Spurgeon introduces this section he titles "The King Promulgates the Laws of His Kingdom" with these words...

This is the natural order of royal action. The King is anointed, comes among the people to show His power, and afterwards acts as a Legislator, and sets forth His statutes.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. For retirement, fresh air, and wide space, the King seeks the hill-side. It was suitable that such elevated ethics should be taught from a mountain. A natural hill suited His truthful teaching better than a pulpit of marble would have done. Those who desired to follow Him as disciples gathered closely about the seated Rabbi, Who occupied the throne of instruction in their midst; and then in outer circles "the multitudes "stood to listen. (The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Popular Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew)

There are a variety of opinions as to what the Sermon on the Mount represents in terms of its theological thrust but the Plymouth Brethren writer William Kelly had one of the best assessments...

The sermon on the mount treats not of salvation, but of the character and conduct of those that belong to Christ—the true yet rejected king.

I think Kelly has correctly summarized Jesus' Sermon, because it is literally impossible for the natural man to fulfill His teachings. Only one who is born by and filled with His Spirit has the supernatural ability not just to hear Jesus' words regarding of the moral/ethical principles of His kingdom but to act upon those words (see note Matthew 7:24).

Multitudes (3793) (ochlos) means crowd or throng and refers to generally to a multitude or a great number.

Spurgeon has an interesting comment on "the multitudes" writing that Jesus...

waited until the congregation around Him had reached its largest size, and was most impressed with His miracles, and then He took the tide at its flood, as every wise man should. The sight of a vast concourse of people ought always to move us to pity, for it represents a mass of ignorance, sorrow, sin, and necessity, far too great for us to estimate. The Savior looked upon the people with an omniscient eye, which saw all their sad condition; He saw the multitudes in an emphatic sense, and His soul was stirred within him at the sight. His was not the transient tear of Xerxes when he thought on the death of his armed myriads, but it was practical sympathy with the hosts of mankind. No one cared for them, they were like sheep without a shepherd, or like shocks of wheat ready to shale, out for want of harvest-men to gather them in (cf Mt 9:36-38). Jesus therefore hastened to the rescue. He notices, no doubt, with pleasure, the eagerness of the crowd to hear, and this drew him on to speak. A writer quoted in the “Catena, Aurea” has well said, “Every man in his own trade or profession rejoices when he sees an opportunity of exercising it; the carpenter, if he sees a goodly tree, desires to have it felled, that, he may, employ his skill on it; and even so the preacher, when he sees a great congregation, his heart rejoices, and he is glad of the occasion to teach.” If men become negligent, of hearing, and our audience dwindles down to a handful, it will be, a great distress to us if we have to remember that, when the many were anxious to hear, we were not diligent to preach to them. He who will not reap when the fields are white unto the harvest, will have only himself to blame if in other seasons he is unable to fill his arms with sheaves. Opportunities should be promptly used whenever the Lord puts them in our way. It is good fishing where there are plenty of fish, and when the birds flock around the fowler it is time for him to spread his nets. (Matthew 5.1-12 The Beatitudes)

Here we find another example of not the best chapter break for "the multitudes" described here are referred to in the immediately preceding sentence as "great multitudes" (Mt 4:25). There is no break with the description that begins most logically in Mt 4:23-25 and thus forms a prologue or introduction to Jesus' teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount reveals the true standard of righteousness which Christ requires of all who belong to Him (Matthew 5:1).  The limitation of the Sermon on the Mount lies in the fact that our Lord reveals His standards for the Kingdom life, without the full revelation of the power by which this standard can be maintained. This fuller revelation would come later. It is similar to the John 7:37-39 passage, where Christ gives His promise of power and fruitfulness before the Holy Spirit has come, through Whom this power is given. The Sermon on the Mount is similar to a plumbline which shows the crookedness of a wall, but does not rebuild it.

D Martyn Lloyd-Jones introduces his monumental work noting...

There are certain general lessons, I suggest, to be drawn from the Beatitudes.

First, all Christians are to be like this. Read the Beatitudes, and there you have a description of what every Christian is meant to be. It is not merely the descrip­tion of some exceptional Christians. Our Lord does not say here that He is go­ing to paint a picture of what certain outstanding characters are going to be and can be in this world. It is His description of every single Christian... We are all meant to exemplify everything that is contained here in these Beatitudes. Therefore let us once and for ever get rid of that false notion. This is not merely a description of the Hudson Taylors or the George MacDonalds or the Whitefields or Wesleys of this world; it is a description of every Christian. We are all of us meant to conform to its pattern and to rise to its standard.

The second principle I would put in this form; all Christians are meant to mani­fest all of these characteristics. Not only are they meant for all Christians, but of necessity, therefore, all Christians are meant to manifest all of them. In other words it is not that some are to manifest one characteristic and others to mani­fest another. It is not right to say some are meant to be 'poor in spirit, and some are meant to 'mourn, and some are meant to be 'meek, and some are meant to be 'peacemakers, and so on. No; every Christian is meant to be all of them, and to manifest all of them, at the same time. Now I think it is true and right to say that in some Christians some will be more manifest than others; but that is not because it is meant to be so. It is just due to the imperfections that still remain in us. When Christians are finally perfect, they will all manifest all these charac­teristics fully; but here in this world, and in time, there is a variation to be seen. I am not justifying it; I am simply recognizing it...It is impossible truly to manifest one of these graces, and to conform to the blessing that is pronounced upon it, with­out at the same time inevitably showing the others also. The Beatitudes are a complete whole and you cannot divide them; so that, whereas one of them may be more manifest perhaps in one person than in another, all of them are there. The relative proportions may vary, but they are all present, and they are all meant to be present at the same time.

