An Expositional Study Of The Sermon On The Mount
A ROYAL PROCLAMATION
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-2 (KJV)
Today, there is talk about a New Order in society. Out of a sense of failure and overspending there is growing a desire to do better. Government leaders discuss ideas and plans, some attractive; some not. Christian people are aware that everything depends on the basis and foundation. The thing of deepest importance is that all should be built, not on a vague sense of God, but on listening to the plans of Jesus Christ, and carrying them out: “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them” (Matt. 7:24). So He announces His new way . . . truly a New Order: “Ye have heard that it hath been said . . . but I say unto you.” This royal proclamation, the Sermon on the Mount – that original draft of essential Christianity is our present study.
Not a comfortable study This is not going to be a comfortable study. All of us will get some hard knocks. In some Christian situations we are rather shocked at the average level of behavior; seems we are too content with too little; too ready to acquiesce in so poor an experience and expression. We do not write in a critical or censorious spirit, for God knows how badly we need to take our own medicine. We pray that the tonic qualities of this famous sermon may pull us upward and put us right.
The preliminaries considered There are two kingdoms in this world: the kingdom of darkness, Satan’s world; and the kingdom of Light, God’s world. Each of us has a place within one or the other, not both. There is no middle ground or sphere, no neutral realm. Perhaps we might remember the happy day when, in the words of Colossians 1:13, God “delivered us from the power of darkness, and . . . translated us into the kingdom of His dear son.”
Material kingdom In the Jewish world of that time and for long years previously, the thought of the kingdom was prevalent. However, their conception of it was entirely political, completely material. Even our Lord’s disciples held such a view; and even after His resurrection it still persisted among them. In Acts 1:6, the last question they put to Him was, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Zealous hearts and especially
zealots (Luke 6:15), looked for and longed for one who would deliver them from the hated Roman yoke, and set up his throne among them. Yes, at that time the idea of kingdom was in the air.
A voice Then, at long last there suddenly appeared a Voice breaking the four hundred years of prophetic silence. When they asked Him who He was, He replied that He was the Voice: the Herald’s voice ushering in the King, as Isaiah 40:3 led them to expect. John the Baptist created a tremendous impression among the people and even on the rulers. The burden of his message was “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). For many, that was like spark to the tinder. And now comes One on the stage to Whom John points as the One Whose forerunner he was; and this special One takes up the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). It is not difficult to imagine the gathering interest and excitement, especially when miracles of healing accompanied the Lord’s ministry of teaching. Both the sick and well thronged Him (vs. 23-25); and it was the sight of this great, needy multitude (Matt. 5:1) that decided Him to make His authoritative pronouncement concerning the kingdom. Notice,
The place chosen “He went up into a mountain” overlooking the Galilean Sea, by Capernaum. It is interesting to recall His association with hills. It was on hillsides that He spent nights of prayer (Luke 6:12); it was on the lone height that He was transfigured (Mark 9:2); it was Calvary’s “hill,” spiritually the highest mountain in the world though physically but a rise in the ground, where He was crucified in the sight of all; it was from a mountain that He made His exodus from among men (Matt. 28:16); and now it is “into a mountain” that He went to promulgate the laws and principles of the kingdom. The physical elevation, on which the law of the kingdom was enunciated, was significant of the elevation of life and conduct Jesus Christ requires of His people. They are the people of the ascents. They live their life from great heights that Christ has made His own and theirs.
The New Sinai Some think of this mountain as “the new Sinai;” but there is really no comparison. Consider the following:
1. In the one, clouds and smoke, thunder and lightening; in the other, the sweet air of the lake-side height, the song of the birds, the warm sunshine.
2. At the one, the multitude kept their distance; on the other, they cluster round His feet.
3. There, the message was inscribed on hard stone; here, on fleshly tables of the heart.
4. That was concerned with what men must not do; this, with what men should be.
5. In the one case, cursed is he who fails; in the other case, blessed is he that succeeds.
6. Formerly, the Law is delivered through His servant, Moses; now, it is spoken by the King Himself.
7. Perhaps the greatest contrast of all lies in the familiar words of John 1:17, “The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The Master brought to us the Law of Truth, but He also brought the grace that should enable us in the words of 1 John 1:6, to “do . . . the truth.”
