D 5:21-44.

But I say unto you.

E 5:45-48.

The Perfect.

A 6:1 to 7:11.  Reward.

The Law and the Prophets.

Entry into the Kingdom.

D 7: 24-29.

These sayings of Mine.

The Wise.

It seems fairly clear that the `laws' of the Sermon on the Mount relate not to the time when the kingdom will

be set up, but to the period that precedes the kingdom, when suffering for truth is sustained by hope of future

blessedness, and when those that are to enter the kingdom shall be brought by means of the testings through

which they pass to that condition which is called `perfect', and which figures so prominently in Philippians 3,

Hebrews and James.

We have seen that entry into the kingdom is the great feature of the Sermon on the Mount, and that the

endurance and high standard of spirituality which is inculcated has in view the future entry into that kingdom.

Let us take a wider view of the subject, this time looking at the whole Gospel instead of chapters 5 to 7. We

will go in the first case to the great sequel to the Sermon namely, the Prophecy on the Mount, given in chapters

24 and 25. After outlining before us the times that will lead to the setting up of the kingdom of heaven, the Lord

speaks of the characteristics of those who shall enter into that kingdom. The two passages are the parable of the

ten virgins, and its fulfilment in the case of the living nations (Matt. 25).

Truth is truth, whether we who utter it realize its fulness at the time or not, and in pages 136 to 138, the fact

is stressed that the words which are cognates of the verb `to enter' are `pivotal' in the structure of the parable of

the Ten Virgins. The great point of this parable is that of `entering'. The five wise virgins `went in'

(eiserchomai) to the marriage, and the door was shut. Here we have the Lord in His last discourses referring

back to His first. The man who heard His sayings, and who did them, is likened to a wise man who built upon a

rock. The other man is likened to a foolish man. In the day of testing the wise man's building stands. Reward

is promised to the servant who is not only faithful, but wise (Matt. 24:45-47). The Lord does not use the word

`foolish' of any others except those cited in Matthew 7 and 25. Immediately following the parable of the Ten

Virgins comes the parable of the Talents, where the reward for faithfulness is expressed in the words, `enter

thou into the joy of thy lord'.

We now come to another but parallel case, where the two classes are not classified as wise and foolish, but

as sheep and goats. The time when this takes place is when the Son of man comes in His glory and sits upon the

throne of His glory. Before Him all the nations are gathered together, and to those who have been kind to the

least of the brethren of the King upon the throne are addressed the words:

`Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the overthrow of the world'

(Matt. 25:34 Author's translation).

By their own confession the nations did not render `Christian service', for they will say, `When saw we Thee

a stranger, etc?'

In sharp contrast with these nations who, though they have never professed the name of Christ, yet did those

things that were well pleasing, come those of the favoured nation who said:

`Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (taught) in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils

(demons)? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works?' (Matt. 7:22).

To these the Lord will say:

`I never knew (approved of) you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity' (Matt. 7:23).

The threefold insistence upon `in Thy Name' is in contrast with `When saw we Thee?' Romans 2 deals with

these nations and the conditions of their entry, particularly in verses 6-11, 13-16, 26, 27.