Sermon On The Mount: Law and Gospel

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[7] Looking at our world from a theological perspective, this is the Theology Central Podcast.

[8] Making Theology Central.

[9] Good evening, everyone.

[10] It is Monday, February the 3rd, 2025.

[11] It is currently 10 .03 p .m. Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio, located right here in Abilene, Texas.

[12] Well, if I've said it once, I've said it probably a thousand times.

[13] One of the fun things about doing a sermon review is we never know exactly what's going to happen.

[14] I can see the title of the sermon, I can see the scripture that they're going to use, but I don't know what's going to happen because whenever I do a review, as I've said now over and over and over, I don't listen to it first.

[15] So many things I listen to where people are reacting to something, they have watched it first, they've listened to it first, then they may just grab clips from it or whatever the case may be.

[16] But the reaction...

[17] I mean, it may not matter to you, but to me, the reaction I know is somewhat rehearsed.

[18] They know what was said.

[19] They've already figured out their thoughts about how they're going to respond to it.

[20] I prefer my way, which is when I do a sermon review, I have no idea what's going to happen.

[21] We hit play.

[22] All of my reaction is...

[23] So, everything is organic.

[24] It's not rehearsed.

[25] It's not produced.

[26] And I like that.

[27] It makes it exciting.

[28] I don't really know what's going to happen.

[29] I don't feel like I'm listening to something multiple times and then simply reciting what I've already rehearsed.

[30] It feels more real.

[31] However, that makes it exciting.

[32] That makes it interesting.

[33] That makes it organic.

[34] That makes it real.

[35] All of the positive things that come from that.

[36] It also means sometimes that I think it's going to go this direction.

[37] Maybe my introduction, maybe things that I'm saying, you can clearly tell, oh, you think it's going to go this direction.

[38] And then by the time we're done, I'm like, whoa, what just happened?

[39] It went in a completely opposite direction.

[40] And that happened earlier today.

[41] Earlier today, I saw that there was a new sermon that had been added to the Sermons 2 .0 app.

[42] The title of the sermon was Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

[43] I'm like, okay, back in 2024, yeah, I think it was 2024, I think it was May of 2024, was the last episode that I did in a series that we were working on, on, well, the Sermon on the Mount.

[44] Now, it was designed to just be, you know, the series never really will come to an end.

[45] Anytime I'm addressing anything related to the Sermon on the Mount, that episode will go there.

[46] So I'm like, well, I haven't done anything since like, you know, May of 2024.

[47] Well, let me review this sermon today because it's an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

[48] It'll be interesting.

[49] It'll be more content for that series.

[50] And since it is an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, we know what that means, right?

[51] It's going to provide to us how this pastor, how this particular church...

[52] So I'm like, okay, it'll be good because we can explore one of them because as I stressed in the last episode.

[53] You may not know this.

[54] Well, if you listened to the last episode you do, if you didn't, you may not know this.

[55] There is at a minimum 11 different ways the Sermon on the Mount has been interpreted throughout church history.

[56] A minimum of 11.

[57] Now, on one hand, that should discourage you, that should frustrate you, that should bother you because you're like 2 ,000 years of church history and no one can agree yet on how to interpret the Sermon on the Mount.

[58] And these different interpretations are contradictory to one another.

[59] So, you know, what do we learn from that?

[60] Well, the one thing we learn, I talked about it in the first episode.

[61] Clearly all of this belief and idea that God helps us in our interpretation, God leads us to an interpretation is just bogus because if that was the case, we would all interpret the Sermon on the Mount the same way.

[62] And now it could imply, another thing it can imply is that maybe, maybe when it comes to the scriptures, we just can never truly interpret them because there's something just inherent with the scriptures that we're unable to interpret.

[63] Maybe the Bible is just, It's just beyond our ability to interpret it.

[64] Maybe that's the case, right?

[65] Now, people will push back and go, that's not true, that's not true.

[66] But just think of the millions of different interpretations that have been offered throughout church history on everything.

[67] I mean, you have to at least raise that question.

[68] Or maybe this is just another example that the reason we can't come to an agreement...

[69] ...

[70] ...

[71] ...

[72] ...

[73] ...

[74] Then the reality is we don't actually study the Bible.

[75] We don't actually preach the Bible.

[76] We don't actually teach the Bible.

[77] What we actually do is simply insert and put into the Bible our theological framework and then claim that we find it there because, well, we put it there, which then means the Bible is never going to be interpreted correctly.

[78] It's always going to be interpreted in light of your theological system.

[79] And isn't it interesting that's what happens?

[80] Charismatics interpret the Bible through a charismatic lens.

[81] And guess what?

[82] All of their interpretations are consistent with their theological system.

[83] A Church of Christ interprets the Bible through a Church of Christ lens.

[84] Isn't it amazing?

[85] All of their interpretations are consistent with the Church of Christ view.

[86] A Reformed person.

[87] Isn't it weird that every theological system is able to say that the Bible supports their theological system?

[88] They will all claim the Bible is the authority and that their theology is based off scripture.

[89] But I mean, it cannot be that everyone can find their theology in their interpreting of the scripture.

[90] And it's not because they're interpreting the scripture.

[91] They're simply reading their interpretation into the scripture based off their theological system.

[92] And we've discussed that and it's maddening to me. So what I wanted to do for the review is I wanted to go, hey guys, there's 11 different ways.

[93] In which people interpret a minimum of 11 different ways that people interpret the Sermon on the Mount.

[94] And I went through and I listed all of them.

[95] I'm not going to do that right now.

[96] I'm already reviewing more than I plan to.

[97] And so we, I'm like, so what we're going to do is we're going to hear how they interpret it.

[98] And then we're going to see which one of the 11 it fits with.

[99] And then we'll may discuss that particular view.

[100] Right.

[101] And I said, okay, I think it will probably be this way.

[102] I thought they would go a certain direction because that's where most churches go to.

[103] I even asked AI to make some predictions.

