Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapter 5

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide.

Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

Introduction

MacArthur

Until this point in Matthew, Jesus’ words have been limited and reference to His teachings have been general.

Now in one powerful comprehensive yet compact message, the Lord sets forth the foundational truths of the gospel of the kingdom He came to proclaim.

This one continuous message of the Lord found in Matthew 5-7 has traditionally been called the Sermon on the Mount.

This teaching was delivered at one specific time.

As we will see, these were revolutionary truths to the minds of those Jewish religionists who heard them.

Christ’s pronouncements have continued to explode with great impact on the minds of readers for over two thousand years.

Here is the manifesto of the new Monarch, who ushers in a new age with a new message about true righteousness.

The underlying and overarching theme of Christ’s sermon is that man has no righteousness of his own that can survive the scrutiny of God.

On the contrary, salvation and blessing are offered freely by the grace of the King and must be received by faith

Why is the Sermon on the Mount so important?

Because it show the absolute necessity of the new birth.

God’s perfect standards are much too high and demanding to be met by human power.

Only those who partake of God’s own nature through Jesus Christ can fulfill such demands.

The sermon drives us to King Jesus as our only hope of meeting God’s standards.

Christ’s revolutionary message also shows us God’s pattern for true happiness and success.

Q: A large part of Jesus’ ministry was his preaching and teaching.

Think about one of the best sermons or messages you’re ever heard.

Why does it stick out in your mind?

What made it so powerful and memorable?

Summary so Far

— Chapter 1 - The gospel of Matthew began with the genealogical proofs that Jesus was indeed the promised Son who would reign on the throne of David

— Chapter 2 & 3 - The promised Son & king is visited by the wise men; The early ministry of John the Baptist

— Chapter 4 – Jesus temptation in the wilderness

— Note: Matthew gives a picture of Jesus that is not biographical, nor chronological

Looking Ahead

— Chapter 5 through 7 - Jesus presents the principles of His coming kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount (the King proclaims His manifesto) that emphasizes spiritual and moral principles that govern the kingdom of God:

Especially as these applied to the prophesied kingdom on earth, which the Messiah-King was to bring when He came

The Sermon on the Mount contains timeless truths always applicable, some truths that were immediately applicable to Christ’s day on earth, and some truths that were to have their fulfillment in the millennial kingdom

Jesus, the King of the Kingdom, lays out what it takes to be a citizen of the kingdom

Spirit and truth

Not hypocritical

Empowered from within

Jesus proclaims the highest ethic.

Question is “How to attain such a lofty standard?”

Jesus works through the Holy Spirit who He sent into the world to empower His own

Introduction to the Beatitudes

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

It is worth considering that at various times people have interpreted the Sermon on the Mount differently

— There are four errors about the Sermon on the Mount that are widely held by the church

The First Error

— The first is error teaches that all the ethical mandates found in the sermon have no bearing on us today

— Since these ethics are about the Kingdom of God and the kingdom has not come yet, the sermon is irrelevant

— This is the error of the dispensational view

— This is a view popularized in the 1909 Scofield reference bible

— This teaches that this has nothing to do whatsoever with modern Christians

— They say our Lord began to preach about the kingdom of God, and the preaching of the Sermon on the Mount was in connection with the inauguration of the kingdom

— It was meant for the people to whom He was preaching; it will be meant again in the millennial age

— It is the law of that age and of the kingdom of heaven, and has nothing to do with Christians in the meantime

Objection

— This is a serious misunderstanding of the kingdom of God in the NT

— Just because Jesus ascended to heaven as king of kings and His kingdom is still in the future misses one of the key points of the NT

— His earthly kingdom is future but it is here and now in the hearts of all who are Christians

— if this were true, when He spoke that we are “salt of the earth; you are the light of the earth” would not apply to us

— But clearly our Lord was preaching telling us what do in this world, not only while He was here, but after He had gone

— It was preached to people who were meant to practice it at that time and ever afterwards

— But no only that, there is no teaching to be found in the Sermon on the Mount which is not also found in various NT Epistles

— Now all the Epistles are meant for Christians today; so if their teaching is the same as the Sermon on the Mount, clearly its teaching is meant for Christians today

Second Error

— The Sermon on the Mount is merely a new declaration of the law which sets the bar so high that we need the gospel

— There is truth to this but this is also a basic misunderstanding of the sermon

Objection

— The Beatitudes immediately take us into a realm that is beyond the law of Moses completely

— The Sermon on the Mount does expound and explain the law at certain points — but it goes beyond it

Third Error

— The Sermon on the Mount doesn’t teach grace

— Some say, “Surely the Sermon on the Mount teaches that we have our sins forgiven only if we forgive others?

— Doesn’t our Lord say, “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses?”

— Is not that law?

Where is the grace there?

— To be told that if do not forgive, we shall not be forgiven, is not grace

— Thus they may seem to be able to approve that the Sermon on the Mount does not apply to us

Objection

— Remember that our Lord taught the exact same thing in Matthew 18, of the steward who committed an offense against his master

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.

26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’

27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.

31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.

32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant!

I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.”

( Matt 18:23-34 )

— The Lord comments on this in the next verse ( 18:35 ), “ So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses”

— That is exactly the same teaching

— But does it teach that I am forgiven only because I have forgiven?

— No, the teaching is this, and we have to take it seriously, that if I do not forgive, I am not forgiven

— The man who has seen himself as a guilty, vile sinner before God knows his only hope of heaven is that God has forgiven him freely