WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.820 If you have your Bibles, I wanna invite you to 00:00:01.820 --> 00:00:05.099 open them up to Matthew chapter five. Matthew 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:08.599 chapter five as we finish out the closing of 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:12.519 this chapter and this section of the greatest 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:16.480 sermon ever. to be told. Before we jump into 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.859 that I want to kind of illustrate kind of where 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.399 we're in the middle of as far as the Sermon on 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:24.420 the Mount goes and what Jesus is trying to do 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:28.140 for his disciples and of course by proxy all 00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:31.940 those who are listening. He's trying to draw 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:36.210 out the illustration of the difference between 00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:39.570 the semblance and reality. What was actually 00:00:39.570 --> 00:00:43.850 happening in the days of the Pharisees and their 00:00:43.850 --> 00:00:47.049 teaching of the law and what the actual law was 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:49.149 trying to get to as far as what the heart of 00:00:49.149 --> 00:00:51.810 the matter was. And I came across these here 00:00:51.810 --> 00:00:55.310 recently. They're not new by any stretch of the 00:00:55.310 --> 00:00:59.049 imagination, but I enjoy doing them. I thought 00:00:59.049 --> 00:01:01.210 it would be a lot of fun for us and for the kids 00:01:01.210 --> 00:01:03.729 and that to get started with. And so let's do 00:01:03.729 --> 00:01:06.069 a little bit of quiz. Okay, I'm going to show 00:01:06.069 --> 00:01:10.129 you by way of color and blocks an illustration, 00:01:10.489 --> 00:01:13.390 a semblance of a character, and then I want you 00:01:13.390 --> 00:01:15.730 to guess what the character is. Okay, so you 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:17.650 can just shout out the answer and they'll go 00:01:17.650 --> 00:01:20.310 from a little bit easy to a little bit more difficult 00:01:20.310 --> 00:01:22.170 or a little bit more specific. All right, so 00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:24.629 let's throw up the first one here. Give you an 00:01:24.629 --> 00:01:28.209 idea. Any guesses as to what character this might 00:01:28.209 --> 00:01:32.290 be? Yeah, very good. Goofy. Very good. So, you 00:01:32.290 --> 00:01:35.519 see how that works? It's a character and it's 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.260 the semblance of it in color, okay? So that's 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:40.099 the first one, all right? Let's go to the next 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:43.959 one, all right? Very good, I heard it over here. 00:01:44.019 --> 00:01:46.359 Winnie the Pooh, very good. They're not all Disney, 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:51.060 by the way. All right, the next one. Wow, that 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:53.480 was pretty quick. Yeah, good job, Matt. The Hulk, 00:01:53.659 --> 00:01:55.420 very good. Incredible Hulk. You see that? See 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:57.640 the color there? All right, we're getting a little 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.459 bit more difficult now. Very good. Once you see 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:02.939 it, you eventually see it. You start seeing them 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:05.219 a lot quicker, right? That's Sonic the Hedgehog. 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:06.819 All right, this next one's a little bit more 00:02:06.819 --> 00:02:12.340 specific. Very good, yeah. Mads, you're on it 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:14.400 tonight, man. You're on it tonight. This is from 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:16.900 an anime, Monkey D. Luffy. I think that was that 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:19.199 the last one or is there one more? Is there one 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:21.539 more? Okay, that was the last one. All right. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.719 You can throw up the next slide, if you will. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.379 So that's kind of the idea, right? There's semblance. 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:28.240 It's something that looks kind of like it. I 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.580 saw some people shaking their heads like, no, 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:31.219 it doesn't look anything like the character, 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:33.860 right? And that was kind of what was going on 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:38.759 in this time with this concerning the Pharisees, 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:41.080 the lawyers and their teaching of the law of 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:44.120 God. They had a semblance of what the teaching 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.460 of the law of God or what their interpretation 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.599 of what that might be. But Jesus is trying to 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:53.949 illustrate with them and he's using a interesting 00:02:53.949 --> 00:02:56.530 combination of sayings here. We're halfway through 00:02:56.530 --> 00:02:59.629 the middle of it. Last week we began it, but 00:02:59.629 --> 00:03:02.349 he uses this little couplet to kind of draw to 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:07.310 mind the Old Testament teaching and then his 00:03:07.310 --> 00:03:10.270 interpretation of it or his fulfillment of that 00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:12.990 law. And so he uses this little couplet, these 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:15.349 words, and you can see them throughout chapter 00:03:15.349 --> 00:03:20.819 five. He says, you've heard it said, He has actually 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:23.080 six different points where he actually does this. 00:03:23.379 --> 00:03:25.599 We've looked at the first three last week and 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:28.159 we'll finish up this at the end of Matthew chapter 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.400 five. But Jesus is kind of making this stark 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:34.439 contrast between what He commands and what the 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:37.419 law actually commanded and what existed in the 00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:41.550 traditional form of Judaism at that point. And 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:45.889 in reality, he was sort of criticizing or attacking 00:03:45.889 --> 00:03:51.210 the corrupt Judaism system of the day. The system 00:03:51.210 --> 00:03:54.370 that had largely not ignored the Old Testament 00:03:54.370 --> 00:03:58.669 text, they were very literal of using the Old 00:03:58.669 --> 00:04:02.069 Testament text. However, they had taken the Old 00:04:02.069 --> 00:04:05.830 Testament and then added to it their own belief 00:04:05.830 --> 00:04:08.710 system, kind of built upon it. And the problem 00:04:08.710 --> 00:04:11.129 with it is that their building of it was very 00:04:11.129 --> 00:04:15.379 superficial. It was one dimensional. And the 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:18.420 