(Recite Matthew 5:1 & 2). And with those words we are launched into one of the most famous, worldwide known sermons of all time.
Let’s see how well we know the Sermon on the Mount. A little Sermon on the Mount Trivia. (Give trivia quiz)
Well today we want to establish a big picture perspective of this sermon. Rather than breaking down one verse, or ten words and trying to figure out what they mean for me all by themselves, it’s good to look at the sermon overall, and get a feel for where Jesus was taking His audience.
And an important note to make at this point, and remind ourselves of over the next 12 to 18 to 24 months is that the purpose of any Scripture. Whether it is the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospels, the New Testament, or the entire Bible overall. The purpose of Scripture is not for us to draw out all kinds of perfect schemes and classifications. Scripture does not exist for us to simply analyze, objectify and study. It is here for us to read for the purpose of applying and living out what we discover in our journey.
Analyzing Scripture is an okay thing to do, as long as it is always subordinate in position to the application of Scripture to our daily life. So we are going to dive deep. And there will be times when we may seem to get pretty technical or theological. But it is all for the purpose of maturing in our walk with Christ. We are pulling out a steak knife, so that we can move from the milk to the meat and potatoes of being a Christ follower.
So let’s try and breakdown this sermon, and get a feel for where Jesus was going. As with any book of the Bible or passage of Scripture, there are numerous ways to classify the content and draw the outline boundaries. If I had 15 study Bibles up here with me this morning providing outlines of Matthew 5 through 7, there would probably be different segment breakdowns in all 15. There are many ways to subdivide Scripture.
I’m simply going to provide one. One that I think gives us a good frame of reference to operate and grow from. And this frame of reference or paradigm begins with a very general perspective that then moves to a much more particular one.
The general perspective is given to us in Matthew 5, verses 3 through 16. Some very broad statements in regards to living the Christian life. Then the rest of the sermon, Matthew 5:17 through 7:27 moves us to the particulars. Specific life and conduct teaching. First a very general view and then illustrations of what that general view looks like in day-to-day specific situations.
But we can even break the general perspective down a little more than that. In Matthew 5:3 through 10, we are given a description of the character of a Christian. More or less, the Beatitudes are a word picture, painting for us what a Christian looks like. (read 5:3 through 10).
Now some might look at the start of verse 11 and say, “Wait a minute. You missed one. There is one more beatitude.” But I think that more than just one more beatitude, what we have starting in verse 11 is the proof in the pudding. We have been told what a Christian looks like. Now we are shown the world’s reaction to that. (read verse 11 through 12).
If you live out the beatitudes. If your life looks like this general picture of what a Christian looks like. If you model these things like the prophets did. Then you are going to be blessed to see the world’s reaction to you. Because guess what? If we are living the Christian life the way Jesus pictures it, things shouldn’t be all roses and daisies for us in this world.
So we are told what kind of person we are to be, in a general sense, and then told what will happen to us for being that kind of person, in a general sense. And then Jesus does the next logical thing. If He is going to tell us what kind of life we are to live, and if He is going to tell us how the world will respond to that. Then He needs to tell us how the two go together. (read verse 13 through 16)
You still with me? Jesus has seen this massive crowd. He has climbed up on this mountain where He has this perspective to overlook the masses. His disciples have drawn in close to Him, and He begins to teach them. Beginning with this general description of what it looks like to be a Christ follower, how the world will respond to that, and how we relate to others in such a contrasting lifestyle. A general perspective for the Christian.
Then He gets more specific. It is one thing to say blessed are the peacemakers. It is an even more helpful thing to describe what it is like to daily live out my life as a peacemaker.
And as we look at these particular, daily illustrations of how to live in our world as a Christian, I think we can divide the rest of this sermon into three big pieces of pie. The first would be the remainder of chapter 5. Verse 17 through 48. And in verses 17 through 48 Jesus addresses the issue that He knows is going to come to the forefront from day one, the issue that He will have to battle during His entire three years of ministry, and even the issue that contributes significantly to His death. Interpreting and living out the law of God. Verse 17 (read through verse 20).
We have been given a general description of our walk as Christians, and now we are going to get the specific details of what that means for us within the context of the law on murder, adultery, divorce, retaliation, self-defense, etc. And what Jesus is going to do, is shift the focus from the letter of the law, to the spirit of the law. From the mechanical view of the Pharisees and the Scribes to the Christian view of the law that is guided by the Holy Spirit.