But the third is perhaps even more important. None of these descriptions refers to what we may call a natural tendency. Each one of them is wholly a disposition which is produced by grace alone and the operation of the Holy Spirit upon us. I cannot emphasize this too strongly. No man naturally conforms to the descriptions here given in the Beatitudes, and we must be very careful to draw a sharp distinction between the spiritual qualities that are here described and material ones which appear to be like them. Let me put it like this. There are some people who appear to be naturally `poor in spirit'; that is not what is described here by our Lord. There are people who appear to be naturally `meek'; when we deal with that statement I hope to be able to show you that the meekness which Christ talks about is not that which appears to be natural meekness in an ordinary unregenerate person. These are not natural qualities; nobody by birth and by nature is like this...There are some people who appear to be naturally `poor in spirit'; that is not what is described here by our Lord. There are people who appear to be naturally `meek'; when we deal with that statement I hope to be able to show you that the meekness which Christ talks about is not that which appears to be natural meekness in an ordinary unregenerate person. These are not natural qualities; nobody by birth and by nature is like this...The truth is that the Christian and the non-Christian belong to two entirely different realms. You will notice the first Beatitude and the last Beatitude promise the same reward, 'for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' What does this mean? Our Lord starts and ends with it be­cause it is His way of saying that the first thing you have to realize about your­self is that you belong to a different kingdom. You are not only different in es­sence; you are living in two absolutely different worlds. (Lloyd-Jones, D. M. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount) (Bolding added)

A T Robertson states regarding the Sermon on the Mount that...

Jesus repeated His sayings many times as all great teachers and preachers do, but this sermon has unity, progress, and consummation. It does not contain all that Jesus taught by any means, but it stands out as the greatest single sermon of all time, in its penetration, pungency, and power. (Word Pictures in the New Testament)

Alexander Maclaren states that...

The Beatitudes, as a whole, are a set of paradoxes to the ‘mind of the flesh.’ They were meant to tear away the foolish illusions of the multitude as to the nature of the kingdom; and they must have disgusted and turned back many would-be sharers in it. They are like a dash of cold water on the fiery, impure enthusiasms which were eager for a kingdom of gross delights and vulgar conquest. And, no doubt, Jesus intended them to act like Gideon’s test, and to sift out those whose appetite for carnal good was uppermost. But they were tests simply because they embodied everlasting truths as to the characters of His subjects. Our narrow space allows of only the most superficial treatment of these deep words. (entire sermon)

A. W. Tozer describes the beatitudes as the opposite of those attitudes that the world most values writing that..

“A fairly accurate description of the human race might be furnished one unacquainted with it by taking the Beatitudes, turning them wrong side out, and saying, ‘Here is your human race.’ ”

Warren Wiersbe writes that...

The first sixteen verses of Matthew 5 describe the true Christian and deal with character. The rest of the Sermon on the Mount deals with conduct that grows out of character. Character always comes before conduct, because what we are determines what we do. In Matt. 5:1-16, Jesus shows us that true righteousness is inward, and in 5:17-48, He points out that sin is also inward. Thus, He exposed the false righteousness of the Pharisees, who taught that holiness consisted in religious actions, and that sin was what you did outwardly. How many people make these mistakes today! God looks upon the heart, for there is life’s destiny decided.

There is definite progression in these verses. They show how the person begins with his or her own sense of sin and finally becomes a child of God and the results that then follow. Note that these verses deal with attitudes—what we think in our hearts, our outlook on life. “Beatitudes”—the attitudes that ought to be in our lives if we are true Christians. (Wiersbe, W. W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books)

Dwight Pentecost writes that...

Many who had seen the miracles that the Lord Jesus performed were persuaded He was actually the King God had promised, who would institute a reign over the nation Israel. They pressed upon Him with one question uppermost, “Are we righteous enough to enter His Kingdom?” They knew well that the Old Testament demanded righteousness as the basis of acceptance with God; and they knew well the declaration of the psalmist that only those with clean hands and a pure heart could stand in the King’s presence. And they came to inquire of Him concerning the righteousness He required for entrance into His Kingdom. Our Lord shocked the multitude, who were devotees of the Pharisees and who zealously pursued Pharisaic righteousness, when He said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (5:20). If Pharisaic righteousness, which required a rigid observance of 365 prohibitions and 250 commandments, was not sufficient to bring men into Messiah’s Kingdom, what kind of righteousness was necessary? The Sermon on the Mount was our Lord’s exposition of the holiness of God, and the demands that a holy God made. It describes the kind of righteousness that God expects of those who have come to know Him by faith. In that well-known, well-loved, and oft-quoted—but little understood—part of the Sermon we call the Beatitudes, our Lord described the characteristics of a righteous man and laid the foundation of a happy life. He showed what will characterize one who has been made righteous by faith in God’s promise. He also gave us the basis upon which God’s blessing comes upon those who have received Him as a personal Saviour. We could well call the Beatitudes, “The Basis of a Happy Life.” (Pentecost, J. D. Design for living: Lessons in Holiness from the Sermon on the Mount. Kregel Publications)

Daniel Webster instructed that the following inscription be placed on his tomb

"My heart has always assured and re-assured me, that the gospel of Jesus Christ must be a divine reality. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human production."

Dave Guzik gives an excellent introduction to the Sermon on the Mount...

1. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) has been long hailed as the sum of Jesus' - or anyone's - ethical teaching. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us how to live.

a. It has been said if you took all the good advice for how to live ever uttered by any philosopher or psychiatrist or counselor, took out the foolishness and boiled it all down to the real essentials, you would be left with a poor imitation of this great message by Jesus.

2. The Sermon on the Mount is sometimes thought of as Jesus' "Declaration of the Kingdom."

a. The American Revolutionaries had their Declaration of Independence. Karl Marx had his Communist Manifesto. With this message, Jesus declares what His Kingdom is all about.

b. It presents a radically different agenda than what the nation of Israel expected from the Messiah. It does not present the political or material blessings of the Messiah's reign. Instead, it expresses the spiritual implications of Jesus' rule in our lives. This great message tells us how will we live when Jesus is our Lord.

3. The Sermon on the Mount does not deal with salvation as such, but it lays out for the disciple and the potential disciple how regarding Jesus as King translates into ethics and daily living.

a. It can't be proved, but in my opinion, the Sermon on the Mount was Jesus' "standard" sermon. It was the core of His itinerant message: a simple proclamation of how God expects us to live, contrasting with common Jewish misunderstandings of that life. It may be that when Jesus preached to a new audience, He often preached this sermon or used the themes from it.

b. It is clear that the Sermon on the Mount had a significant impact on the early church. The early Christians make constant reference to it and their lives display the glory of radical disciples.

4. (Mt 5:1-2) Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

a. When He was seated: As He preached this message, Jesus was seated. He adopted the customary posture of teaching, as any rabbi in His day - the preacher sat and the audience stood.

b. His disciples came to Him . . . He . . . taught them: We notice that Jesus primarily speaks to His disciples. The Sermon on the Mount is directed towards disciples, though others may - and should - hear. By the end of the Sermon on the Mount, people in general hear His message and are amazed (Matthew 7:28).

The Beatitudes: the character of kingdom citizens.

1. The first portion of the Sermon on the Mount is known as the Beatitudes, which means "The Blessings" but can also be understood as giving the believer his "be - attitudes" - the attitudes he should "be."

a. In the Beatitudes, Jesus sets forth both the nature and the aspirations of citizens of His kingdom. They have and are learning these character traits.

b. All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians. It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others, as is the case with spiritual gifts. There is no escape from our responsibility to covet every one of these spiritual attributes.

c. If you meet one who claims to be a Christian but displays and desires none of these traits, you may rightly wonder about their salvation, because they do not have the character of kingdom citizens. But if they claim to have mastered these attributes, you may question their honesty. (Matthew 5)

HE WENT UP ON THE MOUNTAIN: anebe (3SAAI) eis to horos: (Mt 15:29; Mark 3:13,20; John 6:2,3)

Went up (305) (anabaino from aná = up + baíno = to go, come) means to go up, climb, ascend from a lower to a higher place.

Some commentaries make what I think is an absurd suggestion that Jesus "went up" to avoid the crowds. Far more likely Jesus "went up" so that He might have a proper "podium" upon which to address the great multitudes and thus all could hear and see Him.

Spurgeon commenting on "the mountain" says...

Of course, this would be mainly because of the accommodation which the open hill-side would afford to the people, and the readiness with which, upon some jutting crag, the preacher might sit down, and be both heard and seen; but we believe the chosen place of meeting had also its instruction. Exalted doctrine might well be symbolised by an ascent to the mount; at any rate, let every minister feel that he should ascend in spirit when he is about to descant upon the lofty themes of the gospel. A doctrine which could not be hid, and which would produce a Church comparable to a city set on a hill, fitly began to be proclaimed from a conspicuous place. A crypt or cavern would have been out of all character for a message which is to be published upon the housetops, and preached to every creature under heaven.

Besides, mountains have always been associated with distinct eras in the history of the people of God; Mount Sinai is sacred to the law...Calvary was also in due time to be connected with redemption, and the Mount of Olives with the ascension of our risen Lord. It was meet, therefore, that the opening of the Redeemer’s ministry should he connected with a mount such as “the hill of the Beatitudes.”...Thank God, it was not a mount around which bounds had to be placed; it was not the mount which burned with fire, from which Israel retired in fear. It was, doubtless, a mount all carpeted with grass, and dainty with fair flowers, upon whose side the olive and fig flourished in abundance, save where the rocks pushed upward through the sod, and eagerly invited their Lord to honor them by making them his pulpit and throne.

May I not add that Jesus was in deep sympathy with nature, and therefore delighted in an audience chamber whose floor was grass, and whose roof was the blue sky? The open space was in keeping with his large heart, the breezes were akin to his free spirit, and the world around was full of symbols and parables, in accord with the truths he taught. Better than long-drawn aisle, or tier on tier of crowded gallery, was that grassed hill-side meeting-place. Would God we oftener heard sermons amid soul-inspiring scenery! Surely preacher and hearer would be equally benefited by the change, from the house made with hands to the God-made temple of nature.  (Matthew 5.1-12 The Beatitudes)

AND AFTER HE SAT DOWN: kai kathisantos (AAPMSG) autou:

Sat down (2523) (kathizo from katá = down + hizo = sit) means to seat down, to tarry (not something most of us want to do), or to settle.

It is interesting to compare this (Mt 5:1) first use of kathizo with  the last use of kathizo in Scripture as recorded by John in the Revelation...

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years (The Millennium). (Revelation 20:4)

I agree with John MacArthur's assessment of who "they" are that "sat" on the thrones...

