Rethinking the Christian Life

[0:00] Matthew chapter 5, the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

[0:38] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

[0:53] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

[1:09] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth.

[1:20] But if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world.

[1:34] A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

[1:44] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

[1:55] Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

[2:15] Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

[2:31] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

[2:43] You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

[2:57] Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. So, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.

[3:18] First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in prison.

[3:35] Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

[3:52] If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

[4:03] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

[4:13] It was also said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

[4:27] But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except on the ground of sexual immorality makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

[4:39] Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.

[5:01] And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil.

[5:16] You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

[5:30] And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

[5:41] Give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

[5:52] But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

[6:11] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?

[6:22] Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Matthew chapter 6.

[6:36] Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.

[6:58] Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

[7:14] And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.

[7:25] Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret.

[7:36] And your father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

[7:49] Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

[8:01] Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.

[8:13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

[8:23] But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others.

[8:39] Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father, who is in secret.

[8:53] And your father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

[9:05] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

[9:18] The eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.

[9:35] No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

[9:47] Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

[10:02] Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life?

[10:18] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

[10:32] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? O you of little faith!

[10:43] Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

[10:57] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

[11:09] Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 7. Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged.

[11:21] And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye? But do not notice the log that is in your own eye.

[11:32] Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

[11:48] Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn to attack you.

[12:01] Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. And the one who asks, who seeks, finds.

[12:14] And to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Or which of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

[12:28] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask him?

[12:41] So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Enter by the narrow gate.

[12:54] For the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life.

[13:07] And those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.

[13:21] Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

[13:32] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

[13:45] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

[14:00] On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?

[14:13] And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Everyone who hears these words of mine, and does them, and does them, will be like a wise man, who built his house on the rock.

[14:29] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

[14:41] And everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house.

[14:55] And it fell, and great was the fall of it. And when Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching.

[15:06] For he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. Amen. In his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, deceased theologian and Bible scholar John Stott wrote the following.

[15:27] The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed.

[15:40] It is the nearest thing to a manifesto that he ever uttered, for it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and do.

[15:54] Brothers and sisters, by God's grace, I pray that it will not be said of us. They know the Sermon on the Mount, but they don't understand it, and they certainly don't obey it.

[16:08] May that not be said about us. That is my prayer. That is my desire for this sermon series, that we would not just know these words, but we would understand them, and by God's grace, that we would obey them.

[16:26] And we need God's help to do that. And I want to begin by asking the Lord that he will help us as we engage the Sermon on the Mount over the next several months, leading into next year as well, that we would both understand it, we would obey it.

[16:46] Let's pray. Father, we bow our hearts this morning in the wake of hearing these words of the Lord Jesus, this extended sermon that he uttered at the beginning of his ministry.

[17:06] Lord, we pray that you would cause us to hear these words, to take them to heart, to understand them, and then to obey them. We need your help to do this, Lord.

[17:20] So would you help us? You know, Lord, where each of us stands this morning, and you know exactly what we need and how we need to be postured to hear what these words say to us.

[17:33] And so, Lord, would you do the work that only you can do in our hearts individually and collectively.

[17:44] And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. For those who are wondering why we are commencing this sermon series in the Sermon on the Mount, it's largely because last October when I took time for a retreat to pray about and to think about the diet of the church for this year, this is the body of Scripture that the Lord pressed on my heart, I felt.

[18:16] And so we are considering it starting this morning. About 10 years ago, literally 10 years ago, we did the Sermon on the Mount.

[18:28] We preached through it. And many of you were not part of the church at the time, and those who were probably have forgotten. And so I thought that we could all hear this sermon from Jesus afresh and be stirred by these words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

[18:52] I've entitled this sermon this morning, Rethinking the Christian Life. It's going to give us an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, an overview of the Sermon on the Mount, but I really do think that from my own experience, there are countless Christians who approach the Christian life, but the foundation of it is not the Sermon on the Mount.

[19:18] And the Sermon on the Mount really is the foundation of what it means to follow Jesus. And so I pray this morning that this rethinking for us, most of us at least, would really begin.

[19:36] I want to encourage you to do your best to let's hear the entire sermon series. I realize that for any number of reasons, you might be absent over the period of time.

[19:50] There's some 30 sermons in this series in the Sermon on the Mount, but if you miss any of them, by Monday morning, the recorded audio is uploaded to the website. And then also the end of the service, both the video on YouTube and on Facebook would be on those platforms.

[20:10] So you can view them in one of those ways. This morning, I want to raise and answer three questions as we introduce the Sermon on the Mount, as we try to get a big picture view of what it is that Jesus laid down for those who follow him.

