[0:00] But it shows fold, so we'll try it. Are we good now? Okay, sorry about that. All right, so Charlie's going to repeat what I said to Dave.
[0:17] Yeah. Okay, so we looked at the Beatitudes, and then we also glanced at the influence of the believers in the world.
[0:32] And we looked at that we are salt and light. And that's a description of the church as well, as we are salt and light, creating thirst to the unbeliever, drawing them to God.
[0:53] So Jesus is describing that in his Sermon on the Mount. And then lastly, we looked at Jesus as the fulfillment of the law.
[1:08] And that's what we ended with, that he perfectly kept the law, established it. And because he was able to do that, his righteousness is sufficient for us.
[1:26] And as he went to the cross, keeping as a perfect Lamb of God, his righteousness is applied to all those who believe.
[1:39] All right, and then he goes on. So we have three chapters. We've only started in chapter 5 of the Sermon on the Mount. The next section is the rejection of the traditional interpretation of the law.
[1:54] So the Jewish interpretation, Jesus identifies, and then he corrects. And he always goes back to God's original intent.
[2:04] So we see traditional views, but what's God's heart? What did God intend?
[2:17] And it's always important that we know what did God want here. And not our traditional interpretation, but rather a biblical one.
[2:31] And if the two are the same, then praise the Lord. But we find often they're not. And we need to evaluate. So let's go through them quickly.
[2:43] There's six of them. Matthew 5, starting in 21, 21 to 26.
[3:04] This time we can get to start here. So say, do you want to read the first section? You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of judgment.
[3:24] But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council.
[3:37] But whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
[3:51] First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly. While you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
[4:08] Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. Okay, thank you. So we have the first one on murder, and he starts all six of these with, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of judgment.
[4:31] Taking directly out of the law, the Ten Commandments, you shall not murder. But what was God's intent here?
[4:43] What did he mean by that? And Jesus takes it one step further, and he reveals the heart of God. And when he brings out that, we are not to bear anger in our hearts toward one another.
[5:00] We are to deal with hatred. We are to deal with wrongs between us. And to harbor evil against another, but stop short of killing him, it's the same as murder.
[5:20] So Jesus is bringing about God's heart, his intent here. And so he's saying to the Pharisees, you come short.
[5:35] You're not doing the outright murder maybe, but in your hearts, you're killing people. And so that's, so he's informing them that, that your standard of righteousness won't cut it.
[5:54] You're not going to make it. Okay, and the second one, we're going to go through this quite fast. The second one is on adultery.
[6:06] Adultery. Matthew 5, 27 to 30. You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
[6:20] But I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out.
[6:32] And throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you.
[6:48] For it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish than for your whole body to go into hell. Okay, thank you. And so adultery, committing sexual immorality outside of marriage.
[7:09] And Jesus, so that's the law again, the Ten Commandments. But the core of the Ten Commandments, or of this commandment, is that we are not to commit adultery in our hearts.
[7:22] And then to, as a married person, or even as an unmarried, to walk around with lust is as adultery.
[7:38] The consequences are different if the act isn't done, but the sin is there. And so he's bringing about the heart of God again, revealing that.
[7:52] And we're to take it serious. He says the example of cutting off the hand and so on, or plucking out the eye, dealing with this issue.
[8:05] And sometimes when we talk about our speech being bad, we'll just cut out the tongue, right? That'll solve it. Yeah, there won't be any words coming out, but it won't solve the heart's bitterness, the root.
[8:22] And so in like manner, Christ is saying, we need to deal with the root, the heart. So if there is lust, then we need to deal with a heart problem, not the external.
[8:41] Does that make sense? Yeah, so that's, so again, often our traditions look at the externals, and we don't look inside.
[8:56] And as long as I'm getting away with it and nobody sees and so on, he's a nice person. But God looks at the heart. And so Jesus is now too, and he's exposing.
[9:10] The third one is on divorce. Verse 31 and 32. Furthermore, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.
[9:24] But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason, except sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced, commits adultery.
[9:38] Okay, again, we see God's intent here of marriage, that it's a man and a woman for life. And in the Jewish traditions, and if we go back to Deuteronomy, I think it's Deuteronomy 24, there a divorce certificate is allowed by Moses.