"Tribulation believers, along with the redeemed from both the OT and NT eras, will reign with Christ (1Cor. 6:2; 2Tim. 2:12) during the 1,000 year kingdom." (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word Pub)

Sitting was the common mode of teaching among the Jews (Luke 5:3; John 8:2; Acts 13:14; 16:13)

Spurgeon has an interesting comment on "after He sat down" writing that...

The Preacher sat, and the people stood. We might make a helpful change if we were sometimes to adopt a similar plan now. I am afraid that ease of posture may contribute to the creation of slumber of heart in the hearers. There Christ sat, and “his disciples came unto him.” They formed the inner circle that was ever nearest to him, and to them he imparted his choicest secrets, but he also spoke to the multitude, and therefore it is said that “he opened his mouth,” as well he might when there were such great truths to proceed from it, and so vast a crowd to hear them

(Spurgeon adds in a sermon) We incline to the belief that, when he became a pleader with the sons of men, he stood with uplifted hands, eloquent from head to foot, entreating, beseeching, and exhorting, with every member of his body, as well as every faculty of his mind; but now that he was, as it were, a Judge awarding the blessings of the kingdom, or a King on his throne separating his true subjects from aliens and foreigners, he sat down. As an authoritative Teacher, he officially occupied the chair of doctrine, and spake ex cathedral, as men say, as a Solomon acting as the master of assemblies or a Daniel come to judgment. He sat as a refiner, and his word was as a fire. His posture is not accounted for by the fact that it was the Oriental custom for the teacher to sit and the pupil to stand, for our Lord was something more that a didactic teacher, he was a Preacher, a Prophet, a Pleader, and consequently he adopted other attitudes when fulfilling those offices, but on this occasion, he sat in his place as Rabbi of the Church, the authoritative Legislator of the kingdom of heaven, the Monarch in the midst of his people. Come hither, then, and listen to the King in Jeshurun, the Divine Lawgiver, delivering not the ten commands, but the seven, or, if you will, the nine Beatitudes of his blessed kingdom. (Matthew 5.1-12 The Beatitudes)

The Bible Knowledge Commentary writes that...

Jesus instructed them in view of His announcement of the coming kingdom (Mt 4:17). Natural questions on the heart of every Jew would have been,

“Am I eligible to enter Messiah’s kingdom?

Am I righteous enough to qualify for entrance?”

The only standard of righteousness the people knew was that laid down by the current religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees. Would one who followed that standard be acceptable in Messiah’s kingdom? (cf Mt 5:20)

Jesus’ sermon therefore must be understood in the context of His offer of the kingdom to Israel and the need for repentance to enter that kingdom. The sermon did not give a “Constitution” for the kingdom nor did it present the way of salvation. The sermon showed how a person who is in right relationship with God should conduct his life. While the passage must be understood in the light of the offer of the messianic kingdom, the sermon applies to Jesus’ followers today for it demonstrates the standard of righteousness God demands of His people...

The qualities Jesus mentioned in this list, “the poor in spirit,” “those who mourn,” “the meek,” etc., obviously could not be products of Pharisaic righteousness. The Pharisees were concerned primarily with external qualities, but the qualities Jesus mentioned are internal. These come only when one is properly related to God through faith, when one places his complete trust in God. (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor or Logos (Bolding added)

HIS DISCIPLES CAME TO HIM: autou  proselthan (3PAAI) auto hoi mathetai autou: (Mt 4:18, 19, 20, 21, 22; 10:2, 3, 4; Luke 6:13, 14, 15, 16)

Disciples (3101) (mathetes from mantháno = learn - see Disciple) describes a person who learns from another by instruction, whether formal or informal. Discipleship includes the idea of one who intentional learns by inquiry and observation (cf inductive Bible study) and thus mathetes is more than a mere pupil. A mathetes describes an adherent of a teacher (eg, of of John Mt 11:2; Mk 2:18; Lk 5:33; 7:18; Jn 3:25 , of the Pharisees Mk 2:18 Jn 9:28 and here of Jesus). Paul gave a description of discipleship in his very last recorded words in his exhortation to young Timothy...

you (Timothy) followed (accompanied him side by side, followed him closely, attended to his belief and behavior carefully) my teaching (first sound doctrine), conduct (next - sound behavior that backs up what one says they believe!), purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance (see note 2 Timothy 3:10)

Mathetes in itself does not include idea of salvation in it, nor is it a guarantee of the fact that the person called a disciple is a saved person.

The Lord’s Great Commission was to go into all the world and “make disciples... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). That means that the mission of the church and the goal of evangelism is to make disciples. "Disciple" in the book of Acts (Acts 6:1-2, 7 11:26 14:20, 21-22 15:10) virtually always refers to a saved person. Therefore it seems that "disciple" is not restricted to some higher level of believers, as a number of commentaries conclude.

Thus it is important to examine the context (and as in the case of Judas his entire life) for the most accurate interpretation. Judas is the most notorious example of a disciple who was never saved. Another case in point is that of those individuals who rejected the teaching of salvation through atoning blood, John recording...

Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?"...As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. (Jn 6:60, 66)

Wesley writes that "opening His mouth" is

"a phrase which always denotes a set and solemn discourse" (see cross references above)

Spurgeon writes that...

Even when his mouth was closed he was teaching by His life; yet He did not withhold the testimony of His lips. Earnest men, when they address their fellows, neither mumble, nor stumble, but speak distinctly, opening their mouths. When Jesus opens His mouth let us open our ears and hearts. (The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Popular Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew)

Chrysostom says that He taught them even when He did not open His mouth; His very silence was instructive. But when He did open His mouth, what streams of wisdom flowed forth!

