The Sermon on The Mount

INTRODUCTION

We’re starting chapter 5 in Matthew today – and we’re going to do an overview of the Sermon on the Mount. Getting the theological thrust correct for these 2 chapters is one of the most critical issues we can address in understanding what the gospel presents. I need to admit to you all that this message is one that I need to hear myself… It’s been convicting to me this past week, and I’m here as a man that desperately needs what Jesus has to say… with that being said, Pastor John is going to do an in-depth look, piece by piece, verse by verse over the following weeks, so this is going to be a high-altitude flyover of the broad intent of Jesus’ first sermon recorded in Matthew.

As we recall from last week, Chapter 4 concludes with Jesus summoning his disciples, urging the crowds to repent, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and diseases among the people. A vast multitude, possibly numbering in the thousands, followed him at this point. Chapter 5 begins with His response to the throngs that have gathered around him, leading us to the pivotal 3 verses at the start of Matthew chapter 5:

Matthew 5:1–3 (NKJV)

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

These three verses are critical to understanding the entirety of the sermon on the Mount, which spans chapters 5-7. While again, this is an overview of the entire two chapters, we will focus on the first three verses primarily, as they are absolutely critical to understanding the “good news” gospel in front of us.

Pastor John showed a picture a couple of weeks ago of what is commonly believed to be the “mount” Jesus preached on here, above the Sea of Galilee. Are there any visual people here? I want all of you to do me a favor and close your eyes for a minute.

Imagine the scene… Jesus goes up to the mountain to talk to his disciples… he calls those relative few to himself, but thousands of people crowd in to hear what He has to say to them. It’s hot… There’s no shade… This rabbi has shaken their world with what He has been doing in their midst… Uncle Joe was just healed from being a cripple – his very bones straightened, muscles grown at a touch and a word. Uncle Joe is standing next to you… trying to quiet his sobbing of awe and relief – tears of joy and wonderment streaming down his face... Do you see it? Now imagine the heat… the sweat, the dirt, the sun beating down… hygiene is not even a word in their vocabulary… they didn’t have showers… stinky fisherman, shepherds, and farmers all crowding around. Sacrificing their hand-to-mouth existence to hear words so wonderful… so full of hope… life-changing words that you are craving to hear… sacrificing tomorrow's meal for your family because His words are better than life… do you have that picture in your head? …good… now try to keep that in mind as we jump into what Jesus says.

Now, when we approach the Sermon on the Mount, we can take two distinct paths of interpretation. The first being the…

1. Do more, be better gospel – (remember the literal meaning of gospel is “good news”)

a. In 2 chapters, Jesus presents a total of 54 rules or standards.

b. First time I remember being taught the beatitudes, it was taught that they were called beatitudes because it’s the way you ought to “BE”… if that’s the case – here’s the list of things Jesus presents in his sermon that you need to do to BE a Christian…

1. Be poor in spirit (5:3)

2. Be mournful (5:4)

3. Be meek (5:5)

4. Be hungry and thirsty for righteousness (5:6)

5. Be merciful (5:7)

6. Be pure in heart (5:8)

7. Be peacemakers (5:9)

8. Be persecuted for righteousness' sake (5:10-12)

9. Be the salt of the earth (5:13)

10. Be the light of the world (5:14-16)

11. Adhere to the commandments and teach them (5:19)

12. Righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes (5:20)

13. Do not murder, and do not be angry with a brother or sister (5:22)

14. Reconcile with others before offering gifts at the altar (5:23-24)

15. Settle matters quickly with adversaries (5:25-26)

16. Do not commit adultery, and do not look at another lustfully (5:28)

17. Remove anything that causes you to sin (5:29-30)

18. Do not divorce except for sexual immorality (5:32)

19. Do not swear falsely, and

20. let your "yes" be "yes"

21. and "no" be "no" (5:34-37)

22. Do not resist an evil person;

23. turn the other cheek (5:39)

24. Give more than what is demanded (5:40-42)

25. Love your enemies

26. pray for those who persecute you (5:44)

27.Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (5:48)

28. Give in secret,

29. Don’t do it for public recognition (6:1-4)

30. Pray in private, not to be seen by others (6:5-6)

31. Do not use empty phrases; pray simply (6:7-8)

32. Follow the Lord's Prayer as a model (6:9-13)

33. Forgive others to receive forgiveness from God (6:14-15)

34. Fast in secret, not to be seen by others (6:16-18).

35. Store up treasures in heaven, not on earth (6:19-21)

36. Keep your eyes healthy,

37. focus on good (6:22-23)

38. You cannot serve both God and money (6:24)

39. Do not worry about your life,

40. trust in God's provision (6:25-34)

41. Seek first the kingdom of God and

42. Seek His righteousness (6:33).

43. Do not judge, so you will not be judged (7:1-2)

44. Remove the plank from your own eye before addressing the speck in another's eye (7:3-5).

45. Do not give what is sacred to dogs

46. Don’t throw pearls to pigs (7:6)

47. Ask, and it will be given;

48. seek, and you will find;

49. knock, and the door will be opened (7:7-8)

50. Do to others what you would have them do to you (7:12)

51. Enter through the narrow gate that leads to life (7:13-14).

52. Beware of false prophets, recognize them by their fruits (7:15-20)

53. Not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of God (7:21-23).

54. Build your life on Jesus' teachings; practice His words (7:24-27)

DO YOU FEEL HAPPY YET?? Does this something you would label as “Good News?”