[10:02] It's interesting you read that. If the husband finds something detestable about his wife, his bride, he can give her a certificate of divorce and get rid of her, something that's not pleasing to him.
[10:20] And it's, the Jewish rabbis have played with this. And so some said, well, it was, if there's something wrong with her body or with intimacy, that was reason.
[10:42] Other rabbis wrote that if you find anything with her that's not pleasing to you, that's grounds. Get rid of her. And we'll find later in Matthew, is it 19, when he speaks on divorce again, they actually ask him and test him based on their background.
[11:05] And, but Jesus brings it back to God's heart. And he says, we're not to divorce. As believers, we are not.
[11:19] And he's very firm on this. So it's quite clear here. So he contrasts their teaching, their traditions, with God's original intent.
[11:34] And in this passage, the only out for marriage among God's people is for sexual immorality, according to Matthew 5.
[11:44] And he gives that clause there. So we'll talk more about that later on in the studies as we get to chapter 19.
[12:00] It's a little more in depth there. Okay, the next one is on oaths. Swearing, oaths. So 33 to 37.
[12:10] Again you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.
[12:34] Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be yes, yes, or no, no, and anything beyond this is of evil.
[12:48] Okay. Yeah, we talked about that in Sunday school recently and downstairs for those that were there. Swearing of oaths. And here, again, you have heard it that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord.
[13:12] And so the teaching is we shall not swear oaths. And the reference here is in our, it's not talking about a court of law where you give your word under oath, but it's talking about our everyday life.
[13:33] And so the Jewish traditions or culture was, they would often, like it says here, they would swear by heaven or by God's throne or by their hair or head or by the city of Jerusalem and as if that added weight to their speech.
[13:54] I swear by heaven I'm saying the truth here. And in their normal talk, one to another, they would do that. And Jesus says, let your yes be yes and your no be no.
[14:10] And so we have, we have a number of examples in Scripture. I'm not going to take the time to go to them, but Jesus swore under oath before Pilate in Matthew 26, 63.
[14:30] You can write those references down if you want. Matthew 26, 63. In Exodus 22 verses 10 and 11 in the Old Testament law, oaths were allowed under law or under before government when they came into court.
[14:54] Peter swore with an oath in Matthew 26, 69. And so, but the purpose here is our speech is supposed to be with integrity and to be thought through.
[15:16] And when I say yes, I mean yes. And when I say no, I mean no. And so he's he's calling them out on their looseness of their talk.
[15:32] And so that's I think it's a critical quality or characteristic to develop as we raise families, as we deal with one another, that people know our yes is yes and our no is no.
[15:52] Whether it's our children or our brothers and sisters or whoever, they can depend on us. And so in that case, yeah, yeah.
[16:08] Yeah. Yeah. I do not know the man. Right? And then the rooster crowed. Yeah, that's a negative example, but it was an example there.
[16:27] All right. The fifth one is on retaliation, paying back. Matthew 5, 38 to 42. But I say unto you, that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also.
[16:48] Is that the right one? Yeah. 39. Yeah. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy cloth, let him have thy cloth also.
[17:02] And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him thou would borrow, and turn not away.
[17:14] Ye have heard that... That was it there. Thanks. All right. So that's retaliating or paying back. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, Old Testament teaching.
[17:32] As God's family, do we have the right to pay back? What's God's intent there? Why did God allow it in the Old Testament?
[17:52] Any thoughts on that? Because we read Leviticus and so on, we will say that if someone punches someone and knocks at his eye, then it's eye for eye.
[18:10] Law versus love. But why did God allow that in the law? Was there no love? Okay.
[18:26] Okay. And so it was under that law, it was a sense of God's justice. Right?
[18:37] And so every sin, like you said, needed to be paid for. But under grace now, we don't, when somebody takes our eye, we don't turn back and take their eye, but we're rather to forgive one another is the principle here.
[18:58] And so it's the very, the very opposite of being selfish. It's being selfless.
