Matthew 5:1-3

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is a great sermon that was preached by the greatest preacher of all time, but it is also one of the most misunderstood and misapplied passages in the word of God. Those who claim to live by it don’t understand the doctrinal interpretation of the passage or consistently apply all of it (e.g., Matt. 5:23-24, 42). While there are applications in it FOR us today (e.g., Matt. 5:44; Rom. 12:14), Christ did not preach this message TO the Body of Christ in this present age of grace (compare Matt. 6:14-15 with Eph. 4:32).

Having declared that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (literal and visible kingdom on the earth promised and prophesied to Israel, Matt. 4:17; 23-25), Christ taught His disciples the righteous laws by which He will govern His kingdom (Matt. 5:1-2, mountain = kingdom, Isa. 2:2; Dan. 2:35). Moses went up on a mount to receive the Law. Christ is the Lawgiver (Isa. 33:22), and He raised the standard! The whole passage concerns the “kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3, 5, 10, 17-20, 35; 6:10, 13, 33; 7:21). It is about preparation for (tribulation), and life in, the kingdom.

True righteousness begins within the heart. The kingdom saints will be able to live by this sermon because they will be filled with the Holy Ghost (Ezek. 36:26-28). It is important to note that Christ is teaching His disciples, not the multitudes. Winston Churchill said the world would be a wonderful place if everybody lived according to the Sermon on the Mount, but it’s impossible for the natural man to live up to this standard!

Both liberals and legalists alike wrest texts from the Sermon on the Mount to support their religious agenda. They teach that if we follow the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount that we might make it to heaven. This passage has NOTHING to do with salvation in this present age of grace! Christ revealed the gospel of the grace of God to the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Gal. 1:11-12).

• The famous “beatitudes” are about conditional blessings on the earth (e.g., 5:5), but the Body of Christ has all spiritual blessing in heavenly places based on who we are in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
• For some reason the liberals imagine this was a liberal sermon, but it is anything but that! Concerning his support for “same sex marriage” (no such thing), Obama said that his view was not based on an obscure passage in Romans 1, but the words of Jesus Himself in the Sermon on the Mount. What Paul wrote in Romans is equally the word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). Jesus Christ taught that marriage is between one man and one woman (Matt. 5:27-32; 19:3-9).
• The pacifists base their view on Matt. 5:38-42, but in the kingdom of heaven Christ will judge matters swiftly and justly (compare Rom. 12:18).
• The so-called “Lord’s Prayer” (Matt. 6:9-13) is mindlessly repeated every week in many churches. It is a model prayer for those who will go through the tribulation period (“daily bread” is manna, Mic. 7:14-15; Rev. 12:6).
• Of course, Matt. 7:1 is a popular verse today. But Christ also said to “judge righteous judgment” (Jn. 7:24; 1 Cor. 2:15). We must judge to follow His teaching in this very passage (Matt. 7:6, 15-20). His point was that we are not to be HYPOCRITES in how we judge (Matt. 7:1-5).
• The legalists use it to preach works salvation (Matt. 7:21). Works performed by the flesh cannot save a sinner in any dispensation (Jn. 6:63), but under the gospel of the kingdom works are required to prove faith (Jam. 2:24, compare the gospel of the grace of God, Rom. 3:28).
• Even Bible-believing preachers devotionalize select verses from the passage (e.g. Matt. 6:33; 7:7-8) and rarely deal with any of it doctrinally.

The religious world uses the Bible, but sadly they often misuse it and handle it deceitfully (2 Cor. 4:2). May God help us to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15)!