Matthew 5:1-12

We are going to read Matthew chapter 4 verse 18 to Matthew chapter 5 verse 2.

Matthew 4:18 Matthew 5:2

Tonight we're beginning our summer evening service series in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

It's one of the most well-known parts of Jesus' teaching, including the golden rule, the Lord's

prayer, the command to love our enemies, the invitation to seek, and the promise that

those who seek will find, and all kinds of other things that you might have heard somewhere

before.

But we want to look more deeply into it and see what it has to say to us.

So tonight I want to paint the big picture and look at some of the background of the Sermon

on the Mount and sort of give you the 30,000 foot view and then we'll walk through the forest

over the next 12 weeks.

All right, so Matthew chapter 4 starting at verse 18, it's page 809 if you're looking in

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

one of the pew Bibles.

Here we go.

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he, Jesus, saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter

and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.

And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his

brother in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.

And he called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel

of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

So his fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted

with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics.

And he healed them.

And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and from Jerusalem and Judea

and from beyond the Jordan.

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.

So we're looking at tonight the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

Many people have admired the Sermon on the Mount throughout history.

Thomas Jefferson said that Jesus' moral teachings embodied in this sermon were the most sublime

and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to mankind.

Or Gandhi, the Indian leader who is not a Christian, said,

Christ's Sermon on the Mount fills me with bliss even today.

Its sweet verses have the power to quench my agony of soul.

He read from the Sermon on the Mount every day and found in it the inspiration for his

non-violent resistance movement.

But while some people have been inspired by the Sermon on the Mount, others have found

it intimidating.

Jesus says things like,

If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.

Now he didn't mean that literally, but still, it's a very serious statement.

Or, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other also.

Or, you must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.

Or, do not be anxious about your life.

Do not be anxious about tomorrow.

Period.

And at the end, he says,

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but only the one who does the will of my father, who is in heaven.

And, several years ago, there was an English professor named Virginia Stem Owens

at a large university down in Texas.

And she assigned the Sermon on the Mount to her freshman English class.

It was part of a, it was sort of a great books class in the history of literature and ethics.

And she asked him to write brief response papers.

Here are what some of the students wrote.

One student wrote,

Another student said,

So we might say that throughout history,

people have had a love-hate relationship with the Sermon on the Mount.

And with Jesus, himself.

On the one hand, we're attracted by its vision of the good life.

On the other hand, we're overwhelmed by its uncompromising moral demands.

Now, if you look at the Sermon on the Mount, and you take it seriously,

the one thing that is really hard to do is remain neutral and complacent.

And say, eh, whatever.

If you really read this, you can't say that.

And Jesus, in the end, he insists that there are two ways to go.

And there is no third way in the middle.

There's a narrow road that leads to life,

or there's a broad road that leads to destruction.

There's a house built on the rock,

and there's a house built on the sand.

And the house built on the rock survives the storm,

and the one built on the sand collapses with a great crash.

Jesus insists that a decision must be made one way or the other,

and you can't be neutral.

So over the next three months,

we want to dive into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

and really wrestle with it.

And seek to hear and be affected by what Jesus is saying.

So we're going to go through it part by part.

But tonight, I want to give you the big picture.

Because when people read the Sermon on the Mount,

as well as some other parts of the Bible,

sometimes you can lose the forest for the trees.

Okay, you can ask,

well, what does it mean when Jesus says

you should not take any oaths?

Does that mean you shouldn't swear on the Bible

if you have to testify in court?

You know, if you start there,

with those kind of picky questions,

you can miss the whole point.

But I want to give us the big picture

that will help put all the details into perspective.

And the big picture theme is this.

The Sermon on the Mount describes

what life looks like

when Jesus brings us into God's kingdom

by his grace.

It's a description of life in God's kingdom

when we've been called in by grace,

by Jesus' grace.

Now, I want to step back for a minute

and sort of set this in the whole story of the Bible.

In the Old Testament,

the people of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt.

And they were under the rule of a cruel king,

Pharaoh,

who wanted to abuse them and use them and kill them.

