The Standard
Matthew 5:1, 17,10
God teaches that internal righteousness is what produces external acts of righteousness.
SLIDE #1
INTRODUCTION
• Today we begin a new seven-week series entitled, “Sermon on the Mount: A Kingdom Upside Down.”
• This series will encourage Christians to go beyond the superficial and search deep into their heart to see themselves as Christ sees them.
• Christ’s bold Sermon on the Mount challenged his hearers to understand that God was seeking internal righteousness from them, not just external acts.
• This change is only possible through God’s work to bring new life in us.
• The Sermon on the Mount has been lauded as one of the greatest messages ever delivered,
• Concerning the Sermon on the Mount, author E. Stanley Jones states:
SLIDE #2
Jones Quote
Quote
“The Sermon on the Mount seems dangerous. It challenges the whole underlying conception on which modern society is built. It would replace it by a new conception, animate it with a new motive, and turn it toward a new goal.”
E. Stanley Jones, Christ of the Mount
Explanation
• As we look back on the Sermon on the Mount from today’s perspective, we may not grasp the impact this sermon had on the world at the time.
• I believe we also miss the point in our self-absorbant culture of today.
• We need to understand that to miss the point of the Sermon on the Mount is to miss the keystone of Jesus’s teachings.
• This message is considered the most important message of Jesus’s teaching ministry; it was the greatest sermon of all time.
• The sermon contains the famous Beatitudes, the model prayer, and the Golden Rule.
• Even secular people can’t ignore its teachings.
• The Sermon on the Mount is three chapters long!
• Why such a long sermon from Christ?
• The answer is found in the context.
• In Matthew 1, the genealogy demonstrates that Jesus has the legal right to rule Israel.
• Chapter 2 shows that the Gentiles (the magi) accept his kingship.
• In chapter 3, John preaches repentance (necessary before the Davidic kingdom could be established).
• In chapter 4, Jesus is demonstrated to be morally worthy to rule (by resisting the devil’s temptation), and he shows the conditions of the kingdom by several miracles.
• A messianic fever was building in Israel.
• In chapter 5, Christ then delivers the ethic of the kingdom.
• Jesus wanted to be sure everyone clearly understood His expectations of what kingdom living looked like.
• While there are many views and interpretations of what exactly the kingdom is, it is safe to say that the kingdom is wherever Christ is King.
• If there is no king, there is no kingdom.
• If Christ is King of our lives, there is a certain heart and behavior that follows, and that’s what he is addressing in this great sermon.
• Today we will begin our seven-week journey together as we dig into the depths of the Sermon on the Mount.
• Turn with me to Matthew 5:1-2.
SLIDE #3
Bible Verse
Matthew 5:1-2 (CSB)
1When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2Then he began to teach them, saying:
SLIDE #4
1. I. The beginning of a new revolution.
Explanation
• In this sermon to the people, Jesus was laying the foundation for teaching that would be revolutionary.
• When you think about it, pretty much everything Jesus taught was revolutionary.
• The teaching of Jesus is life-changing. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword!
• What Jesus shared with His audience over the three chapters of this message left them in awe!
SLIDE #5
Bible Verse
Matthew 7:28-29 (CSB)
28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
Explanation
• What you need to understand about this sermon is that, like many of the other teachings of Jesus, this sermon would turn things upside down.
• For hundreds of years, the people were living under a system that was diametrically opposed to the message Jesus was about to deliver.
• The religious leaders were who the people looked to so they could understand what it took to please God.
• The Pharisees looked the part. These men were dressed in the most beautiful religious clothing; they made sure to follow all of the RULES.
• These men were so righteous, that not only did they follow the Ten Commandments, but they also observed the 700 some odd rules that were tacked on to the Ten Commandments over the centuries.
• Whenever it was time for public prayers, these men made sure they were out in public so that others could see them pray.
• Everything thing about the Scribes and Pharisees looked the part. These men were the envy of the people.
• However, there was a problem.
• The Pharisees taught and propagated an external-only compliance.
• They implied that people could be righteous because of their actions, but this type of preaching completely ignored purity of heart.
• One’s actions could have been right while their hearts were corrupt.
• Have you ever set up your own standard to keep you spiritually safe?
• On one level, there is nothing wrong with that.
• However, the problem begins when you impose your extra-biblical standard on others and thereby create a new standard; you become offended when people don’t do it just like you.
• Consider the standard of married men choosing to not ever be alone with a female, even in business situations—whether that is in a meeting over a meal or a meeting in the office.
• While the intent behind this is commendable, Gina Dalfonzo in her Christianity Today article explains that it may not always be practical or realistic to uphold that standard, especially when a woman is in a leadership position and needs to hold meetings with her male employees.
• It creates an unnecessarily awkward situation and puts an incredible amount of burden on the women just because she is a … women (Gina Dalfonzo, “Guarding Your Marriage Without Dissing Women,” Christianity Today, May 31, 2011, https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/may/guarding-your-marriage-without-dissing-women.html).
• Discretion is certainly wise, but to claim that someone is unspiritual or unfaithful if they don’t follow the same standard is the problem.
• This kind of scenario happens all too often, and this is the exact culture the Pharisees had created.
• What may have started out as an innocent standard of righteousness become a new standard that was outside the scope of what the actual law required.
• The Pharisees looked down on the “sinners” as the religious leaders were so glad to call the people.
• Jesus is going to turn the world of all who hear Him, upside-down!
• Jesus will explain and teach something revolutionary; something people had not heard.
• God never intended the Old Covenant to become a system that was all talk and no heart.
