Last night I saw some very vile things written about a conservative leader in our nation. It started me thinking how hateful and angry the attitude towards truth is in this country and reminded me of Jesus teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. The following is the first in a series of articles on The Beatitudes!
“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,” (Matt. 5:1-2) This is the beginning of the longest recorded sermon of our Lord in the Bible. Because of this, I believe that we should pay special attention to what He is trying to say to us in these verses and the ones that follow. I am so glad that we can find a self-help book within the Bible. You can go to the bookstore today and find the shelves overflowing with books on how to achieve your goals and follow what they say are the right principles. People are making millions of dollars by telling other people how to live. This is true in secular as well as Christian bookstores. But right here in the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus is telling us, “Here is how you should live. This is what you should do.” The greatest way to help yourself is to realize that you cannot help yourself; you need to allow Christ to work through you so you can be what God wants you to be. God has better plans for you than you have for yourself. When you lead your own life you will go right into a world of trouble, but when you let the Lord take the reins of your heart and lead your life He will take you to places that you never dreamed or imagined. In these passages that we will be studying throughout this book, God is simply trying to get you to give Him control of your life. “What will happen if I do that?” you might ask. I cannot answer that question for certain, but I can tell you that your life will turn out much better with God in control than if you try to control everything yourself. As we look at the introduction to this great sermon there are a few things we should consider. First, let’s look at the preacher. The opening verses of Matthew 5 use only the pronoun “He,” but we learn in verses 24-25 of the previous chapter that the speaker is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not just a prophet or preacher, but the Preacher’s Preacher and the Prophet of His own church is the one speaking here. It’s one thing for me to tell you something, but it’s a whole different ballgame when God says it. If I tell you something from God’s Word, you are not accountable to me for how you respond to it; you are accountable to Him. But in this passage we have the very words of Jesus from His own lips. If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible, virtually three entire chapters of the book of Matthew (chapters 5-7) are printed in red. I believe that all of the Bible is the inspired Word of God, but I also think that we should pay special attention to the actual words of our Lord that are spoken directly to us from His earthly ministry. This was not just any preacher. In Christ we find the wisdom of God. Matt. 7:29 says, “He taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes.” When Jesus spoke on a particular subject, you literally had the mind of God on the matter. You knew what God was thinking, because all of the wisdom of God was personified in Christ. So if you have a problem and you want to know what God thinks about it, look in the Word and see what Jesus said about it. I am amazed at how often we will listen to Dr. So-and-so or some “expert” and take their word as gospel without ever consulting the true Gospel. We believe without reservation the words of someone who has a TV show. But if Christ said it, we can rest assured that it is the wisdom of God. When you hear what Christ said, you are hearing what God wants you to know for your life. In Christ we see the Word of God. John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. You say, “I haven’t seen God.” Neither has Oral Roberts. No one living today has seen Him. But the people listening to this sermon saw God when they saw Jesus. It is so hard to wrap our minds around what God is. He is the eternal self-existent One. We cannot comprehend that because everything we understand has a beginning and an end. The human mind is controlled by time; all that we do must have a start date and an end date. We cannot comprehend Someone who has no starting point or ending point. Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurs to God? We smack ourselves on the forehead and say, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” God has never done that. He has never been surprised by anything. Since we cannot ever understand the bigness of God, He personified Himself in the form of a man when He sent Jesus, so we could better understand His love for us, His ministry, and His desires for us. We can look at Christ and see all that God wanted to reveal to man. In Christ we see the work of God. The Bible says in Rom. 1:4, “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” When Christ arose from the dead, He proved Himself to be not just another prophet, but the eternal Son of God. So when looking at Christ this way, is there any question about the importance of what He has to say? I submit to you that we will never experience the fullness of life until we find out what God says, what He wants us to do, and we begin to live as He instructs us in His Word. Every person reading these words can have the fullness of blessing, the promises of God, and the exciting Christian life that God wants for all of us. We can have joy in the midst of trials and hope when there seems to be no hope. God