Sermon on the Mount

Well, if you looked at your announcement bulletin, you know the title of today's sermon. This is the Sermon on the Mount, Part 1. So let's go to the very end of the sermon in Matthew, Chapter 7. And let's read together what Christ says here at the very end of Matthew, Chapter 7. In Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, whoever reads them or hears them spoken, 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 it beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, Christ says, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and it beat on that house, and guess what? It fell. It fell, and great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished. They were absolutely astonished at his teaching. So, in a sense, what he's going to say is revolutionary, astonishing, amazing, different than what they'd heard before. For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes, not as other religious leaders, teachers of the time, but one who truly had authority from God himself.

Well, I'm excited about talking about the Sermon on the Mount. I'm looking forward to this myself, studying into it a bit more. As I give these particular sermons, I don't know how many it's going to be. I'm sure it will be a number. It will be several, I would think, because this is tremendous meat. This is the meat of God's Word.

So we're going to be studying in detail what Christ would have us do. We are his disciples. We are his followers. Certainly we ought to follow him and follow what he says. So do you want to be sure that your spiritual house is built on a firm foundation? That it is built on the rock?

That it is built on Jesus Christ? Do you want to be sure that your spiritual house will not seriously waver and certainly not fall, no matter how difficult the times become? Well, brethren, then it only makes good sense for us to study the teachings of the rock, of the foundation, of the chief cornerstone, of the head of this church, Jesus the Christ. It only makes good sense to not only read and study these words, these teachings of Jesus, but of course to strive to live by every word of God and to put into practice these words of our Savior, Jesus Christ. So, brethren, as Christians, we need to take to heart Christ's words.

We need to take to heart the words that we'll be studying in the next few sermons that I'll be giving. I may interrupt it with something else. I don't know that, but I will be certainly focusing on this theme for the next several sermons. We're going to read in detail Matthew 5 through 7. We're going to read every single word, and we're going to dissect those words and talk about what Christ is saying in the Sermon on the Mount, the most popular sermon ever given and the most powerful sermon ever given. Here we find instructions.

We find words from the word with a capital W, the word of God, and the foundation upon which to build our spiritual house, our spiritual temple. So, to begin with, let's consider a little background or the context in which these teachings are given. I don't know that I'll even make it into the actual Sermon on the Mount, but other than what I've already read near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we may get through a few verses. We may not. It doesn't matter. I don't want to keep you long today.

I've spoken long the last couple of times, so I'm planning to wrap it up a bit early for you today. Let's go to Matthew 9. As we consider who wrote this book, Matthew 9 of the book of Matthew. You see, Matthew is clearly the author of the book that bears his name. I don't think anyone disputes that. Matthew is a Jewish publican or a tax collector. It was a hated profession, to be sure, by other Jews because they looked at him as one who had sold out to the Roman authorities.

He was a hated profession, but from that hated profession, he becomes an apostle of Jesus Christ, one who traveled with him extensively. We'll see that he was actually the son of Alphaeus, and therefore likely the brother of James the Last. There may be some controversy in that regard, but we'll see that.

His family name was evidently Levi, but he was mostly known as Matthew. He was primarily writing to the Jews, and while most of the apostles were fishermen, Matthew was much more versed at the written word. It isn't surprising that he authored this book, the book of Matthew. So in Matthew 9, verse 9, it discusses his calling. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. Now, it's very likely that Matthew may have sat through a number of sermons that he had already given before this.

Evidently, he knew who Jesus was, but this is when Jesus called him. He passed on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me. So he arose and followed him. It's very likely that he had some inkling of who this man was before he just picked up and followed him.

Now, it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house that, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, those who were quite strict, they saw it. They said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. No doubt Matthew was a sinner. He may have been a pretty bad sinner. It doesn't say. It doesn't tell us about his sins. But he was a follower of Jesus Christ, and no doubt his life was changed so dramatically because he was willing to follow Jesus Christ. Now let's go to Mark 2, where we read a parallel account of his calling. These are known as the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We're going to go to each of them briefly. Mark 2, verse 14, He says in verse 13, Then he, Christ, went out again by the sea, and all the multitudes came to him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office. So here he's referred to as Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Remember James, the son of Alphaeus? Sitting at... so perhaps they were brothers. Sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me. So he arose and followed him. So again, he undoubtedly knew who Jesus was, and had already followed him to some degree, but not completely.