And they were helpless.

They couldn't do anything to rescue themselves,

but they cried out to God,

and God heard their cry,

and God came and listened to them

and brought them out.

And in Exodus chapter 19,

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

he says,

I carried you on eagle's wings

and brought you to myself.

And he said,

now you will be for me

a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation.

In other words,

set apart people for myself.

So God saved them by his grace

and brought them into his kingdom.

And then what happens next?

Then he says,

well, since you're part of my kingdom,

instead of that cruel tyrant Pharaoh's kingdom,

since you're part of my kingdom now,

I want to teach you

what it means to live with me as your king.

A life that reflects my character

and my ways

and my purposes in the world.

So he led them to Mount Sinai,

and Moses went up the mountain

to receive the law from God,

and then he gave them the law,

beginning with the Ten Commandments

and going on from there.

So the law wasn't

God saying to the people,

here's what you have to do

to live up to the standard,

and if you live up to the standard,

then I'll accept you.

No, he had already

saved them by his grace,

brought them into his kingdom,

and he gave them the law

to teach them how to live

in his kingdom.

Now, if you look at the book of Matthew,

the reason why I'm

doing all this background,

you see the same pattern

in the first chapters

of the book of Matthew.

If you want to flip back

a little bit,

Jesus' life actually follows

many of the same patterns

of Moses.

So when Jesus is born,

the people of Israel

are under the rule

of a cruel king named Herod.

Chapter 2, verse 13 through 18

describes this.

And Herod actually targets Jesus

and wants to kill him.

Just like Pharaoh

targeted the Hebrew babies

and Moses in Exodus.

But God preserved Moses

and he preserves Jesus.

Then, chapter 2, verse 13,

Jesus actually goes down

to Egypt with his family

and then he is brought back

to the land of Israel.

And Matthew points out

that that's a fulfillment

of this pattern

of the Old Testament

that follows the same pattern

as the story of Israel

being brought out of Egypt

by God.

Then you go on, chapter 4.

It says Jesus was led

by the Spirit

into the wilderness.

Well, isn't that the same thing

that happened to the Israelites, right?

When they left Egypt,

where did they go?

They went in the wilderness

for 40 years.

And Jesus was in the wilderness

for 40 days

and 40 nights.

So we see many

of the same patterns

except that

in the Old Testament,

the people of Israel

failed in the wilderness,

but Jesus is perfectly faithful

to God in the wilderness.

Now we get to chapter 4.

Jesus calls people out

to follow him.

He says, repent,

chapter 4, verse 17,

for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

And then he calls

his disciples

to follow him.

And eventually

he calls 12 disciples

just like there were

12 tribes of Israel.

So you see,

Jesus is following

this same pattern

of God calling people

out by his grace,

rescuing them by grace,

and calling them

into his kingdom.

Notice how Jesus

calls his disciples

in verses 18 through 22,

which we read earlier.

Jesus doesn't

set up interviews

to interview

a long list of candidates

and figure out

who's best fit

for the job.

He doesn't

recruit lots of people

to fill out applications.

He's not like

a college admissions office.

Right?

They want to recruit

as many people

as they can to apply

so that they can

lower their acceptance rate

so that they can be seen

as the most exclusive

among all the schools.

Jesus doesn't do that.

He just sees people

and he calls them

personally,

intentionally,

and effectually.

He says,

follow me

and I will make you

fishers of men.

In other words,

I will be

your resume.

I will be the one

who qualifies you

for the job.

And he says,

drop everything

and follow me.

And that's true

for everyone

who comes

to follow Jesus,

that Jesus has

called you

by his grace

into his kingdom.

You know,

if you want

to follow Jesus,

you don't have

to prove yourself.

Instead,

it's exactly

the opposite.

All that you need

is nothing.

All that you need

is to recognize

your need

for Jesus

and to cling

to him.

And Jesus says,

I will make you

what I've called

you to be.

You're not

what you need

to be,

but I will make you

fishers of men.

I will make you

what I've called

you to be.

And that is

very encouraging.

Let me just

stop for a moment.

