Matthew 5

CHAPTER 5THEME: The beginning of the so-called Sermon on the Mount dealing with the relationship of the subjects of the Kingdom to self and to law

Matthew 5:1

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNTAlthough we will consider each chapter of the Sermon on the Mount separately, let’s first consider it as a whole. The Lord Jesus gave four major discourses. Matthew records three of them: (1) the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7; (2) the Mystery Parables Discourse, chapter 13; and (3) the Olivet Discourse, chapters 24-25. The Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the King. The Mystery Parables Discourse gives the direction that the Kingdom of Heaven will take after Christ’s rejection. The Olivet Discourse is prophetic, looking toward the future.

There is a fourth discourse, recorded in John’s Gospel, which deals with new truths and relationships in view of Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession. You and I are vitally connected with this latter discourse, by the way. While the Sermon on the Mount is in Matthew 5-7, excerpts of it are in the other Gospels, also. It is unlikely that our Lord gave it only one time. He repeated, as you know, a great deal of the truths that He gave and probably gave this message, which we call the Sermon on the Mount, on many occasions. Luke records only a portion of it and mentions the fact that our Lord came down and stood on the plain, indicating that this was a different occasion. Frankly, Matthew’s account is probably only a part of the Sermon on the Mount. I believe that our Lord gave a great deal more than we have here. However, this was given for our learning and our understanding today. There are two things I would like to say by way of introduction to this section. One is that the far right and the far left are not confined to politics, but among theologians who expound Scripture we also have the far left and the far right. This is vividly revealed in the understanding of the Sermon on the Mount. The liberal theologian is to the far left. He treats the Sermon on the Mount as the gospel, the good news. He acts (even if he doesn’t say it) as if it were the only important part of Scripture. Many years ago I played handball with a very liberal preacher who later became rather famous as a leader of the liberal wing. One day he told me that all he needed of the Bible was the Sermon on the Mount. He went even so far as to say that all he needed was the Golden Rule, as recorded in Mat_7:12: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” To say that this is all the Bible you need may sound good, but it is pious drivel. The question is not whether you feel that the Sermon on the Mount is your religion. The question is: Are you living it? That is the important thing, and we’ll have more to say about that later. Those who reduce the Christian message to the Sermon on the Mount represent a very large segment of liberalism in our day. But please notice that the content of the Christian gospel is not found in the Sermon on the Mount. For instance, there is absolutely no mention of the death and resurrection of Christ. Yet Paul said to the Corinthians, “…I declare unto you the gospel….” What is the gospel? The Sermon on the Mount? No.

Paul made it clear that the gospel is this: “…that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1Co_15:1, 1Co_15:3-4, italics mine). My friend, the gospel is not in the Sermon on the Mount, and that is the reason a great many people like to claim it as their religion. The preaching of that doctrine has made more hypocrites in the church than anything else. It is nothing in the world but verbiage for men to say, “I live by the Sermon on the Mount.” If a man is honest and will read the Sermon on the Mount, he will know that he is not living up to it. My friend, if the Sermon on the Mount is God’s standard (and it is) and you come short of it, what are you going to do? Do you have a Savior who can extend mercy to you? Do you know the One who can reach down in grace and save you when you put your faith in Him? To reduce the Christian message to the Sermon on the Mount is a simplicity which the Scriptures would not permit under any circumstances whatsoever. To do so is the extreme left point of view. There is also the extreme right point of view. This group treats the Sermon on the Mount as if it were the bubonic plague. They have nothing to do with it. They give the impression that there is something ethically wrong with it. This group is known as hyper-dispensationalists. (Don’t misunderstand, I am a dispensationalist but not a hyper-dispensationalist.) They maintain that we can’t use the Sermon on the Mount at all. In fact, one of them told me that the Lord’s Prayer has no meaning for us today.

