Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount series, a subseries to The Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Sources: Matthew 5-7; Jesus's Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World by D.A. Carson; Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

We have just passed the one-and-a-half-ish year mark of Jesus' ministry in our series The Way, the Truth, and the Life: Studying Jesus Through the Gospels. We now arrive at a time when Jesus gives his longest recorded discourse - what we commonly refer to as the sermon on the mount. This sermon is recorded in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. Luke also records a similar sermon in Luke chapter 6. It is seems that Matthew and Luke did not record the same sermon, but two separate sermons delivered within a short time frame. Because the two are very similar in content, we will treat them as one and go through them at the same time.

Though I normally point out that the book of John is my favorite book in the whole Bible, the sermon on the mount as Matthew records it has been one of my favorite all time passages to study ever since I was in 4th grade. In 4th grade, I had a teacher, Miss Henning, who took the whole school year to teach my class and the fifth grade class the sermon on the mount. By the end of that school year, each of my classmates had recited from memory all three chapters that this sermon fills. Many of these verses I still remember well, though I cannot recite all of these verses now. Those 8 months of studying the Sermon on the Mount gave me a very good working memory of the verses contained therein. This was the first time I had ever been exposed to this passage in depth, and I loved it! Since then, I have studied these chapters, sat under the teachings of different pastors as they have taught through this passage, and taught through the passages as well, but this is the first time I get to teach this to adults and truly dive deep into this treasure trove of practical teaching that Jesus laid out for his disciples.

This will be the beginning of a series within a series. We are still going continuing with the life of Christ through the series The Way, the Truth, and the Life, but because this was such a huge part of Jesus' teachings, we will make this is sub-series, titling it The Sermon on the Mount: The Kingdom Manifesto. In fact, within this sub-series of the Sermon on the Mount, there will be other sub-series as well. And, yes, for those who are wondering, it will probably take us the better part of eight months, if not a whole year, to make our way though these three chapters.

I want you to recall that we have seen in various places that Jesus went around preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. Without a doubt what he preached were the principles laid out in this Sermon. This particular discourse, known as the Sermon on the Mount is essentially a manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.

A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. It often is political, social, or artistic in nature, sometimes revolutionary, but may present an individual's life stance.

Jesus' sermon on the mount is exactly that: a revolutionary declaration of the views, motives, and intentions of the kingdom of heaven. They clearly present the life stance of Jesus Christ, the ruler of this kingdom. As we will see in a little bit, the Sermon on the Mount deals with the issues of the Kingdom of Heaven.

There are many things within this manifesto, this sermon, that we are familiar with. This sermon deals with all sorts of issues. It is from this sermon that we get the Golden Rule, the Model Prayer (often referred to as the Lord's Prayer), and probably the most famous passage dealing with anxiety - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. It is from this sermon that we learn that if we seek, we shall find; if we knock, it shall be opened unto us; and if we ask, it shall be given unto us. This manifesto makes it clear that the gate and path that leads to heaven in narrow and strait, whereas the gate and road that lead to destruction are wide and broad.

The sermon on the mount teaches us that we can know other by the fruit their lives produce, and it ends with the famous comparison of the two men who built their houses, one on the sand and one on the rock.

In fact, I think that it is important to look at this last little bit of of the sermon so that we can understand how crucial it is to put these teachings into practice.

Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

We see the comparison that Jesus makes. Those that listen to his words and do them, those are the ones whose house will stand firm even in the greatest of storms because they have built their lives on the foundation of Jesus, the Rock.

But those who listen to these words and do not do them, but instead live life through their own logic, those will be as men who build their house on a foundation of sand. It will not hold up to wind or rain or floods, but the destruction of that house, of that life, will be great.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said that "the most obvious feature of the life of the Christian Church today is its superficiality."

What he affirmed by saying that is that there are a lot of superficial Christians in churches. Christians whose Christianity is skin deep. It is easily shed and then put back on, much like a jacket or a sweater. Like that jacket or sweater, it covers up the true essence of the person underneath. Christians who know the words, know the lingo, know much of the Bible, but do not live it. They are like the man that has built his house on sand. Why are there so many Churches that are closing their doors? Because superficiality has been their trademark instead of supernatural empowerment.

One of the most important things for a Christian is the way in which we approach the Bible. We must understand that it is our textbook for life, our sole resource and authority. Apart from the Bible, we know nothing of God or the Christian life. We can draw various conclusions from observing nature and by our experiences, but nothing can reveal to us any of the deep mysteries of God like the Bible.

As Jesus stated in his closing parable of this sermon, we must agree that merely reading or listening to the Bible is not enough. We can read the Bible in a mechanical manner, simply going through the motions, but there is no benefit to this. Great will be the fall of our house when trying times arise. But to hear and to DO God's word, that is where safety lies.

Our approach to the Bible must be one that empties itself of all preconceived notions and theories. In our study through the book Experiencing God we read of how George Muller approached prayer. When he prayed over a matter, he made sure that before going to the Lord with a request or a decision, that he had first emptied himself of any personal goals or hopes of outcomes. In so doing, he made sure that what he heard in response was not his own solutions or desires, but truly what the Lord wanted him to do.

