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Hey, man, all right, so here we are in Matthew Chapter 5 so Matthew chapter 5 is the beginning of the sermon on the mount beginning of Jesus's sermon on the mount That's basically Matthew chapter 5 through Matthew chapter 7 is what we're gonna be looking at in the next few weeks So the sermon on that mean it seems a little bit It's probably Jesus's most famous sermon, but it seems a little bit strange preaching a sermon on Jesus's sermon But that's what we're gonna do tonight It's basically, you know, Jesus starts out in Matthew chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount and he preaches on a number of Different issues here. So we'll go through the whole thing and then I'll try to you know I'll just make some application on you know, some of the the ones that I feel are most applicable to us today But if you look down at Matthew chapter 5 in verse number 1 the Bible says and seeing the multitudes He went up into the mountain and he and when he was set his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and Taught them saying and here we begin, you know this first part of the Sermon on the Mount, which is you know, mainly you know known commonly as the beatitudes or the blessings that Jesus gives and he just goes through and he steps through all these different Types of people and he talks about how you know, they will be blessed and in verse number three He begins out by saying, you know blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven So notice there that the poor in spirit doesn't mean that they're poor in the Holy Spirit, you know That's a lowercase s there. He's talking about someone who is not, you know lifted up someone who is you know Not high-minded the opposite of that, you know We could see in first Timothy chapter 6 if you want to go ahead and just turn there first Timothy chapter 6 You know, it's not that they're poor with the Holy Spirit. It's that their spirit their their self is is is low They're they're low Themselves. They're not a high-minded person if you look at first Timothy chapter 6 look at verse number 17 and we can see the opposite of this in the Bible where The Bible says charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches But in the living God who giveth giveth us richly all things to enjoy So he's talking about somebody who's you know Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded, you know Because people who are are rich in this world and have things Worldly things worldly possessions typically are very high-minded people, right? And we're gonna talk about this a lot on Sunday morning So I don't want to really focus too much on it tonight But he's basically saying that these types of people trust in what they trust in uncertain riches and boy I mean I find it funny that it says Uncertain riches and I mean aren't those riches uncertain as we head forward in our society today Especially the situations that we're seeing in our country today And I'm gonna get way in depth on this on Sunday morning But I just want to point out that you know This is the opposite of being poor in spirit these high-minded people and what are they trusting in? They're trusting in their riches. They're rich in this world. All right, so they're haughty They're proud look at Matthew chapter 5 in verse number 4 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted That's an interesting one because basically he's saying that the people that mourn he's just gonna give them what they need Right, so people that are mourning, you know, they need to be comforted and the Bible says that you know If you're mourning, you know, if you're someone who loves the Lord and is living for the Lord and you know You are you are mourning you will be comforted. You will be comforted. I mean, that's that's comfort Okay, look at Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 5 blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth turn to 1st Peter chapter 3 1st Peter chapter 3 So the meek is very similar to you know, someone who is poor in spirit but someone who is meek is someone who is humble and Not proud look at 1st Peter chapter 3 in verse number 3 Where the Bible says who's adorning let it not be that the outward adorning of plating of plating the hair and of wearing of gold And a putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible Even the ornament of a meek and quiet. What quiet spirit Which is in the sight of God a great price So this is talking about of course, you know women that God wants women to have a meek and quiet spirit You know doesn't want women to be loud and obnoxious and all this but basically having a meek Being a meek person is something that is a great price to the Lord. That's the opposite of being Puffed up and proud. Okay. Look at verse number 6 of Matthew chapter 5 Blessed are they with which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled once again That's another one where he's just saying that people that hunger and thirst after righteousness. They're just gonna get what they need They're just gonna get that right and I've seen this I mean you will see this as a trend of people who are in church and saved You will see this as a trend when you look at a large church like Verity Baptist Church, Sacramento You'll even start to see it in our church as our church grows. You'll see it with the people that are here You'll see that there was a point in people's lives that they hungered and thirsted after Righteousness and they found it and God shows them the truth for they shall be filled And that's a fulfillment of Matthew 5 in verse number 6 where there's always been a point in people's lives Especially people that got it's very easy to see with people who got