CHAPTER 5

(A.D. 31)

SERMON ON THE MOUNT: INTRODUCTION

¹And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain (unknown, but probably was a small mountain near the Sea of Galilee; two sermons, both delivered on mountains, opened and closed the Lords public Ministry; the last was upon Olivet near Jerusalem [Mat., Chpt. 24]): and when He was set (He sat down in order to Teach, which was the custom at that time), His Disciples came unto Him (referring not to the Twelve, but to any and all who closely followed Him at that time):

²And He opened His Mouth (signifying a carefully thought out Message of purpose and will), and taught them, saying (begins the greatest moment ofspiritual and Scriptural instruction that had ever been given in the history of mankind),

THE BEATITUDES

³Blessed (happy)are the poor in spirit (conscious of moral poverty): for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (the moral characteristics of the citizens of the Kingdom of the heavens; and so it is apparent that the New Birth is an absolute necessity for entrance into that Kingdom [Jn. 3:3]; this Kingdom is now present spiritually, but not yet physically).

⁴Blessed are they who mourn (grieved because of personal sinfulness): for they shall be comforted (what the Holy Spirit will do for those who properly evaluate their spiritual poverty).

⁵Blessed are the meek (the opposite of the self-righteous; the first two Beatitudes guarantee the meekness): for they shall inherit the earth (speaks of the coming Kingdom Age, when the Kingdom of Heaven will be brought down to Earth, when the Saints will rule, with Christ as its Supreme Lord).

⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst (intense desire) after Righteousness (Gods Righteousness, imputed by Christ, upon Faith in His Finished Work): for they shall be filled (but first of all must be truly empty of all self-worth).

⁷Blessed are the merciful (shows itself in action which goes beyond the thought): for they shall obtain mercy (to obtain mercy from God, we must show mercy to others).

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart (those who have received a new moral nature in regeneration): for they shall see God (will see Him manifest Himself in ones life).

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers (pertains to peace with God, which comes with Salvation, and all who proclaim such are called peacemakers): for they shall be called the Children of God (expresses the peacemaker and the one who has received the peace).

¹⁰Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake (means that those who operate from the realm of self-righteousness will persecute those who trust in Gods Righteousness): for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (having Gods Righteousness, which is solely in Christ, such have the Kingdom of Heaven).

¹¹Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake (only Christ could say, For My sake, for He is God; there is an offence to the Cross [Gal. 5:11]).

¹²Rejoice (the present inner result of one who is blessed), and be exceeding glad (self-righteousness persecuting Righteousness is the guarantee of the possession of Righteousness, and the occasion for great joy): for great is your reward in Heaven (meaning it will not necessarily come while on Earth): for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you (presents the fact that Gods Way will bring persecution, severely so, at times by both the world andthe Church).

BELIEVERS ARE AS SALT AND LIGHT

¹³You are the salt (preservative) of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men (Salt is a Type of the Word of God; the professing Believer who no longer holds to the Word is of no use to God or man).

¹⁴You are the Light of the world (we are a reflector of the Light which comes from Christ). A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid (proper light will not, and in fact, cannot be hid).

¹⁵Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick (the light is not to be hid); and it gives light unto all who are in the house (that is the purpose of the light).

¹⁶Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works (proper Faith will always produce proper works, but proper works will never produce proper Faith), and glorify your Father which is in Heaven (proper works will glorify our Heavenly Father, while improper works glorify man).

CHRIST AND THE LAW

¹⁷Think not that I am come to destroy the Law (this was the Law of Moses), or the Prophets (the predictions of the Prophets of the Old Testament): I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill (Jesus fulfilled the Law by meeting its just demands with a Perfect Life, and satisfying its curse by dying on the Cross [Gal. 3:13]).

¹⁸For verily I say unto you (proclaims the ultimate authority!), Till Heaven and Earth pass (means to be changed, or pass from one condition to another, which will take place in the coming Perfect Age [Rev., Chpts. 21-22]), one jot (smallestletter in the Hebrew alphabet) or one tittle (a minute ornamental finish to ancientHebrew letters) shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled (the Law was meant to be fulfilled in Christ, and was in fact, totally fulfilled by Christ, in His Life, Death, and Resurrection, with a New Testament or New Covenant being brought about [Acts 15:5-29; Rom. 10:4; II Cor. 3:6-15; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:21-31; 5:1-5, 18; Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14-17]).

¹⁹Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven (those who are disloyal to the authority of the Word of God shall be judged; He shall be called the least, means that he will not be in the Kingdom at all): but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven (the Lord sets the Bible as the Standard of all Righteousness, and He recognizes no other).

²⁰For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed therighteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees (which was self-righteousness), you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (the absolute necessity of the New Birth is declared here as imperative in every case).

JESUS AND ANGER

²¹You have heard that it was said by them of old time (referring back to the Law of Moses), Thou shall not kill (should have been translated, You shall not murder); and whosoever shall kill (murder) shall be in danger of the judgment (Ex. 20:13; Lev. 24:21; Num., Chpt. 35; Deut. 5:17; 19:12);

²²But I say unto you (Christ gives the true interpretation of the Bible, with in fact, the Bible and Christ, in essence, being one and the same), That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause (places unjust anger in the same category as murder, i.e., springs from an evil heart) shall be in danger of the judgment (certain of judgment): and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (the words Raca and thou fool were Hebrew expressions of murderous anger), shall be in danger of the Council (Sanhedrin): but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire (men may beat justice in a human court of law, but will never do such in Gods Court of Law).