He was a prominent man, and after I heard him make that statement, I ran a sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, I have a book entitled Let Us Pray which deals with the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer does have meaning for us in our day. It is for us although it is not to us. But the extreme right want to rule it out entirely. It is true that there is no gospel in the Sermon on the Mount, and it is tragic indeed to give it to unregenerate man as a standard of conduct, and to tell him that if he tries to measure up to it, he is a Christian. The Sermon on the Mount is Law lifted to the nth degree. Man could not keep the Law in the Old Testament. So how in the world can he keep, in his own strength, the Sermon on the Mount which is elevated to an even higher degree? It is likewise true that the modus operandi for Christian living is not really found in the Sermon on the Mount. It gives the ethic without supplying the dynamic. Living by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is just not one of the truths taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul says: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom_8:3-4). You don’t find that teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. It contains nothing of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. However, it does contain high ethical standards and practices which are not contrary to Christian living; in fact, it expresses the mind of Christ which should be the mind of the Christian also. The great principles set down here are profitable for the Christian to study and learn, but he can never attain them in his own strength; he must go elsewhere to look for the power. What you have in the Sermon on the Mount is a marvelous electric light bulb, but you do not have the generator that produces the power that will make the light. And it is the light, not the bulb, that is all important. The primary purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to set before men the law of the Kingdom. In Matthew we are talking about the King who has come to present Himself. John the Baptist was His forerunner, and the King called disciples to follow Him. Now He enunciates the law of the Kingdom. This is the manifesto of the King and the platform of the Prince of Peace. And it’s law!

It will be the law of this world during the Millennium, and then it will find full fruition. Christ will reign on earth in person and will enforce every word of it. The Sermon on the Mount will finally prevail when He whose right it is to rule shall come. Now it’s inconceivable to me that anyone who acknowledges Him today as Lord would despise this document or turn from it. The Christian who calls Jesus Christ Lord, will seek to do what He commands, but he can obey only in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is worse than futile to try to force the Sermon on the Mount on a gainsaying and rebellious world.

Only the gospel of the grace of God can make men obedient to Christ, and it was given to bring men into obedience to God. The Sermon on the Mount needs to be preached to bring conviction to the hearts of men. This document lets men know that they have sinned, and it reveals that none are righteous and that all have come short of God’s glory. The Christian can take the principles set down in the Sermon on the Mount and consider them in the light of other Scriptures. This will provide a wider view and a better understanding of the mind of Christ. For example, only here can you find Christ’s definition of murder and adultery. Christ took two of the commandments and lifted them to the nth degree, “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exo_20:13-14). Are these the only two which He lifted to a higher level? The answer seems to be obvious.

These are the only two which are recorded in Matthew. Apparently, He did or could lift each commandment to a much higher level of attainment. If it could be said of the Mosaic Law, “…for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal_2:16), then it would be ten times more difficult for a man to be justified by the Sermon on the Mount. Try putting down upon your own life these two commandments: “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Let me illustrate what I mean by a little story. This incident took place during my first pastorate when I was a lot more blunt than I am now. An elder in the church I served in Nashville, Tennessee, invited me to speak at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon. This elder was a very wonderful man. He was the vice-president of a bank in the city, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and when he asked me to bring a brief message, he said, “You won’t have but a few minutes, but I want you to give these businessmen the gospel.” Well, I arrived at the place a little early, and there were several men standing around. I went up near the speaker’s table, and there was a man there who shook hands with me and began to rip out oaths.

I had never seen such a fine-looking, well-dressed man curse as this man did. Finally, he said to me, “What’s your racket?” I told him that I was a preacher, and he began to cover up immediately. He apologized for his language. He didn’t need to apologize to me; he needed to apologize to God because God heard him all the timewhich I told him. Then he wanted me to know that he was an officer in a certain liberal church, and he boasted, “The Sermon on the Mount is my religion.” “It is?” I said, “Let’s shake hands. I congratulate youyou’ve got a wonderful religion! By the way, how are you doing with it?” “What do you mean?” “You said that the Sermon on the Mount is your religion. Are you living by it?” “Well I try.” “That’s not quite it. The Lord said that you are blessed if you do those things, not if you vote for them. Are you keeping it?” “I think I am.” “Do you mind if we take a little test?” “All right.” “The Sermon on the Mount says that if you are angry with your brother you are guilty of murder. Are you keeping that one?” “Well, that’s pretty strong, but I don’t think I have been angry enough to kill anyone.” Then I quoted the one the Lord gave on adultery: “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (v. Mat_5:28), and asked him, “How about that one?” “Oh, I guess that would get me.” “Well, I imagine that there are several things in the Sermon on the Mount that would get you. Apparently you are not living by your religion. If I were you, I’d change my religion and get something that works.” Oh, how many people there are like that man! They very piously say that the Sermon on the Mount is their religion, but all they mean is that they think it is a good document and a very fine expression, but it doesn’t affect them one whit. I found out later that the man I was talking with had two wivesone at home and one at his office. My friend, if the Sermon on the Mount is your religion, you had better make sure you are keeping it. It is loaded with law. But if you will look at the Sermon on the Mount honestly, it will bring you to a Savior who died for you on the cross. The Sermon on the Mount sets before us great principles and high goals. We need to know them, but they reveal how far we come short. Matthew’s record of the Sermon on the Mount is, I am sure, only a skeleton of Christ’s actual message. I have divided it like this:

