I don’t know about you, but when I read these words of our Lord Jesus Christ, I become painfully aware of my sin and my sinfulness before God. On reading this passage, do you fall on your face in your heart and ask God for grace to teach and incline and make you go in the way of His commandments (Psalm 119:33-37)? My reaction is, “Lord, you are holy and your word is true in every part, but in myself I find opposition to you at every point. Have mercy on me! Take away all iniquity! Receive me graciously! Don’t leave me to myself! Deliver me for your name’s sake!”

What do you hear in the Sermon on the Mount? I hear the Master. He knows and teaches the true meaning of every word of God, from the least to the greatest commandment. How did He know God’s will so well? Because He is the author of it. And because, as a servant, it was in His heart to do from eternity (Psalm 40:8). What do you see in His sermon? I see a truly holy God and I see His exceedingly holy law. But I also see a truly holy man who kept that law. I see a man who kept the law as it was meant to be kept: from his heart, in thought, attitude, word and action. I see the man Christ Jesus fulfilling the law of God in its depth and breadth. Christ preached without hypocrisy. He’s the Master. He never once deviated from all that He said.

In the Sermon on the Mount,

• I see a man who never thought evil (v21-22,28).
• ​I see a man whose love for his wife is eternal, who hates divorce and will never leave nor forsake nor send away his wife, for any cause (Hosea 2:19-20; Malachi 2:16; John 8:1-11; 13:1; Rom. 8:1-39; Eph. 5:25-27; Heb. 13:5).
• I see one who used the name of God to only honor His Father, never seeking honor for himself (v33-35). I see one whose yes and no are the “verily, verily” of scripture; “who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (v37; 1 Peter 2:22).
• I see one who did not retaliate to avenge himself for personal injuries done to him.
• I see one “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,” in order that those who were his enemies in their minds and by wicked works, might be spared the condemnation that their injuries to him deserved (v38-39; 1 Peter 2:23).
• I see one who, when he was sued at law for his garments, gave the vesture off his back (v40; Psalm 22:18).
• I see one who, when he was compelled to go a mile, went the whole distance (v41) “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
• I see one who gives to all who ask of him, even eternal life (Joel 2:32; John 4:10).
• I see one who lends, expecting nothing in return (v42).
• I see one who loves -- not only his neighbor -- but his enemies (Luke 10:29-37; Romans 5:6-10).
• I hear one who blessed those that cursed him (Matthew 27:44; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:3).
• I see one who does only good to those who hated him.
• I hear one who prayed for those that despitefully used and persecuted him (Luke 23:34; John 17:9; Acts 22:7).
• And I see one who is the express image of his Father in heaven (Heb. 1:3).
• I see the Lord Jesus Christ, the truly holy man, the brightness of His Father’s glory, the eternal Son of God, unfolding His Father’s heart and fulfilling it for His people against all opposition to Himself.

The Lord Jesus Christ made himself a servant to those He taught. He did the will of God from His heart. He’s the Master. What He taught was in His heart.

The Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, but the Son has suffered.

No wonder He spoke with authority! No wonder His disciples follow Him in life and to death.

With the greater revelation our Master gives of God’s demands, He also gave the more glorious revelation of their satisfaction and fulfillment in Himself (v17). Scribes and Pharisees do all that they do to be seen of men. But our Lord Jesus Christ did all that He did for His people that they might see His Father’s glory (John 5:30; 8:50). We who are under law by God’s decree rebelled against it and are in bondage to it. But Christ voluntarily came under the law and was willingly made our sin-bearing Substitute that He might redeem us from the law. “Made under the law,” “made sin” for His people, “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, might live to righteousness” (Galatians 4:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).

When we read the Sermon on the Mount, we must not think that by our keeping it we are holy. Partial conformity is nonconformity. Partial obedience is disobedience. Partial holiness is not holiness. The law Christ explained here was not meant to be a rule by which we produce our own righteousness or enter heaven. Even with the aid of God’s grace, that can never be. If we think that is the purpose of what Christ spoke here, then there was no need for His coming and serving and dying to establish everlasting righteousness for His people (Galatians 2:21; Jeremiah 23:6).

