The Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew Chapter 4.
We will read from verse 23.
Matthew Chapter 4, verse 23:
And Jesus went round the whole of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the glad tidings of the kingdom,
and healing every disease and every bodily weakness among the people.
And His fame went out into the whole of Syria; and they brought to Him all that were ill, suffering under various diseases and pains, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
But seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain; and having sat down, His disciples came to Him.
Then we will have a further word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather together here this morning, our hearts are full of gratitude. We want to thank Thee for this opportunity. We thank Thee that Thou art always mindful of us, and that Thou hast gathered us together to hear Thy Word.
Dear Lord, we ask that Thou wilt speak to us. May Thy Word truly be life and spirit to us. We commit ourselves to Thee for this morning. We pray that Thou wilt open our understanding and grant to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we may truly know Thee; and to know Thee is eternal life.
We praise and thank Thee because we know that Thou art here with us, and Thy Spirit is here to do Thy work. We commit this time totally into Thy hand. We ask all in the name of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We do thank the Lord for gathering us together here at this time. I always feel that every time God’s people come together, it is the mercy of God.
We know that our Lord is coming soon, and He is preparing us for His return. So we thank Him for this opportunity, and we look to Him that He will speak to our hearts, that we may be prepared and ready for Him.
The burden of this time is on the so-called Sermon on the Mount. This is recorded in Matthew Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7.
I believe that the Sermon on the Mount, in a sense, is well known; and yet it is very little understood. What does the Lord really say to us in this sermon, and how should we respond to His Word? I think it is very important for us to know, because it has much to do with our daily living and much to do with our readiness for His return.
In order to understand what the Sermon on the Mount really teaches, I think first of all we need to understand the theme of the Gospel according to Matthew.
I believe most of us know that the Gospel according to Matthew is centered upon our Lord Jesus as King. He came into this world to set up His kingdom.
Now, truly, our Lord Jesus is the Savior of the world. His very name, Jesus, means that He shall save His people from their sins.
But notice that He shall save His people from their sins. There are His people, and He is coming to save His people. So He is King. He came into this world to save His own people from their sins.
He is not only the King of the Jews. He is the King of all those whom He has called to Himself.
You remember when our Lord Jesus was judged by Pilate, as recorded in John Chapter 18. Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Our Lord Jesus answered, “I am a King. I was born for that very purpose. But My kingdom is not of this world. I came to bear witness to the truth, and those who are of the truth hear Me.”
So we know that our Lord Jesus is the King, but His kingdom is not of this world. He is bringing the kingdom of the heavens upon this earth.
He came into His own, and His own did not receive Him. But whosoever received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. All who believe in Him are born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
In other words, our Lord Jesus came into this world to gather a people out of every tribe, every tongue, and every nation, and to gather them unto Himself to be His own people. He is to be their King.
But when our Lord came into this world, the world rejected Him. Yet, in God’s mysterious way, when the world crucified Him on the cross, there on the cross He accomplished the work of redemption. He redeemed a people unto Himself.
We may say that heaven invaded the earth. Heaven came upon this earth and drew a people into that kingdom.
By the grace of God, we who are saved, we who have received the life from above, have become the sons of the kingdom.
You remember in Matthew Chapter 13, our Lord Jesus spoke to us in parables. In the first parable, He said that the sower went out to sow the seed. The sower is none other than the Lord Himself, and the seed is the word of the kingdom.
Some seed fell by the wayside. In other words, there are some people’s hearts that are like the wayside. The seed falls there, but the ground has been trodden and hardened; then the birds come and pick up the seed.
Some seed falls on stony ground. It springs up very quickly, but because there is no root, when the sun shines upon it, it withers.
Then some falls among thorns. It does get root, but when it grows up, it is choked by the thorns, so it does not bear fruit.
But thank God that some seed falls into good ground. Patiently, it begins to grow and bear fruit: a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold.
Now, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus, when He came into this world, was the Sower, and He sowed the word of the kingdom. When the word reaches the hearts of people, there are some who receive the word of the kingdom into their hearts.
Then our Lord Jesus continued with the second parable. In the second parable, the Lord said that a man went out and sowed seed in the field. The man, again, is our Lord Jesus.
But the seed in the second parable is different. It is no longer the word of the kingdom. The seed here is the sons of the kingdom. Those who have received the word of the kingdom into their hearts become the sons of the kingdom, and the Lord sows them in the field.
The field here is not the same field as in the first parable. In the first parable, the field is the heart; but in the second parable, the field is the world. In other words, God sows the sons of the kingdom in this world.
But when men slept—and in the original, you will find that “men” is plural—it is not the singular man who sowed the seed. Who are these men? These men slept. In other words, they were not watchful. They are the servants of the Lord, but they were not watchful.
While they were sleeping, the enemy came in and sowed in the same field the bad seed, the tares, the darnel.
In the beginning, it was not noticed. But gradually, as these seeds began to grow and bear fruit, there was a great difference. The wheat, as it grows and becomes full of fruit, bends down. But the darnel remains straight and bears a kind of black seed.