[104] Artificial intelligence made some predictions about it and it acknowledged that it probably would go a certain way based on the fact that it's a Baptist church.

[105] Okay, so I was ready to go.

[106] We started the review.

[107] 60, what, 66 minutes, almost 70 minutes of review.

[108] And where did we get?

[109] We never even got to how to interpret the Sermon on the Mount.

[110] We got to Matthew 5, 1.

[111] And we read these words.

[112] And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him.

[113] The entire part of the sermon that we reviewed made this, like, it was a significant argument.

[114] According to them, the Sermon on the Mount, Was preached to the disciples.

[115] In fact, he went a step further.

[116] It was preached to the church.

[117] That this is the first sermon given to the church.

[118] The church is already in existence here.

[119] And that this is given to the church.

[120] Not to the multitudes.

[121] And to try to prove this.

[122] This pastor then did this weird thing.

[123] He started doing cross -referencing, and he did cross -referencing based on the phrase, he went up into a mountain.

[124] So then he went to Mark and Luke.

[125] Looked for passages that said he went up into a mountain and then tried to claim that they were describing the same event.

[126] Even though everything, AI was like, absolutely not.

[127] These are not the same event.

[128] Different this, different that, different that.

[129] There's just no way.

[130] In fact, the passages that he used to try to cross -reference, he tried to use them, if I can find it here.

[131] If I can go all the way back up here.

[132] He tried to use Mark 3, 13 -18 and Luke 6, 12 -16.

[133] And AI said it is not correct to assume that Mark 3, 13 -18 and Luke 6, 12 -16 describe the same event.

[134] There are similarities.

[135] For example, Jesus going up into a mountain and addressing disciples.

[136] They occur, though, in different contexts and serve different purposes.

[137] And then AI breaks down a comparison of all the similarities and the differences.

[138] But just because these passages use the phrase, he went up into a mountain, he just made the assumption, well, they all fit together.

[139] And it was crazy.

[140] And not only that, and all of his argument that, hey, Jesus is only speaking to the disciples.

[141] Jesus is only speaking to the disciples.

[142] This is Jesus speaking to the church.

[143] And this is basically Jesus telling the church, obey the Sermon on the Mount.

[144] And his assumption is, is that we can obey the Sermon on the Mount, which of course we can get into all of the problems with this.

[145] But here was the issue and all of his cross -referencing and everything that he did.

[146] You know what he never read?

[147] Well, Matthew 5 .1 is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

[148] And seeing the multitude, he went into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him.

[149] Well, if you go to the end of the sermon, you go to the end of the sermon, Matthew 7 .28, and it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at...

[150] His doctrine.

[151] It doesn't say the disciples, it says the people, meaning that the people not only heard the entire sermon, they were able to hear it so well that they could immediately compare it to everything else that they had ever been taught and anything else that they had ever been heard, meaning clearly that the multitudes heard it as well.

[152] So what should we take from this?

[153] That the audience for the Sermon on the Mount was everyone, the multitude and the disciples.

[154] Meaning, then, the purpose of the sermon has a purpose for both the multitude and the disciples.

[155] It wasn't just a message to the disciples.

[156] And not only that...

[157] The fact that Jesus went up into a mountain is very important because Moses went up into a mountain to receive the law.

[158] Jesus now goes up into a mountain to expound and explain the true nature of the law.

[159] In both cases, the law has one specific purpose that we've talked about, right?

[160] It demonstrates our inability to keep it.

[161] It crushes us.

[162] It condemns us.

[163] It convicts us.

[164] It doesn't matter if you are a Christian or not.

[165] Jesus wants to show that nobody can keep the law.

[166] In fact, he goes so far to say in the Sermon on the Mount that you are to be perfect as his heavenly father is perfect, which no one can accomplish.

[167] When you get done with the Sermon on the Mount, your job is not to go, I'm doing it.

[168] I think I'm doing it.

[169] I'm doing it enough to prove something.

[170] No, what it demonstrates is that you cannot obey it.

[171] You constantly fall short.

[172] But the one who preached it is the one who obeyed it.

[173] And his obedience is imputed to our account by faith alone.

[174] But all of that was ignored in the sermon.

[175] He just wanted...

[176] It was the most bizarre thing.

[177] He connects passages to it that are not connected.

[178] He claims that these other events are the same event where they're not the same event.

[179] And then he ignores the text that clearly would demonstrate who the audience was.

[180] It was the people who responded to it, which was the crowd.

[181] The disciples are not even mentioned there.

[182] So it was bizarre.

[183] We never even got to how we should interpret it, but you know what it demonstrated?

[184] That once again, 2 ,000 years into church history, and we still cannot agree on who the audience was for the Sermon on the Mount.

[185] We can't even agree on that within Christianity, even when the text clearly tells us.

[186] At that point, it just makes me like, all attempts to interpret the Bible are futile.

[187] It's vanity.

[188] It's meaningless.

[189] Because no matter what tools we have, it doesn't matter.

[190] Because we are just going to constantly just interpret the Bible however we want, for whatever reason we want.

[191] And it's just going to be never -ending disagreement.

[192] That's one of the most discouraging things, but it's just the reality.

[193] So here's what I want to do.

[194] It's now 10 .17 p .m. Central Time here in West Texas.

[195] I don't know how I'm going to be, if or how much I will be broadcasting over the next couple of days due to some situations.

[196] I don't know.

[197] So I felt like we got to finish this, right?

[198] I mean, come on, don't we?

[199] I mean, all we did was cover the audience.

[200] We've got to figure out, what is their system of interpretation?

[201] We have to at least see, right?

[202] Because, I mean, he did some things with the audience here I don't think I've ever heard before.

[203] So then maybe he's got a new way of interpreting the Sermon of the Mount.

[204] He seems like he's already given it away, though.

[205] His interpretation is, this is for you, the Christian, and you should obey it, implying that you can.

[206] Which then...

[207] Well, let's see if he explains how we can pull this off.

[208] Are you ready?

[209] Here we go.

[210] I basically have it right where we stopped an episode in the last episode.

