Sermon Tone Analysis

What are we to do with the Sermon on the Mount?

INTRO

Matthew 5:1-2a (NASB95) \\ 1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and /began /to teach them, 1

So begins one of the best known sermons in history and arguably of the earliest of sermons in Christianity.

It is wise and full.

It is harsh, pulling no punches.

It is full of instruction.

Honestly, most of it is a little hard to take.

When I read theses three chapters in Matthew it hurts.

My self esteem plummets.

I feel lost.

I start to lose ground at the beatitudes and by the time I am hiding my light under a basket I have to stop and breathe.

How can I do this?

Can I just ignore this?

There's some good stuff ahead in chapter eight.

Maybe I'll skip ahead.

\\ \\ BODY

You may have heard or read a list of things that are essential to salvation.

I have heard many things that are common among Christians:

* You only have to believe

* You must believe and be baptized

* You must believe, be baptized, and do works to ensure salvation

There are, as with anything, extremes:

* Everyone is automatically saved, because, as we all know, God is love

* You must follow all the teachings in the New Testament for salvation

* You must follow the entire Bible to the letter for salvation

I had a talk with a friend and he said that he hears about essential things and almost finds it laughable.

He said that, even if you don't have to do much to get saved, you have a lot of work ahead to stay saved.

\\ I disagree.

I don't think that I can do anything to earn salvation or to keep it.

As I read in Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB95) \\ 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, /it is /the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 2

I can do nothing to be saved, or to stay saved.

Titus 3:4-7 (NASB95) \\ 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and /His /love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to /the /hope of eternal life.

3

Jesus died in our place.

His blood covers us.

When God looks at us he sees Christ's blood.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB95) \\ 21 He made Him who knew no sin /to be /sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 4

1 Peter 2:24 (NASB95) \\ 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

5

Hebrews 10:15-22 (NASB95) \\ 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” /He then says,/ 17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer /any /offering for sin.

19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since /we have /a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled /clean /from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

6

Romans 5:1-10 (NASB95) \\ 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath /of God/ through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

7

\\ Works have a place, but not in the work of salvation.

That is God's work alone (again, Titus 3:4-7).

This is what works are:

* They show an understanding of how great a gift salvation really is (Matthew 13:44-46)

* They show a transformation of a life from sin to God (Romans 6)

* They are a sign to others that you have a saving faith (James 2 :17,18)

\\ The only thing I can do is say, “Yes, Jesus, I believe that you, God's son, came and died in my place for my sins.

Thank you.”

Not a magic phrase, but if these words, or any words that say the same thing, reflect a true belief in my heart, Jesus himself said that I would be saved:

John 3:16-17 (NASB95) \\ 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 8

\\ Thus arises one of the great conundrums of the faith.

It is one that Paul addresses in his letter to the Romans, and is this: if we can do nothing to be saved, why do anything?

You could phrase it another way: if what we do doesn't matter, then why not just do what we want?

Paul said it this way:

Romans 6:1 (NASB95) \\ 1 What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

9

It's the old attitude that you can see in small children and we never seem to grow out of.

How much can I get away with?

What is the most I can do without getting hurt?

How far can I push this issue before people start to get angry?

How much can I sin and still get into heaven?

Paul tells us in chapter five of Romans that out of his grace, God sent Jesus to die for us, and that this grace was a free gift, a huge gift.

It was big enough to cover all the sins of the world.

And Paul saw us coming.

He knew that children, given the news that all their mistakes have been forgiven will respond with the question of how much they can get away with.

Can we just keep on sinning?

He had the answer:

Romans 6:2 (NASB95) \\ 2 May it never be!

How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

10

The conundrum, the issue at hand is answered in this short verse.

We are new creatures.

The old passes away and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We are dead to sin, alive in Christ (Romans 6).

We are permitted all things, but not all things are helpful (1 Corinthians 6:12).

\\ I think the whole of the issue swings on one word from Jesus as he tells Nicodemus how to be saved.

Believe.

You can do this two ways, I think.

Our language allows it.

You can believe, as in, “I believe that 0 degrees Celsius is equal to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and at that point, water will freeze.

It's a fact.

I can prove it, my mother told me, and it is true.

I don't have to do anything about it, I don't care.

It's just true.”

Or you can Believe that the Colts will win the Super Bowl.

You tell anyone who might listen You defend their case.

You know their stats, their strong points and their weaknesses.

You have faith that they will, when the time comes, pull through and win.

You see, our language is limited.

You can believe in Christ, as in, “Yeah, Jesus came and was here and you can read about him in the Bible.”

Or you can Believe that because of his sacrifice you have eternal life, you have communion with God that would have been otherwise impossible (for Gentiles and Jews outside of the Law).

You want to tell everyone.

You want to give thanks and respond appropriately.