The Sermon on the Mount is not about giving the bear minimum, but the maximum you can give as a Christian. It's about going the extra mile and taking it to the next level. By being a radical sold out follower of Jesus Christ. We all know how to clean the windows or put gas in our cars, but that is not the sum total of implimenting an auto maintenance program. Sometimes we need an expert to point out the need for a tune-up or an alignment. Today I want to take you to the expert Words of Jesus Christ that we may bring our lives into alignment with His purposes for our lives. It's a tune-up for those who are serious about maintaining their walk with the Lord.
If you want to know how Christ Himself sees the world, read the Sermon on the Mount. These Words are not given to a society to live by; but rather these are given specifically by Jesus to a believer in how they are to follow Him. Let us read some important introductory words as we look at the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:17-20 (HCSB)
17 "Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.
19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches [these commandments] will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The first time I ever read those words I wondered how my righteousness could ever exceed the Scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes were men who had dedicated themselves to the study of the Law of God. They would carefully go over it, interpret it, and copy it into a manuscript form repetitously again and again. Then there were the Pharisees who were a select group never numbering more than six thousand; and they spent their time going over the Law, debating the Law, and quoting this or that from the Law.
And then Jesus comes along and says, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus set Himself apart from all others. For one would speak that Rabbi so and so said this or that; and then another would quote another Rabbi; yet Jesus would say, "You have heard another say, but I say unto to you!" Jesus was not recognized or backed by some rabbinical school. Jesus did not need the authority of another teacher to support Him. He was the authority and He spoke in that manner.
Matthew 5:17-20 (HCSB)
17 "Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Everything that the Law was pointing to was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus was the Passover Lamb. He was the burnt offering, and He was the scapegoat. Jesus was going to fulfill everything that the Law was pointing to. But ironically they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath day. It was because He dared to help someone in need on that particular day. And this was all because they had twisted and perverted the teachings on this topic and many like it. Jesus was getting to the heart of the matter. So, when He says that our righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, here's what He means: Their righteousness was based on their works. Their righteousness was not real because it was self-righteousness. Jesus pointed out that that was not enough. He said real righteousness is when you place your faith in Him. It's called, imputed righteousness. It's placed into your spiritual bank account as a result of you being justified by faith through your belief in Jesus Christ.
So, Jesus goes on to say that our righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees; and here is what this means according to the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. This sermon deals with a lot of important topics that will help us form a correct biblical worldview. It covers such topics like hatred and sexual sin; marriage and divorce and speaking the truth, and on retaliation to name a few. This sermon is not about giving the bear minimum that you give as a Christian. The Sermon on the Mount is heavy duty stuff for hardcore Christians. Spiritual lightweights need not apply! If you are a fair-weather follower you are going to be blown away by what we are going to discuss in this lesson today. This is the kind of stuff that carnal Christians will say it's way too hard, or we don't have to mind things like that because we are now under grace. But if you want to be a follower of Jesus, this is what He has laid out for each one of us to follow as truth. Again, this is for believers only!
Matthew 5:21-30 (HCSB)
21 "You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment.
22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Fool!' will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, 'You moron!' will be subject to hellfire.
23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25 Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you're on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.
26 I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!
27 "You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery.
28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell!
Wow! Exactly what does all of this mean? Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter. The Sermon on the Mount is about the heart. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Here is what Jesus is saying. It has to be more than external pressure to make you fall in line. For instance, why don't you go and steal what doesn't belong to you? Why don't you go ahead and kill that person that keeps bothering you? Why don't you commit adultery with that person? Well, many will say it's because they don't want to face the repercussions. For many, its simply they don't want to be arrested for stealing if they were to get caught. They don't want to go to prison for murdering someone; or some might say, I'm afraid if I commit adultery I might get caught. Ok, then let me ask you a follow up question: If a set of circumstances were to arise where you thought you could steal something and get a way with it...would you steal it? Or if you thought you could get a way with adultery...would you go ahead and commit it? If your answer is yes, than we have a problem with our heart. It's here that our hearts need to be transformed.
Let's look at how Jesus deals with the person that has a problem with anger. What's really going on inside of this kind of person who demonstrates uncontrollable anger.
Matthew 5:22 (KJV)
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:
How many of you have ever been angry with your brother or sister? All of us have! The bible does not teach us that we cannot ever be angry. There is such a thing as righteous indignation. Truthfully there a many times that we get angry with one another. Children get upset with parents and parents get upset with their kids. Husbands get angry with their wife and wives get angry with their husband. Sometimes we say things we should not say, and then we find ourselves apologizing for it. This is normal day to day stuff of living and this is not what Jesus was speaking of in this passage. This is talking about a person who has become bitter, who is developing a grudge, and who is nursing and feeding on it.