[211] I didn't call it part one, but where we stopped in that last episode, basically, we're starting right there.

[212] I may have backed it up maybe five seconds.

[213] Here we go.

[214] It is not addressed to Christians in general, but Christians in general would do well to obey it.

[215] Okay, it's addressed to the church that's been gathered together in some kind of, I guess...

[216] Gospel order, church order.

[217] I don't know how you even get this.

[218] This seems just bizarre to me that he's going with the church and that it's not really an enlargement on the law.

[219] Are you saying that Jesus is not expounding on the law of Moses?

[220] And he's already implied that we can obey it.

[221] Let's just see where he goes with this.

[222] The sermon is for his dear church gathered in gospel order so that we can demonstrate true Christian character in the work of the ministry.

[223] Now, if you've been paying attention, we did answer the questions, who, what, when, where, and why.

[224] See, here's the thing.

[225] Your answers to who, what, where, when, and why...

[226] Don't agree with anybody else's answers to who, what, where, when, and why.

[227] Isn't that the most, can you even comprehend that?

[228] That in Christianity, we all claim the Bible's the final authority, but if we ask basic questions of the text, who, what, where, when, why, right?

[229] We can't, we still, we don't even come to the same answers.

[230] How is that possible that you can take Christians, open their Bible, who, what, where, when, how, and we can't come up to the same answers?

[231] Because his answers are completely different than mine.

[232] In fact, his answers are different than, I think, most of church history.

[233] And not only that, his answers are based on doing this weird cross -referencing thing where, oh, that phrase says they went up into the mountain, so that event has to be the same event.

[234] Whoa, whoa, how did you do that?

[235] And not only that, his who, what, where, when, how is based off ignoring the final two verses that conclude the Sermon on the Mount.

[236] In his cross -referencing, he didn't even bother to go, well, how does this end?

[237] No, I'm not going to worry about that.

[238] I've got to go find phrases that say, in the mountain, and then say it's the same event.

[239] Because his big thing is, this is the church.

[240] This is the church gathered in proper gospel order.

[241] Don't know exactly what he means by that.

[242] This is the church.

[243] The church, the church, the church, the church, the church.

[244] In Matthew 5.

[245] And that it's supposed to show how that this supposed to is how we demonstrate true Christian character.

[246] Right.

[247] So I guess to show true Christian character, you have to obey the Sermon on the Mount.

[248] I don't know.

[249] A hundred percent.

[250] I don't know.

[251] Obviously, he seems to imply that we can keep it, which just goes against the entire history of the of especially coming out of Catholicism.

[252] But OK, let's let's see what happens.

[253] I don't know if I got the how yet.

[254] But we did get all the W's in there.

[255] This sermon needs to be preached.

[256] Because it has a vibrant and timely message to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[257] It is not limited by 2 ,000 years ago.

[258] This ought to be applied to every church of the Lord Jesus.

[259] It would solve all of our problems.

[260] See, we are in complete disagreement.

[261] The Sermon on the Mount doesn't solve all of our problems.

[262] The Sermon on the Mount reveals our one problem.

[263] It doesn't solve our problems.

[264] It reveals the problem.

[265] The law doesn't fix our problem.

[266] It reveals our problem.

[267] And what fixes it is the imputed righteousness of Christ.

[268] The Sermon on the Mount doesn't fix our problem.

[269] The Sermon on the Mount reveals that we have a problem.

[270] We are sinners who are incapable of keeping God's law.

[271] We cannot reach the righteousness that God demands.

[272] So we are condemned by it.

[273] We are driven to the cross.

[274] Christ says, I have obeyed everything in the law, all of it.

[275] I have fulfilled every part of the law, every jot and tittle I have fulfilled.

[276] He fulfilled it for us by putting our faith in him.

[277] His obedience to the law is imputed to my account in Christ.

[278] Then I am a perfect law keeper.

[279] In practice, I continue to be a law breaker perpetually.

[280] So his entire understanding of the Sermon on the Mount is completely contrary.

[281] If we'll just obey it, it'll solve all of our problems.

[282] Well, if we could just obey it, we wouldn't need Christ.

[283] We need Christ before we're saved.

[284] We need Christ after we say we're saved because our hope is never in our ability to do it because we don't possess the ability to do it.

[285] Our hope is in Christ who did it for us.

[286] If we would be obedient to this sermon.

[287] The churches are not brick and mortar.

[288] This church does not consist of the walls around it.

[289] The church of Jesus Christ.

[290] It tells them 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5.

[291] I'll get it right.

[292] As lively stones.

[293] Now.

[294] I always find it interesting.

[295] This is very true in the non -Catholic world.

[296] We love to constantly say the church is not brick and mortar.

[297] The church is not a building.

[298] The church is not a place.

[299] The church is the people.

[300] However, we sure spend a lot of money maintaining those brick and mortar.

[301] We raise a lot of money to build them.

[302] We raise a lot of money to keep upkeep.

[303] Again, I tell everyone every single time, just figure out how much money it takes to keep your church upkeep.

[304] for one single year.

[305] You just look at everything it takes to keep that church operating.

[306] That's a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of effort to keep it operating.

[307] And then you have to ask, what are you actually getting from all, is what you're obtaining from the church, does it equal anything close to the amount of money that's going to keep it operating?

[308] And what I have seen over and over and over, the amount of teaching output from most churches don't really justify all the money it goes to keep them going.

[309] Because in many cases, someone sitting in a room somewhere with a microphone, a Bible, and an internet connection, and some platforms to broadcast on can put out far more teaching, more doctrine, theology, discussion, questions, answers, Bible study, devotional, sermons.

[310] I mean, you just name it.

[311] They can put out far more than what the church puts out, and they can do so.

[312] for a considerable less amount of money.

[313] So it's weird because the church constantly says, we're not a brick.

[314] The church is not the brick and mortar.

[315] The church is not brick and mortar.

[316] Well, then if the church is not brick and mortar, why do we spend all so much time in maintaining these places?