[19:10] Giving up our right to always be right. one of the examples in Scripture here is if whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
[19:23] Under Roman law, the Roman soldiers were throughout Israel and neighboring countries in Rome's kingdom, and so it was very common and authorized by Roman law that a Roman soldier could stop any citizen and demand that he carry his load for a mile.
[19:51] And so that was legal. And so a Roman soldier had the right, no matter what you were doing, he could stop you, you're taking my load for the next mile. And Jesus says, if you get asked, instead of fighting and resisting, offer to carry it too.
[20:09] That's the Christian thing to do. selflessness is the illustration here.
[20:23] Instead of retaliating, we're being selfless, letting the love of God abound. You know, today we're so bound with time, if somebody asked me to carry his load for a mile, well, that's half an hour of my life, I don't have half an hour.
[20:46] And Jesus says, well, give an hour. Right? And I think in the church age today, one of the difficult, most difficult things to give is of our time.
[21:03] time. And we're so sped up that we should all be sitting around all day long with all the technology, but we're busier than ever.
[21:17] It's one thing that we don't seem to afford is time for one another. And so that's perhaps one way to look at this. Thank you.
[21:27] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[21:48] There's a, I'm going to just say this. The higher, there's a correlation, the higher our standard of living, the more difficult it seems to be to give our time.
[22:02] what's that? I think there's a, there's a relationship there.
[22:19] Okay, the last one on love. And Matthew 45, 43 to 48. So the last five verses there.
[22:30] you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbors and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and bless those who curse you.
[22:41] Do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. That you may be sons of your father 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.
[22:53] For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?
[23:04] Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect. Okay. How do we describe our father's love?
[23:19] Unconditional? What does the word agape mean? The God love? Sacrificial.
[23:33] It's probably in a single word that's probably as close as we'll get. A love that gives and gives is a sacrificial love. And if that's characteristic of how God loved us, we are to love one another that way.
[23:52] And so the Jews and especially the Pharisees, the leaders, they had a tendency to love those superficially, love those who could love them back.
[24:08] And it's like inviting or inviting those over for supper whom we're pretty sure they're going to invite me back. And I'm going to get it back, right?
[24:21] And I'll eat a little more there than they did at my house. And so that was very much of their culture.
[24:35] And here we're taught that we are to love those who need help, who can't love you back in the same way.
[24:49] And so he says even sinners love one another in their own way because they pay each other back. What goes around comes around, right?
[25:01] But we are to reflect the Father's love. So again, he's taking them out of their culture, tradition, and elevating it to God's level, the intent of the heart.
[25:17] All right. So how do you think the Jews that are listening to this Sermon on the Mount are feeling by now? They're all on the hillside, a little bit subdued.
[25:33] They must surely understand what he's saying because he's speaking directly to them and revealing in each one in the context, he's revealing their shortcomings in everyone.
[25:51] So since we're not Jews, he's speaking to us as well. And so we are to examine in our context, in our traditions, in our culture, where do we come short of God's standard?
[26:17] Okay, that's chapter 5. Chapter 6, rejection of the Pharisees' practices of the law.
[26:28] and we're going to look at their tithing, at their prayer life, at their fasting, and a few more, right through chapter 7.
[26:43] So the first one is Matthew 6, 1 to 4, and that's on giving. On giving. Watch out.
[27:00] Don't do your good deeds publicly and publicly to be admired by others, for you will lose a reward from your Father in heaven.
[27:14] When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do, blowing trumpets in the synagogue and streets to call attention to their acts of charity.
[27:34] I tell you the truth. They have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
[27:48] Verse 4 as well. Give your gift in private, and you and your Father who sees everything will reward you.
[28:04] Okay, thank you. So the first one here on giving, so he's addressing their practices of the law.
[28:22] And the first one in giving, and he's addressing the Pharisees here very directly. They gave publicly in ways that it was always seen.
[28:40] And reading up on some of the background, the Pharisees, when they would enter the temple, they would usually pay alms at the temple gate.
[28:55] And hence, that's where the beggars would accumulate because the practice or the habit of leaving a few coins there by the Pharisees.
[29:07] And so, but they were always doing it to be seen. And here, Jesus says, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, and vice versa, meaning give in secret or not, so that others notice.