ON RESTITUTION AND PRAYER

²³Therefore if you bring your gift to the Altar (referring to the Brazen Altar as used in the offering of Sacrifices in the Law of Moses), and there remember that your brother has ought against you (is meant to describe our relationship with our fellowman);

²⁴Leave there your gift before the Altar (the intimation is that the Lord will not accept our gift unless we do all within our power to make things right with the offended party), and go your way (make every effort to bring about reconciliation,if at all possible); first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (worship will not be accepted by the Lord, if we have wronged our brother, and have not done all within our power to make amends).

CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIPS

²⁵Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him (if we offend our brother and do not make amends, the Lord becomes our adversary, or opponent, which places one in a serious situation indeed); lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison (regarding a Believer who offends a fellow Christian, and will not make amends, God becomes that persons Adversary, and thereby is Judge instead of his Saviour, and spiritually speaking, puts such a person in a spiritual prison).

²⁶Verily I say unto you (the absolute solemnity of this statement), You shall by no means come out thence (come out of this spiritual prison), till you have paid the uttermost farthing (the Lords method of teaching was symbolic andfigurative; if the Believer doesnt make amends with his fellowman who he has wronged, he will suffer one reverse after the other; God will see to it).

JESUS TEACHING ON ADULTERY

²⁷You have heard that it was said by them of old time (the Mosaic Law), You shall not commit adultery (the Seventh Commandment [Ex. 20:14]).

²⁸But I say unto you (the phrase does not deny the Law of Moses, but rather takes it to its conclusion, which could only be done by Christ; the Old Covenantpointed the way to the New Covenant, which came with Christ), That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her (to look with intense sexual desire) has committed adultery with her already in his heart (the Lord addresses the root of sin, which is an evil heart; the Cross is the only answer).

²⁹And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you (as stated, the Lords method of teaching was symbolic and figurative): for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Hell (the Lord does not intend for His statement to be taken literally, as He has already explained that the offence is not in the eye or hand, but, instead, the heart!; in effect, a blind man can lust).

³⁰And if your right hand offend you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Hell (showing the fact that if such action is not stopped, the person will lose their soul; as stated, the Cross is the only means by which evil passions can be subdued [Rom. 6:3-5, 11, 14]).

ON DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

³¹It has been said (Deut. 24:1-4), Whosoever shall put away his wife (refers todivorce proceedings), let him give her a writing of divorcement (the Jews had perverted the Law, greatly weakening the sanctity of marriage):

³²But I say unto you (the Lord now gives the true meaning of the Law), That whosoever shall put away his wife (divorce her), saving for the cause of fornication (cohabiting with others, thereby breaking the marriage vows), causes her to commit adultery (if she marries someone else, but the intimation is that the fault is not hers): and whosoever shall marry her who is divorced commits adultery (the man who marries the woman who is divorced unscripturally, even though its not her fault, commits adultery as well; we should learn here the sanctity of marriage, with divorce and remarriage allowed only on the grounds of fornication and spiritual desertion [I Cor. 7:10-11]).

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WORDS

³³Again, you have heard that it has been said by them of old time (such phraseology means that the Word of God had been twisted to mean something it did not say), You shall not forswear yourself, but shall perform unto the Lord your oaths (Vss. 33-37 have to do with the Third Commandment, You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain [Ex. 20:7]):

³⁴But I say unto you (proclaiming the true meaning of the Law), Swear not at all; neither by Heaven; for it is Gods Throne (this has nothing to do with profanity, but rather of flippantly using Gods Name):

³⁵Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King (not only must the Name of God not be flippantly used, but as well, His Creation is off limits also).

³⁶Neither shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black (man is Gods highest creation).

³⁷But let your communication be (verbal communication with others), Yes, yes; No, no: for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil (the followers of Christ must stand out by their truthfulness, honesty, and integrity; subterfuge and doubletalk are out).

RETALIATION

³⁸You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ([Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21]; the letter of the Law was that which God would carry out in His Own way [Mat. 7:2] man was not to resort to such, even as Jesus will now say):

³⁹But I say unto you, That you resist not evil (do not reward evil with evil): but whosoever shall smite you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (once again, the language is figurative, for the Lord when smitten on the cheek [Jn. 18:22-23] did not turn the other cheek but with dignity rebuked the assailant).

⁴⁰And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also (this does not refer to righteous action, which is sometimes necessary, but rather to a contentious spirit, which demands ones rights, down to the minute detail).

⁴¹And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two (the entirety of the idea has to do with the heart of man, not so much his outward actions, but which most surely would guide his actions accordingly).

⁴²Give to him who asks of you, and from him who would borrow of you turn not you away (this pertains to those truly in need, and not those who are lazy and will not work [II Thess. 3:10]).

THE LAW OF LOVE

⁴³You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy (once again, Christ is correcting the perversion of Scripture; the hating of the enemy was probably derived from Deut. 7:1-6; but nowhere in that Passage does it say to hate the enemy; while we are to hate the sin, we are not to hate the sinner [Jn. 3:16]).

⁴⁴But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them who curse you, do good to them who hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (the actions of the enemies of goodness and of righteousness are to be hated with a holy hatred; but personal hatred is to be met by love);

⁴⁵That you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (we are to imitate our Heavenly Father).

⁴⁶For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? (Only those who have the true Love of God in their hearts can love those who do not love them.)

⁴⁷And if you salute your Brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so? (If our love is of no greater definition than that of the world, then our claims are empty.)

⁴⁸Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect (Jesus is not teaching sinless perfection, for the Bible does not teach such; He is teaching that our imitation of our Heavenly Father must be as perfect as possible; the Holy Spirit Alone can help us do these things, which He does according to our Faith in Christ and the Cross [Rom. 8:1-2, 11]).