The Sermon on the Mount, by Jesus the Son of God.

Class Notes by F. M. Perry, First Delivered About 1973.

Matthew 5:1-20:

“1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

In Daniel 2:44, Daniel, the prophet of God, told old King Nebuchadnazzer, “And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed , and that kingdom will not be left for another people, it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”

As we read The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7), we find that it was the time of “the days of those Kings” of which Daniel spoke. The God of heaven was making final preparations to set up His Own Kingdom. The Word who was in the beginning with God, the Word who was God, had become flesh and was dwelling among men. Men were beholding of His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). John said of Him , “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; peace and truth was realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (John 1:16-18).

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the only Begotten of God, dwelling in the flesh, was speaking. The One who was to be King of the eternal kingdom was telling us about the Kingdom.

When the sermon was concluded (Matthew 7:28-29) we are told, “The result was that when Jesus had finished His words, the multitude were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

The only authority which the scribes could rightly claim was that which came through Moses. Jesus said in Matthew 23:2-3, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses, therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.” Those teachers had no divine right to speak anything in the name of religion, except that which Moses authorized them to speak.

But Jesus Himself spoke to the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount (and He speaks to us through that Biblical sermon today) as One who has the right to be heard; as One whose declaration of truth is enough. He does not have to quote from Moses as the scribes did. His authority is direct from God. Jesus is God's word personified. Jesus was “in the beginning” with God.

The people of the first century were amazed at what Jesus said and the way that He said it. And today, when the people of the world read this sermon, they are, almost without exception, amazed, also. However, the amazement of many, who do not understand the grace of God, is expressed in their belief that the ideals of the sermon are impossible of attainment among humans. But the amazement is even greater among those people who, although they have come to learn that they cannot attain these ideals through their own power, they have also come to learn that God grants the power, that God creates and leads the citizens of His Kingdom as Jesus said they should live.

Who is teaching us in this sermon? It is One of whom God said, “This is My beloved Son , with whom I am well pleased; hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5). The writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews spoke of the Teacher when he said,”God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus Himself spoke of His importance when He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18). Paul spoke of our Teacher when he said, “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23). Jesus taught the multitude with authority in the Sermon on the Mount because God had given Him the authority.

So let's allow Him to teach us. Let's approach this study with an attitude of asking, seeking, and knocking and then stand amazed and see what blessings the Lord will heap upon us.

The first sixteen verses of the Sermon describes the citizens of Christ's kingdom. The “Kingdom of Heaven” He called it, inhabited by those who are called “sons of God.” The characteristics of the citizens of the Kingdom are described: they are poor in spirit; they mourn; they are gentle; they hunger and thirst for righteousness; they are merciful; they are pure in heart; they are peacemakers; they have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness; they are the salt of the earth; they are the light of the world; they let their light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Those whom God adds to the Kingdom of Heaven are used by God to perform functions during their lives on earth. The functions of the citizens of the kingdom are to glorify God in heaven through the “good works which God prepared beforehand” for them to do during their sojourn on earth. (Ephesians 2:10).

With the 17^th verse of chapter 5 begins a section of the sermon which some have called “The righteousness of the Kingdom.” This section goes over to chapter 7, verse 12 and makes up, as far as quantity of words is concerned, the greater part of the sermon. The first few verses of this section (chapter 5, 17-19) give the relationship of this “kingdom of heaven” to the old scriptures, “the law and the prophets.”

The old scriptures were inspired of God, a part of God's Word, and as such will never pass away. Christ's coming, to prepare and usher in the eternal kingdom of heaven, was in no way to destroy God's scriptures (the law and the prophets), but to fulfill them. God's revelations through Moses and the prophets, and now through Jesus Christ, are all part of God's eternal plan. No one should get the idea that Jesus is bringing in, with the Sermon on the Mount, something absolutely new. No. They are things which have existed in the mind of God since the beginning of time. God's revelations through Moses and the prophets, up to the time of Christ, were but prelude and preparation for the establishment of the eternal kingdom.

Why then did this sermon strike the world as something new? A hint to the answer to this question is given in Matthew 5:20. “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Most people, in the land we call Palestine, (the land of the Jews), in Jesus' day knew only the word of God as it was read to them by the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees didn't follow God's word in deeds of life. By their lives they had perverted the Jews' understanding of it. To many of the people who heard the reading of God's scriptures, the actions of the scribes and Pharisees spoke louder than their words. As a result there was but little real understanding of the righteousness of God although it was all there in His word. So Christ is not now in this sermon preaching something which is new, which was not originally in the old scriptures. It is something which should be recognized today as further unfolding of things God had already said. It only seemed new because it was so foreign to the perverted world of tradition that had been built up by the scribes and Pharisees.

The Contrast Between the Righteousness of the Kingdom and the Law of Moses as Taught by the Scribes and Pharisees. (Matthew 5:21-48).

Beginning with chapter 5 verse 21 and continuing through verse 48, Jesus contrasts the righteousness of the kingdom with the traditional Jewish interpretation of the Law. Again let me say, these are not contrasts to show changes in God's eternal plan. The righteousness of the kingdom described in this sermon is the righteousness of God, and it has always been the same. (Romans 1:17).

The contrasts which Jesus makes in this sermon are contrasts of God's righteousness with the so-called righteousness of the world of the Jews of that first century day. He does this by using five examples:

Example 1, The Law Against Murder (Matthew 5:21-26).

“21 You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'

The first illustration used is the worldly traditional interpretation of the Law against murder. (Matthew 5:21-26). God's Law (one of the ten commandments) was “Thou shalt not kill.” A more contemporary translation of that Law is: “You shall not murder.” The scribes had read that Law to the people and the people had heard it. But the scribes had made an interpretation of it by adding something else. It was: “Whoever shall commit murder shall be liable to the court.” This interpretation destroyed the moral and spiritual character of that Law and converted it into a rigid and merely external legal enactment, forbidding the actual deed. The judgment or court the scribes referred to was not the final judgment at the end of time, but was the “municipal judgments” or courts set up in the cities of the Jews. God had instructed the Jews to set up judges, but He had not instructed them that the only judgment of and penalty for murder was in these courts.

Then Jesus said, “But I say to you.” Jesus has the authority to speak for God. Jesus is God in the flesh. What He tells the Jews is not something new but what God has wanted all the time when He said “You shall not murder.” This is a further revelation of the mind of God towards which a seeking attitude on the part of God's people (even in the time of Moses) would have led them. “Seek and you shall find” (Matthew 7:7) was not new principle only for the “last days.” It was God's principle for His people in the days of Abraham, in the days of David, and apparently all down through time.

Actually, it was God who said, “You shall not murder.” And the breaking of God's Law was spiritual death with the punishment being the wrath of God. The traditional but erroneous understanding of the Jews was that the suspected murderer would simply be tried by a human court.

We can see what an amazing thing it must have seemed to the multitude on the mount to see and hear a human being say, 'Your interpretation of God's Law is wrong. I tell you that God meant something else and something more. And moreover, I personally reiterate to you now the mind of God.!' No mere man could truthfully speak that way. Only God could say, “But I say to you!”

So Jesus, the Son of God, could not only state the Law itself, as could a scribe, but He could state the principle on which the Law was founded. The Law, as interpreted by the scribes and Pharisees, did not forbid hatred, which is the root of murder. Men, as they viewed the matter, could cherish hatred and contempt for another without being disobedient to the Pharisee's Law.

