An Introduction To The Sermon On The Mount

Feature 2 – November 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

AN INTRODUCTION TO
The Sermon On The Mount

In the “Sermon on the Mount” our Lord was not preaching the gospel, but He was setting forth the principles of His kingdom, which should guide the lives of all who profess to be His disciples. In other words, this is the law of the kingdom, the observance of which must characterize its loyal subjects as they wait for the day when the King Himself shall be revealed.

Throughout, it recognizes the existence of definite opposition to His rule, but those who own His authority are called upon to manifest the same meek and lowly spirit that was seen in Him while in the days of His humiliation here on earth. The Epistle of James answers very closely to the teaching set forth here. He calls it “the perfect law of liberty” (Jas. 1:25 KJV) because it is that which is becoming to the new nature received when one is born of God. For the natural man this sermon is not the way of life, but rather a source of condemnation, for it sets a standard so high and holy that no unsaved person can by any possibility attain to it. He who attempts it will soon realize his utter helplessness, if he be honest and conscientious. He must look elsewhere in the Scriptures for the gospel, which is the dynamic of God unto salvation “to all who believe” (Rom. 1:16).

The keenest intellects of earth have recognized in the Sermon on the Mount the highest ethical teaching to men, and have praised its holy precepts even when conscious of their inability to measure up to its standards. So far as the unsaved are concerned, therefore, the teaching given here becomes indeed, as C. I. Scofield has well said, “the Law raised to the Nth power.”

But for the believer, just as the righteous requirements of the Law are “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4), so the principles laid down in this sermon will find their practical exemplification in the lives of all who seek to walk as Christ walked. It is not for us to relegate all this to the Jewish remnant in the last days, or to disciples before the Cross, though fully applicable to both.

But we discern here “wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:3) which we dare not refuse to obey, lest we be proved to be such as are described in the next verse (1 Tim. 6:4): “He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.” We need to remember that, though a heavenly people, we have earthly responsibilities, and these are defined for us in this greatest of all sermons having to do with human conduct.

By H. A. Ironside

An Overview Of The Sermon On The Mount
– from The NIV Study Bible

The Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7) is, in effect, the King’s inaugural address, explaining what He expects of the members of His kingdom ... It contains three types of material: beatitudes, or declarations of blessedness (5:1-12); ethical admonitions (5:13-20; 6:1-7:23); and contrasts between Jesus’ ethical teaching and Jewish legalistic traditions (5:21-48). The Sermon ends with a short parable stressing the importance of practicing what has just been taught (7:24-27), and an expression of amazement by the crowd at the authority with which Jesus spoke (7:28-29).

The moral and ethical standard called for in the Sermon is so high that some have dismissed it as being completely unrealistic, or have projected its fulfillment to the future kingdom. There is no doubt, however, that Jesus (and Matthew) gave the Sermon as a standard for all Christians, realizing that its demands cannot be met in our own power. It is also true that Jesus occasionally used hyperbole (exaggeration) to make a point (as in 5:29-30).