[29:23] And so, in a sense, they were not giving. Rather, they were buying public favor, public approval.
[29:41] They weren't giving to God. They were giving. They were putting in coins to buy attention. Look how good I am. And that just falls short of worship.
[29:53] Does it not? And so, the principle is, we are to give to God, but in such a way that our reward will be in heaven, not from men.
[30:06] So, Jesus is rebuking their practice of giving. And the second one is on prayer, verses 5 through 15.
[30:23] And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.
[30:36] I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen.
[30:47] Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
[31:02] This, then, is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
[31:16] Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
[31:28] But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins. Okay, thank you. Is there anyone here tonight that prays too much?
[31:40] So Jesus is not knocking prayer, but He is addressing wrong kind of prayer and revealing what prayer is or what it's supposed to be.
[32:01] So again, the Pharisees were abusing it. And so prayer from a believer is intimacy with God.
[32:12] It's talking to God. Whether we're praying publicly from the pulpit or in a Bible study or in front of the class on behalf of the group or my own alone time with God each day or throughout the day.
[32:34] It's intimacy with God. And here, the religious leaders were praying publicly to be seen and heard on the street corners.
[32:47] Literally. They were standing on the streets and they would pray piously or self-righteously, look how good I am. And Jesus admonished them because their heart was far from God.
[33:05] And that's in essence the rebuke here with their prayer life. And so they were actually distorting to the common people what prayer is.
[33:16] I may have shared this with some of you before but when we were in Israel one of the last days and we were close to the Temple Mount or by the Wheeling Wall a priest walked up to me and he asked me can I pray over you?
[33:39] And I looked at him and I said sure you can pray a blessing on me but I'm not going to pay you any money. Oh. Then he walked away. He wasn't interested in praying over me.
[33:52] And so yeah. That attitude is exactly what Jesus is talking about. It's distorting the intent of prayer.
[34:06] And he goes on with a model prayer that is not a recipe for repetition but it exemplifies what components what components need to be in prayer.
[34:20] That that we worship our Father in heaven we acknowledge him thy will be done we're acknowledging God's work here on earth and that we're part of that and we're acknowledging our daily bread our dependence on him our forgiveness of sins all of that we're acknowledging in prayer and the Lord's prayer contains those components as an example to us and I just thought I'd take a moment and put on the whiteboard drag it out here sometimes we use the acronym ACTS for prayer and just the components in our prayer life and they're in the Lord's prayer as well some of you have been in my one of my classes that would probably know this but what does the A stand for?
[35:35] Any thoughts? Adoration I'll rewrite that word adoration what is another word for adoration?
[35:51] Praise yeah we're praising we're lifting up the Lord adoring adoring okay and for the C confessions acknowledgement right we're coming to God as we are this is who I am God I'm struggling with this and so on we're we're being honest with God okay and the T that's the easy one thankfulness yeah and so an attitude of thanksgiving to come before the Lord and there's always every day we have things that we can be thankful even when things seem to not be going so well we can there's always something we can thank God for and the S old King James word supplications what does that word mean
[37:09] I'll just say request so and often our prayer life the last one is the most common and evident in our prayer life but it's in this in this set it's the last one on the list so we should have a component of of of worshipping God of acknowledging bringing our troubles before him acknowledging what I struggle with thankful attitude in life and then also making requests God wants us to make requests he delights in that but he delights in all four so it's a balanced prayer life and so the Lord's prayer models that okay it's interesting the the the the Pharisees the leadership were doing vain repetitions what does the word vain mean useless empty yeah it's empty there's nothing in it it's it's pointless and repetitions means over and over and over again and so if we've learned to recite the
[38:42] Lord's prayer it becomes emptiness vanity if it's if there's nothing in it from the heart and so God wants us to communicate from the heart he knows us intimately and so he he wants us to to to pray in that light manner and so the Lord's prayer was given as a model of what needs to be in our prayer life pray like this he says it's interesting many many religious groups have vain repetitions many what been there done that yeah four times a day five times a day we bow towards Mecca or wherever and we and we recite the same thing yeah that you know if you think about that we're treating
[39:43] God like he's not very intelligent trying to appease him with a vain repetition if we stop and think about it we're saying God if this is what pleases you doesn't take a lot but he wants my heart fasting verses 16 to 18 moreover when we fast be not as the hypocrites of the sad countenance where they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily I say unto you they have their reward but thou when thou fastest anoint thine head wash and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast but unto thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee okay thank you so fasting in the context here was abstaining from food missing a meal or a series of meals and so the intent is to commune with