Jesus however taught that all feelings of anger and hatred are within themselves sinful, whether or not they bring about acts of violence. Jesus said they fall under the judgment and condemnation of God.

Jesus gives a threefold characterization to hatred. 1 - He says, if you are angry with your brother you are guilty before the court. 2 - If you call your brother empty-headed (Raca), you are guilty before the supreme court (or Sanhedrin). 3 - If you say to your brother, you fool, you will go into the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:22). These are all examples of hatred and just show that hate for one's fellowman is wrong under any court or judge. But especially it is wrong before God.

We must remember that Jesus is contrasting the inward and spiritual righteousness which He requires , with the mere outward and formal righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. And the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is entirely unacceptable to Jesus according to Matthew 5:20.

Chapter 5, verses 25 and 26 seem to be given for the purpose of impressing on the worshiper of God the urgency of the situation when he finds himself in a position that his brother has something against him. The implication is that the worshiper has done something against his brother as that outlined in verse 22. He has been angry with his brother, he has said “raca” to him, or he has called him “a fool.” It is an urgent situation because after the sentence has been passed, there may be no opportunity for reconciliation.

Why is it urgent? Because the danger is grave. Jesus said that the offender is in danger of the hell of fire. This is the gehenna of fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 5:41), the result of the wrath of God.

In Matthew 5:8 Jesus says in the beatitude that the “pure in heart” shall “see God.” the clear implication is that those who are not pure in heart shall not see God. Now, later in the sermon, Jesus emphasizes that only those hearts free from anger and malice can approach the altar of worship with the approval of God. Jesus did not want there to be any separation among citizens of the kingdom caused by anger and malice among brethren.

In John 17:20-21 Jesus prayed to the Father, “I do not ask in behalf of these (the twelve) alone, but for those who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they may also be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.”

So if anyone is angry with his brother, there is an urgent obligation on the part of each, the offender and the offended, to be reconciled to each other. The duty of the offender is plainly set forth in verses 23 and 24. He must seek immediate reconciliation. To be reconciled means to renew fellowship with one another. And that, in turn, implies a correction of the wrongs done to the best of the offender's ability.

There is a duty for the offended one to perform also. It is plainly set forth by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17, “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.”

Notice that the purpose of all this is to win back the one who has sinned. And more than that, “ to keep (within the church) the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2). And finally, to be ever enabling the kingdom to be ever confessing before the world that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Only in the last resort, when all loving efforts have failed, the offender must be brought to know that he has caused himself to be alienated from the fellowship of the kingdom. At this point a most urgent thing is that the erring brother must become aware that he has sinned and be brought to repentance. He cannot again be united with Jesus in the kingdom until he comes to a knowledge of his sin and repents. So even the step of “withdrawing fellowship” is a necessary one performed for the benefit of the individual as well as the kingdom. From then on his salvation should be prayed for and sought diligently as one who has become spiritually as a “Gentile and a tax-gatherer.”

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Question for the class: What is meant in verse 23 by the phrase “presenting your offering at the altar?” How is the principle applicable to us today?

2 – Contrast Between the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and the Righteousness of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:27-32).

“27 You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';

The second of the five illustrations continues as Matthews contrasts between righteousness as understood by the scribes and the Pharisees and the true righteousness of those in the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:27-32). This contrast is based on a common sin of humanity, the sin of adultery. This sin not only vitally affects the sinner himself, but tends to undermine the whole framework of human society. Jesus teaching, as usual, goes to the very heart of the trouble.

God' Law said, “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14). But the scribes and Pharisees interpreted the Law as only the actual commission of the act of adultery. Jesus actually said, “everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” It was the Lord's method of instruction to reduce the overt commission of a sin to the element out of which it originates. Jesus said in Luke 6:43, “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.” When you see bad fruit, look to the tree. See what is causing the fruit to be bad. Jesus makes it clear that the transgression occurs even before the overt act. In this case, the one who looks on a woman to lust for her is an adulterer in God's sight.

In Matthew 5, verses 29 and 30 Jesus uses some strong illustrations. He uses the body as an illustration and says it would be better to dismember the body, to tear out the eye, or cut off the hand, than to let these parts cause the whole body to perish. Why did Jesus put this illustration here? He was evidently seeking to bring home to the hearts of His hearers a sense of the awfulness of sin. He suggests that it is necessary sometimes to make definite, distinct, sometimes even sudden and sharp sacrifices in order to combat sin and remain loyal to Jesus.

The first condition of discipleship is self-denial, said Jesus in Matthew 16:24. “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Now in chapter 5: 29-30 we see an illustration of the power of self-denial. Let us notice three things about self-denial:

1. Let us notice that the self-denial of the kind suggested here is not on and in itself. Both verses 29 and 30 begin with the word “if.” “If your right eye makes you stumble.” “If your right hand makes you stumble.” The casting away of a part of the body is to be practiced only if and when there is a need for it.

2. Jesus is speaking about spiritual things. Sin causes spiritual death. If surgery is required it is spiritual surgery, the amputation of whatever is necessary to save your life. Jesus indicates that the necessary action must sometimes be drastic and speedy.

3. Even though there is a great pain involved in this spiritual surgery, it is nothing compared with the pain that will result if the whole body is thrown into hell. And more than that, in addition to the escape from hell, there is the compensation (beyond measurable value) of being able to enter into life eternal. This is the way Jesus puts it in Matthew 18:9, “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you . It is better for you to enter life with one eye than, having two eyes, to be cast into the hell of fire.”

Now in Matthew 5, verses 31 and 32, under the subject of the sin of adultery, Jesus makes another contrast of the righteousness of the kingdom with the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees.

Apparently the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees was something like this: If any any man wishes to divorce his wife for any cause, he may do so provided he gives her a writing of divorcement. The writing of divorcement apparently was thought to be based on Deuteronomy 24:1 which does speak of a man giving his wife a bill of divorcement if he does send her away. But there is nothing in the old Deuteronomy scripture to justify divorce for any cause in the eyes of God. Jesus Himself explains it in Matthew 19 beginning at verse 3, “Some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?' And He answered and said, 'Have you not read, that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh? Consequently they are no more two, but one flesh . What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.' They said to Him, 'why then did Moses command to give her a certificate and divorce her.?' He said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.'”

Back in chapter 5, the sermon on the mount, verse 32, the teaching of Jesus for the kingdom of heaven, as contrasted to the erroneous teaching of the Pharisees, was, “but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

A question arises here of how the wife, who has done nothing wrong but is put away by her husband, is made to commit adultery. She is a free moral agent and she does not have to go out and commit adultery. Perhaps the point is this: the husband who puts her away places her in a position where she may be tempted to commit adultery. And in the world of scribes and Pharisees, she has been taught wrong. After she has been put away with a writing of divorcement, she is actually being encouraged to be married again and she is being falsely taught that it is all right for her to marry. But when she marries again, she actually commits adultery in the sight of God. She has been caught up and deceived by the big lie of the scribes and Pharisees. And not only that, the man who marries her is also caused to commit adultery. “Unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees,” says, Jesus, “you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” That is why this is important.