has a plan and a purpose for your life, but until you find and follow God’s plan you will never have the benefits of God’s plan. In Matthew 5 as Jesus sat down to teach His people, I believe with all of my heart that it was one of the most powerful times God and man have ever enjoyed together, because the Lord was declaring His very heart to the multitude. While we did not sit on that Galilean hillside and actually hear the tone of the Master’s voice as the words spilled forth from His mouth, we have His words and His teaching with us in the Bible. Christ came so that we can have eternal life, but He also wants us to have abundant life. I feel so sorry for those who struggle through the Christian life while fighting and refusing to fully surrender their lives to God. They get just a taste and know there is something more, but they never get completely into what God has for them. They live their whole lives in a kind of hit-or-miss Christianity and they miss the fullness of blessing. Now that we have examined the preacher, let’s look at the place. No one knows exactly which mountain is the one described in Matt. 5:1-2. Scholars have determined that it is in the Galilean area, and some have called it “the New Testament Mt. Sinai.” We all know that Mt. Sinai is the place where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Look at Ex. 19:10-21. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.” On this occasion, God gave Moses the very letter of the law carved in stone. I have noticed several parallels between Mt. Sinai in the Old Testament (the letter of the law) and the Mount of the Beatitudes in the New Testament (the spirit of the law). In the Old Testament, God said, “Thou shalt not.” In the New Testament, Jesus told us why. In the Old Testament, God said, “Don’t do that.” In the New Testament, Jesus said, “This is the better way.” In the Old Testament, the Lord came down to the mountain. In the New Testament, the Lord went up into the mountain. In the Old Testament, He spoke with thunder, lightning and smoke. In the New Testament, He spoke with that still, small voice. In the Old Testament, the Lord warned the people to keep their distance and not even touch the mountain lest they die. In the New Testament, the Lord invited the people to draw near to Him. In the Old Testament, the law was given in stone. In the New Testament, it was given in spirit and in truth. In the Old Testament, the letter of the law was emphasized. In the New Testament, the spirit of the law was emphasized. It does not do you well to keep the letter of the law and have the wrong spirit about it. The Pharisees kept the letter of the law, but Jesus rebuked them sharply as they were xxxx sepulchers. Look at 2 Cor. 3:6-9. “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” The Lord is telling us that while the Old Testament way was good, now we have something great. Now you can understand the spirit of the law and know how to have liberty as a Christian. You are not bound by the law; by grace you get to keep the law – not as a way to get salvation, but as a byproduct of having received salvation. This place is not a place of bondage. If you in your Christian life have never gotten past the rules, you have never gotten into the spirit. You must get to the point that you serve not just to please God, but because you see it as a privilege to know God. We’ve got too many people who look at the Christian life as nothing more than drudgery and duty. You’ve got to move past that into the joy of liberating service. How can do anything but serve Him after all He has done for me? The very least I can do it give back a small portion of what He has given me. So many of us look at the Christian life as a long list of DOs and DON’Ts to keep us miserable, but those of us who serve in liberty and grace realize that the letter of the law protects us from losing the glorious liberty of living as Christ wants us to live. It’s not to keep you from having joy, but to keep the devil from stealing your joy. I know some men and women who wish they had kept some rules in the past so they could have the joy they once had, but they let some things go and lost the spirit that they enjoyed in the past. Real bondage is not living in the will of God for your life, and real joy is living in the spirit of the law – not being so upset over the things we can’t do, but being thankful that God has put some boundaries in place to help us be what He would have us be. Some of the Old Testament rules look pretty good now. I’m sure there are moms and dads who sometimes appreciate the one that says a teenager is to be stoned for sassing his parents. But that law also said that whoever takes the name of the Lord in vain should be stoned to death. All of us who have done that at some point are suddenly glad that rules is not enforced today. The Old Testament law emphasized immediate death for many forms of disobedience. The New Testament talks about grace and mercy, and how Christ is ever interceding for us. So many verses talk about forgiveness and help that we find when we seek His face. I’m so glad for that mercy and grace in the New Testament. Now let’s consider the people Christ saw in this place. There were so many people here; the Bible does not say, but it could have easily been in the tens of thousands. There were at least three distinct groups of people in this multitude. The first group came to see the man. “I’ve been hearing about this Jesus,” they said. “Let’s see what all the fuss is about. Let’s check out the show.” Some of these people were no doubt in attendance because they had heard about this man