Similarly, we must approach the Bible void of any personal theories. Otherwise, we run the risk that what we read is controlled by our theories. For example, if I grab a Bible to be able to defend a certain attitude or action of mine, chances are I will find in its pages verses, that when taken out of context would seem to support my mindset or behavior.

Slavery was once rampant in this country, and many Christians owned slaves. Those that did often used scripture to defend the act of owning another person. They had approached the Bible with a theory of their own instead of emptying themselves of all preconceived notions to truly seek God's word out.

This is the way I will ask each of us to approach the Sermon on the Mount - empty of all personal theories about what phrases and teachings mean what. That we would approach each segment of this sermon as empty slates, awaiting the instructions of the Master. That we would seek to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts and minds as He reveals the spirit behind the message.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his book Studies in the Sermon on the Mount affirms that "There is nothing so dangerous as to come to the Bible with some pet idea of our own, because the moment we do, we shall be tempted to overemphasize on aspect [of scripture] and under-emphasize another."

How should we approach the Sermon on the Mount then? We should approach it without any preconceived notions, and we should approach it as a whole.

In September of 2023 we finished a series on Wednesdays of going through the book of Ecclesiastes. Though the series took us about 15 weeks to finish, one of the things that I tried to do was to remind us that the book of Ecclesiastes is one sermon. It was given all at once to its first audiences, and each section is intended to be read or listened to as part of the whole. Understanding this helped us not fall into any pitfalls of misinterpretation.

Likewise, the Sermon on the Mount is meant to be approached as a whole. There are nuggets of wisdom and truth that stand out all throughout this discourse, but to take them out of the context of the sermon as a whole is to run the risk of misinterpretation. So as we go through this series, remember that everything builds on what has been discussed previously.

We also need to look at the intended audience. Though there were a multitude of people following Jesus, people from all different backgrounds, cultural and religious, Jesus sat down and addressed those that were his disciples. Matthew 5:1-2 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them...

This sermon is directed at Christians. This sermon is directed at those whose citizenship is in the Kingdom of Heaven. It applies only to Christians. The initial section of the Sermon is all it takes to show us that this is not applicable to those that do not have the Spirit of God in them.

Though we are may be pretty familiar with that last parable (there is after all the song many of us grew up singing in children's classes - The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock) or we may be also familiar with the teachings of the Golden Rule, the Lord's Prayer, and the others mentioned before, the Kingdom Manifesto, does not start with any of these teachings. It starts with a series statements, affirmations, that make little to no sense. These are seemingly contradictory statements. It is with these statements that Jesus is able to immediately tune in those that truly are of the Kingdom and turn off those who have no interest in His Kingdom. Make no mistake, the Sermon on the Mount is primarily concerned with people entering and living in the Kingdom of Heaven.

These statements, often referred to as the Beatitudes, are the qualifying statements that define what the character of each citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven should be. It is these defining character traits that draw those who are true disciples and whose lives are being convicted by the Holy Spirit, and it repels those whose life's outlook is worldly, who are not part of the Kingdom of Heaven.

When we talk about the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God, we will use these terms interchangeably as through my studies I have not seen that there is any distinct meanings between the two phrases, we are not talking about God's universal kingdom. We recognize that God is sovereign over everything. There is nothing that does not fall under His command and authority. This is not the kingdom of Heaven as Jesus refers to it in his sermon. When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, he speaks of a kingdom in which people can enter in.

The Kingdom of Heaven, as stated by John the Baptist and by Jesus Himself, was near. It was in the person of Jesus Christ, he being the King of this Kingdom. When Jesus came to earth, his kingdom had arrived with him, but it was not fully there. As we continue to study through the life of Christ, Jesus told many parables that would clarify that the full arrival of the kingdom would not be at that time, however, the kingdom, in the sense that the king was there, had arrived.

When Jesus ascended into heaven after his death and resurrection, he promised to send His Holy Spirit to dwell inside each Christian. This then is the kingdom present in each believer. But the kingdom of heaven is present hear on earth now not just in individuals, but in the church as well. Believers are to be a part of a church, a local assembly of Christians that are the body of Jesus Christ with him as the head. In that sense, we the church, are the kingdom of heaven here on earth. He is our ruler; he is our king. We are not citizens of this world any longer, we are citizens of heaven.

There is an "already but not yet" aspect to the Kingdom. It has already come, but has not fully arrived. In every true Christian, Christ is reigning today. In this Church, Christ is reigning today. But some day he will return and his kingdom will encompass a geographical area, the wold.

Until then, as citizens of heaven, we must understand that the Sermon is directed at us. The Kingdom of Heaven is the great theme of this sermon.

The Beatitudes open the sermon like this: Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

First off, what does beatitudes mean? Well, the word Beatitudes is a transliteration of the Latin word, beati. So when the Greek manuscripts of Matthew 5 were translated into Latin, verse three started with the word beati, a form of beatus. It reads beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum.

Verses from 3 through 10 all start with the word beati. It is a word that means BLESSED. Some modern translations use the word "happy" in place of blessed, but those two words are not necessarily interchangeable.

