The Sermon on the Mount is a Moral Compass to Guide us Home
Intro: Well Morning friends and visitors and welcome to South Sydney Anglican Church. My name is Matt Johnson and today we are kind of coming to the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The focus is now on embracing what he has truly taught…
Prayer:
Well, as we finish the Sermon on the Mount – I want to think about FAITH and GOOD WORKS. As Jesus finishes this sermon he talks about putting into practice what he preached. So A) do Christians need to obey Jesus’ teaching or B) is it enough to believe in Jesus and say a sinner’s prayer? Traditionally, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church taught that you had to believe in Jesus and do certain good works to be saved. They taught you had to be 1) christened as a baby, 2) attend mass every week, 3) do confession, 4) say the rosary, 5a) obey the Pope (if you were Catholic) or 5b) the Patriarch of Constantinople (if you were Orthodox) and if you did all these good works – WELL ENOUGH you’d be saved and go to heaven. Sadly, this means many Catholics and Orthodox are not sure if they are saved or not, because they are not sure if they are good enough or not.
In the C16th the Protestant Reformers started to question many of the things taught by the Catholic & Orthodox Church. They started to notice that the Bible placed a lot more emphasis on the importance of FAITH, rather than GOOD WORKS. MARTIN LUTHER (who started the Lutheran Church) especially liked Romans 1:16 as his kind of – go to verse…It says (SLIDE 2); “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who BELIEVES – first for the Jew and then for the Gentile (Rom.1:16). Luther noticed that according to the Bible the crucial ingredient in our salvation is faith, not good works. Now the early Protestant Reformers still believed that faith in Jesus should change your life and produce good-works. But they knew that you had to START with genuine faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. They knew it was only in relationship with Jesus and with the help of the Holy Spirit people could do good works.
So Protestant Christians started to stress that GENUINE FAITH in Jesus (and relationship with Jesus) will lead to good works. But doing good works like being christened, going to mass or confession doesn’t necessarily produce proper faith in Jesus or relationship with Jesus. SO INSTEAD of focussing on A) are you doing good works, the Protestants started focussing on B) do you have true faith in Jesus?
But wind the clock forward 500 years AND it now sounds like good works don’t matter at all. Many Christian churches today are so adamant that salvation is by faith alone (NOT GOOD WORKS, NOT GOOD WORKS, NOT GOOD WORKS) – that it often sounds like evangelical Christians are against people doing good works. You do any “GOOD WORKS” in our church you’re out of here because we’re Protestants. WE PROTEST AGAINST PEOPLE DOING GOOD WORKS. But this has led to a really weird version of Christianity where pastors and Christians are not really like Jesus. This is wrong. We are not just people A) who preach Jesus. We are people B) who follow Jesus.
So as Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount this is what he is talking about. Jesus makes it clear that if his disciples really believe in him, they will do what he says and the result will be good works. A real relationship with Jesus should always lead to good works…
Point 1: Jesus’ Moral Instruction leads us to put Others, before Self.
Show: Matt. 7:12 (READ)
Explain: Well this is THE END of Jesus’ moral teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. The words about THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS form a kind of conclusion. Jesus uses this phrase both at the beginning and the conclusion to the sermon. Let me show you (ENTER; Matt.5:17). So we’re now coming to the end of Jesus’ explanation of the Law and the Prophets. And as Jesus finishes he now gives us a SUMMARY STATEMENT about the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus says; “so in everything, do to others as you would have them do for you, for this SUMS UP the Law and the Prophets.” This is A SUMMARY STATEMENT. Doing to others what we would like them to do to us summarises what the Law and the Prophets is all about. So lets go back to Jesus’ ethical teaching and think about this (Slide 3). Do to others what you would have them do for you.
