Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of
Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing
our sermon series, Summer on the Mount, where
we are diving into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount,
perhaps the most famous and impactful teaching
of Jesus. Today we are looking at Jesus' relationship
to the Old Testament Scriptures, where there's
all kinds of rules and laws, and Jesus says,
you have heard it said, blank. one of these rules,
but I say to you, blank, something else, something
new, a different way of looking at many of these
laws. So what does Jesus say? Why do these laws
matter? And what is the better way forward? These
are just some of the questions that we'll unpack
in today's teaching. Today's reading is from
the Gospel of Matthew 5. 21 to 22, 27 to 41,
and 43 to 45. You have heard that it was said
to the people long ago, you shall not murder,
and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with
a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister,
raka, is answerable to the court. And anyone
who says, you fool, will be in danger of the
fire of hell. You have heard that it was said,
you shall not commit adultery. But I tell you,
anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already
committed adultery with her in his heart. If
your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it
out and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one part of your body than for your whole
body to be thrown into hell. And if your right
hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw
it away, it is better for you to lose one part
of your body than for your whole body to go into
hell. It has been said, anyone who divorces his
wife must give her a certificate of divorce.
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife,
except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim
of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced
woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard
that it was said to the people long ago, Do not
break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the
vows you have made. But I tell you, do not swear
an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is God's
throne, or by the earth, for it is his footstool,
or by Jerusalem. for it is the city of the great
king. And do not swear by your head, for you
cannot make even one hair white or black. All
you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything
beyond this comes from the evil one. You have
heard that it was said, eye for eye and tooth
for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil
person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek,
turn to them. the other cheek also. And if anyone
wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over
your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go
one mile, go with them two miles. You have heard
that it was said, love your neighbor and hate
your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you, that you
may be children of your Father in heaven. He
causes his son to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. So life,
of course, is... full of questions. We always
have these questions, messy questions, thorny
questions, complicated questions, you know, personal
questions. I sometimes wonder, wouldn't it be
great if there was some kind of a book you could
just flip to that had the answer to all the questions
that we have? Like, oh, should I forgive somebody
who hurt me? Oh, just turn to page 136. There's
the answer. Or, you know, should I ever tell
a lie to spare someone? feelings? Oh, well, just
turn to page 242, and there's your answer. Should
I ghost someone who's annoying me? Oh, turn to
page 42. There's your answer. Should I respond
to emails while I'm in the bathroom? Oh, just
turn to page 500. You'll see the answer's no,
but we all do it anyways. I know we all do it
anyways. What is the right thing to do in this
situation? Oh, turn to this page. What's the
right thing to do in this situation? Turn to
this page. What's right? What's wrong? What is
good? What is bad? Let's be honest, most of us
would love to have this kind of a cheat sheet,
some kind of a spiritual little rule book that
would tell us the page number, give us a box
to tick, tell us the right thing to do. I'm good,
I've done it, I've figured it out, right? There
is this guy by the name of Hank Hanegraaff, and
he has this radio show. He goes by the name of
the Bible Answer Man. And people phone in to
Hank's show. It's actually kind of a cool show.
They phone in. They ask him all these questions
about the Bible, about life, about things that
they're facing. And Hank always gives them an
answer. In fact, Hank Hanegraaff wrote this book
called The Complete Bible Answer Book. And man,
everything you want to know is in there. There's
chapters on everything. Capital punishment, euthanasia,
homosexuality, heaven, hell, money, everything.
It's all neatly tied up in one little book. all
of life's dilemmas, don't we want something like
this? A nice, you know, spiritual little search
bar where we type in the question we have and
Google spits out the correct moral answer. Well,
this summer, we are reading through the Sermon
on the Mount. It is the most famous teaching
ever by the most famous teacher ever, and that,
of course, is Jesus. So, is this it? Is this
the handbook that we have been looking for? Is
this the kind of easy, new, improved, heavenly
handbook for life, the divine cheat sheet that
tells us all the right things and all the wrong
things, all we gotta do is turn here and we get
our answer? You know, lots of people, even people
who don't believe in Jesus particularly, they
don't believe he's the son of God, they don't
believe he rose from the dead, would still say,
I love the Sermon on the Mount. And the reason
they would say that is they would say, because
I see it as a code of ethics. They say it's the
set of rules for living your life. And you can't
blame people. You can't blame human beings. We
want something black and white. We want something
cut and dried. In fact, I would say that the
largest religions in the world are the ones with
the largest list of rules. The largest churches
even in the world are usually the ones that give
you the longest code of ethics to sign, the biggest
sheet of answers to all your questions. Why?