Now in Luke chapter 5, Luke chapter 5, verse 28. Luke chapter 5, verse 28. Well, let's read verse 27 as well. After these things, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me. So he left all. He left everything. He rose up and he followed him. And then it goes on to give the same accounting. Very similar accounting in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, except in Matthew, he's referred to as Matthew, and he's referred to as Levi in Mark and Luke. Now, there's quite a bit of controversy on when this book was actually written. It varies widely. Some scholars believe it was likely written in the 50s and the 60s. Some say it was in the 70s and the 80s. I don't know that we can say for sure, but certainly Matthew was a true follower of Jesus Christ. He was there. He was an eyewitness. He saw these things. No doubt he heard many sermons, and the sermon on the mount is likely a compilation of a number of sermons. I mean, if you just read the sermon, you could do it in 10 minutes, probably. He had undoubtedly listened to Jesus Christ many, many times, saying many of the same things. And back in those days, they memorized a lot of things that were said. So this may be part of what we're reading here, and Mark and Luke. Not as much detail as Matthew. Matthew is the longest account in regard to this. Sermon on the Mount is the more detailed. By almost double what Mark, I think there's 1,100 and some words in the book of Matthew and only 600 some in the book of Mark and 1,000 something in the book of Luke. So it is quite interesting. There are a lot of parallels between Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I'm going to mostly go to the book of Matthew. We may go into Mark and Luke a little bit, but for the most part we'll be going through word by word in the book of Matthew 5-7. So the Sermon on the Mount begins in the 5th chapter of Matthew, but what has happened in the first four chapters? You've no doubt heard that it's wise to get the context of whatever it is you're studying. So what has happened in the first four chapters? We will clearly see that Matthew is establishing the credibility of Jesus Christ in the first four chapters before the teaching begins, before the instruction is given.

How does Matthew establish Christ's credibility? Now we're going to go through the first four chapters, but pretty quickly. And you can turn to these chapters. I doubt that I'll even discuss what verses I'm even talking about, but you can pick it up as I read as I go through these high points. First of all, in chapter one, Christ's genealogy is given in chapter one, and he is shown to be the son of David. Now David was the great king, wasn't he? The Jews, the Israelites highly respected David. He was the most powerful king that they had ever known. So Jesus Christ is descended from David, and he's also referred to as the son of Abraham. Abraham, who we know as the father of the faithful, who was a tremendous patriarch, remembered that Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. And that's why Abraham was selected. And David was a man after God's own heart. He had his frailties. He wasn't perfect. Abraham wasn't perfect. We can read of some of Abraham's sins. We can read of David's sins. But nevertheless, they were two of the most influential and most powerful men to the Israelites, to the Jews. So he's establishing his credibility. He is the son of David. He is the son of Abraham. In chapter one, we see that his miraculous birth, Jesus Christ's miraculous birth, was from a virgin. That's pretty miraculous. It's never happened before. First and only time. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ. He was born of flesh. He was born of a woman. He was a human being. Flesh and blood, just like we are flesh and blood. But he was also one conceived of the Holy Spirit, conceived by the very power of God, the Father. He was the Son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was a true Son of God. So he's establishing his credibility big time, isn't he?

Ought we not listen to what he has to say? And when you really understand that Jesus was essentially the one we refer to primarily as the God of the Old Testament, he was the Word, the Logos, the spokesman. He was the great I AM. He dealt with Abraham and David, with Isaac and Jacob. It's really quite amazing, his credibility and why we ought to listen to him.

So a third thing about his credibility from chapter one, this baby will be known as Jesus. Is what it says here. A name that means Savior. And why? Because this little baby will become a man and he will save his people from their sins. A true Savior. The wages of sin is death. And that's what all mankind deserves. And there's only one name under heaven whereby we can be saved. And that is the name of Jesus the Christ. So here, his purpose is given. He is to be the Savior of mankind. He will also be known as Emmanuel. God with us. God who divested himself of his divine nature and came and lived among the human beings and suffered as a human being. Even though he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, he was conceived God was his father. God the Father. So he is known as God with us or Emmanuel. And Matthew establishes Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, again the Son of God. So that comes from chapter one. From chapter two of the book of Matthew, we see that wise men came at his birth. They brought gifts showing that he was to be a great king. But he was to be even more because what did these men do? They brought him gifts, but what else did they do? They worshiped him. They worshiped this little baby. They understood who he was.