I am sorry to say that it seems to me that many of my brethren in Christ, when discussing this verse, are more interested in justifying divorce than they are in preserving marriages. Almost every time these verses are discussed, most of the discussion revolves around a search for for a scriptural cause for divorce and a scriptural way for one to be remarried if he is divorced. A lot of times we are dangerously close to what the scribes and Pharisees have done. They took a passage from the old scriptures, out of context, and said that Moses condoned divorce because he commanded that a writing of divorcement be given. Old devil inspired humanity, which Moses had to deal with, inspired them to search for a way to get divorced because that is what their humanity wanted. Their eyes became blinded to the truth that God created couples male and female and told them to leave their fathers and mothers and cleave to one another. As God joined them together, no man was to separate. In Matthew 5:32 and in Matthew 19:9, was Jesus contradicting this principle and giving a cause for man and wife to divorce?

Jesus makes a reference to God's eternal principle (except for the cause of unchastity) and we, like the scribes and Pharisees, are ready to desert the clear and safe principle of God and hang our righteousness, blessedness, happiness, and salvation on the exception.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” inferring that those who follow God's Law, “You shall not commit adultery” but remain pure in heart. Jesus infers here in Matthew 5: 31 and 32 that blessed is the man who does not divorce his wife.

Does Jesus ever call for divorce? No! Just the opposite. In the kingdom, Jesus calls on us to stay married and let that marriage illustrate to the world the relationship of Jesus Christ and His Body the church. (Ephesians 5:25, Colossians 3:19).

3 – Contrasts Regarding the Law Against Making False Vows. (Matthew 5:33-37).

“33 Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.'

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The third of the five illustrations is based on the the common Jewish practice regarding the Law against making false vows. (Matthew 5:33 -37)

Apparently the scribes and Pharisees knew this law and interpreted it literally. They would not swear falsely by the name of God. But if they wanted to make a false oath they would simply swear by something else. They felt that God's law did not condemn them in making a false oath if they did not associate it with the name of God. In other words they might make statements, agreements, promises, or affirmations in common conversations and bind them with oaths, sworn by some part of creation or institution such as heaven, earth, or the temple, rather than the Creator Himself. If they did not use the name of the Creator in their oath, they thought it alright to renege on their statement or promise. (It was like making a promise with your fingers crossed. You don't really mean it.) Thus, their interpretation of God's law allowed them to lie.

But Jesus said to the Jews (the scribes and Pharisees) that they had it all wrong. God created all things and to swear by a created thing was to swear by God Himself. To swear by a created thing was just as binding in God's sight as to swear by God's name itself. All created things belong to God, even you Jews yourselves. Actually, you have no right to pledge or swear by something that does not belong to you. You, yourselves belong to the Israel of God. You should be living lives that demonstrate that fact. Therefore, in your ordinary conversations and day to day living you have no need to swear by anything. As a child of God your simple yes or simple no is just as binding as to swear by the name of God. And you are wrong to make any kind of false oath at any time.

Jesus spoke to Jews who were in God's earthly kingdom. It had its immediate application in that earthly kingdom. Those who interspersed their daily speech with idle oaths were wrong in so doing. Those who calculatingly made false oaths of any kind were wrong in so doing. Jesus wanted to convince them that this was wrong and get them to repent. Why? For two reasons, 1 – This was God's will originally for Israel; and 2 – The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven for which God created the nation of Israel was soon to come. Jesus was telling the Jews that they were created to enter that spiritual kingdom of heaven. But they could not enter that kingdom unless their righteousness surpassed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. And here was an example of what Jesus meant. Stop making idle meaningless oaths and stop swearing falsely.

The principles are directly applicable to us because we live in the time of the kingdom of heaven. It has already been established and we today enter it only clothed in the righteousness which Jesus described in the Sermon on the Mount. So this sermon is for us too. “Let your statement be, yes, yes or no, no, no; and anything beyond these is of evil.”

Some people today interpret Jesus' statement, “Make no oath at all,” to mean that they cannot subscribe to the “swearing-in” oath used in the court room – the oath that says, “I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Some people think that Jesus doesn't want them to make that statement under court room circumstances. And I am pleased to report that most courts will not insist on a person violating his conscience and will simply let him say, “I solemnly affirm that I will tell the truth.”

But I doubt that it was this kind of oath of which the Lord spoke when He said, “Make no oath at all.” The Jews were actually instructed to swear by the name of God on certain solemn occasions. These oaths, of course, were to be honest oaths coming from a pure heart, in which it was not wrong for them to mention the name of their Creator.

In the Christian era, among citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we find the Apostle Paul making affirmations and calling on God as witness to his truthfulness. Gal. 1;20 says, “Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.” And in 2 Cor. 1:23, “But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth.”

As citizens of the kingdom of heaven living on the earth, we usually have no need to swear by the Creator or by anything of His creation. Jesus says that our “yes” should honestly and plainly mean “yes,” our “no” should honestly and plainly mean “no.” Among brethren in the church, we all live our lives in Christ before God. As Christians our simple “yes” or “no” is just as strong as an oath. As some Christians say, “Our word is our bond.” This is one way we serve as “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.”

4 – Contrasts Based on the Law Regarding Retaliation. (Matthew 5:38-42).

“38 You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'

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The fourth of the five illustrations is based on the common Jewish practice of the Law regarding retaliation. (Matthew 5: 38-42).

The actual Law of Moses stated: (Exodus 21:22-25), “And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judge decides. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

Leviticus 24:19-20 stated, “If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.”

The purpose of this law was to protect the rights of persons by a proper judicial punishment by the civil authorities. The law was never intended to encourage or permit personal revenge. The injured party was not required to prosecute, but could, if he saw fit, to show mercy by declining to insist on the penalty of the law.

Leviticus 19:17-18 says, “You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may merely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take revenge, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

Thus, we can see that the real object of the law was not to sacrifice the life of the offender, or to sacrifice a member of his body, but to save both the offender and the offended by causing the would-be assailant to realize that every injury he might inflict upon another, he would inflict upon himself in the end.

But the scribes and Pharisees used this law to justify personal and private retaliation, thus defeating the very purpose for which it was given. The law clearly forbade personal revenge. Proverbs 20:22 says, “Do not say,'I will repay evil. Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.”

Thus, the scribes and Pharisees had perverted God's teachings.

Then Jesus said, “But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Here is an illustration of physical violence. A slap in the face has been regarded in all ages as a gross insult. But it is not an insult that imperils life. God's law forbade revenge. Thus, Jesus, of course, forbids revenge. In addition, God's law says you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Thus, we can see that to turn the other cheek clearly demonstrates that we do not have a spirit of malice, but a spirit of love.

Romans 12:19-21 says, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. .... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Then Jesus used another illustration – verse 40, “If anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.” Here is an example of someone who wants to do some other kind of injustice – judicial injustice.

The idea here seems to be, that in order to show the Spirit of God in you, be ready to give up not only that which the law might unjustly demand, but even that which the law cannot demand. If a follower of Jesus is robbed of his earthly possessions, even if through a process of earthly law, it is better to be defrauded than to risk doing something wrong.

1 Corinthians 6:7 says, “It is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?”

The Holy Spirit commands Christians to be like those described in Hebrews 10:32-34: “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.”

We must not put too much trust in our shirts and our coats, our worldly possessions. Our trust must be in actions that show the Spirit of Christ leading us.

Then Jesus used another illustration – verse 41, “And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two.”

The practice alluded to here was that of the Roman soldiers who pressed into service the civilians with whom they came in contact. Under certain conditions, the Roman soldiers could impress into service whatever civilians were available to carry their back packs for one mile. It was also probably for the purpose of carrying the government mail or provisions from one place to another. A similar practice has been used in North America when British troops impressed the people of the Colonies to use their horses and wagons to deliver provisions to the army.