Because if we can just check off the boxes, say
done, done, believe it, done, done, done, then
you know where you stand and all is well. I have
to say that as a minister for now over 20 years,
sometimes people come to me and they have a question.
And they say, Rob, is it okay to do this? Rob,
is it okay that they are doing that? Is this
allowed? Is that allowed? What does this mean?
And they seem to want, I think this is normal,
they seem to want their pastor to chime in with
a particular pronouncement on a particular question
that they have. And maybe... Over the years,
there's been times when I've been able to kind
of say something that helped or gave them some
wisdom or maybe even had an answer for the question.
Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible answer man. But many
times I struggle, actually, because I don't think
that Jesus gave us this divinely authorized FAQ
manual. And all you got to do is just turn to
the right page and then read the correct ruling.
Well, today we learn that the Sermon on the Mount
is not that kind of list either. It doesn't give
us those kind of rules. At first, it might look
like it's giving us a bunch of rules. You shall
not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You
shouldn't divorce your wife unless you've got
the paperwork, right? You shouldn't swear falsely.
Checkbox religion, right? Done it, done it, done
it. This is what the scribes and the Pharisees
taught. Oh, I haven't killed anyone, correct?
Oh, have I committed adultery? Nope, good there.
I got divorced, but I did the paperwork. Good,
I'm all good there. That's the way we want it,
right? Easy answers, clear rules, religious regulations.
But the Sermon on the Mount isn't about regulation.
It's about transformation. The gospel isn't a
rule book. The kingdom of God isn't a checklist.
It's not handing you a new kind of answer book.
It's calling you to be a new kind of person.
Put another way, the Sermon on the Mount. isn't
about a checklist. It's about a changed heart.
It isn't a new set of laws for you to memorize.
Instead, it's this new outlook that you're called
to live by. And you have to apply that outlook
to everything in your life. You've got to figure
out what it means for your life. And yes, that
is the harder way. It is way easier to tick a
bunch of boxes than it is to change your heart.
It is easier to memorize a list of answers than
to be transformed in how you think. and how you
act, and how you treat others. But Jesus doesn't
give us an easy way out. He doesn't give us easy
answers. Here's what I mean. Six times in the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeats this cute
little formula. He says, you have heard it said,
dot, dot, dot, that I say to you. And each time,
he's referring to some kind of black and white
rule book rule that people had been taught. and
the scribes, in order to make things easier for
people, had kind of boiled the law down or actually
expanded the law out into a whole bunch of lists
and a whole bunch of check boxes. In those days,
it's important to know people really couldn't
even really read the Bible for themselves. When
God's people came back from exile, they didn't
speak Hebrew anymore. They spoke Aramaic. The
Bible was written in Hebrew. And so the scribes
and the Pharisees, they had to interpret the
Bible to the people. But interpretation, turned
into elaboration. And pretty soon there was more
boxes and more lists and more regulations and
more rules. So then Jesus steps in and he says,
yeah, I know you've heard it said by those guys
over the years. I know for hundreds of years
you've heard it said, but I say to you, dot,
dot, dot. What a bold claim. In some ways, what
Jesus is saying is all those other interpreters,
they're wrong. I'm going to give you the right
interpretation. In fact, some people would even
say that Jesus is almost saying, I was there
when this law was written in the first place.
I, God, was the one who gave this to you, so
only I can properly interpret it for you. Martin
Lloyd -Jones, I think he said it perfectly. He
said, Jesus was not a mere teacher. He was not
a mere man. He was not a mere expounder of the
law, just like the scribes and Pharisees. He
was infinitely more than that. He was God, the
Son in the flesh, presenting the truth of God.