He was to become the great king, the Savior of mankind.

Secondly, in chapter two, again establishing the credibility of Jesus Christ, here we see that Herod inquires of the birthplace of the Christ, the anointed one, the ruler of Israel. And he is told by these wise men that it is from Bethlehem. He's told by his scribes and pharisees and those who advise him. He is told that it is from Bethlehem that this being is to come. Of course, this is where Jesus was born and thus fulfills the prophecy that is given in Micah. So you can read that in chapter two, that there is a prophecy of this person, this Messiah, to come from Bethlehem. Jesus Christ fulfills that prophecy.

Thirdly, from chapter two, we begin to see some amazing parallels, proving that Jesus Christ was the prophet that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy chapter 18. So let's go there for a moment in Deuteronomy chapter 18. So he's the son of David, he's the son of Abraham, but who else was extremely important and influential to the Jews, to the Israelites? Was it not Moses? Moses was held in the highest esteem by the Jews, the Israelites. So in Deuteronomy chapter 18, let's go there, Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15. Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15.

The Eternal your God will raise up for you a prophet. This is a prophecy. He says the Eternal your God will raise up for you a prophet. Notice that prophet is capitalized. This is not some ordinary prophet.

He will raise up for you a prophet like me.

Me isn't capitalized. Moses was a mere man. But this prophet was not to be a mere man. He was also to be the son of God, the Savior of mankind. So God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. In other words, he will be born. Just like others are born, only not just like, because no one else has ever been conceived of the Holy Spirit. But Mary gave birth to Jesus from among the brethren. Him you shall hear. That's why it's so important that we go through the Sermon on the Mount and get the crux of Jesus' teaching, the most important aspects of His teaching. Now in the book of John, there's also some amazing things that Jesus Christ says. We often read a lot of it on Passover evening. But other than John, this is the heart and core of Jesus' teaching, the Sermon on the Mount. All right, so there's a prophet to come, and it is pointing to Jesus the Christ, the one who is now there. Matthew is exposing Him for who He is. He is this prophet. Now He doesn't say it. He doesn't say it. But there's a term called Ramesh. You may have, if you've been listening to Scott Ashley at all, he's been giving a harmony of the Gospels. He's like on his 34th installment now over a number of years. And he talks about Ramesh and how it means to look back. It's a hint of something. And he basically says this is the granddaddy of all Ramesh's or something like that. It's been a while since I've listened to that. But people would have known what he was talking about. He's referring to the prophet. And he's making these parallels with Jesus Christ to Moses. So we'll go through a number of these. So number one, like Moses, attempts were made to kill Jesus Christ as a baby, right? Herod tried to kill Jesus. He killed many other children trying to kill Jesus. Herod tried to eliminate him just as Pharaoh attempted to eliminate Moses and all the male babies at that time. Herod was a jealous man. He didn't want anyone crowding in on his territory or his sons or his dynasty. So he tries to eliminate Jesus Christ as a baby. And of course, Moses was protected as a baby as well by the Pharaoh's daughter. It was by the Pharaoh's decree that these babies would die. But it was Pharaoh's daughter who protected Moses in the river. You remember the bull rushes, the little basket? They were trying to kill all the babies. Moses was spared. And along with David and Abraham, Moses was considered to be one of the very greats of the land of Israel. So Matthew is tying Christ to Abraham, to David, and to Moses. So Matthew will tie Jesus Christ inextricably to Moses in a number of ways in these first four chapters of Matthew and even into the Sermon on the Mount. We'll cover some when we get into the Sermon on the Mount. So before he brings the teachings to light, he is again establishing Christ's credibility to speak these words that we're going to read about and that we're going to study about. So number one, both Moses and Jesus Christ were attempted. They were attempted that they would die as babies. Secondly, like Moses, Jesus was called out of Egypt where his parents had taken him to save him from Herod. You know, they went into Egypt too because they knew what was happening. An angel came to them and they went to Egypt. Moses had to flee Egypt after killing the Egyptian. Remember that he rose up against the Egyptian once he realized who he was and he was protecting one of his kinsmen.

