By D. Brandt Berg - December 1969
Matthew 5—Great difference in mountain and multitude. Mountain is opposite of multitude. Jesus left the multitude behind. The mountain peaks are never crowded. I climbed many mountains and I was almost always alone. Why?
1) It's hard work.
2) Not very many people desire to climb mountains.
3) It's lonesome.
4) You have to forsake all to do it.
5) It is apt to cost you your life.
6) Lots of scratches and bumps.
Long after the valley was in darkness I could still see the sun. There is more light on the mountain. The valley is almost always dark—full of people and things, but usually in darkness. The mountain is windy and cold but thrilling! You really 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 mount 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 voice of the multitude is so loud in the valley, you can't hear the voice of God. 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!
Of course, it's 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. You'll hit bottom so hard! Strange thing about mountain climbing—one reason that it's so dangerous is 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. Most mountain climbers who were lost were lost in the descent because when you are going up you can see where you're going but when you're going down you can't see. How many people who go back 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 let-down! You have a peculiar feeling like you don't want to leave the mountain. No inspiration in it. There is a certain drive—almost a spiritual thing going up. You'll risk anything. But going down?—No inspiration, no goal, no accomplishment. You're just sliding back down into the morass of humanity and 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! 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 see the world in its proper perspective with range after range to be conquered and a World beyond the horizon of normal men! A world beyond their vision and beyond their horizon! You see distant peaks yet to be climbed! You see distant valleys yet to be crossed. You see things that the men in the valleys can never see.—Can't even comprehend because they can't see it. And you can see the 360 degrees circumference of the total 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 get over here in this little multitude and this little make-believe of Mammon and you can't see anything but time and creatures of time and things of time, which are soon to pass away, but you thrust your head above that of those around you in that multitude and you yourself become a mountain in their midst and they resent you and they resist you and they fight you because they can't understand you and because they don't want you. They don't even want to knowthere are mountains! They don't want their children to hear there are mountains! But 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 place else to go. They don't even want their children to know there is anything else or any other place to go or a way to get there! They want to keep them shut in down in the valley and in the mud and in the mire!
Do you realise that since time immemorial wars have been fought between the people who lived in the valleys and the people who lived on the mountains? There have always been wars between the mountain people and the valley people. The mountain people are always tougher, huskier, hardier, but fewer. But they always survived, because they always had their mountains to flee to and the valley people could never follow because the valley people weren't tough and husky enough to climb, so they would chase them up a little way and let them go. They just wanted to get rid of them. They didn't want to conquer mountains. They just wanted to get rid of the mountain people. The mountain people were just thorns in their flesh and pricks in their side. They 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. But the danger has always been that when the mountain people had conquered the valley people, they themselves settled down in the valley.
The valley land is man's country—the high lands are God's country. Man dominates the valley—only God dominates the mountain, and the men living on the mountains know this. But men living in the valleys—they think they are God, because they dominate themselves. But those on the mountains live so close to the things which are so frightening and terrible and dangerous they have to live close to God. The men in the valleys have become so secure they don't need God because they have forgotten there is any God.
It’s a rough and rugged road, a hard and a heavy load, and the people you meet aren't always kind—on the way up. But they're even worse down in the valley and in the valley they will do everything they can to discourage you from climbing the mountain. There aren't many places to live on the mountain—little rugged shelters, lean-tos. Not much to eat, cold and windy, but it's a thrill even to die there. Better to die on the mountain than to live in the valley! Because 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 far-off Switzerland, you'll read about in the newspapers here! Because at least he dared to try. Beaten paths are for beaten men, but mountain peaks are for the mighty pioneers!
You take the mountain and you'll leave the multitudes behind and then you'll know who the disciples are! Only Jesus'disciples came unto Him. When He went up into the mountain, 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!
You never 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. He Himself will teach you 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! Eight people came down from one mountain—Noah and his family from the Ark on Mt. Ararat—and they were never the same and the world was never the same! One man, Moses, came down from a mountain and a whole nation was never the same and they changed the World! And Jesus and his disciples came down from this mountain in Matthew 5 and changed the world!
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!
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."—Matt. 5:6. The people on the mountain hunger and thirst and only God can satisfy them.
Power and greatness were symbolised by mountains, never valleys in the Scriptures. "Mountain of the Lord's House." God's House is a mountain. You are a mountain. He speaks of the Kingdom of God as a mountain that becomes so great it fills the whole Earth! It speaks of Zion as a mountain. "Out of Zion shall go forth the Word of the Lord." The Word of the Lord shall go out from the mountain of the Lord's House—Zion.
Jerusalem is in the top of the MOUNTAINS, believe it or not. It was one of the rare mountain cities of the World and the Hebrews were a mountain people. Where are the Phoenicians today? They were rich and powerful but they lived in the valleys. All those who lived in the valleys are gone, but those who lived in the mountains live to this day!
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."--Psa.23:1,2. Where have you pictured those pastures? I've always pictured them as mountain meadows with beautiful little crystal mountain pools. "Restoreth my soul...Leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake." What is His path like?—A narrow and rugged mountain path! "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death!"—There's death in the valley! Life is on the mountain! Get out of the valley!—"Flee as a bird to the mountain, ye who are weary of sin!"