When we read the Sermon on the Mount, we should always see Christ first. Everything He said to His disciples, He ultimately did as our Master and Surety. He authoritatively taught true obedience. And He alone fulfilled what He spoke. Can you see Christ fulfilling all as your Surety (Romans 8:3-4; Heb 7:19-22;10:14; John 19:28-30)? Then ask Him for grace to believe He has done all in your place as your complete and perfect righteousness before God, for you have no other (Genesis 39:22; Isaiah 26:12; 45:22-24; Romans 5:19; 10:4; Matthew 5:17).

If you see Christ the Master fulfilling all for His people, then seek His grace to adore and admire Him as your complete and perfect Substitute. Ask Him for faith to follow Him (Luke 10:37; 1 Peter 2:21). Ask Him for love to walk in His steps, so that in all your doing, in all your depending, you see that He is the perfect man. Oh! How we need a sin-atoning Savior to perfect us before God by His blood and righteousness (Heb. 10:14)!  Commit your life and soul into His hands. And as you live in and on His grace, do as He did: resist not evil, love your enemies, give to those that ask you, pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you. But know this: by all your doing, you earn nothing for it. You will never attain the perfection that is spoken of here in this sermon. You are an unprofitable servant (Luke 17:10). You must forever find all your perfection in Christ alone. To Him alone be all glory (1 Cor. 1:30-31; Philippians 3:8-9).

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. In hearing Christ’s sermon, we must see Christ and fly for refuge to Him alone (Romans 8:3-4). If only He fulfilled what He spoke, then only He can give me a heart to follow Him.

In His sermon, Christ magnified the law beyond the reach of man to keep, even beyond Adam in his unfallen state. What could Adam know of loving and laying down his life for enemies? Man could never walk in Moses’ law, but it is surely easier to fly to the nearest star than to fulfill God’s demands as Christ preached them. In Christ’s obedience, we soar in obedience to the law and rise in Him, perfect before God to the glory of His mercy and grace (Romans 8:1-4; Heb. 10:4; Colossians 1:28)! And having found mercy at the hand of God, we show mercy as the fruit of His Spirit in us (Galatians 5:22). “Lord, give me this grace to be liberal, to love, to show mercy and forgive others as you have done to me. Irresistibly call me to follow my Master, my Savior, my Lord!”

It is natural for me, when I hear the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, to first think with great concern of how I will never be able to do what He says. It is natural for me to reflect, with remorse and sorrow, on my constant failure. I can’t even live up to what others do, let alone the measure of Christ’s words. Whenever I hear what God requires, it concerns me. I know I don’t keep His commandments. I think wrong. My motives are wrong. I say wrong. I do wrong. I honestly do not think I can ever do what He says. It is therefore, with great doubt and sorrow, that I expect I will never be able to obey His word.

But as I think on this, I am reminded of the assessment the Great Physician gave of my case. And I am reminded of His remedy. His prognosis is this: “There is none righteous, no not one...there is none that doeth good” (Romans 3:10-12).  And again, “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).  Isn’t it a comfort to know that the Physician of your soul knows your disease? I see that my guilt and failure and helplessness are no surprise to God. They scare me, but He is not anxious about them. They surprise me, but they do not disqualify me, because He is the remedy: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:15; Heb. 7:25).

Furthermore, I see that our Lord Jesus Christ enabled His disciples to do His will. Stephen, while being stoned to death, actually desired and prayed for the salvation of his murderers, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Lazarus lay dead in the tomb four days. But at Christ’s command, he rose from the dead and walked out of the tomb. His ability to obey came with Christ’s power of command. “Thy people shall be willing in the day thy power” (Psalm 110:3). This is an important principle.