He killed this Egyptian and he had to flee into Egypt because they were going to kill him. So he fled to Egypt. So there's a parallel. Christ was called out of Egypt. Out of Egypt, I will call my son. Christ was called out of Egypt. Moses had been called out of Egypt. Thirdly, as in the time of Moses, many babies were killed when Jesus was a baby, and their mothers mourned and wept for them. You can read about that prophecy in chapter 2. Many babies were killed when Jesus was a baby. Their mothers mourned and wept for them just as they did for the babies that were dying around Moses' time. It was a prophecy of Jeremiah that was being fulfilled. So again, it's pointing to Christ's credibility. It's a prophecy of Jeremiah that was fulfilled about the babies and the babies who were dying and the mothers that were mourning and weeping for them. Now in chapter 3, we continue to see Christ's credibility established. In chapter 3, John the Baptist fulfills a prophecy of one who would come crying in the wilderness and preparing the way of the Lord. This prophecy is fulfilled by John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus Christ. John says that Jesus is mightier than he. So John the Baptist was another one highly respected, at least in many circles. Not by everyone, I'm sure. Herod certainly had him killed later on. But Jesus is mightier than he, he says, and that he ought to be the one that is baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. Of course, Jesus shows his humility, and he is baptized by John in the Jordan River.

And secondly, in chapter 3, God the Father endorses Jesus Christ at his baptism. He says, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So you don't get much better credibility than that, do you? The Heavenly Father sounding off, speaking up, perhaps by an angel's voice, but nevertheless, it was the words of God the Father. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. That's a wonderful thing to have your Father say about you, isn't it? This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. That was said about Jesus Christ by God the Father. So now we go into chapter 4. Jesus is led up into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. He shows his power over Satan by resisting and by not yielding to temptation. Satan was giving it his very best. Satan is our enemy. He's our adversary. He was out to topple Jesus Christ right then and there. So what did Jesus do in preparation for this temptation? Well, he was led out into the wilderness and he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. And of course, when Moses went up on the mount, on Mount Sinai, what did he do? He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. In fact, he likely, evidently, fasted twice for 40 days and 40 nights. It may have eaten in between there. I'm not, you know, it's not really clear about that, but he fasted two different times on the mount. 40 days and 40 nights.

Again, a parallel. This is a fourth parallel. Like Moses, he fasted 40 days and 40 nights.

Secondly, from chapter 4, Matthew points out that Jesus left Nazareth and dwelt in Capernaum. He dwelt by the sea in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. And he was that great light spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah spoke of one to come who would be a great light. It was Jesus Christ who was fulfilling this, and that's clearly what Matthew is saying here. He left Nazareth. He dwelt in Capernaum.

There's also a point about being called a Nazarene. I really didn't have much time to study into this particular aspect, and I hope to look into this further. And if I find out more, then I'll be glad to share that with you then. But I kind of got rushed for time when I was looking into this. But the word netzer, I believe, is the word that Nazareth came from. It's a Hebrew word, netzer, and I believe it means branch. And it talks about how Jesus would be called a Nazarene. It doesn't specifically say that anywhere in the Scriptures. I mean, you can look for it, but it's not there. But I believe it's a reference to Christ as the branch. You know, Christ was known as the branch of this Hebrew word. Netzer has something to do with that, but I'll look into that further because I'm interested in knowing that myself and sharing that with you. But He was the great light spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. Now, let's go to Matthew 4, and let's read a few verses here. Again, we're establishing Christ's credibility. And I think it's pretty credible, isn't it? What I've gone through, what we've talked about, it's really incredible who Jesus was and what He fulfilled. Everyone should have listened to Him. Everyone should have followed Him. Everyone should have seen through this. But of course, God was not calling everyone at that time. There was a veil. There was a cloud over many people. It was a part of His plan. Matthew, chapter 4, verse 23. And Jesus went about all of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. So He's giving a summary statement here. He hasn't gone into anything in detail in regard to those miraculous healings, but He's saying that Jesus taught in the synagogues, He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. This was astounding, wasn't it? Someone who could heal these people, feeding four or five thousand miraculously. We'll get into more of that later. But His fame went throughout all of Syria, and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and even those who were demon-possessed, who had evil spirits and epileptics and paralytics, those who were paralyzed, no doubt, quadriplegics, perhaps even. And He healed them. He healed all of them. Jesus Christ was powerful, to say the least. No wonder He had a following. No wonder people took note of this man from Galilee, from Nazareth, from Bethlehem. Great multitudes followed Him. You can imagine, great multitudes begin to follow this man. I'd follow Him. Wouldn't you? If such a person showed up in the Dallas area, and He was healing everyone, and He was preaching the truth, I'll bet we would flock to Him. I'll bet we would flock to Him. We would all flock to Him. And that's what was happening. It was causing no small stir, believe me, in the area. This was incredible. It was amazing. It was miraculous.

