Bible Study - The Sermon on the Mount

(36) NW Bible Study - Bible Quiz #21 - Sermon on the Mount - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VohUILn7rUg

Transcript:
(00:01) so we're continuing on with our Bible literacy test here this evening we're on Bible study question number 21 and the uh the question is sermon on the mount i'm suspicious that most of you know where we find the sermon on the mount but I'll go ahead and uh and just say it for you emphatically here that we find that in Matthew chapter 5 uh and Matthew chapter 5 through chapter 7 and so we will be spending a fair amount of time uh in this section of scripture uh this evening i want to I guess I want to start off though by by saying the
(00:40) following matthew chapter 5-7 and the sermon on the mount is obviously a very large subject and there's no way that we could adequately cover uh you know this whole thing in a detailed way i guess I'll say it that way in in in one Bible study that we could break this up into numerous Bible studies and probably all feel that it would be time well well spent but I do want to go through this evening since we're marching through each of the uh answers to this Bible literacy test questions uh we're we're trying to answer that question of why is
(01:16) it important and I think that was that's what we ought to do in this Bible study as well which is just to to uh you know to go through and answer that question uh of of why is this important to us what can we learn here and why of course is it important for us to do that so I'm going to be walking through the entire sermon on the mount but I'm going to do it by sections we can't read every scripture that would take far too long we don't have time to do that but I want to I want to organize the sermon on the mount for you this
(01:49) evening then and I want to walk through uh I want to walk through the groupings of scriptures and and what Christ is saying in essence as we work our way through that and that should allow you to um you know make notes maybe even make notes in your Bibles to see how how the sermon on the mount is organized and I do think that that will help you to see and to learn what's here and then of course why it it is important so I want to begin this Bible study then sort of with an overview of of of in essence what is
(02:26) this and really what it is is it's a blueprint for how godly citizens are meant to live it begins with Matthew 5:es 1 and 2 so Matthew 5:es 1 and 2 it says "And seeing the multitudes he that is Christ went up on a mountain and when he was seated his disciples came to him then he opened his mouth and taught them.
(02:51) " So really that's the that's the beginning that's what what this is about is Christ teaching and of course what follows really cuts against the grain of this world uh re Jesus Christ redefes strength and justice and devotion he even defines righteousness itself correctly not in the language of the traditions of the Jews but in the powerful language of spiritual transformation which is what of course he he brought and taught the sermon obviously spans three chapters that would be Matthew 56 and 7 and it does follow a clear progression first Christ defines godly character
(03:32) then he explains godly righteousness and then finally he demands godly commitment every section builds towards a singular conclusion if we would follow Christ we must live by these words so it's not really a message that he intended to be admired or anything like that it's really more like a constitution he he he frames for us the way to live according to what we would call godly a godly life matthew chapter 7 in fact Matthew chapter 7 I'm going to turn over here just briefly and verse 24 where he makes a statement about this about living he
(04:16) says here in Matthew 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mind and does them," the Greek word here that is used for does them means to actively bring about to construct to produce it's the same word used for building a house jesus was saying "My teachings are not decorations they are your foundation so this sermon on the mount reveals what God's values are what he expects and who he is calling us to become so let's begin then with this first section now this first section covers Matthew 5:es 1-1 16 so make if you're if
(05:08) you're taking notes or if you want to mark your Bible it would be the first section here would be Matthew 5:es 1-16 this defines godly character who we must be he begins this sermon not with commands but with a a portrait before he tells his disciples what to do he shows them who they must become so looking here uh at verses 3-2 and again I said I cannot read all of this stuff but I did just go through in the previous Bible study the biatitudes and of course that's what's contained in in verses 3 through 12 they're not a
(05:48) list of commandments but they're a revelation of what the inward qualities of God looks like and God calls these blessed and of course they're not the values of the world the world does not celebrate these characteristics of a Christian of somebody who is to be right with God because they celebrate poverty and spirit mourning over sin meekness purity mercy peacemaking enduring persecution these are not worldly values these are godly values and of course the biatitudes carry both a present identity and a future promise
(06:29) each and every one of these as we walked through those in that previous Bible study so I won't go through I won't have time to go through those obviously in this study here i'd like to refer you back to that one if you want to get a better understanding specifically of these biatitudes their present value their how they identify us presently but also the future promise that comes with each and every one of them a feature if you will and a benefit as they're presented by Christ so now immediately after revealing the heart level