Isn't this amazing that 2 ,000 years ago, God
himself walked among us and interpreted his own
law for us. But when he did, he didn't give us
a new law book or a new moral code. Rather than
new rules, Jesus gives us a new outlook. It's
like he doesn't want to treat us like children.
He doesn't want to endlessly give us instructions.
Don't do this. Don't do that. Go here. Turn left.
Turn right. Stop right there. Instead, he says,
grow up. Grow up into people who think and live
and love differently because your hearts have
been changed. The Sermon on the Mount isn't about
ticking boxes. It's about becoming a new kind
of person. It's not a list of regulations. It's
about transformation. So today, rather than give
you 40 ,000 rules, Jesus, I think, lays out four,
I'm going to say four, kingdom principles that
we can apply to all the thorny, complicated issues
that we face day in and day out. And I've given
you some notes. Unfortunately, it's a checklist.
Darn it. But you can follow along and take some
notes as we go. Let's get started. The first
principle that Jesus teaches us in the Sermon
on the Mount is that it's not about the letter
of the law, but the spirit of the law. You see,
the Pharisees, they obsessed over the surface.
They obsessed over the exact wording, the precise
rules. You know, they were the type of people
who, when they downloaded an app, and you know
you gotta check off all the terms and conditions,
they loved reading that stuff, right? But Jesus
is concerned with something deeper, the spirit
of the law, not the letter of it. He wants us
to get at the heart behind these words. That's
why Jesus says things like, don't just avoid
murder. Avoid anger. That's the spirit of the
law. Don't just avoid adultery. Avoid objectifying
people in your mind. That is the spirit of the
law. John Stott puts it beautifully. He says,
Jesus' emphasis was not on the law's letter,
which could be obeyed in a legalistic and mechanical
way, but on the spirit. It's deeper intention.
In other words, anyone here can technically obey
do not murder and still carry bitterness and
resentment and hatred in their heart. You can
technically not commit adultery and still nurture
lust in your heart. Jesus does not contend with
that, right? He will not settle just for external
compliance. He's after internal transformation.
Now the Pharisees. They knew the law inside and
out, but they forgot the spirit of the law was
love. And we do the same thing all the time,
don't we? We want to know, where's the line?
And what's allowed? And what's forbidden? But
Jesus seems to say the line isn't the point.
Love is the point. When you live by the letter
of the law, you need a rule for every single
scenario. You're always asking, is this technically
permitted? Can I do this? But when you live by
the Spirit, you're asking a different kind of
question. You're asking, does this reflect the
Spirit, love, and grace that I see in Jesus Christ?
Paul wrote, the law kills, the letter of the
law kills, but the Spirit gives life. So that
is the first principle Jesus teaches us. You
gotta go behind the letter of the law, and see
the spirit of the law. Now, here's the second
principle that he gives us. It's not just about
what you do. It's about why you do it, right?
The old mindset said, well, as long as I do the
right thing, check, check, check, it doesn't
really matter where my heart is. Jesus says,
not enough. He says, motives matter. You can't
just bake cookies for your neighbor while secretly
hoping they choke on them. Right? Right? Motives,
right? The kingdom people have different motives,
right? They aren't motivated by anger or greed
or hostility or the need to be seen. They're
motivated by love and grace. Rules, they care
only about your behavior. But Jesus cares about
your motives. And the Sermon on the Mount isn't
about being a better rule follower. It's about
becoming. someone whose motives are transformed
from the inside out. That's why Dallas Willard
says, the aim of the Sermon on the Mount is not
to get us to do what Jesus says, but to become
the kind of people who would naturally do what
Jesus says. That's the goal. Not just to check
boxes, not just to look righteous on the outside
while there's resentment and lust and pride burning
on the inside. It is easy to do that, right?
Anybody can keep their temper in check but seethe
with bitterness. Anybody can stay faithful in
their marriage but still objectify others in
their mind. But Jesus sees deeper. The Sermon
on the Mount doesn't just ask, what did you do?
It asks, why did you do it? Jesus is not after
behavior modification. He's after heart transformation.
