"You Have Heard... But I Say" | Summer on the Mount

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of

Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing

our sermon series, Summer on the Mount, where

we are diving into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount,

perhaps the most famous and impactful teaching

of Jesus. Today we are looking at Jesus' relationship

to the Old Testament Scriptures, where there's

all kinds of rules and laws, and Jesus says,

you have heard it said, blank. one of these rules,

but I say to you, blank, something else, something

new, a different way of looking at many of these

laws. So what does Jesus say? Why do these laws

matter? And what is the better way forward? These

are just some of the questions that we'll unpack

in today's teaching. Today's reading is from

the Gospel of Matthew 5. 21 to 22, 27 to 41,

and 43 to 45. You have heard that it was said

to the people long ago, you shall not murder,

and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with

a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.

Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister,

raka, is answerable to the court. And anyone

who says, you fool, will be in danger of the

fire of hell. You have heard that it was said,

you shall not commit adultery. But I tell you,

anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already

committed adultery with her in his heart. If

your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it

out and throw it away. It is better for you to

lose one part of your body than for your whole

body to be thrown into hell. And if your right

hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw

it away, it is better for you to lose one part

of your body than for your whole body to go into

hell. It has been said, anyone who divorces his

wife must give her a certificate of divorce.

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife,

except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim

of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced

woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard

that it was said to the people long ago, Do not

break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the

vows you have made. But I tell you, do not swear

an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is God's

throne, or by the earth, for it is his footstool,

or by Jerusalem. for it is the city of the great

king. And do not swear by your head, for you

cannot make even one hair white or black. All

you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything

beyond this comes from the evil one. You have

heard that it was said, eye for eye and tooth

for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil

person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek,

turn to them. the other cheek also. And if anyone

wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over

your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go

one mile, go with them two miles. You have heard

that it was said, love your neighbor and hate

your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you, that you

may be children of your Father in heaven. He

causes his son to rise on the evil and the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. So life,

of course, is... full of questions. We always

have these questions, messy questions, thorny

questions, complicated questions, you know, personal

questions. I sometimes wonder, wouldn't it be

great if there was some kind of a book you could

just flip to that had the answer to all the questions

that we have? Like, oh, should I forgive somebody

who hurt me? Oh, just turn to page 136. There's

the answer. Or, you know, should I ever tell

a lie to spare someone? feelings? Oh, well, just

turn to page 242, and there's your answer. Should

I ghost someone who's annoying me? Oh, turn to

page 42. There's your answer. Should I respond

to emails while I'm in the bathroom? Oh, just

turn to page 500. You'll see the answer's no,

but we all do it anyways. I know we all do it

anyways. What is the right thing to do in this

situation? Oh, turn to this page. What's the

right thing to do in this situation? Turn to

this page. What's right? What's wrong? What is

good? What is bad? Let's be honest, most of us

would love to have this kind of a cheat sheet,

some kind of a spiritual little rule book that

would tell us the page number, give us a box

to tick, tell us the right thing to do. I'm good,

I've done it, I've figured it out, right? There

is this guy by the name of Hank Hanegraaff, and

he has this radio show. He goes by the name of

the Bible Answer Man. And people phone in to

Hank's show. It's actually kind of a cool show.

They phone in. They ask him all these questions

about the Bible, about life, about things that

they're facing. And Hank always gives them an

answer. In fact, Hank Hanegraaff wrote this book

called The Complete Bible Answer Book. And man,

everything you want to know is in there. There's

chapters on everything. Capital punishment, euthanasia,

homosexuality, heaven, hell, money, everything.

