SERMON ON THE MOUNT
(JESUS ESTABLISHES HIS MINISTRY)
Not very long ago I read the very familiar Bible passage commonly referred to as the "SERMON ON THE MOUNT". It was as if I were reading it for the first time. Always before when I read it I was of the opinion that its substance was mainly the beatitudes. I have discovered it contains so much more than the lovely "Blessed are" verses. The Sermon on the Mount is several chapters long in Matthew.
Having been reared in church sometimes I have to read something many times before I can get around the "Yeah, Yeah I've heard this before" attitude. I do not say this disrespectfully its just sometimes this is what I have to overcome in order to fully see what God is saying in a passage of scripture. Maybe, you have had this problem yourself and know it or maybe you have never realized it. I think it would do us all good to make an attempt to take our preconceived thoughts on the Bible and throw them away from time to time and approach God's Word as a little child. Our attitudes, opinions, and beliefs might just undergo radical overhauls if we could accomplish this throw away- reset from time to time. I was in such a mind frame when I read Jesus' message on the mountain.
In Matthew chapter 4 we find Jesus beginning His ministry with a fast in the wilderness where He was tempted of the Devil. When He victoriously defeats the devil by quoting the Word of God He leaves the wilderness and begins calling out the twelve disciples. The Twelve respond to His call by leaving all and following Jesus. When Jesus finishes with this task I am not sure how much time elapses but His next order of business is to teach His newly called out disciples what it means to be called His disciples. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 it says,
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them
In determining the application of Scripture it is important to know who Jesus is talking to as He begins His mountain top sermon. Jesus had developed quite a following by this time having healed some sick folks. He was followed everywhere He went. Many times when Jesus talked to the disciples there were others who could hear Him.
I have seven kids. There is seldom a time when I am all alone with any of them in a room by reason there is so many in the house at any given time. A lot of times I call one of my kids to me in order to give them special instruction concerning some household rule. I have no problem with all the other children listening to what I am saying because the same stuff applies to them too, however the one I am concerned with addressing is the one I called to me. So I believe it is safe to say that Jesus was talking to his disciples in this mountain message. I also believe the Bible in numerous passages supports the belief that when Jesus was talking to His disciples it was the same as if He were talking to the New Testament Church. To put it another way... A disciple is for all intents and purposes a Christian.
To establish Jesus is talking to His disciples even further we look to Luke another book of the Bible with this sermon on the mount account. Luke chapter 6 verse 20 says
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.Jesus begins to tell them that they shall (not maybe) suffer persecution. Matthew chapter 5 verse 10 says
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Jesus is laying it all out on the table. He is letting them know what they are in for. He also tells them what they will receive for going through these hardships and choosing to forsake all and follow Him. He tells them even though they may be poor in spirit here, lose most of their friends (maybe even all that they currently counted as friends), though they would have evil things said about them, though they be persecuted for Jesus' sake; He tells them to rejoice and be exceedingly glad for their reward is in heaven.
Jesus in all of these promises also issues some pretty hefty warnings. He tells His disciples their following of Him must be more than just an outward show. Matthew 5 verse 20 says
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus warns here with the strong words "in no case" can a man (remember Jesus was talking to His disciples here) or a "Christian" enter into heaven unless their righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. Exceed means
1 : to extend outside of
2 : to be greater than or superior to
In order to understand this all important statement by Jesus Himself we must remember what a Pharisees' "righteousness" consisted of. Pharisees prided themselves on outwardly making a show of their "obedience" to the law. You couldn't make a superficial look at a Pharisee and find anything wrong with their life. They remembered the Sabbath, they fasted, they dressed in a way that set them apart from the less pious, they prayed faithfully, they had a working knowledge of the Scripture even if they were blinded to its truth, all in all outwardly they were unmistakably religious. Jesus tells us that we must exceed this "righteousness" if we want to make heaven our home. He says we have to extend outside of this, or be greater than they, or behave in a way superior to their "righteousness". How can we go beyond this? It is very important we know. Jesus thought if was so important He taught the disciples what His expectations were. Where the Pharisees stopped is where we must begin. Pharisees didn't murder; to do so would have broken the law. Jesus says in Matthew 5:21
Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.If we let Jesus rule our hearts filling us with His love and we realize the seriousness of unrepentant anger towards others and get it out of the way through surrendering our desire to punish those who have harmed us to God we won't ever be even close to killing our fellow man for it won't be in our hearts. A person without Christ might succeed in not killing anyone but he can't succeed in not carrying bitter grudges, envy, and hatred towards someone.