saved later in life Where they just got to this point where they just wanted to know what was true They just had a thirst to know what was true and you'll see that You know the opposite of that is someone that you'll see out soul winning who you just say Hey, do you know do you want to know what the Bible said? They just could care less They could care less but you won't see that with someone who was saved, you know later in life especially an adult that was saved even a young child a 13 year old kid or whatever. We had some 13 year old kids saved the other day. Hey, do you guys want to know? Yeah, well, they had a hunger and a thirst After that righteousness, okay, but you will find people that just don't have that even at a young age You'll find young kids 13 14 15 years old. I was actually very shocked found a group of four kids And all of them wanted to know usually you'll find one that's a loudmouth or that's you know Some kind of punk that just wants to disrupt, you know, he's not his friends from hearing things and then his friends, you know He's the bully of the group or whatever, but he's the one that doesn't have that hunger and thirst for the truth He's already, you know turned away or done something or lived a life or whatever He doesn't have that hunger and thirst but you know finding someone that has that hunger and thirst I believe God will send people to show them the truth and that's what we are for We are to be a tool for God for people to be filled So we can go and we can preach the gospel to these people that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Look at verse number seven Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Once again, they just get what they need. Okay. Look at verse number eight Blessed appear in heart for they shall see God, you know back to verse number seven You know don't forget in times like this, you know in our country, you know people need some mercy You know people need some mercy in our country So, you know there was always this sort of it's not even close to the same thing But this sort of reminds me it kind of has that feel of when there would be a huge Blizzard or snowstorm in North Dakota people would just be stuck in their homes for a week or more on to on end And you know if somebody you know couldn't get their car started or something like that See in the Midwest there there would never be if your car was broken down on the side of the road There would never be you know, even one person that drove by you in a snowstorm that didn't stop Because they're there there's that type of attitude there. People are merciful people are merciful. I mean look there's plenty of problems I'm not saying that there's not issues in the Midwest But what I'm saying is, you know show some mercy towards you know, your fellow people around you In in times like this understand that people are going through hard times understand that even though a lot of us It seems like you know are at least you know, okay with our jobs now There's gonna be people who aren't there's many people who aren't out there. So let's be merciful Let's let's if your neighbor needs help. Let's help your neighbor. Let's let's show some mercy in Difficult times. I mean, it's not people's fault that the government says they're not allowed to go to work anymore That's not their fault. Okay. All right. Look at verse number five, or I'm sorry verse number nine of Matthew chapter 5 Blessed are the peacemakers For they shall be called the children of God now. Look the peacemakers. I mean, what's a peacemaker? You know, these are people that can come into you know This is basically the opposite of what we have with leadership that we're seeing today Right peacemakers are somebody or is is a person that can come into a situation that's filled with chaos and they can come in And they can they can make that situation calm They can make that situation, you know settle down they can come up with solutions that make people realize. You know what? I'm okay. I mean this thing's under control, right? I mean what we have now is a bunch of idiot politicians just trying to outdo each other. That's all we have today I mean, these aren't peacemakers. These people are causing chaos. They're causing panic is what's going on. I Mean if you go into a situation that's a mess and you make it a worse mess you are not a peacemaker All right. Look Panicking and destroying people is the opposite of what Jesus is talking about here, okay So, I mean we don't have that today But we can be paid peacemakers right being a sole winner is being a peacemaker in many ways, right? You're creating literal peace between people and the Lord, right? So look peacemakers are people that can go in and they can de-escalate situations I mean, these are the type of people that can just make Lemonade out of lemons and you'll meet these people that are just really good leaders You'll meet them and and it's been you know, a handful of people in my life that I've met like this But when you do meet them, it's it's just a joy to meet these types of people. Okay. Now what look at verse number 10 For sake of time, let's try to step through this is a long chapter blessed Are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed Are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and you shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for it is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you So we should be glad if we're persecuted if we're persecuted for our faith. We should be glad we should be happy because he says why? Because that's the same thing that the greatest men in the Bible went through. That's what he's saying He's like count yourself blessed that you could even be listed amongst people like that All