It was some thing like this that the Roman soldiers had set up in the areas where the Jews lived. To the Jews, the Romans were hated conquerors. Yet the Jews were forced to assist under the laws which the Romans imposed. The law apparently required them to carry burdens for one mile. Then the burdens were transferred to other Jewish citizens. Evidently the Jews manifested a spirit of rebellion at being forced into this kind of service and some even thought of revenge.

But this mile that they were to go was but an expression of the law at that time. Jesus said that not only should they go one mile as the law required , but should show the spirit of love by going a second mile. The scribes and Pharisees had a spirit of rebellion and revenge. Jesus makes it clear that one of God's children should exhibit a spirit of good will and generosity. Jesus calls us to willing service beyond the call of obligating duty.

In verse 42 Jesus turns from negative examples to a positive one, “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”

People who have only a cursory knowledge of the Old and New Testaments sometimes shudder and are horrified when they learn that God's Old Testament law for Israel was actually “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth,” and even “a life for a life.” That is capital punishment! But remember this was a legal system for an earthly nation God had formed. It had its duly appointed courts and judges and these were maximum penalties. The aggrieved party (the plaintiff), in many cases did not have to insist on the matter going into the court. He was admonished to love the defendant as he loved himself.

There are many systems of law and justice in the world today which are very similar to the Mosaic Law. There have been and there are today many Gentile people and nations “who do not have the Law” but who “do instinctively the things of the Law.” (Romans 2:14). The systems of justice in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, I understand, use a very similar system of “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth.” And even in the “western” countries (the U. S. included) the system of justice is a modified form of Mosaic Law ordained by God for the nation of Israel. Where our law calls for capital punishment and certain other forms of punishment, it is based on (or has grown out of) the Mosaic Law. Actually, the Mosaic Law was the most advanced and best system of justice in the world at that time – actually based on love of countrymen and for one another but with maximum judicial sentences and punishments.

I have thought, that if the Jews had been able to follow the Mosaic Law, they would have been ready to enter the Kingdom of Heaven when the Law first came. Jesus did not come to earth representing a new God with new and changed principles. Jesus was a part of the Godhead who created the earth, all mankind, and the Israelite nation. Now Jesus, in His life on earth and in His Sermon on the Mount, was preparing to complete and close out God's earthly kingdoms and inaugurate God's spiritual kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, all planned from the beginning.

But many of the Jews, alive when Christ was in the flesh on earth, had perverted God's Law. The main problem was that they had left “love” out of it. And the scribes and Pharisees were their leaders. They were not yet ready to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The reason that Jesus' teachings were so surprising to them (as to ourselves today) was that they had become so blind, because they had been so long separated from God.

If we today are horrified at the realization that God actually prescribed maximum penalties on earth - “a life for a life” - death by stoning - “a hand for a hand,” - the cutting off of a hand – things that affect only the fleshly body, how must we feel about the spiritual judicial punishment God has prescribed for those who remain in sin on the spiritual day of judgment?

The Sermon on the Mount teaches that a Christian should not be selfish and revengeful, but generous and liberal. The Law of Moses provided that the Jews should make interest free loans to their needy brothers and, every seven years, the debts were to be canceled. The purpose of their giving and the interest free loans was to help the needy. (Leviticus 25:35-38; Deuteronomy 5:1-11; 23:19-20). In this context, we understand Jesus to be telling the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven (the church on earth) to give to the needy brethren and to lend to those who desire a loan to cover their need. Jesus is not talking of giving or lending for commercial profit purposes or to cover some other kind of activity.

The lesson to be learned is that retaliation has no place in the kingdom of Christ. Instead Christians must exhibit the the spirit of love, generosity, and liberality - exhibiting before the world that they are grateful to God for His perfect love and boundless generosity. John 13: 35 says, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The lesson of “the second mile” has seized the minds of many in the world. It is exhibited in many adaptations, applications, and slogans. For instance, many in business realize that it's good for profits to come to be known as the company which gives more to the customer than the bare necessity, the company that puts a little extra into the product. The slogan, “You can put your confidence in Westinghouse,” and the slogan, “Progress is our most important product” (for GE) says something to the customer.

The employee who puts in a little extra time and tries a little harder is the one who gets the raise. The principles of rising above the constraints put upon him, to use his constraints as advantages rather than disadvantages, the world has come to recognize as usable true principles.

Can you think of applications of this principle that are important to the Christian life today? The compulsion of time (I don't have time); The compulsion of work (I have to work); the compulsion of limited circumstances or opportunity (I have to live under these boundaries). Someone has said, “ Don't sit and brood in bitterness. Make of your 'cruel limitations' a 'beautiful hedge.' Whatever God gives is a sufficient field to exercise the principle of 'the second mile' - It's based on love.”

5 – Contrasts Based on the Law Regarding Love. (Matthew 5:43-48).

“43 You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'

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And the last of the five illustrations Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount is based on the common Jewish interpretation of the Law of Love. (Matthew 5:43-48). The scribes and the Pharisees claimed to obey God's Law. But they had perverted the Law and their obedience to this perverted Law was leading them further and further away from God, not towards God.

First of all let's note that the Law of God (we refer to it as the “Old Law,” or “the Law of Moses”) did not teach what the scribes and Pharisees said it did, nor did it teach what they practiced.

Jesus said that the Pharisees interpretation of the Law was “You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.” The last part of that interpretation, “You shall hate your enemy,” is not found in God's Law. Just what part of the Law did the Pharisees go to in order to justify hating their enemy? Probably it was passages like the following:

Deuteronomy 7:1-5: “When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and shall clear away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgachites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Sabusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you; and when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you. But this you shall do to them: You shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.”

Here God told the children of Israel that they were to treat seven different nations (or tribes of people) as enemies and they were to defeat them and utterly destroy them. Then there were a lot of bloody battles fought and it was quite human and natural for the Israelites to allow themselves to hate their enemies. It was easy for the Israelites to start interjecting their human pride into the situation. It was easy for them to start thinking of the conquest of the Promised Land as their own conquest and their victories as the result of their own human strivings and their own excellence. Then these enemies came in the way of their own ardent desires to take the land selfishly for themselves. And when people start thinking selfishly, they start hating. Under the conditions in which the Israelites found themselves, they had but to yield to Satan's influence to start mistaking their own selfish desires as being God's desires. Satan made it easy for them to misunderstand the words of the Psalmist (Psalm 139:21-22): “Do I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against Thee? I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies.” It was easy for the Israelites to stop reading there and ignore the next two verses, Psalm 39: 23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

Instead of living in the spirit of these last two verses and yielding themselves as vessels to work for God, they just read as far as it coincided with their human desires and told themselves, “”See, the Lord says hate your enemies.” They decided that they had personal enemies whom they must judge themselves, that they must take their own revenge.

