"The Sermon on the Mount" Matthew 5b-7_May 26 2024

Background Notes

An outline to the SOTM:

Chapter 5:1-16 - God’s kingdom and how it relates to us, personally

5:17-48 - The kingdom and how it relates to the Law

Chapter 6: The kingdom and how it relates to God

Chapter 7: The kingdom and how it relates to others

Scripture Reading

Hi everyone - glad you’re with us

Continuing: SOTM

Bibles: Matt 5-7

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“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.

(Pray…)

Outline of the SOTM:

Chapter Five

1-12 Beatitudes

13-16 Salt & Light

17-48 True Meaning of the Law

Chapter Six

1-34 The Lord’s Prayer, Our Obedience to the Lord, as We Walk Closely With Him, and Good Works

Chapter Seven

1-6 Avoid Hypocrisy

7-14 How to Behave In This Close Relationship with God - It’s a Narrow Gate

Chapter Seven Continued

15-23 Warnings

24-29 The Contrast of Obeying Christ vs. Not Obeying Him

As we study the SOTM, Jesus uses the words:

“Kingdom” 10 X

“Heaven” or “Heavenly” 23 X

He is saying, “This is my Kingdom - this is what it’s all about. Are you willing to be a “kingdom person”?

These are the hallmarks of being a kingdom person - does your life show those hallmarks?

Are you an authentic kingdom person?

Last time: Chapter 5 - “The Beatitudes”

This week, we’ll look at the rest of 5 through 7

I have felt some trepidation about preaching on this sermon of Jesus

After all, it is his wonderful sermon

But in some ways, I’ve approached the SOTM just like any other sermon I hear:

What is the preacher’s main point? What is he driving at?

We could spend several weeks - delving into the depths of what Jesus preached

But I want to focus on one of the sermon’s main points - how do we walk in close obedience to the Lord?

How do we practice righteousness? How do we practice good works and spiritual discipline?

We’re going to talk a lot about good works today - or practicing righteousness - or obedience to Christ - however you want to put it

Chapter Five

I want to cover some highlights as Jesus continued his SOTM:

We’re the salt of the earth - but if we lose our saltiness, we’re good for nothing

If you ultimately lose your saltiness, it means you never had a true faith in the Lord

It means you’ve rejected the values of the beatitudes

And we’re also the light of the world

We don’t make ourselves salty - and we don’t create light - being the salt of the earth and light of the world is something which God makes in us

Jesus didn’t say, “Go out there and become the salt of the earth.”

It wasn’t a command - it was a declaration

He said, “You are the salt of the earth.”

In some ways, Jesus is assuming that his listeners are in his kingdom

To us - he’s speaking to Christians, who are already changed

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” [2 Cor 5:17]

I’m already a new creation

I don’t obey the SOTM to gain access to his kingdom - I obey the SOTM because I’m already part of it

If I trust in him & have faith in him, then I’m justified before him because of his grace

This gains me access to his kingdom - because he loves me - and because he chose me

And since I’m already justified, I’ll continue to trust and obey because I no longer walk according to the flesh

I walk according to Jesus

My trust & obedience is never perfect -

but it ultimately never ends, because his love for me never ends

A few weeks ago -

We were in Chapter 4 of Matthew

And we saw Jesus travel to Galilee

And the Bible talked about Galilee and it said, “the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.”

Meaning - they saw Jesus

Jesus entered the “Galilee of the Gentiles,” and the people in that region were in the “shadow of death,” spiritually

And after Jesus taught in their synagogues - and healed “every” disease, and “every” affliction,

He came to this mountain and began preaching this sermon to the crowds

Jesus was their light in the darkness

But then we come to verse 14 of Chapter 5, it says that we are the light of the world -

We’re to not hide that light

“Let your light shine before others.”

Jesus then says he didn’t come to abolish the Law - he came to fulfill the Law

That means I don’t have to fulfill the Law myself - I rest on his perfect righteousness

But that means we don’t ignore being obedient to Christ -

Watch how Jesus gives examples of how the Law is now in our hearts

He says if you’re angry with your brother - you’ll bring on to yourself the same judgment as murder brings

If you look at a woman with lustful intent, you have committed adultery with her in your heart

Everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery

Jesus has taken the Law - and brought it to new heights

It’s not just about following rules - and looking for loopholes

what’s important is what’s in your heart

He goes on:

Do not take an oath at all - but let what you say be simply YES or NO

Don’t seek revenge - turn the other cheek

And the last part of Chapter 5: Love your enemy

A Question of Works

I want to pause for a moment

A lot of the Sermon on the Mount talks about our good works

Question:

In our age of grace, why does the New Testament talk so much about good works

Years ago, this really confused me - is salvation about grace? Or are works part of our salvation?

