Customer Reviews

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: God's Character and the Believer's Conduct (OSWALD CHAMBERS LIBRARY)

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This incredible little book opens the door to the Sermon on the Mount. Chambers emphasizes that Christ's teachings are not just good words to live by - but a radical view of life that goes against our natural way of doing things. He makes that point throughout that the only way to live the life Jesus outlines is by knowing Him and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Chambers takes of the religious trappings of this teaching and covers it in a way that makes it real and meaningful.

Among all the doctrine, parables, and lessons of the Bible, none is as difficult to walk in as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus' teachings, captured in Matthew 5, challenge and convict all thoughtful believers.

Oswald Chambers offers radical insights into those difficult-to-live-out principles. For example:

"The Sermon on the the Mount produces despair in the heart of the natural man, and that is the very thing Jesus means it to do." p.10 and,

"[Jesus] did not come to teach us only: He came to make us what He teaches we should be." p.10

Even the most mature believer will be challenged by Chambers as he gets infinitely close to our tender spots: "Most of us are pagans in a crisis; we think and act like pagans." p.57

Oswald Chambers, best known for his no-nonsense, plain speaking about the most difficult truths in the Christian experience hits the mark time and time again in this special book.

This is real meat for the hungry soul.

First I would like to point out that the dark cover shown in the first photo for this product is not the one the publisher is shipping. Oswald Chambers highlights the ability of God in contrast to our inability. And then he challenges you directly to wholly lean on God for your strength to obey God. He emphasizes that the Holy Spirit will come through to help you obey. He's very direct without fancy illustrations. However his typical word picture or illustration usually packs a whale of a punch, driving home the point with a spiritual weightiness not found in many books. I love this guy and highly recommend this particular book. It's worth every penny. An illustration of this is how he couches the idea that you are the salt of the earth against the idea that God has not called us as some seem to believe to be the sugar of the earth. In a few sentences he demolishes what was a very popular view of how Christians should be. He then examines the effects of salt in a few situations (wound dressing for one example) to show that we must impact those around us even if it doesn't feel good for them initially.

He doesn't waste your time with long stories that feel good but don't have a lot of power in them. He packs each paragraph. There are many meaty thoughts in this book. Don't hesitate to purchase a copy if you have an extra eight bucks.

I know there are lots of folks familiar with the devotional by Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. I've enjoyed it myself for years (still receive it daily in my email), and have copies in the original printing and also a copy in contemporary language by James Reimann; very good stuff. It was my experience and enjoyment of this devotional classic that prompted my purchase of Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: God's Character and the Believer's Conduct also by Oswald Chambers. I have one word for you that describes my impressions; magnificent. There.

I am one of the group of people that believe Jesus was describing his kingdom followers on this earth when he spoke the words and teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. It is for this reason that I take such a particular fondness to this work by Oswald Chambers. Rest assured, this little book is not for the faint of heart. If you are familiar with the devotional works of My Utmost for His Highest, you'll already be used to the no-holds-barred delivery of Chambers. He certainly doesn't pull any punches. I love it. In a day and age where many would rather explain away the teaching of Jesus or reduce it to winsome metaphors, Oswald yanks our heads out of the clouds and plants us firmly back on the ground with a "He means what He speaks, people" call to arms. Check this:

"Beware of placing our Lord as Teacher first instead of Savior. That tendency is prevalent today, and it is a dangerous tendency. We must know Him first as Savior before His teaching can have any meaning for us or before it can have any meaning other than that of an ideal that leads to despair."

If you've got the moxy and a heart to really take in the teaching of Jesus, I suggest giving this little book a good read. It's not a big book at around one hundred pages or so, and it's not terribly expensive (sacrifice a mcmeal or venti latte or two and you'll have it covered). Highly recommended... read it and weep, with tears of repentant joy.

This book was truly life changing. I had to read it over and over and over again just to soak it all in. I never thought I would live a book better than My Utmost for His Highest but I found one it this.

This book is an awesome study aid to Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapters 5-7. As I read through the book I had so many "WOW!" moments as I began to understand Christ's Words and teaching. It's a deep, but an enriching study. I think studying the Sermon on the Mount and committing ourselves to carrying out the teachings of Christ is what our existence is all about. It's all about Jesus Christ and in keeping it all about Him, life will be full of blessings.

This is wonderful book. Lots of great insight into the Sermon on the Mount and yet presented in a very readable way. I highly recommend it.

I was delighted to see this particular title listed among your Owald Chambers books for sale. I have devoted 15 years to researching and writing about the Biblical roots and influences in early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship. And no one can fully grasp the story of early A.A., its cures, and its principles and practices without understanding the importance that the pioneers attached to the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5 to 7). Sadly, a number of AAs have settled for the belief that Emmet Fox's Sermon on the Mount was the cornerstone of A.A.'s sermon emphasis. No so! The fact is that both A.A. co-founders Dr. Bob and Bill W. stated that the sermon itself contained the underlying philosophy of A.A. And my title The James Club: The Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials (http://www.dickb.com/JamesClub.com) contains a verse by verse study of the three parts of the Bible AAs considered essential--the sermon, the book of James, and 1 Corinthians 13. Hence it is with the Bible itself that A.A. students of spirituality should start. Next, however, they need to know how broad was the supplementary reading. And that is where Oswald Chambers comes in. Dr. Bob and his wife stressed the importance of the sermon, and they read it in their groups and in the early meetings. But Dr. Bob also accumulated, read, studied, and circulated the background sermon books. And I found these among his library (that came into the hands of his son and daughter). I encountered Oswald Chambers's Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, E. Stanley Jones's The Christ of the Mount, Emmet Fox's The Sermon on the Mount, several books by Robert E. Speer that covered parts of the subject, a number of books by Rev. Sam Shoemaker to the same end, several titles by Harry Emerson Fosdick such as The Manhood of the Master, and a number of books by Glenn Clark. And all of these presented a broad field of interpretive writings on Jesus's sermon that enhanced the early pioneers' understanding. And if one takes Chambers's title and sets it alongside Jones's title, he will see that these two writers were, in effect, contending that the gift of the holy spirit without the sermon on the mount in practice was as inadequate as the sermon on the mount in practice without the power of the holy spirit.

I have written two titles, Dr. Bob and His Library, and The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth. Both include Chambers and his studies as favorites. And people who want to get the full depth of the early A.A. Christian believing will profit immensely by looking at this Chambers book.

As an aside, when I contacted Mrs. W. Irving Harris, widow of Rev. Sam Shoemaker's assistant minister, she provided me with a complete set of the Oswald Chambers books indicating these were part of Sam's favorite books. The set has now been donated to the Griffith Library in East Dorset, Vermont; and one can gain a good understanding of the importance of Chambers to the thinking of the New York A.A. ideas taught by Rev. Sam Shoemaker to Bill Wilson and to the Akron fellowship's focus as led by Dr. Bob.
God Bless, Richard G. Burns, J.D.
Incidentally, it would appear that Amazon has erroneously listed my colleague Terry Dunford as the writer of this review, but it is I who makes the review and recommendations.

If this is as good as his other materials, It will be a blessing to you! John