So great multitudes followed Him from Galilee, from Decapolis, from the 10 cities of the Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judea, and beyond the Jordan. So people were starting to come from everywhere, basically, as the word was spreading. And look, if such a person showed up, we'd have people flying in from China, from India, from every corner of this world, from every continent. Once they heard about this being, who could save them? Who could heal them? Who could restore them? Really quite amazing what was happening here. So that is the background to what we're about to begin.

It's 3.17. I guess we could go a little bit longer. We'll take a few more verses. Let's go into chapter 5. And seeing the multitudes, all these multitudes thronging around Jesus, seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him. Now, these mountains would not stop people from following Him, would they? Jesus was getting up in a position where He could speak more plainly to various disciples that might have been spread out, thousands of people. Perhaps His closest apostles were up close to Him, but no doubt there were others who were there as well. They were also disciples. They were followers of Christ. I don't believe it just means the 12 apostles. 2. Then He opened His mouth and taught them saying.

These sayings are for everyone. They're not just for an exclusive group of people. These sayings are for all of mankind.

So He went up on the mountain, and it says He was seated, and His disciples came to Him. So Jesus began to teach when He had sat down. When a Jewish rabbi taught officially, He would sit down. That was what they were used to. That was the custom. That was the practice. So Jesus was a great rabbi. He was sitting down. He was teaching them something official here. So they would sit down. They wouldn't stand. They wouldn't normally wander around. Sometimes, of course, they would preach on the move, perhaps. But when they really wanted people to really listen, they would sit down. His sitting down intimates that what He is about to say is His official word. It's His central teaching. It's something that we should very, very closely listen to and apply in our lives. So in verse 2, then He opened His mouth. Oh, that's another phrase. He opened His mouth. According to William Barclay on page 86 of the Gospel of Matthew, this little book I have here, William Barclay did a commentary on the New Testament.

He has a lot of interesting background. This is from page 86 of the Gospel of Matthew, volume 1. He says the phrase, then He opened His mouth, has a double significance in the Greek language. Now, it's possible that this could have been written in Hebrew as well. It was certainly translated into Greek if it had been first written in Hebrew. Some people think that is the case.

But in Greek, there's a double significance in the Greek language. Number one, it is used of a solemn, grave, and dignified utterance. Okay, this again is something important. It's going to be said, solemn, grave, dignified utterance, something that's important. It is the natural preface for a most weighty saying. So when it says He opened His mouth, it's a phrase that would have, again, would have spoken to those who were reading this, that living in the area at the time, they would have realized that this was important. He opened His mouth. Number two, it is used of a person's utterance when he is really opening his heart and fully pouring out his mind. So Christ is going to share with us some of His innermost feelings, His teachings, what was important for us to get. It is Barclay's contention, William Barclay, that the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation by Matthew of Jesus' sayings and teachings that He would have heard Jesus give over the course of the three and a half years of Christ's ministry, dissected down to the most salient, the most poignant points of all. So, blessed, we'll get into the Beatitudes next time because I have an introduction to that that I don't want to necessarily take the time to go into. So I'm going to be really nice to you today. I think what we've talked about is important. I think it's enough. It sets the tone for what we'll be talking about next time. So, brethren, if you want to build your spiritual house on the rock, then take heed to what Jesus Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount. In the weeks ahead, we will study and detail Christ's instruction that leads to peace and contentment. Now, and ultimately, it leads to eternal life. So, after we get done, you'll be perfect and you'll have nothing to worry about. Well, we still have to put it to practice, but we certainly will go into it with some detail. And undoubtedly, we will be the better for it.