[20:31] So three questions that I want to raise and answer. The first one is, is the Sermon on the Mount for everyone? And the answer is no.

[20:47] While many people moralize and they universalize the Sermon on the Mount, especially the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount is neither to be moralized or universalized for everyone.

[21:05] The Sermon on the Mount is not about Jesus teaching how the world could be a better place if everyone would just follow what he taught in the Sermon on the Mount, especially in the Beatitudes.

[21:16] I'm sure you've heard people just universalize it in that way, calling everyone to live out these attributes, these ways of thinking that Jesus lays down for us in the Sermon on the Mount.

[21:32] But the Sermon on the Mount is for the disciples of Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount is only for those who come to Christ and who follow him.

[21:46] It is for those who are citizens of the kingdom of God, those who are part of this alternative society that Jesus introduced when he proclaimed this sermon, when he began his earthly ministry.

[22:05] It lays out who Christ calls them to be and who they are to be. And so the Sermon on the Mount is not nice sayings and noble ideals given to everyone.

[22:22] Instead, it's for those who belong to Christ and it lays out the demands by which they are to live in the context of a relationship with him.

[22:33] So let's consider how and why this is so. Notice in verse 1 of Matthew 5 it reads as follows, Seeing the crowds he went up on the mountain and when he sat down his disciples came to him.

[22:54] This is a vivid picture. Although there were crowds of people all around Jesus when he ascended the mountain only his disciples came to him.

[23:07] The mountain wasn't a narrow little stretch that only a few people could sit on or could stand on. The mountain was vast and yet of the crowds only his disciples came to him and sat at his feet to hear him pour out his heart and that's what he did in the Sermon on the Mount.

[23:25] He poured out his heart about this new society that he had come to inaugurate. But notice in verse 1 of Matthew chapter 8 at the end of the Sermon at the end of the Sermon on the Mount after Jesus is finished it says when he came down from the mountain great crowds followed him.

[23:54] So the crowds did not go into the mountain with him to hear what he said but they waited to follow him and the Gospels record all the reasons they followed him the signs and wonders and miracles and all sorts of things that they would have personally benefited from.

[24:15] And so we see this vivid contrast between Matthew 5 1 and Matthew 8 1 his disciples come to him when he goes up the mountain and then great crowds follow him when he came down from the mountain.

[24:31] His disciples came to him to hear him to hear what he was calling them to be and to do. The crowds followed him for what they wanted him to do for them.

[24:45] And brothers and sisters it is the same today. There's no real difference today because people are the same. Many people see Jesus not as Lord and Master who is to be loved and followed and obeyed but instead they see him as a means to their own end to get them the life that they want to give them the things that they want but not what Christ wants for them and not what he calls them to do.

[25:19] And so there are crowds of people after Jesus but not for Jesus and what he is calling them to be and do it is for what they want from him and sadly this has been fueled in churches this has been fueled by misguided pastors that we have so many people who misunderstand that Jesus is Lord Jesus is Master he's not a genie but he is Master and so I pray that we will embrace this first visual and follow in the footsteps of these first disciples who trekked up the mountain to hear what Jesus would say to them could have stayed at the foot of the mountain with the crowds but they trekked up the mountain because they wanted to sit at his feet and they wanted to hear what he had to say hopefully as you read through the Sermon on the

[26:23] Mount as we heard it read this morning it is clear that the sermon really is not intended for everyone Jesus is only addressing those who are the children of God those who claim God as their father 11 times in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus uses two words your father nine of these times we find in Matthew 6 alone and so clearly Jesus is not addressing every single person he's not universalizing the sermon and saying that this is for every single person I mean even you take the Lord's prayer for example I'm sure you've been in situations where it's a mixed audience and the Lord's prayer is recited they're calling everyone to recite the Lord's prayer but the Lord's prayer is only for those who call

[27:26] God father it is only for them and the truth is and this is the truth of scripture this is not my opinion this morning God is the creator of us all but he's not the father of us all this is the repeated witness of scripture he has created everyone in his image and his likeness and for that reason everyone has equal dignity and is to be respected as someone made in God's image but only those who are his children are the ones who call him father in John 1 12 and 13 we're told who the children of God are this is what it says but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God to become children of God if everyone already was a child of

[28:29] God there was no need to call them to be or give them the right to become children of God but to all who did receive him to all who received Christ who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God who are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but Jesus told the Pharisees in John 8 44 he said you are of your father the devil and so friends this is a very sobering truth coming from the lips of Jesus that all of us have a spiritual father beyond the earthly father by whom our mothers conceived us all of us have a spiritual father and