[317] That's not the church.

[318] Well, the people have to come together.

[319] The people have to come together.

[320] For what?

[321] We come together so that we can give money to maintain that building that's not the church.

[322] I constantly struggle with this.

[323] The church is not brick and mortar.

[324] The church is not brick and mortar.

[325] However, we need this much money to keep it going.

[326] We have to pay this bill and we have to pay this bill and this bill.

[327] And you name the church, and I don't say this in a, and this is just not even about me. Anyone with an internet connection like I have, with a computer like I have, and a microphone like I have, and you just pick a couple of platforms to broadcast on, if you're dedicated, if you're even remotely committed, you can put forth more content in a year than that brick -and -mortar church will ever come close to putting out.

[328] In fact, you can put them to shame.

[329] But guess what?

[330] Ich weiß, ich weiß, ich weiß, wie viel es dauert.

[331] Aber wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, wenn ich, Half of that money.

[332] I'd be set for a long time, right?

[333] Because it doesn't take that much.

[334] I mean, other than if the person broadcasting wants to get paid to any extent, but even he could get paid a good amount and what it takes to a half of what it takes to keep a church operating.

[335] So it's just, I constantly hear the church is not the building.

[336] The church is not the building.

[337] The church is not the building.

[338] The church is not the building.

[339] The church is not the building.

[340] The church is not the building.

[341] Hey, please come to our services.

[342] At 10 a .m., we'll be meeting here.

[343] And oh, when we pass the offering plate, consider giving.

[344] Because, well, oh yeah, it costs to keep this building, which is not the church operating.

[345] It just seems, I know people can say, well, because you're misunderstanding.

[346] I understand a lot.

[347] I'm saying if you just break it down, you remove all of the spiritual language and all of the Christianese, and you just break down the concept.

[348] The church is not the building.

[349] The church is the people.

[350] Okay.

[351] All right.

[352] But we've got to maintain the building so that the people have a place to go.

[353] Why do they go to that place?

[354] Well, if you're a non -sacramental church, you go to that place for the teaching.

[355] Well, if you go to the place for the teaching, well, how much teaching is that church outputting based on the amount of money that they are receiving?

[356] Well, in some places you get maybe...

[357] You know, you maybe get a Sunday school lesson.

[358] In some cases you get a Sunday school lesson.

[359] Maybe it'll be okay.

[360] Maybe you'll get 45 minutes.

[361] I mean, and sometimes I don't even have a Sunday night.

[362] Sometimes I don't even have a Wednesday night.

[363] Then that may cancel a service for this or cancel a service for that.

[364] Cancel a service for this.

[365] I mean, Ray, I know this is not the point here, and this is why we do sermon reviews, because you never know what the point's going to be.

[366] It's just, he once again makes that point.

[367] Just consider how many times you have been told, the church is not the building, the church is not the building, the church is not the building, the church is the people, the people, the people are the body of Christ, the people, the people.

[368] It's not a building.

[369] It's not a building.

[370] All right.

[371] Now, what do you do with that?

[372] It's a lively stone.

[373] You go out there, you see a stone that's flopping around on the ground.

[374] No. Lively here is an adjective.

[375] It's describing the stone.

[376] It is a living stone.

[377] It is a living stone or built up into a spiritual...

[378] The church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual house.

[379] And you and I are living stones that make up the structure and a holy priesthood.

[380] What?

[381] To offer...

[382] Spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable unto Jesus Christ.

[383] We have no other sacrifice to offer than spiritual ones.

[384] Sacrifice of thanksgiving.

[385] Sacrifices of praise.

[386] Sacrifices of holiness and holy living and good works.

[387] That's what we offer up in this priesthood.

[388] And as living stones.

[389] It is a church of redeemed and baptized people, whom in Ephesians 2, verse 22, he says, whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

[390] What does that mean?

[391] The church of Jesus Christ is a place where God has a special dwelling.

[392] He dwells, he says that this, the spiritual building, is a habitation of God through the Spirit.

[393] The Holy Spirit dwells upon His churches in a special way.

[394] The Holy Spirit dwells on His churches in a special way?

[395] Wait, the church is not the building, but the Holy Spirit dwells in a special way on the churches?

[396] On the people?

[397] Or on the building?

[398] If the church isn't the building, but the Holy Spirit dwells...

[399] It gets always confounding and confusing when I start hearing people do this kind of weird double test.

[400] Like, the church is not the building, but the Holy Spirit dwells specially on the building.

[401] Or on the people.

[402] So, because the people are the church.

[403] So, the Holy Spirit dwells specially when we come together in the building, or even if we're apart.

[404] Like, is it the people?

[405] Is it the building?

[406] What is it?

[407] In a special way, a unique way.

[408] But we are instructed of Paul, like Timothy, that we may as know how we ought as to behave ourselves in the house of God and to love the brethren fervently.

[409] See, there's a decorum in the church of God.

[410] How we conduct ourselves is in the church of God.

[411] And it isn't according to tradition, but there are good traditions that we have.

[412] And we ought to practice.

[413] There's a decorum in how we do things.

[414] And there is a way in which we practice our faith.

[415] And it is New Testament.

[416] If it isn't in the New Testament, we should never do it.

[417] Ever do it.

[418] We should never consider it.

[419] We should never be brought up in a business meeting.

[420] I'll tell you.

[421] I'll tell you.

[422] This is an interesting introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

[423] It is bizarre how now the Sermon on the Mount is turned into ecclesiology.

[424] I am so confused here.

[425] I don't know what any of this has to do with the Sermon on the Mount.

[426] Literally nothing.

[427] He's just made the assumption.

[428] The Sermon on the Mount is preached to the church.

[429] He just made it.

[430] He didn't prove anything.

[431] He didn't come anything close to proving that.

[432] Nothing.

[433] Because the text, the sermon is reacted to by the multitude.

[434] But supposedly this is the gathering of the church and gospel order.

[435] So now he's just going into all this stuff about the church, the church, the church, the church.

