The Sermon on the Mount

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

The Sermon on the Mount 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In the past several messages we have been looking at different aspects of the Kingdom of God. In this message we want to begin looking at what men call "The Sermon on the Mount" as recorded in Matthew, Chapters 5-7. This is the first, and perhaps the most important message that Jesus spoke to His disciples. Many books have been written about the Sermon on the Mount. The entire sermon is the Lord's instruction on how to live in harmony with the precepts that govern the Kingdom of God. We will look at a quick overview of these chapters.

In Matthew 5:3-12 we read what men call the Beatitudes, which contain the fundamental precepts which should describe the quality of the heart of every disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Beatitudes are cryptic, precise, full of meaning, and a proverb-like proclamation without any extended narrative. Christians differ as to whether there are 8 or 9 Beatitudes. We will not engage in such discussion. But there are 9 "Blesseds." The important aspect is the meaning for us as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 5:3-12, 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

The word, "blessed," literally means to be enlarged. 

The Beatitudes show us what we need to walk in to experience life in the kingdom of God. A disciple of Christ must be willing to embrace these primary laws of the Kingdom to experience its blessings. If he doesn't, it is impossible to enjoy the full rights a citizen of the kingdom is entitled to. The rewards promised in these "blessings" are only for those who will pay the price of discipleship.

The Beatitudes reveal an indispensable truth; if we want to enjoy Kingdom life, we must have a walk of repentance and obedience as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. We must deny our self, take up our cross, and follow Him.

The last 2 Blesseds do not give further precepts to observe, but principles which will result from walking in the previous 7.

Our walk will be tested to prove it is genuine and lasting. We should pay special attention to Matthew 5:12. How can anyone rejoice when he is persecuted for Jesus' sake? That takes a real work of God.

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

2 Timothy 3:12

A gospel best characterized as "easy believe-ism" is now in vogue, a gospel where little is asked of the sinner other than merely to ask Jesus into your heart. This is a terrible travesty of the gospel that Christ and the apostles preached. Leonard Ravenhill once said the sinner's prayer has sent more people to hell than all of the taverns.

To change the true gospel is to alter the only message that brings salvation. Any change or mixture is a serious offense and rightly incurs the judgment of God. The redemption Calvary purchased for us is only realized by ongoing sanctification. This work of salvation is in jeopardy with a false gospel.

We have the Kingdom here now but it will be fully manifested at His second coming at the close of this age.

Matthew 5:21-6:34 9 characteristics of carnal Christian (and the natural man): anger, sexual lusts, lying, vengeance, selective love, seek honor of men, love of money, anxiety, judging others. Those 9 carnal characteristics are in contrast to the 9 Blesseds of the Beatitudes. If any professing Christian is pre-occupied with earthly things, sadly he is not much better than an animal.

Matthew 7:1-5, 

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." 

We are not to judge, but we are to discern.

Matthew 7:6 speaks of discernment, 

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." 

Verses 7-11, 

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?"

Those verses do NOT mean that if I ask for a new Mercedes car every year then I will receive it. We are to ask for good things ..., things that are the will of the Lord. Jesus said there is none good but God. What is good in the eyes of man is not the same as good in the eyes of God. We must ask that all the good Beatitudes be worked within us by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Many ask for earthly things. Few seek heavenly things.

Verses 12-14, 

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

The strait gate is better translated as "narrow gate." What is the narrow gate? It is scriptural discipleship, but not the discipleship "movement" in the 1970's as set forth by the Fort Lauderdale 5. What is the narrow way? The way of denying self and taking up our cross daily.

Luke 14:25-33, "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

We must put Jesus above all others, including our family, our self, and all of our possessions.

"The preaching of the cross is to them that [are] perishing foolishness; but unto us which are [being] saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Many go in the wide gate that leads to destruction; few enter in at the narrow gate.

Noah's ark: 8 people out of 2 million

Verse 15, 

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

A false prophet embraces more than simply teaching doctrines that are false or off-center. "Clothing" speaks of doctrine. Wolves want something for themselves. Truth mixed with error is deadly. Rat poison is 99% pure wheat; it is the other 1% that gets you. In reality, a false prophet's doctrine could be completely correct. Baalam (Numbers 22 and 23): everything out of his mouth was true. His ministry was right; his motivation was wrong; he became Baalam's man rather than God's man. Anyone who does not preach the cost of scriptural discipleship is a false prophet. A false prophet speaks out of his own heart. The primary danger to the church is from within.

A false prophet makes the way wider and broader that what Jesus proclaimed. Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Verses 16-20, 

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

The mark of any true minister is their fruit ... the fruit of the Spirit. Most believers look at the gifts. Jesus preached what He practiced. So must we.

Even here we need to be careful. We should not concentrate on fruit; we should concentrate on the tree of life. We must partake of His life. Let Jesus lay the axe to the flesh. He knows how to do that and He is fully capable of letting us know the difference between flesh and Spirit. Also, a tree does not bear fruit immediately, so we must have patience.

Verse 21, 

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." 

Lord, Lord; not "my Lord, my Lord. "Lord, Lord" speaks of being emotionally excited. It speaks of the present time. The next verse speaks of the future, when time is no more.

Verse 22, 

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?" 

The phrase, "in that day," occurs 113 times in the Bible. What is "that day?" It is the final day when men will enter or not enter into kingdom of God. It is that day of judgment, that great and awesome day, fixed by God, unknown to men and angels, which will be terrible to some and joyful to others. It is the day in which the faithful ministers of the Gospel will be fully redeemed by Christ and received into the kingdom of God. 

Exercising gifts of the Spirit, writing good books, preaching good sermons, and/or doing good works is not sufficient.

Verse 23, 

"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

In that day we will no longer have time to repent. We rarely hear the judgment of God preached.

The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. 1 Peter 4:17

The greatest judgment of God is when He gives us what we want. Might I repeat that:

The greatest judgment of God is when He gives us what we want - rather than what the Lord wants.

Psalm 106:13-15, 

"They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul."

Many professing Christians would like to remove that verse from the Bible. Others try to rationalize that verse by saying it does not fit their concept of a loving God and therefore that verse means something other than what Jesus said. Some see it as a contrast between Christians and non-Christians. That is undoubtedly the perspective of evangelical Christians and even some who profess to be Spirit-filled. There are many similar warnings throughout the Bible.

Matthew 25:1-13 (parable of 10 virgins), 

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

Jude 1:5, 

"I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."

Outer court:         brazen altar, laver                     5000 square cubits

Holy place:          golden lampstand,                    2000 square cubits

                            table of showbread, 

                            golden altar of incense

Holiest of all:      ark of the covenant                   100 square cubits

After the fall, Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.
After Cain killed Abel the Lord in His mercy gave Cain 5 chances to repent.
But Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah at first tried to flee from the presence of the Lord.
To depart from the Lord is to depart from life. None of us want to do that!
The final word? Prepare ye the way of the Lord. 

Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.
The time is short.

Romans 13:11-14, 

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."