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

One day, I discovered that verse 10 of Eph 2 comes right after 8 and 9:

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Let me put it another way, we don't live in a vacuum. 

When you got saved, you weren’t placed into a giant Tupperware container and put on the shelf -

you still went on with your life -

your new life in Christ

In other words, before you met Christ, you lived and did things for yourself

You still do things in your life 

Now that you are a new creature in Christ, you live and do things for him

Most of us don't die immediately after being saved, so the life we live we need to live for him. 

We still go on living.  But, we're already saved, so our works are a response to our love for him

Our works come from the Holy Spirit who lives in us

You still gotta live and breathe - so live and breathe for him

The theology of the Bible is perfect - it never waivers

Nowhere does it say to do good works for salvation

We’ve been saved by grace through faith. Period.

Good works always follows salvation - good works have nothing to do with our salvation

But good works - obedience to Christ - has everything to do with our new life for him

Chapter Six

The first verse of Chapter 6 sets the theme to good works:

Practicing good works “Before other people” should be avoided at all costs

In Chapter 6 Jesus lays out a list of top disciplines (for the lack of a better term):

Practicing righteousness (v. 1) - : “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people”

Giving to the needy (v.2) “sound no trumpet” like the hypocrites

Praying, but don’t pray like the hypocrites (v. 5) “you must not be like the hypocrites”

Praying without meaningless words like the Gentiles (v. 7) “do not heap up empty phrases”

Forgive others (v. 14) - there’s a warning if we don’t forgive others

Fasting - make sure you don’t look like you are fasting - clean yourself up and keep it private (v. 16)

Don’t lay up treasures on earth, where everyone can see - but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven (vv. 19-20)

Don’t be anxious about anything earthly (v. 25-34) - your heavenly Father knows your need (v. 32)

Most of these disciplines - is a private affair between you and the Lord

Jesus is saying, “Don’t show off. Don’t show off like the Gentiles and the hypocrites”

But we have a problem here

In the first part of the SOTM, in Matt 5:16 - Jesus said, “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works”

Jesus goes on saying we are the “Light of the World,” and that, “a city set on a hill cannot be hidden”

At first, Jesus is commanding us to display our good works

And when we get to Chapter 6, he says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people...”

Let’s look at these verses in context:

Matt 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people IN ORDER to be seen by them...

In other words - do not make that your motive...

Let’s contrast that to Matt 5:16

Matthew 5:16 ESV

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.

The purpose of our good works is to bring glory to the Father

To my knowledge, no other religion teaches this

All other religions teach you to do good works openly

The SOTM removes all legalistic motives

Think about it

If there were no God - and if the Bible weren’t true - just a bunch of myths - then there would be no reason to practice these disciplines

No reason at all - because in this sermon, Jesus took away all the religious fanfare

If the Bible were written by man - first off, man would never come up with the concept of grace

But if the Bible was written by man - then you would expect all good works to be in full display - just like every other religion

Mormonism, JW, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism - those religions are all about putting your good works on display for everyone

Good works in other religions are there to advance yourself

Jesus comes along and says to not draw attention to yourself

Jesus says, “I want your motivation to be your love for me - and to glorify the Father through your works”

Every other belief system tells you to do good works for one of two reasons:

1 - Do good things to please your god

2 - Do good things to give yourself an advantage in life - like Karma

All false religions have - on some level - things you have to do to prove to others that you’ve done them

All false religions have you go on record with your good deeds to gain favor with your god and with others

That’s not how it is with doing good works for Jesus

The purpose of good works in your life is not about you proving to the world what you’ve done for the Lord

If anything, good works in your life shows what Jesus is doing through you - so he can get the glory

Y’all with me?