religion of their day had sort of flattened the 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:22.060 law of God into this very superficial, all on 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:26.740 the outside version of what God's law was actually 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:30.550 commanded. And God's law wasn't just a one -dimensional 00:04:30.550 --> 00:04:34.129 thing, but they had squished it down to justify 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:38.310 their ungodly behavior, to justify hate, to justify 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:42.389 lust, to justify divorce. But holiness is not 00:04:42.389 --> 00:04:45.069 a flatted one -dimensional thing, it is a three 00:04:45.069 --> 00:04:48.189 -dimensional thing. The heart of the issue is 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:51.769 what concerned our Lord. And the integrity of 00:04:51.769 --> 00:04:55.769 the person in his kingdom was paramount for what 00:04:55.769 --> 00:04:59.009 he was trying to teach his... disciples in what 00:04:59.009 --> 00:05:03.389 true holiness, true integrity, true kingdom living 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:06.250 was to look like. And that's what I want us to 00:05:06.250 --> 00:05:08.750 kind of focus on tonight. And that's the reality 00:05:08.750 --> 00:05:11.649 that I believe that if we are going to be believers, 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:15.050 followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:20.569 exhibit integrity in our relationships. by displaying 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:23.709 three traits that Jesus is going to draw out 00:05:23.709 --> 00:05:26.689 through his couplet teaching tonight. All right? 00:05:26.850 --> 00:05:29.029 So let's look into the word of God. We'll start 00:05:29.029 --> 00:05:31.269 off with a word of prayer, and then we'll jump 00:05:31.269 --> 00:05:34.290 into Matthew chapter five, starting in verse 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:36.910 33. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we 00:05:36.910 --> 00:05:39.370 thank you for the word. We thank you for the 00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:43.629 truth that is revealed to us, Lord, and As we 00:05:43.629 --> 00:05:47.290 consider your very words, Lord, we pray that 00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:50.829 you would illuminate our hearts to know that 00:05:50.829 --> 00:05:54.649 we ought to obey what you teach. Father, may 00:05:54.649 --> 00:05:57.949 it change the way that we not just think, but 00:05:57.949 --> 00:06:01.389 the way that we act so that we might be the sons 00:06:01.389 --> 00:06:04.189 of God. Father, I pray that you would help us 00:06:04.189 --> 00:06:07.089 to understand this passage this evening and help 00:06:07.089 --> 00:06:10.110 us to live it out. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:06:10.729 --> 00:06:12.790 So we're going to look at three traits tonight. 00:06:13.029 --> 00:06:14.329 If you're taking notes, I'd encourage you to 00:06:14.329 --> 00:06:17.410 do so. The first one we'll be finding in the 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:19.949 first few verses here of Matthew chapter five, 00:06:20.189 --> 00:06:22.689 beginning in verse 33. And that's, if you're 00:06:22.689 --> 00:06:26.250 taking notes, the first trait of truthful speech. 00:06:28.340 --> 00:06:31.459 Let's pick up in reading in verse 33, Matthew 00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:55.379 chapter 5. It says this, again, Neither shalt 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:57.959 thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:02.800 make one hair white or black. But let your communication 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.300 be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:13.540 than these cometh of evil." Now as we continue 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:16.420 through Jesus' teaching here, he's already covered 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:20.959 such topics as anger, such topics as lust and 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.680 such topics as divorce. And he's continuing through 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:27.899 his teaching here, speaking specifically about 00:07:27.899 --> 00:07:32.360 integrity in our speech. Jesus continues to re 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:38.439 -examine and then expedite his teaching to the 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:42.899 people of the Old Testament law. He's expositing 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:46.740 for them what the heart of the law was supposed 00:07:46.740 --> 00:07:49.769 to be. Jesus references here the Old Testament 00:07:49.769 --> 00:07:52.629 law and then also the traditions of the Pharisees 00:07:52.629 --> 00:07:55.550 and the lawyers that were being taught in his 00:07:55.550 --> 00:07:58.790 day. And he's trying to help them understand 00:07:58.790 --> 00:08:01.610 what the intention of the law of Moses was supposed 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:04.569 to bring about. He first points here in Matthew 00:08:04.569 --> 00:08:09.149 chapter 5, 33 through 37, the idea of oath squaring 00:08:09.149 --> 00:08:13.329 or taking oaths. This was mentioned several times 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:16.430 in the Old Testament law. once in Numbers, once 00:08:16.430 --> 00:08:19.569 in Leviticus, and another time in Deuteronomy. 00:08:20.089 --> 00:08:22.709 Deuteronomy chapter 23 -21 says it this way, 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.470 when thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, 00:08:25.550 --> 00:08:28.250 thou shalt not slack to pay it, for the Lord 00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:30.970 thy God were surely required of thee, and it 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:34.690 would be sin in thee. The law of Moses had a 00:08:34.690 --> 00:08:37.559 certain prescription for what it looked like 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:41.519 in taking or making oaths. In each case, these 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.200 oaths were to bind the person who gave their 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:49.620 word to their cause on the level of divine retribution 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:53.220 should they be found lying. These oaths in each 00:08:53.220 --> 00:08:57.120 case were optional and not required by the Lord. 00:08:57.220 --> 00:09:00.500 That was an important stipulation of these oaths. 