• Several times in the Old Testament, God lamented the outward focus the people developed.
• Jesus now explains that true righteousness, God’s righteousness, righteousness that is evident in God’s kingdom, would have to go beyond the superficial externals of the Pharisees.
SLIDE #6
Bible Verse
Matthew 5:17 (CSB)
17“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
SLIDE #7
2. II. The new revolution leads to redemption.
Explanation
• Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He was accused of having no regard for the Law of Moses. He was even accused of being a law-breaker on several occasions.
• In verse 17, Jesus uses the phrase DON’T THINK. This statement sets the stage for the rest of the sermon.
• Jesus is not telling them not to think, but instead, He is trying to get the people to rid themselves of their preconceived ideas about Him, His teachings, and His ministry.
• In other words, DON’T BE TIED TO OLD MISCONCEPTIONS!
• Jesus attacks the elephant in the room by telling the people that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but He came to fulfill both!
• While His message was unique to his hearers, Jesus made it clear in verse 17 that he wasn’t there to “abolish the Law or the Prophets.”
• His purpose in coming was not to do away with the old covenant, nor was it to give a “new” definition of how to become righteous.
• He wanted the Jews to understand what God’s standards have been all along.
• This phrase explains the verses that say, “You have heard that it was said … but I tell you …” Jesus is not giving anything new here, but he is calling them to a more mature understanding of God’s Law.
• The way the religious leaders had been teaching and leading the people was upside-down to what God wanted.
• God demanded an internal righteousness that would produce external righteousness.
• God wanted them to focus on the heart, then the external would follow!
• Notice that Jesus does something in verse 17, Jesus uses the phrase DO NOT THINK I CAME…
• Subtly, Jesus places focus on the fact that He came from God!
• Jesus was not out to destroy or abolish the Law.
• The purpose of the Law was not to save people; the purpose of the Law was to show us our need for a Savior!
SLIDE #8
Bible Verse
Galatians 3:24 (CSB)
24The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.
Explanation
• The only way one could destroy Prophets was to not allow their messages to come to pass. Jesus fulfilled ALL of the Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament.
• Josh McDowell in his book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, lists 61 of them fulfilled in Jesus. The odds of one person fulfilling eight of those 61 are astronomical!
• Jesus also sanctions the authenticity of the Old Testament with this verse. Jesus to fulfill the purpose of the Law, which was to lead us to Jesus!
• The revolutionary teaching of Jesus will help unlock our ability to have eternal life through Him!
• Jesus was that ultimate sacrifice of which all of the sacrifices pointed toward in the Old Testament!
SLIDE #9
Bible Verse
Hebrews 10:4 (CSB)
4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Explanation
• Since the blood of bulls and goats (Old Testament sacrificial system) cannot cleanse me of my sins, I would not be able to be with Jesus!
• So what Jesus is trying to do is to get people to understand that all the pomp and circumstance of their religious practices were meaningless without the right heart!
• When we have to right heart, that heart will lead us to Jesus when we are presented with the message.
• This new revolution will bring redemption because we will quit trying to derive a righteousness of our own.
• We will know because of the Law, that we need a savior, and that Saviour is Jesus!
• We have a desire to earn things, this is why Islam has some popularity, follow the 5 pillars and you are good!
• You earn your ticket!
• With Jesus, paid your price on the cross!
SLIDE #10
Bible Verse
Matthew 5:20 (CSB) — 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
Slide #11
3. III. The new revolution displaces old metrics.
Explanation
• This verse had to the one that when Jesus spoke it, the crowd had to gasp in astonishment!
• This verse had to make the people feel that entering the Kingdom of Heaven was IMPOSSIBLE!
• Truth be told, with the current metrics the Jewish people were accustomed to using for determining if someone were righteous, it would be impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
• Christ was pointing out that the metrics they had been using were the wrong ones.
• Let his sink in. Given the context of several hundreds of years of teaching and experience, and given the fact that Jesus was speaking to God’s chosen people, this had to be tough to hear!
• Jesus was turning their world upside-down!
• Jesus says in Matthew 5:20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
• It wasn’t that they had to have more external righteousness but, rather, a change of heart.
• How many times will Jesus tell the religious leaders something to the effect, boys, you look great on the outside, but your hearts are dark and ugly?
• Being righteous before God is not about your actions ONLY; it is about your heart for Jesus, which leads to your actions.
• My righteousness has to come from my relationship with Jesus!
• When I am baptized into Christ, my old self died, and my new self is here! Romans 6.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells me I am a new creation in Christ!
• We need to remember that Jesus broke us away from the curse of the Law.
• The curse of the Law is the fact that the Law requires sinless perfection!
• Jesus freed us from that burden!
SLIDE #12
Bible Verse
Galatians 3:10-13 (CSB)
10For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
11Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.
12But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.
13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
Application
• Jesus’s purpose in preaching this sermon is to bring us to a mature understanding of God’s Law, to help us understand the standard God wants us to follow.
• If I were to ask you if you are saved if you possess eternal life, and HOW you receive it, what would you say?
• Any answer that is not centered around being covered by the blood of Jesus, by placing your faith in Him, by allowing that faith to lead you to confess Jesus as Lord, which leads one to repentance, and finally leads one to realize we need our sins forgiven and that we need God’s Holy Spirit in us, which we receive at baptism, is the WRONG answer!
• We are saved by being buried with Christ in baptism, which leads us to be a new creation!
• Our righteousness is not derived through works of the Law, or by any other means than Jesus Christ!
CONCLUSION