[29:29] God only becomes our spiritual father through the new birth through being begotten from above it's the only way that God becomes our spiritual father if you're not born again then sadly the devil is your spiritual father even if you are a good moral upright well behaved individual but the good news is that those who receive Jesus to those who believe in his name he gives the right to become children of God who are born of God not of blood not of the will of the flesh not of the will of man but of God and so this morning if you are present or if you're listening online watching online and you would acknowledge that God is not your father if you repent if you turn from sin if you believe the gospel that

[30:35] Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners that he lived the perfect life that none of us could live and then he died the death that we all deserve to die so that all who come to him will be forgiven of their sins if you believe that then you will experience this new birth you will be able to call God your father let me give one more example to make the point that Jesus did not address the Sermon on the Mount to everyone in Matthew 5 14 to 16 Jesus says you're the light of the world if Jesus is addressing everyone and telling everyone that they are the light of the world then they really have no purpose in the world because there would be no darkness in the world there would be no one to shine their light before light does not need light addressing these words to those who belong to him because those who belong to him are indeed the light of the world and they are to bear light to those who do not belong to him who are in darkness and they are to point them to the one who is light and that is the

[32:03] Lord himself so Jesus does not address the sermon of them unto everyone it is only to those who belong to Christ and in it he expresses to them who he has called them to be what he has called them to do the second question I want to ask and answer is this is the sermon on the mount relevant is it relevant are these words that Jesus uttered some 2000 years ago are they still relevant to us today I think a review of the sermon on the mount will show that it is indeed relevant to us the sermon on the mount addresses realities that we all face it addresses conflicts and disagreements that make us angry and sometimes we can be so angry that we verbally and physically assault one another and even when we don't verbally and physically assault one another we feel like doing it we think about doing it and the sermon addresses even our thoughts marital breakdown is at an all time high and in the sermon on the mount

[33:20] Jesus has things to say to us about lust about adultery about divorce and about remarriage the desire to retaliate when we have been wronged it's something that we often experience when people wrong us our natural inclination is to retaliate it's not to do what Jesus calls us to do which is to bless them and pray for them and to forgive them the sermon on the mount addresses how those who belong to Christ are to pray how they are to fast how they are to give how they are to handle money how they are to deal with anxiety how they are to guard against being judgmental how they are to recognize false prophets quite amazing that false prophets abound and so many people can't recognize them and other matters that

[34:28] Jesus addresses I think you'd agree with me the sermon on the mount brothers and sisters is as relevant today as the day that Jesus first uttered these words because we have not changed fundamentally we are the same people today as the audience who first heard this sermon from Jesus we're all broken fallen people we're all people who need to be challenged in the ways that Jesus challenges us calling us to live and be the people that he's called us to be the third and finally the third question is is this sermon practical is the sermon on the mount practical in other words can those who belong to

[35:38] Christ really do what this sermon calls us to do what Jesus calls us to do in the! Sermon on the! Mount can we really do it is it practical or is this really just theoretical and up on the top shelf of Christian living so high that we can never reach it can we really do things like turn the other cheek when someone slaps us or go the extra mile when we have been wrong can we really do good to those who use us and abuse us can we sincerely pray for those who persecute us or is this sermon just impractical filled with ideals that we just can never attain john start says it well in his commentary when he wrote the standards of the sermon on the mount neither readily attainable by every man nor totally unattainable by any man to put them beyond anybody's reach is to ignore the purpose of

[37:05] Christ sermon to put them within everybody's reach is to ignore the reality of man's sin it's a very very insightful comment for us to take in we must not say that it is that everyone can live out the standards of the Sermon on the mount because such a statement ignores sinfulness it ignores our sinfulness and we must not say that no one can live out the standards of the Sermon on the mount because if we do that we make Jesus someone who's just frustrating us calling us to do what we could never attain in any attain and John goes on and he says this they are attainable all right but only by those who have experienced the new birth which Jesus told Nicodemus was the indispensable condition of seeing and entering the kingdom so let me read that again these ideals in the

[38:18] Sermon on the Mount these standards in the Sermon on the Mount they are attainable all right but only by those who have experienced the new birth which Jesus told Nicodemus was the indispensable condition of seeing and entering God's kingdom so to answer the question is the Sermon on the Mount practical and realistic the answer is yes but we can't attain it on our own we can only attain it with God's help and that help starts with the new birth that help starts with regeneration of who we are that's what the Sermon that's what the new birth is the new birth is a regening of us in a spiritual sense a transforming of our hearts that only