1. Relationship of the subjects of the Kingdom to self (Mat_5:1-16).
2. Relationship of the subjects of the Kingdom to law (Mat_5:17-18).
3. Relationship of the subjects of the Kingdom to God (Matt. 6).
4. Relationship of the subjects of the Kingdom to others (Matt. 7). The Sermon on the Mount opens with the Beatitudes. It is well to note that they are be-attitudes, not do-attitudes. They state what the subjects of the Kingdom arethey are the type of person described in the Beatitudes. Verse Mat_5:1 makes it clear why this discourse is called the Sermon on the Mount. First it should be noted that the Lord did not actually give the Sermon on the Mount to the multitudes. He gave it to His disciples, those who were already His. RELATIONSHIP OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM TO SELFAlthough He did not actually give the Sermon on the Mount to the multitudes, He gave it to the disciples because He saw the multitudes and their need. Therefore, it was given to the multitudes indirectly. In our day, men need first to come to Christ. While the Kingdom is actually in abeyance, the present state of it is a place where the seed is being sown, and the seed is the Word of God. Our business in the world is to sow the seed, and the day is coming when Christ will establish His Kingdom upon this earth.

Matthew 5:3

This verse says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It doesn’t tell you how to become poor in spirit; it just says,“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” In these twelve verses, our Lord used the word blessed nine times. By the way, the Psalms open with the same word: “Blessed is the man …” (Psa_1:1). This is in contrast to the curses of the Mosaic Law. You may remember that Joshua was told that when the people of Israel were come over Jordan, they were to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people. And then the curses were to be given from Mount Ebal. The blessings from the Sermon on the Mount are in sharp contrast to the curses from Mount Ebal, and they far exceed the blessings from Mount Gerizim, because Christ alone can bring those blessings.

In our day only the saved sinner can know his poverty of spirit"Blessed are the poor in spirit." The Sermon on the Mount, instead of making folk poor in spirit, makes them boastlike the man I referred to. He was boasting that the Sermon on the Mount was his religion, and he was trying to kid himself and kid me into thinking that he was keeping it. He wasn’t keeping it at all; it was just making a hypocrite out of him. And there are a lot of those around. I played golf one day in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a very wealthy oil man. He told me, “I went to church just like the rest of the hypocrites, and I was one of them, talking about keeping the Sermon on the Mount. Then one day I found out that I was a lost sinner on the way to hell. I turned to Jesus Christ, and He saved me!” Oh, my friend, don’t be deceived. Only the Spirit of God can reveal to you your poverty of spirit. The Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount was not telling His disciples how to become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. They already were citizens of the Kingdom. We Christians today are actually very poor in spirit, we are spiritually bankrupt, but we have something to give which is more valuable than silver and gold. Paul expressed it this way: ‘As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2Co_6:10). “As poor, yet making many rich” is referring to spiritual riches which are available to everyone who belongs to Christ. The next beatitude is:

Matthew 5:4

It is interesting to note that the same thoughts expressed in the Beatitudes can be found elsewhere in the Scriptures. The poor in spirit are referred to in Zep_3:12. Micah is an example of those who mourn and are comforted (see ch. 7).

Matthew 5:5

We find this in Psa_37:11. The meek are not inheriting the earth in this day in which we liveI’m sure you recognize that. So apparently the Sermon on the Mount is not in effect today. However, when Christ is reigning, the meek will inherit the earth. How do you become meek? Our Lord was meek and lowly, and He will inherit all things; we are the heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. We are told that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance, and meekness. Only the Spirit of God can break you and make you meek. If you could produce meekness by your own effort, you would be proud of yourself, wouldn’t you? And out goes your meekness!

