WWUTT 1918 The Sermon On the Mount (Matthew 5:1)

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7

In Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 we have the Sermon on the Mount. The King has come and he has delivered his edicts. Here's how his people are to live in his kingdom when we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we are up to chapter 5. And you might know chapters 5, 6, and 7 as being the Sermon on the Mount. So let me begin reading here in chapter 5, verse 1 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

Hear the word of the Lord. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted, for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men, in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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.

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.

But I say to you, that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court, and whoever says to his brother, Rachah, shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last quadrants.

You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you, for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Now it was said, whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

But I say to you, that everyone who divorces his wife except for the reason of sexual immorality makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.

But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

But let your statement be, yes, yes, or no, no, anything beyond these is of the evil one. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your garment also. And whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him too. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he causes his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect. Beware of doing your righteousness before men, to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your father who is in heaven.

Therefore, when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.

But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men.

Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask of him.

Pray then in this way, our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Now, whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance, so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.

Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you, by being worried, can add a single cubit to his life span?

And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow, they do not toil nor do they spin. Yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? Do not worry then, saying, What will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing?

For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you.

And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye?

You hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. And he who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give what is good to those who ask him?

Therefore, in all things, whatever you want people to do for you, so do for them. For this is the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

But the gate is narrow, and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, will enter.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, in your name did we not prophesy, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine, and does them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone hearing these words of mine, and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

Now it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. And thus you have heard the entire Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.

The Mountain Setting and Sinai Background

We will get to the exposition of the Sermon on the Mount next week, but let me come back and make a particular point about verse 1. We'll begin on the Beatitudes on Monday. So in verse 1, it says,. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.

That's very significant language that Matthew uses there. And don't just think of that as Jesus has gone to a mountain in Galilee, and now he's teaching the crowds that came to him. That's not merely what Matthew is communicating.

But he says that Jesus saw the crowds, and he goes up on the mountain. This is a mountain in Galilee, once again. The last time that God spoke to his people so that all of Israel heard the voice of God was in Exodus chapters 19 and 20.

This was when Israel was gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai, and God issued to them the law. The king of the universe gives to this people that he has chosen, the descendants of Abraham, whom he has brought out of slavery in Egypt.

He gives to them his law, his standard of righteousness, so that they would be his people doing what is pleasing unto their God. And yet the people hated to hear it. It was overwhelming to them, this voice of God coming from the mountain, and the great imagery that's used there.

The smoke going up like the whole mountain was burning from a furnace, and there were peals of lightning, and there were thunder blasts that sounded like loud trumpets. And the voice of God, we know from the scriptures, it wasn't God's voice directly that the people were hearing.

Rather, it was angels who were repeating what God was saying. So the people were hearing myriads of angels speaking in unison, and still just a loud, explosive voice that their human, finite, mortal ears could not stand to listen to.

And so they made this arrangement with Moses, and they said, hey, let's go back to that thing where you go talk to God, and then you come tell us what it is that God said. But all of Israel was there at the base of Mount Sinai to hear the giving of the law.

They all heard the Ten Commandments spoken to them, and yet they did not keep them. For it wasn't long after that they ended up doing what? They worshipped a golden calf. While Moses was up on the mountain receiving the commandments, etched in stone, they were worshipping a false god at the base of the mountain.

God would never address his people with his law in that way again. Until 1 ,500 years later, when Jesus comes. He is God. He is God in human flesh, God incarnate, who put on flesh to dwell among them.

And Matthew 5, 1 says that Jesus saw the crowds, and he goes up where? On the mountain. And he did what next? He sat down. Because we have this in the books of the law, that when God issued his commandments, he did so from a mountain.

We have later on in the books of wisdom, the books of history, when the king gave his edicts, where did he do that from? The king spoke from his throne, sitting down. He sat down, and then he would give his edicts, and all the people would write them down and then deliver them to the people.

So here, this is demonstrating that God has come to his people once again, and they are hearing the voice of God on a mountain. And him sitting down symbolizes that the king has sat on his throne to give his edicts.

The Kingdom Message and the Righteousness of Christ

And that's what we have here in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember, the message that Jesus came preaching was repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And what Jesus lays out here in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 are the commandments of God.

This is what the people of God should look like. This is how you should live. Now, of course, we do not keep God's law perfectly, but it's in his kingdom that we have his grace. So that he has forgiven us of our sins.

And when we sin, if we ask God's forgiveness, he is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. As said in 1 John 1, 9, this is the standard of righteousness in God's kingdom. But the very thing that God demands, he also gives.

His son, who clothes us in his righteousness. And it is his son, God in flesh, who is once again speaking to this people from a mountain, giving them the commandments of God. 1 ,500 years later, the people of Israel are hearing from God once again.

And my friends, every time we open up the Bible, every time we read his word, we hear from God. Hear these words, as Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, hear these words and do what he says.

Prayer for Obedience, Forgiveness, and Gospel Proclamation

Heavenly Father, as we draw this to a close, we thank you for what we've read here. Something we've heard about so many times, but how often do we actually take the time to sit down and read the whole thing through the Sermon on the Mount?

Train us in these things, teach us to love this word and desire to obey it. And if we stumble, that we turn to Christ for our forgiveness and desire to live perfectly as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

But knowing we are made perfect before you because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that has been given to us. Blessed are we when we do these things. And may we desire also that the message of the kingdom would be proclaimed to this whole world so that many others would turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Lead us in paths of righteousness. For your name's sake. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.