If you're a follower

of Jesus,

this should be

very encouraging

that

God has called

you by his grace.

He's reached

out to you

personally

and intentionally

and affectionately.

He's brought you

in to his kingdom.

And he said,

I want you

to follow me.

I see you

and I will make you

what I've called

you to be.

It's a beautiful thing.

You can't live up

to it on your own.

You can't qualify

it for it

on your own.

You can't prove

yourself

because we are

all sinners

and we all fall short.

But he has called

us into his kingdom.

So now

we come to chapter 5.

The Sermon on the Mount.

And what Jesus does here

is he tells us

this is what it means

to live in

my kingdom.

This is actually

the first of five

large sections

of Jesus' teaching

in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Chapter 5 through 7

is the Sermon on the Mount.

Chapter 10

he sends the disciples

out on mission.

Chapter 13

is parables

about the kingdom.

Chapter 18

is teaching about

the community

of believers.

Chapter 24 and 25

is about the coming

of the Son of Man.

The point is

there's these five

large sections

of Jesus' teaching

and many people think

and I think it's likely

that Matthew

deliberately arranged

his book this way.

That just as there

were five books

of Moses

in the Old Testament

that comprise

the law

or the teaching

for the people

of Israel.

In Matthew

Jesus has five

large sections

of teaching

that summarize

his teaching

for the church

for those

who follow him.

And it's reinforcing

this theme

of Jesus

as sort of

the new Moses

the deliverer

and the teacher

of God's

renewed people.

So chapter 5

verse 1

seeing the crowds

he went up

on the mountain

again

just like Moses

went up Mount Sinai

Jesus goes up

the mountain

and then he sat down

that was the typical

posture of a teacher

back then

and he

and his disciples

the word disciple

simply means

a student

or a follower

means someone

who listens.

His disciples

his students

came to him

and he opened

his mouth

and taught them.

Jesus is deliberate

and earnest

and his words

have weight

and authority

to them.

So just like

Moses

taught the people

of Israel

how to live

as God's people

rescued by his grace

and brought

into his kingdom

Jesus

is teaching

his disciples

he's teaching us

what it means

to live

in his kingdom

when we've been

brought in

by his gracious

call.

So

from this

we can see

a couple of things

that the Sermon on the Mount

is not

and some people

think this is what it is

but it's not this

the Sermon on the Mount

is not

a list of

general ethical

principles

that are common

to all religions

and that can be

put into practice

apart from

belief in Jesus.

Now it's true

there are parallels

to many of the

individual teachings

in other religious

traditions

that's true

but that's not

actually

the main point.

It's not simply

meant to be

a general list

of ethical principles

set up

that are

just as relevant

apart from Jesus.

It's not like

you know

if you

go to a Chinese

restaurant

and get

fortune cookies

at the end

they have

those little

sayings

those little

proverbs

on them

you can sort

of take it

or leave it

and they don't

you know

there's one at a time

and you never know

what you're going to get

and they're totally

random

that's not what

the Sermon on the Mount

is.

It's not a random

collection

of wisdom

for life

that you can sort

of take what you

like

and leave the rest

and it's not

something that we

can simply admire

from a distance

like a beautiful

sunset.

Jesus is describing

what our lives

can and must

increasingly look

like when we're

part of his

kingdom.

It's marching

orders from the

king

if you want to

put it that way.

It's an authoritative

teaching for us

who are Jesus'

disciples.

So that's sort of

the background

leading up to the

Sermon on the Mount.

Now let me

briefly walk you

through chapters

five through seven.

So again if you've

got a Bible

this is a good one

to flip through.

There are two

major parts to the

Sermon on the Mount.

There's first a

general part.

Jesus starts in

chapter five

verses three

through sixteen

by telling his

disciples who

we are

in general

as people saved

by his grace

and belonging to

his kingdom.

So if you read

the Beatitudes

in chapter

verse three

through twelve

they all start

with this word

blessed

or blessed.

In other words

we're

to be blessed

means to receive

God's favor

and his delight.

Means that God

delights in you

and that you

share in that

joy and delight.