That is the rest of chapter 5. The Christian and the Law of God. Chapter 6 is a bit different. We move from the Law of God, to the Presence of God. The particulars of how to live in the presence of God. In active submission to Him. In, and you know these words are incredibly important to me and a passion of mine, in intimate relationship with Him.
Chapter 6, verse 1 (read). As we move through this chapter, we see Jesus teaching that are daily life is not lived out before men, so much as it is before God. Look all the way down to verse 31 (read through verse 33).
From start to finish, this is about not caring what men see or think, but caring about what God sees and thinks. Skim through chapter 6. Jesus deals with this when we pray. When we give. When we fast. When we have need of physical comforts. When we experience problems or events. Jesus wants us to understand that our life, while being lived before those around us, is even more importantly being lived before our Heavenly Father. From living the Law of God in chapter 5, to living in the Presence of God in chapter 6.
And I want to take a moment and suggest this is a huge shift in the pool. This is that rope that they pull across the water to mark the shallow end from the deep end. Lots of people are wadding in the shallow end where they are watching the laws of God, and trying to keep them. Trying not to sin. Trying not to do what the church has told them for all their lives they are not supposed to do.
But to move from law to presence, from rules to intimacy, is to swim under the rope into the deep waters. To get out from where your feet can touch the floor and you can control what does or doesn’t happen. Out into the deep where you are surrounded by the presence of God, and fully dependent upon Him to carry, sustain and keep your head above the water.
And that shift may be 6 months away for us by the time we get to chapter 6, but know today that it is there, and it is real, and it is imperative for each of us in our walk with Christ to push on out to the deep waters.
Then we have chapter 7. Chapter 7 next moves us through the logical progression and into the judgment of God. Jesus says there is a law of God to abide by. There is the presence of God to live in. And there is coming a day when our life will be reviewed and regarded as to how we did both of those things. And this is what that day will look like.
Throughout this last chapter you will find such phrases as verse 1 (read), verse 13 (read through verse 14), verse 15 (read), verse 21 (read), and He even closes with this example of the two houses that are going to be tested, and the implied question is what kind of house are we building and living in?
Okay. . .everybody stand up. Stretch your arms to the ceiling. Look at the person next to you, and say, “I’m still awake, are you?” If they answer no, help slap them to.
That’s our big picture perspective. Not the only possible picture, but one that will help guide us in the coming months. A general look at the life of a Christian, followed by particular teaching on our connection to the Law of God, the Presence of God, and the Judgment of God.
And what I want to do now is share with you three things, that as we walk through this Sermon and the Word of God in general, I think we are going to be able to repeatedly see to be important, essential principles that characterize the Christian life.
If you get a hold of the classic work by D. Martin Lloyd-Jones that I introduced last week, “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”, you can take some time in your devotions and explore these characteristics deeper. And we will see them and understand them better as we peel the layers off these three chapters.
1. A CHRISTIAN IS CONCERNED WITH KEEPING GOD’S LAW.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 8. An important teaching regarding the role of the law in the life of the Christ follower. Romans 8, beginning in verse 1 (read through verse 4).
It says that those of us who call ourselves Christian, who are about the business of living in obedience to Christ, will actually fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. It is part of our pursuit as we live life in the Spirit.
Verse 5 (read through verse 8). If we are not concerned with submitting to God’s law, as Paul writes, we are walking according to the flesh. Not the Spirit. And if we walk according to the flesh, we not only are incapable of fulfilling the law of righteousness, but we can’t even please God.
Verse 9 (read through verse 10). So follow this logic in reverse progression here. To be a Christian, a Christ follower, is to belong to Christ. No matter how the world might want to define it. And the world will mess us up with their definitions.
I’ve really been wrestling lately with some of the different labels out there. For example, Evangelical Christians. I used to join in the differentiating between types of Christians, and say that we are Evangelical Christians. But the more I study God’s Word. The more I study the Sermon on the Mount. The less I believe that there is such thing as a non-Evangelical Christian.