So those are the first two principles in the
kingdom of God. It's not about the letter of
the law, but the spirit. And secondly, it's not
just about what you do, but it's about why you
do it. Here's the third principle. Kingdom life
isn't just about what you avoid, but it's about
what you pursue. You see, the Pharisees, they
were masters at the don'ts. Don't murder. Don't
commit adultery. Don't do this. Don't do that.
Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. And
honestly, most of us, we think that's what it
means to be holy. A whole bunch of different
don'ts. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't hate. Don't
run with scissors. Don't leave your dishes in
the sink. Don't eat carbs after 8 p .m., right?
And yes, Sermon on the Mount has its share of
don'ts. But it goes way deeper than that. Jesus
isn't just interested in what you stay away from.
He's calling you into a new way of life. Not
a life of don'ts, but a life of do's. Do love.
Do show mercy. Do justice. Do reconcile. Do give
generously. You can avoid murder, don't. But
can you love your enemy? Do. You can avoid adultery.
Don't. But can you honor others with your heart
and your mind? Do. Jesus is calling us not just
to abstain from evil, but to embody the good.
John Stott says the Christian life is not merely
avoiding what is wrong, but actively pursuing
what is good. Holiness is not a matter of avoiding
sin, but loving righteousness. This is what makes
this principle So much better than a rule book.
Rule books just say, don't do that. Principles
say, run toward the good. Be peacemakers, be
generous, show mercy. The gospel doesn't just
say, don't retaliate. It says, go the second
mile. It doesn't just say, don't hate. It says,
love your enemies. Jesus isn't just trying to
hold us back from doing evil. He's pushing us
in. to the good life of the kingdom. He's pushing
us into a life of mercy. He's pushing us into
a life of compassion, into a life of forgiveness
and generosity and love. That's the invitation
of the Sermon on the Mount. Not just what to
run from, but what to run toward. Life in the
kingdom, it's not just about sin management.
It's active love. And that brings us to the fourth.
And the final principle, I think we find woven
throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and that
is, it's not about rules from God. It's about
a relationship with God. You know, the scribes,
they handed down traditions and regulations,
long lists of do's and don'ts, but with all the
rules, they kind of lost the relationship. And
the relationship was what it was all about. It's
kind of like planning for a wedding, but then
forgetting to actually show up for the marriage.
It's not about the rules. It's not about the
rituals. It's not about the regulations. It's
about the relationship. That's what we were celebrating
this morning with Galen. Not that he's followed
all the rules, but that he's entered into a relationship
with the living God, his Father. Your Father
loves you, right? The life described in the Sermon
on the Mount is only possible Because of your
relationship with God. The kingdom norms Jesus
gives us are rooted in relationship, not some
legal duty. You know, as a parent, I want my
children to listen to me. But not because of
an arbitrary rule. I want them to listen to me
because I'm their father. Right? It's because
of our relationship. And the same is with God.
Our behavior doesn't flow from rules we got from
God, but from our relationship we have with God.
And that relationship we have with God, God's
love is shaping us on the inside. So let's recap.
Living in the kingdom of God is not about the
letter of the law, but it's about the spirit
of the law, first principle. Secondly, it's not
just about what you do, but it's about why you
do it. That's the second principle. It's not
just about what you avoid, but it's about what
you pursue. That's the third principle. And then
fourthly, it's not just about rules from God.
It's about a relationship with God. Now, just
quickly as I end, let me just show you how Jesus
uses these principles to answer the difficult
questions of his day. So when Jesus says, oh,
you have heard that it was said to those of old,
you shall not murder. Whoever murders is going
to be liable to judgment. Ah, that seems pretty
straightforward. Don't take someone's life and
you're righteous. Box ticked, move on. That's
the letter of the law. But Jesus says, no, no,
no, no, no. You've missed the point entirely.
Principle one. right? It says, what's the spirit
of the law? The spirit of the law is not about
what you do with your hands. It's about the anger
that you harbor in your heart. And actually,
principle three, sorry, principle three says
that it isn't just about what you don't do, don't
murder. You heard in the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus actually says, you know, go and make peace
with people. In fact, if you realize that you
have a problem with someone before you even come
to the altar and receive communion or give your
gift, you go and you make it right. It's not
about don't, it's about do. You reconcile, with
that person first, right? It's about becoming
a person who loves peace and reconciliation.
