The Christ of the Mount: A Living Exposition of Jesus' Words as the Only Practical Way of Life

by Stanley Jones

The Sermon on the Mount is not just a sermon. It is a portrait of "The Christ of the Mount," and of the Father and of the Man-to-be - a transcript of Christ's mind and spirit. The greatest need of the modern world, West and East alike, is to rediscover its power and message as the only practical way to live.

Genres: Christian, Religion

332 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1981

Reviews

[Barney Wiget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I've read on the Sermon on the Mount - including Stott and Lloyd-Jones.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas here, if you can wade through the doses of cultural imperialism. What can we say, it was written by a British Missionary in the 1930s... but there are some useful ways to think about Jesus’ teachings and the Sermon on the Mount. I particularly liked the chapter about material possessions.

[David Clifton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1931, there are references to people and events that may be unfamilair to readers in the 21st century, but the principles are timeless. I found the book, especially the chaper "The Divine Offer Of An Adequate Dynamic," to be full of insight and nuggets of truth.
Jones does not do a verse-by-verse commentary on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, but divides it into six divisions and expounds on those divisions.
I will limit my direct quotes to my two favorites, one explaining Jesus as The Word, and the other describing perfect love over perfect service.
The Word:
"Jesus is called the Word because the word is the expression of the hidden thought. Unless I put my thought into words you cannot understand it. Here is God; we sense his presence, but he is Spirit, hence hidden. We want to know what he is like - not in omnipotence, nor in omniscience, nor in omnipresence; a revelation of these would do little or no good, but we would know his character, for what he is like in character, we, his children, must be. So the Hidden Thought - God - becomes the Revealed Word - Christ."
Perfect Love:
"The difference between perfect character and perfect love maybe illustrated by the story of the father who came home after a long absence and was welcomed by his little boy with unbounded delight. As the father sat in the house, the little fellow, scarcely able to contain himself with joy, came up to him and eagerly said, 'Daddy, can't I do something for you?' The father wishing to respond to the boy's eagerness told him that he might bring him a glass of water. The little fellow, nearly tumbling over himself, ran pell-mell across the room to the water pitcher, poured some in the glass and some on the table, clutched the class, one little finger in the water, and then ran to his father, the water spilling over the edge of the glass. When he pulled his finger out of the glass there trickled down inside a muddy stream from his not very clean little finger, but the father drank every drop in the glass, while the little fellow stood there rubbing his wet hands on his shirt and saying, 'Daddy can't I do something else for you?' That may not be perfect service, but it is perfect love. Perfect character is a growth, but perfect love is a gift, and that gift can be obtained now - at the cost of our all."

[Paul Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the very few books I will keep to reread. Even most of my 5-star books don't find a permanent place on my shelf. The gospel of Jesus Christ is really to save the soul—a guide to living like a Christian, not just going to church or giving some tithing. Jones presents the Savior's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29) as the only realistic guide to living a good life. Not some abstract, arguable "good" in the sense of God-approved, but a very concrete, practical, utilitarian sense of being happy. Jones lived in India under British rule for many years. He worked closely with Muslims and Hindus, as well as true Christians and, uh, Sunday Christians. He hosted many respectful multi-day round tables and conferences with learned professors and sincere leaders of all faiths and draws from their critiques and comments.

The doctrine and details that Jones expounds are of the highest truth and godliness (except one small bit in one paragraph).

Jones' writing is delightful, full of alliterations and metaphors and enlightening vignettes. "Your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisee and the scribe, which was a legal righteousness. Your must be a love righteousness; your righteousness must exceed that of the Hindu ascetic, for he strives for personal deliverance and you must strive for the kingdom of heaven on earth; your righteousness must exceed that of the Buddhist, for at the heart of his righteousness is a bitter disillusionment and at the hear of yours must be an Easter morning; your righteousness must exceed that of the Moslem, for his righteousness is a slave righteousness and yours must be that of a free man; your righteousness must exceed that of the Confucianist, for he strives to be a superior man and you must strive to be the servant of all; your righteousness must exceed that of the delicately calculating moralist, for yours is a righteousness that does not calculate—it is that of the second mile and of the other cheek; your righteousness must exceed that of the half-Christian who is content with the mind of Moses instead of going on to the mind of the Master." (This run-on sentence is unusual, but not unpleasant.)

This is one of the very few books I will keep. Even most of my 5-star books don't find a permanent place on my shelf.

[Rod Innis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I debated giving this book one or two stars. I finally decided that I could not give it two stars because there was so much that was contrary to a proper interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. Also much of what the author said left me scratching my head and asking what did that mean. I know that my review is not in agreement with other reviews that I have read. I have studied the Sermon on the Mount for many years and there is much of the content of this book that fails to really show what Jesus taught. That does not mean that everything in the book is wrong. It is not. I believe that some of the things in the book are true. It just fails to teach what Jesus taught. There are things that the author says that are in opposition to what Jesus actually taught. If you neglect to talk of the grace and mercy of God you miss Jesus' message. This book was recommended to me, but I cannot recommend it to you.

[Kay Mckean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written from the perspective of a British missionary in India during colonial times. But the message is timeless and certainly helped me.