The word used for being angry here could be called malice in the heart. You know something that I have learned about folks? There are some people who love to fight. They enjoy confrontation. Where does this anger start? Sometimes it starts with envy. If you remember the first homicide was committed by Cain towards Able. Why? It was because Able's sacrifice was accepted of the Lord and his wasn't. He was envious..."Why did you accept his offering and not mine?" That's how it often starts. One person gets the promotion; or one person gets something you want. A person has something you don't have. Envy begins to develop and it eventually turns to anger; and anger turns to bitterness, and bitterness turns to hatred. What is happening is you are actually murdering that person in your heart. You begin to tell lies about them and you spread rumors to slander them. This is what your whole life becomes obssessed with. So, Jesus says, don't let this happen to you. This should never be the actions of a child of God.
1 John 3:15 (NLT)
15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them.
Notice that it doesn't say they are like a murderer; it says they are one. This is how severe this is in the eyes of God.
1 John 2:9 (NLT)
9 If anyone claims, "I am living in the light," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness.
Don't tell me you love God and you hate your brother. If you hate your brother or hate your sister; if your heart is filled with this deep malice...the Bible is saying that you are not really a Christian. So we need to ask God to change our heart if this is the way we feel towards others. Now the Lord tells us in verse 22...
Matthew 5:22 (KJV)
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.
Raca...what's that? It's hard for us to understand what this means because there is no modern equivalent. In the English language today a literal translation would be a brainless blockhead or idiot; or a bonehead. I don't think it's so much about the word being used here as much as it is about the attitude. This is indicates having a superiority over another person. It's a phrase coming from an arrogant heart with contempt. So, if you say to your brother you are worthless or you call them a fool...which means you are a godless person; both of these ideas convey the attitude of someone that sees themselves above the person being attacked. This is what Jesus is dealing with in this passage. Now Jesus switches gears and talks about lust.
Matthew 5:27-28 (KJV)
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.
Now look, this does not mean if you see a pretty girl or good looking guy at the mall. It doesn't mean if you notice someone that is attractive walking down the street. That is not what this is talking about. This is talking about seeing that other person and then allowing your mind to go to another place intimately. In fact, the word that is exactly used here to describe this phrase to whoever looks on a woman; is dealing with a continuing look. Not an incidental or an involuntary glance; but an intentional and repeated gazing with the expressed purpose of lusting. This is the idea of a man or woman that they would put themselves in a place where they would look at others to stimulate, feed and encourage their lust. And Jesus is saying this is like committing adultery.
Now sometimes you don't do this on purpose as you are exposed to something that you wished you had not been exposed to; but then you have a choice to what you are going to do with it. A good example is David, the king of Israel when he was watching Bathsheba bathing upon her rooftop; and I'm uncertain if she didn't know that King David would be watching from his rooftop as she put herself in that place. However, we do know she cooperated with David. She could have refused his advances of course. Unfortunately, this whole story turns into a mess as most of you reading this are aware. We need to realize this all started with a lustful look. This is why Job said, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look on a woman." You are going to see men and women in this world, but don't look lustfully upon them. There may times that you will have to literally turn away. If something comes upon the screen of your TV that stimulates these lustful tendencies; there is a small gadget that comes with the TV, and all you have to do is hit the little red button on it and pictures just disappear. It's called the power button.
Let me pose something else to you. Not only should men not look upon women with lust in their heart; but women should consider what they wear, so that they don't encourage lust in the hearts of men. Don't get angry with me girls; you know what I'm talking about. What you wear, what you don't wear. Some girls might say, "Give me a break, some guys would lust after a tree! This is true. But there is a responsibility on the part of the girl as well. There is a word that has been lost in our culture that needs to be recovered that is called, modesty. And Christian girls' ought to apply it. So here is the answer:
Matthew 5:29 (HCSB)
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
There you go...sounds easy enough, don't you think?
Matthew 5:30 (HCSB)
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell!
Obviously, Jesus is not speaking literally here. Consider this, if the problem is in the heart what good would it do to cut out your right eye or cut off your right hand? You could still look with your left eye or use you're your left hand. Let's capture what Jesus was actually teaching here. In the culture to which Jesus was addressing this; the right hand represented the person's best skill...it was the most precious faculty he possessed. The right eye meant a person's best vision. So, here is what Jesus was essentially telling them...do whatever it takes to keep yourself from falling into sin; and sometimes you will have to take drastic measures.
Maybe you are in a relationship right now and you have allowed it to become sexual and it's dragging you down spiritually. You no doubt need to cut that relationship off right now. It needs to be a serious step that you take. Maybe you have a problem with internet pornography, and you did put an internet filter on your computer...but maybe the real answer is that you just need to unplug the stinking thing altogether. If you have problems in areas that cause you to sin, you may have to take some radical steps towards removing the temptation from your life. Do what ever it takes to walk right before God. That's the idea of plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand.
Jesus was addressing some very difficult, yet relative lifestyles and perceptions of the day that had evolved and somehow became the acceptable norm. The more God's standards are diminished from our culture, the less godliness we as a people will witness. I pray that as we continue looking into God's Word, that we will desire a true return to His standards for living our lives and raising our families. To fail to do so, will eventually take its final toil as we continue to witness the total collapse of all human morality and quality of life as we are seeing within our current day .
Proverbs 19:3 (NLT)
3 People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.
