INTRODUCTION:
1. Reviewing “Lessons – 1 & 2”
2. Spiritual Formation
3. Relation of Law to Gospel – Reformer/Puritan Motto
4. Introduction to the Beatitudes
I. REVIEW
WEEK 1
USE FLIP CHART – AS I REVIEW
600-300 BC, an axial age when human kind was searching for meaning as evidenced in the founding of Buddhism, Zorastrianism, Confucianism, Greek philosophy and the testimony of the Hebrew prophets.. Plato (429-347 BC) wrote The Republic, a study of the human soul and of the condition in which that soul must be in order for human beings to live well and manage what is right. The condition was called by Plato dikaiosune {dik-ah-yos-oo’-nay} and was the same word the translators of the Septuagint used for “righteousness.” This word can also be translated “true inner goodness” or “moral excellence.”
SOM demands “true inner goodness” which is evidenced in at least four “high demand verses.”
For I tell you that unless your righteousness (dikaiosune) surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (5:20). Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (5:48).
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (dikaiosune), and all these things will be given to you as well (6:33). So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets (7:12).
Christians are recipients of righteousness / moral excellence through the imparted righteousness of God, inflowing righteousness due to our union with Christ and learned righteousness due to spiritual formation as we obey God’s Word.
WEEK 2
The Sermon is intended for believers and believers only.
It is contained in 107 verses in Matthew 5-7 which is probably a concise version of the sermon that was given over a period of several hours.
“The great purpose of this Sermon is to give an exposition of the kingdom of heaven as something which is essentially spiritual” (MLJ, 16, 39).
The Sermon on the Mount is nothing but a perfect elaboration of what our Lord called His new commandment “that we love one another even as He has loved us.” (MLJ, 15-16)
“It is Jesus’ description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do.” (John Stott, 15)
The outline we will follow is that of John Stott: USE FLIP CHART SKETCH
1. Christian’s character (5:3-12);
2. A Christian’s influence (5:13-16);
3. A Christian’s righteousness (5:17-48);
4. A Christian’s piety (6:1-18);
5. A Christian’s ambition (6:19-34);
6. A Christian’s relationship (7:1-20);
7. A Christian’s commitment (7:21-27)
Reason’s why SOM is for this age.
II Tim. 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (dikaiosune) …”
The great commission of Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20).
II. SPIRITUAL FORMATION
If we approach our study of SOM without a strategy for life change, then we waste our time and miss the whole point of the sermon.
“I do not think it is a harsh judgment to say that the most obvious feature of the life of the Christian Church today is, alas, its superficiality. That judgment is based not only on contemporary observation, but still more on contemporary observation in the light of previous epochs and eras in the life of the church” (MLJ, 9 This was said in1959)
John Stott writes, “No comment could be more hurtful to the Christian than the words, ‘But you are no different from anybody else.'” (Stott, 17)
There is no question, that if we live the “Sermon on the Mount” we will be different from other people.
Someone has asked, “Why don’t Christians look more like Christ?” If we live out the Sermon on the Mount, that will happen.
READ / ILLUSTRATION: Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, pg. 164-165, showing how it is easy to know without doing.
HOW TO CLOTHE OURSELVES IN LEARNED DIKAIOSUNE
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col. 3:12).
USE FLIP CHART … WRITE AS I GO
1. Concentration or focus on a character quality.
2. Choices when confronted with a situation.
3. Reflection on our choice, whether good or bad.
“Now the great experts in the life of the spirit have always recommended self-examination. They all recommend and practice it themselves. They say it is a good thing for every man to pause at the end of the day and meditate upon himself, to run quickly over his life, and ask, ‘What have I done, what have I said, what have I thought, how have I behaved with respect to other …. What is it in me that makes me behave like that? Why would I be so irritable? Why should I be bad tempered? Why am I not able to control myself? Why do I harbor that unkind, jealous and envious thought? What is it in me?” (MLJ, 58)
4. Confession to injured party, Lord and/or accountability partner if choice was wrong.
III. RELATION OF LAW TO GOSPEL
ACTIVITY: Rearrange the words below to make a statement that shows clearly the relationship of the law to the Gospel.
law back Christ for justification law sanctification for sends sends the the to to us us Christ
THE LAW SENDS US TO CHRIST FOR JUSTIFICATION; CHRIST SENDS US BACK TO THE LAW FOR SANCTIFICATION.
Motto of the Reformers / Puritans
THE LAW SENDS US TO CHRIST FOR JUSTIFICATION
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin (Romans 3:19-20).
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:24 – KJV).
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:24 – NIV)
The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for (Gal. 3:24 – The Message).
Christ’s ethics in SOM go beyond the law so that we might be brought to the foot of the Cross and received grace and mercy.
John Stott writes, “The Sermon on the Mount” drives many people to despair. They see in it an unattainable ideal. How can they develop this heart-righteousness, turn the other cheek, love their enemies? It is impossible. Exactly! In this sense the sermon Mosimizes Moses. It is Moses quadrupled, Moses multiplied to the highest degree” (Stott, 36-7). Because it is the law of inward righteousness which no child of Adam can possibly obey. It can therefore only condemn us and make the forgiveness of Christ indispensable. May we not say that this is part of the Sermon’s purpose?” (Stott, 36-37).
