The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Life

by Emmet Fox

The peacemakers spoken of in this Beatitude are those who make or bring about this true peace, or serenity, in their own souls, for it is they who surmount limitation and become actually, and not merely potentially, the children of God. This condition of mind is the objective at which Jesus aims in all the instructions which he gives us in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you . . . let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." As long as there is fear, or resentment, or any trouble in your heart, that is to say, as long as you lack serenity, or peace, it is not possible for you to attain very much.

In view of what we know about the essential character of the teaching of Jesus, that the Will of God for us is harmony, peace, and joy, and that these things are to be attained by cultivating right thoughts, or "righteousness," this is a very startling statement.

All the great Prophets and Enlightened Ones of the race who ultimately overcame, did so by just such struggles with themselves, when they were being persecuted by their own lower natures, or the Old Adam.

If you understand and accept the teachings of Jesus; and if you make every effort to practice them in every department of your own daily life; if you seek systematically to destroy in yourself everything which you know should not be there, things such as selfishness, pride, vanity, sensuality, selfrighteousness, jealousy, self-pity, resentment, condemnation, and so forth— not feeding or nourishing them by giving in to them, but starving them to death by refusing them expression; if you extend the right thought loyally to every person or thing within your ken, especially to the people or things you dislike; then you are worthy to be called the salt of the earth.

The state of your soul is always expressed in your outer conditions and in the intangible influence which you radiate at large. There is a Cosmic Law that nothing can permanently deny its own nature.

You cannot lose anything that is worth having through acquiring a knowledge of the Truth. Sacrifice there has to be, but it is only sacrifice of the things that one is much happier without—never of anything that is really worth having.

The things one has to sacrifice are selfishness, fear, and belief in necessary limitation of any kind.

Above all, one has to sacrifice the belief that there is any power or endurance in evil apart from the power that we ourselves give it by believing in it.

Spiritual attainment and the highest standards of conduct must go hand in hand. Unless both are there, neither is there.

The Christian life does not require that we possess perfection of character, or else, which of us would be able to live it? What it does require is honest, genuine striving for that perfection.

The heart of the whole Sermon on the Mount, which is itself the essence of the Christian message, is the insistence upon the need for this very step—the understanding that outer conformity, absolutely essential as it is, is no longer sufficient in itself, but that now, if we are to "come of age" spiritually, we have not merely to conform outwardly to outer rules, but to change the inner man too.

It is simply not possible to get any experience of God worth talking about, or to exercise very much spiritual power in the way of healing, unless and until you have got rid of resentment and condemnation concerning your brother man. Until you are prepared to get rid of this sort of thing, your prayers will have very little effect.

Indignation, resentment, the desire to punish other people or to see them punished, the desire to "get even," the feeling "it serves him right"—all these things form a quite impenetrable barrier to spiritual power or progress.

And so Jesus says that if, when we are about to pray, or remember that we have any wrong thoughts or hard feelings about our brother man, no matter who he may be, and irrespective of whether the object of our hostile thought be an individual or a body of people, we must pause there and treat ourselves until we have got rid of this sense of hostility, and have once more restored the seamless garment of our spiritual integrity.

He insists that positively no sacrifice can be too great to insure the integrity of one's soul. Anything, anything that stands in the way of that, must be given up.

The sin against the Holy Ghost is any action on your part which prevents the activity of the Holy Ghost from taking place in your soul; anything which shuts you off from the ever-fresh energizing action of God that is spiritual life itself.

freedom,

If you make up your mind very firmly that you are going to get a particular thing, you may, if you have a certain type of mentality, bring it about; but this exercise of will power is almost certain to land you in difficulties—you will get your own way, and then you will bitterly regret it.

Antagonize any situation, and you give it power against yourself; offer mental nonresistance, and it crumbles away in front of you.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the just and on the unjust.

Resist not evil, spiritually understood, is the grand secret of success in life.

If someone makes himself personally obnoxious to you, do not resist him in thought. Resist not evil; realize the Indwelling Christ in your "enemy," and all will be well. He will cease to trouble you, and either change his attitude or else fade out of your life altogether, besides being spiritually benefited by your action.

If you are unhappy in your work, or in your home, do not resist these conditions mentally, or indulge in grumbling, or self-pity, or in recriminations of any kind. Such action will only strengthen that particular embodiment of error; so, resist not evil.

We see, therefore, from this that man cannot possibly be the miserable, hopeless, disinherited child of perdition that theology has too often represented him to be; but that he is even the very offspring of God—our Father which is in Heaven—and potentially Divine and perfect. As Jesus elsewhere puts it, quoting the ancient scripture: "I said, ye are gods; and all of you sons of the Most High." He then added by way of emphasis: "And the scripture cannot be broken."