“How could he teach without opening his mouth? “to which the reply is that he very frequently taught, and taught much, without saying a word, since his whole life was teaching, and his miracles and deeds of love were the lessons of a master instructor. It is not superfluous to say that “He opened his mouth, and taught them,” for He had taught them often when His mouth was closed. Besides that, teachers are to be frequently met with who seldom open their mouths; they hiss the everlasting gospel through their teeth, or mumble it within their mouths, as if they had never been commanded to, “cry aloud, and spare not.” Jesus Christ spoke like a man in earnest; He enunciated clearly, and spake loudly. He lifted up His voice like a trumpet, and published salvation far and wide, like a man who had something to say which He desired His audience to hear and feel. Oh, that the very manner and voice of those who preach the gospel were such as to bespeak their zeal for God and their love for souls! So, should it be, but so it is not in all cases. When a man grows terribly in earnest while, speaking, his mouth appears to be enlarged in sympathy with his hearers: this characteristic has been observed in vehement political orators, and the messengers of God should blush if no such impeachment can be laid at their door.

“He opened his mouth, and taught them,” — have we not here a further hint that, as he had from the earliest days opened the mouths of his holy prophets, so now he opens his own mouth to inaugurate a yet fuller revelation? If Moses spake, who made Moses’ mouth? If David sang, who opened David’s lips that he might show forth the praises of God? Who opened the mouths of the prophets? Was it not the Lord by his Spirit? Is it not therefore well said that now he opened his own mouth, and spake directly as the incarnate God to the children of men? Now, by his own inherent power and inspiration, he began to speak, not through the mouth of Isaiah, or of Jeremiah, but by his own mouth. Now was a spring of wisdom to be unsealed from which all generations should drink rejoicingly; now would the most majestic and yet most simple of all discourses be heard by mankind. The opening of the fount which flowed from the desert rock was not one half so full of joy to men. Let our prayer be, “Lord, as thou hast opened thy mouth, do thou open our hearts;” for when the Redeemer’s mouth is open with blessings, and our hearts are open with desires, a glorious filling with all the fullness of God will be the result, and then also shall our mouths be opened to show forth our Redeemer’s praise.   (Matthew 5.1-12 The Beatitudes)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones encourages believers to read and study the Sermon on the Mount writing that we should...

not say it has nothing to do with us. Why, it has everything to do with us! If only all of us were living the Sermon on the Mount, men would know that there is dynamic in the Christian gospel; they would know that this is a live thing; they would not go looking for anything else. They would say, 'Here it is.' And if you read the history of the Church you will find it has always been when men and women have taken this Sermon seriously and faced themselves in the light of it, that true revival has come. And when the world sees the truly Chris­tian man, it not only feels condemned, it is drawn, it is attracted. Then let us carefully study this Sermon that claims to show what we ought to be. Let us consider it that we may see what we can be. (Lloyd-Jones, D. M. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount)

Lloyd-Jones goes on to state that

 it is important for us to take the Sermon as a whole before we come to the details, (because of) this constant danger of 'missing the wood because of the trees'. We are all of us ready to fix on certain particular statements, and to concentrate on them at the expense of others. The way to correct that tendency, I believe, is to realize that no part of this Sermon can be understood truly except in the light of the whole...

There is a kind of logical sequence in this Sermon. Not only that, there is certainly a spiritual order and sequence. 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....

.In Mt 5:3-10 you have the character of the Christian described in and of itself. That is, more or less, the Beatitudes which are a description of the character of the Christian in general. Then Mt 5:11-12, I would say, show us the char­acter of the Christian as proved by the reaction of the world to him...

The whole of Matthew 6, I suggest, relates to the Christian as living his life in the presence of God, in active submission to Him, and in entire dependence upon Him...There, I say, is a description of the Christian as a man who knows he is always in the presence of God, so that what he is interested in is not the impression he makes on other men, but his rela­tionship to God. Thus, when he prays, he is not interested in what other people are thinking, whether they are praising his prayers or criticizing them; he knows he is in the presence of the Father, and he is praying to God.  (Ibid)

HE BEGAN TO TEACH THEM, SAYING: edidasken (AAImperfect) autous legon, (PAPMSN):

"Began to teach" is imperfect tense which describes the teaching as in progress. It pictures the teaching as going on, over and over so to speak.

The Sermon on the Mount reveals the true standard of righteousness which Christ requires of all who belong to Him (Matthew 5:1).  The limitation of the Sermon on the Mount lies in the fact that our Lord reveals His standards for the Kingdom life, without the full revelation of the power by which this standard can be maintained. This fuller revelation would come later. It is similar to the John 7:37-39 passage, where Christ gives His promise of power and fruitfulness before the Holy Spirit has come, through Whom this power is given. The Sermon on the Mount is similar to a plumbline which shows the crookedness of a wall, but does not rebuild it.

Spurgeon warns...

Do not fall into the mistake of supposing that the opening verses of the Sermon on the mount set forth how we are to be saved, or you may cause your soul to stumble. You will find the fullest light upon that matter in other parts of our Lord’s teaching, but here he discourses upon the question, “Who are the saved?” or, “What are the marks and evidences of a work of grace in the soul?” Who should know the saved so well as the Savior does? The shepherd best discerns his own sheep, and the Lord himself alone knoweth infallibly them that are his. We may regard the marks of the blessed ones here given as being the sure witness of truth, for they are given by him who cannot err, who cannot be deceived, and who, as their Redeemer, knows his own.