right, and then verse number 13 he heads into this next Idea here of being the salt of the earth. I love this part of Matthew chapter 5 Ye are the salt of the earth But if the salt has lost a saver where shall it be salted it is thenceforth good for nothing But to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men so what salt I mean you have to understand Salt had great value back then salt had great has great value throughout history It was used as money actually in the ancient world. Jesus is saying that if the salt is not salty. It doesn't do its job So what's the point of it being salt? Just throw it out on the street and you know, whatever it's it's worthless He's saying but here's what's interesting Here's what's interesting about salt and many people have commented on this and I think They all missed it if you this way you shouldn't read Bible commentary because most of it's pretty dumb actually But what's here's what's interesting about salt salt? Like table salt is sodium chloride. It's NaCl It's you know sodium plus chlorine and it's a compound and it's one of the most stable compounds on the planet it takes a lot of energy to break apart the bond between Sodium and chloride so, you know, Jesus said if the salt had lost its savor, so how could salt lose its savor? You know, did he say here's what's interesting because you'll see people say I don't know This doesn't make any sense because how could the salt stop being salt. Did he say that the salt stop being salt? No, he said that it lost its savor, you know, look this is talking about the Christian who is saved He or she will always be salt It's just it just becomes rendered useless is what he's saying when it loses its savor, you know So think about this thinking about you have a big recipe right you have a big recipe and you want to feed like 30 people and this recipe calls for like a cup of salt and You only put in a teaspoon of salt. Will you even be able to taste the salt? No, because it's diluted Right, it's there's not enough of it for it to be salty for you to taste it That's why it calls for a cup of it So what Jesus is talking about is the salt becoming diluted you becoming diluted diluted with what? diluted with the world with other cares with all these other things, you know things that you shouldn't be mixing with You know if you're out there and you're mixing in your turn to Psalm chapter 1 and you're mixing with all these worldly things You as a Christian as a saved person will become worthless You will become worthless. That's what happened to the salt. It didn't be not it didn't turn into something besides salt Right. This isn't a chemistry experiment. It stayed salt. It just became worthless So they threw it out in the street and they just walked on it. It's that simple Look at Psalm chapter 1 in verse number 1 The Bible says blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly Nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and his law doth he meditate day and night and he shall be like a Tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season His leaf also shall not wither and whatever he doeth shall prosper so if you're not worthless if you're not mixed in with the world and you're studying the laws of God and you love the laws of God and you're in church, you're gonna bear fruit and that's something that's not Worthless, that's the opposite of being a worthless Christian. That's the opposite of Salt losing its savor. You'll be salty. You'll stay salty Go back to Matthew chapter 5 verse number 14 You're the light of the world now he goes into this idea of being a light Okay You are the light of the world the city that set on a hill cannot be hid Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel But on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father Which is in heaven turn to James chapter 2? James chapter 2 Where the Bible says let your light shines before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father Which is in heaven James chapter 2 that's talking exactly about James chapter 2 James chapter 2 just look at verse number 18 Where the Bible says yea a man say thou hast faith and I have works Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works Look when you're in the middle, you know of of a mess and you know You still you know have faith, you know, that's showing people your faith Right, I mean in the Bible says that how do you show other men your faith, how do you show other men that light? Through your works. You're not saved, you know by your works, but that's how other men can see your works The only way I can see your faith is through your works I will say that many times out so and you know sit there and I'll talk to people I'll preach the gospel to them, you know, you'll do the same thing, you know, but I'll say to them I'll say you know what? I can't see your heart You know many times before I pray only God can see your heart, this isn't a magical prayer only God can see what's in your Heart what you actually believe what men can see what you can see of my faith is Simply through what I do That's that's my light that you can see and that's my light that the other world can see now Look that the people in the world can see but what this isn't saying that we don't have an obligation to preach the gospel That you know some lifestyle evangelism message here the Bible is very clear that we have You know, we are to go out and preach the gospel Alright, but look the Bible is saying that our good works are a light towards men All right now look go back to Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 17 Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 17 This Jesus starts talking about his feelings about the law and this kind of bus a lot of