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:04.000 I don't believe that Jesus is teaching that the 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.039 Old Testament law somehow was written wrong and 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:08.980 so he's going to come fix it. That's not what 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:11.720 he's trying to do. Remember what it said just 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.340 a few verses before in Matthew chapter 5 verse 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:17.179 17. He says, think not that I've come to destroy 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:21.039 the law or the prophets. I'm come not to destroy 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:23.059 but to fulfill. And then from that point on, 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:25.659 he begins to say, you've heard it said, but I 00:09:25.659 --> 00:09:28.789 say unto you. Jesus wasn't trying to correct 00:09:28.789 --> 00:09:31.009 the Old Testament, he was trying to bring it 00:09:31.009 --> 00:09:33.809 to fulfillment. That word fulfill literally means 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:37.549 to come full circle, to bring it to completion, 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:41.529 to help them understand, as Pastor Miles so eloquently 00:09:41.529 --> 00:09:44.929 put it last week, to understand the heart of 00:09:44.929 --> 00:09:48.090 the matter. Jesus is teaching them here, in effect, 00:09:48.289 --> 00:09:51.029 the intention of what the law was meant to have 00:09:51.029 --> 00:09:56.639 on mankind. When we're talking about the giving 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:00.269 of these O's. What we have to understand is that 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:02.730 the oath taking of the Old Testament time and 00:10:02.730 --> 00:10:05.370 even up to this time there was an understood 00:10:05.370 --> 00:10:08.230 realization that when you took an oath you were 00:10:08.230 --> 00:10:11.470 swearing by the name of the Lord and in fact 00:10:11.470 --> 00:10:13.730 it says that the punishment for breaking this 00:10:13.730 --> 00:10:17.330 oath was the same as profaning the name of God 00:10:17.330 --> 00:10:20.809 that when you broke your oath there was to be 00:10:20.809 --> 00:10:25.250 divine consequence for misusing the name of God 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:28.419 So these interpreting the law, those interpreting 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:31.600 the law had come up with clever ways to kind 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.840 of circumvent this assumption. And what they 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:38.159 decided to do, Jesus points out in criticism 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.379 here in Matthew chapter five. And again, he'll 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:44.799 do it in Matthew 23, only a little bit more specific 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.840 when he's face to face rebukes the Pharisees 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:51.679 for their misuse of oaths. He says in verse 34, 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:56.009 swear not by heaven. for it is God's throne. 00:10:56.850 --> 00:11:01.029 He says in verse 35, not by earth or by Jerusalem, 00:11:01.149 --> 00:11:05.840 in verse 36, not by your head. There's some assumption 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.799 that these were things that the lawyers and the 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:13.220 Pharisees had found to use in Proxy or instead 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:15.659 of the Lord's name So instead of saying I swear 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:18.340 by the name of the Lord that such and such is 00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:22.460 the case They would say by my head or by Jerusalem 00:11:22.460 --> 00:11:27.220 or by the by the heavens or by the earth And 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:29.960 so Jesus says I know that you think you're getting 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.690 around what I was trying to mean by the law But 00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:36.149 I'm going to tell you that you're not getting 00:11:36.149 --> 00:11:39.250 around it at all." And see here, he connects 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:43.129 each of those back to God. He says, don't swear 00:11:43.129 --> 00:11:46.649 by heaven because it's God's throne. That's God's 00:11:46.649 --> 00:11:49.980 ruling place. Don't swear by earth because it's 00:11:49.980 --> 00:11:53.100 God's footstool. It is his creation and he has 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:57.019 control, sovereign control over it. Don't swear 00:11:57.019 --> 00:11:59.759 by Jerusalem. It's the city of the king. If you'll 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:02.899 notice in my translation, it has a capital K 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:07.480 there. Don't swear by your head, he says. You 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:09.419 think you might get around it by doing that? 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:12.039 No, no, no, no, no. He says you can't even change 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:16.659 one hair, white or black. Speaking to God's creative 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:19.419 control, the capacity that you don't have, the 00:12:19.419 --> 00:12:22.460 choice, what color hair you were born with, that's 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:25.940 all under God's sovereign creative control. As 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:28.779 David said, I am fearfully, wonderfully made. 00:12:29.539 --> 00:12:33.059 God is the one who knits us together in our mother's 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:37.659 womb. Heaven, earth, Jerusalem, even your head 00:12:37.659 --> 00:12:41.919 belongs to the Lord. And so Jesus here is speaking 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.379 to the heart of the law, that when we speak as 00:12:45.379 --> 00:12:48.659 citizens of God's kingdom, we have to exhibit 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:52.100 the trait of truthful speech. So he lays it out 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:55.779 to them very clearly in verse 37. When you communicate, 00:12:56.419 --> 00:13:00.820 let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay. Let 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:05.799 your yeses be yes, and your noes be no. Jesus's 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:08.059 prohibition of oath -taking here is setting the 00:13:08.059 --> 00:13:11.360 tone for what it means to live and exist in God's 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:16.139 kingdom. However, like divorce, there is the 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:18.399 sad understanding of the human condition and 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.100 therefore the reason why the law of oath -taking 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:27.580 existed in the first place. God knew that we 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:30.639 would fail. God knew that there would be a need 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:35.379 for such things. And so the law existed. to help 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:40.259 give reason for how they were to use them. Jesus, 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.860 once again, I'm saying, isn't teaching His disciples 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:46.500 that they ought never take an oath. Let me give 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:48.899 you maybe a more modern example. I don't believe 00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:52.220 that Jesus is saying that you can't sign a note 00:13:52.220 --> 00:13:55.139 of promise when you purchase your house, right? 