Lloyd-Jones lays down...

a number of controlling principles which should govern the interpretation of this Sermon. What is of supreme importance is that we must always remember that the Sermon on the Mount is a description of character and not a code of ethics or of morals. It is not to be regarded as law — a kind of new 'Ten Commandments' or set of rules and regulations which are to be carried out by us — but rather as a description of what we Christians are meant to be, illustrated in certain particular respects. It is as if our Lord says, 'Because you are what you are, this is how you will face the law and how you will live it.'... If you find yourself arguing with the Sermon on the Mount at any point, it means either that there is something wrong with you or else that your interpretation of the Sermon is wrong...Again, if our interpretation makes any injunction appear to be ridiculous then we can be certain our interpretation is wrong. You see the argument; I have already mentioned it earlier in the illustration of the coat and the cloak. Such an interpretation, I repeat, must be wrong, for nothing that our Lord ever taught can be ridiculous. Finally, if you regard any particular injunction in this Sermon as impossi­ble, once more your interpretation and understanding of it must be wrong... 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. (Ibid)

Wil Pounds in his sermon "The Secrets of a Spiritually Prosperous Life" writes that

V. Raymond Edman in his excellent book, They Found the Secret, explored the lives of men and women who discovered the essentials of a growing mature intimate love relationship with their Savior. In the last chapter of his book he summarized the basics of the mature believer’s life of faith. As I studied the emphasis Jesus made in His teaching in the beatitudes in Matthew chapter five I realized a number of years ago that Jesus emphasized these same essentials that Edman discovered in the lives of great Christians. That really shouldn’t catch us by surprise. Christ is the author of God’s kind of life in the believer. It is the normal Christian life. (Pounds goes on to add that) Vance Havner once said,

“We are so subnormal that if we came up to normal, the world would think we were abnormal.” And so it does. In order to have God’s kind of life we must become acutely aware of our spiritual need. (Matthew 5:1-16 Secrets of Spiritually Prosperous Life)

Bob Deffinbaugh writes...

I can remember in seminary, for example, hearing Dr. Charles Ryrie say, “If a businessman today practiced the Sermon on the Mount, he would go broke.” I thought to myself, “That’s exactly right.” And if a church today followed New Testament principles, there are many who would say you couldn’t exist; you couldn’t exist doing the things the New Testament says churches are to do. But that’s exactly what Christianity is about. It’s about God doing the impossible through those who obey Him, and mainly through His Spirit and His grace as He works in us. I am not very inclined to set aside pieces even of this passage and say, “This is the future.” In fact, you will notice that when Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, He talks both in future and present terms. Jesus is talking about the character of those who are in the kingdom of God, and He is talking about the character of those who are true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 5:1-16 Fatal Failures of Religion: Secularism)

C H Spurgeon writes...

Not only do the Beatitudes rise, one above another, but they spring out of each other, as if each one depended upon all that went before. Each growth, feeds a higher growth, and the seventh is the product of all the other six. The two blessings which we shall have first to consider have this relation. “Blessed are they that mourn” grows out of “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Why do they mourn? They mourn because they are “poor in spirit.” “Blessed are the meek” is a benediction which no man reaches till he has felt his spiritual poverty, and mourned over it. “Blessed are the merciful” follows upon the blessing of the meek, because men do not acquire the forgiving, sympathetic, merciful spirit until they have been made meek by the experience of the first two benedictions. This same rising and outgrowth may be seen in the whole seven. The stones are laid one upon the other in fair colors, and polished after the similitude of a palace; they are the natural sequel and completion of each other... (Matthew 5.1-12 The Beatitudes)

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F B Meyer on CHRIST'S TEACHING ABOUT BLESSEDNESS...

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful: but his delight is in the law of the Lord."--Ps 1:1-2.

OUR LORD lived inside the City of Blessedness, and in Matthew 5:1-12 He reveals to all men the eight gates by which that City may be entered. For myself, I cannot go in by the Gate of Poverty of spirit, for I am not humble enough; nor by the Gate of the Mourners, for I am not grieved enough for my own sins or the sins of others; nor by the Gate of the Meek, for I often resent injury; nor by the Gates of Mercy, or Purity, or Peace. But I may claim to enter by the fourth Gate, for I Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness. And as I go in, I find myself inside the City, and in the company of all holy souls that have entered by the other gates. For in the Heavenly City, to enter by any gate is equivalent to having entered by all; and one grace which is inwrought by the Holy Spirit will ultimately lead on to all the rest.

What is Blessedness? According to our Lord's teaching, it is a condition or state of heart. Outward circumstances are not mentioned, unless it be reproach and persecution, as though they were matters of indifference. Blessedness is altogether independent of our outward lot, whether prosperous or perplexed, rich or poor. Blessedness begins and ends with a contented recognition of the Royalty of Christ's Kingdom; in the power of seeing the good in everything, and so inheriting the earth; in being satisfied, in obtaining mercy, in seeing God and being called His sons and daughters. Is it not worth while to strive to enter in at these wide-open doors? And if you can say that you really do yearn after better things, hungering and thirsting for more likeness to Christ, and more fitness for His Kingdom; if that desire really represents the purpose of your life, you may account yourself as being already admitted within the Gates of the Blessed Life.

We must not suppose that Our Lord allocated the award of Blessedness to the possessors of certain attributes with an arbitrary and royal prerogative. He simply declared what was true in the very nature of things. To be true, pure, merciful, and meek, is to have in your possession the seed-germs of the harvest of Blessedness. If you turn from this wonderful enumeration of Christian qualities to Galatians 5:22, you will find all of them set forth in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. May He work in us and through us a well-balanced and full-orbed Christian character.