At that time, the servants of the Lord began to notice the difference. They came to the master and said, “Did you not sow only the good seed? Why then are there all these bad things?”
The master knew. He said, “An enemy has done this.” Then the servants said, “Should we go out and pick them out?” But the master said, “No, do not do that, because their roots have already intertwined. When you root out the darnel, you will root out the wheat also. Let them grow until the harvest time, and the angels will come and separate them.”
So, brothers and sisters, from these parables we understand that our Lord Jesus came into this world to sow the seed, the word of the kingdom. Those who receive these words become the sons of the kingdom of the heavens.
Our Lord sowed them into this world to be a testimony to the world, until the day shall come when the kingdom of the heavens shall publicly appear on this earth.
The purpose for which our Lord came into this world was not just to save some people, but to bring them into His kingdom and to train them so that one day, when His kingdom shall appear on this earth, they shall reign with Him.
In Colossians Chapter 1, you remember these words:
He has delivered us out of the power of darkness,
and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to understand one thing: we are not only saved, but we are put into the kingdom of the heavens.
Having been put into the kingdom of the heavens, our Lord will teach us how to live in that kingdom. What is kingdom living?
Even though we are on earth, because our life is from above, we should live a heavenly life upon this earth. That is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.
In Matthew Chapter 4, we find that our Lord Jesus was preaching, and people came from all directions to hear Him. Great crowds followed Him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
When our Lord saw the crowds, He went up into the mountain. Usually, when crowds came to our Lord, He was moved with compassion, because He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. He would go out to them and heal them.
But on this particular occasion, instead of our Lord going forward to the crowds, He retreated into the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and spoke to them.
According to the traditions of the Latin church, they say that the mountain was the Horns of Hattin. It is situated near Tiberias, about seven miles from Capernaum.
There is the top of the mountain, and when you descend from the mountain, there is a lower level. When the Lord spoke in Matthew Chapters 5 through 7, He was at the top of the mountain. His disciples came to Him, and He sat down and opened His mouth.
In other words, the discourse in Matthew was given at the top of the mountain. He spoke these words to His disciples.
Even though the crowds gradually came up and also heard these words, He did not address these words to the crowds. He addressed His words particularly to His own disciples.
After He finished speaking these words, according to Luke Chapter 6, He descended to a level place. Let us turn to Luke Chapter 6. We will begin with verse 12.
And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into the mountain to pray; and He continued all night in prayer to God.
And when it was day, He called His disciples; and He chose from them twelve, whom also He named apostles.
Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew,
and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot,
and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Now notice verse 17:
And He came down with them, and stood on a level place, and a great multitude of His disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases;
and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed.
And all the multitude sought to touch Him; for power came forth from Him, and healed them all.
And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said,
Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
So you notice here in Luke Chapter 6, first He called twelve disciples to be apostles. Then He descended from the mountain to a level place. A crowd of disciples and great multitudes of people gathered to Him, and He began lifting up His eyes toward the disciples and speaking.
Now, you will find that Matthew and Luke have similarities in their words, yet there are differences. In Matthew, these words are deeper and more mysterious because He spoke His words to His disciples—perhaps to those who were being chosen.
But in Luke Chapter 6, although He lifted up His eyes and spoke to the disciples, there were crowds of disciples and great multitudes there. In other words, when He was speaking in Luke, even though He directed His speech to His disciples, He had the crowds also in mind.
Now we will ask a question, and I think this is something very important to us: What does the Lord really say in the so-called Sermon on the Mount?
When you read Matthew Chapters 5 through 7, what is your impression? What do you think the Lord is trying to say to you, and how should you respond to His words?
Usually, we think of the Sermon on the Mount as our Lord Jesus giving us a new law—the law of the kingdom of the heavens.
Moses gave the law to the children of Israel for them to keep. If they kept the commandments, then they would be God’s people and God would be their God.
So people say that when our Lord Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount, He was giving a new law, the law of the kingdom of heaven. He gave these laws that we might keep them, and by keeping them we would become citizens of the kingdom.
But there is a question: Can anyone keep the words in the Sermon on the Mount?
If you have never tried, you may think that you can. But if you really study these words, take them to heart, and truly want to do whatever the Lord has commanded, do you think you can do it?
Many have tried, but the more you try, the more you feel that it is beyond you. By our natural life, we will never be able to fulfill these words.
Then why were these words given? What is the real meaning of these words? I think this is something we need really to grasp.
We believe that the Sermon on the Mount is not a new law. It is not a law for us to keep, because this is humanly impossible.
There is only one Person who did keep these words, and that is our Lord Himself. When He was in this world, you find that He literally fulfilled every word that He spoke. He is altogether righteous.
But aside from Him, there is no one who is able to keep these words. Then what are these words? What is the real meaning behind them? What do these words really tell us?
We believe that in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord is telling us the character and nature of the kingdom of the heavens.
The kingdom of the heavens is very different from all the kingdoms on this earth. In what way is it different?
