The Sermon on the Mount

At Truth Fellowship Church we have the great opportunity to be going through the Sermon on the Mount. Now most theologians believe that the Sermon on the Mount was the greatest sermon ever preached and with good reason. In the Sermon on the Mount (SOTM) Jesus describes for us what the characteristics are for genuine believers. In contrast to what the religious leaders of the day were teaching and promoting Jesus lays out 8 characteristics of genuine believers. We will examine these characteristics over the next few weeks taking one at a time. But we will first examine the SOTM in general.

First and foremost the Sermon on the Mount answers the question “How can I be right with God?” Jesus knew that what the Pharisees and Scribes were teaching was really just a legalistic form of self-righteous works.This is why Jesus tells the disciples in 5:20 “That unless their righteousness surpassed that of the scribes and Pharisees that they would never enter the kingdom of heaven. What the Sermon on the Mount taught was Characteristics of those who belonged to the Kingdom. Christ came preaching and teaching the kingdom and it was this kingdom that Christ is describing for us and specifically what the characteristics were of those people who truly belong to the kingdom.

Here are five reasons as to why studying the Sermon on the Mount is important:

(1) The Sermon on the Mount is important because it points to the need for the new birth as the only way to attain this way of living. The high standards set forth by Christ in the SOTM attested to the need for Christ’s power living within us as the only way to adhere to these standards.

(2) The SOTM drives us to Christ as only way to meet this standard. Only through a relationship with Christ can we have the righteousness that surpasses those of the scribes and Pharisees.

(3 ) The SOTM is our pattern for happiness. We will talk more of this next week and on the coming weeks as we study the beatitudes.

(4) The SOTM produces a life which is as a great resource for witnessing as there can be. Listen to Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones commented on this. “The world today is looking for and desperately needs true Christians. I never stop saying that what the church needs is not to organize evangelistic campaigns to attract outside people, but to begin herself to live the Christian life. If she did that, men and women would be crowding into our buildings. They would say, “What is the secret of this?” We claim to believe that the Son of God has come into the world and has sent His Holy Spirit into us, His own absolute power that will reside in us and make us live a quality life like His own. He came I say, and lived and died and rose again and sent the Holy Spirit in order that you and I might live the sermon on the Mount. If only you and I were living the SOTM people would know the dynamic power of the Christian gospel. They would say ‘Here it is’ and not go looking for anything else.

(5) This is the only life that is truly pleasing to the Lord.