(07:01) standard Christ turns to describe the effect it must have on the world verse 13 Matthew 5:13 then says "You are the salt of the earth." So if we're living this way of life verses 3-12 we're living the biatitudes these are we're making this a part of who we are then he says in verse 13 you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seasoned it's then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men why did he use salt well it's something familiar it's physical and it's
(07:39) vital and he uses it to teach something spiritual in the ancient world of course salt preserved it it flavored it it purified and of course once lost its effectiveness could not be restored the disciple who does not live out the values of the biatitude loses not just credibility but he lose go loses godly purpose there's a deeper insight here as well the Greek word loses its flavor also means to become foolish or dull it's the same root word as the word for foolish virgin uh virgins that's used in Matthew 25 so Christ is warning that spiritual
(08:26) neutrality leads to uselessness so it's interesting to think about that correlation between Matthew 25 and the foolish virgins and what Christ means here by losing its flavor of useless salt so we're not called to blend in we're called to contrast godly character in this rotten world that we live in verses 14 to 16 Christ says "You are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but a lampstand and gives and it gives light to all who are in the house so let
(09:02) your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven this is not about let's say the way the world would do it performing for approval uh the word used here for let shine it means to keep on shining don't dim your light out of fear don't hide it out of convenience it means to shine and to shine brightly so we're we're to live so brightly that others see God through us it's not enough to possess the biatitudes in secret because we're to season we're to illuminate we're not decorations we're
(09:50) instruments we're not hidden we're visible we're like cities set on a hill to proclaim what life looks like when God reigns right here in our hearts and we put that on display this is how the sermon begins not with law but with light not with rules but with a radical call to be different and that difference must be more than cultural it has to be spiritual the ones who live this way are the ones who belong into in the kingdom of God now we move from that Matthew 5 now 17 through chapter 6 34 now that's a a large section of
(10:40) scripture it's fact the largest section of scripture that we will discuss this evening after defining who we must become Jesus now reveals how godly citizens are to live we must have godly righteousness because God doesn't lower his standards actually he raises the standards that we see all around us he doesn't dismiss the law obviously he deepens its meanings and he begins this section by clearing up the dangerous assumptions let's look here at verses 17 and 18 of Matthew 5 then 17 and 18 says "Do not think that I
(11:26) came to destroy the law or the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill." That does not mean do away it doesn't mean displace it doesn't mean set aside it doesn't mean uh end it means fulfill make something full to complete to bring to full expression or purpose does not mean abolish or do away with so here Jesus is showing that he did not come to set the law aside but to reveal its spiritual fullness god's law still stands but it must be obeyed not just externally but from the heart internally in spirit and
(12:06) in truth verses 19 and 20 he says "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Obviously this is extremely important for us to understand he says "This I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
(12:44) " You know if you imagine you're sitting there and there are there are no doubt Pharisees sitting in that audience uh masquerading as disciples that must have been quite shocking for them you know they considered themselves to be the pinnacle of religious devotion but their righteousness was obviously legalistic it was outward and of course Christ called it hypocritical so he's calling us to to be more than that to be more than just rule abiders he wants us to have a deep level of obedience one that flows from our transformed hearts now as we move as we move into this
(13:23) section so we're breaking now this section that I described from you which is from Matthew 5 17- 6:34 now let's look at the subgroupings of this so Matthew 5:es 21-48 they're all related to one another matthew verse or chapter 5:es 21-48 this section has six teachings that Christ begins with and he always starts them with you have heard that it was said and then he follows but I say to you so he's not adding to the law he's clarifying its spiritual intent each example follows the same principle the law rerains
(14:09) behavior godly righteousness transforms the heart so he begins with number one from murder to anger this is verses 21- 26 again I I don't have time to read all of these for you so I'm just trying to help you to group them to see these groupings and how they relate to one another one another and then how what we can learn from them so this first grouping here under this where Christ is saying you have heard it said he begins with murder and he moves from murder to anger to help us to see the escalation hatred and insult are the seeds of
(14:46) violence but reconciliation has to come from worshiping God verse 22 he says "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." The Greek word for angry uh is a settled burning anger this is not you know being irritated with somebody or even a flashing anger with somebody because they did something wrong it's an anger that settles in and it takes root true righteousness confronts the heart before the act that's what Christ is telling us you have to look in here