PRAYER - Lord, take my lips, and speak through them; take my mind, and think through it; take my heart, and set it on fire. AMEN.

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F B Meyer on  OH, THE BLESSEDNESS! (Psa. 32:1; Matt. 5:1-12.)

THERE is a condition of soul which may be experienced and enjoyed by every child of our race, which the Master calls Blessedness. He uses the same words to describe it as is employed to set forth the Being of God and the Life of the Saints who have passed beyond the vail.

Blessed are ye (Matt. 5:11).

The glorious Gospel of the Blessed God ( 1 Tim. 1:1).

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord (Rev. 14:13).

This condition of soul, however, need not be postponed until we too, in our turn, pass the Gate of the City, and find ourselves amid "the solemn troops and sweet societies" of eternity. It may be entered here and now. The fragrance of this garden steals through the crowded and noisy cities of our modem civilization like the morning air laden with the scent of new-mown grass. The gates of this city stand open, night and day, for lonely souls, in country and sequestered places, where the noise of our city life cannot reach, and at any moment they may tread its thronged streets, listen to its murmured speech, and join in its vast convocations, of which it is written: "Ye are come to Mount Sion, the City of the Living God, to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn."

Blessedness does not depend on outward possessions, such as worldly goods, or lands, or high birth, or erudite culture. Indeed, there are words of Christ which suggest that they who stand possessed of these things will find it harder to enter that Paradise which has not yet faded from our world, and to pass through the gates of that city which are before our eyes, if only they were opened to discern them. When He repeated this Sermon of the Mountain-Heights and of the Dawn, to the multitudes that stood breathless beneath its spell, He said, "Woe unto you that are rich .... Woe unto you that are full .... Woe unto you, ye that laugh." He did not mean that such would be necessarily excluded, but that entrance into blessedness would be harder for them; as when, after dusk, a camel strives to get through the needle-eye-gate, placed in the city wall for belated pedestrians.

There is no soul of man so illiterate, so lonely, so poor in this world's goods, so beset with hereditary sins and demoniacal temptations, that may not at this moment step suddenly into this life of blessedness, begin to drink of the river which makes glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. It is not necessary to ascend into Heaven to bring it down, or to descend into the Depth of the Abyss to bring it up; it has not to be wrestled or wept for; it is not to be obtained by the merit of holy deeds or as the guerdon of devoted service; it is not a reward which comes after long years in the council chamber or on the tented field. We have not to do, or feel, or suffer, but only to be; to cultivate certain dispositions; to possess a nature, here carefully defined, and instantly blessedness begins, an earthly light breaks on the soul, which is destined to increase into the full radiance of Heaven's high noon. "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord" (can you not hear the angel-voices?); "wherefore standest thou without?"

Our Master did not speak of this condition of soul by hearsay; for thirty years it had been His sweet and deep experience. During His life in Nazareth had not the Lamb of God lain in His Father's bosom? Had He not realized that He was wrapped around with the love which had been His before the worlds were made? Had He not been content to let the great ones of the world go on their way of pomp and pride, because He was assured of a deeper joy, a more perfect peace, a more satisfying happiness, than Caesar's smile or the Imperial purple could afford? The well of water was springing up in His own pure heart before He spoke of it to the woman at Sychar's well. He knew the Father, loved the Father, fulfilled His Father's behests, rested in the Father's will, was encompassed with the perpetual sense of the Father's presence, breathed the sunny air of the Father's love. During His earthly life, as He confessed Himself, the Son of Man was, therefore, already "in heaven" (John 3:13). He offers us what He was experiencing for Himself. "My peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you." "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you." "That the love wherewith Thou lovest Me may be in them."

Not to the same degree, but after the same quality and kind, we may know in this life, amid difficult, tempestuous, and sorrowful experiences, what the Lord felt when He said: "He that sent Me is with Me; the Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always those things which please Him."

THE INGREDIENTS OF THIS EXPERIENCE

Are enumerated thus:

First, it is blessed to belong to that invisible Kingdom which is already in our world, including within its ever-expanding circle all gracious souls of every race and age, breathing the ozone of Heaven into the stale and exhausted atmosphere of the world; its King the Enthroned Lamb; its subjects, the childlike, the forgiving, the gentle, and the pure; its laws, love; its advances, soft, sweet, irresistible as the dawn; its duration, eternal. It is a blessed thing to know that one has the franchise and freedom of that kingdom, that one need never go out from its holy and strong embrace, and that men like John the Divine may greet us thus: "Your brother and partaker with you in the Kingdom, which is in Jesus" (Rev. 1:9, R.V.).

Second, it is blessed to be comforted with the comfort which only God can give. When the eyes are wet with tears that refuse to be staunched, to feel a hand soft and strong wiping them away, and to discover that it is the Hand.

OH, THE BLESSEDNESS

"That can ruffle an evening calm,
And hears Calvary's mark on its pierced palm."

When the face is buried deep amid the dried flowers and leaves of departed joys, to hear a whisper which thrills the sense, growing fuller and clearer, like a flute, and to detect in its syllables the assurances of the Comforter Himself; when the sepulchre seems to hold all that made life worth living, to become suddenly aware that there is a presence near at hand, and to find that the Gardener Himself is at hand to lift the drooping plant of life, unfurling its petals again to the light; to be strong in God's strength, comforted with the paracletism of the Paraclete, to drink of the brook by the way, here is blessedness which eye hath not seen, neither the ear of ordinary men heard, nor the unregenerate heart perceived. Even the bereaved and lonely heart, sitting amid the wreckage of all its joys and hopes, may be aware of this.