It's all neatly tied up in one little book. all

of life's dilemmas, don't we want something like

this? A nice, you know, spiritual little search

bar where we type in the question we have and

Google spits out the correct moral answer. Well,

this summer, we are reading through the Sermon

on the Mount. It is the most famous teaching

ever by the most famous teacher ever, and that,

of course, is Jesus. So, is this it? Is this

the handbook that we have been looking for? Is

this the kind of easy, new, improved, heavenly

handbook for life, the divine cheat sheet that

tells us all the right things and all the wrong

things, all we gotta do is turn here and we get

our answer? You know, lots of people, even people

who don't believe in Jesus particularly, they

don't believe he's the son of God, they don't

believe he rose from the dead, would still say,

I love the Sermon on the Mount. And the reason

they would say that is they would say, because

I see it as a code of ethics. They say it's the

set of rules for living your life. And you can't

blame people. You can't blame human beings. We

want something black and white. We want something

cut and dried. In fact, I would say that the

largest religions in the world are the ones with

the largest list of rules. The largest churches

even in the world are usually the ones that give

you the longest code of ethics to sign, the biggest

sheet of answers to all your questions. Why?

Because if we can just check off the boxes, say

done, done, believe it, done, done, done, then

you know where you stand and all is well. I have

to say that as a minister for now over 20 years,

sometimes people come to me and they have a question.

And they say, Rob, is it okay to do this? Rob,

is it okay that they are doing that? Is this

allowed? Is that allowed? What does this mean?

And they seem to want, I think this is normal,

they seem to want their pastor to chime in with

a particular pronouncement on a particular question

that they have. And maybe... Over the years,

there's been times when I've been able to kind

of say something that helped or gave them some

wisdom or maybe even had an answer for the question.

Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible answer man. But many

times I struggle, actually, because I don't think

that Jesus gave us this divinely authorized FAQ

manual. And all you got to do is just turn to

the right page and then read the correct ruling.

Well, today we learn that the Sermon on the Mount

is not that kind of list either. It doesn't give

us those kind of rules. At first, it might look

like it's giving us a bunch of rules. You shall

not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You

shouldn't divorce your wife unless you've got

the paperwork, right? You shouldn't swear falsely.

Checkbox religion, right? Done it, done it, done

it. This is what the scribes and the Pharisees

taught. Oh, I haven't killed anyone, correct?

Oh, have I committed adultery? Nope, good there.

I got divorced, but I did the paperwork. Good,

I'm all good there. That's the way we want it,

right? Easy answers, clear rules, religious regulations.

But the Sermon on the Mount isn't about regulation.

It's about transformation. The gospel isn't a

rule book. The kingdom of God isn't a checklist.

It's not handing you a new kind of answer book.

It's calling you to be a new kind of person.

Put another way, the Sermon on the Mount. isn't

about a checklist. It's about a changed heart.

It isn't a new set of laws for you to memorize.

Instead, it's this new outlook that you're called

to live by. And you have to apply that outlook

to everything in your life. You've got to figure

out what it means for your life. And yes, that

is the harder way. It is way easier to tick a

bunch of boxes than it is to change your heart.

It is easier to memorize a list of answers than

to be transformed in how you think. and how you

act, and how you treat others. But Jesus doesn't

give us an easy way out. He doesn't give us easy

answers. Here's what I mean. Six times in the

Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeats this cute

little formula. He says, you have heard it said,

dot, dot, dot, that I say to you. And each time,

he's referring to some kind of black and white

rule book rule that people had been taught. and

the scribes, in order to make things easier for

people, had kind of boiled the law down or actually

expanded the law out into a whole bunch of lists

and a whole bunch of check boxes. In those days,

it's important to know people really couldn't

even really read the Bible for themselves. When

God's people came back from exile, they didn't

speak Hebrew anymore. They spoke Aramaic. The

Bible was written in Hebrew. And so the scribes

and the Pharisees, they had to interpret the

Bible to the people. But interpretation, turned

into elaboration. And pretty soon there was more

boxes and more lists and more regulations and

more rules. So then Jesus steps in and he says,

yeah, I know you've heard it said by those guys

over the years. I know for hundreds of years

you've heard it said, but I say to you, dot,

dot, dot. What a bold claim. In some ways, what

Jesus is saying is all those other interpreters,

they're wrong. I'm going to give you the right

interpretation. In fact, some people would even

say that Jesus is almost saying, I was there

when this law was written in the first place.

I, God, was the one who gave this to you, so

only I can properly interpret it for you. Martin

Lloyd -Jones, I think he said it perfectly. He

said, Jesus was not a mere teacher. He was not

a mere man. He was not a mere expounder of the

law, just like the scribes and Pharisees. He

was infinitely more than that. He was God, the

Son in the flesh, presenting the truth of God.