If the unique characteristics of an evangelical are that they believe in the inspiration, reliability and authority of the Bible, they believe in the need for a personal expression of faith for salvation, and they believe in the command to witness to that faith. . .can you be a Christian of another type? Can you be a Christian, a Christ follower without believing in the authority of God’s Word? Without recognizing the great commission is not the great suggestion? Are there really that many different flavors of “Christians”?
Paul says, to be a Christian is to belong to Christ. According to Romans, if you read these verse of chapter 8 in reverse order, to belong to Christ you must have the spirit of Christ in you. If the Spirit of Christ is in you, your mind is set on the things of the Spirit. And the things of the Spirit include the righteous fulfillment of the law.
So it simply becomes a foundational principle that to be a Christian is to be someone who is concerned with keeping God’s law. If you don’t care about God’s law. If you don’t give a flip what it says or how to live it. If you don’t have the time of day to focus your heart on the pursuit of the law of righteousness. Paul would ask, how can you be a Christian?
Two more essential principles of the Christian life.
2. THE CHRISTIAN LIVES LIFE IN THE LIGHT OF AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Free agency has forever changed the sports world. There are very few Derrick Jeters left in our sport society. Players that will spend their entire career with a single organization. Every couple years, the best of the best are up for bid. Can switch teams in a heart beat. The Yankees/Red Sox baseball rivalry is one of the hottest boiling rivalries of all time. But in a day of free agency. One year Johnny Damon is playing centerfield in Boston, and the next year, same position in New York.
Christians are not free agents. So everything that we do, we do in light of our relationship with God. Jesus says we are not to worry about food or drink or housing or clothing. Why? Is it because those things don’t matter? No. It is because they are not the things for which we live. They are not the things in which we view our life. Our life is viewed in the light of our relationship with God.
In John 18 Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. So if we are a part of Christ kingdom, than we are not citizens of this world. California has passed a law that no longer allows for talking on cell phones in the car without a hands free device. If you do, you can be pulled over and ticketed for it.
I’m guessing most of you don’t care. Why? Because you don’t live in California! Who cares what their cell phone law is? We care about the laws, and regulations, and rules that impact us in the place where our citizenship lies.
And if we are Christ followers, awaiting an inheritance in heaven, as “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” according to Ephesians 2:19, then our life is lived in light of our relationship with Him. That is where our contract lies. That is who our loyalty is with. That is an essential part of what it means to be a Christian.
And please don’t miss this. This is so important. This is not the Roman Catholic approach to monasticism and seclusion. We are not saying that the Sermon on the Mount calls us to leave life in order to live the Christian life. What it does call us to do is to have a different attitude in how we live this life as part of the Christian life. Because our dependence is upon Christ.
3. THE CHRISTIAN LIVES WITH FEAR OF GOD.
Not a craven fear. Because love casts out all fear. But as Hebrews describes ‘with reverence and Godly fear.’ Because if Jesus preached truth in the Sermon on the Mount, than we are called to live the law of God, in the presence of God, acknowledging the coming judgment of God.
My dad is 6’4” tall. When I was just a kid, it looked like his hands were huge. Like these massive frying pans. And I loved my dad, and knew that my dad loved me. But I also knew that my actions would stand in judgment before my dad. So I was smart enough to live in fear of him.
The older I got, the less I feared him, and the dumber I got. The greater opportunity I had to personally encounter those frying pan hands.
Fear and judgment may sound like a huge burden, but it is truth. The Christian is the only person on earth who does live always and constantly with a sense of judgment.
Because we are aware of God’s law, we are aware of the holiness of His presence, and we are aware of what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:10 when he says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (KJV)
Anyone remember the old expression that we used to label people with, “He was a ‘God-fearing’ man.” “She was a ‘God-fearing’ woman.” Remember that?
It wasn’t a bad label. It was a label that recognized their commitment. Their heart. Their dedication to the Father. Their pursuit of a holy life as a Christ follower.
You may have noticed by now, these three important principles of the Christian life follow our outline and flow of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus teaches an awareness of God’s law, a lifestyle for living in God’s presence, and the truth of God’s pending judgment.
John Wesley wrote, “He is teaching us the true way to life everlasting; the royal way which leads to the kingdom; and the only true way, - for there is none besides; all other paths lead to destruction.”
(Recite Matthew 5:1-2) This is a big picture perspective of what lies ahead.
Let’s pray this prayer together as we look forward to all God has for us as we launch out into the deep. . .