And the first

Beatitude

is the key

to all the rest.

It says

blessed are the

poor in spirit.

In other words

blessed are those

who admit

that they have

nothing

to prove

themselves to

God.

Again

we come

empty handed

and Jesus

gives us

his joy

and delight

and blessing.

And then

Jesus goes on

to say

blessed

are

the poor

in spirit.

Those who have

nothing in themselves

and find everything

we need in Jesus.

And he goes on

to say blessed

are those who are

persecuted.

Who have nothing

in this world.

But who love

Jesus and belong

to the kingdom

of heaven.

It's a pretty

amazing promise.

Right?

I mean

almost everything

else in this world

you have to

qualify for

in some way

or other.

You have to

prove that you're

eligible for this.

And Jesus

says

if you've got

nothing

I've come

to give you

everything you need.

and I've

come not just

to give you

bare subsistence

but I've

come to

bring you

joy and

delight.

Because I'm

the fountain

of those

things.

So we're

blessed

as part of

Jesus'

kingdom.

Then

verse 13

and 16

this is

again

sort of

the more

general part

about who

we are.

He uses

three metaphors

the salt

of the earth

the light

of the world

and a city

on a hill.

And all

three of

those

metaphors

were used

in the

Old Testament

for the

people of

God.

And all

three of

them remind

us that

as Jesus'

followers

we're not

taken out

of the

world.

Jesus isn't

talking about

leaving

this physical

universe

but he is

calling us

to be

distinct from

the patterns

of the world

that we live

in.

And Jesus

explains this

further later

on in the

Sermon on

the Mount.

If you read

through the

sermon I

encourage you

read through

the whole of

chapters 5

through 7

sometime this

week and

just notice

some of the

general patterns

that run

through these

chapters.

And you'll

see there

were two

contrasts that

stuck out to

me.

Two of the

contrasts that

stuck out to

me here when

I read it

through.

So on the

one hand

Jesus says

if you're

my disciples

you are not

to be

just like

the religious

people of

the day.

The Pharisees

and scribes.

In chapter 6

he describes

them as

hypocrites

who do their

good works

in order to

gain praise

from other

people.

Or as

self-righteous

critics who

are always

looking for

minor flaws

in other

people but

are blind

to their

own more

serious

failings.

And Jesus

says that's

not what

life in

God's

kingdom is

meant to

be.

It's not

simply what

people might

stereotype

religion to

be.

On the

other hand

Jesus says

don't be

like the

Gentiles.

Don't be

like sort

of the

secular

world.

Who are

ultimately

self-centered

in their

life apart

from God.

Jesus calls

his disciples

to a

higher

standard

than

either

traditional

religion

or

the

secular

culture.

Now

Jesus says

I'm calling

you to

something

greater

than both

of those.

Your

righteousness

must surpass

the Pharisees

and scribes

because it's

dealing with

your heart

before God

and your

love must

be greater

than the

people of

this world.

It must

extend even

to your

enemies.

So Jesus

calls us

to something

greater than

life in this

world.

To life in

God's

kingdom.

So that's

the first

major section.

Jesus saying

this is who

you are

and this is

what your

relationship to

the world

is meant to

look like.

The second

section of the

Sermon on the

Mount is

starting at

chapter 5

verse 17

and going

to the

end of

chapter 7.

And this

tells us

how we're

to live

in God's

kingdom in

more particular

areas.

So the

point is

our identity

as disciples

of Jesus

should shape

every part

of our

lives.

And you

know if you

read through

this sermon

it's very

comprehensive.

Jesus

teaches on

anger,

lust,

marriage,

divorce,

truthfulness,

love,

forgiveness,

prayer,

giving,

fasting,

worrying about

money,

worrying about

the future,

being judgmental

of others,

and asking

God for

good gifts.

I mean

that's a

pretty

comprehensive

list of

a lot of

things that

we deal

with.

He teaches

about inner

attitudes and

motives as

well as

external actions

and relationships.

So if you

want to

learn

practically

what does

it mean to

be a

Christian?

