An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount ● Introduction ● 1. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11 ● 33. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:25 ● 2. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11, Continued ● 34. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:25, Continued ● 3. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11, Continued ● 35. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:28, 29 ● 36. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:30, 31 ● 4. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11, Concluded ● 37. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:32-34 ● 38. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:32-34, ● 5. The Ministerial Office: Matthew 5:13- 16 Concluded ● 39. Unlawful Judgment: Matthew 7:1 ● 6. Christ and Law: Matthew 5: 17, 18 ● 40. Judging Others: Matthew 7:1 ● 7. Christ and Law: Matthew 5: 17, 18, Continued ● 41. Dissuasives from Judging Other: Matthew 7:2-4 ● 8. Christ and Law: Matthew 5: 17, 18, Concluded ● 42. Helping Erring Brethren: Matthew 7:5 ● 43. Unlawful Liberality: Matthew 7:6 ● 9. The Law and Murder: Matthew 5:21-26 ● 44. Seeking Grace: Matthew 7:7, 8 ● 10. The Law and Murder: Matthew 5:21- 26, Concluded ● 45. Seeking Grace: Matthew 7:7, 8, Continued ● 11. The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27- 32 ● 46. Seeking Grace: Matthew 7:9-11 ● 47. The Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12 ● 12. The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27- http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon.htm (1 of 3) [28/07/2004 12:02:19 a.m.] An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount 32, Continued ● 48. The Way of Salvation: Matthew 7:13, ● 13. The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27- 14 32, Concluded ● 49. The Way of Salvation: Matthew 7:14, ● 14. The Law and Oaths: Matthew 5:33-37 15 ● 15. The Law and Oaths: Matthew 5:33-37, ● 50. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15 Concluded ● 51. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15, ● 16. The Law and Retaliation: Matthew Continued 5:38-42 ● 52. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15, ● 17. The Law and Retaliation: Matthew Continued 5:38-42, Continued ● 53. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15, ● 18. The Law and Retaliation: Matthew Continued 5:38-42, Concluded ● 54. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15-20 ● 19. The Law and Love: Matthew 5:43-48 ● 55. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15-20, ● 20. The Law and Love: Matthew 5:43-48, Concluded Continued ● 56. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27 ● 21. The Law and Love: Matthew 5:43-48, ● 57. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Concluded Continued ● 22. The Giving of Alms: Matthew 6:1-4 ● 58. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, ● 23. Prayer: Matthew 6:5-8 Continued ● 24. Prayer: Matthew 6:9-13 ● 59. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, ● 25. Prayer: Matthew 6:14, 15 Continued ● 26. Fasting: Matthew 6:16-18 ● 60. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, ● 27. Fasting: Matthew 6:16-18, Concluded Continued ● 28. Covetousness Corrected: Matthew ● 61. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, 9:19-21 Continued ● 29. Covetousness Corrected: Matthew ● 62. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, 9:19-21, Concluded Continued ● 30. The Single Eye: Matthew 6:22, 23 ● 63. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, ● 31. The Single Eye: Matthew 6:22, 23, Concluded Concluded ● 64. Conclusion: Matthew 7:28, 29 ● 32. Serving God: Matthew 6:24 http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon.htm (2 of 3) [28/07/2004 12:02:19 a.m.] An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount Providence Baptist Ministries © 1999 - 2004 Baptist Trumpeter Publications © 1999 - 2004 All rights reserved. Revised: April 04, 2004 http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon.htm (3 of 3) [28/07/2004 12:02:19 a.m.] Introduction THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT Introduction Matthew’s Gospel breaks the long silence which followed the ministry of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets. The silence extended for four hundred years, and during that time God was withdrawn from Israel. Throughout this period there were no angelic manifestations, no prophet spoke for Jehovah, and though the Chosen People were so rely pressed, yet were there no Divine interpositions on their behalf. For four centuries God shut His people up to His written Word. Again and again had He promised to send the Messiah, and from Malachi onwards there was a believing remnant who anxiously awaited the appearing of the predicted One. It is at this point that Matthew picks up the thread dropped by the last of the Old Testament prophets. The first purpose of Matthew’s Gospel is to present Christ as the Fulfiller of the promises made to Israel and the prophecies which related to their Messiah. This is why the word "fulfilled" occurs in Matthew fifteen times, and why there are more quotations from the Old Testament in his Gospel than in the remaining three added together. The position which Matthew’s Gospel occupies in the Sacred Canon indicates its character and scope. Standing immediately after the Old Testament and at the beginning of the New, it is therefore the connecting link between them. Hence it is transitional, and also more Jewish than any other book in the New Testament. Matthew reveals God appealing to and dealing with His Old Testament people. The numerical place of Matthew in the Divine library confirms this, for being the fortieth book it shows us the nation of Israel in the place of probation, being tested by the presence of Jehovah in their midst. Matthew presents the Lord Jesus as Israel’; Messiah and King, as well as the One who shall save His people from their sins. The opening sentence gives the key to its contents: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." Seven times over Christ is addressed as "the Son of David" in this Gospel, and ten times altogether is this title found there. "Son of David" connects Christ with the throne, while "Son of Abraham" associates Him with the altar. This opening Gospel explains how it is that in the later books of the New Testament Israel is viewed as cast off by God, why it is Christendom has superseded the Jewish theocracy—the result of rejecting their Messiah. A striking foreshadowment of this is found in the second chapter, where a significant incident—passed over by the other Evangelists—is recorded, namely the visit of the wise men who came from the East to worship the Christ child. In the attendant circumstances we may perceive a prophetic anticipation of what is recorded throughout this Gospel and the New Testament. First, Christ is seen outside of Jerusalem. Then we have the blindness and indifference of the Jews to the presence of their Messiah: unaware that He was now among them, undesirous of accompanying the Magi. Next there are the strangers from a far country with a heart for the Saviour, seeking Him out and worshipping Him. Finally, we behold the civil head, so filled with hatred, determined to put Him to death—presaging His crucifixion by the Jews. Not until the middle of his fourth chapter does Matthew tell us, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (v. 17). The time-mark here is, in the light of its context, most significant, emphasizing the same solemn aspect of truth as was adumbrated in chapter ii. First, we are told that our Lord’s forerunner had been "cast into prison" (v. http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon_intro.htm (1 of 4) [28/07/2004 12:02:42 a.m.] Introduction 12). Second, we are informed that Christ "leaving Nazareth" came "and dwelt in Capernaum" (v. 13), for Nazareth (where He had dwelt so long: 2:23) had openly rejected Him (see Luke 4:28-30). Third, it is here emphasized that the Saviour had gone "beyond Jordan" into "Galilee of the Gentiles," where "the people which sat in darkness saw great light" (v. 16)—another illustrative anticipation of His rejection by the Jews and His turning to the Gentiles. The fourth chapter closes by telling us, "And His fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy: and there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis," etc. (vv. 24, 25). Some have wondered why our Lord performed these miracles of healing upon the bodies of the people before He delivered His great Sermon on the Mount for the nourishing of their souls. First, it should be noted that these miracles of healing followed His "teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (4:23). Second, these miracles of healing were an essential part of His Messianic credentials (Isa. 35:4-6). Third, these miracles of healing made way for His fuller preaching, by disposing the people to listen unto One who manifested such Divine power and mercy. The preface to the Sermon is a very short one: "And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain, and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him; and He opened His mouth, and taught them" (5:1, 2). Yet brief as these verses be, there are several things in them which call for careful consideration. First, we must notice the place from which this Sermon was preached. "As in other things, so in this, our Lord Jesus was but ill-accommodated: He had no convenient place to preach in, any more than to lay His head on.