April 26, 2020 Sermon Notes
“Sermon on the Mount”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-17
These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.
Theme: We have completed our Exodus sermon series. The new theme for several months will be the Book of Matthew.
Matthew is a Jew, who wrote a book from the Jewish perspective. Matthew is writing this document,
in hopes to influence the Jews. We begin today with the sermon on the mount.
Matthew 5:1-5:
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
One thing you might have noticed over time is that Jesus never says to someone, “Receive me as your personal savior.” He just doesn’t. Instead, Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, and what that is like. So what we actually hear Jesus say is, “Repent and enter the Kingdom.”
Think about Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, out of which comes the famous verse John 3:16. Jesus is telling him he has to be born again, but in order to do what? To enter the Kingdom. John 3:3 “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one sees the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.’” So what is this Kingdom of God that Jesus keeps talking about? ~D. Moore
Mark 1:15:
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
When Jesus comes into our lives, our family connections, our communities all begin to transform. The sermon on the mount will show us how far the relationship transformation will be. ~D. Moore
The first four Beatitudes tell us how to enter the Kingdom.
The three Beatitudes we will talk about today are:
Blessed are the poor in spirit. (You understand your problems are beyond your ability to change them.)
Blessed are those who mourn. (You realize your problem, you mourn your [brokenness] sinfulness.)
Blessed are the meek. (You realize you are the problem and understand the reality of yourself. Nothing but God can help you.)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (We will talk about this next week.)