Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 115:458 (Apr 1958)
Article: The Purpose of the Sermon on the Mount Part I
Author: J. Dwight Pentecost

BSac 115:458 (Apr 58) p. 128

The Purpose of the Sermon on the Mount
Part I

J. Dwight Pentecost

The Sermon on the Mount is one of three major discourses spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ in the discharge of His prophetic office while engaged in His ministry on earth. Concerning the Upper Room Discourse and the Olivet Discourse there is little divergence among Bible-believing interpreters as to the period of applicability, the persons addressed, or the principles of action contained in them. There is no such unanimity in the interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, even among interpreters who approach Scripture from the same literal and dispensational viewpoint (cf. F. C. Jennings, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 1).

One’s interpretation and application of this major discourse of our Lord will be determined by one’s view of the period involved. The interpreter who holds that this discourse is primarily applicable to the church age will have, of necessity, a different interpretation and application from that of the interpreter who holds that it is applicable to the millennial age, and both will differ from that interpreter who holds that the discourse is applicable to the Jews to whom the Lord was speaking. Wide divergence of doctrine and practice can be the only result of such divergence of interpretation. The question that immediately presents itself, then, is this: Is the Sermon on the Mount to be considered as truth for the church age, truth and instruction for the kingdom, or instruction and exhortation for the Jews living in the Lord’s day? Is it grace, is it law, is it kingdom teaching?

False and even heretical doctrines have been taught and erroneous standards of Christian conduct have been promulgated because of faulty interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount. If the way of salvation is outlined

BSac 115:458 (Apr 58) p. 129

therein, we will find a plan of salvation advocated by our Lord which is divergent from that of the rest of the New Testament. If standards of Christian conduct are contained therein we will find a standard which differs from that presented elsewhere in the New Testament. It is of utmost importance then, because this does represent one of the major discourses of the Lord, to determine the group the Lord is addressing, the purpose of the instruction, the primary interpretation and the secondary applications that our doctrine and walk may be in keeping with His divine plan.

Is the Sermon Addressed to Christendom?

Modern liberalism has placed great emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount as that document which summarizes the whole Christian message to the world. It is viewed as the way of individual salvation as well as the way of the salvation of the social order. Gore say...