[41:03] God to sacrifice to putting putting your body needs on hold so that I am communing with God that's the intent and so it's between me and the Lord and again the Pharisees as in the other ones were doing it publicly announcing it making sure everybody could see they were fasting and Jesus says wash anoint your face and make sure people don't know and so when we're in public or we're mangling with people and we're fasting well we'd have to tell them right now I'm abstaining from food but then move on don't make a show out of it there are times when we need to just tell them but they were going out of their way again look how good
[42:10] I am and there was the Jews would often fast twice a week and miss especially the evening meal but they would make sure everybody knew so again fasting is not wrong it's good but we have to do it with the right intent of God's heart that's to connect with God okay our attitude towards wealth Matthew 6 19 to 24 do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal for where your treasure is there your heart will also be the eye is the lamp of the body so then if your eye is clear 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 that is in you is darkness how great is the darkness no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve
[43:33] God and well okay thank you all right now we can talk about money perhaps all of us at one time or another have desired wealth maybe maybe not if we be honest with ourselves the the the Jews would use the principle that whom the Lord blesses there will be wealth and they would go back to Deuteronomy and where it lists the blessings of being faithful to God and if you follow God and you're faithful to live for
[44:34] God he will bless you and so taking that out of context and beyond what God intended today we would have a prosperity gospel very much and so Jesus is identifying that here and their desire for money and he's bringing it in check and so recognizing that we are to first seek the kingdom of God and he will add what we need in the next section of scripture there so he ends with no one can serve two masters it's either the Lord or money and we are to put
[45:39] God first so even in Deuteronomy the intent of God was that they were to worship him they were to live in obedience to him and he would look after them that was the intent and here God owes me wealth because I'm a Jew or because I'm a Christian today God owes me wealth and that is the motive is wrong and it's selfish it's actually fleshly very much so okay wealth is always temporary and the Lord is always eternal and his rewards so he corrected them on that and then their lack of faith in verses 25 to 34 for this reason
[46:39] I say to you do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body as to what you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing look at the birds of the air that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly father feeds them are you not much more worthy than they and who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life and why are you worried about clothing observe how the lilies of the field grow they do not toil nor do they spin yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these but if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace will he not much more clothe you you of little faith do not worry then saying what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing for the
[47:41] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all right thank you is god able to take care of us do we believe that okay according to first timothy six what are our basic needs he says with food and clothing you shall be content and so much of our life today is so much beyond our basic needs that we have categorized as needs and they're actually not needs but we've made them needs or we think they're needs and so that's part of our cultural mindset and then we sometimes question
[49:09] God you're not meeting my needs you know years ago I'm not sure it was 20 years ago or something the poverty line in Canada was 40 remember 44 or 48 thousand dollars if a family income was under that was considered poverty yeah like at that time my wage was under that and I thought we were living as kings here the government defined that as the poverty line and so that shows the thinking patterns but they're not scriptural and he probably only had a credit card the last part of his life yeah yeah
[50:16] Jesus makes a point here of of illustrating our need to depend on him to trust him and he illustrates you know the birds and the animals and the flowers how God has made them and are we not of so much more value if he takes care of his other creation will he not surely take care of us and because of that he says seek first the kingdom of God and then those things will be added to you your needs so the the the unbeliever lives in the natural and the natural is all about me the physical the believer has we live in a physical body and in a physical world but we're to be spiritually minded and therefore the spiritual is to come first and the physical will follow and we're always
[51:36] Jesus in his teachings always lifts us into the spiritual out of the physical into the spiritual realm you know a few lessons back Nicodemus you know how can I be born again can I climb back into my mother he was in the physical and Jesus elevated him to the spiritual or tried to draw him there always always and so here too Jesus is saying you're dwelling you're focusing inward on the physical you need to think spiritually and so that is the admonishment here to them so it has to do with their lack of faith in God's ability to look after us and when we lack faith then we worry then we worry how is it going to happen and all of us have worried from time to time