But what about all those battles and victories won over the Hittites and the Gigashites and the Amorites and the rest of those seven nations? The Lord had warned the Israelites that these nations were greater and stronger than them in human terms. The Lord warned that they couldn't take the land if they tried to do it by themselves, in the strength of their own might. The Lord had told the Israelites that “I shall deliver them before you.” the Lord had said that He was going to use the Israelites as a vessel of His wrath to destroy these nations. Why? Romans 1:18-20 tells us, “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” What truth had these seven nations suppressed? The book of Romans reads on, “Because that which is known about God is evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Romans is a book from the New Testament. But the above passage is one that reveals the Old Testament. God is the judge. The seven nations whose land was being given to the Israelites were being “judged by God,” not by the Israelites. God was carrying out His own judgment on a wicked people who had rejected Him after many years of opportunity. God was simply using Israel to carry out His judgment wrath. God won the victories. God did it all. The Israelites were just used as a vessel for God's righteous judgment.

Hebrews 9:27 says, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, ...” This small portion of scripture reveals that for all practical purposes God's judgment of a person comes at the time of the person's fleshly death. In the context of the Old Testament accounts of the Israelites being given the job of “destroying” the seven Canaanite nations, we can see that the wars thus spawned were not due to the warlike nature of Israel (as some people today would have us believe) but God truly used Israel as a vessel to bring about the judgment of the people of seven wicked nations who had previously been given ample time to repent. (Does not the judgment of God proceed today with the death of those who die in an unrepentant state?)

God's Law didn't teach the Israelites to hate their enemies any more than it taught them to hate their neighbors and their brethren. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

Personally they were to love their neighbor and to continue loving him even as they carried out, when necessary, God's judicial sentence to take an eye from him, to cut off his hand, or even to stone him to death. They were forbidden to take personal vengeance. At the same time they were were subject to God's use as vessels to exercise the vengeance of God against their own brethren or against the heathen nations around them. It was a very difficult thing to do when Satan was walking around in the world urging them to partake of the forbidden fruit of human pride and self will. Thus it was relatively easy for the Pharisees to hate those who stood in their personal way and to justify, in their human pride, to say that God teaches them to hate their enemies.

Do we ever congratulate ourselves that we are not like these scribes and Pharisees? We must be careful, my Christian friends, that we do not make the same mistake as they. Jesus said our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. So let us not make the same mistake as the Pharisees by thinking that this righteousness comes through human striving. It no more comes to us through our own personal efforts than did the Land of Canaan fall to the Israelites through their own human military excellence and strategy. God gave them the land.

The righteousness of which Jesus speaks comes only to us because God will give it to us. What are we to do? Are we called upon to do anything? Yes. We are called upon to do the same thing in principle that the Jews and Pharisees were called on to do, that is, follow the Lord and let Him lead. The Lord tells us what to do, and we do it. And that's why the Lord delivered to us this Sermon on the Mount. The Son of God took on the fleshly body of a man and stood before us and said, “My Kingdom is at hand.” But, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees” (Mark 8:15), “Beware the scribes” (Mark 12:25). Instead, I stand before you and I, the Son of God, say, with my own authority, that this is what you are to do. “Love your enemies and pray for them who persecute you; in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

But someone says, it is easy to say “follow the Lord.” But when the Lord says, “Love your enemies,” that is not easy to do!! I try and I try and I fail and I fail. In fact, I've given up! But let's not forget the lessons of old that the scribes and Pharisees had forgotten. Let's not try to do this on our own. If we do we'll probably end up searching for a scripture that we can use to justify our hate. The forces making us hate and preventing us from loving are “greater and stronger” than we are. But “the Lord, our God, will deliver these forces before us and make it possible for us to love.

The Greek word God used for “love,” when He said, “Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44) is the word AGAPAO. This word always designates the love that is characteristic of God. It is not a word designating mere human preference. A different word is used for natural human love. So when Jesus tells us to love our enemies, He is not saying its a natural thing you should do out of your own human efforts. In fact, the word Agape indicates to us that we can't express this kind of love at all until God makes it possible for us to do so; until we learn how to do it from God.

So that's why our life in the Kingdom consists of a birth, a new man, and growth. The old man is hopeless. He must die. The new man must be born and he must grow (Romans 6:3-13). “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death? .... as Christ was raised from the dead .... so we might walk in newness of life .... our old self was crucified with Him, that our old body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin .... so reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but live to God in Christ Jesus.” Then you should “present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

God used His Israelite nation as an instrument of righteous wrath to carry out His judgment on seven wicked nations. He also used the Israelites as instruments of righteous mercy to bring Jesus Christ into the world. Now He wants to use us, citizens of His kingdom, as instruments to illustrate His love to His and our enemies. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” You won't do it out of your own strength. The Lord will do it through you after you have been born in to the kingdom of heaven and after your new man has been presented to him and He has taught you how to be a good instrument in the service of Jesus.

There are many in this world today who admire the Sermon on the Mount. Some have decided to use it for their creed, rejecting the rest of the Bible. They are making the same mistake as the scribes and Pharisees. Their righteousness will never surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees because they are doing what they want to do, not what Jesus wants them to do. They will never learn the true meaning of “love your enemies” until they bring themselves into subjection to God's eternal plan as expressed in the Bible. The Sermon on the Mount does not stand alone. It can only be understood in relation to God's eternal plan. There are truths expressed in this sermon which man can use for his own selfish desires. But the true meaning of the sermon only comes in the light of the entire Bible through which mankind is completely furnished unto every good work. (2

Timothy 3:17).

Matthew 5, verses 44-45. “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Jesus, the Son of God, delivered this sermon in person. He says we too can be sons of God. We become sons of God, like Jesus, when we are born into the Kingdom and God has given us the same characteristics as His Son Jesus. So when we are made “sons of God,” we will of necessity “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us,” just as Jesus did.

“For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and His rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Don't we see? God loves His enemies. The evil, those who are friendly with the world, are enemies of God. (James 4:4). But nevertheless He blesses them with sunshine and rain just like He blesses the good, encouraging them to repent.

Matthew 5: 46-47. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”

After all, it is logical that God's children will have a greater righteousness than the evil people such as the tax-gatherers and the Gentiles (whom God loves too). Now the evil people love their brothers. They don't love their enemies, they hate their enemies. But Jesus calls on the children of God to be different from those who are not children of God. One of these basic differences is that God's children will love their enemies as well as their friends.

Matthew 5:48. “”Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The word “perfect” (TELEIOS) means “ended,” “complete,” “of full age.” We might substitute the word “complete” here. But Jesus is not talking about human attributes that can be acquired through human effort. He's talking about a “perfection” that only comes from God, the life of our new man, not the life of our old man of flesh. It's not attainable through our fleshly works. It's only attainable as the gift of God through our “obedience of faith.” As if to stress this point, Jesus says, you are to be “complete,” “of full age,” as your heavenly Father is “complete” and “of full age.” This is clearly not attainable through human faculties that have not become instruments of righteousness to God. God does it and not us.

Matthew 6:1-4.

“1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

In chapter 5:3-16, Jesus describes the citizens of the kingdom of heaven and God's functions for them in the world. In chapter 5:17-19, Jesus shows the relationship of the righteousness of the kingdom with the Law of Moses.

.Then in chapter 5:20-48, Jesus contrasts the righteousness of the kingdom with the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (or with the traditional teachings of men).

Now in chapter 6, Jesus is discussing the righteousness of the kingdom in terms of the relationship of its citizens to God.

In 6:1 Jesus lays down a principle. He says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

Then, after stating this principle, Jesus discusses it with three illustrations. First

He illustrates the principle with respect to alms-giving (verses 2-4) Second He illustrates it with respect to prayer. And third He illustrates it with respect to fasting.

