Sermon on the Mount

Introduction

Sermon on the mount

Matthew chapter 5 is the beginning of one of our Lords most illustrious sermons, the Sermon on the Mount. By the time our Lord gave this message to His followers and disciples, it has been estimated to have been during the 2nd year of His ministry. The first year of His ministry began with His baptism by John the Baptist and this sermon is about a year before John was ordered to be beheaded by king Herrod only to please the daughter of Herodias his brothers wife. By this point of Jesus’ ministry He had many multitudes of people following Him around, watching Him perform miracles and healing everywhere He went, and the religious rulers had already decided that Jesus needed to be silenced. Notice that Jesus always took His disciples to the side to teach them, and it was the multitudes that would gather as He spoke. Our Lords ministry on Earth lasted approximately 3 years before He died on the cross and rose again 3 days later to save a world full of sinners.

This sermon goes all the way to the end of chapter 7 of Matthew, there is a lot of knowledge that is given to us within these very educational lessons from Jesus Himself. Many followers gathered around the mountainside that Jesus was standing on when He preached His message and to us today His message hasn’t changed. So lets break down this wonderful piece of scripture left for us from the Word of God. We will start with the Word beatitude.

Have you heard of the beatitudes before? Some people call this the beatitudes, if you have heard of the word Beatitudes or if this is the first time you’ve ever heard it, either way, I want to share with you what the dictionary definition is: Supreme blessedness or happiness.Beatitude Any of the declarations of blessedness made by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

So Sermon on the Mount could be called “the blessings on the mount” but all of this is just formalities for man.

Beatitudes

M't:5:1-12: And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Lets take a look at the first 2 verses here to begin to get a full idea of what Jesus has said to us.

M't:5:1: 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, saying,

Lets start right there. All Jesus has to do is open His mouth, and they were taught, the power of our Lords Words, the power of creation within His Word, He opens His mouth, and it is done!!

The beatitudes or the blessings from Jesus have three elements to them,

1. It is the proclamation of blessings, found in the word which is blessed, Jesus Himself introduces each

They show a quality of life, the blessings show a composite picture of who will inherit Christ’s kingdom

This is the reason why recipients are considered blessed, and looks to the aspect of His coming kingdom.

Only the Word of God could accomplish all of this in just one blessing from His mouth. It is important to remember, that these are Spiritual blessings, our physical needs are provided by the Father, and that requires a Spiritual belief in His Kingdom to receive His fullness.

Lets receive from the Blessings of the Lords Word..

M't:5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

First, we see "blessed are the poor in spirit". My friend, if you are full of false spirit, a false sense of pride, an ego some might say, well this is pride. You have become self-sufficient if you think you can make it without God. I suggest you look at this closely. God says He has blessed the poor in spirit, so it has been done. When God speaks it, it is finished.

Instead of being arrogant, we must have a need for Gods spirit in our lives, this need is the equivalent to being poor. We must be this way to receive the kingdom of heaven, it is a deliberate choice, and it takes discipline. We need to acknowledge our helplessness, relying only on God. He humbles us with His Grace. We have acknowledged our sins to the Lord, and we need dependence on God to provide. If you don’t need God, then I guess you are not poor. Our sense of need is supplied by the Lord, and it is very vital for all believers to have a need of the Lord.

If you think you don’t need God, then the chances are you better check on your pride. You better have that under control my friends, God does not like the proud, but He does love the poor in spirit, and He does pour out His grace unto all the humble and lowly.

Proverb:3:34: Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

These verses back up the blessing of the poor and humble and are examples of God blessing the humble and resisting the proud.

His kingdom is the dwelling place for the saved, both “in you and me” and “to those yet to come”. You are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven NOW! Self-sufficiency is no virtue; self-exaltation is only a vice. To be poor in spirit means we must be humble, not "haughty, haughty look at me!" We need to stay humble my friends.

M't:5:4: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Our Lord says, "blessed are they that mourn, they shall be comforted." This isn’t necessarily talking about when we mourn the loss of something in our lives, ( though He will comfort us is our darkest hours), this is a Godly sorrow we should feel, why? Because of the worlds sinful condition. We should mourn at the worlds rejection of Jesus, we know that there is a doomed future for the unsaved. As we reach out to a dying world, trying to spread the good news of eternity, we watch helplessly as those we that we know and sometimes loved ones, chose the wrong path in life. These we mourn for. But we are comforted by a confession of a compassionate God. He has told us about our tears and what He will do with them some day….

Re:21:4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

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