common You know theories people have out there about Jesus, you know about, you know Old Testament God and New Testament Jesus You know this pretty much busts it up right here starting in verse number 17 Where Jesus says think now think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, you know He's talking about the Old Testament here. I am NOT come to destroy but to fulfill For verily I say unto you tell heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled sounds like Same God to me All right, whosoever there shall Shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men So he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven But whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven now This is a major misunderstanding today Unfortunately people that teach that Jesus didn't care about the law people teach that you know He never would have been judgmental about people. I mean look he was rebuking people all the time. I Mean in the I mean these people don't read the Bible I mean Jesus talked about hell and and damnation all the time He was yelling at people all the time and then look at verse number 20 And he says for I say unto you Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees He shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven now. Look, what does this even mean? That you know who Jesus was yelling at all the time The scribes and Pharisees, so what's he saying here turn to Matthew chapter 23 Matthew chapter 23. I mean, what did Jesus think about the scribes and Pharisees? Go to Matthew chapter 23 and verse number 25 just a few page over pages over in your Bible Jesus says this he says woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter But within you're full of extortion and excess thou blind Pharisee Cleanse first that which which is within the cup and the platter that the outside of them may be clean also Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for your like unto the whited sepia cultures which indeed appear beautiful outward. That's a really key right there. They appear Beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness now go back to verse number 20 So to people around them to the people around the scribes and the Pharisees they appeared very godly They appeared very upright. They appeared clean, but Jesus could see through all of that He could he saw that they enlarged the borders of their garments It was all about you see the way you can see my faith is through my works But the Pharisees were just all works zero faith Right. I'm I'm performing and you should perform your Works according to your faith to show your faith, but they had no faith It was just all works and it was it was just outward works They were they were wicked people go back to verse number 20 so you can see in verse number 20 He's saying except that your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees You shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven he's being tongue-in-cheek there He's talking tongue-in-cheek. So what does it mean turn to Isaiah 61? How do we get righteousness? How do we get righteousness that's that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees, you know? And he's being he's being a little tongue-in-cheek there when he because he knows who these people are Okay, Isaiah 61 look at verse number 10 Where the Bible says this it says I will greatly rejoice in the Lord My soul shall be joyful in my God for he had closed me with clothed me with the garments of salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness as The bridegroom deck decketh himself with ornaments as the bride adorneth herself with jewels So he's saying as a bridegroom, you know puts ornaments on himself as a bride puts jewels on herself So has Jesus covered you with his righteousness. That's where you get that righteousness That's where you get the righteousness that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees So he's saying he's looking at all these people that are looking at the scribes and the Pharisees and they're saying oh They're so righteous and look at the way they dress and look at the way they act and they you know They show people giving them, you know, they they make sure they're you know People are looking when they give their money Right and they do all these things and he's saying except you're he's talking to the people and he's saying unless you're more righteous Than even those super righteous people that you think are super righteous, even though he knows who they are But the way that you get more righteous than even the more righteous person most righteous person you could think of is being by clothed by the righteousness of Christ That's how you get it go back to verse number 21 Now Jesus starts Let me just read you a couple more verses on that while you go back to Matthew 5 21 for here in 2nd Corinthians 521 the Bible says for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made The righteousness of God in him see our righteousness is through him 1st Corinthians chapter 1 says this in verse number 30 but of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and Sanctification and redemption so our righteousness comes through Christ Okay So that's how the answer of how we can exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees is by putting on Jesus's righteousness Look at verse number 21 now Jesus starts teaching on the law He starts teaching on the law and we see his take on the law is even harsher than most people's Original thinking of the law, you know at the time look at verse number 21 He had heard that has said of them of old time He shall not kill and whoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause Shall be in danger of the judgment who shall say to his brother Raka