Applying the Sermon on the Mount

Well, hi friends. We’ve got one more question from our Sermon on the Mount message series

that we just completed this last Sunday. If you missed any of those sermons, you can go

back onto the website and you can find the archives there and trail along with us. We

just really enjoyed preaching through the Sermon on the Mount. Our final question, though,

from that series is, what are we supposed to apply from the Sermon on the Mount? What

are we supposed to do? Now, this last Sunday, we talked about this beautiful parable, famous

parable that Jesus shared at the end of Matthew chapter 7, where it talks about this wise

builder and this foolish builder. Two people who had the exact same goal. They’re trying

to build a house, which we said the most immediate interpretation of that is they’re trying to

build a life that works and that will last and that is fulfilling and abundant and all

of those things. So, they had the same goal. Both people heard Jesus’ words, but the wise

person built their house on a rock and the equivalent of that, Jesus said, is putting

Jesus’ words into practice. The difference is application. The difference between the

two, storms came to both, but one house stood and the other house did not. And the difference

between the two, the difference between wisdom and foolishness, we said is application. Putting

Jesus’ words into practice. It’s not just what we know, but what we do. So, the question

is what are we supposed to do with the Sermon on the Mount? You may remember that at various

points along the way, we’ve talked about how in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus isn’t laying

down more law for you and for me. He’s not giving us a long list of things, more things

for you and I to do to try to earn God’s favor. Instead, what Jesus is doing is fulfilling

the law and the prophets and he’s teaching us what it looks like to live under the reign

of the King. Jesus as our King, where his will is done and his kingdom comes into every

single area of our life. And so, while he’s not laying down law, there are a couple of

imperatives that are in the Sermon on the Mount. So, what are we supposed to apply?

I want to point you to three different places really quick. One in chapter 5 of Matthew,

one in chapter 6, and one in chapter 7. First, in chapter 5 of Matthew, verse 48, Jesus concludes

that chapter in this section as he’s talking about the life of a person, a citizen of the

kingdom of God. He, in chapter 5, verse 48, says, Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly

Father is perfect. So, we need to think through what does it look like to apply that? What

does wisdom look like in applying a passage like that and putting it into practice? Well,

we know that perfection for us is impossible. It will always be impossible as long as we

live here in this fallen earth. All of us fall short of the glory of God. We sin. We

miss the mark. So, how are we supposed to be perfect? Well, we know that the word that

Jesus used there for perfect, the original language, speaks about wholeness or being

complete. So, the target is not perfection. The target is wholeness and completion, much

in the same way that the epistle of James talks about how trials make us more mature

and complete so that we don’t lack anything. So, the idea of being perfect therefore, as

our heavenly Father is perfect, yes, we are to take responsibility for our own spiritual

development and maturity and growth. We are to take responsibility for that. At the same

time, the target is not perfection. The target is for Jesus to make us more complete, for

Jesus to make us more like him so that we look like him in every single way, that his

kingdom permeates every part of our life. Now, the fool, according to Matthew chapter

7, again, the fool who built his house on the sand, the fool is going to aim lower than

that. The wise person is going to aim for what Jesus is targeting there at being perfect

therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect. So, Matthew 5.48 is one of the verses that

we are to apply to do. Another place in chapter 6 of Matthew, a very familiar verse, chapter

6, verse 33, seek first therefore the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these

other things will be added to you as well. There’s an imperative there and the imperative

is that instead of worrying about what we will eat, what we will wear, what tomorrow

will look like, we are to rely upon our heavenly Father who feeds us, who clothes us, who provides

daily provision for our daily needs. And so, we’re to seek first God’s kingdom in our lives,

to be lived out in us and living under the reign of Jesus above all other things. The

wise person does that each and every moment, each and every day, aligning themselves with

the Lord’s help under the rule of the king. The foolish person, though, aims lower than

that. The foolish person aims for some kind of a compartmental idea of I’ll seek first

the kingdom of God as long as things are going well. I’ll seek first the kingdom of God as

long as it’s convenient. I’ll seek first the kingdom of God while still keeping my eye

over here on my needs and my concerns because God’s going to need my help. The fool aims

lower. The wise person, though, seeks to apply Matthew 6, verse 33. One more imperative that

we see in the Sermon on the Mount is in chapter 7 of Matthew, verse 12, what we call the golden

rule where we are to do to others as we would have done to us. And we talked about when

we preached about that, that that verse is a summary of the verses that came right before

where we learned that our heavenly Father is approachable. He’s eager to meet our needs

as we ask, as we seek, as we knock. And much the same way, we are, just as our heavenly

Father is loving and caring and compassionate and he seeks to meet our needs, we therefore

are to follow his example in seeking to meet the needs of others before we meet our own

needs. We’re to do to others as we would have them do to us. Now, the fool is going to aim

lower than that. The fool is going to aim for, I will do to others only if they do unto

me what I would want done to me. The fool is going to aim for something else. I’m not

going to do certain things to others, so therefore I’m righteous. But what the golden rule is

calling us to do and what chapter 7, verse 12 is calling us to do is to be more proactive

within that. I’m actually going to act, I’m going to do to others as I would have them

do unto me. So those are just three imperatives that we see in the Sermon on the Mount. Again,

these are not laws, but these are ways that we live out the kingdom of God in our lives.

Well, friends, it’s been wonderful to be with you all today. I encourage you, if you missed

again any of those sermons, go back and check them out. You can always go back to the Sermon

on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and just reflect on God’s Word to us as we seek to

be wise and to put God’s Word into practice in our lives.