The Bible is the book of Everyman. It is primarily a textbook of metaphysics, a manual of the soul's development, and everything in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is really concerned with that development; that is to say, the spiritual awakening of the individual.

You attract to yourself riches or poverty, and peace of mind or fear—entirely in accordance with the way in which you govern your kingdom.

To indulge in a sense of execration of anyone (quite irrespective of any question of deserts, or otherwise, in the object of your condemnation) is certain to bring trouble upon your own head proportionate to the intensity of the feeling you entertain, and the number of times or minutes that you devote to it.

phylacteries

The proper course is to concentrate your prayers upon whatever you wish to demonstrate at the moment.

We do not pray for a thing as an object in itself, it is true; but when we experience a lack, whether, let us say, it be money, or a position, or a house, or a friend, we treat ourselves—the soul—concerning that sense of lack, and, when we have prayed enough to correct our understanding upon that point, the thing we are needing will appear as a proof that the work has been done.

Satisfy the sense of lack within yourself with a sense of Divine Love, and the missing thing will appear in your life of its own accord. When you say your prayers, never be afraid of being too definite, precise, and businesslike. Jesus himself was all these things. No one was ever less vague or indefinite than he was.

(Matthew VI)

If you do not direct your attention consistently to anything in particular—and many people do not—then nothing in particular will come into your life except uncertainty and suspense; you will be like a drifting log.

(Matthew VI)

Students of Scientific Christianity who understand the power of thought, will realize that it is here, in the realm of thought, that the Law finds its true application; and they will see that the one thing that matters, in the last resort, is to keep their thoughts right about other people—even as about themselves. The right thought about God, and the right thought about fellowman, and the right thought about one's self; that is the Law and the Prophets. Knowing that Dominion is located in the Secret Place, it is on the Secret Place that they will focus their attention in observing the commandment— judge not.

One should claim Divine Intelligence for them and realize that God is the soul of man.

Now the Law of Karma, which is no respecter of persons, and forgets nothing, is actually law for matter and mind only; it is not law for Spirit.

In Spirit all is perfect and eternal, unchanging good. Here there is no bad Karma to be reaped, because none can be sown, and thus when man, by what we call prayer, meditation, or treatment, transfers his attention to the domain of Spirit, he comes—to that extent—under the law of perfect Good, and Karma is wiped out.

So man has the choice of Karma or Christ.

This is the best news that has ever come to mankind, and for that reason it is called the good news, or the glad tidings, or the Gospel, for such is the meaning of this word. This is man's charter of freedom, his dominion over all things as the Image and Likeness of God. He has his choice. He can remain in the limited region of matter and mind, in which case he is bound fast on the wheel of Karma; or, he can appeal, through prayer, to the Realm of Spirit—that is, the Christ—and be free. But he has the choice—Christ or Karma; and CHRIST IS LORD OF KARMA.

In other words, Karma turns out to be inexorable only so long as you do not pray.

As soon as you pray, you begin to rise above Karma; that is to say, you begin to wipe out the unpleasant consequences of past mistakes. For any given mistake, you must either suffer the consequences, which we call being punished, or wipe them out by scientific prayer—the Practice of the Presence of God. You have the grand choice—Christ or Karma.

Does this mean that any mistake, any stupidity, any heinous sin even, can be expunged from the Book of Life, with all punishment or suffering naturally accruing to it? Yes, it means nothing less than that.

(MATTHEW VII) INTELLIGENCE is just as essential a part of the Christian message as is love. God is love, but God is also infinite intelligence, and unless these two qualities are balanced in our lives, we do not get wisdom; for wisdom is the perfect blending of intelligence and love.

It often happens that when people first become possessed of a knowledge of the Truth, and are perhaps set free from some oppressing difficulty, they are so overjoyed that they go running about pouring out their discovery to others, indiscriminately; and probably urging them to accept the Truth too. It is entirely understandable that this should happen, for love longs to share its good; but, nevertheless, it is very unwise.

Never rely upon your own judgment to say who is ready for the Truth and who is not; but rely for guidance upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Above all things, be chary of forcing the subject of Truth upon the people with whom you have to live and work; especially in your home. It is easy to make yourself nothing less than a constant nuisance by forcing your ideas upon people who cannot appreciate them, because they are not ready.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be open unto you; For every one that asketh

receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

In this passage Jesus once and for all lays the axe to the root of this horrible superstition for those who will read their Bible with an open mind. He says here, definitely and clearly—and he stresses his words in the most circumstantial way—that the real relationship of God and man is that of parent and child. Here God ceases to be the distant potentate who deals with grovelling slaves, and becomes the loving Father of us, His children.