Third, it is blessed to inherit the earth. When that condition of soul is reached of which the Master is speaking,

"Heaven above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green;
Something shines in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen."

There is a new rapture in common sights, a new meaning in common sounds; lilies are robed more sumptuously than Solomon; the winged and furred denizens of the woodlands become, as St. Francis found them, "little brothers and sisters." As Cowper said, such a man may be poor compared with those whose mansions glitter in his sight, but he calls the luxuriant prospect all his own. Every wind wafts him blessing; all things work together for his good. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all things bring their tribute to the man who has learnt Christ's secret, which, like the fabled philosopher's stone, turns everything into gold. What inheriting the earth means is shown in the words of one of Christ's most proficient pupils, when he said: "I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." You may own vast estates, and get nothing from them. You may have no rod or perch of land, and yet you may derive joy and delight from every scene, and extract nutriment from every incident. Newspapers, public events, journals, travels, pictures, architecture, literature, human life, all shall minister to your joy and perfecting.

Fourth, it is blessed to be filled. In this life, as well as in the next, it is possible to hunger no more, neither thirst any more. Not to hunger for the husks that the swine eat, because filled with the provisions of the Father's table! Not to thirst for the heated pools at which the children of the world seek to quench their thirst, because the well of water; that springs up to eternal life, is within! Not to clamour for the fleshpots of Egypt, because there is so plentiful a provision of manna. Oh, it is a blessed thing to be filled with the Spirit, to be full of joy and peace, to be fulfilled with God's grace and heavenly benediction, to be filled with the fruits of righteousness, to be filled with the knowledge of His will, to be filled unto the fulness of God. Tennyson says that the babble of the Wye among the hills lasts until the tidal wave fills up its channels to the brim; and the heart is restless till it is full, but when it has realized this blessed fulness, dipped deep into the fulness of God, and lifted out dripping with flashing drops, ah, then, evil has no lure to charm, the fear of man cannot intrude, the charms and blandishments of sense are neutralized. What more can the soul want than to be filled with Thee, O God, who didst make us for Thyself? Cannot a flower be satisfied which has a sun to shine on it, and a glacier-fed river to wash its roots?

Fifth, it is blessed to be the recipient of mercy. There is never a moment of our life in which we do not stand in need of mercy, both at the hands of our fellows, and, above all, from the hand of God. There is no saint in the heavenly Kingdom who does not, at some time or other, need to appropriate the petitions of the man after God's own heart, and say, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies.''

We need mercy from little children, startled by our harsh tones; mercy from our servants and employees, hindered by our inconsistencies, our quick temper, and imperious tones; mercy from husband or wife, brother or sister, neighbour or friend, above all, mercy from the Most Merciful; and it is blessed to know that we have it in Heaven's own measure, full, pressed down, and running over. So far from it making us lax in permitting sin, it predisposes us to more mercy towards the failings of others, more mercilessness to ourselves.

Sixth, it is blessed to have the vision of God. Not to terrify, as when Moses hid his face, and Elijah went into the covert of the cave, and John fell at his feet as dead; but more after the fashion of Mr. Hewitson's experience, when he says: "Our Redeemer is no mere abstraction, no ideality that has its being only in our shifting thoughts, He is the most personal of all persons, the most living of all who live. He is 'the First and the Last, and the Living One.' He is so near us, as the Son of God, that we can feel His warm breath on our souls; and as the Son of Man He has a heart like these hearts of ours, a human heart, meek and lowly, tender, kind, and sympathizing. In the Word, the almost viva voce utterance of Himself, His arm of power is stretched forth beside you, that you may lean on it with all your weight; and in the Word, also, His love is revealed, that on the bosom of it you may lay your aching head, and forget your sorrow in the abundance of His consolation. To the Living One who died we must look that we may be weaned and won over to God, that we may be strengthened, spiritualized, and sanctified." Who would not desire a life like this, in which God should be the one dear Presence, the one familiar and ever-present object of thought, the Friend with whom an increasing dialogue is maintained. A young girl employed in a shop told me the other day that her consciousness of God and her converse with Him had now lasted for three years, and that difficult things had become easy, as though He arranged all and smoothed out the creases.

Seventh, it is blessed to be recognized as the son of God. Some are undoubtedly children of God, who are not like God. It would require a good deal of scrutiny to detect His image and superscription on their face, or the tones of His voice in their speech. The manners of the Heavenly Court are not evident in their demeanour; the courtesy and thoughtfulness that characterized the Son are not characteristic of their behaviour to the poor and timid, to little children and women. They too often break the bruised reed and quench the smoking flax; they strive and cry and cause their voices to be heard in the street; they do not bear, believe, hope, and endure all things, and elicit the love of men to Him whose name and nature they bear in every lineament. Be it ours to be imitators of God as dear children, to be harmless and blameless, the sons of God, without rebuke, to be thus is to be blessed.

Eighth, we come back to the Kingdom of Heaven. For blessedness is like a spiral staircase, we are always coming back to the same standpoint from a higher position on the circling round. When we begin to live for God we find ourselves in the Kingdom, and are ravished with the beauty of the dawn; but after years have been spent in doing His will and walking in His fellowship there is a new depth of loveliness and significance in its infinite and Divine contents.

O Christ, Thou King of Glory, uplift us above the common dusty road of mortal life, lift us into Thy life, above the heads of our enemies, above the weight of our flesh, above the glamour of the world, and make us most blessed for ever, and glad with joy in Thy presence! F. B. Meyer. The Directory of the Devout Life