Meekness is not produced by self-effort but by Spirit effort. Only the Holy Spirit can produce meekness in the heart of a yielded Christian. The Christian who has learned the secret of producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit can turn here to the Beatitudes and read, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,” and see that the rewards of meekness are still in the future. Paul asked the Corinthian believers, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? …” (1Co_6:2). The Beatitudes present goals which the child of God wants to realize in his own life, but he can’t do it on his own. You may have heard of the preacher who had a message entitled “Meekness and How I Attained It.” He said that he hadn’t delivered his message yet, but as soon as he got an audience big enough, he was going to give it! Well, I have a notion that he had long since lost his meekness. Meekness can only be a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Then in verse six we are told:

Matthew 5:6

What about the natural man; does he hunger and thirst for righteousness? The ones I meet do not! “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Co_2:14). The “natural man” is in contrast to the spiritual man who has found that Christ is his righteousness"…of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1Co_1:30).

Matthew 5:7

This beatitude is so misunderstood in our day because it makes our obtaining mercy conditional on our being merciful. This is not the condition on which we obtain mercy"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Tit_3:5, italics mine). We should be merciful because we have obtained mercy. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1Pe_2:9-10).

Matthew 5:8

No honest man can say that his heart is pure. How can the heart of man, which is desperately wicked, be made clean? The Lord Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (Joh_15:3). It is by the washing of regeneration that we are made clean. Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from all sin (see 1Jn_1:7).

Matthew 5:9

Can you name one peacemaker in the world right now? There is no one today who can make peace. Christ alone is the great Peacemaker. He made peace by His blood between a righteous God and an unrighteous sinner. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom_5:1).

Matthew 5:10

The application of this beatitude to our day and to the remnant of Israel during the Great Tribulation is easy to see. But can it apply to the Kingdom which is to be established? Won’t all evil be removed in the Kingdom? Well, many Scriptures show that in the millennial Kingdom there will still be evil in the world because it will be a time of testing. The outbreak of rebellion at the end of the Millennium reveals that evil will be prevalent during the Millennium (see Rev_20:7-9).

Matthew 5:13

God’s people in any age and under any condition are both salt and light in the world. The Scots translate “savour” by the more expressive word tang. I like their word much better. “If the salt has lost its tang.” The problem today is that most church members have not only lost their tang as salt, but as pepper they have lost their pep also. We have very few salt and pepper Christians in our day. Now salt doesn’t keep fermentation and that type of thing from taking place, but it will arrest it. You and I ought to be the salt in the earth and have an influence for good in the world. Christians are also the light of the world. Certainly in the Kingdom the believers are going to be the light of the world. This is a tremendous principle for us. We need to be a light in our neighborhood and wherever we go. We have no light within ourselves, but the Word of God is light. Being a light means giving out the Word of God in one way or another. This doesn’t mean that you should be quoting Scripture all the time, but it does mean that you are to share the light that God has given you. It is very easy to cultivate some person, then quietly and graciously introduce them to a Bible-teaching church or radio program. There are many ways in which you can be light in the world.

Matthew 5:16

There are those of the liberal persuasion that feel the Sermon on the Mount is anthropocentric, or man-centered, rather than theocentric, or God-centered. (Those are their terms.) But, obviously, the Sermon on the Mount is not anthropocentric, man-centered. It is theocentric. Does this verse say, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify you and pat you on the back, and give you a gold medal and a loving cup?” No! This verse says that you and I are to let our light so shine in this world that we may glorify our Father which is in heaven. The Sermon on the Mount is God-centered. During the Millennium, during the Kingdom here on earth, everything which is done and said will be God-centered.

And in the present age, in this lost world in which you and I live today, our prime motivation should be to bring glory to God. This is something that every Christian should consider very seriously. The aim and purpose of our lives should be to glorify our God.