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.320 You're making an oath that you're going to be 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.950 making that payment. If that was the case, we'd 00:13:59.950 --> 00:14:03.090 all fall short of Jesus' teaching. Those of you 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:06.009 who have purchased a home and you didn't pay 00:14:06.009 --> 00:14:09.210 100 % cash for it, right? I don't think that 00:14:09.210 --> 00:14:11.070 Jesus is teaching that when you go to court, 00:14:11.110 --> 00:14:12.730 right? And you place your hand on your Bible 00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:15.090 and you raise your hand and you make an oath 00:14:15.090 --> 00:14:16.590 that you're going to be telling the truth, the 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:18.990 whole truth and nothing but the truth. God is 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:22.309 not saying that you shouldn't do that. Rather 00:14:22.309 --> 00:14:24.889 I believe he is bringing into fulfillment the 00:14:24.889 --> 00:14:27.809 meaning of why such thing exists in the first 00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:30.889 place Why did God set up a rule in the first 00:14:30.889 --> 00:14:35.169 place? It's because he wanted people that represented 00:14:35.169 --> 00:14:39.409 him to have integrity in their words He wants 00:14:39.409 --> 00:14:42.870 us to have to be known as people who when we 00:14:42.870 --> 00:14:47.429 say yes, we mean yes When we say no, we mean 00:14:47.429 --> 00:14:53.019 no That we don't find ways to get around such 00:14:53.019 --> 00:14:56.940 integrity in our words. We ought to be known 00:14:56.940 --> 00:15:00.179 as people. The people of God ought to be known 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:05.960 as people who keep their word. There's an illustration 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:08.179 I'd like to share with you. Sir Shackleton, he 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:11.500 was known in the history books as one of the 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:15.379 first person to cross the Antarctic. And when 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:20.820 he went by boat, he took 28 brave people on his 00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:24.320 crew, and he made them a promise. His promise 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:28.379 was, if you come with me, I will bring you home. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.259 That was his promise. And when his ship, the 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:34.379 Endurance, became trapped and eventually crushed 00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:38.899 by pack ice, Shackleton faced an impossible situation. 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:42.539 He knew that he wanted to keep his word above 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:46.860 all things, to bring all 28 men home back to 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:49.870 their families. The crew spent months camping 00:15:49.870 --> 00:15:53.350 on ice floes. Shackleton made critical decisions 00:15:53.350 --> 00:15:56.549 all along the way, always keeping his promise 00:15:56.549 --> 00:15:59.590 in his mind. In his journals, he writes that 00:15:59.590 --> 00:16:02.769 they finally reached a desolate island named 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:06.330 Elephant Island where he left 22 men of the 28 00:16:06.330 --> 00:16:10.850 behind and took the rest five volunteers on an 00:16:10.850 --> 00:16:15.879 800 mile journey in a 22 foot lifeboat. across 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:20.480 the rest of the Antarctic area. Nearly two years, 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:24.100 he led his men across those ice flows, eating 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:28.919 seal meat, enduring temperatures down to minus 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:33.169 40. Having... Despite every justification to 00:16:33.169 --> 00:16:36.669 abandon hope and to prioritize his own survival, 00:16:37.049 --> 00:16:40.730 Shackleton never wavered from his promise. He 00:16:40.730 --> 00:16:43.450 famously said, I have promised to bring you all 00:16:43.450 --> 00:16:48.149 home safe and sound and I shall. Shackleton's 00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:50.649 commitment to his promise was demonstrated through 00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:53.850 his relentless rescue efforts. He finally made 00:16:53.850 --> 00:16:57.190 it to the South Georgia Island where he was able 00:16:57.190 --> 00:17:00.669 to then remount a rescue for the other 22 men. 00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:03.490 The first time he tried to get through, he was 00:17:03.490 --> 00:17:07.529 cut off by the ice. He had to return. The second 00:17:07.529 --> 00:17:10.670 time he attempted, also failed due to the icy 00:17:10.670 --> 00:17:14.630 conditions, returned. The third attempt also 00:17:14.630 --> 00:17:17.910 prevented from reaching his men. It was only 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:21.170 until after the fourth attempt, nearly four months 00:17:21.170 --> 00:17:24.049 after leaving those men on that island, that 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:26.549 he finally broke through the ice and reached 00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:30.130 them. And when he counted his men, From the rescue 00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:33.130 ship, he reportedly said in his own journals 00:17:33.130 --> 00:17:36.309 with great relief, they're all there. They're 00:17:36.309 --> 00:17:38.549 all safe." And you can see a picture there of 00:17:38.549 --> 00:17:42.670 the 28 men he was able to bring back home. This 00:17:42.670 --> 00:17:46.390 expedition became legendary, not for achieving 00:17:46.390 --> 00:17:49.529 the original goal, which was crossing the Antarctica, 00:17:50.069 --> 00:17:53.809 but for something far more important. Shackleton 00:17:53.809 --> 00:17:58.740 kept his fundamental promise. In the end, His 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:01.579 character was revealed not in his success, but 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:05.339 in his unwavering commitment to his word when 00:18:05.339 --> 00:18:09.740 everything else on the mission had failed. That's 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:13.759 the kind of people we need to be. That if you're 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.440 going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, your word 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:22.680 needs to mean something. Your yeses ought be 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:27.700 yes. Your nos ought be no. If we're going to 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:31.059 live with kingdom integrity in this world, we 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:34.759 need to be known as people who keep their word. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.740 Let's keep going for the sake of time. The second 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:40.460 thing that Jesus is going to bring up here is 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:44.740 what I would call the trait of surrendered rights. 