CHRIST SENDS US BACK TO THE LAW FOR SANCTIFICATION
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17).
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart (I Peter 1:22).
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (II Tim. 3:16-17).
The behavior expected of the Christian is listed in the Sermon on the Mount. SOM gives a good portrait of “true inner goodness” / “moral excellence.” The portrait includes how we are to deal with anger, lust love, piety, forgiveness, money, worry, relationships, others etc.” We are expected to live like this. Sixteen of the 107 verses in SOM refer specifically to “doing.”
“We are not under the law in the sense that it condemns us; it no longer pronounces judgment or condemnation on us. No! But we are meant to live it, and we are even meant to go beyond it. … Christ kept the law, He lived the law; as this very Sermon on the Mount emphasized. Our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. …. We often forget this in our attempt to put up law and grace as antitheses ….” (MLJ, 12)
Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning. (Willard)
“In most churches we are not only saved by grace, we are paralyzed by it. We’re afraid to do anything that might be a “work” (in our progress towards holiness). (Willard, Leadership, Summer, 2005 pg. 23)
PARALYZED BY GRACE – You see this when someone starts emphasizing church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, Scripture memorization, fasting, not working on Sunday, daily devotions, tithing etc. The automatic come-back is, “We are under grace and not law!”
Willard writes, “Instead of counting Christians, we need to weigh them. We weigh them by focusing on the most important kind of growth – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, kindness etc.” (Willard, Leadership, Summer, 2005 pg. 22)
USE FLIP CHART – SHOW SKETCH
KEY VERSE (GOAL) AND MOTTO FOR SOM
KEY VERSE: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness …. (Matthew 6:33a).
Motto: The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
IV. INTRODUCTION TO THE BEATITUDES
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying: (Mt. 5:1-2).
THE SETTING
There were two concentric circles of listeners, the disciples being the inner circle.
“A rabbi commonly sat down when he taught. If he spoke while standing or walking, what he said was considered to be informal and unofficial. But when he sat down, what he said was authoritative and official. Even today we speak of professors holding a “chair” in a university, signifying the honored position from which they teach. When the Roman Catholic pope gives an official pronouncement, he is said to speak ex cathedra, which literally means from his chair When Jesus sat down and delivered the Sermon on the Mount, He spoke from His divine chair with absolute authority as the sovereign King.” (MacArthur, 137)
Sitting was the correct posture for “formal” teaching.
The Sermon on the Mount is the most concentrated of Jesus’ teaching and the most concentrated section of the Sermon on the Mount is the Beatitudes …. And he gives them while sitting, from the chair, from the throne …. Formal and official!!
“Beatitudes” is a name derived from Latin and refers to a state of happiness, bliss.
The “Beatitudes” have been titled “The Character of the Kingdom,” “The Manifesto of the Kingdom,” “The Norms of the Kingdom.”
The Beatitudes, being the first section in SOM, are pre-eminent and should be considered of great importance. They are the “doorway” into the Sermon.
There are 8 in number, not 7 or 9. Some feel that the beatitude on persecution should not be included since it is something others do to us and not something we are to be or do. Others feel verses 11-12 are a 9th beatitude but most scholars feel those verses are a clarification of verse 10 which is the 8th beatitude.
FLIP CHART – WINDOW PANING: Show the sketch of the 8 beatitudes and read them off.
It seems that Beatitudes 1-4 (poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger) deal with our relationship with God whereas 5-8 (mercy, purity, peacemaker, persecution) deal with our relationship with people.
You can see rhythm and balance in all eight … blessed are …for; a character quality followed by a reward.
They all hang together …. Chrysostom, the third century preacher, called them a sort of golden chain.
The first and eighth beatitudes have the same blessing, “for theirs is the kingdom of God” and thus bracket the other six.
The first and the eighth are present tense whereas the 2-7 are all future, but it is a future not only of duration but also of certainty.
“Are the blessings present or future? Personally I think the only possible answer is ‘both.'” (John Stott, 34) ….. For example we are given the promise that “we will see God” in the sixth beatitude. We begin to see Him now when we come to Christ but we will see Him in all His glory in heaven. As to “mercy” … we experience God’s mercy now and we will experience the fullness of that mercy in heaven.
“The Beatitudes do not come at the end, they come at the beginning of the Sermon, and I do not hesitate to say that unless we are perfectly clear about them we should go no further. We have no right to go further.” (MLJ, 23)
Next week we will study the first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
SO WHAT???
1. The goal of the sermon is to experience both imputed, imparted and learned righteousness (dikaiosune) which is ‘true inner goodness’ or ‘moral excellence,’ which should be the longing of every believer.
2. We must avoid being “paralyzed by grace.” We are saved by grace but through spiritual discipline and through disciplines we “learn righteousness” and see spiritual formation happen in our lives. We need to always remember, “The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.”
3. The Sermon on the Mount is the most formal statement Christ made about the character of the citizens of His kingdom. We need to study it carefully to see what we are to be and do.
4. The Beatitudes are the key and gateway to the sermon. We have no right to try to understand the sermon until we have worked our way through the beatitudes.