To be blessed means to be approved or to find approval. Since this is God's universe, there can never be a higher blessing than to be approved of God.

The first Beatitude tells us that the poor in spirit have the kingdom of Heaven. But then the last Beatitude also deals with the Kingdom of Heaven. Look at verse 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To begin and end with the same expression is a literary device called inclusio. It means that everything that is in between those phrases can be included in the same theme. In this case the theme is the kingdom of heaven. This is why we are calling this The Kingdom Manifesto.

Lets take a look at these Beatitudes. Matthew 5:3-10 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I mentioned earlier that this section right here is one that draws those in the kingdom to these words, but drives those that have no interest in the kingdom far away. The reason should be obvious: as we look at the Beatitudes, we should be immediately transported into the realm of the supernatural. No man can possibly live the Beatitudes in his own power! This is the basis of the Kingdom of Heaven, it cannot be entered, as we studied in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, by our own human attempts, it must be entered spiritually.

These Beatitudes are the characteristics of the people that have entered the kingdom of heaven, and none of those characteristics is happened upon or developed without the Holy Spirit.

The Beatitudes show us rather immediately that the qualities and characteristics of those that are a part of the kingdom of heaven go far beyond nationality, they are character traits developed by the Holy Spirit.

The Jews had an idea of what the Kingdom of God should be. They were looking forward to someone who would deliver them from the bondage and yoke of the Roman Empire. They always thought of the kingdom in an external sense, a mechanical, military, materialistic sense. So Matthew puts the true teaching concerning the kingdom in the very forefront of his Gospel, for the great purpose of this Sermon is to give an exposition of the kingdom as something which is essentially spiritual. The kingdom is primarily something `within you'. It is that which governs and controls the heart and mind and outlook. Far from being something which leads to great military power, it is to be `poor in spirit'. In other words, we are not told in the Sermon on the Mount, `Live like this and you will become Christian'; rather we are told, `Because you are Christian live like this.' This is how Christians ought to live; this is how Christians are meant to live.

None of these beatitudes can be artificially induced. They must be Spirit-born.

These characteristics fly in the face of those that do not seek the kingdom or to be a part of it. Who does the world recognize as its great citizens? To whom tod awards li "Person of the Year" go? Well, for 2023 in the GQ publication, that distinction went to a well known woman named Kim Kardashian. Does anything about her match up with any one of these Beatitudes? NO!

So we understand by the very beginning of this sermon that we are incapable of producing in ourselves the necessary requirements to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. They must be produced by God. The poor in spirit, referring to the acknowledgment that our own spirit cannot measure up to the richness of God's holiness becomes, therefore, the prime requirement for entering into this kingdom life.

We will speak more about what the phrase "poor in spirit" means next week as we dive into each individual beatitude.

This brings us to our last consideration. Why should we study the Sermon on the Mount?

It was important to Jesus. Every teaching was important to him. He made it a priority to teach these things to us. Jesus died so that we could live the Sermon on the Mount. Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

The Sermon on the Mount tells us how we should be zealous of good works as we live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

But also...

D.A. Carson, in his book Jesus's Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World wrote that the sermon on the mount is like a spotlight that illuminates so brightly that it "sears and burns. No room is left for forms of piety which are nothing more than veneer and sham."

There is nothing that shows us the absolute need of the Holy Spirit and His work in us as the Sermon on the Mount. As we go through the Beatitudes individually starting next week, they should crush us to the ground. The should show us our helplessness and how much we need the new birth that Christ gave through the Holy Spirit. These impossible attitudes and actions that we are expected to adopt as citizens of the kingdom should do nothing but point out the absolute magnanimous grace of God in our lives as He empowers us to live impossible lives.

Thirdly, we should study and apply the Sermon on the Mount because it is the best way to open doors for evangelism. The world does not need anymore superficial Christians. It desperately needs, and is looking for, real, authentic Christians.

The church, this church, does not need more outreach programs, not that those are bad, but that is not our deepest need. Our deepest and most dire need is to be true, authentic Christians, disciples of our Lord.

I'll close out this introduction of the Sermon on the Mount with a quote from D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

If only all of us were living the Sermon on the Mount, men would know that there is dynamic in the Christian gospel; they would know that this is a live thing; they would not go looking for anything else. They would say, `Here it is.' And if you read the history of the Church you will find it has always been when men and women have taken this Sermon seriously and faced themselves in the light of it, that true revival has come. And when the world sees the truly Christian man, it not only feels condemned, it is drawn, it is attracted. Then let us carefully study this Sermon that claims to show what we ought to be. Let us consider it that we may see what we can be. For it not only states the demand; it points to the supply, to the source of power. God give us grace to face the Sermon on the Mount seriously and honestly and prayerfully fully until we become living examples of it, and exemplifiers of its glorious teaching.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Kindle Locations 217-223). Kindle Edition.

Life Groups:

Any comments?

What are you most looking forward to covering in this series?

What are you expecting to get out of the study of the Sermon on the Mount?

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "The Kingdom of Heaven" or "The Kingdom of God?"

14JAN2023@GNBC