raising people from the dead. If you heard today of someone who actually did that, you’d go see what was going on. If you knew there was actual healing of afflicted people at these meetings, and not just some of the nonsense you see on television, you’d want to see it. The second group in attendance wanted some of these miracles performed on them. There were likely a large number of blind people in the region who went to their friends and said, “Please take me to that Galilean hillside where this man Jesus is speaking today. I heard of another man who had his sight restored by Jesus. I’d sure love to get close enough to get some of what Jesus has.” The third group was comprised of people who wanted to hear his message. They had heard that He claimed to be the Son of God. They had been looking for so many years for that Old Testament prophet who would pave the way for the redemption of Israel. Their hearts were excited because this man Jesus brought the message of salvation. There are similar groups in your church every Sunday. Some are just there to see what church is all about, because their friends invited them. Maybe they saw a change in their friend’s life and it made them curious about what was happening at that church. Some people are there because they need something desperately. They need the hand of God to reach down and provide a healing touch. It could be a bad marriage or family issues; perhaps there are serious financial difficulties. Maybe there is a health crisis. You just want God to touch your mind, your heart, or your family in a great and mighty way. It’s good that those two groups are there. But there is a third group that wants to get past the hand of God and find the heart of God. They want to get as close to Him as possible. Just like on that mountain, where eight of the 12 disciples wanted to be close to Jesus (one of the 12 was lost), but there were three who wanted to be right at His side and under His breast. We should all strive to move from the periphery to the inner circle and straight to the core. No matter what our reasons are for being there, all are good reasons. Someone might show up at church just out of curiosity or looking for a miracle and go home with Christ Himself and a new life. When Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming down the road, he couldn’t get near enough to see from the ground so he climbed into a tree. Jesus looked up and said, “Come down. I’m going to your house today.” By the time dinner was over that night, Zaccheus was a completely different person. Finally, let’s look at the purpose for the Sermon on the Mount. In the Old Testament, a rabbi would sit, not stand, when teaching a group of people. A lot of Jesus’ teaching was done as He and another man or small group of people were walking from one place to another. It was very informal and practical, very similar to the way many of us mentor other people today. But on this particular occasion, Jesus found a place to sit down, encouraged others to do the same, and began teaching in earnest. It was as if He said, “Listen carefully. This is very important.” These were not casual comments, and Christ wanted the audience’s complete attention. By sitting down to teach them, He emphasized the purpose of His sermon. I have found three places in the Bible where the Lord works as He sits. One of those is Mal. 3:3, which says, “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.” A refiner works to remove dross and other imperfections so that only perfect silver remains. Of course, a purer metal is much more valuable. The refining process is a long and repetitive process. Christ’s sermon was a kind of purifying process as well. Through His words, He was showing His disciples and others in the crowd how to live pleasing, holy and acceptable lives before God. He wanted to refine them, and take out the things that did not belong in their lives. He began with the Beatitudes, showing them what they should be and could be for Him. The Christian life is a constant purifying process. If you think you’ve made it, I’d like to meet you and learn how you did it. I’ve never heard of someone getting to that point. There will always be trouble spots and stumbling blocks along the way. It’s a constant battle, and the closer you get to Jesus the more detailed the refining process is. Another example of the Lord sitting is in Ps. 9:4. “For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.” He is a sitting judge. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ took the time to explain what we should do so He might not have to judge us on some of these things later. Isn’t it a good God who gives you the answers to the test before you take the test? The third time the Lord sat down was as the rabbi or teacher. Isa. 54:13 says, “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” There is a lady in my church who has taught children for decades and still receives great joy from it even in her later years. I love the idea of taking someone who doesn’t know something and watch that person “get it.” God does not expect you to automatically know what to do. That’s why Jesus came to teach us. If you go through life trying to figure everything out on your own, you will never get it. There is no such thing as a self-made man. If you think you are, your life is probably a mess. It is not the goal of a teacher to see the student fail. Nearly every teacher wants his or her students to succeed more than anything. So Jesus sat down to teach us how we should live. He doesn’t want you to fail. Listen to the Teacher. If you have a question, ask Him – or open up the Book.