Jesus lets us know that we can't try the classic human ploy to cover guilt of sin in one area of our lives with more pious religious behavior in another area such as trying to read your Bible more....witnessing more, singing in church more, giving more in the offering plate, or "praying" more in God's general direction will not replace repentance and openly making amends with those we have wronged. Jesus says
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.The Pharisees didn't commit adultery that would be breaking the law. Jesus tells us
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
If we would realize the seriousness of Christ's warning that we must go beyond the outward motions of "obedience" and drill down to where sin gets its start and if we would let God have control of these areas we would never fall into the traps of sin like fornication, adultery, drunkenness, murder, and covetousness. If we realize Jesus said we must go beyond the outward obedience of not cheating on our spouses we will be quick to repent of the thoughts that will lead us down the path of mental adultery. If we do this in all the areas where sin might tempt in our lives; we certainly won't ever be guilty of the outward show of these great evils.
Be honest now...have you ever heard a message in some "church" or on the radio where the "preacher" is saying "Sometime you can't tell a lost person and a Christian apart because some "Christians" are so wicked?" Does this sound like Jesus' teaching that our righteousness has to exceed or go beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees? How can we ever be deceived to believe one can get by with not even having the outside of the cup cleaned up? Remember Jesus said
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.NO CASE seems pretty clear to me if I clear my mind of preconceived notions and read it like a child would do. NO CASE means there is no exceptions to the rule.
Jesus also warns His disciples that in order to follow Him and make heaven their home they would have to be willing to give up anything that would stand in their way of repenting and turning from sin. He lets them know sin carries the punishment of hell and it is such a serious danger we should be willing to part with our own body parts if they would cause us to sin and lead us to hell.
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.I can't help but think of all the "eternal security" or better named unconditional security sermons I have heard where I've been told that once you are a Christian you can never be in danger of going to hell. When reading these verses I had to ask myself if this is so why did Jesus give the warning to His disciples. They would not have thought to themselves..."Listen to Him...I'm sure He's talking about somebody else" because Jesus was talking to them...He was looking purposely at them. Remember in Luke it says
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciplesNow I know and you know our hands,eyes and feet are not what truly make us sin...it is our hearts clinging to desires, passion, loyalties and emotions other than God. This warning however lets us know there will be no excuses accepted in judgement. Something as connected to us as the body parts we were born with won't get us any sympathy from a righteous God who sent His righteous Son (part of His own body) to die for a people whose righteousness is as filthy rags. God forbid that anyone would think they could earn their salvation because Jesus' precious blood has to cover the best we can do because its filthy to God. When we as sinners bring Jesus our worst and Christ forgives us there are some things He asks in return. He requires we give Him our lives but not our lives as we lived them before we came and repented; when we lived to our own pleasure and evil desires. We must present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God and He says this is just what is reasonable. The best we can give God will take the covering of Christ's blood to make acceptable...but because of this do not be deceived to think we can present God with less than at least filthy rags (our righteousness) and He will have no choice but to accept whatever we give Him. Thank the Lord for the Holy Spirit which enables us to go beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees. When we yield to the Holy Spirit in repentance and let Christ live through us we are somehow enabled to keep not just the letter but the intent of the law.
When studying Christ's teaching to his disciples as He was teaching them what to live and teach I was struck by the thought that I was reading some of the most important verses in the Bible. I realized every other Bible author would never contradict what Jesus Himself was setting up. I also realized that every preacher or teacher should in no way contradict Jesus' foundational Christian teachings as recorded here. I realized my beliefs would have to be in line with these foundational truths if my beliefs were true at all.
Thinking these thoughts I began to read the following verses...
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Wait a minute I thought to myself...I have heard "preachers" and teachers say "Sometimes you can't tell true Christians and non-Christians apart. Jesus says I can tell false prophets by their fruits. I think sometimes we think false prophets will look like wolves and be unmistakable to spot to anyone looking for wolves. Jesus says they will be in sheep's clothing. If they are in sheep's attire then how am I going to know them when sometimes according to certain "preachers" and teachers Christians will be in wolves clothing? According to Jesus I don't have to worry with this confusion because Christians will not be in wolves clothing and the wolves in sheep's clothing will give themselves away by their fruits. What fruits is He talking about here when they are dressed like sheep and in verse 22 they can say
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.Sounds like they have all the outward show of the Pharisees and if we can't see their heart how will we know them in order to not follow them? Jesus says by their fruits we shall know them. If it isn't how they look or act in this case what else could it be but by their words. Our words are fruits and the Bible says in Matthew 12:33-37
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.The false prophets words will betray him or her. Their words will not line up with Christ's teachings.
With this in mind pay special attention to these verses.
