Because of his desire to make disciples, teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded, the disciple-making minister will be very interested in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. There is no lengthier recorded sermon of Jesus, and it is full of His commandments. The disciple-making minister will want to obey and teach his disciples everything Jesus commanded in that sermon.
This being so, I’m going to share what I understand about that sermon contained in Matthew chapters 5-7. I encourage ministers to teach their disciples the Sermon on the Mount verse by verse. Hopefully what I’ve written will be helpful to that end.
Below is an outline of the Sermon on the Mount, just to give us a general overview and to highlight the primary themes.
I.) Jesus gathers His audience (5:1-2)
II.) Introduction (5:3-20)
A.) The traits of the blessed (5:3-12)
B.) Admonition to continue being salt and light (5:13-16)
C.) The Law’s relationship with Christ’s followers (5:17-20)
III.) The Sermon: Be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees (5:21-7:12)
A). Love each other, unlike the scribes and Pharisees (5:21-26)
B.) Be sexually pure, unlike the scribes and Pharisees (5:27-32)
C.) Be honest, unlike the scribes and Pharisees (5:33-37)
D.) Don’t take revenge, as do the scribes and Pharisees (5:38-42)
E.) Don’t hate your enemies, as do the scribes and Pharisees (5:43-48)
F.) Do good for the right motives, unlike the scribes and Pharisees (6:1-18)
1.) Give to the poor for the right motives (6:2-4)
2.) Pray for the right motives (6:5-6)
3.) A digression regarding prayer and forgiveness (6:7-15)
a.) Instructions concerning prayer (6:7-13)
b.) The necessity of forgiving each other (6:8-15)
4.) Fast for the right motives (6:16-18)
G.) Don’t serve money, as do the scribes and Pharisees (6:19-34)
H.) Don’t find little faults with your brothers (7:1-5)
I.) Don’t waste your time giving truth to the unappreciative (7:6)
J.) Encouragement to pray (7:7-11)
IV.) Conclusion: A Summary of the Sermon
A.) A summarizing statement (7:12)
B.) An admonition to obey (7:13-14)
C.) How to recognize false prophets and false believers (7:15-23)
D.) A final warning against disobedience and summary (7:24-27)