When we hear God’s commands, we must remember that because of Christ, precepts are promises. Faith enables us to see that with the command of the Lord Jesus there is power to obey it. If our Lord never required more of us than we were able to do, would we ever cry to Him out of our need and helplessness? If we did not need so great salvation, what glory would He receive for His grace (Psalm 25:11)?  Jesus said, “Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). “Abide in me” (John 15:4). In all these and more, the guilt of failure is ours. It’s our fault we don’t repent, our fault we don’t believe, our fault we don’t abide. It’s our fault we don’t love our brethren. It’s our fault we don’t love our enemies. And because the guilt and failure is ours, and because the power is Christ’s, then we are in the hand and at the mercy of God. What must we do? Worship Him! Ask! Trust! See the salvation of the Lord! Wait for His grace and power.

Salvation is the work of God from beginning to end. He chose us. He redeemed us. He justified us. He gave us spiritual life. He gave us faith in Christ alone. He sustains, keeps and preserves us throughout time and eternity. Salvation is all of Him and all in Christ. Grace is God doing all that He requires by Jesus Christ. He provides. He works. He declares. He gives. Grace is not God’s attempt to save. Grace is an accomplished salvation, completed and perfected by the Lord Jesus Christ alone in His death on the cross. And it is by the grace of God’s Spirit, enabling us to look to Christ who finished the work, that we live (John 3:14-15; Isaiah 45:22). Salvation is God’s work, His gift. The evidence that it is ours is that we receive what Christ has done by faith. We receive it as done, as finished, and we walk in faith, looking to Christ only, all the days of our life. By His Spirit He maintains the faith that He gives through His intercession, by the merits of His blood and righteousness, by His reigning authority and power at God’s right hand, according to the eternal will and purpose of God.

When we hear God’s word, we naturally think it all depends on us. This leaves us depressed, despondent and powerless. Or, if we are blind in our self-conceit, it leaves us vainly puffed up in a cloud of self-accomplished deception and pride. That’s because we naturally come to God on the basis of our worth, our works and our strength. The law says: “do and live.” Do what’s right and keep doing what’s right and you will live and receive blessing from God. That’s the law. That’s “works.”  But grace says: “live and do.” Christ has done all. He commands life. We therefore live. He says, “Follow Me.” We therefore do. Why? Because He saved us. How? By what He accomplished on the cross and has given us by faith. God has given to us “exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of His divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). "He works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13). Thus, "faith works by love" (Galatians 5:6). We see Christ by faith. We obey Him in faith. We draw from Him the life we need to live, and strength from Him to obey.

We hear His commands. We see they are right. We know our guilt and failure for not keeping them. But we also see our Master. He is no hypocrite. He kept all perfectly, from the least to greatest. And all that He did, He did for His people. He tells of His glorious achievements for sinners. We admire Him that He is so holy. We adore Him that He is so loving, so selfless, so giving and that He did nothing for Himself, but for us who in our minds and by wicked works were the enemies of God (Colossians 1:21). We hear His command to think no wrong, speak no evil, give to all who ask and to love our enemies. We ask, “Lord, give me this faith and the love that you produce with it.” We want to be like Him. We want to be merciful as He is to us. We want Him to save others as He saved us. We want Him to comfort others as He comforted us. We want others to admire and worship and love Him, because He is a great Master. He has the words of eternal life! We want others to hear them. As our Master fulfilled the whole law, and as Stephen was given grace to follow Him in it, so we ask, “Lord, so give to me to see and follow you.”

And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. (1 Samuel 26:24)

David shepherded his father’s sheep. He saved one lamb with his bare hands out of the mouth of a lion and a bear. He put his life at risk for the life of one of the sheep his father had put into his hands. David later put his life on the line for Israel’s entire army and for the nation itself. He first killed Goliath with a single stone, and then cut off his head with Goliath’s own sword. What a wonderful picture David is of our Lord Jesus Christ! Christ laid down His life to save our lives out of the hand of our enemy. In cruelty, satan designed to kill us at the hand of God’s justice through deception and temptation.  We should have perished under the wrath of God for our sin. But God made Christ sin for us. He bore the curse of God’s law to satisfy God’s justice. He cleansed us from our sin by His own blood. By His death, He delivered us from 'so great a death.' Christ destroyed satan by His legal victory in the court of heaven where He presented His own obedience unto death, offering His own blood. With these, He destroyed satan with the hand of God's justice -- that death that satan intended for us. In His death, our Shepherd-Savior triumphed over our arch enemy. He will soon carry out the sentence by casting him into the lake of fire, just as David first killed and then cut off Goliath’s head in defeat and triumph (Colossians 2:15).