Who likes it when people get ANGRY with you and start abusing you with malicious talk? Hands up if you enjoy that stuff. (PAUSE) NO! Well, if you don’t like people doing this to you, don’t do it to other people. What about LUST? WHAT WOMAN grows up dreaming of being a porn-star or prostitute? NO ONE! So if the idea of your wife or daughter being in pornography makes you sick, think of what you are doing to others. JESUS’ POINT IS THAT THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS is all about thinking of others and doing what is good for others. So what about DIVORCE? How would you feel if your spouse divorced you or even constantly threatened to divorce you? If you hate the idea of your spouse divorcing you or constantly threatening to divorce you, make sure you don’t do it to them. DO TO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO TO YOU. The same applies to lies. Do you like it when people lie to you or lie about you? So don’t be a liar. Jesus says the Law and the Prophets (in the Old Testament) IS EASY. Its just think about others and do to others what you would like them to do for you. If you wouldn’t like it – don’t do it. If you would like it – do it.
But let’s go further. Are there any laws in the Bible that say you shouldn’t KEY your neighbours Porsche? C’mon, anything in the Bible about keying people’s cars? What about GHOSTING your boss or friends when your grumpy with them? What chapter and verse says this is wrong? Anything in the Bible about throwing your dogs POO over your neighbours fence when they’re not home? Now many of you will say; No Matt, none of this is in the Bible. I’m not breaking any written command.” But Jesus is kind of saying it is in the Bible – because the Spirit of the Bible is all about THINKING of others and DOING to others what we would like them do to us. So Jesus says IN EVERYTHING (whether there is a literal command or not) “do to others what you would have them do to you” and you will be obeying the spirit of the Law and the Prophets even if you don’t know all the commands. Simply do to others as you would have them do to you. That includes not throwing your doggies do do over the fence.
But I think there is SOMEONE ELSE Jesus also wants us to think about. When Jesus says do to “others” what you would have them do to you – he’s asking you to stand in the other persons shoes and consider how they would feel. So I want you to put yourself in GODS SHOES for a moment. (That shouldn’t be too hard because we all love playing god). BUT LET’S JUST IMAGINE you are God. How would you feel if you created the world, gave people life and poured out all sorts of blessings on them every day. But every time they spoke to you – they never said thank you. They just winged and complained and said give me stuff. Don’t do to God what you wouldn’t like yourself.
Let’s think about point 7. Point 7 was all about giving, praying and fasting to make yourself look good. Now if you were God how would you feel if people pretended they were giving money, praying and fasting for you. But secretly, they were just doing this stuff to make themselves look good? I think if I was God “I’D BE PRETTY TICKED”. So why do we do to God what we wouldn’t like ourselves.
What about WORRY? Jesus had a whole section on not worrying because God cares about us. Now how would you feel if you were God and your people said they TRUSTED you and they sang songs about YOU ALWAYS BEING FAITHFUL – but every time the slightest difficulty comes they all go into meltdown. “Oh, were doomed. My life is over. Panic, panic, panic.” If I was God, “I’d be thinking, well do they trust me or not?” This is insulting.
If you think about it the same applies to making idols, worshipping other gods and blaspheming God’s name. Would you like it if people used your NAME as a swear word. Would you like it if people made IMAGES of you with 5 arms, a fat belly and a nose like an elephant? No its insulting. But God does like it when we keep THE SABBATH, go to church and make time for him. So we need to do to others what we would like them to do for us. And this is ultimately what LOVE and GOODNESS is all about. Love and Goodness focuses on others needs more than our own. And this is what Jesus wants us to do – if we really believe in him. STOP FOCUSSING ON YOURSELF and think a bit more about others (both God and your fellow-man) because this sums up the Law and the Prophets…
Point 2: Jesus’ Moral Instruction is Different to the World
Show: Matt.7:13-14 (READ)
Explain: Well Jesus wants us to “DO” and Jesus wants us to “ENTER”. The point is – Jesus doesn’t simply want us to believe in Him. Jesus wants us to do something. He wants us to “ENTER” the narrow gate. But what does this mean?
