The law concerning retaliation, Matthew 5:38-42

For several weeks now we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount.  And as I have said, that’s not really the best title for Christ’s message. He didn’t title it as that, that’s just the title that became associated with it by commentators and theologians down through the years.  I think a better title is the Manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Because what Jesus has been presenting in this message is a declaration of the Kingdom of Heaven.  The kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom, and thus it’s called the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of

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Divorce and vows before God, Matthew 5:31-37

As we continue in our ongoing study of the Sermon on the Mount, we are now in the middle of an exposition which Jesus is giving concerning the law.  Jesus has said that rather than diminishing the law, or abolishing the law, He has actually come to accomplish it and fulfill it.  And in regards to our responsibility to the law, He has said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees then we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. So to that point, in regards to how we must exceed the righteousness of the scribes

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The sinfulness of sin, Matthew 5:27-30

As most of you are aware, we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount for a few months now.  And we have come to this particular passage today by the providence of God.  However, we must be careful to remember the context of the message, and not take this passage in isolation.   The context of the Lord’s sermon is that He is presenting the Manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord of the Kingdom of God, in which He reigns on earth in the hearts and minds of His people.  And so far

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You shall not murder, Matthew 5:21-26

We have been studying the Sermon on the Mount for a couple of months or more now, and we are continuing today in the passage before us.  However, it’s important to recognize the context of the verses we are looking at.  They must be understood in context with all that has been said before it. The Sermon on the Mount may also be called the Manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven.  I believe that is a better title because it describes the purpose of Christ’s sermon.  Jesus is presenting the characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven

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Exceeding the righteousness of Pharisees, Matthew 5:17-20

For those of you that are visiting this morning, I should explain that we are studying the Sermon on the Mount as a series on Sunday mornings. We have been studying it in detail over the last few months and find ourselves at this particular passage today as we look at it in the order that Jesus presented. I would remind you that this is Jesus’s first recorded sermon as He begins His ministry on earth. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the incarnate Word made flesh, who was with God in the beginning and who was God, came

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The Kingdom of Heaven and the Law, Matthew 5:17-20

We are studying the Sermon on the Mount; what might be called the Manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It was given by Jesus Christ the Son of God, very likely as His first public sermon on earth, or at least, the first recorded sermon that we have an account of.  Up to this point, Jesus has given us a series of Beatitudes, which are the characteristics of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. In so doing, Jesus reminded of what we are, and then Jesus said what effect a Christian shall have in the world. As we concluded

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You are the light of the world, Matthew 5:14-16

For the last several weeks we have been studying what is known as the Sermon on the Mount.  This is the first recorded sermon in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  That’s significant in and of itself.  That God incarnate, the Word made flesh, delivers the message of God to the world.  And we have this message before us today.  How essential it is that we should learn from it what God has to say to us.   What we have learned so far is that God has provided a way for men and women of the world to become citizens

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You are the salt of the earth, Matthew 5:13

Last week we finished looking at the Beatitudes in our study of the Sermon on the Mount. The 8 Beatitudes are characteristics of a Christian – of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus delineated the characteristics of someone who has been born again as a child of God.  The Beatitudes describe what we are by nature; the new nature that comes from a new heart as a gift from God in response to our faith and repentance.   But even in the last of the Beatitudes we start to see a transition, from what we are to what

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Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness, Matthew 5:10

In our ongoing study of the Sermon on the Mount, we have come today to the eighth, and the last Beatitude. Most commentators agree that verse 10 is the last Beatitude, and vs 11, is an expansion on the same.  The Beatitudes, we have learned, are a description of someone who is a Christian. It is a list of characteristics of a Christian man or woman as given to us by the Lord Jesus. This last one differs a little from the others in that it is not just a characteristic of what behavior a Christian will have, but what

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Blessed are the peacemakers, Matthew 5:9

For the past several weeks, we have been studying the first recorded sermon that Jesus preached which is called the Sermon on the Mount. And at the beginning of this sermon Jesus has given a series of statements which are called the Beatitudes. They are characteristics of someone who belongs to the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom, ushered in by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He is the King of this spiritual kingdom. And those who are citizens of His kingdom exhibit the characteristics of these Beatitudes. We have been looking at these each individually

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