(15:28) first and where that anger is starting you got to look at that and you've got to deal with that he moves on to make his second point this is verses 27 through30 we're still in chapter 5 27 through 30 and this is where we go from adultery to lust where he elevates again it's it's not just the physical act but it's where it begins it starts in the heart he teaches that the intent of the heart matters just as much as the act itself verse 28 where he says "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery
(16:07) with her in his heart." The word lust here is not just desire it's a coveting of what is forbidden covetousness starts in the heart as a desire of what you cannot have you know sin always starts with the heart that's the root of our passions it's the seed of our emotions it begins there that's where desire begins to to to build but it moves from there to the mind and of course sin wants to convince the mind to justify itself and act and of course that's what James is talking about when he describes this complete process of
(16:50) sin growing and maturing into what it finally produces which is death jesus says if your eye or hand causes you to sin whatever the whatever it is that is causing you to sin is the is the mental picture we need to have here of course not literally he's not saying actually cut your hand off but be decisive is what he's saying about removing that which causes us to sin he moves from there from to the subject of divorce that that is easy divorce to covenant faithfulness he reminds his audience that marriage is not disposable what God joins he says we
(17:31) must not separate this is verses 31 and 32 of Matthew 5 this this of course his teaching aligns with the spiritual principle from Malachi 2 and:e 16 if you want to just make a note of that in your in your notes for this Bible study Malachi chapter 21:16 where it says "The Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce.
(17:58) " It's not that God hates people but because divorce tears apart what is meant to reflect a covenant relationship he hates divorce and of course God established marriage to be a durable bond in which two people become one that's what God wants that's what God desires the fourth thing that Christ addresses then is oaths versus honest speech basically he's saying godly citizens shouldn't need to swear by anything because their word must be enough verse 37 of Matthew 5 Christ says "But let your yes be yes and your no be no for whatever is more than these is
(18:39) from the evil one." You know we we live in a contract-based world because of that very problem we people cannot be trusted that their yes really is yes and their no really is no but Christ teaches us that truthfulness must be our default our word must be our bond of course he goes beyond that then number five from retaliation to restraint this is verses 38 to 42 of Matthew 5 instead of an eye for an eye Christ calls for us to have self-restraint and radical generosity he uses the examples of turning the cheek giving of our cloak
(19:22) going the extra mile not because he's calling for us to be abused these are actually calls for us to respond to whatever happens to us with mercy and forgiveness not vengeance paul later writes "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good." That's Romans 12 21 if you want to make a note of that Romans 12 21 now the sixth thing that Christ illustrates here is how we move from a loving neighbor to loving our enemies it's the pinnacle of godly righteousness verse 44 he says "But I say to you love your
(20:01) enemies bless those who curse you do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you it's really difficult with human nature to just accept this kind of treatment without retaliation without seeking our own vengeance it's just imp it's very difficult for human beings you know how many movies are based on that problem alone mankind just does not want to stand for being mistreated but you know the word perfect here it means mature whole complete in purpose we're called to reflect the full
(20:41) moral character of our father not just partial obedience of course now we move on to chapter 6 and from verses 1-8 we're still within that first category here but here in these first 18 verses Christ now shifts to three areas of religious devotion giving prayer and fasting each one includes a warning not to practice them for human approval but to do things for God and God alone in fact chapter 6 and verse one says "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them otherwise you have no reward from your
(21:30) father in heaven." The Greek word for seen here means uh it's the word from which we get the word theater jesus warns that we're not to turn righteousness into performance we don't act a certain way we live that way it's God's way it shouldn't be a ruse that's hypocrisy and Christ is saying that our our faith our our conversion needs to be genuine our godly way of life needs to be genuine from the heart and there are three specific areas that he addresses one is giving this is verses 2 through 4 where he says "Don't sound out like a
(22:16) trumpet and announcing all the giving that you're doing." He says "Give quietly because what you do in secret God will reward." And of course same thing for prayer don't pray to impress this is verse 5-15 of chapter 6 instead pray to connect this is where we have the Lord's prayer ma Matthew 6:es 5-15 is the Lord's Prayer it's not a mantra or a quote to be repeated as some often do in some religions but it's a template of spiritual priority so we need to refer back to that that's why we go back to the prayer because it helps
(22:52) us to see the correct priorities as we pray to God and it isn't to impress so he wants us to go to a private place a quiet place not to be seen by men but to be to be seen and heard by God and of course the same thing with fasting verses 16-18 verses 16-18 he says "Don't fast to look holy but anoint your head and wash your face don't make it look like you're suffering because you've been oh you're fasting and it's so hard.