Matthew 5—Great difference in mountain and multitude. Mountain is opposite of multitude. Jesus left the multitude behind. The mountain peaks are never crowded. I climbed many mountains and I was almost always alone. Why?
1) It's hard work.
2) Not very many people desire to climb mountains.
3) It's lonesome.
4) You have to forsake all to do it.
5) It is apt to cost you your life.
6) Lots of scratches and bumps.
Long after the valley was in darkness I could still see the sun. There is more light on the mountain. The valley is almost always dark—full of people and things, but usually in darkness. The mountain is windy and cold but thrilling! You really 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 mount 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 voice of the multitude is so loud in the valley, you can't hear the voice of God. 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!
Of course, it's 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. You'll hit bottom so hard! Strange thing about mountain climbing—one reason that it's so dangerous is 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. Most mountain climbers who were lost were lost in the descent because when you are going up you can see where you're going but when you're going down you can't see. How many people who go back 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 let-down! You have a peculiar feeling like you don't want to leave the mountain. No inspiration in it. There is a certain drive—almost a spiritual thing going up. You'll risk anything. But going down?—No inspiration, no goal, no accomplishment. You're just sliding back down into the morass of humanity and 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! 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 see the world in its proper perspective with range after range to be conquered and a World beyond the horizon of normal men! A world beyond their vision and beyond their horizon! You see distant peaks yet to be climbed! You see distant valleys yet to be crossed. You see things that the men in the valleys can never see.—Can't even comprehend because they can't see it. And you can see the 360 degrees circumference of the total 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 get over here in this little multitude and this little make-believe of Mammon and you can't see anything but time and creatures of time and things of time, which are soon to pass away, but you thrust your head above that of those around you in that multitude and you yourself become a mountain in their midst and they resent you and they resist you and they fight you because they can't understand you and because they don't want you. They don't even want to knowthere are mountains! They don't want their children to hear there are mountains! But 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 place else to go. They don't even want their children to know there is anything else or any other place to go or a way to get there! They want to keep them shut in down in the valley and in the mud and in the mire!
Do you realise that since time immemorial wars have been fought between the people who lived in the valleys and the people who lived on the mountains? There have always been wars between the mountain people and the valley people. The mountain people are always tougher, huskier, hardier, but fewer. But they always survived, because they always had their mountains to flee to and the valley people could never follow because the valley people weren't tough and husky enough to climb, so they would chase them up a little way and let them go. They just wanted to get rid of them. They didn't want to conquer mountains. They just wanted to get rid of the mountain people. The mountain people were just thorns in their flesh and pricks in their side. They 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. But the danger has always been that when the mountain people had conquered the valley people, they themselves settled down in the valley.
The valley land is man's country—the high lands are God's country. Man dominates the valley—only God dominates the mountain, and the men living on the mountains know this. But men living in the valleys—they think they are God, because they dominate themselves. But those on the mountains live so close to the things which are so frightening and terrible and dangerous they have to live close to God. The men in the valleys have become so secure they don't need God because they have forgotten there is any God.
It’s a rough and rugged road, a hard and a heavy load, and the people you meet aren't always kind—on the way up. But they're even worse down in the valley and in the valley they will do everything they can to discourage you from climbing the mountain. There aren't many places to live on the mountain—little rugged shelters, lean-tos. Not much to eat, cold and windy, but it's a thrill even to die there. Better to die on the mountain than to live in the valley! Because 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 far-off Switzerland, you'll read about in the newspapers here! Because at least he dared to try. Beaten paths are for beaten men, but mountain peaks are for the mighty pioneers!
You take the mountain and you'll leave the multitudes behind and then you'll know who the disciples are! Only Jesus'disciples came unto Him. When He went up into the mountain, 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!
You never 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. He Himself will teach you 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! Eight people came down from one mountain—Noah and his family from the Ark on Mt. Ararat—and they were never the same and the world was never the same! One man, Moses, came down from a mountain and a whole nation was never the same and they changed the World! And Jesus and his disciples came down from this mountain in Matthew 5 and changed the world!
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!
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."—Matt. 5:6. The people on the mountain hunger and thirst and only God can satisfy them.
Power and greatness were symbolised by mountains, never valleys in the Scriptures. "Mountain of the Lord's House." God's House is a mountain. You are a mountain. He speaks of the Kingdom of God as a mountain that becomes so great it fills the whole Earth! It speaks of Zion as a mountain. "Out of Zion shall go forth the Word of the Lord." The Word of the Lord shall go out from the mountain of the Lord's House—Zion.
Jerusalem is in the top of the MOUNTAINS, believe it or not. It was one of the rare mountain cities of the World and the Hebrews were a mountain people. Where are the Phoenicians today? They were rich and powerful but they lived in the valleys. All those who lived in the valleys are gone, but those who lived in the mountains live to this day!
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."--Psa.23:1,2. Where have you pictured those pastures? I've always pictured them as mountain meadows with beautiful little crystal mountain pools. "Restoreth my soul...Leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake." What is His path like?—A narrow and rugged mountain path! "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death!"—There's death in the valley! Life is on the mountain! Get out of the valley!—"Flee as a bird to the mountain, ye who are weary of sin!"
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