Isn't this amazing that 2 ,000 years ago, God

himself walked among us and interpreted his own

law for us. But when he did, he didn't give us

a new law book or a new moral code. Rather than

new rules, Jesus gives us a new outlook. It's

like he doesn't want to treat us like children.

He doesn't want to endlessly give us instructions.

Don't do this. Don't do that. Go here. Turn left.

Turn right. Stop right there. Instead, he says,

grow up. Grow up into people who think and live

and love differently because your hearts have

been changed. The Sermon on the Mount isn't about

ticking boxes. It's about becoming a new kind

of person. It's not a list of regulations. It's

about transformation. So today, rather than give

you 40 ,000 rules, Jesus, I think, lays out four,

I'm going to say four, kingdom principles that

we can apply to all the thorny, complicated issues

that we face day in and day out. And I've given

you some notes. Unfortunately, it's a checklist.

Darn it. But you can follow along and take some

notes as we go. Let's get started. The first

principle that Jesus teaches us in the Sermon

on the Mount is that it's not about the letter

of the law, but the spirit of the law. You see,

the Pharisees, they obsessed over the surface.

They obsessed over the exact wording, the precise

rules. You know, they were the type of people

who, when they downloaded an app, and you know

you gotta check off all the terms and conditions,

they loved reading that stuff, right? But Jesus

is concerned with something deeper, the spirit

of the law, not the letter of it. He wants us

to get at the heart behind these words. That's

why Jesus says things like, don't just avoid

murder. Avoid anger. That's the spirit of the

law. Don't just avoid adultery. Avoid objectifying

people in your mind. That is the spirit of the

law. John Stott puts it beautifully. He says,

Jesus' emphasis was not on the law's letter,

which could be obeyed in a legalistic and mechanical

way, but on the spirit. It's deeper intention.

In other words, anyone here can technically obey

do not murder and still carry bitterness and

resentment and hatred in their heart. You can

technically not commit adultery and still nurture

lust in your heart. Jesus does not contend with

that, right? He will not settle just for external

compliance. He's after internal transformation.

Now the Pharisees. They knew the law inside and

out, but they forgot the spirit of the law was

love. And we do the same thing all the time,

don't we? We want to know, where's the line?

And what's allowed? And what's forbidden? But

Jesus seems to say the line isn't the point.

Love is the point. When you live by the letter

of the law, you need a rule for every single

scenario. You're always asking, is this technically

permitted? Can I do this? But when you live by

the Spirit, you're asking a different kind of

question. You're asking, does this reflect the

Spirit, love, and grace that I see in Jesus Christ?

Paul wrote, the law kills, the letter of the

law kills, but the Spirit gives life. So that

is the first principle Jesus teaches us. You

gotta go behind the letter of the law, and see

the spirit of the law. Now, here's the second

principle that he gives us. It's not just about

what you do. It's about why you do it, right?

The old mindset said, well, as long as I do the

right thing, check, check, check, it doesn't

really matter where my heart is. Jesus says,

not enough. He says, motives matter. You can't

just bake cookies for your neighbor while secretly

hoping they choke on them. Right? Right? Motives,

right? The kingdom people have different motives,

right? They aren't motivated by anger or greed

or hostility or the need to be seen. They're

motivated by love and grace. Rules, they care

only about your behavior. But Jesus cares about

your motives. And the Sermon on the Mount isn't

about being a better rule follower. It's about

becoming. someone whose motives are transformed

from the inside out. That's why Dallas Willard

says, the aim of the Sermon on the Mount is not

to get us to do what Jesus says, but to become

the kind of people who would naturally do what

Jesus says. That's the goal. Not just to check

boxes, not just to look righteous on the outside

while there's resentment and lust and pride burning

on the inside. It is easy to do that, right?

Anybody can keep their temper in check but seethe

with bitterness. Anybody can stay faithful in

their marriage but still objectify others in

their mind. But Jesus sees deeper. The Sermon

on the Mount doesn't just ask, what did you do?