(23:23) " He wants your devotion our devotion to be to God and God alone we don't need to seek praise of men we need to seek the praise and honor of God all these acts must come from the heart not to be rewarded by men men men or mankind but to be rewarded by God the Father verses 19-34 then Matthew 19 through34 we have God's pri his priorities for us which is where our treasure and our trust is and of course he talks about the eye of the soul verses 19-34 Christ confronts the false righteousness of materialism which of course is that system that's built on
(24:05) anxiety and it's built on acquiring things and naturally a mistrust of God verses 19- 21 we're still here in chapter 6:es 19- 21 it says "Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth moth nor rust destroys or where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
(24:39) " And this is the foundation or the fundamental we need to understand about it the issue isn't possession it's preoccup uh it's preoccupation that's why he warns us where your treasure is your heart follows that that's where your mind is that's where your goals your objectives are and he says well naturally that's where your heart is then verses 22 and 23 where he describes the lamp of the body being the eye essentially he's saying if your eye is good which which means clear or generous or single-minded it says your body will be full of light but a but a bad eye leads to darkness in
(25:21) other words if the eye fixates or searches for good that's when God light God's light enters the body enters the soul but if but if the eye our attention fixates on the bad then darkness fills the soul of course and that's what death awaits verse 24 he says "No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
(25:52) " You cannot serve God and Mammon mammon's not just money it's a personified system of trust in material wealth it's a rival God verses 25-34 Jesus calls us to lay down anxiety and trust in the father he mentioned he mentions birds and liies but they're not metaphors for laziness they're evidence that God provides for those who live within his order verse 33 chapter 6 he says "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
(26:41) " And so just like the liies of the field and the birds do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things sufficient for the day is its own troubles trust God for everything it's hard for us as human beings to do that there's no doubt of that but this is what it means to be somebody who's living who's pursuing godly character this is the actual heartbeat of this entire section by the way to seek the kingdom first and to orient our life around God's will God's rule and God's righteousness this word seek means to strive for to
(27:29) crave to pursue with intensity christ is saying "Let the kingdom of God define your values guide your conduct and calm your heart." That is godly righteousness not just doing what is right but doing it for the right reasons for the right motives and with the right heart we move on to Matthew chapter 7 which is how we have to respond our godly commitment matthew 7 1- 29 this is verses 1- 29 jesus has already shown us what a godly heart looks like and how godly righteousness must be lived but he doesn't end his message with teaching he
(28:18) ends it with choice this final chapter chapter of the sermon on the mount is not it's not soft it's sobering it's urgent it's very personal it answers the question will we live by the words we've just heard verses 1 and two of chapter 7 judge not that you may not be judged for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and with what measure you use it will be measured back to you this is one of the most quoted but I think one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible jesus is not prohibiting all judgment instead he's condemning
(29:08) hypocritical self-righteous condemnation the Greek word for judge means to separate distinguish it it's Jesus's warning against the kind of judgment that condemns others while excusing the self verses 3-5 Christ says "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" Which is really what's important isn't it the point is not that we shouldn't help our brother that we but rather that we should first examine ourselves because godly discernment discernment excuse me begins with
(29:50) humility not criticism but of course we're human beings and we see the speck in our friend's eye long before we see the plank poking out of our own eye verse 6 says "Do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in to pieces.
(30:16) " This balances the earlier teaching so while we must not judge unrighteously we must also practice discernment the truth is holy but the problem is not everyone's ready to receive it it's a beautiful perfect pearl and and and Christ here says "Don't cast that pearl of the knowledge of God's way of life before swine." He's not calling people swine but what he's describing is what happens you a swine can't discern the the pearl from the other food that's in his slop he'll just gobble it up he'll he'll digest it out out with the uh excrement it will go and
(30:53) he will never have realized that he had had touched this greatness and that is what that's what's being described here god isn't calling human beings swine but he is describing a process of what somebody is incapable of seeing and understanding then don't dump that before them and treat that cavalerely like that jesus then returns to the theme of persistence in prayer because godly commitment is not sustained by effort alone but by dependence on the father verses 7 and 8 says "Ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will
(31:30) be opened for you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open." Who are we asking and who are we talking to except the father all three verbs are what's called present imperatives in Greek that means keep asking keep seeking keep knocking these are not one-time actions and that's what that means they are a lifestyle of continual pursuit of God's will then Matthew 7:12 famously most I think have this memorized we come to what we call the golden rule where Christ says "Therefore
(32:16) whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets it's the entire summation of the old covenant the old testament the scriptures is what that is referring to that way of life that we're supposed to be learning from and that's one of the reasons why God wants us to continually go back and reread those things to learn the lessons that teach us how to live this way of life it's a practical outworking of love it summarizes the spirit of the entire law not self-preservation preservation but
(32:51) self-giving it reflects the heart of the father who gives good gifts even when we're undeserving then verses 13 and 14 Christ turns from principles to warnings from teaching to testing what it says here in verse 13 it says "Enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it.