Mountain pulpit What a pulpit this mountain has become, “when He was set . . . He opened His mouth, and taught.” It was, of course, the attitude of the Teacher. Remember how earlier He “stood up” to read and “sat down” to teach (Luke 4:16, 20) – how wonderful it would be to actually see this mountain pulpit.
Illustration Behind a pulpit the last time as a full-time preacher, introducing his last sermon, titled “Pulpit of the Beatitudes,” William Harrison said, “Pulpits have always been a moving fascination for me. I have stood behind pulpits in other places that were very old and had much beauty; I have stood behind pulpits actually used by famous, world renowned preachers. I have stood behind big, roomy, and beautiful pulpits in old church buildings, especially in England and tried to imagine the mighty utterances that must have swayed the hearts of multitudes in the ages gone by. Yes, pulpits have excited me and to actually occupy some of them has been a privilege. But I must not continue with this line of thought, because it only shows how often so many of us are moved by worldly things. But the Pulpit of the Beatitudes was different. Without a doubt, I would certainly thrill at just the sight of it, for no pulpit on this earth could in any way compare to the place from which our blessed Lord Jesus Christ spoke.”
No one taught like him Some of the things in that Sermon on the Mount had been said by others before Him. To take but one example, the Rabbis had frequently enjoined humility, but the injunction had been ignored and there was need for the Master to bring it forth again, pressing it on His own disciples. Of course, no one ever taught the old things as He did, and none had so many new things to teach. Truly, He was Himself the perfect embodiment of His own “householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matt. 13:52).
The people concerned For whom was the Sermon on the Mount intended, to whom was it addressed?
1. “His disciples came unto Him . . . and He taught them.” Probably a crowd was there, too, and heard the whole discourse, and was “taught” much from it (7:28, 29); and it was the sight of the crowd that prompted the address. The multitude always moved Him, and as His method was to reach the crowd through the disciples, He began here to prepare them for their task. However, it seems that the Sermon on the Mount was basically intended for those who trust and obey Christ.
2. Only a Christian, born again and washed in the blood of Christ, would have the power, through Christ, to live such a life as the Sermon on the Mount sets forth. Someone once advanced a criticism of the Sermon on the Mount, saying that “it is beyond the average man.” But surely it was never meant for just an average man, but for one who has been born again; washed in the blood of the Lamb.
3. If a man asks for our coat or needs food or water we are bound to help him, if we can. In other words, if we possibly can we are bound to help him. In this way, a Christian becomes far more than “an average man.” “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).
Not to countries, but to individuals It seems to us that this Sermon applies not to countries but to individuals. There is not today, nor has there ever been, a completely Christian country. There may be a nation that is nominally Christian; a government that has some Christian features; a people possessing certain Christian qualities, but where can we find one, in history or in the world today, that is ruled totally by acceptance of the Lordship of Christ and allegiance to His Laws? But there is coming a time when the entire world will know Him and when every person in this world will wish the Laws of this Sermon had governed them. Therefore, it is important that we as individuals learn how to apply the Laws of this Sermon now, that as Christians we may be able to lead all who will follow to the Lord Jesus Christ before the end of the world or the end of life.
Not for the future only, but for the present Today there are some who teach that this is not for this present Dispensation. In fact, a television speaker recently spent an hour trying to prove: “The King came to set up His kingdom; He was rejected and His kingdom is therefore in abeyance; when He returns He will finally and gloriously take His throne and promulgate His laws; meanwhile, those laws are not in force.” However, while this man was interesting to listen to, his approach is not founded on Holy Scripture. In fact, the Lord has set up His kingdom and because of His death on the cross it is now possible for each and everyone of us, who trust and have faith in Him, to be baptized for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38), thus washing away sin, raised from baptism to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6), entering the kingdom of Christ as a child of God . . . a Christian. As loyal subjects of the King, we are bound to work out these Laws and Principles expressed by the Lord in this great Sermon in our present day circumstances. This same man on television stated that he believed the Epistles are for our age or Dispensation. This was interesting, because the very truths of the Sermon on the Mount are taught in the Epistles as being incumbent on Christians now. As we go on in our study, attention will be drawn to instances of that fact. May each of us go back to the Sermon on the Mount in deepest humility and penitence and in earnest dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ, may we listen to and obey His commandments, embracing all their blessings as now members of His kingdom.