The basic meaning of the Greek word used for blessed, here, is HAPPY… some of your Bible translations may actually read that way… Happy are the poor in Spirit…

Are you “happy” to finally know how to be accepted by God?? No?

- Don’t get me wrong – what Jesus presents with His sermon on the mount should be sought after – in the correct way… But it’s vastly important that we get the main emphasis of what is being taught…

- It’s a matter of… The Order of priority – do we become so we belong, or do we belong and, in thus belonging – become? Do you see the difference? (explain)

2. And that brings us to the 2ndpath of interpretation of the sermon on the mount – which Scripture shows as the correct way… it starts with Jesus’ first beatitude. In Jewish thought and teaching, most often the entirety of the teaching flows from the first point…

Matthew 5:3 (NKJV)

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

a. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? It’s often interpreted as being humble – yet that doesn’t go deep enough…

b. A German scholar Ulrich Luz puts it this way… “the ‘poor in spirit’ are then those who in regard to their inner lives stand before God as beggars … with the feeling of their inability to help themselves.”[1]

In other words… …blessed are the spiritually bankrupt… the ones who cry out - I can’t do it!…

I’m going to dig deep with you all now… perhaps ripping off some scabs and old bandages that are keeping you from what Jesus calls having life and having life life abundantly. The happy, abundant life starts at looking at the very bottom of yourself. Taking a deep look in the dark recesses of your soul…

- Coming to terms of who I really am - in and of myself.

- It all starts there… doing the deep inner spiritual work… when we stop trying to fool God, and harder still, sometimes… stop trying to fool ourselves.

- Have you been to that point, Christian?

- When was the last time you went “there” …to those scary dark places in your heart, bringing them into the light, confessing them before God… completely surrendered in your approach to Jesus. Are you still trying to fool yourself into thinking that you have it all together? That you’re the one keeping yourself on track?…

- Or perhaps you are hiding things that you think God can’t possibly forgive… that he would disown you over… so you pretend and masquerade to hide the fear and the shame that you’ve dug so deep inside… but it still leaks out… unhealthy relationships… unexplained stress… a deep sense that you’re a failure… despondent hopelessness that you are broken and there is no cure. Psychologists call it our “inner child”… So you keep trying to bury it deeper. … How’s it working for you?

Jesus doesn’t give us a 12 step program to fix us. He simply, yet profoundly difficult at times, calls us to Himself… Come to me, all who are weary and broken, and I will give you rest for your souls… Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is giving us himself – the true kingdom of heaven in exchange for our brokenness. It all starts with admitting it and acknowledging our true selves to Him – which is the start of true repentance.

We need more than a list of rules, Christian. We need a new identity.

2 Corinthians 5:17; 21 (NKJV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

- Exchanging our spiritual bankruptcy for His fullness of life and His righteousness… Our despair for His hope… our death for His life… our burdens for His yoke of freedom…

- When we reduce the gospel down to a list of rules and laws, we fall into the same trap Jesus vehemently confronted time and again…

Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

- This yoke of bondage the apostle Paul is referring to is the bondage of legalism – that good works equals righteous living…

- Jesus has strong words for those that try to live that way… When Jesus was confronted with the holier-than-thou Pharisees about eating with sinners and tax collectors, He responded with this in -

Matthew 9:12 (NKJV)

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

- It was a tongue-in-cheeck expression. We are all sick, but only some people realize the disease they carry!

- SO… why did Jesus present his sermon on the mount the way that He did?

- Yes, Jesus is presenting what it takes to live up to God’s standard – But He is also presenting how He lived His Holy life for us! He never sinned… never broke a single one of these rules. Never had a single impure thought… truly was perfect as His Father is perfect…

Matthew 5:17 (NKJV)

17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

- Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly, so he could pass on His victory to us! His message starts with the conviction of an impossible standard that only He could fulfill. Galatians tells us the purpose of the law here:

Galatians 3:19a; 21–25 (NKJV)

19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed [meaning Jesus] should come to whom the promise was made;

21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Romans 5:17–18 (NKJV)

17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

Ephesians 4:22–24 (NKJV)

22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

- The work has been done for you… if you trust in Jesus for salvation, it means you already belong, so put on that new self Jesus has freely given you, and surrender to becoming more like Him… In His power and strength…

- When we see ourselves in our true identity in Christ, it’s a whole new way of life and thinking…

- Here’s a question for you – what do plumbers do? What do electricians do? What do carpenters do? It’s who they are, right?

- So who are you? Are you living like it? …

So what’s the application for us, here? I hope it’s been leaking through - hopefully more than leaking - pouring through Jesus’ words…

The application is one of soul-searching… maybe you felt a spark of conviction… maybe some of you have realized that you have never been real with Christ in this way. What a wonderful time to start…

This is something that we all need to do time to time - to sit down and have a hard conversation with Jesus… asking Him to reveal our “poor in spirit-ness”… asking for courage to bring light into the dark places of our souls…

We are all different in the best approach to this. Maybe it’s sitting down in a quiet spot, praying and searching… maybe it’s going for a walk and literally walking it out with Him… maybe it’s journaling and getting the pages wet with your tears… maybe it’s asking a close friend for help with what they see… asking your spouse to say it one more time the words you don’t like to hear… maybe it’s talking with pastor or a good counselor… all I know, brothers and sisters… is that Jesus is there with open and waiting arms… Romans 8:1 (NKJV)

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.