[52:44] I don't think there would be any exceptions here alright so that's chapter 6 so the same pattern continues a bit into chapter 7 the next one is about judging so he's admonishing their practice of living out the law the God's righteousness and on judging verses 1 to 6 in chapter 7 do not judge so that you will not be judged for in the way that you judge you will be judged and by your standard of measure it will be measured to you why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye but do not notice the log that is in your own eye or how can you say to your brother let me take the speck out of your eye and behold the log is in your own eye you hypocrite first take speck out of your brother's eye do not give what is holy to the dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine or they will trample them under their feet and tear and turn you tear into pieces why is it so much fun to judge self elevation what is this talking about that we are to judge not being critical okay so so just to start let's be clear
[54:31] Jesus is not talking about sin identifying sin in each other and dealing with that but he is he is referring to judging each other for the wrong motives or maybe I don't fully understand what you're doing and I will judge we are not to do that it's wrong if it's not an outright sin that is being committed I have no right to judge what you are doing I do not know how the Lord is leading you in that judgment is always related to self righteousness is it not always and even as Christians there's times when we catch ourselves judging and that means there's an element of self righteousness here
[55:40] I think the word is preaching to us tonight yeah so when we point to someone and say they're too heavenly minded what is usually meant is their talk is so pious or spiritual that it's fake that's usually what the intent is when we say that and it's not real so then you're no earthly good your faith is not real
[56:59] Jesus says here if we judge one another we will be judged with that same measure and then he and he looks at the speck and the plank that word picture now if we take a speck of sawdust and a plank is made up of how many specks particles of sawdust you know they're the same material and we're pointing out a speck in somebody's eye a sin or something maybe not a sin but something that we don't understand and there's a big lump of that in my eye is what he's saying I'm blinded I can't even see clearly and so therefore we are to refrain from judging when we don't understand but rather examine my own motive here this is what he is saying here so remove the plank from your own eye so you can see clearly to take care of the speck in your brother's eye so if there is something questionable word pictures yeah that we can understand right and grasp the contrast verse six do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces and in their day dogs and pigs were unclean and looked down on trampled on and and so so what what
[59:20] Jesus is saying is we're presenting God's word or the treasures of his word to those who are not ready to receive it or in other words the Pharisees here is like casting a pearl before the swine so is there a time that we do not share and and we will see Jesus turning away from them a bit future here and focusing on on those who are accepting who are obeying from the faith and so he will actually practice this so that's the the the passage on judging and by the way non-believers and we often run into this and hear this when they feel judged by the church what does it do to them drives them away why uncomfortable because we're saying
[60:54] I'm a Pharisee I'm I've got it made and you're down here in the mud and so when when a non-believer as they are in their sin however they look come with with some openness to hear and and and we judge them by our actions or words we drive them away and we're saying you're not good enough so so so as believers we need to be so careful that we don't do that whether it's at work or in the communities or even on Sunday mornings when people come through the doors as strangers to not judge their appearance but rather to treat them as an equal in
[61:57] God's creation to show them respect they may not be in the faith or often are not but they're still made in God's image and when we judge we're saying they're less is that true I think it's worthy for us to take note of that I'm not saying that it's a problem a significant problem but just for us all individually as we we mingle with people alright that's on judging alright and then we go to the next section instruction to those who would enter the kingdom so now he has identified what they're doing wrong their practices are not biblical and now he instructs turns in
[63:04] Matthew 7 the rest of the chapter this is how to do it right and again we're in prayer a little section of prayer verses 7 through 11 so where are we at with the mic there you go ask and it shall be given you seek and you shall find knock and it shall be open unto you for everyone that asks receives and he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened for what man is there of you whom if a son asks bread will give him a stone or if he asks a fish will he give him a serpent if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask okay what is Jesus teaching here on prayer consistency consistency being persistent keep keep on praying both of those words what picture do you get here of the father and his giving or answering prayer he delights in giving yeah and and and and we have we have such an earthly picture as most of us here are parents whether we're parents or not or but but it's there's joy in giving and meeting needs of people around us especially of our children right and and how much more does the father delight in giving us what we need and again maybe we can define or we could think that through what does that mean or what are our needs how do we define that right brings brings out he brings out physical needs right and as far as food and so on so forth again 1st john 5 verses i think it's 13 and 14 14 15 they speak of we are to ask in his will so it's a qualification that as believers we're in sync we're in tune with god and we're asking accordingly.