[436] But it has nothing to do with the Sermon on the Mount.

[437] He's going all of this on the assumption that the Sermon on the Mount was addressed to the church.

[438] But all of that's just been presupposed upon the text.

[439] You do, I'll say, brother, we're not going to do that because we don't find any instructions in the word of God.

[440] We don't have any leeway.

[441] Now, there are things that we can do where we have freedom to do.

[442] But there are things that we don't have freedom to do.

[443] So is he going with the regulative principle or the normative principle?

[444] We can only do what is explicitly found in Scripture.

[445] And, well, only in the New Testament.

[446] So that's clearly...

[447] The normative is you can do anything that's not specifically condemned.

[448] So do we have freedom?

[449] If it's the regulative principle, you're only free to do what is specifically instructed.

[450] You're not free to do anything other than that.

[451] And that even really wouldn't be freedom.

[452] You're really being commanded, right?

[453] So is it the regulative principle or the normative principle?

[454] I don't know.

[455] I don't know what this has to do with the Sermon on the Mount.

[456] But okay, let's see.

[457] I'm still waiting to see if we get an interpretive framework for the Sermon on the Mount.

[458] The Bible specifically tells us how to conduct ourselves as a church, as living stones and the habitation of God through the Spirit.

[459] Jesus also said, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.

[460] Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

[461] What is bizarre here is that this is an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

[462] And almost everything he has quoted from, if you were to go write down every scripture that's been quoted, almost none of them is from Matthew 5, 6, or 7.

[463] He quoted Matthew 5, 1.

[464] He made some reference to the Beatitudes, but he actually pulled that from Luke 6, and then it did a weird thing from that.

[465] This is the weirdest introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

[466] He's not provided an observational outline of the Sermon on the Mount.

[467] He's not provided an interpretive framework for the Sermon on the Mount.

[468] Even if he wanted to go with an interpretive outline, he's not provided an interpretive outline.

[469] He's not provided a breakdown.

[470] He's not provided historical context.

[471] He's not even really provided textual context because the other text he went to is not even related to what he's saying it's related to.

[472] This would be nothing like your typical intro to the Sermon on the Mount.

[473] But there's plenty of time left for him to do some of those things.

[474] Do you know that's how the Sermon on the Mount teaches us?

[475] How we can be?

[476] Wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

[477] It's right there in the Sermon on the Mount.

[478] In this sermon, we have nine blessednesses of the redeemed.

[479] By these we learn we have every advantage over the flesh.

[480] Not just over the flesh, but over the devil and over the world.

[481] By these we learn the true character, heart, and mind of a true follower of Jesus Christ.

[482] When the scripture says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, these blessednesses reveal the mind of Christ and the heart of our Savior.

[483] When he taught them, he was revealing to the disciples his mind and his heart and said, this is how you're going to live in the world.

[484] This is how I'm going to care for you.

[485] This is how I'm going to watch over you.

[486] Okay, now finally he's getting to the Sermon on the Mount.

[487] What's kind of fascinating here, he says that the Beatitudes show us that we have every advantage over the flesh, the devil, and the world.

[488] I am somewhat baffled by this approach, so I did have to ask AI about this.

[489] So I asked AI while he was saying that.

[490] It says this, the Beatitudes describe the characteristics and blessings of those who belong to the kingdom of God.

[491] The question is whether they indicate that believers have every advantage over the flesh, the devil, and the world.

[492] Do the Beatitudes show we have every advantage over the flesh, the devil, and the world?

[493] No. Not in the way that guarantee immediate victory or superiority over these forces.

[494] Instead, the Beatitudes emphasize humility and suffering and dependence on God rather than personal strength or dominance over sin and opposition.

[495] And I will argue that these Beatitudes really show us, here's what we...

[496] Here's what we should be.

[497] If you want to be blessed, you have to be this.

[498] Blessed are the poor in spirit.

[499] Blessed are they that mourn.

[500] Blessed are the meek.

[501] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

[502] Blessed are the merciful.

[503] Blessed are the pure in heart.

[504] When you get to blessed are the pure in heart, you know what your response should be?

[505] I'm never going to be blessed because I'm never going to be pure in heart because I still have a sinful heart even after salvation.

[506] And I'm never going to be truly blessed because do I truly hunger and thirst after righteousness?

[507] If you truly hunger and thirsted after righteousness, then you would not be desiring sin.

[508] But you know you desire sin.

[509] You know you sin.

[510] You know you're not pure in heart.

[511] So immediately you'd be like, I'm in trouble.

[512] So then you either create a scenario where I'm going to try to do this.

[513] I'm going to try to do this.

[514] this because I want to be blessed or I want to be blessed or you realize there is one person the blessed person is Jesus Christ who this all fits who he was his character his attributes and in Christ I am blessed with all spiritual blessings so in Christ I am blessed not based on me meeting these requirements but based on the fact that he meets those requirements Unless you water these down until you can feel like you do them.

[515] And then you can convince yourself you're blessed, not based off what God has done, but blessed based off what you do.

[516] Well, then if you are blessed based off what you do, then how do we understand that in relation to...

[517] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

[518] If I already have all spiritual blessings in Christ, then are you going to say the blessings here that I supposedly get based off what I do are different than all the spiritual blessings I already have in Christ?

[519] I will argue we have the blessings in Christ.

[520] Christ is the blessed person.

[521] Christ is the blessed person in Psalm 1.

[522] He's the blessed person in Matthew 5.

[523] It's in him.

[524] When I see what's required for me to be blessed, I'm never going to get there because I'm always going to fall short.

[525] It's just like if you go to Psalm 1.

[526] If you go to Psalm 1, I mean, look at the requirements to be blessed.

[527] Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinner, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and the law doth he meditate day and night.

[528] If you're truly going to be blessed, you have to meditate on God's word day and night.

[529] Now, I know what people do.

[530] They water that down and they say, well, if you'll do a morning devotional, that'll give you something to think about.

[531] And they try to water down the requirement so that you can possibly do it.