Matthew 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.All of those messages in "Churches" and from radio preachers and sunday school teachers who told me there were wicked "Christians"...who told me you couldn't tell a saved person sometimes from the lost person and used their former unfaithful selves as examples were lying to me. Jesus said
A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruitHe let me know through this simple universally accepted fact who I should listen to and who I should turn away from.... an apple tree will always bear apples...ect..ect. His example is so straight forward and easily understood. (that is until a false prophet gets a hold of it.) False prophets try to convince me sheep sometimes wear wolves clothing...they tell me I shouldn't judge those "sheep" to be lost or found only God can do that. Jesus knew I would need to know who the false prophets and professors were or I could easily be deceived by one of them that is why He gave the disciples and me and you His teachings and let us know not about judging but what He would call fruit inspecting. We don't need to judge these false "Christians" and false prophets, preachers, teachers, professors...ect..God's Word already does that.
My responsibility is to base my life on Christ teachings. He is my foundation. I will reject the teachings of all who teach other than what He revealed in the sermon on the mountain. If I accept and follow those who would have me believe contrary to the doctrine of Jesus Christ my tree will be hewn down and cast into the fire with theirs. Jesus also likened these false teachings to building a house on shifting sand. He lets me know it will fall.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Once again these verses are recorded in Luke chapter 6 verse 43
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.In this account it says if we do not live Christ's teachings we are building without a foundation. The Bible says Christ is the only foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:11 - For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.This means Christ laid down His foundation of teaching here. To build on something other than what He teaches here is to build without HIM.
Until I read this sermon afresh I had always hesitated to call the teachers and "preachers" false prophets who taught the doctrine of wicked "christians" living unconditionally secure or teaching what is otherwise called the doctrine of "eternal security". I no longer hesitate. In my ignorance of the Scriptures I almost missed the important directions on how to spot a false prophet and almost failed to witness in boldness of the truth of Jesus Christ. How sad we are so easily blinded and silenced by our own ignorance of what should be common knowledge in the churched world. (Jesus Christ's foundational teaching) I find it interesting to note that those who would preach salvation is not by works when justifying ungodlyness in their lives will be the same bunch who make big shows of their good works such as door to door "soulwinning"...sunday school increases and turn out...church membership drives...keeping track of sermons preached, souls "won", revivals attended, persons baptized...how many missionarys they support personally or through encouragement to others support..etc, ect..(Many "wonderful works") I am not saying any of these things are "bad" in and of themselves but it is interesting to note there is no evidence of Paul keeping track and recording how many were saved when he preached some message. He doesn't report how many messages he preached, how many he baptized, how many churches he single handedly started, how many mission trips he went on, how much money he gave in support of others ministry. If fact I can't think of a time any of the apostles in Acts reported such totals. Jesus didn't even list how many healed.
All these things are really just bragging about something that doesn't really matter. What does matter is not the works you can list you have done but have you been doing the will of the Father.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.If you believe we are living in the last days it is interesting to note that Noah, a preacher of righteousness, preached a long time and only took eight souls with him into the ark. Jesus said,
Luke 17:26 - And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
I'm not saying men can not be saved but in times of great wickedness comes great oppression and blindness to the gospel of righteousness because men love their "easy" lives of rebellion and living for pleasure. If the hundreds to nearly thousands these churches claim to rescue from the pits of hell, in some small towns where these churches are , we would be seeing revivals break out। Year after year, with these numbers the nightclubs, bowling alleys, movie theaters, and bars would be going out of business। However even with these boasting claims their communities stay and grow more and more Godless. Could it be we are living in the last days? Could it be their gospel appeals to the wicked hearts of men who want their name on some roll but still want to reserve their hearts for the evil imaginations and wicked workings they have always persued?
The sad fact is those who teach good trees can bear evil fruit and go about trying to win others to this false persuasion are like the Pharisees in yet another way.
Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.The ones they witness to and "win" most times never darken the door of a church or never change anything in their lives. They just go on living to their own selves only now they have been assured that their bad tree producing bad fruit is really a not so great good tree producing bad fruit. If they come to church they get a shame on you for not doing better type message with a don't worry be happy even if you don't change at the end. They hear this instead of Christ's Words
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
If you have been following false prophets you are building your life on shifting sand without a foundation and those teachings will fail you in judgement and with those false teachings your life will fail and all the souls you bore false witness to while doing your "wonderful works" will be destroyed if they fail to get in the Word of God and see what Jesus Christ taught and be converted from the false doctrine of unconditional security.
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.Don't let Christ's foundational doctrine astonish you into rejecting it on the grounds that it is just too foreign from what you have been taught, what you have believed, and what you may have taught or are teaching others now.
Matthew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine
You must follow Christ and His astonishing doctrine or be lost with the Pharisees. Will you leave all and follow Christ?
