, than it is to live a lie in the valley in leisure and security.
You are persecuted because you are right and they cannot stand the right! The valley people have been in darkness so long the light blinds them and they cannot stand to find out you are right and they have been wrong. They don't want to be exposed!
. . . For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." We end where we started. The poor in spirit are the persecuted, and both wind up with 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" (Matthew 5:11). The valley people say,
You are disturbing our false sense of security, disturbing our peace."
What you were really trying to do is give them peace!--Really disturbing their
confusion. You were bringing in a peaceable atmosphere in the midst of confusion.
To them confusion is peace, that's the kind of peace they understand. They hate
for you to come along with real peace because it reveals to them that they don't
have real peace. So they'll lie and deceive and say all manner of evil against
you falsely.But rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in Heaven!" (Matthew 5:12). Not here always. Of course, if you live in the continual Heaven of His peace and joy, you get a lot of that reward right now, don't you? You're already in Heaven in Spirit. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you" (Luke 17:21), so great is that reward of Heaven in your heart, and great is your reward in the Heaven hereafter.
. . . For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." All my life I read that with the emphasis on the word you": So persecuted they the prophets which were before you." What it really means is: So persecuted they the prophets which were before you."--Those other prophets like you, other prophets like yourselves. You, too, are prophets. This proves you are prophets. You have attained the ranks of prophets when you receive persecution for your prophesying, and great is your reward in Heaven!"
Ye are the salt of the Earth, but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men!" (Matthew 5:13). Some of the established religions think they are the salt of the Earth! There was a time in the days of the Early Church in the Book of Acts when Christians were hunted, persecuted and crucified! They were the salt of the Earth! But now most of those mountain men have come down to live in the valley and they have lost their savour.
The persecuted poor up in the mountains know more about the real prospect of living through poverty and hunger than the rich and fat in the valley who are drowning in their own luxury and can't see anything but the little world around them! Those rich people down in the valley sneer at those up on the mountain. So what is going to be your vow?--Like Caleb and Joshua, I'll take the mountain", or would you rather live in the lush luxury of the valley with the dead valley people who got that far and didn't want to go any further?
Which nations
have stayed free longer throughout history than most nations in the World?--Those
like Switzerland in the top of the Alps, Afghanistan on the Hindu Kush mountain
range, and Nepal in the top of the Himalayas! Other civilisations have come
and gone and they are still here! They may not be very numerous or powerful
or very famous, but they are still here! One reason they are still free is that
they don't have much anybody else wants. Nobody wants their mountains but them.Power and greatness were symbolised by mountains in the Scriptures, never by valleys. The Lord speaks of the Kingdom of God as a mountain that becomes so great it fills the whole Earth! (See Daniel 2:35.) It speaks of Zion, or the Lord's house, as a mountain, where the whole Earth shall come and worship and from where the Word of the Lord shall go forth. (See Isaiah 2:2.)
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters" (Psalm 23:2). Where have you pictured those pastures? I've always pictured them as mountain meadows with beautiful little crystal mountain pools. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). What is His path like?--A narrow and rugged mountain path! Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death!" (Psalm 23:4). There's death in the valley! Life is on the mountain! Get out of the valley! Flee as a bird to your mountain," ye who are weary of sin! (Psalm 11:1).
Is the Lord your Shepherd? Have you entered the beautiful green mountain pastures" of a wonderful new life in Jesus?If you haven't already done so you can personally receive Jesus into your own heart right now by sincerely praying this simple prayer:
Dear Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God and that You died for me. I now ask You to forgive me for all my sins. I open the door of my life and I invite You into my heart, and ask that You give me your gift of Eternal Life. Please come in, Jesus, and help me to read Your Word, the Bible, and to live for You. And please fill me with Your Holy Spirit, so I can have the power to tell others about You, that they may find You too. In Jesus' name I ask, amen.
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