[532] Don't water down the requirement.

[533] It's a law passage.

[534] Any passage that tells you to do something, it is law.

[535] And you know what?

[536] Those law passages demonstrate over and over and over.

[537] It puts forth a standard.

[538] It puts forth a requirement, which you cannot meet.

[539] So what you're supposed to do is be broken over it and yell, scream out to God in a spiritual cry for help, saying, Lord, I cannot.

[540] And then God says, I know you can't, but I sent my son who did.

[541] Not only could he, not only can he, he did.

[542] And by putting your faith in him, his obedience, him doing all of these things, you can be blessed in him.

[543] That's the only way it works.

[544] Or everything else, you either have to convince yourself you're better than you are, you have to lie, or you have to so water down the requirement that anybody can do it.

[545] And then you're actually destroying and changing God's law.

[546] These blessedness reveal our reward for having such a mind and a heart.

[547] The true happiness of the believer lies in these nine blessednesses.

[548] You want to be happy.

[549] Follow these nine blessednesses called the Beatitudes.

[550] I was reading the other day that, in fact, it bears it out in Ecclesiastes.

[551] Men are searching for something that will make them happy.

[552] Men aren't happy, and I say mankind, men and women, children.

[553] We're not happy just living the mundane lives that we live.

[554] We want something more.

[555] We want something exciting.

[556] We want something different.

[557] We're just not fulfilled.

[558] There's something missing.

[559] We need to find out what's missing.

[560] Thus we have all the sports.

[561] And not only that, that wasn't enough.

[562] We got to go to extreme sports.

[563] We have all these entertainment, it's like Six Flags and these, what are they?

[564] Yeah, Disneyland, all those places.

[565] Because people need to be entertained.

[566] They want something more than what they've got.

[567] They're not content with their lives.

[568] They're not content with what God has given them.

[569] They want something more and more and more.

[570] What does the scripture say?

[571] The eyes are never satisfied.

[572] We see something and we want more.

[573] And we want more.

[574] And we want more.

[575] Right.

[576] You're describing the sinful condition of all of us, even you Christians.

[577] You can't do it.

[578] I asked AI.

[579] AI said, are you ready?

[580] Here's what AI said about the Beatitudes.

[581] Each Beatitude presents an ideal that goes beyond human capability in our fallen state.

[582] If we take them as a requirement for receiving blessings, then no one would qualify.

[583] Hey, I understand.

[584] You can't do these.

[585] You can't.

[586] But the church constantly, we can, we can.

[587] But then says, but we have, our eyes are never satisfied.

[588] And we do this and we do, but we can do this.

[589] So do we do this or do we do this?

[590] Because on one hand, it's like, so what it ultimately turns into, all of those bad people are never satisfied.

[591] They never can do it.

[592] But we, we can.

[593] And we obey the Sermon on the Mount and we get the blessing.

[594] See, we're the blessed people because we're good.

[595] We're better.

[596] We do things right.

[597] All of you.

[598] Other people are not blessed and your lives are terrible and falling apart.

[599] It's because you're trash and you're garbage and you're not as good as us.

[600] Now, no pastor will ever preach it that way.

[601] But if you listen, that's basically the message, which is completely not the message of the Sermon on the Mount.

[602] He's got the who, what, where, when, and how completely wrong in this passage in light of just the text, reason, logic, reality.

[603] But guess what?

[604] I'm not saying you should agree with me. What I want you to demonstrate is that 2 ,000 years of church history, nobody agrees on the Sermon on the Mount.

[605] And when we don't get it, there's despair.

[606] Disparity creeps in.

[607] Then there's the use of alcohol and drugs and other things because we aren't getting enough out of our life.

[608] We want more.

[609] It's satisfied in the Beatitudes.

[610] The blessednesses, the happiness that we want and need are found in the Holy Scriptures.

[611] And if you as an unbeliever are dissatisfied, unhappy, despair, then you need to go back to the Scriptures.

[612] You need to go back to the Beatitudes and start following them so that you can have happiness in this life.

[613] So happiness is dependent on your ability to obey what God says you are to obey.

[614] This is not the gospel.

[615] This is simply, you want to be happy?

[616] Do what God tells you to do.

[617] You can do it, do it, and you'll be happy.

[618] It's just a works -based system.

[619] No, the reality is when God tells you to do something, it's not because you can, it's because you can't.

[620] And you are to see that be broken and crushed.

[621] I'm about to knock the microphone across the room.

[622] You're going to be broken and crushed and then run to Christ.

[623] And then in Christ, you'll find out, you'll find the person who can do it, who did do it, who did obey it.

[624] And by putting your faith in him, his obedience is you.

[625] And then you are blessed in Christ.

[626] Not by what you do, but by what he did.

[627] See, we're not even preaching the same gospel.

[628] It's like this message is in a completely different Christian universe than I'm in.

[629] We are not in the same Christianity in any way, shape, or form.

[630] It's like two completely different Christianities.

[631] And in the next, you have to start with blessed are the poor.

[632] I know he didn't mean it that way, but he said, basically, if you want to be happy in this life, obey this, and you'll be happy in this life and in the next.

[633] So you wait, my happiness in the next life is dependent on my obedience in this life?

[634] I know that's not how he meant it.

[635] I'm going to give him credit.

[636] I'm not going to accuse him of saying that you get to heaven by works.

[637] I know that's not what he means, but that's how it comes across.

[638] No, my happiness in the next life is dependent upon what Christ did.

[639] In fact, if I really want to be...

[640] My happiness in this life is more dependent upon what Christ did, not in what I do.

[641] Because if it's based on what I do, then your Christian life will be a never -ending attempt to try to obey that which you cannot obey.

[642] And you're going to live in a perpetual state of frustration, disillusionment, discouragement, despair, worry, anxiety, fear.

[643] Because you're going to be like, what's wrong with me?

[644] That's no way to live your life.

[645] Next week, if I get through this sermon today, I'm going to be preaching on poor man, rich man. Next week.