The kingdom of the heavens takes its character from the King of the heavens. Our Lord demonstrated this to us when He was on earth. He brought heaven upon this earth. He lived a heavenly life upon this earth.
This is what the kingdom of the heavens is like. In other words, the kingdom of the heavens is characterized by the King Himself. It is a description of His life, the way He lived on this earth.
That is the way all the sons of the kingdom should live. So, brothers and sisters, these words are not given as laws to be kept. These words are the description of a life.
They show us what this heavenly life is like. If we live by that life, then we will live in this way. It is a matter of life. It is a matter of grace.
The Sermon on the Mount is not a law. God has given us His own life. Our Lord Jesus Himself is our life, and He lives within us.
If we allow Him to live out through us, then this will be the way that we live. So, brothers and sisters, do not take the Sermon on the Mount as a law for us to keep, but rather see that it is grace.
We thank God that His life is in us. With these words before us, we know how we should live by that life on this earth. This is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.
But, brothers and sisters, we are not as pure as our Lord Jesus. Even though we have His life within us, and this life has a new nature, this new nature is heavenward.
If we follow this nature, we can be as our Lord Himself. But unfortunately, we still have our own life within us. With that old life, we will never be able to perform the words in the Sermon on the Mount.
There is only one way to live out these words: we must live by the new life given to us.
That new life has been proven. It has been demonstrated on this earth. When our Lord was on earth, He demonstrated to us what this heavenly life is like. That is what the kingdom of the heavens is like.
It has been tested and proven to be true. The requirement is that we must live in that life.
So, brothers and sisters, how do we enter into this life? How can we live by that life and not by the old life?
This is where the cross must work in us: to put that which is of the flesh to death so that His life may be able to take over.
This is why our Lord Jesus said:
If any man would come after Me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily,
and follow Me.
We are His disciples. We are to learn of Him. We are to be yoked together with Him.
You remember in Matthew Chapter 11, our Lord Jesus said:
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are not only saved; we are called to be disciples. We need to learn of Him and see how His life works.
But then we realize that we have our old life within us. That Adamic life is still there, and it tries to live in the old way.
But thank God, He has given us the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Whenever our own life begins to raise its head, the Holy Spirit within us will remind us.
The anointing within us teaches us all things—big things and small things. Whatever He teaches is true. If we obey His teaching, we abide in Christ.
Thank God, He has not only given us His life, but He has also given us the Holy Spirit. He is there within us, teaching us.
Every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him or her. The Holy Spirit is teaching us daily. What we need is to listen to His still, small voice.
When we obey the Holy Spirit, then our old man, our flesh, is being put to death, and the new life within us is given the opportunity to live.
At the same time, the Holy Spirit arranges our circumstances. He is the One who orders our environment.
To a believer, nothing comes by chance, because we are so precious to the Lord. Whatever happens to us, there is a meaning behind it. The Holy Spirit tries to use these things to bring our old man, our flesh, to death and to release the new life within us.
So we need to learn. We need to deny ourselves.
To deny ourselves is very simple. It means that I do not know you.
You remember Peter. He denied the Lord, and he said, “I do not know Him.” But unfortunately, he denied the wrong Person. He should have denied himself. He should have said to himself, “I do not know you.”
How often we do the same thing. Whenever our old man rises up, we should tell him, “I do not know you.” Then we take up the cross.
By doing that, the Holy Spirit begins to do the work of transformation in our lives. He will gradually transform us from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.
This is the way we enter into this heavenly life.
Now, brothers and sisters, when you read the Sermon on the Mount, what is your feeling? If you are honest, what is your feeling?
The more you read the Sermon on the Mount, the more condemned you become. Why is it so? It is because you take the Sermon on the Mount as a law, and you try to keep it yourself. You find that it is beyond you.
But this is not its purpose. The purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is actually an encouragement.
It shows us how wonderful is the life God has given to us—or, to put it more correctly, how wonderful is the Lord Himself.
It encourages us to discover Him. It encourages us to lean upon Him and to trust Him.
If we really trust in Him, then you will find that this is the result. That is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.
So, brothers and sisters, this morning I have only one burden, and that is that I hope every brother and sister will see the Sermon on the Mount from a different viewpoint.
Do not allow the Sermon on the Mount to condemn you. Let it encourage you, knowing that with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
If we can have this kind of attitude, then when you read and find that there is something lacking, look to the Lord and say, “With me, it is impossible; but with You, it is possible. I want to put my confidence in You.”
May the Lord help us. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, how we want to praise and thank Thee, because Thou lovest us so much. Thou hast not only given Thy life to us, but Thou showest us by Thy Word how wonderful that life is, how practical that life is, and how livable that life is.
Dear Lord, we ask Thee to enable us to really lean upon Thy life, and let Thy life be released from and through us, that Thy name may be honored and glorified.
Again, we commit ourselves to Thy will. May Thy Holy Spirit lead us into all truth, that Thou mayest be honored and glorified. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.