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:49.619 Surrendered rights. Let's look at verse 38 and 00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:54.309 following. Christ says, you have heard it said 00:18:54.309 --> 00:18:56.869 an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but 00:18:56.869 --> 00:19:01.509 I say unto you that you resist not evil but whosoever 00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:04.069 shall smite thee on the right cheek turn him 00:19:04.069 --> 00:19:08.670 the other also and if a man will sue thee at 00:19:08.670 --> 00:19:11.390 the law and take away thy coat let him have thy 00:19:11.390 --> 00:19:14.430 cloak also and whosoever shall compel thee to 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:17.809 go a mile go with him twain give to him that 00:19:17.809 --> 00:19:20.609 asketh thee from him that would borrow of thee 00:19:20.609 --> 00:19:24.869 turn thou not away Jesus here is speaking to 00:19:24.869 --> 00:19:28.230 another point of kingdom integrity, and that 00:19:28.230 --> 00:19:31.670 point is the misuse of the mosaic law for personal 00:19:31.670 --> 00:19:35.269 use that had become common in their day. One 00:19:35.269 --> 00:19:37.950 of the most well -known laws that sometimes people 00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:41.230 will cite for good or for bad is the eye for 00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:43.849 an eye law dealing with the retribution and the 00:19:43.849 --> 00:19:47.650 justice system in the Old Testament. This law 00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:50.910 was in place to regulate the extent of reciprocity 00:19:50.910 --> 00:19:54.349 and justice and it existed in three places once 00:19:54.349 --> 00:19:57.470 in Exodus once in Leviticus and once in Deuteronomy 00:19:57.549 --> 00:20:01.309 Leviticus puts it this way, Leviticus 24, 17 00:20:01.309 --> 00:20:04.609 through 20 says, and he that killeth any man, 00:20:04.829 --> 00:20:07.529 surely be put to death. And he that killeth a 00:20:07.529 --> 00:20:11.130 beast shall make it good, beast for beast. And 00:20:11.130 --> 00:20:13.630 if a man cause a blemish of his neighbor as he 00:20:13.630 --> 00:20:16.329 hath done, so shall it be done to him. Breach 00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:18.690 for breach, that's literally bone coming out 00:20:18.690 --> 00:20:22.299 of your tissue. Breach for breach, eye for eye, 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:25.299 tooth for tooth, as he hath caused a blemish 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:29.400 in a man, so shall it be done to him again. The 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:32.119 reason why these laws existed is because of the 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:34.900 depravity of man in the fallen temptation to 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:39.079 always return more evil for less evil. The idea 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:42.859 of escalation. It might be a best illustrated 00:20:43.069 --> 00:20:47.289 by the idea of what was originally invented on 00:20:47.289 --> 00:20:50.690 Charisica Island, the idea of the vendetta. Anybody 00:20:50.690 --> 00:20:53.470 familiar with the idea of the vendetta? It kind 00:20:53.470 --> 00:20:56.349 of originated here on this French slash Italian 00:20:56.349 --> 00:21:00.210 island, a place that had become lawless. And 00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:02.930 the only way that they decided to get even with 00:21:02.930 --> 00:21:05.710 each other was to escalate the situation. So 00:21:05.710 --> 00:21:08.230 a tavern brawl would turn into a mockery, would 00:21:08.230 --> 00:21:12.349 turn into a fight, which would then turn into 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:16.119 In fact, there's even specific kind of knives 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:18.299 that they would use are as known as vendetta 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:22.000 knives from these people. There was always this 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.960 temptation of escalation and always taking things 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:29.259 one step further. Now God's law understood that 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:32.359 that was part of their pravity of fallen man. 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:35.839 And so God's law understood this and had a prescription 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.019 for restitution. Interestingly enough, ancient 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:43.420 Jewish texts here don't record much of this type 00:21:43.420 --> 00:21:47.019 of restitution. In fact, many of the ancient 00:21:47.019 --> 00:21:51.059 Jewish documents changed this idea even early 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:54.160 on to instead of it being eye for eye, tooth 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:56.980 for tooth, as specifically drawn out by the Lord, 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:01.779 they watered it down to just forms of monetary 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:05.519 restitution or just paying for whatever happened. 00:22:05.930 --> 00:22:08.230 And it's interesting to know that even from the 00:22:08.230 --> 00:22:11.930 very beginning, the seeds of reinterpreting the 00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:14.970 very plainly written Word of God were being sown 00:22:14.970 --> 00:22:18.210 in the lives of God's people. That while the 00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:22.150 law dealt with the one in debt, Jesus is actually 00:22:22.150 --> 00:22:25.569 going to speak to the one who the debt is owed. 00:22:26.269 --> 00:22:28.569 And Jesus is going to use three illustrations 00:22:28.569 --> 00:22:32.930 here for this same point. He says in verse 39, 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:35.349 I say unto you that you resist not evil, but 00:22:35.349 --> 00:22:37.769 whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, 00:22:38.309 --> 00:22:40.730 turn to him the other also. Now I wanna illustrate 00:22:40.730 --> 00:22:42.930 this because I think that there might be some 00:22:42.930 --> 00:22:45.710 interesting details here that Jesus includes 00:22:45.710 --> 00:22:48.309 and we include here in our King James Bible that 00:22:48.309 --> 00:22:51.549 I wonder that might give us some insight into 00:22:51.549 --> 00:22:53.990 the meaning. And I wanna kinda illustrate this 00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:56.170 on purpose. So Miles, I didn't ask you ahead 00:22:56.170 --> 00:22:57.670 of time, but can you come up here and help me 00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:00.190 illustrate this for a second? So Jesus says, 00:23:00.329 --> 00:23:03.490 if anyone strikes you on your right cheek, turn 00:23:03.490 --> 00:23:07.190 to him the other also, all right? Yes. No, you're 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:09.130 not gonna really smack me. But here's what I 00:23:09.130 --> 00:23:11.109 want you to do, all right? We're talking about 00:23:11.109 --> 00:23:13.430 a time, and it's still very much the truth today, 00:23:13.509 --> 00:23:15.150 but we're talking about a time of people who 00:23:15.150 --> 00:23:17.089 are predominantly right -handed. So raise your 00:23:17.089 --> 00:23:19.569 right hand, show everybody your right hand, okay? 00:23:19.869 --> 00:23:23.509 Now I want you to point to my right cheek, okay? 00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:30.079 No. yeah that's my right cheek all right now 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.880 I want you very kindly and remember there is 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.019 a microphone here to strike me with your right 00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:39.480 hand on my right cheek no no not for real just 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:43.039 like act it out act it out all right do you notice 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:46.839 something about how you struck me yes yes and 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:49.500 did you guys see that as well this is what I 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:51.240 wanted yeah you want to do it again maybe afterward 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.400 right we'll sell tickets all right thanks miles 00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:56.640 I appreciate that I wonder if there might be 00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:59.339 some insight into what Jesus is trying to communicate 00:23:59.339 --> 00:24:02.980 when it comes to this idea of striking on the 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:06.220 right cheek. In a society and a people dominated 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:09.900 by the right hand, a strike on someone's right 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:13.259 cheek, I believe, would seem to indicate exactly 00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:17.400 what you just saw. A backhanded strike, most 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:21.259 notably associated with what we know as an insult. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.519 I believe that Jesus here isn't advocating for 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:29.440 complete pacifism or the unrestricted violence 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.039 on yourself and those who you are called to care 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:36.059 for. I don't believe that that would be the case 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:38.059 because it wouldn't line up with what the rest 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:40.940 of the scripture teaches about our responsibilities. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.799 Exodus chapter 22, Luke 22, Romans 13 just as 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:50.220 some understanding text. Here, this word evil, 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.480 not resisting evil, is the word poneros, which 00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:58.380 is almost always associated with speech and thought 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:01.720 in the New Testament. Not with physical altercation, 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:07.220 but speech and thought, the immaterial, the ethical 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:11.380 portions of evil. I personally believe that Jesus 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:14.799 is saying here that when you are insulted, even 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:18.079 if your enemy raises a hand to physically demonstrate 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:21.680 his insult, your response is not what the law 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:25.140 requires, but rather the surrendering of your 00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:30.819 rights to return such an insult. He'll also use 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:33.460 another two examples. The other one is in verse 00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:37.059 40. Just sue someone at the law. He says if someone 00:25:37.059 --> 00:25:39.559 sue you and take away thy coat, let him have 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:42.940 thy cloak also. Now this one also carries with 00:25:42.940 --> 00:25:47.119 it some interesting historical perspectives because 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:52.380 in Jewish society, one could use your clothes 00:25:52.380 --> 00:25:56.460 as collateral for a debt. And so if you had a 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:58.579 debt, you could actually use your clothes as 00:25:58.579 --> 00:26:01.440 collateral to try to pay off that debt. And so 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:03.400 it was common that if your debt came due and 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:05.599 you didn't have the money, someone could see 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.700 you at the law for the clothes on your back. 00:26:09.299 --> 00:26:11.660 And Jesus is saying here that if someone takes 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:15.960 your shirt, offer them your coat as well. Now 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:18.619 here's what's interesting. The Old Testament 00:26:18.619 --> 00:26:22.000 law actually had provisions in it that protected 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.700 the coat. You couldn't sue and take someone's 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:30.880 coat from them. Exodus chapter 22, 25 says this, 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:33.660 if thou lend money to any of my people that is 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:37.319 poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.519 neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:43.099 shalt take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:47.019 thou shalt deliver it unto him by the sun goeth 00:26:47.019 --> 00:26:50.700 down. For that is his covering only. It is his 00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:53.640 raiment for his skin. Wherein shall he sleep? 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:56.200 And it shall come to pass when he crieth unto 00:26:56.200 --> 00:27:00.380 me that I will hear, for I am gracious." Old 00:27:00.380 --> 00:27:03.579 Testament law said that you could not take someone's 00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:07.940 coat from them to pay off a debt. Yet, Jesus 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:10.579 here is saying that if anyone is going to take 00:27:10.579 --> 00:27:13.900 your shirt, which they could, give to them your 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:16.720 outer garment. That cloak that was protected 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:20.400 by law, give it to them freely. What is he trying 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:27.220 to say? Surrender your rights. Compelling to 00:27:27.220 --> 00:27:34.569 carry. He says that in verse 41 and 42. given 00:27:34.569 --> 00:27:36.289 to him that asketh, and from him that we should 00:27:36.289 --> 00:27:40.650 borrow unto thee, turn not away." The Roman occupation 00:27:40.650 --> 00:27:43.869 of this time, there was an obligation that was 00:27:43.869 --> 00:27:46.849 found in Persian text that said that the Jewish 00:27:46.849 --> 00:27:51.170 people or any conquered people by the Roman soldiers 00:27:51.170 --> 00:27:55.869 could be compelled to be used as a pack mule. 00:27:56.130 --> 00:27:58.390 Some of them might even be able to take your 00:27:58.390 --> 00:28:01.569 mule, if you had one, to carry their belongings. 00:28:02.150 --> 00:28:06.829 But They could not overdo it. And so their understanding 00:28:06.829 --> 00:28:09.950 or that Roman law that was found is that any 00:28:09.950 --> 00:28:13.430 Jewish person 12 years or older could be compelled 00:28:13.430 --> 00:28:16.109 to carry these belongings, but could only do 00:28:16.109 --> 00:28:20.509 it up to one mile, not Jewish mile, Roman mile. 00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:23.950 And so Jesus says, if anyone's asking you to 00:28:23.950 --> 00:28:29.930 do that, to go one, don't just go one, go two. 00:28:30.390 --> 00:28:35.799 What is he saying? surrender your rights. You're 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:38.859 compelled by law to go one, I'm compelling you 00:28:38.859 --> 00:28:43.960 to go two. Surrender your rights. As a person 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:48.619 of the kingdom, surrender your rights. For sake 00:28:48.619 --> 00:28:51.299 of time, let's keep going. The third trait that 00:28:51.299 --> 00:28:55.200 we see that Jesus is going to point out in verses 00:28:55.200 --> 00:29:01.079 43 to 48 is the idea of unbiased. love, unbiased 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:05.480 love. Let's keep reading in verse 43. He says, 00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:08.660 you've heard that it has been said, thou shalt 00:29:08.660 --> 00:29:11.720 love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:16.000 say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.480 curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:22.680 pray for them which despitefully use you and 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:26.380 persecute you, that ye may be the children of 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:29.140 