If you

want to

grow in

your life

with Jesus

read this

sermon on

the mount.

Dig into

it because

it'll get

at lots

of different

parts of

your life

and you

won't be

able to

escape

without having

nearly your

whole life

changed and

impacted by

Jesus.

Jesus.

If you're

meeting with

somebody

maybe who's

a new

Christian who's

just starting

to follow

Jesus,

this could be

a great

passage of

scripture to

read through

together and

talk through

together.

It's where

Jesus began

with his

disciples.

Matthew put

it right at

the start of

his gospel.

And it's not

a bad place

for us to

begin either.

As we teach

one another

what does

it mean to

live in

the kingdom

of God

by the

grace of

Jesus Christ.

Now I'm

not going to

go through

this second

section in

detail.

The rest of

chapter 5 is

about obeying

God's law

from our

heart.

Chapter 6 is

about trusting

God as our

father.

And chapter 7

is about living

in the fear

of the Lord.

Those are

sort of the

big themes

that we'll

see throughout

those sections.

But I want

to fast

forward to

the end

a little bit.

So look

toward the

end of

chapter 7.

At the

end,

Jesus

challenges

us

with

four

contrasts.

Chapter 7

verse 13

and 14

he says

there are

two roads.

Well,

there are

two gates.

gates.

The narrow

gate

and the

wide

gate.

The narrow

road and

the wide

road.

And then

he says

there are

two trees

in the

next section.

Every

healthy tree

bears good

fruit,

but the

diseased

tree

bears bad

fruit.

And then

he goes

on in

21 through

23.

He says

there are

two kinds

of people.

The people

who say

to me,

Lord,

Lord,

and the

people who

do the

will of

the

father.

And

finally,

24 through

27,

he says

there are

two houses.

There's a

house built

on the

rock and

the house

built on

the sand.

And only

one will

survive

God's

judgment

in the

end.

You see,

this is a

challenging

sermon.

Because at

the end,

Jesus pushes

the issue.

He says,

you can't

stay neutral.

There's no

third way.

There are

only two

ways.

You're

either on

one road

or the

other.

He pushes

the issue.

He says,

whose kingdom

are you

living in?

Who are

you living

for?

And where

is your

life going?

And he

says,

come to

me and

follow me.

You see,

Jesus is

teaching the

disciples about

what it

means,

those who

had been

called to

him and

were committed

to follow

him.

And he's

saying,

this is

what it

means to

live in

my kingdom.

But you

know,

he also

had a ton

of other

people who

were listening.

The people

in the

crowds.

There were

whole crowds

who followed

Jesus around,

but they

weren't

committed.

They were

interested.

They were

curious.

They saw

his miracles.

They probably

wanted to

see more

miracles.

They wanted

to experience

some of

his power,

but they

weren't yet

committed and

loyal to

him.

So the

Sermon on

the Mount,

Jesus asks

us that

question.

He'll be

asking us

that question

throughout this

summer as we

look into it.

He says,

are you a

disciple?

Have you

been called,

have you

responded to

my call

to follow

me?

me?

Have you

become part

of my

kingdom?

Totally by

his grace?

Or are you

interested but

still on the

outside?

And the

invitation is,

if you're

interested but

still on the

outside,

the invitation

from Jesus is,

come and

follow me,

and I will

make you what

I've called

you to be.

Jesus says,

in my

kingdom,

there's great

blessing and

there's great

joy and it'll

last forever.

And outside,

there's no hope

and everything

will perish.

let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we pray

that as you

called the

first disciples,

that you

would be

calling us

to you.

Lord,

we thank you

Lord,

for those

of us who

have been

called to

you,

we pray

that we

would hear

your voice.

Lord,

that your

Holy Spirit

would work

in us,

that you

would teach

us more

and more

what it

means to

reflect your

character and

your ways in

this world

that we live

in.

Lord,

we pray

that you

would teach

us this

summer of

who you

are.

As we

look into

this

Sermon on

the Mount.

And make

us who

you've

called us

to be.

May this

be part of

how you

are making

us what

you've

called us

to be.

In Jesus'

name,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.