[646] The first beatitude.

[647] So all you people that are from out of town, you're going to have to come all the way back.

[648] No, we'll be on Facebook.

[649] We'll get these things up on...

[650] If you go to our website, plug it in here.

[651] We at abaptistchurch .org.

[652] We've got a sermons page.

[653] We're going to get these all up on that sermons page so you can listen to those sermons at your leisure.

[654] Wait, why would you tell people to go to sermonaudio .com?

[655] That's kind of weird, but okay, I guess if you just have a direct link.

[656] It looks like I'd be telling everyone to get the Sermons 2 .0 app or go to Sermon Audio.

[657] Because then you can not only hear his, not only could people then hear my sermons, they could hear all the other sermons.

[658] Wouldn't you want people to go, I don't know, but okay.

[659] This sermon teaches us how to pray.

[660] The disciples rightly desired to know how to pray.

[661] They said, Lord, teach us to pray.

[662] And we ought to have a desire to pray as God's people.

[663] We ought to just want to pray.

[664] God is not a Santa Claus that we go to with our list and we say, Lord, I'd like to have this and I'd like to have that.

[665] And was I a good enough person to get this too?

[666] Or am I going to get a lump of coal?

[667] You know, sometimes we go to God with some kind of, as if he's a Santa Claus.

[668] As if we use the right formula, we could turn on the tap and get what we want.

[669] But he teaches the disciples how to pray.

[670] Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed, holy be thy name.

[671] You approach God as a holy, almighty, sovereign God.

[672] He is not a Santa Claus.

[673] He is not a daddy.

[674] He is not your pal and your buddy.

[675] He is the God of the universe who created everything and created you.

[676] And we go before him with great reverence.

[677] However, he listens to his children as they pray.

[678] And he answers their prayers.

[679] He is a sovereign God of power and might that will do whatsoever He will among the inhabitants of the earth.

[680] And we are His emissaries, the people of God, to proclaim the true gospel.

[681] Therefore, whatsoever we need, He will gladly supply in our work for Him.

[682] Whatever we need and supply for gospel ministry, He'll give it to us freely.

[683] Let us walk in faith and we shall receive of his hand.

[684] Listen to what our Waldensian brethren wrote a thousand years ago about this prayer.

[685] They said the Lord's prayer contains seven petitions, brief in words, but weighty and large in the sense of their meaning.

[686] Again, that this prayer can scarce be sufficiently expounded by all the doctors in the world.

[687] In these seven petitions our requests are contained all things necessary for this present life.

[688] There's a weird introduction to this.

[689] There's no breakdown.

[690] He's not offering any structure.

[691] He's not even offering an interpretive system.

[692] It's so weird.

[693] I've never heard an introduction that doesn't actually do an introduction.

[694] This is like, here's an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, and I'm not going to really break this down in any meaningful structure, anything.

[695] I'm not going to give you an observational outline.

[696] I'm not going to give you a structural outline.

[697] I'm not going to point out the literary devices that is used.

[698] I'm not going to point out the genre.

[699] Literature that's being spoken of.

[700] I'm not going to give you history.

[701] I'm not going to give you textual context.

[702] It is just bizarre.

[703] I've never...

[704] I mean, this is not how you do any introduction at all.

[705] I mean, if you look at...

[706] If you've taken any course for any book and you do the introduction to the book, if you've taken...

[707] Forget Bible College, Bible Institute, or even Seminary.

[708] Forget that.

[709] Just if you get a...

[710] I'll just look down here.

[711] Here's the large print Winter 2024 -2025 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide, Exodus and Leviticus.

[712] Well, if I just go right here, okay, the first biblical background gives me all the background to Exodus.

[713] Then it gives me understand the context, gives me one, two, three, four, five paragraphs on the context.

[714] Okay, I mean, even that gives me some basic breakdown.

[715] But most study Bibles will give you a breakdown, at least something.

[716] I mean, there's got to be some kind of like, I don't even understand this.

[717] It's just like, well, here's a section.

[718] It's just, I don't, don't you have to see the big picture before you can study the individual parts?

[719] That's a basic principle, right?

[720] Okay, we're going to give you an overview.

[721] We're going to break this down.

[722] And that which is to come.

[723] This sermon instructs us of what our desire should be that we be not consumed or deceived by the world and its many attractions.

[724] Because we are instructed, be not deceived.

[725] God is not mocked whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.

[726] We can be self -deceived.

[727] Did you know that?

[728] We are the best people at convincing us that we know what we're doing.

[729] Why, this is the right thing for me to do.

[730] This is the right path to go on.

[731] And we convince ourselves and we justify ourselves that that's the right thing to do.

[732] And we can deceive ourselves.

[733] We can deceive ourselves in our religion.

[734] Because our religion makes us feel good.

[735] You know, I don't want you coming here to church and feeling good when I'm done.

[736] I don't want to be the source of your happiness.

[737] You say, preacher, but I want to feel good when you're done.

[738] No. My job as the preacher is to preach the Word of God.

[739] And the Holy Spirit will work in your hearts and deal with your hearts after whatever your sin and problems and difficulties and trials are.

[740] God will deal with you about that.

[741] And that may not make you very happy.

[742] But then on the other hand, you might find something in this sermon that makes you rejoice with great joy, unspeakable.

[743] Say glory to God for His grace.

[744] Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Thy precious Word.

[745] So, either you're going to feel really great when you leave a really miserable.

[746] Just to follow our theme of AI versus sermons, I just asked AI to give me a basic breakdown, overview of the Sermon on the Mount.

[747] And it gave me a basic introduction.

[748] It broke it down, the Sermon on the Mount, into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

[749] 10 parts, then it broke down a basic summary of each chapter, 5, 6, and 7, then gave me final thoughts with 3 points.

[750] And it did that in about 7 seconds.

[751] While we listen to a sermon that's 50 minutes, and in 50 minutes, we still don't have...

[752] How are you supposed to interpret it?

[753] We don't have, we've got a wrong understanding of the audience.

