My habit in personal devotional time for the past number of years had been to work through whole books of the Bible, verse by verse or passage by passage, over a number of weeks/months, depending on the size of the book. For my part, I've found this to be incredibly valuable, as I'm brought to passages of Scripture I would otherwise be tempted to skip. It "keeps me honest" to bringing myself face to face with what God says, rather than trusting my own ideas and emotions to direct me around the Bible. While Lloyd-Jones preached on some serious topics (his book Spiritual Depression comes to mind as thoroughly helpful to lots of people), he also worked through books and passages methodically, squeezing honey out of the honeycomb and preaching sermons that leave you feeling full. Good preaching is good preaching, regardless of its relationship to a "series." And I love going from "cover to cover" if possible. But one of the perils of preaching - or reading and hearing - that way is the tendency to get so caught up in the details that one misses the thrust of the bigger picture. Taking a boat out and chasing after a particular fish is liable to get you lost at sea if you aren't mindful of your place in relation to the shore. Sadly, removing passages of Scripture from their context and becoming on an expert of one statement while ignoring everything else around it is prime real estate to sink some strange building foundations into. A classic misrepresentation out of the Sermon is Matthew 7:1. It seems there are millions of people who can pull "Judge not, that you be not judged" out of a hat, while shuddering to hold Matthew 7:23 (I'll leave it for you to look that one up) with the same kind of grip. So we need context, context, context to keep us oriented as we look at the potent words of the Sermon on the Mount. If it seems like two "intro" chapters are too much, just keep in mind how important it is to get an idea of the land's lay before trekking it.
Here in Wisconsin, some people stake out their driveways so that they know where the boundaries are for shoveling (for the more adventurous and those with backs that can handle it) or snowblowing (for those who can enjoy that helpful invention). As this chapter unfolds, MLJ offers some really helpful remarks that help us orient to what will come, so we don't start snowblowing our lawns and make a big mess. What makes those remarks helpful is our need to have some assumptions addressed and misunderstandings cleared up that we all bring to the table, particularly things we're just unaware we assume. So, as I hope you're taking the opportunity to read through the book too, I'm just going to haul out a couple things that I found helpful as I read this chapter:
- Though it may not be as "argued" as some of Paul's letters, MLJ suggests that there is "a kind of logical sequence in this Sermon." He continues: "Our Lord does not say these things accidentally; the whole thing is deliberate. Certain postulates are laid down, and on the basis of those, certain other things follow. Thus I never discuss any particular injunction of the Sermon with a person until I am perfectly happy and clear in my mind that that person is a Christian. It is wrong to ask anybody who is not first a Christian to try to live or practise the Sermon on the Mount. To expect Christian conduct from a person who is not born again is heresy. The appeals of the gospel in terms of conduct and ethics and morality are always based on the assumption that the people to whom the injunctions are addressed are Christian" (Studies, 17). This statement rankled my feathers (that is, if I actually had feathers) a bit. Because I do think there's a place for setting out Christian ethics and morality before an unbeliever in order for them to get the sense of what the Christian life is about. Unfortunately, our culture has passed the point where everyone really knows what a Christian is and does. But, where MLJ is spot-on is in the sense that we should not expect a non-Christian to be able to come to this passage and fake the Christian life. To do so guts the Christian life and turns it into graceless self-effort. Further, throughout the Bible, the people of God are called to "act as what they are." So when the people of Israel are led out of Egypt, they're not just told to go and do a bunch of things that are moral. They're told that because God has delivered them and He is their God, that they are to live in a certain way. There's a bankroll of grace paying out for the whole Christian life. And the Sermon on the Mount is in the same territory. If someone comes to this and thinks it's a piece of cake, they're either self-deluded or aren't hearing what Jesus has to say. This clarification is really helpful for me, so I don't lose sight of the need for the Holy Spirit to fuel my obedience by faith.
- The kind of life that we're called to live, described in the Sermon on the Mount, is a life that is ripe with the blessing of God. I'm not thrilled that I have to qualify that, but with so many running around claiming that the blessing of God has to do with gold dust falling from the ceiling or people clucking like chickens, not to mention people who suggest that the best part of life now is good parking spots, big backyards, and promotions at work, let me be clear: the blessing of God, while it may include material prosperity, is not only that. And biblically, it meant a whole lot more about the Kingdom of God growing and seeing men and women and little boys and little girls brought into that Kingdom and growing in godliness and loving God and loving each other and sin being killed. So, there's my qualifier. Anyways, Lloyd-Jones makes a statement that I think is very true, seldom thought about, and absolutely helpful for us to come with expectantly as we begin studying through the Sermon on the Mount: "Here is the life to which we are called, and I maintain again that if only every Christian in the Church today were living the Sermon on the Mount, the great revival for which we are praying and longing would already have started. Amazing and astounding things would happen; the world would be shocked, and men and women would be drawn and attracted to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Studies, 23, my emphasis). The thought of this really excited me. Because we pray for conversions, for homes that reflect the glory of God, for churches that are healthy. How might God be pleased to bless - apart from the blessing that is already part of growing in godliness - the church that really takes His Word seriously, seriously enough that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, that we hunger and thirst after righteousness and examine ourselves for the sin that we would address another believer about? Not to mention - magnifying the glory of God as clearer lenses for His glory to shine through in this world.
To God Alone Be the Glory,
-Chris
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