your father which is in heaven. For he maketh 00:29:29.140 --> 00:29:32.019 his son to rise on the evil and on the good and 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:35.299 sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For 00:29:35.299 --> 00:29:38.440 if you love them which love you, what reward 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:42.140 have you? Do not even the publicans the same? 00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:47.559 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do 00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:51.559 you more than others? Do not even the publicans 00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:55.500 so? I can imagine the sting as Matthew writes 00:29:55.500 --> 00:30:00.319 these words. But ye therefore be therefore perfect 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:04.720 even as your father which is in heaven is perfect 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:09.259 In this final section of chapter 5 Jesus here 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:12.099 speaks to the misconception around the Old Testament 00:30:12.099 --> 00:30:15.859 law Concerning one's neighbor and he brings to 00:30:15.859 --> 00:30:18.960 climax climax this couplet. You've heard it been 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:23.109 said I say unto you It was no secret that the 00:30:23.109 --> 00:30:26.349 idea of one's neighbor was a highly controversial 00:30:26.349 --> 00:30:30.630 and misconstrued concept for the Pharisees and 00:30:30.630 --> 00:30:33.490 the lawyers and the teachers of the law. Most 00:30:33.490 --> 00:30:36.930 famously, we have the incident between the teacher 00:30:36.930 --> 00:30:39.470 of the law and Jesus. And you might remember, 00:30:39.710 --> 00:30:43.609 he comes to him and he asks the question, who 00:30:43.609 --> 00:30:48.009 is my neighbor? And of course, Jesus speaks to 00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:50.839 him the parable of the good Samaritan. in trying 00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:53.599 to help illustrate what the Old Testament law 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:56.859 meant by your neighbor. The specific law was 00:30:56.859 --> 00:31:00.440 found in Leviticus 19 verses 17 and 18 which 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:22.970 said, and the Lord. For many Jews, the Old Testament 00:31:22.970 --> 00:31:26.789 was just used to justify the inclusive behavior 00:31:26.789 --> 00:31:29.970 of extending care only to your people group. 00:31:30.250 --> 00:31:33.150 The people of Israel would take that law and 00:31:33.150 --> 00:31:36.690 they would say, well, I'm going to narrowly define 00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:39.589 who my neighbor is. And they would continue to 00:31:39.589 --> 00:31:42.329 narrow it down. Our neighbor is just the Jew. 00:31:42.670 --> 00:31:46.710 The Pharisees and the religious elite would narrow 00:31:46.710 --> 00:31:49.829 it even further and say, it's only the people 00:31:49.829 --> 00:31:53.170 that are like you. In fact, the religious elite 00:31:53.170 --> 00:31:57.230 believe that the mass of the Jewish people had 00:31:57.230 --> 00:32:01.990 a curse upon them. In tradition, the Pharisees 00:32:01.990 --> 00:32:05.109 would speak such things as this, quote, If a 00:32:05.109 --> 00:32:08.529 Jew sees a Gentile fall into the sea, let him 00:32:08.529 --> 00:32:11.750 by no means lift him out thence. For it is written, 00:32:12.089 --> 00:32:14.569 thou shalt not rise up against the blood of thy 00:32:14.569 --> 00:32:19.619 neighbor, but this man is not thy neighbor. Plainly 00:32:19.619 --> 00:32:22.940 spoken, if you see a Gentile drowning, let him 00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:26.500 drown. You have the right to be indifferent. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:30.900 He's not your neighbor. That was what they taught. 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.380 And Jesus, speaking to His disciples, wanted 00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:36.960 them to have the integrity that was required 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:40.240 for being a part of His kingdom. And He says, 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:43.900 I'm going to tell you about the neighbor and 00:32:43.900 --> 00:32:49.500 about your enemy. Now, we do live in a culture, 00:32:50.099 --> 00:32:54.579 and I won't mince words with this reality, we 00:32:54.579 --> 00:32:58.079 live in a culture that is increasingly hostile 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:02.920 towards believers, towards Christianity, and 00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:06.019 towards maybe even you specifically. We live 00:33:06.019 --> 00:33:09.099 in a culture and in a world where sometimes we 00:33:09.099 --> 00:33:14.940 can feel overwhelmed by these realities. And 00:33:14.940 --> 00:33:20.460 there is within, I believe all of us, a emotional 00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:23.640 stir that happens when we see the great evils 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:29.160 of the world. Some might use the word hate, and 00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:31.680 I think that that might not be the wrong word 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:36.250 to choose. But I think that it is okay that when 00:33:36.250 --> 00:33:38.809 we see something like an infant who's murdered 00:33:38.809 --> 00:33:43.009 in the womb, that we should hate that. I think 00:33:43.009 --> 00:33:46.309 that it is okay for us to say when a pastor is 00:33:46.309 --> 00:33:49.190 jailed for speaking truth and then a child abuser 00:33:49.190 --> 00:33:51.529 is released from prison because we don't want 00:33:51.529 --> 00:33:54.289 to keep them in prison, we should hate that kind 00:33:54.289 --> 00:33:57.890 of miscarriage of justice. That when those who 00:33:57.890 --> 00:34:01.170 are supposed to uphold rights and decency are 00:34:01.170 --> 00:34:04.069 the ones allowing the opposite to happen, at 00:34:04.069 --> 00:34:06.250 peril of those who are the most innocent among 00:34:06.250 --> 00:34:09.730 us, we should hate that kind of misuse of power. 00:34:10.869 --> 00:34:15.349 I feel that pain. You feel that pain. We should 00:34:15.349 --> 00:34:17.949 hate to see God dishonored. We should hate to 00:34:17.949 --> 00:34:20.730 see Christ dishonored. We should hate to see 00:34:20.730 --> 00:34:24.070 the name of Jesus be used as a four -letter filth 00:34:24.070 --> 00:34:27.400 word. We should hate when Jesus is demeaned and 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:31.059 blasphemed across our world. We should hate that. 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:33.719 We should have every reason to hate that. That's 00:34:33.719 --> 00:34:37.239 a holy hatred. I believe that's the Spirit of 00:34:37.239 --> 00:34:40.000 God showing in us what we should love and what 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:45.460 we should hate. But Jesus teaches here something 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:49.940 even more powerful. Jesus teaches that we are 00:34:49.940 --> 00:34:57.730 to love our enemies. The phrase here is translated 00:34:57.730 --> 00:35:03.230 from three Greek words agapo humon ethros agapo 00:35:03.230 --> 00:35:09.010 Meaning the agape form of love. It's the highest 00:35:09.010 --> 00:35:12.789 form of love. It's not the emotional kind of 00:35:12.789 --> 00:35:17.389 love It's the love of the will it is the I choose 00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:22.349 to love rather than I feel this love humon ethros 00:35:22.349 --> 00:35:27.849 speaks to the personal enemy. Not this group 00:35:27.849 --> 00:35:32.130 or just this ethereal idea of your enemy, but 00:35:32.130 --> 00:35:36.809 the one who is your personal enemy. Jesus then 00:35:36.809 --> 00:35:39.590 tells them that that love is supposed to look 00:35:39.590 --> 00:35:41.670 like something. It's supposed to be manifested 00:35:41.670 --> 00:35:45.969 in some certain way. He says it in verse 44. 