In all of these illustrations Jesus is not only talking about the relationship of Christians to God, but very specifically about the secret devotion a Christian should have in his heart toward God as contrasted with a more outward show of devotion in deeds to be seen by men.

Up to this point Jesus has been condemning the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees. He has not said much thus far about their practices. Now, in these illustrations, He condemns their practices and their motives as well. While we were in chapter 5, we discussed the possible motives behind the scribes and Pharisees erroneous teachings of the Law. We concluded that it must have been the result of selfishness and a ruling element of human pride in their lives. Now in the illustrations of the 6^th chapter, Jesus makes it clear that it is human selfishness that rules their practices. Jesus makes it clear to us that when the motives behind our practices are selfish and for the satisfaction of human fleshly desires, then the only reward we can expect is a fleshly human one. There is no reward in heaven for works motivated by human selfishness. Why? Because our righteousness must surpass the human selfish righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees or we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And we cannot practice selfish human righteousness in the kingdom of heaven (the church). Heavenly rewards can only be enjoyed in the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:14 says that the inheritance is given only to those of God's own possession. And we are not God's possession unless we are in the kingdom of heaven practicing the righteousness that Jesus proclaims in this sermon. When we practice human selfish (so-called) righteousness, we separate ourselves from God and the kingdom of heaven.

It is important to note that the illustrations that Jesus uses are God ordained practices. They are “good” practices commanded by God. Yet, says Jesus, if you perform these “good” practices for the wrong motive, you have no reward in heaven. No one would argue that there is anything wrong in alms-giving, or in prayer or fasting. But, Jesus says if you do them for the purpose of having them noticed by men, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

The three illustrations Jesus chooses are, however, good practices that do not require a public display. Alms-giving can be done without display. Prayer and fasting can be done in secret. But, the fact that the scribes and Pharisees always practiced them with a public display, gave away their motives. The scribe or Pharisee wanting to “put Jesus down” on these points had no rejoinder. Obviously, their practices proved them guilty of wrong motives. Jesus was not being unfair or unjust in His illustrations and those guilty of such practices had no point of argument. Such is the teaching of the Master Teacher. Those guilty of the sinful practices had now to repent and pray, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Or go on in their sin openly acknowledging that the rewards of this life are more important to them , and that they do not believe in, or they consider unimportant the rewards of heaven.

Here in this sermon Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.” But back in Matthew 5:16 He said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works.” Is there a contradiction between these two admonitions? If there seems to be at first glance, the idea will be dismissed when we consider the motive involved. Matthew 6:1 does not forbid the practicing of righteousness but simply forbids one to have an ulterior motive in doing it. But practice righteousness one must. That is the point.

Matthew 5:16 goes on to say, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” The practice of righteousness is for the primary purpose of glorifying the Father, not for the purpose of being seen by men.

However, if the practice of righteousness is done for the right purpose, with no ulterior selfish motive, it will come to be seen by men anyway. It will shine like a light before men because “a city set on a hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14). If we practice righteousness with the right motive, men will not see light coming out of us, but will see the light of God reflected from us, and they will glorify God because of it. Jesus says, in this case, “Let it shine.”

The practices which Jesus discusses in chapter 6, if done unselfishly and without hypocrisy will be done in secret. Notice verses 2 through 4 of chapter 6: “When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing; that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

Another meaning of the word “alms” is “deeds of charity,” or “kind deeds.” A man who practices alms-giving in the right way is mentioned in Acts 10. He was the Gentile Cornelius. An angel of God told Cornelius, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.” Thought Cornelius was not yet in the kingdom of heaven, he practiced alms-giving in secret and God saw it in secret and repaid Cornelius. In this case God saw that Cornelius was ready to enter the kingdom of heaven, and He made it possible for him to do so.

But the people who made a big show of alms-giving so that than could be honored by men are called hypocrites. Why? Because they pretended to give honor to God, but their real purpose was to receive honor from men. Now men cooperate with men in such activities. Do your good deeds with a lot of publicity and you can receive honor from men. Men will honor you and expect you to honor them in return when they put on their show. In fact many institutions of the world are based on this principle. But when honor is received in that way, you have had your full reward. No future reward in the eternal hereafter await you. In fact, this is the way of the world, the way of sinful flesh, the way of our old man of sin which will one day perish with all flesh. Jesus condemns this kind of practice.

The practice which Jesus commands is to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your alms-giving may be secret.” The use of the figure, of hiding from one hand what the other hand is doing, gives a strong picture of secretiveness. Certainly other men will not know about the alms-giving if one of your hands doesn't know about it. But, even though men do not know about our gifts, God does see them and He will reward all such giving.

What does God;s reward consist of? First of all we have peace of conscience here on earth knowing that God approves of what we do. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust to forget your work and the love you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” And we will have glory and eternal life in the future for Jesus said, in Matthew 25:34-36, “The King will say to those on His right, come you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.”

Some might ask, however, if such things must be done in absolute secrecy? Is there no situation in which these righteous acts are to be made known to man? Is it not good and right in God's sight that some publicity be given to the alms-giving of His children in some cases?

Well, if we have gotten the point about motive, then we can move on to see how our light will shine and God will publicize acts of alms-giving for the good of the kingdom. God publicized the giving of the poor widow in Mark 12:41-44. Although she gave only two small coins, she gave all she had to live on. It was said that her giving was the best example of the righteousness which Jesus requires. The poor widow who gave her all but not for the publicity, got the greatest publicity because she glorified God and served as a great example.

The Holy Spirit through Paul saw fit to publicize in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 the sacrificial giving of the churches of Macedonia. It was said that they first gave themselves to the Lord. Through the publicity, their good example has been placed as a light before us for about 2,000 years.

Matthew 6:5-8.

“5 When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

First let's consider the ones Jesus call hypocrites. What was the nature of the prayer? It was a prayer of the lips but not of the heart. Jesus said in Matthew 15:7-8, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophecy of you, saying, This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.” Such a prayer as came from these men's lips gave a forceful exhibition of outward and formal righteousness. But Jesus calls them hypocrites. The word “hypocrite” formerly meant an actor on a stage, a player. An actor in a play never represents himself , but always pretends to be some other person; so the word “hypocrite” came to mean a “pretender.” The hypocrites of this lesson pretended to be giving glory to God by means of prayer. Actually they intended to bring glory to themselves.

These hypocrites would make it a point to be in the synagogues or streets at the appointed time for prayer where they could be seen by everyone. The words of Jesus do not prohibit public prayer. Jesus' reference is not to public prayer in which all who are in an assembly are expected to have a part together; but He refers to personal or private prayer in public places; prayer in which no one else is expected to participate.

What was the purpose of the prayer by the hypocrite? It was to be seen and heard of men. Those who spoke the prayer expected to receive glory or praise from those who could see or hear them. The scribes and the Pharisees were most interested in the praise of people for their pretended devotions.

It reminds me of an experience I had in Pakistan in 1964. I was visiting a village near Lahore, the city in which I lived. Some of the villagers, knowing I was a Christian, asked me to come and say something to a man who was ill and to pray for him. Several of us (including Pakistani men) went to where the sick man lay on his charpai (bed). First I was introduced to the sick man and it was explained to me that he had been ill for a long time. He could scarcely lift himself from the bed. First one of the village men was called upon to pray. (This was a Christian village, not an Islamic one.) The village man began to pray (in the Punjabi language) with a soft and melodious voice, which was, of course, a blessing to him. But as he prayed on and on, he raised his voice louder and louder. Each new sentence was louder than the last until he was literally shouting at the top voice. And he went on for some time. Although I didn't understand the language it seemed as though he was demanding of God and wanted everyone in the village to know it. The very idea that God should be shouted at like that. It seemed clear to me that the man was concerned more with making everyone hear him and learning what a forceful character he was. His was not a private prayer and it seemed to me that it was offered primarily to be heard by men.