shall be in danger of the council Whosoever say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire Therefore if it bring thy if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remember us that thy brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way First be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift angry with thine average agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and The judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast into prison Verily I say unto you thou shalt by no means come out then still thou has paid the uttermost Farthing so what he's saying here through this whole thing. Let me just sum it up really quick He's like look if you are angry, first of all, he said angry without a cause Okay. So first of all There is a righteous anger and people need to understand that because I've heard several times from people who are not saved that Oh Jesus got angry, you know Jesus he yelled at people he called them vipers. I mean Jesus made a whip He made a whip and you be he threw tables over and he beat people with the whip That the money changers in the temple. So Jesus was angry, but was he angry without a cause? No, so the second thing I want to say about this chunk of verses here And then we have to move on for sake of time. Is this being angry with your brother? Being being in a bad relationship hating your brother. The Bible says brother meaning someone who's saved All right, there is a danger to you there Okay, so you need to be careful with your relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ You need to be careful because look if you're one of these people that's like if you don't agree with me on everything You know, you're you were never saved in your reprobate You know, look that's fine. You want to be that but you're putting yourself in danger if you're that type of person Okay, so look you have to understand that having a good relationship with your brother There is actual danger to yourself turn to Mark chapter 11 and let me just close this This philosophy here. Look at Mark chapter 11 and look at verse number 25 There's another philosophy in the Bible, you know that Jesus teaches that that matches this Okay If you look at Mark chapter 11 look at verse number 25 and 26 Where the Bible says this and it says and when you stand praying forgive if he ought against any That your father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses But if you do not forgive neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses So look this was once again talking about, you know a relationship with your heavenly Father if you are not a forgiving person God is not going to be very forgiving with you. It doesn't mean you're gonna lose your salvation It means that you're not gonna have a good relationship and your Heavenly Father is not going to be forgiving towards you Mercy is the same way with what measure of mercy that you have towards other people That's the kind of mercy that God will have towards you Yeah, I mean that's pretty good reason just to be merciful to everybody Especially your brothers and sisters in Christ. Just have some mercy. Just remind yourself that God your Heavenly Father I mean it makes sense right remember when I talk to the kids it makes sense that your dad would see that you're just unmerciful to your brothers and sisters and That because of that he wouldn't have mercy towards you it makes perfect sense And that's what the Bible teaches go back to Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 27 Let's look at this a teaching on adultery and Jesus ramps it up there. So Jesus said, you know, hey, you know thou shalt not kill But if you're angry with your brother, yeah, it's murder in your heart is what he says And then he says in verse number 27 He says you have heard that it was said by them of old time thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her After her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for you that one of thy members should perish and not That the whole body should be cast into hell if thy right hand offend thee cut it off Cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee to one one of thy members should perish not that the whole body should be cast Into hell so, of course, he's not talking about losing your salvation here He's just talking about look if you have you know an issue with sin he's you know Premises the whole thing with this adultery with this lusting after a woman, you know You've already committed adultery in your heart. Now. Look I'll get verse number 31 So you see that Jesus calls even looking on a woman, you know adultery in your heart now look He starts teaching on divorce as well in verse number 31 and he says it had been said whoever shall put away his wife let him give her a writing of Divorcement and then he says in verse number 32 But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication Causeth her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commit adultery so he does give you know, and we've talked about this before he gives a reason for divorce and that reason is Fornication it's fornication and it doesn't even we've talked about this It doesn't even apply today because fornication is basically in that period of betrothal finding out that you know The the woman was not a virgin, you know, basically what happened to Joseph and Mary except, you know The Holy Spirit, you know appeared to Joseph or the you know, God told Joseph in a dream that you know Hey, you know wasn't you know fornication so, you know, he he didn't put her away as the Bible says he could have You know even because of this but look if you have an NIV, this is this is the goofiest thing I mean, it's not goofy. It's just so silly because Jesus had