(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Good morning everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. We're gonna start off this morning with song 408, Loyalty to Christ. 408, Loyalty to Christ. Let's sing it out together. 408. Yes loyalty to Christ. On to victory. On to victory. We'll move at his command. We'll soon possess the land. Through loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. Song 408 on the second. Oh hear ye brave the sound that moves the earth around. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty to Christ. Arise to dare and do. Ring out the watchword true. Of loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. On to victory. On to victory. Rise our great commander on. We'll move at his command. We'll soon possess the land. Through loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. Come join our royal home. We'll rout the giant wrong. Tis loyalty, loyalty, loyalty to Christ. Where Satan's banners flow. We'll send the bugle note. Of loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. On to victory. On to victory. Rise our great commander on. We'll move at his command. We'll soon possess the land. Through loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. The strength of youth we lay at Jesus' feet today. Tis loyalty, loyalty, loyalty to Christ. His gospel will proclaim throughout the world's domain. Of loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. On to victory. On to victory. Rise our great commander on. We'll move at his command. We'll soon possess the land. Through loyalty, loyalty, yes loyalty to Christ. Great singing. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this great day at said Fast Baptist Church. Thank you for our visitors and for our members as well. I pray that you would bless every aspect of this service and that it would be done for your honor and glory. We love you. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Alright, for our next song, let's go to 244. Amazing Grace. 244. Amazing Grace. Sing it out nice and loud. 244. Praise, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. Was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. His grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we know there's days to see God's grace. And when we first begun. Great singing. If you need a bulletin, you can lift up your hand. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. On the front of our bulletin, we always have our Bible memory passage. We're working on memorizing Psalm 59. We're on verse 4 this week, and so any children 18 and under that can quote the verse of the week, you can claim a prize at our midweek service on Wednesdays, and we give out ice cream. On the inside, we have our service, Soul Winning Times. Take note, our evening service has switched to 4.30, and our Spanish service is now at 9 in the morning, and so we highly encourage you to participate in those services as well. Also, we have our Soul Winning Times. Churchwide meet here at the building, so if you'd ever like to go Soul Winning with us, all you have to do is show up at those times. And then additionally, down below, we have regional Soul Winning, where we meet at different parts of all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and we have several different leaders. If you have any questions about this, you can always ask me, one of our ushers, or Brother Oz, and we can help you to identify a time that works to go Soul Winning. Also down below, we have our church stats. On the right, a list of several expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for all of those ladies who are expecting. We have a prayer list that we continually update. One thing I wanted to point out that I had added recently is June 3rd, there is a trial that our church is going to be having, and I usually don't even announce these things until they get really close, just because they constantly change. This is probably like the fourth date, or fifth date, but it seems very likely that this date will come to pass, and so if you would just at least pray for us that everything would go smoothly, and that the Lord's will would be done. Of course, this is not probably the finale. It's very likely that this thing will continue to get drug out for even longer, but just pray that the Lord would give me wisdom, and the few people that are helping us, and our attorneys, and so that's just something I added there on the prayer list. Down below, we also have some upcoming events. There's a wedding on June 8th in honor of Joshua and Cynthia that's going to be at 3 p.m. June 21st to the 23rd is a special event that's at a friend of our church in Sacramento, California. It's the Red Hot Preaching Conference, and I don't know exactly which number this is, maybe eight or nine, but what's pretty special is they have a new building this year, and so it's really exciting to have their conference in a larger sanctuary. I believe that their sanctuary can seat over 400, and so they're definitely really excited about having the conference. Unfortunately, they usually have way more than 400, so I don't even know if we're going to be able to still jam everybody in there, but it's definitely a great event. It's a fun conference, and if you know anybody in that part of the country, I highly encourage them to come out. Of course, if they're very sensitive, they should not come. No, I'm just kidding, but it's a lot of fun, Red Hot Preaching, and a lot of people want that these days. A lot of people want to hear the truths of the Bible and the hard truths, and so it's a great event. I want to give an announcement about this weekend, because in Chicago, there was an event hosted by Sure Foundation Baptist Church. They have a church plant in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is maybe around two hours outside of Chicago, but they decided to host an event in Chicago this weekend. A lot of people from Sure Foundation in Vancouver came out. The people from their church plant came out. Also, just a lot of people that listen to sermons online or like to follow them came out, and then we also had, I don't know, maybe a dozen or so people from our church that went out there as well, and it was a great event. They ended up having, on Saturday, yesterday, 60 soul winners go out, and they ended up having 80 salvations. To be honest, they didn't even