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Introduction:
Matthew
4:23
says Jesus was traveling all over Galilee teaching the gospel of
the kingdom. The sermon that followed is indeed the good news. But
it is the good news in concentrate. Though the Sermon takes less
than 15 minutes to read, it will take a lifetime to study and
master. A thorough study of the Sermon would lead us to nearly
every major doctrinal teaching of the New Testament. It will
certainly take us to every teaching on the character and life of
the Christian. We will focus on the Sermon for an entire month. As
we begin our study, it will be beneficial to take a bird’s eye
look at it. In so doing, as we study more closely, we will more
easily process what we are learning. Discussion: I.
If we want stable lives, we must build them on the
foundation of Jesus’ words. A.
Jesus concluded the Sermon with a parable to explain its
importance (Matthew
7:24-27). Two men built houses. Let’s picture them next
door to each other. The ground is level, but it is only sand. The
first starts digging. It is hard work, but he wants to get down to
bedrock. Shovelful by slow shovelful he removes the dirt and sand.
The second thinks that is just too much work. He starts to build.
About the time the second man is halfway finished, the first has
dug out a spot on bedrock to anchor his house. He starts building
his foundation so he can make his house level. The second man
laughs at how long it is taking the first. About the time the
second man is finishes, the first finally completes his foundation
and starts building. The second man relaxes. He watches every day
with a smug grin as the first continues his hard work. Finally,
both houses are complete. “It just wasn’t worth it. You did
all that extra work and look, my house looks just as good as
yours,” says the second man. For a time, everything proceeds
smoothly for both men. For a time, observers wonder why all that
extra work had been necessary for the first man. But then the
rainy season comes. After a few storms, the sand that made the
foundation of the second man’s house starts to wash away. He
tries to recover the sand but the storms come faster than he can
replace the sand. As the foundation washes away, he notices cracks
in the walls. As more dirt washes away and the wind blows on the
house, the cracks grow larger. In time, the damage is so bad, the
house is not recoverable. It collapses. B.
Jesus explained the people who listened to Him and did what
He taught would be like the wise man. They would have a strong
foundation for their lives. Those who listened but did not obey
had no foundation. Keep in mind, both faced storms. Jesus is not
saying if we obey Him, life will be easy. He is saying if we obey
Him, we have a foundation holding us up in the time of temptation
and trial. How many have we seen “remain faithful” until their
parents, spouse or children die? How many have we seen “remain
faithful” until they leave home and face the onslaught of
immorality and humanism found in colleges? What is happening in
these cases? Most often, the problem is their faith was never
founded on the bedrock of Jesus’ word. They took the easy route
of following along in their parents’ faith or their spouse’s
faith. For a time, their life looked just like every other
Christian’s. But when the storms hit, their foundation eroded
out from under their spiritual house and it collapsed. C.
Jesus’ words are the bedrock. There is a lot of dirt and
sand in our world. It would be easy to build our spiritual house
there. We could “come to church” a couple of times a week, do
whatever our parents tell us or follow the religious crowd. That
would be easy. On the surface, we would look like everyone else.
We might even chuckle at all the work we see others doing. Sooner
or later the storm is going to hit. How we have dealt with
Jesus’ words will shine forth for everyone to see. As we study
this Sermon, we must use it as the foundation for our lives. We
must dig out the dirt and sand and find the bedrock. It will take
hard work. Some will think we are silly for working so hard.
Others will think we are fanatics for doing what we do. But when
the storms come, our spiritual house will remain standing and
theirs will fall. II.
True blessedness and happiness come from walking in
Jesus’ way. A.
Jesus began His sermon with nine statements regarding who
is blessed. We generally refer to these as The Beatitudes (Matthew
5:3-11). This repetition of “blessed” is not just a
part of these nine statements. Rather, it sets the stage for the
entire sermon. This Sermon is the “Gospel of the Kingdom.” It
is the good news of the kingdom. It is good news because it is the
vehicle of God’s blessing to us. B.
The word translated “blessed” is “makarios”. Many
suggest this word means “happiness.” Certainly, happiness can
result from being blessed. However, I don’t think happiness
covers what Jesus is talking about here. Happiness is an emotion
that might come from any source. But blessedness is the joyous
result of having received a blessing. Happiness may be the
serendipitous by-product of good fortune. It comes and goes as our
mood and fancy strikes us. Blessedness, however, is a joy founded
on the bedrock of God’s generous gifts. Its basis does not
change because God, the source of our blessing, does not change. C.