The primary condition Our Lord Himself, Who is the sole authority on the matter of how to become a Christian, made it plain that there is only one way of entering the kingdom: by the new birth. Our
first birth is a natural birth, bringing us into a human kingdom. But the second birth is spiritual, bringing us into the Divine Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus did not need to become a better man; it appears he was a fine man by human standards. What he did need was to become a different man. The same is true for all of us. If a fish wanted to become a man, it would not need to be better, but to be different. In other words, except a fish be born again, it cannot enter into the kingdom of man; and only by this absolute regeneration can we become a child of God and a citizen of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Even though there are some things we are commanded to do, still this new birth is not effected “from within,” as by our own effort; nor is it “from without,” as if anyone else can do it for us; but “from above”1 – “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). Only by being born again can we once again become as little children.
How? It is perhaps little wonder that a perplexed Nicodemus asked, “How?” In order to explain His meaning, the Master extended and elaborated His “except” by saying, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). While there are several interpretations of this verse, we must be careful to see that our proposed interpretation is something that would be within the comprehension of Nicodemus. Otherwise, he is left with more confusion. What, then, are we to make of this “water?”
1. Today, some say it means “the water of the Word,” but we cannot see that such an allusion would have conveyed anything to the hearer’s mind. Certainly, we are aware of the place of the Word in the matter of the new birth. 1 Peter 1:23 makes that clear, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever;” but why under the figure of “water,” if Nicodemus is to grasp it?
2. Another suggestion some offer is that the water of cleansing is meant, with reference to the sprinkling with clean water spoken of in Ezekiel 36:25. Probably (as “the teacher in Israel” and consequently, conversant with the Hebrew Bible Scriptures) Nicodemus would probably know that passage.
3. Another idea offered by some is that the “water” refers simply to physical birth, and that the passage merely teaches that there must be spiritual birth as well as physical. This is taken from the fact that “of water” is, in the Greek, “out of” water, and the “delivery” of the child is, as a physical fact, effected out of water. But this seems unnecessarily abstruse. Even if Nicodemus understood it, there seems no reason why natural birth should have been alluded to in such a roundabout manner.
4. Still others suggest that our Lord was merely indicating that the way was not of water only, but of the Spirit also . . . not material and mechanical, but a spiritual thing.
What is right? The Jewish world at the time was greatly taken up with John’s ministry and baptism. With many other of the rulers of the day, Nicodemus may have attended and perhaps had been baptized of John. John’s ministry was “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” – the baptism, a token of repentance. And now Nicodemus has heard the New Teacher, the One come from God, with the same message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” So, Nicodemus must go and consult with Jesus about that kingdom. The Master presented to him the primary condition of the kingdom: the absolute necessity of the new birth – the vision of and admission to it depends on that. But how is this to be? In effect, the Master replies, “You have been attending the ministry of one who baptized you in water, and told you another would baptize you in the Spirit.” “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mark 1:8). The Lord tells Nicodemus that a new birth, a newness of life is required to enter the kingdom. So, we need to know how to receive that new birth. What does the Word say? Acts 2:38 says, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Here Peter is laying down how one received the Holy Spirit, just as John had said, “but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mark 1:8). Then in Romans 6:3-6, Scripture says,
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? There we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
The new birth is reached when we have come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and has died, shedding His blood for us; and repenting of sin; confessing our belief in Christ before men; then being baptized for the remission of our sins. We are then raised from baptism to walk in newness of life.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)
By this way we become children of God, subjects of the King, liable for His laws, enabled to do them, because being regenerated through trusting and obeying Christ and being baptized for the remission of our sins, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit,2 and are indwelled by Him.
Summary At this point some might feel that we seem to be starting a study of John 3 instead of Matthew 5. But it seems important to spend a little time thinking about how we are to enter into the kingdom before thinking about how the Lord expects us to live life in the kingdom. The next lesson will bring us to the opening words of this royal proclamation.