necessarily go to the most receptive areas, because you can drive through some of the areas of Chicago, and it just feels receptive, if you know what I mean. And so, honestly, you know, I went there with a lot of our church members, and it really looks like it would be a great area to go back and do other soul winning events. It seems like that area could even, honestly, even use another church. And, of course, they have great churches. They've had great churches. First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana, was a powerhouse for so long. I can understand why Jack Hiles went out there, just because of the need, specifically, for so many people. Chicago is a very large area. It's giant. Over 9 million people, and it's very densely packed, very densely populated, and you can just tell and sense that there's large areas of that city that no one's really reaching. No one's really giving them the gospel. And so, definitely, we should be in prayer that the Lord would work, and that maybe He would send somebody, or that we can do more events or more work out there, because I feel like it's an untapped potential that just has endless amount of opportunities out there. And so, just keep that in your mind, and keep that in your heart. And thank you to everybody who prayed for us, because, honestly, it went really well. The weather right now is great. It was really beautiful at this time of year. And so, we had a lot of fun. We actually preached on Friday night at a separate location, and the preaching was really good. You can listen to those sermons online on our steadfast channel. You can listen to Pastor Thompson's sermon, and I also preached a sermon that evening as well. And then, we actually got to go to a friendly church. They don't necessarily, they're not like us, or they don't even necessarily agree with this doctrine, but at least they're willing to help us, or allow us to use their facilities just for preaching the gospel. And we ended up having four baptisms. And so, Pastor Thompson and I didn't know that the baptistry, you have to get in it, okay? And I had my swimming trunks, and he's like, hey, you want to get in there? And so, I got to baptize four people yesterday, but that was really encouraging to see people getting out there. We had baptisms. We had four baptisms, 80 salvations. Pastor Thompson's going to be preaching at that church Sunday night, so tonight he's going to be preaching for that part of the Chicago area in Cicero. And so, you know, definitely, if you know anybody in that area, you know, you could encourage them to try the Indianapolis church plant. I know that they have a lot of like-minded brethren, a lot of great people I got to meet for the first time out there, so pray for them as well. And so, I just wanted to make a quick announcement about that specific event. On the back of our bulletin, our graduation month is continuing, and so we have a congratulations to Sophia Bunch on her high school graduation, so let's give her a round of applause. And we also have a gift for you, so I want you to come on down and we'll give you a gift, okay? And it's great to see all the graduates. I think we might even have a couple more, but definitely it was encouraging to see Brother Brian. He drove all the way up to Chicago yesterday for that soul-winning event. Congratulations to them and on to Sophia. Yep. And we hope that our graduates stay with us, all right? So we want all of our graduates to keep going and serving the Lord, and we look forward to your future. Also down below, we have the congratulations to the Tobias family on the birth of Sloan Capri Tobias. He was born on the 25th at 4.12 a.m., weighing 9 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 21 and a half inches long. Congratulations to them as well. Lots of exciting things happening. Let's go ahead and sing our Psalm of the Week. We're going to sing Psalm 149. You can use a King James Bible, but if you'd like, we have a special handout. It's in the laminated handout, and there is a Psalm 49 there. It's a lot easier if you have that, but if you know it, sing it out nice and loud. Psalm 149. Psalm 149. Let's sing it out. Praise the Lord, sing it to the Lord, a new song and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance. Let them sing praises unto him with a timbrel and harp. For the Lord, take in pleasure in his people. He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their bow. And the two edges soar in their hands. To execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the equal. To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron. To execute upon them the judgment written, this honor have all his saints. Praise he the Lord. As the offering plates are being passed around, please turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter number 5. Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. The Bible reads, And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. 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 shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost a savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick that 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. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore 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. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a call shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Rocka, shall be in danger of the council, and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 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. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst 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 thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Ye 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 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 thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. 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, comitteth adultery. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not first swear thyself, but 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, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil. But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will soothe thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. For he maketh his Son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for our church services today. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit and give him a boldness and clarity of mind as he preaches to us. And Lord, I pray that the message would sink down into our hearts and that we would apply it and help us, Lord, to make any necessary changes. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Before I get started, I wanted to apologize because I totally misspoke when I said something about Sloan Capri. I accidentally said it was a he, but of course it's a precious baby girl, and so I apologize about that, but congratulations to them. I wanted to preach a sermon this morning on the Sermon on the Mount, and really this concept is not limited to chapter number five, but rather is chapters five, six, and seven. But I don't want to preach three chapters of the Bible this morning because we'll run into the evening service. So, we're going to focus on chapter five this morning, but I do want to talk about the Sermon on the Mount and really try to emphasize this chapter. So, if you notice here in verse number one and two, it says, In seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Now, some parts of the Bible have a different tone to them, and I believe that the tone here is being implied in verse number two, that this is more of a teaching sermon that the Lord Jesus Christ is performing unto his disciples. Some sermons are going to be more fire and brimstone. Some are going to be more passionate, more vitriolic. Sometimes they're more teaching, and there's a time and a place for sermons to have a different style, to have a different tone, a different audience. And in this specific Sermon on the Mount, we want to understand a couple different things. Number one, this is an opportunity for Jesus Christ to sit down. Notice what it says in verse number five again, And when he was set, his disciples came unto him. So, in this context, you see this as being more relaxed in the sense that he's generally just trying to teach his disciples. Now, when we talk about his disciples, often what we think of is the twelve. We think of the twelve disciples. But the disciples is a word that's more broad than that. In many cases, it's just simply meaning those who are following Christ. And so, in this context, and in this portion of Scripture, it's talking about those that were just following Christ around and wanting to hear what he had to say, wanting to be taught of him, wanting to hear his sermons, wanting to hear his teaching. And so, this is not just limited to the twelve, but rather, this is the group of many disciples that are all following Jesus Christ. Of those disciples, twelve were ordained, and those twelve are the ones that are going to become the apostles. So, that's a major distinction. But you'll see in the Bible how Jesus Christ even ordained seventy others. And you'll see in John, after he preaches his hard sermons in John chapter six, that many of the disciples didn't follow him after those specific sermons. So, again, disciples here, we're talking about just anybody listening and following Jesus Christ. So, this is generally what you think of as a church audience, right? This is the audience of people that are wanting to hear Jesus, going out and finding him. He's going onto a mountain. This is not an easy location. So, they had to travel. They had to go some distance. And these are the people that are dedicated to listening and hearing Jesus Christ preaching the Bible. So, we're not necessarily trying to address the Pharisees. We're not addressing the Sadducees, necessarily. And that's why you'll see in contrast, if you look at Matthew 23, when Jesus Christ is preaching kind of to the audience for the Pharisee's sake, he's screaming and yelling, and he's just like really upset, using a lot of strong, harsh language. Rather, when he's talking just to his main group, his main disciples, he's more teaching them, and this is a little bit more calm, if you would say, this type of a sermon. It doesn't mean that the words aren't challenging. It doesn't mean that the preaching isn't hard preaching, because what makes something hard preaching is not screaming and yelling. If screaming and yelling is what made something hard preaching, then Steven Furtick would be a really hard preacher. Michael Todd would be a really hard preacher. Joel Osteen, in times, you know, gets up and yells and says things. Kenneth Copeland gets up and yells and screams. It's not about the volume. It's not even necessarily about the energy. It's about what the message is communicating. And hard preaching, really, it challenges the individual with sin in their lives. It challenges them with their attitudes, with their minds and their hearts, and that's what makes something hard preaching. And, generally speaking, people don't really like hard preaching. When you preach things that are very hard to hear, many people turn away and don't want to listen. And what's interesting to me is how some people would have this idea that, well, if you're a loving preacher, if you're a kind preacher, you'll preach the Sermon on the Mount, because that is just the kind information that Jesus wants to bestow upon people. But here's the reality. Even the Sermon on the Mount will turn people away. Even the Sermon on the Mount has very harsh truths and realities in it, and it's important for us to recognize that we shouldn't just preach the good parts of the Bible. We should preach all of it. And I like how Jesus Christ incorporates in this sermon specifically almost all kinds of different topics. He brings up heaven and hell. He brings up what his disciples should do. He brings up how to be saved. He's rebuking people for all kinds of different sins. And, generally speaking, if we were to take chapter number five and I were to try to give you some kind of a synopsis of this particular chapter or the idea, he really wants you to understand that we need to strive to be humble. I would argue that chapter number five is emphasizing humility in general, and that as trying to humble his disciples, humble people. And we need to be humble for two reasons. Number one, to get saved, and then number two, to then embrace Christ's teachings. So after getting saved, we also need to stay humble and make sure that we're actually cleaning up our lives. But in order to be saved, you have to be humble. Someone that is not willing to accept any level of humility cannot get saved. It takes a certain level of humility in order to embrace the fact that you're a sinner deserving of hell and to embrace the mercy offered in the Gospel. Now, let's get started with this chapter, and I'm not going to deep dive on any of them. I'm wanting to give a cursory explanation. But notice these first verses here are what's known as the Beatitudes. Verses three through eleven. What is beatitude? It's your behavior. Verse three. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, I do want to focus on this one verse a little bit. It won't be like that for the rest of the sermon. But this, I think, is an interesting verse to start out with and to get the right idea as we journey through the rest of this chapter. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Well, obviously, he's putting a caveat here. He's not just saying poor. He's saying poor in spirit, specifically. So, he's not talking about a physical poverty. He's talking about a spiritual poverty, in a sense. Now, keep your finger here, and I want to go to Revelation chapter three for a moment. While he's not talking about something carnal or physical, what God often does, though, is he teaches carnal truths to help us understand spiritual truths. So, when he's using the word poor, while it's not in a context of physical poverty, that word we understand in physical poverty. We understand what is poor. Not having money. Right? Being broke. Lacking. Being without. And he's using this carnal language to help illustrate a spiritual truth. What would be the opposite of being poor? Being rich. Now, Revelation chapter three, look at verse 17. We're talking about a church here, and we're looking at their attitude. What does it say in verse 17? Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Now, this is really interesting, because from God's perspective, they're poor. How are they poor? They're poor in the sense that they don't have riches towards God. They're poor in the sense that they're not accumulating wealth spiritually. But physically, they have all kinds of riches. You could never say that these people are poor from a carnal perspective. They have a nice building. They have nice clothes. They eat good food. They have all of the carnal pleasures you would want in life. They are rich, notice, and increased with goods. They even have extras. They have all the bells and the whistles. And notice this specific phrase. This is an important phrase. And have need of nothing. The idea of being rich is the idea of needing nothing. You don't need anything, because you can take care of yourself. You already have everything that you could ever want. And that's typically a joke. It's like, what do you buy a rich person for their birthday? They already have everything they want. And so it becomes difficult to buy something for someone that's rich. Well, the problem is, they didn't recognize their spiritual poverty. So when Jesus Christ is saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, he's talking about the exact opposite of this group. It would be a group that's not having this attitude of thinking they're rich when they're poor. And at the same time, of course, it doesn't really matter what your status is. It doesn't matter if you do have great riches towards God spiritually. What God wants you to do is he wants you to have an attitude, a thought pattern, of being poor in spirit. Meaning, I don't have this idea of I need nothing, but rather I need many things. I need God. I need the Bible. I need help. I need stuff spiritually speaking. I need the Lord to guide me. I need the Holy Spirit. I need God's guidance. I need to read my Bible. Whereas someone that's not poor in spirit, they have this attitude of I have need of nothing. I don't need to read the Bible. I don't need church. I don't need a pastor. In fact, I'm smarter than all the pastors out there. This is an attitude you'll see today. There is an attitude out there today where people think they are smarter than every pastor. They don't need church. They don't need the Bible. They don't need God. And in fact, sometimes it even affects Christians, so-called. Where they think they're smarter than every other Christian. They're better. Oh, these people are so ignorant or so foolish. And they have a prideful attitude. And what Jesus Christ is trying to illustrate is the idea of being blessed for being poor in spirit, having a humble attitude, and saying I do need things, not being prideful. Saying I need God and I'm weak. Being poor is an attitude of being weak. Being weak and saying I need help. I need to rely on God. Go to 1 Peter 5. Just go back a little bit to 1 Peter 5. I want to show another verse here. On this idea of being poor in spirit. And I think the more that you go to church, the more that you do, the more that you learn, sometimes you can have this attitude creep up in you, where you kind of feel like I don't need church as much anymore. I don't need to go out and preach the Gospels. I've already done a lot of things. I already have prayed a lot. I'm already doing a pretty good job. I already have a good house. I already have money. I'm rich. I'm increased with goods. I'm kind of on the right path. I'm smarter than most people. I don't really need anything anymore. Whereas God is saying you need to stay poor in spirit. You need to stay humble and not get prideful. Not get lifted up. Not think that you have it all. Who thought that they were rich spiritually when they were spiritually bankrupt? The Pharisees. The Pharisees thought that they were so rich spiritually. They thought that they knew the law. They looked down upon other people saying, this people knoweth not the law. They thought that they were righteous because of their works. They thought they were actually right with God because of the sacrifices and the different activities they performed regarding the Sabbath. But they were hypocrites. They were destitute spiritually and they didn't recognize it. Whereas it was a lot easier for the prostitutes. It was a lot easier for the publicans. It was a lot easier for the wicked to recognize, I'm spiritually destitute. I need a savior. I need God. I need someone to help me. God be merciful to me, a sinner. This is an attitude of being poor in spirit. And the Bible says, blessed are the poor in spirit. What's the opposite of being prideful? Look at 1 Peter 5, verse 