There’s a huge difference

Here’s the real reason Jesus said to do these things -

So that you will begin to depend on the Lord - and begin to really trust him

Look at these verses

Matt 6:1 - says to not practice righteousness before other people because you’ll lose out on your reward from the Father

But that reward may not come until heaven

Your reward is not riches and wealth - it’s far greater than that

Verse 4 - “Your Father who sees you in secret will reward you”

Verse 6 - says the exact words as verse 4

Jesus repeats this exact phrase in verse 18 about fasting - “Your Father who sees you in secret will reward you”

Three times it says this

Verse 20 promises us treasures in heaven

Verse 32 says that the Father knows all of our needs

Verse 33 says that if seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all these things will be added to us

This is the deep relationship the Lord desires to have with you - and the eternal blessings he wants to give you

In the SOTM, there are no self-benefits listed: clear your mind, aim for success, good karma, become a better person, become a better you, etc

We don’t do good works to gain God’s favor - but because we love him and we want him to receive the glory

The Bible is consistent

His love for us and his grace came first

We responded to him in repentance and faith

He redeems us and changes us

We respond to his wonderful grace - we love him because he first loved us

Our good works are an outpouring of our faith and love we have for him because of what he’s already done for us

And we’re not even really good at it - but God loves us and accepts our good works because we do it out of love, not self-gain

Have you ever been to the house of parents of young toddlers? What do you notice on their refrigerator?

Artwork from their little adorable kiddos

But the artwork is basically scribbles

You can’t tell if little Johnny’s drawing is supposed to be an elephant or supposed to be his mommy

To you, it’s meaningless, worthless scribbles

But to mom & dad, it’s priceless - that’s why it’s up on the fridge

It’s priceless because the love the mom & dad have for little Johnny - and the love Johnny has for his parents

Little Johnny is so eager to give mom his drawing because he loves her

The scribble drawing is Johnny’s response - it’s an expression of his overwhelming love for mom & dad

In one sense, it’s really bad artwork - but to mommy and daddy, it’s priceless

That’s what happens when you worship the Lord and serve him out of love - you may not even be really good at doing good works

But God sees your love for him - and puts your good works up on his fridge

It’s now priceless to him because of the love and intimate relationship you have with the Lord

He puts your good works on his fridge because you are a kingdom person

But your scribbles for the Lord are meaningless if the only reason you did them was to get something out of them yourself

Your good works are an expression of what God has done through you - and how he’s changed you

And it brings him glory

Let your light shine because in reality, it’s his Light that’s shining

The SOTM is about having a close relationship with the Lord - and the Lord’s prayer is the most personal prayer in the world

Our God is a personal God, amen?

There is nothing like a personal relationship in other religions

The SOTM screams out: The Lord wants to relate to you on a personal level!

Just listen to how the Lord wants intimacy with us - and a close relationship with us:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. - Psalm 23

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - John 1

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends - John 15

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him - John 14

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you - James 4

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. - Rom 8

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. - Luke 11

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. - Psalm 27

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. - Deut 6

This is the farthest thing from legalism

Or trying to earn God’s love

Chapter Seven

Now we move to the beginning of Chapter 7

As I was reading the SOTM over and over, I found that the first 6 verses seemed out of place in Jesus’ sermon

He gives us the Beatitudes - he says we are salt & light - he lays out the true meaning of the Law - and then how we should obey him

And later he talks about this close relationship we have with him - and that he is our true foundation in life

But he seems to shift gears starting at 7:1 “Judge not”

Matthew 7:1–6 ESV

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

I say he shifted gears because it sort of sounds harsh

What he’s really saying is don’t judge the record of others, based on your own record

That’s what makes you a hypocrite

When you’re walking in Christ, you will make mistakes - that doesn’t make you a hypocrite

You become a hypocrite when you rely on self-effort and you try to outdo others

Please note, there is a general theme of Jesus instructing us about hypocrisy throughout the SOTM

He mentions, “hypocrite” or “Gentile” or “pagan” six times in his sermon

You become like them when you do good works on your own effort - for your own benefit - and judge others by what you do

God wants you to do everything for him

When you truly serve the Lord based on your love for him, it’s impossible to compare yourself with others

Because your motivation is God’s glory - not yours

Spurgeon describes hypocrites as spiders spinning their webs

That they hope to catch reputation, praise, advancement, and other flies in their webs

But then Spurgeon points out - the web of a hypocrite is very frail - their webs are beautifully made - but they don’t endure

Conclusion

As I close - I want to leave with you this reminder -

You are the light of the world

Not because of your greatness - but because that light is the light of Jesus

God has made us the salt of the earth - and the light of the world

He gave gifts to each of us

Our good works should reflect what he’s done in us

(Pray…)

Communion

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.