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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Blessed are the pure in heart, Matthew 5:8

Today we are looking once again at our ongoing study of the Sermon on the Mount, and we are looking specifically at one of the Beatitudes.  The Beatitudes, you will remember, constitute a list of the characteristics of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  This is the basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus, as the Apostle John described, is the Word made flesh, who dwelt among us.  He was in the beginning with God, He is God, and all things were made by Him.  So this is the message of God to the world.  This message gives

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Blessed are the merciful, Matthew 5:7

There is a tendency in modern evangelicalism today to make a distinction between faith and obedience. That is a distinction that is not shared by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this message we know as the Sermon on the Mount is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Someone has said, that in the gospels we have the gospel proclaimed. And in the epistles we have the gospel explained. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is announcing, proclaiming, preaching the gospel. His gospel. And it’s the only gospel we have. There is not a gospel of Jesus and another gospel

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, Matthew 5: 6

I assume that most of you are here this morning because you want to worship God.  You want to say something to the Lord, perhaps, but most importantly, you want to hear from the Lord. It’s essential that we hear from God.  Jesus said that God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  And so I want to emphasize to you this morning that when we read the words of the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in this passage, you are hearing the actual word of God.  The word of God

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Blessed are the meek, Matthew 5:5

In the beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, are what is known as the Beatitudes.  The word Beatitude is derived from the Latin word “beatus” which means blessed.  And each of the Beatitudes you will notice begins with this word “blessed.”  Unfortunately, I believe our definition of “blessed” has been corrupted by our hedonistic culture.  I’ve heard many a Christian say when they received some sort of financial windfall that they had been blessed.  In fact, in the church, in most cases when you hear someone refer to being blessed or receiving a blessing, it has to do with

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