However, few people can imagine that the ones Jesus says
are blessed really are. Jesus lists the poor in spirit, the
mournful, the meek and gentle, the hungry for righteousness and
the persecuted as blessed. As the Sermon continues, we see people
commanded to control their tempers, control their eyes and their
desires, stay married to one spouse, be honest, love their enemies
and accept wrong without paying back in kind. These are the ones
who are blessed by God. They receive God’s kingdom, His comfort,
His mercy and His forgiveness. Many times, neither we nor the
people of the world can imagine that these kind of people are
blessed. Yet that is exactly what God says. Only those who submit
to Jesus’ sermon can have the true elation that comes from being
favored by God. Because only those who submit to Jesus’ sermon
receive God’s blessings. D.
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are created
equal and given certain inalienable rights by their Creator. Among
those rights were “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.” Jefferson overstated the case. God has not granted
us these rights. However, He does offer these blessings to those
who will submit to Him. This Sermon tells us how we can have these
blessings. Do you want blessing? Do you want the solid joy and
happiness that rests in the favor of God? Then do not follow the
American way. Follow the way of this Sermon (cf.
Matthew
7:13-14). Some of its teachings may seem
counter-intuitive. We may not understand how turning the other
cheek or loving our enemies will make us happy. But they will.
Only when we submit to the Sermon can we have the real joy that
comes from the blessing of God. Everyone else may have a semblance
of happiness. They may have good fortune here and there. But only
those who submit to the Sermon are blessed. III.
If we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, our
righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. A.
Matthew
5:20
provides Jesus’ theme for this entire Sermon. “Unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you
will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Some of the most
confusing aspects of this Sermon are cleared up by remembering
this anchor. Jesus’ complaints are directed against the scribes
and Pharisees and their semblance of righteousness. His directives
are provided to grant us a righteousness that increases our
spiritual development beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees. B.
Within this Sermon, three keys to the surpassing
righteousness are uncovered. 1.
Let
your light shine so God may be glorified.
Matthew
5:16 teaches this. The scribes and Pharisees allowed their
works to show so men would honor and glorify them. In Matthew
6:1, Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your
righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have
no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus gave three
illustrations in Matthew
6. The scribes and Pharisees would sound a trumpet when
they gave alms to the underprivileged (vs.
2). We must not let our left hand know what our right hand
is doing. The scribes and Pharisees would stand on the street
corners and in the synagogues and offer long prayers (vs.
5). We are to go into our private prayer closets and pray
to our Father in secret. The scribes and Pharisees would make it
painfully obvious they were fasting (vs.
16). When we fast, we are to look as we do on any other
day. The Pharisees and scribes were concerned with their own glory
before men. Our concern is that God be glorified (John
15:8). As we read this Sermon, we must hang every part of
it on this anchor—our duty is to glorify God. We do not follow
this Sermon to look good before men. We follow it so God may be
glorified among men. 2.
Start
with the heart.
As we consider Jesus’ statements in Matthew
5:21-48, we see the scribes and Pharisees were interested
in outward actions. They were unconcerned with what occurred in
the heart. As long as they didn’t actually commit murder, it did
not matter what anger or hatred was in their heart (Matthew
5:21-22). As long as they did not actually commit
adultery, it did not matter what kind of lust or covetousness was
in their heart (Matthew
5:27-28). Jesus highlighted this problem about the scribes
and Pharisees in Matthew
23:25-28. They tried to clean the outside of the cup while
leaving the inside dirty. They were whitewashed tombs, looking
like magnificent memorials on the outside, but on the inside full
of dead men’s bones. This Sermon is about being righteous from
the heart. It will begin with our hearts and then straighten out
our lives. 3.
Obey
the full intent of God’s commands.
Each statement in which Jesus said, “You have heard that it was
said…, but I say to you,” addresses the issue of Pharisaic
reductionism (Matthew
5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-37, 38-39, 43-44). With one
exception (Matthew
5:43—love your neighbor and hate your enemy), Jesus had
no problem with the statements themselves. After all, we are not
to commit murder or adultery. We are to keep our vows to the Lord.