Most thoughtful Christians will say JESUS himself is the GATE. I mean in JOHN’S GOSPEL Jesus actually says “I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved.” (Jn.10:9). Jesus also says in John 14; “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn.14:6). So we know Jesus is the gate to salvation. But what then does it mean to ENTER the gate? Most pastors would say BELIEVE. You ENTER the gate by believing in Jesus. But I want to go further…
One of the things I really encourage you to do as Christians is always READ THE BIBLE IN CONTEXT. This means when you look at a verse or passage you should always look at what comes before it and what comes after it. You see in verses 13-14 Jesus is talking about A NARROW GATE and a wide gate. A NARROW PATH and a wide path. So there is a contrast and if you say Jesus is the narrow gate, what then is the wide gate. Well lets consider the context…
In verse 12 Jesus said he wants us to THINK OF OTHERS and DO FOR OTHERS what we would have them do for us. I would like to suggest that in context “only doing doing what you would have others do to you” is actually the narrow gate and the narrow path to life”. But if putting others before self AND thinking of others more than self is the narrow gate and the narrow path, what then is the WIDE GATE and the BROAD ROAD that leads to destruction? What is the OPPOSITE of thinking of others and only doing what you would have others do to you?
That’s right, the OPPOSITE is only thinking of YOURSELF!
Its doing whatever you want even if you wouldn’t like others doing it to you. (Now is that not how the world operates? This is the broad path most people are on). The world thinks the PATH TO LIFE is putting yourself first and doing whatever makes you happy (irrespective of the impact on others). TAKE CARE OF NUMBER 1. But this is the path to destruction. IF YOU ALWAYS think of yourself and put yourself before others eventually your FRIENDS stop being your friends, your SPOUSE divorces you AND God says “You selfish twat. I never knew you”. So you end up all alone forever. So as Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount he says; put into practice what I’ve taught you. “Don’t do things the worlds selfish way. Do to others what you’d have them do for you because this is the true path to life.”
Apply: Now this is what it really means to BELIEVE in Jesus. This is what Jesus did for us. (GOSPEL) Jesus saw that we had all racked up a debt with God because of our sin and selfishness. All our sin, selfishness and narcissism means we forfeit a relationship with everyone. When your selfish and narcissistic it reaches a point where no one can stand being around you because you are so selfish. So you end up all alone in hell. YOU END UP NIGEL NO FRIENDS. Now this is what selfishness deserves. But Jesus didn’t say; “Ha, Ha, sucker, you’ve got what you deserve.” INSTEAD, JESUS THOUGHT what would I want someone to do for me (if I was in that terrible position myself). I’d really want someone to pay my debt for me. I’d really want someone to save me. So that’s what Jesus did for us. Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins as NIGEL NO FRIENDS. All the disciples abandoned him and he was even forsaken by God. Jesus was taking the punishment you deserve because he loves you – even in your selfishness.
Now the Bible says that 1) if you BELIEVE Jesus died for you, 2) you ASK God to forgive you and 3) you REPENT of your selfishness and narcissism and follow Jesus’ example of others first – you will find the best life now and eternal life when Jesus returns. SELFISHNESS is not the key to life. ITS SELFLESSNESS as we trust in Jesus and follow him.
This is true Christianity and Jesus now finishes by saying – it’s pretty easy to spot false Christianity.
Point 3: Jesus’ Moral Instructions helps us identify BS Pastors (and Leaders)
Show: Matt.7:15-20 (READ)
Explain: Well again, we need to read this passage IN CONTEXT. We need to remember that LAST WEEK Jesus told us to be slow to judge other Christians because we all have logs in our own eyes. Jesus was saying be slow, humble and merciful in your judgment of others. So its very doubtful that Jesus is now telling us to start judging one another by our fruit. That would be a contradiction. But you often hear pastors saying; “Oh, by their fruit you can know who is a true and false Christian.”