just taught about Adultery a few verses before but the NIV and many other Bible versions say this in verse number 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality Makes her the victim of adultery and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits Adultery now if you go back to verse number 28 in your King James Bible Where Jesus was actually just preaching on adultery He says but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart So, let me ask you a question is adultery sexual immorality. I Mean, I think so. I mean obviously right. So basically if you have an NIV Jesus has basically just said in these four verses of these five verses that you know If you look upon another woman It's okay for your wife to divorce you or if you look if your wife looks at another man It's okay for you to divorce her. That's what this Bible version will tell you Because I mean obviously committing adultery in your heart. I mean, that's sexual immorality It's immoral. It's an immoral act of a sexual nature and It's it's basically these false Bible versions, you know and I have actually heard of people who have been divorced because of things like this and It's not a reason in the Bible for divorce Another reason that you need to have a King James Bible just one more Look verse 33 Teaching on oaths. We're not gonna spend a lot of time on this one since we've Just had a sermon on this but he says again in verse number 33 again You have heard that it had been said of them of old time thou shalt not forswear thyself But thou shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths But I say unto you swear not at all Neither by heaven for it is God's throne neither by earth for it is his footstool neither by Jerusalem for as a city of the Great King let your communication be yea. Yea nay nay for whatsoever is more of these cometh of evil You have heard that it had been said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth But I say unto you. Well, let's just pause at verse 37 there Look, he's basically saying, you know, we talked about the oaths in the Bible, you know, Jephthah's oath people were taking oaths way too far He's basically saying hey, you know because of what men had done with oaths He's saying look this is what God expects of you. Just say what you're gonna do and do what you say You don't have to go up to people and say hey, you know, I swear by my mother You know that I'll do this for you just say hey I'm gonna help you move or I'm gonna help you with that thing or hey all you know I'll do that for you and then just do it. That's the bottom line All right, then look down at so he's basically just saying do what you say. You're gonna do Now look at verse number 39 But I say unto you that ye resist not evil But whosoever shall smite ye on thy right cheek Turn to him the other also and if a man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat Let him have thy cloak also and whosoever shall compile thee to go a mile go with him twain Give it to he him that asked me in front of him that would borrow thee turn not away You know, this is part of you know, being a peacemaker here, you know, just not letting people draw you into Conflicts. All right. Look at verse number 43 you have heard that it had been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy But I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you and do good to them that hate you and pray for them Which despitefully use you and persecute you that you may be the children of your father Which is in heaven for you maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on The unjust free fee love them which love you What reward have ye do not even the publicans the same and if you salute your brethren only? What do you more than the others do not even the public and so but be the be? Therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect So he's saying look if all you do is just love and get along with everybody who agrees with Everything you say he's like big deal. He's like even dirtbags do that. He's talking about publicans tax tax collectors Politicians, right? I mean even Politicians, you know like each other are nice to each other to other politicians But he's saying look if you have personal enemies, he says love your enemies in verse number 44, by the way He says love your enemies, you know do good to them, you know Bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you. So imagine this I mean, is that an easy thing to do? I mean that's not an easy thing to do people that hate you and persecute you and curse you I mean to bless those people and to do good to those people that is difficult to do But that's what he's saying He's saying be there for perfect. He's like if you can do that You know the Bible says if you can show love and you know to people that hate you and use you It would be just like heaping coals upon their head. You know, the Bible says that you know vengeance is mine We don't have to take vengeance. Just just love your enemies Love your enemies, but that's your personal enemies. This doesn't say anything you'll notice about people that hate God It says people that hate you You Your personal enemies turn to Romans chapter 1 because the Bible does teach that there are people that hate the Lord that hate God and The Bible says in Romans chapter 1 in verse number 28 The Bible says this even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder debate deceit malignity whisperers back biters haters of God Despiteful proud boasters and it goes on and on and on so we know that throughout the Bible There are these people that hate the Lord and we are not to love those people That's where the Bible says, you know, I do I not hate them that hate the Lord. I hate them with a perfect