The Sermon on the Mount - One

Sermon on the Mount

We are kicking off our new series today on the Sermon on the Mount.

Before we get into the first passage, I want to talk to you about the Author and the audience for a moment.

The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ most famous sermon. Jesus is the Author, and that seems plausible to us, but to the crowd He was speaking to, they were amazed because He was not one of the religious elite. He was not a Scribe or Pharisee or Priest…He was an ordinary man, a carpenter’s son.

The crowd Jesus was preaching to was a mix of regular people…they were people who came with their own hurts, pains, sins, issues, anxieties…but they were also a group of people who were deep into religious tradition. They were people who had been hurt by the religious, by the people that God put in place to guide them, they had been led astray and burdened and oppressed.

Maybe you can relate today…maybe you grew up in church, grew up in religious traditions and you were hurt by people who had their own agendas and plans, and they place weights on you too heavy to carry…weights that God does not require.

And Jesus, in this sermon, flips everything they think they know on its head.

Earlier this year, we did a message series called, I AM. We looked at the I AM statements Jesus made in the Book of John, I Am the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Way-the Truth-and the Life, the Good Shepherd, the Door to the Sheep, the Resurrection and the Life, and our goal for that series was for you to see Jesus and to have a life changing revelation of who He is.

Our goal for this series is for you to hear Jesus, to hear His words and His teachings and for you to have a lie changing revelation of who you are! I want you to hear His words and for Jesus, the Light of the World, to expose and expel the darkness in each of us.

Before we dive into today’s text, let’s pray together.

Ok, let’s dive into todays text…SOTM covers Matthew chapters 5-7. We are going to start with Matthew 5:1-16 today.

Matthew 5:1-16 “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, …”

I want you to get three takeaways from this text, and here’s the first:

THESE ARE TO BE THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF EVERY CHRIST FOLLOWER.

To really grasp this point, we have to look at the real meaning of what Jesus is saying here.

He starts each line with BLESSED Μακάριοι = happy or fortunate.

Remember that song…HAPPY. We were on a family trip to Florida back in 2014…going to Disney and I had that song on a playlist. Everytime I started to minivan we were renting it was the first song that would play. You couldn’t help but dance and sing at first…but by the 487,000 time, I was no longer happy.

The desire to be happy is engrained in who we are. We all want to be happy. Our beautiful nation is about what, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

But there are a lot of other words that describe us…anxious, worried, troubled, concerned, scared, fearful, overwhelmed…many of us are unhappy.

Well, Jesus tells us how to be blessed/happy - and He does so in a particular order

Poor in spirit - realize there is nothing good in you and you are spiritually dead apart from him. We are spiritually impoverished apart from the blood of Jesus and He wants us to remember that. Jesus says those that are poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of heaven.

Those who mourn - sounds contradictory - but its not mourning in sense of sadness. It’s mourning over the realization of how poor in spirit you are. Our sin should bring us to tears when we realize the damage, death, and destruction that comes with it. This is the godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Jesus says you will be comforted.

Meekness is not something we discuss often. To be meek means is a combination of gentleness and humility. Jesus described Himself as meek in Matthew 11. He is all powerful but He is also gentle, merciful, and kind. All powerful but doing the will of the Father. The meek shall inherit the earth.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Those who long to be right standing with God. Those who hate the fact that they sin and can’t wait for the day when sin doesn’t have any power over them any longer.

The merciful - shall receive mercy. What is mercy - the opposite of judgment. The merciful are the ones who recognize what you deserve but give you grace instead.

The pure in heart - shall see God - are any of us pure in heart? pure - unblemished…not certified organic but still 1% of something else…no pure!

the peacemakers - shall be called sons of God - why? Because God gave His all to make peace. He sent His Son to die to make peace - that we would no longer be subject to His wrath but would be in harmony with Him.

Those who are persecuted for righteousness sake - those who are righteous and stand firm in the Lord who are persecuted for His name.

Those who are reviled, persecuted, and have all kinds of evil uttered against you falsely on account of Jesus.

Jesus, none of those things sound happy. mourning, poor in spirit, persecuted, reviled...Look at what He says though.

Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

YOUR REWARD IS GREAT WHERE? IN HEAVEN.

THESE ARE ALL TO BE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF EVERY CHRIST FOLLOWER

IF WE ARE FOLLOWING CHRIST, WHERE IS HE LEADING - TO THE FATHER, TO ETERNITY, TO HEAVEN...

BLESSED - HAPPY AND FORTUNATE IS THE PERSON WHO HAS THESE CHARACTERISTICS.

BUT THATS HARD FOR US BECAUSE IT GOES AGAINST ALL THAT WE ARE.

WHICH IS WHY #2 IS SO IMPORTANT.

JESUS KNEW WE WERE INCAPABLE OF DOING THESE IN OUR OWN STRENGTH.

Write this down. THESE ARE BE-attitudes, not the DO-attitudes

They only come from being with the LORD, being with the FATHER, being with the HOLY SPIRIT. You could never DO these things on your own, but you can BE them as a result of BEING with the Master.

Spiritual formation is not behavior modification it is heart transformation. We have to be remade from the inside out. Behavior modification is from the outside in.

Remember I told you the people in the crowd Jesus was preaching to were oppressed. That had a common misconception. They thought their oppression came from the Romans. Their oppression came from religion.

The religious leaders had taken all the God designed to be in relationship with Him and made it rules to earn favor.

That’s religion.

Religion says DO. Relationship says BE.

You can be blessed, happy, fortunate by being in relationship with the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, but you will never get there by doing.

But for most of us, our happiness is based on our doing and that is why it is so fleeting.

Doing leads to anxiety, worry, stress, overwhelmed.

These are the BE-attitudes, not the DO-attitudes

and then #3

WHEN WE GET IT, OTHERS GET IT.

Matthew 5:13-16 ““You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Salt seasons, it preserves, it also stings (an open wound)

Light dispels darkness but it also exposes what is hidden in the darkness.

You ever meet someone that can’t stand being around you and you have no idea why…like you know you’ve done nothing wrong. I realized a long time ago that I make some people uncomfortable…not because I’m great or perfect, but because I’ve been with the LORD and the salt is stinging them, the light is exposing them and they don’t like it. But what they fail to realize is that the salt and light can preserve them and dispel the darkness in their life if they would be with the LORD too.

BUT I’ve also been around people the see CHRIST in me and they are like I WANT WHAT you have.

WHEN WE GET IT, OTHERS WILL GET IT.

Some of you need to stop arguing with your kids and loved ones and start being poor in spirit, mourn over your own sin, be meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, be merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker…and not fight back when you are persecuted or reviled for it,

Because then you will be salt and light to the people around you and then, maybe then, they will get it and want what you have.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t share the Gospel. By all means, honor God and always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you, but do it with gentleness and respect (1Peter 3:15), but I am saying that the words you share mean nothing if your life doesn’t look like Christ. If you don’t have those defining characteristics. But remember, you are incapable of having them apart from Him. Don’t fall into religion…trying to do more to earn more. Be in relationship with the Lord and let Him develop His character in you.

My prayer for you today is that the words of Jesus would permeate your heart. That you would see yourself standing there as Jesus is teaching and the words He is saying to you are causing you to examine yourself and ask, am I trying to BE or DO? Is this about religion for me, a set of rules to follow, or relationship?

You can be blessed, happy, fortunate by being in relationship with the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, but you will never get there by doing things on your own.

Doing leads to anxiety, worry, stress, overwhelmed.

BEING leads to blessed, happy, fortunate, peace.

Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven...

Where are you at today?