Matthew 5:17

RELATIONSHIP OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM TO LAWRemember that part of the Mosaic Law was the ceremonial law. Christ was the sacrifice for the sins of the world, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth. Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill the Law. He fulfilled it in that He kept it during His earthly life. And the standard which was set before man He was able to attain, and now He is able to make over to you and me (and every believer) His own righteousness. God’s standards have not changed, but you and I cannot attain them in our own strength. We need help; we need a Savior. We do need mercy, and we obtain mercy when we come to Christ.

Matthew 5:18

I hope you don’t misinterpret what I am saying in this section which we call the Sermon on the Mount. I am not saying that we are free to break the Mosaic Law. The fact of the matter is that the Law is still a standard. It reveals to me that I cannot measure up to God’s standard. This drives me to the Cross of Christ. The only way I can fulfill the Law is by accepting the only One who could fulfill itJesus Christ.

Matthew 5:19

You cannot break the commandments and get by with it. But you cannot keep them in your own strength. The only way you can keep them is to come to Jesus Christ for salvation, power, and strength. The commandments are not a way of salvation but a means to show you the way to salvation through the acceptance of the work of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 5:20

It is very important to see His point right here. The Pharisees had a high degree of righteousness according to the Law, but that was not acceptable. How can you and I surpass their righteousness? It is impossible in our own efforts. We need Christ to do it for us.

Matthew 5:21

This is a tremendous statement! It means that if you are angry with your brother, you are a murderer! Do you claim to be keeping the Mosaic Law? You cannot break the Law and get by with it. You can’t get by with mouthing the boast that the Sermon on the Mount is your religion and then break every part of it. My friend, both you and I need a Savior who has perfectly kept the Law and can impute to us His own righteousness.

Matthew 5:26

Note that Jesus says, “Verily I say unto thee.” He is lifting His teaching above the teaching of Moses. He is lifting Himself to the position of the Lawgiver and also the Interpreter, by the way.

Matthew 5:27

For many years I have publicly made the statement that nobody but the Lord Jesus has ever kept the Law. One Sunday morning I repeated it in my message, and afterward a big, burly, red-faced fellow came to me and said, “You always say that nobody keeps the Law. I want you to know that I keep the Law!” By the way, he belonged to a cult although he attended services at the church I pastored. Since he claimed to keep the Law, I said, “All right, let’s look at it,” and I showed him verse Mat_5:22 regarding hatred being the same as murder. He said that he kept that, although I don’t believe that he did. So I gave him verse Mat_5:28 and said,“It says here that if you so much as look upon a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery.

Now look me straight in the eye and tell me that you have never done that.” He was red-faced to begin with, but you should have seen him thenhe was really red-faced. He grunted some sort of epithet, turned on his heels, and walked out. Of course, he walked out! And I say to you, if you are honest, you will not claim to be keeping the Law. Remember that there were ten commandments. Although Matthew mentions only these two that Christ dealt with, I am of the opinion that He lifted all ten of them to the nth degree. Oh, my friend, the Sermon on the Mount shows me that I have sinned and that I need to come to Him for mercy and help. To say that you are living by the Sermon on the Mount while all the time you are breaking it is to declare that the Law is not important. In the following verses the Lord deals in a tremendous way with the Law and man’s relationship to it.

Matthew 5:29

This is severe, very severe, and it reveals, friends, that if you cannot meet God’s standards, you need a Savior. Don’t kid yourself and fool around with pretending that you are keeping the Law. You are only being a hypocrite. In Christian circles we are intent upon patting each other on the back and complimenting one another and giving each other credit for what we do when all the time we all are a pack of low-down, dirty, rotten sinners, not even fit for heaven. The Sermon on the Mount ought to drive you to the Cross of Christ where you cry out for mercy. To do that is to honor the Law, my friend. Don’t try to kid me into thinking that you are keeping it. I know you’re notbecause you are just like I am.

Matthew 5:31

Here the Lord gives the grounds for divorce. If someone is divorced for a reason not given in Scripture, that person is an adulterer. This is something that is entirely ignored today in Christian circles. This, however, will be the Law during the Kingdom age because there will be men and women who will want to leave their mates during that period. We will deal with the divorce question in some detail when we get to chapter 19.