Hatred the Bible says that there is a time to love in a time to hate So there is a time to hate in the Bible But it is reserved only for one group of people and those are the people that literally Hate the Lord and if we would go back and study Romans 1 again, we would see that, you know, these people you know, they had a chance just like everybody else and They turned on God and finally you see God, you know You know with those words those phrases in the Bible where it says God gave them over God gave them up God gave them over to a reprobate mind. So God look they fired the first shot They turned on God God created them. He gave them life. He gives them this creation They gave them their conscience and they turned on the Lord. We are not to love those people Period. All right. Now these are you know, also we're gonna talk about this on Sunday morning, too I don't want to give up my Sunday morning sermon by saying too much. But basically that's that's Also why you need a King James Bible? Okay, because Jesus is the Word of God is very careful in what it says, you know It doesn't say just love everybody no matter what Right, and that's what you will get from these false Bible versions You'll just see these things that they just change words and it changes doctrine big time Okay, and look this church this church if we let a bunch of reprobates in here and Romans 1 talks about These people they become they we know that sodomites are reprobates because of Romans chapter 1 because they became that way after God gave them over You know, it's a cause and effect It's very simple. So we know that all sodomites are reprobates Not all reprobates are sodomites But all right, all all sodomites are reprobates. We know that because of what the Bible says Okay, so look it's very important that we have this doctrine Correct because this church will be in a lot of trouble like a lot of other churches are in trouble By just getting this one doctrine wrong all sudden you just let all these people in and now we have major You know danger in the church Okay, so it's important that you have King James Bible book down at first number 47 I think is where we ended right? Look at 46 for if you love them which love you what reward have you Do not even the publicans do the same and if you salute your brethren only what do you more than others? Do not even the public and so be therefore perfect. Yes, so we already read this but that that's The point of of that whole thing is like look loving your enemies is difficult loving people who love you. Look Loving that your brothers and sisters in Christ should be like the easiest thing ever Right, so, I mean that's why you know earlier in the sermon he talks about, you know If you if you hate your brother, man, do you really have problems? I mean if you come to church and you hate your brother because he borrowed 20 bucks from you and He didn't pay you back and you hate him for that man. You got issues my friend. I Mean you were to just forgive that I mean the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5 that if you don't forgive that type of thing Look don't even don't even bring that that gift to the altar. He says because it's worthless Don't even bring it So you have to have your heart right towards your brother and it should not be it should not be a difficult thing to do Okay now loving your enemies. That's like 400 level class Christianity. All right, but it's possible and that's what Jesus wants you to do as well. All right now, let's look at some application This as we finish up this evening. I want to look at this salt and light in the world Application a little bit on this now salt Now here's the irony of salt to me I mean We see people in this city in this state just panicking like crazy. And and what are they buying? They're just out there panicking and they're buying what can't you get today? They're buying toilet paper Right, they're buying toilet paper. You know what they should be buying I mean if they were just godless people and they were they've just they just wanted to survive They should be buying salt Is what they should be buying but nobody knows nobody knows what to do with that You know, the reason salt had so much value is because it actually is used to preserve food You know, they should be I mean so that's why it has great value because it I mean everybody always needs to eat You know, they didn't have refrigerators in Jesus time, you know, we have you know in a society without electricity It is it is salt that is used to preserve food many of you maybe don't know that but your grandparents I guarantee knew that Or maybe your great-grandparents. Maybe I'm aging myself here. My point is that Simple salt is literal life. I read a book a few years ago called one second after it was this It was a fictional book I don't read a lot of fiction But it basically it was a pretty accurate description people think of what would actually happen in the United States if the electricity went out for one year And it was about this town and how they survived and things that went around, you know in the county and other cities There was a literal war in the book and I know it's a fictional book over this town that had a salt mine This town had a salt mine and there was no electricity people needed to make jerky and preserve meat with the salt and They went to war over that That salt so it's very valuable. So we are compared Remember to this preserving substance think about it you know we Are to be salty and it's because we can preserve the world You know the Bible says that in times when when nations are going astray that you know God wants a man to stand in the gap. He wants you know, the Bible says that you know, we can preserve a nation You know we can