It asks, why did you do it? Jesus is not after

behavior modification. He's after heart transformation.

So those are the first two principles in the

kingdom of God. It's not about the letter of

the law, but the spirit. And secondly, it's not

just about what you do, but it's about why you

do it. Here's the third principle. Kingdom life

isn't just about what you avoid, but it's about

what you pursue. You see, the Pharisees, they

were masters at the don'ts. Don't murder. Don't

commit adultery. Don't do this. Don't do that.

Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. And

honestly, most of us, we think that's what it

means to be holy. A whole bunch of different

don'ts. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't hate. Don't

run with scissors. Don't leave your dishes in

the sink. Don't eat carbs after 8 p .m., right?

And yes, Sermon on the Mount has its share of

don'ts. But it goes way deeper than that. Jesus

isn't just interested in what you stay away from.

He's calling you into a new way of life. Not

a life of don'ts, but a life of do's. Do love.

Do show mercy. Do justice. Do reconcile. Do give

generously. You can avoid murder, don't. But

can you love your enemy? Do. You can avoid adultery.

Don't. But can you honor others with your heart

and your mind? Do. Jesus is calling us not just

to abstain from evil, but to embody the good.

John Stott says the Christian life is not merely

avoiding what is wrong, but actively pursuing

what is good. Holiness is not a matter of avoiding

sin, but loving righteousness. This is what makes

this principle So much better than a rule book.

Rule books just say, don't do that. Principles

say, run toward the good. Be peacemakers, be

generous, show mercy. The gospel doesn't just

say, don't retaliate. It says, go the second

mile. It doesn't just say, don't hate. It says,

love your enemies. Jesus isn't just trying to

hold us back from doing evil. He's pushing us

in. to the good life of the kingdom. He's pushing

us into a life of mercy. He's pushing us into

a life of compassion, into a life of forgiveness

and generosity and love. That's the invitation

of the Sermon on the Mount. Not just what to

run from, but what to run toward. Life in the

kingdom, it's not just about sin management.

It's active love. And that brings us to the fourth.

And the final principle, I think we find woven

throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and that

is, it's not about rules from God. It's about

a relationship with God. You know, the scribes,

they handed down traditions and regulations,

long lists of do's and don'ts, but with all the

rules, they kind of lost the relationship. And

the relationship was what it was all about. It's

kind of like planning for a wedding, but then

forgetting to actually show up for the marriage.

It's not about the rules. It's not about the

rituals. It's not about the regulations. It's

about the relationship. That's what we were celebrating

this morning with Galen. Not that he's followed

all the rules, but that he's entered into a relationship

with the living God, his Father. Your Father

loves you, right? The life described in the Sermon

on the Mount is only possible Because of your

relationship with God. The kingdom norms Jesus

gives us are rooted in relationship, not some

legal duty. You know, as a parent, I want my

children to listen to me. But not because of

an arbitrary rule. I want them to listen to me

because I'm their father. Right? It's because

of our relationship. And the same is with God.

Our behavior doesn't flow from rules we got from

God, but from our relationship we have with God.

And that relationship we have with God, God's

love is shaping us on the inside. So let's recap.

Living in the kingdom of God is not about the

letter of the law, but it's about the spirit

of the law, first principle. Secondly, it's not

just about what you do, but it's about why you

do it. That's the second principle. It's not

just about what you avoid, but it's about what

you pursue. That's the third principle. And then

fourthly, it's not just about rules from God.

It's about a relationship with God. Now, just

quickly as I end, let me just show you how Jesus

uses these principles to answer the difficult

questions of his day. So when Jesus says, oh,

you have heard that it was said to those of old,

you shall not murder. Whoever murders is going

to be liable to judgment. Ah, that seems pretty

straightforward. Don't take someone's life and

you're righteous. Box ticked, move on. That's

the letter of the law. But Jesus says, no, no,

no, no, no. You've missed the point entirely.