Matthew 5:33

The Lord Jesus is saying that we are to be the kind of persons who don’t have to take an oath. As a boy, I can remember that my dad could go into the bank and borrow money, then come back a couple of days later to sign the note. Or he could call the bank by phone and have a certain amount of money credited to his account. Well, believe me, it is different in our day. Why? Because there are a lot more folk today who cannot be trusted. The Lord says that the child of God, under all circumstances, should be trustworthy. The Lord says:

Matthew 5:37

When a man says to me, “I’d swear on a stack of Bibles a mile high,” that is the fellow I do not believe because I think the lie he’s telling is a mile high.

Matthew 5:38

All of that will be changed when Christ is reigning in His Kingdom.

Matthew 5:39

Do you live like this, or do you resist evil? There is a principle for us here, but we are living in a day when a wise man armed keepeth his house. And Paul could say, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works” (2Ti_4:14). In the Kingdom you will be able to turn the other cheek. It reminds me of the Irishman whom someone hit on the cheek and knocked down. The Irishman got up and turned his other cheek. The fellow knocked him down again. This time the Irishman got up and beat the stuffin’ out of that fellow. An observer asked, “Why did you do that?” “Well,” replied the Irishman, “the Lord said to turn the other cheek and I did, but He never told me what to do after that.”

Matthew 5:40

If you have a banker who says that he is living by the Sermon on the Mount, give this verse to him and see how far you get with it. Let’s quit being hypocrites and realize that this is the law of the Kingdom. When my Lord is on the throne down here on this earth, folk can live this way. In our day, business could not be conducted by this law. Years ago Archbishop McGee of Ireland said that it was impossible to conduct the affairs of the British nation on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount. I do not know whether I am related to Archbishop McGee or not, but I certainly find that I think as he did about the Sermon on the Mount. Although it contains great principles for the Christian in our day, it can be enforced only when Christ is on the throne. I think that ought to be quite obvious. In our contemporary society many of the wealthy churches say that they follow the Sermon on the Mount. That is what the congregation gets as a steady diet on Sunday morning. However, if you go to the rich and try to get something from them, you won’t get very far, I assure you. On Sunday they hear, “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” It sounds great. They think the Sermon on the Mount is a great document, but on Monday morning it is cold-blooded business and cash on the barrelhead. That, of course, is the way the business world is set up today. However, there is a great principle in these verses for us, and we should not miss that. Certainly we should be helpful to those who are in need. And there are many fine Christian acts that can be performed by believers. Historically, hospitals, orphan homes, and works of charity (which the Bible calls acts of love) have followed the preaching of the gospel. I do not know any place on earth where they preceded the gospel, but they always followed it. There should be the fruit of good works in a believer’s life.

Matthew 5:43

This rule, I insist, is for the Kingdom. The Lord Jesus lifts the Mosaic Law to the nth degree. He says that in the Kingdom the enemy is to be loved instead of hated. The believer today operates on a different principle. We are commanded to love all believers, and we express our love to our enemies by getting the gospel to them, giving them the message of God’s saving grace that is able to bring them to heaven. In concluding this chapter, our Lord says that we are to be perfect

Matthew 5:48

How is it possible for you and me to be perfect? We are accepted in Christ, in the beloved. There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ, and we get in Christ by faith in Him. The only way we can become perfect is through our faith in ChristChrist imputes to us His righteousness. And then begins the slow process of sanctification in which God attempts to conform us to the image of His Son. This, of course, should be the goal of every believer. But seeking to attain perfection by our own efforts is absolutely futile. Do you think that you can go to God and say, “Look what I have done: look how wonderful I am,” trying to get all the glory for yourself and to force God to save you on that basis? My friend, you are going to do nothing of the kind because you and I are not perfect. Most of us remember this: Little Jack Horner Sat in a corner Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said, What a good boy am I! We see a lot of that in religion today. Little folk sit around, reach in their thumb, and pull out a plum and say, “What a good boy am I!” My friend, you and I are not good by God’s standards. We need a Savior. As we have seen, in this chapter the King speaks of the righteousness which His subjects must possess. And it must be a righteousness to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. They had a religious righteousness. For instance, Nicodemus was an outstanding man, and he was religious. You can’t find much to criticize about him. But our Lord said to him, “You have to be born again” (see Joh_3:1-8). Now we have to have a righteousness superior to that of the scribes and the Pharisees, and it can only come through trust in Christ.