When David killed Goliath, Saul quickly recognized that the LORD was with him. Saul put David over the army of Israel, to fight the LORD’s battles. David counted that his highest honor. In fulfillment, our Lord Jesus willingly and lovingly gave Himself for His people. He did not save Himself that He might save us from the hands of our enemies (John 18:8; Matthew 27:42).

Israel honored David for his victories. But Saul envied him. So much did Saul envy David that he made it his chief aim to kill him. In contrast, David never took matters into his own hands. He committed his cause and his life to the LORD.

The recorded drama in 1 Samuel chapters 24 and 26 is intense. It draws out our just anger against Saul. Saul mercilessly and untiringly pursued David to death. Saul made David number one on his most wanted list. He chose 3,000 men out of all Israel to hunt him down. But David and his men, though capable, did not fight. They fled from Saul like hunted criminals. David rolled his life upon Jehovah, entrusting His will, His justice and His mercy (Psalm 22:8). On two occasions, God put Saul's life in David’s hands. David’s men told him to kill Saul. What would David do? What would you do if the life of someone who offended you was put into your hand to judge? What would I do? Better yet, what did our Lord Jesus Christ do?!

In both cases, David reacts with the wisdom and the heart of God. In the second encounter, David says to Saul (paraphrase), “If the LORD stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if men, then let them be cursed: for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the LORD’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods’” (1 Sam. 26:19). Saul hated David without a cause. Yet David humbled himself before Saul. He said (paraphrase), “Hunting me is like hunting for a flea when you intend to take a partridge” (1 Sam. 26:20). Saul was greatly moved by David’s humility and mercy towards him. He recognized that David spoke God’s wisdom, as a man after God's own heart, and did good to him for the evil he intended for David.

Though Saul hated David without a cause, David would not lift up his hand against Saul. Saul’s life was “much set by” in David’s eyes. David took this occasion to plead his own case before God. Saul was guilty. Justice demanded his life. Yet David valued Saul’s life and spared him for the LORD’s sake. David draws the comparison to himself in his prayer. David knows his own sinfulness. Yet he pleads that his life would be precious in God’s eyes. He pleads that the LORD would spare him from the death he deserved.

Mercy is the attitude of God’s own heart. We forgive as we believe God has forgiven us. The greatest injustices against us are in God’s hand to judge. If the life of your enemy were put in your hands, what would you do? Will we raise our hand against another with the wrath of God? Will we desire or pray or pronounce God’s wrath on them? Or, will we seek for them what God has given us:  unmerited mercy to a guilty sinner with forgiveness for Christ’s sake alone?

The law is God’s law (James 4:12). All sin is against Him (Psalm 51:4; Luke 15:18). God is Judge (Psalm 50:6; 75:7). He will judge all outside the church (1 Cor. 5:12-13). It is neither our place to judge nor our prerogative to forgive in God’s place. He has already judged His people in Christ (John 8:11; Romans 8:1-4; 32-34). In ourselves, we are guilty. But God had mercy on us, putting our sin on His Son, judging Him in our place. While the earth remains, God has not made His people ambassadors to judge, but to preach the Gospel of His saving grace in Christ (John 3:17; Romans 14:13). In Christ, God is merciful. Outside of Christ, there is only judgment from God. That is our salvation. That is our message. That is salt and light. We neither wish nor pray for God’s eternal judgment on others, nor do we pronounce it or attempt to bring it on them. To do so is to sit as a judge of God’s law (James 4:11-12). Think what it would mean to judge in God’s place. If you are wrong in your judgment, you will be judged as guilty (Matthew 7:2). If you’re right, who are you to determine if God will show mercy? God’s mercy, both His mercy to you and His mercy to another, is His sovereign prerogative (Romans 9:15).