[754] We've got a complete misunderstanding of actually what the Sermon on the Mount is about.

[755] We've got a complete misunderstanding of the Beatitudes.

[756] And we still don't have any idea of structure or anything like that.

[757] We don't have anything.

[758] Yes, I've got the antithet.

[759] Okay, I'm just looking at all the things it's offering.

[760] I could break down the entire Sermon on the Mount right now if you wanted me to.

[761] But, I mean, AI did it in literally seven seconds.

[762] Once again, we continue to compare AI to sermons, and AI outperforms every single time.

[763] I guess we'll wrap this up.

[764] Obviously, we're not going to get anywhere.

[765] Obviously, we're...

[766] I don't know what to say.

[767] That won't be my fault.

[768] You can talk to the Lord about that, okay?

[769] It is also a sermon of warning and judgment.

[770] with instructions on identifying the wicked deceiver who would attempt to destroy the true churches of Christ, having corrupt fruit, and claiming to be disciples of Christ.

[771] There are many who claim to be great preachers, and say, oh, they've got a great litany, you know, they're doctored, so and so, and they've got a great litany, and they've written great books, and they've done all these things, yet they're deceivers, and the Bible says you shall know them by their fruit, and he tells us that in this sermon.

[772] We need to pay attention so that we be not deceived by the evil workers who sound good, who look like sheep and really aren't.

[773] We're also instructed in this sermon of God's great care over His beloved people in supplying those things needful for us.

[774] Even more if we but ask Him, He takes care of His people.

[775] We don't need to fret and be anxious.

[776] And worry about things.

[777] By this sermon we learn how to live with our adversaries.

[778] And how to conduct our business in this wretched and destitute world.

[779] We are children of the king.

[780] And therefore we are always to take the high road.

[781] In our moral, obligatory and statutory responsibilities.

[782] The high road.

[783] We don't cheat.

[784] We don't steal.

[785] We speak the truth in everything that we do.

[786] Because we're God's children.

[787] We learn now in this.

[788] So he's just kind of going through and picking different sections and just saying, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, which is law, law, law, law, law.

[789] We've yet to hear any gospel.

[790] He's yet to say, you can't do it.

[791] It's just, you can do it.

[792] You can do it.

[793] You can do it.

[794] You can do it.

[795] You can do it.

[796] You can do it.

[797] Even AI, when I told them to break it all the way down, look what AI says at the very end.

[798] We cannot meet this standard on our own.

[799] AI has now said that multiple times.

[800] AI understands that it is putting forth an ethical standard in which we cannot meet.

[801] We cannot keep.

[802] I'm going to stop there.

[803] We're almost at an hour again.

[804] You say, well, where did, it kind of falls, kind of fall, I don't know where it falls in.

[805] Since he's not really, I'm not going to place it in any of the 11.

[806] I could probably, I can make it fit in.

[807] I could say it's a little bit like this.

[808] But he never bothered to give us a theological framework or an interpretive framework.

[809] Yeah.

[810] I don't know.

[811] That's the strangest introduction maybe I've ever heard on the Sermon on the Mount.

[812] Maybe, it may be.

[813] All that time spent on supposedly the who, what, where, when, how.

[814] And he didn't really answer any of the questions.

[815] And his attempt to answer the questions was based off connecting passages that are not connected to it.

[816] Like it was just, I don't know.

[817] I don't even know what to say.

[818] There you go.

[819] I don't know.

[820] I don't know.

[821] You can go listen to the 23, 24 hours we've already done in the Sermon on the Mount.

[822] You can go listen to all the things we've struggled with.

[823] Maybe we'll do some more work on the Sermon on the Mount some other time.

[824] It's just...

[825] I say it all the time.

[826] It's one of the most misinterpreted, mishandled passages in the entire Bible.

[827] It's just constantly the way it's preached.

[828] As much as I get frustrated with how Isaiah 40 -55 is mishandled, I think if we've been listening to sermon after sermon on Isaiah 40 -55, and it's just like, it's amazing.

[829] We can't find one that even attempts to try to handle it correctly.

[830] I think if we did the same thing with Matthew 5 -7, we could spend months, and by the end of it, we would just be exhausted.

[831] Thinking, why is this so difficult to be handled?

[832] But it's...

[833] I don't know.

[834] You can't ever...

[835] Pastors just constantly interpret things the way your theological team tells you you have to interpret things.

[836] That's why I can't stand theological teams.

[837] That's why I can't stand it.

[838] It's supposed to be about the text, but it really isn't.

[839] Ladies and gentlemen, I'll just say this.

[840] Sermon on the Mount puts forth the standard of God, which demands perfection, which demands a righteousness which you cannot achieve.

[841] You will never achieve it in practice.

[842] But the one who preached it obeyed it.

[843] That is the way to understand the Sermon on the Mount.

[844] It is law, law, law.

[845] Shows you your inability and drives you to Christ and shows you not only his ability, but he did it for you.

[846] That's a basic historical Christian interpretation known as the law -gospel distinction.

[847] It is not radical.

[848] It is not new.

[849] It's not crazy.

[850] It's not liberalism.

[851] It's not antinomianism.

[852] It's simply the way.

[853] The Gospel and the Law of the Gospel is to be distinguished from one another.

[854] And the fact that nobody seems to understand that proper distinction between Law and Gospel anymore really proves and means that the Reformation, Luther, failed.

[855] It was a complete failure because the Church today doesn't even recognize the Law -Gospel distinction.

[856] It has abandoned it completely.

[857] In fact, the way we've so abandoned that Law -Gospel distinction, you could actually argue Catholicism won and the Counter -Reformation with the Council.

[858] of Trent.

[859] Actually, one, because most Christians are more influenced from a Council of Trent way of thinking than they are a Reformed understanding.

[860] And when I say Reformed, Reformed coming from the actual Protestant Reformation of a proper distinction between law and gospel.

[861] Alright, thanks for listening.

[862] Everyone have a great night.

[863] God bless.