(33:27) " Though they look they're not finding it the word translated difficult means compressed constrained pressurefilled you know God's way of life is is not the broad and easy way it's the tight it's the disciplined it's the res it's the way that's resisted by the world it's the hard way of life and of course Christ gives us no illusions about that he tells us plainly most will not choose this path and then in verse 15 he warns us of false prophets where he says "Beware of false prophets or teachers who come to you in sheep's clothing looking innocent is
(34:09) what that means but inwardly they're ravenous wolves." Godly commitment means being watchful not everyone who speaks religious language speaks the truth christ says that we must evaluate them by their fruit not by their appearance or their charisma or charm and of course verse 16 says "You will know them by their fruits.
(34:39) " Well that's the that's why we're supposed to look at the fruits the word know here means to know fully or by experience it's not guesswork over time the nature of a person is going to be revealed by how they behave and what they teach and what they preach how they live before you you know truly remember that's what faith is it's when you live what you believe a person might therefore be evaluated by their faith which shows that they don't actually believe in God they believe in themselves or something entirely different then comes one of the most
(35:12) unsettling passages in scriptures directly related and connected verses 21- 23 21- 23 it says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name and then I will declare to to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness the Greek word for lawlessness means without law living in defiance of God's
(35:56) rule it's not just about what we say or feel it's about whether we are doing the father's will it's not a title that we carry it's a life of obedience that we're committed to and so Christ closes then with the parable of two builders verses 24 and 25 therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock this is not a contrast between a
(36:40) believer and an unbeliever it's a contrast between two kinds of hearers both hear both build but only one builds on obedience to Christ's words on the rock of Jesus Christ on what he is teaching verses 26 and 27 say "But everyone who hears these sayings of mine," so now you see what I mean does not but does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall the word astonished means they were struck out of
(37:32) themselves it's not a normal teaching isn't It it carries the voice of divine authority that's that's Christ when he teaches this way because that's what it is these are not just the words of a wise rabbi they're the words of the king of the coming kingdom of God and now that he has spoken the only question that remains is what will we do with what we've heard we need to live the constitution that Christ has presented us with the constitution of the kingdom matthew chapter 5 through 7 his his first full address in which he had so much to say
(38:16) to teach us about what it means to become a child of God and a future member of that kingdom that Christ is going to return to bring to this earth and he he presents it to us sort of like a spiritual constitution the way that we all agree that we're going to live in God's kingdom it defines the character that God honors the righteousness that he expects and the commitment that he demands it reveals what it means to truly belong to Jesus Christ not just in name but in life how we live in our hearts and of course in our
(38:55) actions these aren't ideals for someday in the future their instructions for right now for disciples being shaped to reign with Jesus Christ when he returns to resurrect the first fruits to become kings and priests to rule and reign with him during the millennium and after Luke 6:46 here I'll just turn over there quickly here Luke 6 and verse 46 where he says but why do you Call me Lord Lord and do not do the things which I say which goes right back to what we just read where he said "I do not know you." The sermon on the mount is
(39:43) Christ's answer to that question he's told us what the kingdom looks like and now he calls us to live it this sermon on the mount has much that needs to be studied by each one of us if we are to live godly lives right now if we are to qualify to be kings and priests under Jesus Christ when he returns this Bible study cannot adequately cover Christ's pivotal message in the his sermon but it's a start i hope you'll take the time to go back and read this in much more depth especially as we look to the Passover here in just a couple of
(40:24) days where we want to enter that Passover we want to take those symbols and we want to be right before God as we do that we want to take those symbols seriously uh we want to take them seriously and so I hope you'll take the time to to prepare for the Passover as it comes up and thank you very much for uh sitting through this Bible study with me this evening