What was the result of the prayers of the hypocrites that Jesus spoke about? They received that which they sought after which was the praise of men. Jesus said they would have no other reward.

Now lets consider the prayers of the Gentiles. Jesus said, in Matthew 6:7, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose they will be heard for their many words.” We are reminded of the prayers of the Gentiles to Baal back in the time of Elijah. 1 Kings 18:26 tells us of the prayers of the priests of Baal who tried to get Baal to send down fire on the altar. It is said, “They called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, 'O Baal, answer us.' But there was no voice and no one answered.” Even to this day there are Gentile heathens who believe that their salvation from their god (or gods) depends upon the number of prayers they pray. Some believe that there is not sufficient time during their life to make a sufficient number of repetitious prayers. So they have made a mechanical device, a wheel, which has on it a prayer, written over and over and attached in many places all around the wheel. Then by turning the wheel, the prayer may be presented to their god, they believe, perhaps 20 times a second or 1200 times a minute, 72,000 times in an hour. And so, in Nepal and in some parts of India, I am told, one can see men turning their prayer wheels day after day, thinking that only through repetition they can be heard. This is a prayer to a false god.

It is really an immature idea, isn't it? It is like the small child, who wants so much to get his parents to let him do something. The parents say no. But he asks over and over again to be allowed to do it until, hopefully, the parents will become so weary they will allow the child to do what he asks.

However the bible says Jesus used repetition in prayer on occasion. Matthew 26:44 says, “And He (Jesus) left them again and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.” So we conclude that Jesus' injunction is not to preclude all repetition, but only vain repetition.

So much for the prayers of the hypocrites and Gentiles. What about the prayers of those Christians in the kingdom of heaven? The nature of prayer that Jesus would have us pray springs from the secret devotion of the heart. Christians are not seeking to just gain the eyes and ears of men, but to gain the ear of God. In verse 6 of chapter 6 Jesus speaks of each of us individually. He had spoken to the hypocrites collectively. But He speaks to us individually, in the singular, indicating that He is speaking of personal and private prayer. Our Father knows all vain repetitions are completely out of place when addressing Him. Actually , the heavenly Father knows what we have need of even before we ask Him. So then, Jesus says to pray this way. And in Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus gives us a model prayer, one that illustrates how we should pray, as contrasted with the way the hypocrites and the heathen Gentiles prayed.

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Matthew 6:9-15.

“9 Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
“10 'Your kingdom come
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
“11 'Give us this day our daily bread.
“12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
“13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'

This same prayer is given by Luke 11:1-4 on a different occasion. On the occasion in Luke, a disciple of the Lord asks Him to teach them to pray. And then Jesus gave them this same model prayer in answer to that request.

If Jesus saw fit to teach us to pray, it follows that we need to learn how to pray. Acceptable prayer doesn't come naturally. Our natural tendencies will probably make us pray more like the hypocrite did than like God would have us pray.

The words of the model prayer can probably be quoted from memory by more people than any other passage from the Bible. There are perhaps millions of people who can quote this prayer but cannot quote any other passage from the Bible. To many, many people prayer means simply this prayer. When someone says, “Let us pray,” this prayer and this prayer alone springs into the minds of many people. Thus they repeat it over and over again when they pray, and know no other words to use. Did the Lord want us to use it like that, to repeat it over and over again? Those who cannot find any other words to pray need to hear what Jesus said about “meaningless repetition” just before He gave the model prayer.

Let us look at the prayer and see what we can learn from it.

1 – We note that it is a very short prayer. We can recite it in 20 or 30 seconds. I think we can conclude that our prayers do not always have to be long. But this short prayer is most remarkable in that its scope is not short. It is comprehensive in scope embracing the fundamentals of the relationship between God and man and God's eternal plan. And even though short in words, it has a well considered literary structure. For instance, it has a first section we might call the address. Next comes a group of petitions pertaining to God and His work. Then comes a group of petitions pertaining to the people offering the prayer. So we note that the prayer is a well structured model of brevity and comprehension.

2 – Second we note the simplicity and directness of the prayer. It does not require one to be highly educated to understand it. Yet its meaning is not shallow. In fact, as with the rest of God's word, new stores of richness in its meaning spring continually to the minds of those who draw closer to God. Many books, I suppose, have been written about this short prayer. The context of the prayer indicates that Jesus intended it for individual and private use. Yet it is a universal prayer that meets the needs of every human. It is direct in that its requests are distinct and definite. We note that the frankness and directness of this prayer are much like that of a child when he makes his needs known to his parents. It reminds us that Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.” (Mark 10:15). Some one has also pointed out that the character of the key words are such that they have retained their meaning down through about 2,000 years despite translation although many other words have changed in meaning. This prayer is easy to translate directly into any language and still preserve its meaning. The key words of which we speak, for which every language has equivalents, are words like Father, heaven, earth, kingdom, will, bread, forgive, and evil. So the prayer is easy to understand.

3 – The very order of the thoughts in this prayer serve a a model for us. It illustrates that God's glory must come first. Before a word was said about personal needs, Jesus taught us to pray that God's name would be hallowed, that His kingdom would come, and that His will would be done. So let us remember, when we pray any prayer, God's glory must come first before any personal requests. When we learn to prefer God's will to our own, then we will have no trouble praying that way. This prayer fits well into the context of this Sermon on the Mount with the announcement that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and God's righteousness must become our righteousness if we are to enter the Kingdom. When we sincerely seek His Kingdom and His righteousness we will be able to pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Later in the sermon, chapter 6:33, Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” And that's what this whole sermon is about. So this prayer serves as a model of the priorities about which we should pray.

4 – Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” When we consider closely, we see that this prayer is not only a model of “truth” in its order, structure, words, and meaning, but it is also a model in “spirit.” There is a “spirit” of childlike confidence and trust in this prayer that transcends the mere words. The prayer is permeated with the “spirit” of faith and belief in God, who is invisible to our fleshly senses. Many would relate the word “spirit” here to mean merely the spirit of outward earnestness, like when we get into the spirit to win an earthly athletic event. But, with regard to praying to God, not only our personal “spirit” but faith in the “Holy Spirit” is involved. The writer of Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” The one who starts his prayer with the sincere words, “Our Father.” demonstrates his trusting “spirit.” He demonstrates his belief in Christ's words later in this sermon (Matthew 7:11), “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

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Let us think of that audience of Jews who actually heard Jesus deliver this sermon on the mountainside that day. Had they only remembered God's word to them through Moses and the prophets, and had they only had faith in God, they would have understood clearly what Christ was speaking. When Jesus said, “Pray in this way: Our Father who art in heaven,” they would have remembered God's word in Deuteronomy 31:6, “Your God is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.” And they would have remembered Psalm 118: 5-6, “From my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

It is with these things in mind that we are to pray. And the measure of our trust in God will be the measure of our power in prayer. It was because of Jesus' perfect faith that His prayers always connected right through to God. He called God “Father,” and honored that Fatherhood by placing absolute trust in Him.