give life To the world we can literally go out soul-winning and give life to the world. What the world Are you getting the picture the world is dying The world is dying and you know, I hate to tell you but one thing that's been really Obvious to me in the last week is that people are afraid to die People are literally Terrified to die we live in a dying world that needs to be saved and here's the funniest thing. It's so You start to see the the people just how they act it really separates in really trying times And you know who are the most afraid these tough? Godless people are the most afraid of dying The tough atheist who thinks when I die, I'm just going in the ground there is no God You know, there's you know, we all evolved from whatever, you know, they're really afraid And I mean if I thought that I was just gonna go in the dirt and rock I suppose I'd be afraid to You know if I had nothing to be to be faithful about if I had no hope in me, but what? We can preserve this world. That's that's why we're compared to salt Because we can we can preserve a dying world We can go to someone we can give them the gospel and we can literally preserve their soul for eternity Think about that. I mean you can preserve you can take somebody who's gonna die and literally rot away and You can give them through the Word of God and through the promises of God You can give them the gospel that will make them have that gift of eternal life That's why you're called salt and that's why you need to be salty and Not get mixed in and diluted in and have no fruit That's your fruit when you've preserved someone that's your fruit The light we're called the light turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 Turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 What is the what is the light what is this light You know, I talked about you know, our good works are our light but look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 in verse number 4 Where the Bible says this it says in whom the god of this world lowercase G Have blinded the minds of them which believe not so it says the god of this world That's that's Satan has blinded the minds of those that don't believe that believe not lest Lest the what lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them. So Satan the Bible is saying has blinded the minds of them which believe not And he's saying they've been blinded against what against the glorious gospel of Christ The light shining who's the image of God should shine unto them in whom the god of this world again have Blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel. I just repeated the same verse I don't know why I had it there again But anyway, the point is that the light is the glorious gospel of Christ so when we're out soul winning that that's a light that We're carrying Okay, this is you know, we used to sing this song, you know Don't hide your you know light under a bushel or whatever when I was in Sunday school And you know what this this concept that we are supposed to share the gospel with people It is so clear in the Bible that I understood it when I wasn't saved When I wasn't saved and I was 10 and I was 15 and I was 20 I couldn't but I didn't understand why we weren't doing this When the Baptist would knock on my door in Texas, I didn't understand. Why aren't we doing this? I even asked my Lutheran pastor that one time. Why don't we do that? Seems like we should be doing that. I Mean, it's pretty clear. That's not complicated that we're supposed to shine this glorious light of the gospel unto the world. That's blinded Why aren't we doing that the Baptists are doing we're just not that kind of church You know, we first of all the answer to why we weren't doing it is because we didn't have that light We didn't have that gospel We didn't have the right gospel and look if you think that in order to be saved You have to come to church and confess your sins every single week Why would you go so winning and have somebody believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and many times never see them again? They're not coming to church confessing their sins and doing all these works That's why it's it's they don't have the light They have like something doesn't work. It's not it's not a light. It's different So we're to be a light to the world by the spreading of the gospel and by doing that we preserve the world So there's your salt and light right there All right, we can intervene for a dying world Look this leader these leaders They could destroy this country we can have a population that just allows it it's a great opportunity It's a great opportunity. This world needs salt and light. It needs preserving That's one thing that has been very very obvious to me in the last week. It needs Preserving and it needs the light of the gospel. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father. I thank you for this evening. I thank you for This church service Lord, I thank you that you just allow us to gather here and Lord I pray that you just keep everybody safe and I pray for you know the next week and a half or so Lord that you just be with our church or just fill us with faith and Fill us with you know, just just hope that this situation here would get better and that you know Your judgment would would calm down Lord and and and whatever you do is right, but I just pray for these people here I pray for people's livelihoods Especially in this building Lord that that would be preserved that you would watch over us. You would watch over on everyone's health and you know their families health and everyone that they love and Lord we just thank you for the Word of God and we thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight in Jesus name we pray amen You