00:35:46.489 --> 00:35:50.059 Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you, 00:35:50.420 --> 00:35:53.760 do good to them that hate you, and pray for them 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:56.579 which despitefully use you and persecute you. 00:35:57.260 --> 00:35:59.719 All three of these, I believe, Jesus is doing 00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:03.000 in an ascending and intensifying way. He says, 00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:06.320 bless them, which means to wish good upon them. 00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:11.019 He says, don't stop there, do good to those. 00:36:12.840 --> 00:36:16.360 That's not just a wishing upon that's an action 00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:20.079 let your words what your thoughts be an action 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:26.000 But then he says most of all pray Pray for those 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:31.639 who are doing the most harm to you He says pray 00:36:31.639 --> 00:36:37.920 for those who spitefully use you and those who 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:44.039 persecute you It was Theologian and pastor and 00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:46.619 spy Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote these words 00:36:46.619 --> 00:36:49.980 specifically about this text. He wrote, this 00:36:49.980 --> 00:36:54.340 is the supreme command. Through the medium of 00:36:54.340 --> 00:36:59.219 prayer, we go to our persecutors, stand by their 00:36:59.219 --> 00:37:05.360 side and plead to God for them. Because that 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:08.480 is the most important prayer request we can pray 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:11.940 for those who spitefully use us and who will 00:37:11.940 --> 00:37:16.599 persecute us is to pray for their soul. Pray 00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:20.559 that they would receive Christ as their Savior. 00:37:21.460 --> 00:37:24.860 I like how one reinterpretation of some of his 00:37:24.860 --> 00:37:27.920 earliest writings is written like this. I think 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:30.679 I could just read it because it just hits the 00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:33.739 nail on the head. They write this, this command 00:37:33.739 --> 00:37:36.780 that we should love our enemies and forego revenge 00:37:36.780 --> 00:37:41.260 will grow even more urgent in the holy struggle 00:37:41.260 --> 00:37:44.579 which lies before us. The Christians which will 00:37:44.579 --> 00:37:47.340 be hounded from place to place, subjected to 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:50.139 physical assault, maltreatment and death of every 00:37:50.139 --> 00:37:53.480 kind, we are approaching an age of widespread 00:37:53.480 --> 00:37:56.320 persecution. Soon the time will come when we 00:37:56.320 --> 00:37:59.570 shall pray. It will be a prayer of earnest love 00:37:59.570 --> 00:38:02.489 for the very sons of perdition who stand around 00:38:02.489 --> 00:38:05.230 and gaze at us with eyes aflame, with hatred, 00:38:05.590 --> 00:38:07.849 and with who have perhaps already raised their 00:38:07.849 --> 00:38:11.550 hands to kill us. Yes, the church which is really 00:38:11.550 --> 00:38:14.670 waiting for its Lord and which discerns the signs 00:38:14.670 --> 00:38:17.869 of the times must fling itself with its utmost 00:38:17.869 --> 00:38:21.150 power and with the armor of its holy life into 00:38:21.150 --> 00:38:28.099 this prayer of love. And I have to confess to 00:38:28.099 --> 00:38:33.679 you that I have felt the sting of Jesus' rebuke 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:37.079 in my own life as I prepared for this sermon, 00:38:37.940 --> 00:38:40.340 specifically about the events that happened this 00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:43.699 week concerning father, husband, believer and 00:38:43.699 --> 00:38:47.630 political advocate Charlie Kirk. Personally, 00:38:48.110 --> 00:38:51.650 I first responded with deep sadness and then 00:38:51.650 --> 00:38:55.269 with a red hot hatred against those who I believed 00:38:55.269 --> 00:38:59.570 would have been the guilty party. I don't know 00:38:59.570 --> 00:39:03.110 what your response was like, but I personally 00:39:03.110 --> 00:39:06.510 felt the rebuke of Jesus' red words jump off 00:39:06.510 --> 00:39:12.940 the page to me. Love your enemies. He tells us 00:39:12.940 --> 00:39:16.719 in verse 45 that when you do so you will be the 00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:21.099 children of your father which is in heaven When 00:39:21.099 --> 00:39:26.000 we love our enemies we are like God Himself We 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:31.000 manifest the genuine of our sonship of the Lord 00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:34.679 when we love the way that God loves When God 00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:39.179 loves God loves his enemies all of them Because 00:39:39.179 --> 00:39:42.079 those are the only people, I love this, those 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:45.400 are the only people that have ever to existed. 00:39:46.719 --> 00:39:50.960 In a fallen world, God has no friends. He only 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:55.440 has enemies. But God commendeth his love towards 00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:59.639 us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ 00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:06.820 died for us. So Christ sets the example. be perfect," 00:40:06.820 --> 00:40:10.300 he says in the last words, as even your father 00:40:10.300 --> 00:40:13.460 in heaven, which is perfect. He reveals the standard 00:40:13.460 --> 00:40:16.400 of what it is to be a Christ follower, a kingdom 00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:20.920 citizen, unobtainable by our own, yes, but obtainable 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:25.840 by the one who kept the law on our behalf. The 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:28.099 marvelous truth of the gospel is that Christ 00:40:28.099 --> 00:40:31.630 met the standard on our behalf. And he offers 00:40:31.630 --> 00:40:35.750 us that righteousness in exchange for our sinful 00:40:35.750 --> 00:40:39.690 condition. Those he's transformed to exhibit 00:40:39.690 --> 00:40:43.030 integrity by our relationships ought to speak 00:40:43.030 --> 00:40:46.909 truth at all times. In every one of your dealings, 00:40:47.010 --> 00:40:49.250 you ought to be known as a person of integrity. 00:40:49.730 --> 00:40:53.860 Your yeses be yeses, your noes be noes. We ought 00:40:53.860 --> 00:40:57.099 to surrender our rights for the benefit of others. 00:40:57.199 --> 00:40:59.260 Yeah, but you don't know what they did to me. 00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:02.619 It doesn't matter Surrender your rights and be 00:41:02.619 --> 00:41:07.179 like your father in heaven Who had every right 00:41:07.179 --> 00:41:10.159 yet humbled himself and became obedient unto 00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:15.619 death even the death of the cross and Unbiasedly 00:41:15.619 --> 00:41:18.679 loved this world into a relationship with Christ. 00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:24.230 Yes, but they're killing us Love your enemies. 00:41:25.789 --> 00:41:26.730 Love your enemies.