If we divorce, there must be some kind of legal proceeding and
documentation. The civil government should enact appropriate
punishments. The problem is that the Pharisees developed elaborate
systems of loopholes to allow them to do what they wanted. They
acted as though they could be angry and hateful with their
neighbor since they hadn’t killed them. If they did kill their
neighbor, they would only be guilty before the human court. Jesus
said they were not to be angry or call people names, if they did,
they would not only be guilty before the human court but before
God’s court as well. The Pharisees didn’t see a problem with
anything that led up to immorality, as long as they didn’t
actually physically commit immorality. Jesus explained even the
lust in their heart was condemned. The Pharisees believed
everything was fine with a divorce as long as they did it legally
with proper documentation. Jesus pointed out by putting their
spouse away, they were causing people to commit adultery. The
Pharisees believed they only had to keep vows if a specific
formula of words was used making the vow to the Lord. Jesus
pointed out that they were supposed to be honest and faithful no
matter how they said it. The Pharisees believed that since they
were commanded to love their neighbor, they were allowed to hate
their enemies. But Jesus told them to love even their enemies.
Sadly, this very same kind of reductionism is rampant today. How
many times do we hear people say they can do everything involved
in the process of getting drunk, so long as they don’t get
really drunk because, “The Bible just says don’t get drunk”?
Haven’t we heard people say, “We can buy a lottery ticket or
go to the boats and casinos because all the Bible condemns is
covetousness”? Or we are told, “The Bible condemns
lasciviousness, but there is no place that condemns the dancing
that goes on at the high school dances, proms or at the clubs.”
The Pharisees would have loved the reasoning used in all these
cases and many others. It reduces God’s commands down to their
bear minimums and draws lines, finding loopholes to do the very
things God condemns. If our righteousness will surpass that of the
scribes and Pharisees, we must obey the full intent of God’s
commands. C.
Do not miss how important this is. If you want to enter the
kingdom of heaven, your righteousness must surpass that of the
scribes and Pharisees. You must seek to glorify God and not self.
You must start with the heart. You must obey the full intent of
God’s commands. IV.
If we want to live this Sermon, we must treat others the
way we want to be treated. A.
As much as we love what has been dubbed the Golden Rule of Matthew
7:12, we have some difficulty understanding it in context.
The text says, “In everything, therefore,
treat people the same way you want them to treat you…” Our
struggle is with the word “therefore.” We know that means this
rule is the logical conclusion to something stated before it.
However, as we look back in the text, we struggle to figure out
what it is. Different authors have presented different reasons for
how it connects to different parts of the Sermon. However, I
believe the “therefore” is not merely a logical connection to
what was most recently said. Rather, it is the logical extension
of everything the Sermon has said. B.
As Jesus wrapped up this teaching, He provided a general
rule of thumb for how to accomplish all of it. We may struggle
with exactly how to fulfill Jesus’ teaching to turn the other
cheek or go the extra mile. We may struggle with knowing how to
follow the teaching about judging and casting our pearls before
swine. No doubt, we should strive to understand the extent of
those commands on their own merits. However, the general rule of
thumb is, treat the folks who have slapped and insulted you the
way you would want to be treated. C.
Jesus said this principle “is the Law and the
Prophets.” This calls to mind Matthew
22:37-40, in which Jesus pointed out that all the Law and
the Prophets hung on the laws to love God and love our neighbor as
ourselves. Thus, treating others the way we want to be treated is
the heart of loving them. Therefore, as we strive to figure out
how to practically live Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies, we
know we must treat them the way we want to be treated. D.
Therefore, as we read this entire Sermon, we should keep
this principle in mind. How do we want others to treat us? How
does that fit over what we are learning in the Sermon? As we
consider from day to day how to live this Sermon practically, we
need to hang our hats on this pivotal rule. How do I want to be
treated? Let me treat others that way. Conclusion: As we go through the Sermon this month, we will travel all over the Scripture. We will discuss all manner of issues from anger management to moral purity to love to judgment. However, if we keep these four principles in mind, we will gain a great grasp of the Sermon, not only in understanding but also in action. Jesus’ words are our foundation for a stable life, no matter what the world thinks of us. Jesus’ teaching is the vehicle to find the true joy founded in the blessing of God. If we desire to enter the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. If we desire to live this Sermon, then we must treat others the way we would want to be treated.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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