[39:22] God can bring about and if we don't start at this point if we don't start by saying that the Sermon on the Mount is only attainable by those who have been born again with God's help friends we will fall flat on our face at our earliest attempt to seek to live out what we are called to in the Sermon on the Mount indeed the Sermon on the Mount is intended to cause us to run to God because if we're honest with ourselves we would say I can't do it when we experience some of these realities that Jesus lays out for us here we have to confess within and of ourselves we can't do it and the whole reason is to drive us to God to cry out to him as we sang this morning Lord I need you and he will help us by his grace to live out these ideals in the

[40:28] Sermon on the Mount but the Sermon on the Mount is also practical because of the way it is structured and I want us to see this because this will help us as we work our way through the Sermon on the Mount the Sermon on the Mount is structured in two parts the first part is Matthew chapter 5 verses 3 to 12 that's the first part a very short section of the sermon we call it the Beatitudes and this section lays out for us the character of those who follow Jesus it lays out the character of those who are citizens of the kingdom of God it lays out what should mark us the attitudes the convictions the heart disposition these Beatitudes that's the character of those who follow

[41:31] Christ so we'll begin starting next week looking at the Beatitudes the second part of the sermon is from Matthew 5 verse 13 through Matthew 7 verse 27 and so while the first part of the sermon on the mount deals with the character of those who follow Christ the second part talks about the conduct of those who follow Christ how they're supposed to live!

[42:02] God is moralized and universalized there are many people who grab a hold of this conduct things that we are called to do and they try to call everyone to do it without having the character to do it this character of the Beatitudes this only comes from the new birth this only comes because God transforms our hearts and lives and he reorders our affections and he reorders our convictions and then because of that change in character we're able to live in the way that he calls us to the conduct flows out of the character and again that character only comes through something supernatural that God does and that is to give us new birth so friends that's an overview of the

[43:08] Sermon on the Mount the Sermon on the Mount can't save us only Christ can save us but when we desire to live out the Sermon on the Mount and when we do live out the Sermon on the Mount even though we do it less than perfectly we give evidence to the fact that we belong to God it's quite an amazing thing when we think about the depravity of sin just the desire to want to please the Lord just the desire to want to follow what he has called us to be and do and giving some evidence of that in our lives less than perfect it's kind of like a little baby learning to walk and falling down but still moving forward that gives evidence that we've been converted that gives evidence that we belong to

[44:12] God because when we're in darkness God is not our father we have no desire to please him we have no desire to even attempt to please him I want to close by asking you a question what was your experience as those three chapters covering the Sermon on the Mount were read what was going through your mind how were you impacted as different parts of it landed on your heart I think D.A.

[44:57] Carson theologian Bible scholar I think he summarized very well what I believe was the effect on all of our hearts this morning here's what he says the more I read these three chapters Matthew 5 6 and 7 the more I am both drawn to them and shamed by them I believe that if you belong to Christ this morning you would have had some effect of both of these feelings on your heart drawn to them but also shamed by them because we realize that we fall short and perhaps some of these are even live issues for us perhaps you've been wronged and you're more aware of a desire to retaliate than to forgive and to pray for those who may have wronged you and if you belong to Christ you are drawn to say yes

[46:06] I really want to do that but you're also aware that is in my heart and it's a reminder that we need God's help but I pray that the shame that any of us would feel this morning is not the shame that would cause us to be dejected and to hang our heads down and to go into depression I pray instead it's a shame that will cause us to lift up our hearts and God would you help me to live out the words of the Sermon on the Mount the Bible tells us that scripture is sufficient and so we can rest assured that we have all that God knows that we need there's no aspect of our lives that is outside of the scope of scripture that we need scripture to speak to every aspect of our lives that scripture needs to speak to scripture does speak to and so much of it is included in the

[47:18] Sermon on the Mount and so I want to pray for us I pray that our experience as we engage the Sermon on the Mount over the next several months will be to cry out to God when we find this sermon challenging us drawing us to it but also shaming us because we fall so far short of what it is let me begin by praying for us this morning but father we thank you for these words of life these words from the lips of Jesus calling those who are your children children to be the people of God and to live as the people of God the Lord we confess this morning that though we are indeed drawn to these words because we have experienced a new birth we also

[48:20] Lord are aware that we fall so far short of so many of them so Lord we ask for your help this morning would you help us oh Lord would you help us not just this morning but over the course of this sermon series to truly sit at the feet of Jesus as we take in the words of the Sermon on the Mount we pray Lord that you would adjust us and change us as only you can I pray over the coming weeks that you will convict us convict us about the character that you've called us to have and convict us of the conduct which you called us to live out Father would you do that beginning this morning and over the coming months we ask in Jesus name!

[49:20] Amen!