But the focus in these verses is not on Christians per se. THE FOCUS is now on Church prophets and pastors. You see what is a prophet? Jesus says “watch out for false prophets.” He doesn’t say “watch out for false Christians.” He clearly says “WATCH OUT FOR FALSE PROPHETS.” I believe this passage is focussed on church leaders. Jesus speaks of those who prophesy, those who say Lord, Lord, drive out demons and conduct miracles. Now who are THE MAIN PEOPLE in the Christian Church who proclaim Gods Word, say “Lord, Lord”, conduct exorcisms and perform miracles? That’s right – its church leaders. So Jesus is very clearly saying WATCH OUT for false church leaders because they are very, very dangerous. But many false church leaders take the focus off themselves and say watch out for false Christians – “Ohhh. They’re dangerous…” So we take our eyes off the pastor and then go on a witch hunt in the church examining people’s fruit.
But truly a young, damaged or immature Christian may not have much fruit because they are young Christians. It doesn’t mean they are not Christians. They’re just young. It takes a lot of time and prayer to change. But a young Christian with little fruit is also not very dangerous because they have no influence. So why watch out for them?
HOWEVER, Prophets and Church leaders are meant to be MATURE CHRISTIANS (PAUSE). So if someone is teaching or prophesying in the church – they should be mature Christians and if they are mature there should be lots of fruit in their life. Now church leaders can be dangerous because they hold a lot of influence. So if a Church leader doesn’t display THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – you have to ask yourself is this a true pastor. So Jesus is not telling us to judge other Christians. But Jesus is telling us to carefully examine church leaders because they MUST be held to a higher standard than regular Christians.
Now in context the mark of a true prophet or pastor is selflessness. A TRUE PASTOR is one who constantly does for others what he would like them to do for him – (if he was in their position). BUT JESUS SAYS FALSE PASTORS are like ferocious wolves eyeing off the sheep. Now a ferocious wolf is not thinking about what is good for the sheep. A ferocious wolf is thinking about how to eat the sheep. So false pastors put themselves before the sheep. Whereas true pastors put the sheep before themselves. THIS IS THE QUESTION Jesus is prompting us to ask. Irrespective of the splash and bubbles – the miracles, the exorcisms, the size of the church, the charisma of the pastor, the quality of the music – does this pastor put others before himself OR does this pastor put himself before others. Is this pastor at all like Jesus?
Apply: Now again, I ask you to BE GRACIOUS because no pastor is perfect. But pastors should be held to a higher standard than other Christians. If a pastor is constantly asking for money, owns their own jet and is constantly glorifying themself you have to ask yourself is this a true pastor? Sadly, I think our western world is now full of false pastors. Many of them lead the biggest churches and have the largest platforms on YouTube because they are telling people what they’re itching ears want to hear.
So Jesus says by their fruit and especially their selflessness you’ll recognize true prophets. Now that’s really hard to do on TV or YouTube. TO KNOW whether a pastor is selfless and puts others before themselves – you really need to see how they treat their wife, their children and other people in the church. But that is hard simply watching online. You only see the charisma and hear the words. You don’t see the man’s character. Not really.
This is why it is important to belong to a local church where you know your pastor and you know the elders. Look at what Jesus says in verse 21 (Slide 8; Matt.7:21). Now according to THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS what is Gods will for our lives? (PAUSE) It’s more than lip service. It’s more than great teaching. It’s more than signs and wonders. GODS WILL FOR OUR LIFE expressed in THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS (and explained by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount) is that we do to others what you would have them do for you. This sums up Gods will for our lives. It’s not just to believe in Jesus. It is to follow Jesus. DOING TO OTHERS WHAT WE WOULD HAVE THEM DO FOR US – 1) summarises the Law and the Prophets, 2) it is the narrow path that leads to life and 3) it is what you want to see in real pastors and prophets. Thankfully Jesus is the SAVIOUR of those who fail to do this properly and also THE EXEMPLAR of those who get up and try again. We all fail at times to put others before self. But because Jesus put others before himself when he died on the cross our sins are paid for. So it doesn’t matter how many times we fall down. It does matter that we get back up again and we push on because small is the gate and narrow the path that leads to life (and few find it).
