I. Introduction
a) Stott argues that the Sermon on the Mount is one of the best-known of Christ’s major teachings; he also argues that it’s the least understood – even worse, the least followed (Matthew 5:1-12)
· What is the Sermon on the Mount?
o Stott says that it is a “manifesto”
o Manifesto (Websters): a public declaration of intentions, objectives, or motivations
o If Stott is right, and the SOM is a declaration of motivations, who then is the SOM’s intended audience?
o Answer: Christians
o Stott: “Jesus spoke the Sermon to those who were already His disciples and thereby also the citizens of God’s kingdom and the children of God’s family.”
o These are the foundations of what ought to motivate us in everything we do
· The other thing that the SOM accomplishes, as with all of Scripture, is to help us to realize we can’t perfectly uphold the teachings of the SOM, which forces us back to Christ and relying on his acts of righteousness and His mercy in our justification
o Stott in fact argues that what is meant in the Beatitudes and verses that follow are meant to bring about a Christian “counter-culture”
§ Lev 18:1-4 – “You shall not do as they do in Egypt or in Canaan…you shall do My ordinances and keep My statutes…”
§ If we adhere to the Law (knowing we won’t do it perfectly), motivated by the teachings in the SOM, then we will look different from the prevailing culture and will indeed have a Christian “counter-culture”
§ What sort of state are we in when others look at the church and do not see anything different about us???
II. Key Elements of SOM
a) Stott lays out what he calls the key elements of the Christian Life, which we will encounter during our study
1. Christian Character (Ch. 5) – the Beatitudes; our conduct to God & men
2. Christian Influence (Ch. 5) – salt & light; what influence will we exert in our community
3. Christian Righteousness (Ch. 5) – greater than the Scribes & Pharisees
4. Christian Piety (Ch. 6) – sincerity of God’s children living in His presence
5. Christian Ambition (Ch. 6) – our supreme ambition being the glory of God
6. Christian Relationships (Ch. 7) – new relationships will be created and old ones will change – sometimes not for the better (Christianity in a sense is divisive)
7. Christian Commitment (Ch. 7) – “make your yes mean yes and your no mean no”
III. The Beatitudes: Three general questions
a) Who are the people being described?
· The Beatitudes describe the balanced character of Christian people
· This is not an elite set of disciples; as we know, the 12 disciples were flawed in every way (before and after the cross)
· Stott: “The Beatitudes are Christ’s own specification of what every Christian ought to be. There is no escape from our responsibility to covet them all.”
· Luther: “Christ is saying nothing in this Sermon about how we become Christians, but only about the works and fruit that no one can do unless he already is a Christian and in a state of Grace.”
b) What are the qualities commended?
· Jesus spiritualized what were traditionally material concerns – poverty, hunger, mourning; suffering isn’t just physical
· We are to put our faith and hope in God instead of focusing solely on worldly concerns
c) What are the blessings promised?
· Just as the material concerns were spiritualized by Christ, so are the blessings
· A popular concept going around is the Gospel of “Health & Wealth;” it is propagated by those such as Joel Osteen
· Osteen would say the blessings described in the Beatitudes are worldly blessings as a result of living a “right” life
· That’s not to say that there won’t be some blessings derived from living the Christian life; but we are not promised earthly blessings, in fact, we’ll see in the latter verses of the Beatitudes, we are promised grief
· Stott: “The eight qualities together constitute the responsibilities, and the eight blessings the privileges, of being a citizen of God’s kingdom. “
IV. The Beatitudes
a) One more thing before we look a the eight qualities/blessings:
· First, there is a natural division – the first four Beatitudes describe the Christian’s relationship to God; the last four describe the Christian’s relation and duty to men
· Second, there appears to be a progression in the qualities and ramifications of those qualities as well as the blessings
· Stott: “each step leads to the next and presupposes the one that has gone before”
b) Poor in spirit
· Scripture often speaks of the “poor man” (Ps. 34:6, Is 41:17)
· The spiritually poor man is one who is afflicted and unable o save himself; his reliance on God for salvation leads to the blessing of the kingdom of heaven
· C.H. Spurgeon: “The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink in ourselves.”
c) Those who mourn
· It is one thing to be spiritually poor & acknowledge it; it’s another to grieve and mourn over it
· Jesus wept over the sin of others; we have our own sins to weep over
· Eph 4:30 – “And grieve not the Holy Spirit…”; the HS grieves over our sins
· Those who mourn their sins will be comforted by the only relief – the grace and forgiveness of God
d) The meek
· The Greek word used here – praus – means “gentle, humble, courteous” (in other words, exhibits self-control)
· Jesus described himself gentle, using the word praus
· Stott mentions that Jesus may have been quoting Ps. 37:11 "But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
· The new heavens and the new earth will be inherited by the meek
e) Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
· According to Stott, righteousness in Scripture has three aspects – legal, moral, and social
· Legal righteousness – justification; right relationship with God
· Moral righteousness – right character; conduct which pleases God
· Social righteousness – seeking man’s liberation from oppression
· Hunger and thirst are perpetual; the disciples showed us that even in the midst of Christ
· Stott gives us a warning – beware of those who claim to have quenched their thirst and who look to past experience rather than to future development
f) The merciful
· Mercy is compassion for people in need
· Our God is a merciful God and He shows mercy continuously; the citizens of His kingdom must show mercy
· Another way to say it is, compassion for others is to show compassion for sinners, as Christ did for us
g) The pure in heart
· Our most clear example of purity is Christ – He was obviously pure in heart as He was guiltless
· We can see him now with the eye of faith and will see His full glory in heaven
h) The peacemakers
· God is the author of peace and reconciliation
· We are to seek peace in the community and in the church
· We should not seek conflict, however, if we follow Christ and put Him first, we will inevitably be in conflict with the world around us
· Peace and appeasement are not synonymous
· The peace of God is not peace at any cost
i) Those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake
· No matter how hard we try to make peace with some people, they may refuse to live at peace with us
· The world often finds distasteful the righteousness we hunger and thirst for
· How ought we to respond?
· (v. 12) Rejoice and be glad
· When we are persecuted, Stott says: “We are not to retaliate like and unbeliever, nor to sulk like a child, nor to lick our wounds in self-pity, nor just grin and bear it like a Stoic, still less are we to pretend we enjoy it like a masochist.”
· We may lose everything here on earth, but we shall inherit everything in heaven
V. Back to the Beginning
a) We started by talking about a Christian “counter-culture”
b) The values and standards taught in the SOM stand in stark contrast to the accepted values or “norms” of this world; if we follow Christ, we become a “counter-culture”
· World judges the rich blessed, not the poor
· World promotes the happy-go-lucky, not those who mourn over evil
· World upholds the strong, not the meek
· World tells us to take what you can, even if by devious means – not refuse to compromise and show integrity
· World would have you be secure and popular, not suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake
· The following poem helps us understand the difference between worldly blessing and heavenly blessings
Treasures
One by one He took them from me,
All the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.
And I walked earth's highways, grieving.
In my rags and poverty.
Till I heard His voice inviting,
"Lift your empty hands to Me!"
So I held my hands toward heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches,
Till they could contain no more.
And at last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull,
That God COULD not pour His riches
Into hands already full!
- Martha Snell Nicholson
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