Question: Was this prayer intended for use by present day Christians? There are those who feel that the prayer was not intended for us to use today. They say that the kingdom has already come, and we can not utter the words of the prayer in the same sense in which Jesus prayed. They say that when Jesus prayed, “Thy kingdom come,” He referred to the future coming of the kingdom on the Day of Pentecost some fifty days after His death. Since the kingdom came on that day, now almost 2,000 years in the past, we cannot pray, “Thy kingdom come.” If this is the only sense in which we can conceive of the kingdom coming, I believe that the reasoning is right and we should not violate our conscience in saying something we do not believe.

The Lord undoubtedly included this meaning that day in His phrase
“Thy kingdom come.” But there doesn't seem to be anything in the context which limits the Lord's meaning to that. When men read the Sermon on the Mount today, it still serves as a lesson to prepare them for the coming of the kingdom in their lives. There is today a world of people to which the kingdom of heaven has not come, though it may have been available to them all of their adult lives. The petition, “Thy kingdom come,” need not be time limited any more than the other petitions of the prayer.

And then some say that all prayers today must be in the name of Jesus Christ. This prayer was not offered in His name because prayers were not yet offered in Christ's name before and during the time Christ was in the flesh on earth. Therefore, they say we cannot offer this prayer today.

But, of course, Jesus was teaching us how to pray, not necessarily in set form or exact words, but in principle. He said, “Pray then in this way.” And he also taught us personally, while He was alive on earth, to pray in His name. He said in John 14:13-14, “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” So we conclude that we can pray according to this model prayer, and we can and should add to it the expression, “In the name of Christ,” because He also told us to pray in His name.

If we follow this prayer in principle, understanding, as Paul taught us in 1 Thessalonian 5:17, “Pray without ceasing,” then we will constantly hallow God's name; we will constantly seek to do God's will; and we will always be asking for forgiveness of our sins after we have forgiven those who have sinned against us; and we will be asking merely for our daily needs to be supplied – never worrying about tomorrow. The doing of God's will here and now leaves scant room for the expression of our own wills.

I have often wondered why the Lord put in that phrase, “and lead us not into temptation.” I have reasoned that God does not tempt us; Satan does that through our own human selfish desires. God will deliver us from evil. Then it does not seem logical that God would lead us into temptation.

Perhaps the meaning is, Keep us away from temptation, which, of course, we are always prone to get into.

Brother James Burton Coffman makes this comment in his commentary on this verse: “This indicates the danger in temptation and stresses man's weakness ... This line is intended to impress the worshiper with the incredible force which evil can lure men from the path of honor and safety.”

Although Jesus is talking about the necessity of secret and private prayer, He does not condemn the offering of prayers in fellowship with other Christians in an assembly. In fact, He isn't discussing that here. He doesn't condemn a private prayer given for the right motive. He speaks primarily about motives here.

So let us take this opportunity to consider briefly what the Bible teaches about some other kinds of prayers. In Matthew 18:19-20 Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”

Here we see that Jesus wants us to gather together and “ask” of the Father in heaven when we are together. And He wants us to agree on what we shall ask. He promises that the Father will hear and answer. And He points out clearly for our understanding why and how the Father will hear and answer. Because “there I (Jesus) am in their midst.” We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, because we know He is in our midst, we can expect our prayers to be heard. They will go up from those gathered together as one voice because all shall be agreed on what is asked. And the Father will hear because it is the voice of His Son which comes through!

This teaching was learned by the disciples who followed Jesus. For in Acts 1:12-14 we have a record of them practicing just what Jesus had taught them. This occasion was just after Jesus ascended into heaven but about 10 days before the power of the Holy Spirit had descended upon them on the Day of Pentecost and thus ushered in the Kingdom. “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Phillip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James (Eleven Apostles). These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

Here is what we might call a public prayer meeting, an assembly for prayer in which they all prayed with one mind. They all agreed in this prayer.

Another example is given in Acts 20:26, when Paul was meeting with the elders of the church at Ephesus. Paul spoke to them, “and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.” Here then is another example of praying in an assembly when all prayed with one mind; all agreed on what was prayed. Is it inferred that Paul “led the prayer?” I do not know. But it is plainly inferred that they prayed with each other, as though with one mind, agreed, as Jesus taught.

When Peter was put in prison by King Herod, Acts 12:5 tells us that “prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” Then, Acts 12:12 tells us that “many were gathered together” in one place at the house of Mary, the mother of John, “and were praying.”

Now prayer is essentially an individual thing. It is an expression of devotion of the individual to God. But individuals can be “agreed” in these expressions and they can be offered in the assembly from many, but “with one mind.” And the Bible speaks of this as “prayers made fervently by the church.”

It is generally assumed as we study the Bible that some one was chosen to lead the prayers that were prayed together by all in the assembly. But there are other ways it might have been done. Perhaps there was a discussion first of what should be prayed. Then, upon agreement, they each prayed individually, but silently, together with one mind to God. Apparently the Holy spirit did not specify all the mechanics of how they were agreed and exactly how they prayed with one mind. It seems to be left up to us as an expedient necessity for us to work out in order to accomplish the necessary thing which Jesus taught us to do.

The Bible gives us two examples when Jesus prayed aloud in the hearing of others. One was on this occasion in the Sermon on the Mount when He gave us this model prayer. Its purpose in being said aloud before the disciples was to teach them as well as to actually speak to God. Another is in John 17. Jesus had made a long discourse to His Apostles in chapters 14 through 16. Then He lifted up His eyes to heaven and prayed aloud before them. The entire 17^th chapter of John is devoted to this prayer.

Not only was it a prayer for the ear of God, it was a prayer also for the ear of men. It was an individual prayer from Jesus. Essentially then it was a private prayer from Jesus offered in the hearing of men for the purpose of its effect on them. Of course, this prayer was uttered by the Son of God, Himself, and we cannot emulate Him in every respect. But as children of God, in Him, we too might on occasion deliver an individual prayer to God in public for the additional reason of the effect it might have upon men.

Now this would be entirely different from the prayers of the hypocrites who prayed in public for the primary purpose of being seen by men, which Jesus condemned. The public prayer of which I speak is to emulate Christ in speaking first of all to God, and secondly, as a part of a fellowship, with our loving brethren around us, each of us being influenced and even taught by what the other says. We may not have agreed beforehand on what is said in the prayer, but as we listen to our brother pray, the yearnings of our hearts are led to join with him in fellowship toward God. We then utter silent Amens (or say them aloud) as he prays. The younger Christians are led to deeper understandings through the expressions of the more experienced, and the older Christians may be led out of their ruts of meaningless traditions by the zeal and fresh approach of the younger. Prayers are thus offered by the church to God.

To summarize, Why do we offer public prayers in the assembly? First of all we do it to satisfy Jesus' teaching. In Matthew 18:19-20 Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” Further, we follow the divine example in Acts 1, Acts 12, and Acts 20 which show assemblies of God's people praying with each other, with one mind, so that the prayers are said to be by the church.

More than this, it would be well for us to study 1 Corinthians 14:15-16 which intimates that in the assembly of the First Century church one man at a time prayed and others said the Amen.

Now we come to Jesus' third illustration of the principle given in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:1. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” The principle is that the Lord's people are to render their service with a glad heart, unto God rather than unto men. The essence of the righteousness comes from the secret devotions of the heart. One's real attitude toward the Lord is determined by the secret devotions of the heart.

Matthew 6:16-18.

“16 Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.