Same with adultery, right? With adultery, Jesus
says, you have heard that it was said, you shall
not commit adultery. That's the letter of the
law. Once again, the Pharisees say, easy, check
the box, move on. But Jesus says, that's not
enough. In the kingdom, it isn't just about what
you do, it's about why you do it. What's the
motives? What's going on in your heart? What
are your desires saying? Why are you objectifying
that person? Why are you lusting after that person?
And you live in a relationship with this loving
God, and he knows every thought in your heart,
even the secret ones. All of these things come
into play when Jesus is saying, this is how you
decide what is right. Next, he says, you know,
whoever divorces his wife, let him give a certificate
of divorce. The Pharisees treated this one as
legal paperwork. Oh, you want out of your marriage?
Then just get the paperwork right, letter of
the law, tick the box, move on. Jesus says, it's
not what this is about at all. The spirit of
this is marriage is not a contract. It's a covenant
to honor. And kingdom life is not just about
trying to find loopholes. It's about God's own
faithful love shown to you. Principle four. It
all flows from your relationship with God. All
your relationships with your family, even your
spouse, flow from your relationship with God,
principle four. The rule book says, keep your
oaths. As long as you swear properly and follow
through, you should keep your oaths. But Jesus
says, no, no, no, no, no. You shouldn't need
to make an oath at all. You should be becoming
a person who basically says yes, and they mean
yes, and they say no, and they mean no, because
you're just a trustworthy person. Right? Right.
The rule book says, you know, eye for eye and
tooth for tooth. If someone hits you, you are
entitled to hit them back, but only to hit them
back as hard as they hit you. Jesus says you're
missing the spirit of it. The spirit isn't just
about restraining your fist and keeping it down
to one punch. It's about actually restraining
your right to retaliate altogether. And pursuing
peace instead. It's about turning the other cheek.
It's about going the second mile. It's about
being generous. It's about the spirit of the
law, not the letter. Finally, like the rule book
says, the rule book says, love your neighbor,
you hate your enemy. Jesus says, no. Kingdom
life goes deeper. Principle one, it's about the
spirit of the law, not the letter of the law.
It's about... how, it's not just about why or
what you do, it's about why you do it. It's about
what you pursue, not just what you're avoiding
in principle four. It's all about this relationship
with God. If you apply all those four principles
to this ancient law, Jesus says, you're actually
gonna love your enemies. You're gonna pray for
those who persecute you, right? Not out of duty,
because you know what the Father's love looks
like in your own life, right? So here's the thing.
The kingdom is not about checking boxes. It's
about becoming a new kind of person, one who
reflects the heart of God. Now, those were the
questions. Those were the burning questions people
were asking in Jesus's day, right? But maybe
your questions you're asking today, it's not
about adultery or divorce or oaths. It could
be you've got a different decision to make. You've
got a different relationship you're trying to
manage. You've got a different question in your
mind. You're like, I don't know what the right
thing is. Of course, you've got a Bible. Read
it. And of course, there are good books and commentaries
and teachers and personalities out there, and
they can probably help you figure out the right
thing to do in every situation, the right solution
to any problem. And you know what? Sometimes
we need that. I'm not going to poo -poo that.
Sometimes we need wisdom from other people that
can be very, very helpful as we navigate life's
complexities. But beware easy answers. Beware.
simplistic solutions. Even beware the church
that hands you a long list of rules and says,
this is how you live. This is how you think.
Because when I read the Sermon on the Mount,
it seems to me that Jesus invites us into something
deeper and better, not a rule book to follow,
but a relationship to live. Not just external
compliance, but inner transformation. not just
avoiding sin, but actively pursuing goodness
and mercy and love and justice. And when we live
by his principles and when we walk closely with
him in his kingdom, we won't just be given the
right kind of answers. We'll become the right
kind of people. So thanks be to God. Amen.