[66:05] So that when Elijah prayed to the Father and asked God to stop the rain for three and a half years, he did not do that out of the blue. He was in sync with God, tuned in in the Spirit.
[66:21] And so we are to walk in intimacy with the Father and ask accordingly. And then he delights in giving.
[66:34] And that's the picture we have here. Okay, so that's instruction to the believer. Our relationship with the Father is that he loves to provide for us.
[66:50] Okay, the next section, true righteousness. Verse 12. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets.
[67:09] Okay. What's the principle here? What do we call this rule? The golden rule. The golden rule. Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them.
[67:27] This is the law and the prophets. So the Old Testament teaching is summed up in that. It's saying that as we do unto others, as we would want them to do unto us, we would follow God's will.
[67:41] Because we do not desire evil for ourselves. And so we would never do evil to others. So true righteousness, the golden rule.
[67:53] The next one, the way of access into the kingdom. Verses 13 and 14. Enter by the narrow gate, for which is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
[68:16] Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. All right.
[68:29] So we have two roads and two gates presented here, wide and narrow. And the wide one is the easy road.
[68:46] It's the natural road. And the narrow one is, he says, it's difficult is the way, and it leads to life. And there are few that find it.
[68:59] And so out of this comes erroneous teaching, wrong teaching, and that as a believer, we have to suffer and go through a hard, difficult life to enter the kingdom of God.
[69:17] Some of you are nodding your heads. That's not what Jesus is saying. But he is saying that it is difficult, as in Jesus suffered, at the hands of the world, and as we follow him on the narrow path, we will face adversity, opposition.
[69:42] The world will hate us. And it's not going to be an easy road in that aspect, but God has promised to always keep us in peace, in joy.
[69:57] He's promised to never leave us nor forsake us. And so in that aspect, it is not difficult, for the Lord is with us.
[70:08] But from the world point of view, that's a hard road. It's a hard road. I had in my notes here, Jesus was presenting the Jews here with two options.
[70:36] The broad way represented the Pharisees' way of righteousness. righteousness. Keeping their rules, and your God are made. And the narrow way represented Jesus' righteousness.
[70:53] And a recognition that our righteousness is not enough, but we have to turn to Christ. That's the narrow way. And so he was facing the Jews here on this mountainside again with that.
[71:10] Very bluntly. You're going to follow your leaders? Or are you going to follow God's Son? That's basically what he's telling them. We're asking them.
[71:22] And there will have been those that caught on to his meanings. As they listened to him. Any thoughts?
[71:33] Any questions there? Okay.
[71:47] Then the next section is a warning to false teachers. Verses 15 to 23. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
[72:01] You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
[72:14] A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.
[72:27] Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?
[72:47] And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So what does Jesus proceed to do here?
[73:01] Whom is he calling false prophets or wolves in sheep's clothing? The Pharisees. And they're right there, listening.
[73:15] And he is calling them out for who they are. And so he says, so he's teaching, he's instructing those that will follow him in righteousness.
[73:29] Beware, beware of your leaders before they're misleading you. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, inwardly, they are ravenous wolves.
[73:47] And ravenous means they are aggressive and hungry. They're going to tear you apart. They're out to devour you. But they come in sheep's clothing as if they're God's people.
[74:03] And beware of them. So he's now teaching individual Jews in the crowd, those who are turning to Christ with their heart.
[74:15] And he's saying, be careful. And so I think the whole, as Jesus has been teaching thus far, the common people have been so programmed to obey and submit to their leadership.