In our present state, we are incapable of judging others. We neither have the knowledge nor the wisdom to judge others. We don’t know the hearts of men and we don’t know all circumstances. Would we act differently if we were in the place of those we judge? Are we guiltless of the sin for which we judge others (John 8:7)? Do we understand the spirit of God’s law, that it requires complete, perfect, continuous obedience from the heart? Are men’s offenses against our law or our justice? Is God unable to uphold His own law and justice? Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? If we were the judge, wouldn’t men therefore honor us? It is for these reasons that God has committed all judgment to His Son (John 5:22). Do we ask Christ to call down fire from heaven as Elijah did (Luke 9:54-55)? Did not our God and Savior forgive us an immeasurable debt because of His infinite mercy when we were undeniably and justly guilty and indebted to His law? Abel’s blood called for vengeance. Christ’s blood calls for justification. Let us seek the glory of God and salvation of our neighbors through the preaching of His Gospel, through prayer to God for their salvation and through our own forbearance of one another’s faults (Acts 7:60; Luke 23:34; Galatians 6:1-2).

God has given the church the wisdom and spirit to settle small matters between brethren within the local congregation (1 Cor. 6). The Corinthians took disputes between one another to the civil courts for settlement. Paul corrected them for this. Civil courts know nothing of God’s sovereign mercy, His grace in Christ, and the forgiveness of sins as believers do. Christ instructed the church how to handle unresolved disputes and administer discipline in matters that would bring public reproach on God and His Gospel (Matthew 18:15-35;1 Cor. 5). Let us seek the glory of God and the salvation of others above our own fleshly impulses. Let us, with David, consider the lives of those who do us wrong as precious, and spare them for the LORD’s sake. Preach the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ. Warn men of judgment to come. Tell them there is mercy in Christ at the hand of the Judge of all the earth. Send them to the Savior and to His throne of grace with His word for faith to believe Him. Pray that God would be pleased to reveal Himself to them in Christ.

“Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land” (Exodus 6:1).

Then...God speaks to Moses. Moses had complained that since the time that he had done what God told him to do, Israel’s plight had become only worse. The Egyptians laid more work on them. The officers of Israel were beaten. All of this occurred after the elders of Israel heard and believed what Aaron and Moses told them from God: that He would deliver them out of Pharaoh's hand and from Egyptian bondage. To Moses, there was no evidence that God had done what He said He would do. The people, more than ever, now knew they had no power to deliver themselves. Their heavy burdens had become worse. The elders, once believing, now doubted. Moses relied on what he saw rather than God's promise; he complained against God. And Pharaoh was evidently stronger than ever. Yet -- O, that blessed yet of omnipotent grace -- it was in this situation that God spoke, "Now you shall see what I will do.”

Faith is believing God. Faith’s foundation is God’s word. Faith is seeing from God's word what He has done in Christ. Faith sees that what God is now doing is according to His promise. Faith sees that what God will yet do is because of Christ's triumph over sin, satan and the world by His answer of justice and righteousness to God for His people (2 Cor. 1:10; Romans 8:1-39). Faith is seeing God’s salvation in Christ. It is seeing that salvation is of the LORD. It is seeing that salvation is accomplished. It is seeing that salvation is in Christ alone. Faith is seeing what God has done in Christ to save His people from their sins with no help from them. It is seeing that God is working all things together for good to them that love God and who are the called, according to His purpose. Faith is seeing that God will yet do what He promised, because Christ fulfilled all of His will for His people by His death on the cross.

But it is one thing to talk about faith. It is another thing to experience it. Only when things seem their worst, when all human wisdom and strength is gone, when hope is all but lost, then -- and only then -- do we look to Christ alone (Psalm 50:15; Psalm 80; Psalm 107; Psalm 119:67). It is then that we see the salvation of the LORD. Only the spiritually poor, naked, blind, plagued, dying and helpless will cry for help. God has to expose to us our spiritual needs before we will ever call or cling in faith to Christ alone.