Principle one. right? It says, what's the spirit

of the law? The spirit of the law is not about

what you do with your hands. It's about the anger

that you harbor in your heart. And actually,

principle three, sorry, principle three says

that it isn't just about what you don't do, don't

murder. You heard in the Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus actually says, you know, go and make peace

with people. In fact, if you realize that you

have a problem with someone before you even come

to the altar and receive communion or give your

gift, you go and you make it right. It's not

about don't, it's about do. You reconcile, with

that person first, right? It's about becoming

a person who loves peace and reconciliation.

Same with adultery, right? With adultery, Jesus

says, you have heard that it was said, you shall

not commit adultery. That's the letter of the

law. Once again, the Pharisees say, easy, check

the box, move on. But Jesus says, that's not

enough. In the kingdom, it isn't just about what

you do, it's about why you do it. What's the

motives? What's going on in your heart? What

are your desires saying? Why are you objectifying

that person? Why are you lusting after that person?

And you live in a relationship with this loving

God, and he knows every thought in your heart,

even the secret ones. All of these things come

into play when Jesus is saying, this is how you

decide what is right. Next, he says, you know,

whoever divorces his wife, let him give a certificate

of divorce. The Pharisees treated this one as

legal paperwork. Oh, you want out of your marriage?

Then just get the paperwork right, letter of

the law, tick the box, move on. Jesus says, it's

not what this is about at all. The spirit of

this is marriage is not a contract. It's a covenant

to honor. And kingdom life is not just about

trying to find loopholes. It's about God's own

faithful love shown to you. Principle four. It

all flows from your relationship with God. All

your relationships with your family, even your

spouse, flow from your relationship with God,

principle four. The rule book says, keep your

oaths. As long as you swear properly and follow

through, you should keep your oaths. But Jesus

says, no, no, no, no, no. You shouldn't need

to make an oath at all. You should be becoming

a person who basically says yes, and they mean

yes, and they say no, and they mean no, because

you're just a trustworthy person. Right? Right.

The rule book says, you know, eye for eye and

tooth for tooth. If someone hits you, you are

entitled to hit them back, but only to hit them

back as hard as they hit you. Jesus says you're

missing the spirit of it. The spirit isn't just

about restraining your fist and keeping it down

to one punch. It's about actually restraining

your right to retaliate altogether. And pursuing

peace instead. It's about turning the other cheek.

It's about going the second mile. It's about

being generous. It's about the spirit of the

law, not the letter. Finally, like the rule book

says, the rule book says, love your neighbor,

you hate your enemy. Jesus says, no. Kingdom

life goes deeper. Principle one, it's about the

spirit of the law, not the letter of the law.

It's about... how, it's not just about why or

what you do, it's about why you do it. It's about

what you pursue, not just what you're avoiding

in principle four. It's all about this relationship

with God. If you apply all those four principles

to this ancient law, Jesus says, you're actually

gonna love your enemies. You're gonna pray for

those who persecute you, right? Not out of duty,

because you know what the Father's love looks

like in your own life, right? So here's the thing.

The kingdom is not about checking boxes. It's

about becoming a new kind of person, one who

reflects the heart of God. Now, those were the

questions. Those were the burning questions people

were asking in Jesus's day, right? But maybe

your questions you're asking today, it's not

about adultery or divorce or oaths. It could

be you've got a different decision to make. You've

got a different relationship you're trying to

manage. You've got a different question in your

mind. You're like, I don't know what the right

thing is. Of course, you've got a Bible. Read

it. And of course, there are good books and commentaries

and teachers and personalities out there, and

they can probably help you figure out the right

thing to do in every situation, the right solution

to any problem. And you know what? Sometimes

we need that. I'm not going to poo -poo that.

Sometimes we need wisdom from other people that

can be very, very helpful as we navigate life's

complexities. But beware easy answers. Beware.

simplistic solutions. Even beware the church

that hands you a long list of rules and says,

this is how you live. This is how you think.

Because when I read the Sermon on the Mount,

it seems to me that Jesus invites us into something

deeper and better, not a rule book to follow,

but a relationship to live. Not just external

compliance, but inner transformation. not just

avoiding sin, but actively pursuing goodness

and mercy and love and justice. And when we live

by his principles and when we walk closely with

him in his kingdom, we won't just be given the

right kind of answers. We'll become the right

kind of people. So thanks be to God. Amen.