[74:34] And Jesus is defying that. He's challenging them to think for themselves. And then he says, you will know them by their fruits. He's talking about these wolves in sheep's clothing.
[74:49] You will know them by their fruits. And do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Or does a good tree bear good fruit?
[75:01] Or even so, a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bad fruit? And vice versa. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
[75:14] Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. So look at their lives and you will know whether they're sheep or wolves by their fruit, by their life, by their works.
[75:32] Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say, Lord, Lord, and so on.
[75:45] You know, Jesus is saying, lip service is not going to cut it. Lip service is not going to do it. There has to be evidence of fruit that follows, that shows that there's been a heart change.
[76:08] And we have in James chapter 2 the debate on faith and works or the relationship of faith and works. And James makes it clear that that faith without works is empty.
[76:25] It's dead. if I say I have faith but there's no fruit, who can believe that? It's empty, it's vanity, but he says, I will show you my faith by my works.
[76:45] And so it's the fruit that comes out of a changed life. And that's what Jesus is challenging the people to examine, even the Pharisees.
[76:58] And so he's asking for a rebellion here, is he not? For them to stand up against their leadership and say, you guys are wrong. I'm going to follow Christ.
[77:08] All right. So, again, summarizing, lip profession is not enough.
[77:20] Genuine faith is the only way. And then he ends the Sermon on the Mount with an illustration, a parable of the two foundations in verses 24 to 29.
[77:38] Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
[77:58] But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell.
[78:14] And great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught as one having authority and not as the scribes.
[78:27] Okay. So to sum up the entire Sermon on the Mount, and it's been pretty direct and I would say controversial to them as he's challenged them all the way, exposing them.
[78:45] And then, now he's summing up and he's saying that you've heard my teaching, you've heard my words, and now those that are going to obey and do, as I've said, are like those who built their house upon the rock.
[79:04] And when the storms come, it will stand. And the storms, it's not only talking about the storms of life, it's talking about judgment.
[79:17] We're going to stand before God in judgment as approved, as solid. and... Absolutely. So, he's trying to bring them into obedience to accept him as the Messiah, as God's Son.
[79:42] And if we go back, you know, from the start of this course or from his ministry, he has done miracle after miracle, teaching after teaching, all of it proving that I am the Messiah.
[79:58] Each one individually was proof. And yet, fear of leadership, a lazy mentality to think, a refusal to put my tradition and culture aside to accept truth, all these things are keeping them from acknowledging the obvious.
[80:23] And then, the second part of the parable, and those who hear these sayings of mine and do not do them are like those who build their house on the sand.
[80:36] And when the storm comes, crash. And ultimately, it is saying, if you're building on works, on the Pharisees' works, when you come before God in judgment, you will fall.
[80:51] you're done. And so, he's very blatantly clear here. You've got two choices.
[81:03] You can follow the Pharisees, you can follow me. And that's, Jesus cannot get any more direct than he is here.
[81:17] He has come to his own, to the Jewish nation. He is a Jew. He's come to a self-righteous nation that's developed out of the law wrongly in error, but they've become self-righteous.
[81:37] We are children of God because I am the bloodlines of Abraham. And I do not need you, Jesus. That's what they're saying.
[81:50] And Jesus says, Abraham lived by faith, not by bloodlines. There's a lot of application to our life today.
[82:03] Most of us here have Mennonite backgrounds or know and we have strong ties to this. Very strong. It's amazing.
[82:18] And many, many cultures would identify very closely to this. And that's 8.30. We're done with the Sermon on the Mount.
[82:29] Any thoughts or questions before we close here tonight? I know for myself to prepare and work through this, to realize reading the Sermon on the Mount, the sections of it.
[82:59] What is Jesus doing in the beginning, in the middle sections, and now at the end? And to read with that clarity helps us to understand what he is teaching, to understand it more clearly and better.
[83:17] I find, for me, it's been very, very helpful and I trust that our understanding will increase as well as we go through this. So as you read your Bible, future as well.
[83:34] All right, we'll sum up with that. Thank you again for being here. And this time we didn't even go overtime. Bonus. Thank you.