When the Egyptian army was bearing down on Israel to destroy them at the Red Sea, God instructed Moses to tell the people, “Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13). The hardest thing in all the world to do when we're in trouble is nothing. Yet God brought Israel to the point where there was nothing they could do but see what He would do, see His salvation. And that is the point to which He must bring us.

In 2 Chronicles 20:1-17 these words are repeated. When the Moabites and Ammonites came against Judah with a great multitude to destroy them, and Judah had no power against them, then Jehoshaphat prayed to the LORD. He confessed the truth he believed in his heart: that God is God in heaven and rules over all the kingdoms of the heathen, so that all power is in His hand, and no one is able to withstand Him (v6). Jehoshaphat reminded the LORD that He had delivered Israel out of the hands of their enemies, had driven their enemies out of Canaan and had given Israel their land according to His promise to Abraham, His friend. And Jehoshaphat also claimed God’s promise spoken by Solomon: that if Israel -- the Church -- in their affliction, prayed toward God’s dwelling place (the throne of grace in heaven), that He would hear and deliver them. Jehoshaphat also brought attention, in his prayer, to the enemy that had come to destroy Israel, God’s people and inheritance. And Jehoshaphat further pleaded God's righteous judgment against their enemies, “O God, wilt Thou not judge them?” Jehoshaphat owned his and Israel’s utter helplessness, “We have no might against this great company, neither know we what to do” (v12).  And then he spoke these wonderfully inspired words that God gives to every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ when He brings them to see that Christ is all: “But our eyes are upon Thee” (v12; Hebrews 12:2). After Jehoshaphat’s prayer, God's prophet spoke. He said to Jehoshaphat and to all Judah, “Be not afraid; for the battle is not yours, but the LORD’s” (v15). The prophet further said, “Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (v17).

What we learn from this, we learn over and over again. All power in heaven and earth has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He rules in heaven and on earth and does all of His will at all times and in all places. No one can stop Him: not you nor I nor angels nor devils nor satan. He always does all His will in every circumstance. And this is our salvation and hope and glory. We are reminded that Christ has already delivered His people from their enemies according to the promise God made to Him and to His people with Him (2 Cor. 5:19-21; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2; Eph. 1:3-11; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Rom. 11:27). Christ is the One with whom God the Father is well pleased, and He has given all blessings to Christ and to His people in Him. But we now live in time. Our enemies are present with us. They threaten us and it is apparent that they are stronger than we are. But faith knows its place.

The believer sees his utter weakness and knows that in himself, he does not know what to do. Yet faith does not stop there. Faith looks to Christ only. And the word of God comes to us and tells us to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD. Faith is hearing God from His word. Faith is seeing what God will do (Psalm 110:1). Faith is seeing what God has done in Christ (Heb. 1:3). Faith is waiting for the hope of righteousness (Galatians 5:5). And faith rejoices in God over its enemies (1 Samuel 2:1-ff).

Who are your enemies? Are they not your sin, your doubts, your old nature? Aren’t your enemies the world of antichrist, freewill works religion, the world of man’s philosophy, the kingdom of darkness and satan? Is not even the accusing law of God your enemy, which says that whoever does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them is cursed? And who is it that has by Himself delivered us from our enemies, who does at this time deliver us, and who will yet deliver us by His accomplished salvation, by His advocacy and intercession for us and by His reigning power as our King? It is our Lord Jesus Christ!  O soul of mine, dear friend, dear brother and sister in Christ, look to Him and be saved, for He is God and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22)!

In these last days, when the world of religion and our hearts and our circumstances seem as bad as they can be, and all human hope for deliverance is lost, God has spoken to us by His Son. "When He had, by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). Set yourselves. Stand still. See the salvation of the LORD. You who have no strength, you who don’t know what to do, look to Christ! He is faithful who promised (Hebrews 10:23).