5. Likewise, younger, submit yourselves unto the elder, yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. You want the blessing of God, you better destroy the pride that's in your heart. You need to humble the pride in your heart. How do you humble the pride in your heart? By reading the Bible. How do you humble the pride in your heart? By going to church, and having someone preach the hard truths of the Bible. By meditating on God's word, by singing God's praises, and by having the right attitude in heart and spirit, turning back to God. The reason why you're not humble often is because we're not reading the Bible. The more you read the Bible, the more you'll recognize your insignificance, you'll recognize your sinfulness, you'll recognize your wretchedness, you'll recognize your inadequacies, whereas those who aren't reading the Bible, they often get puffed up and think that they're a lot more righteous than they really are. The Bible even said about the king that he was supposed to read the Bible every single day so that his heart would not be lifted up above his brethren. And think about this. Oh, but I'm the king. Shouldn't his heart be above the brethren? I mean, he's the king. No, we're supposed to be humble, we're supposed to be poor in spirit, and even if you're the king, you say, I still need God. I still need the Lord. I still need to read the Bible. I haven't achieved. I haven't arrived. Even the apostle Paul said that he didn't count himself as having already obtained. If the apostle Paul has not obtained, you have not obtained. You have not arrived. We all need God. If David can slip away into major sin, if Solomon can slip away into major sin, you know what? That tells me we all need church. We all need God. And if you think you're gonna serve God without church, you are a fool. You are deceived. And you are prideful. The prideful doesn't need church. The arrogant doesn't need the Bible. But you know what? The poor in spirit, they're the blessed because they say, you know what? I need God on Sunday morning. I need God on Sunday night. I need God on Wednesday night. I need God on Monday morning. I need God on Monday night. I need God on Saturday morning. I need God on Sunday night. I need to read my Bible, and I need to meditate on his word, and I need to listen to the hymns and sing the hymns. I need God. This is the poor in spirit. Whereas the rich say, I'm increased with goods I have need of nothing. I don't need to sing praises to God. I don't need to memorize scripture. I don't need this stuff. I'm rich. I don't need the five dollar gift card for memorizing the Bible. Well, it's not about the gift card. It's about you needing God. Go back to Matthew chapter number five. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Verse four, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. We should have this attitude of desiring to be filled with righteousness, not filled with this world, not filled with pleasure, not filled with carnal things, but rather filled with righteousness. And the reality is, when you're seeking to do right, when you're seeking to do what God would have you to do, He has more work than you can ever accomplish. You say, hey, I want to help the Lord. Okay, well guess what? We have more than you could ever eat. God has an endless buffet of righteousness out there for you. Hey, you can read so much more Bible than you could ever fit in a day. You can't read the Bible in a day. I've got more songs than you can put to music, okay? I've got all kinds of stuff. I have more soul winning than you could ever think of doing. I have so much church. You want some righteousness? God's got it for you. Hey, you need to visit some widows? I've got some widows you can visit. You got some fatherless out there? Yeah, I've got some fatherless out there that you can visit, and their affliction. Hey, you want to keep yourself unspotted from the world? I've got plenty of opportunity for you to keep yourself unspotted from the world. There is more righteousness out there than you could ever accomplish in 10,000 lifetimes. But what's the problem? People don't have an appetite for it. They're having too much fun. Instead of mourning about how many people are dying and going to hell, as opposed to mourning about how wicked our nation has become, as opposed to mourning for the evil that exists in our society, for all the human trafficking, for all the murder, for all the abortion, these people would rather just enjoy and laugh and have fun on their yacht, have fun playing pickleball, enjoying their life, enjoying the luxuries of this world. But you know what? Blessed are they that mourn. And they say there's something wrong with this world, something wrong with people dying and going to hell, and nobody caring about it, nobody doing anything about it. Those who are meek and they're humble in their heart, they don't think that they're somehow special and I've arrived, but rather they're seeking and they're hungering and they're thirsting for righteousness. Verse 7, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. You want mercy from God for your sins? Be merciful to others. Verse 8, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You really want to know God? You really want to see God in your life? You really want to draw close to God? It comes through purity. It comes through purity. It comes from purifying yourself from sin of this world. It's hard to see God in Harry Potter, folks. I know they have the stupid book out there that says seeing God in Harry Potter. That is not where you see God. You know where you see God? Leviticus. You know where you see God? Deuteronomy. You know where you see God? Psalms, and in Job, and in Isaiah, and Zechariah. That's where you see Jesus Christ. That's where you see God. But this world today, they're not looking in the right place, and because of their lack of purity today, they don't know God. They can't see God. They don't even know who God is. They're confused. But the people that are pure, those are the people. The people that are pure in their heart, they're going to understand who God is. They're going to see God the clearest. They're going to know who God is. Verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Peace is what we should seek for. Peace is what we should strive for. Not strife. Not confrontation. You know, in this room, let's just be honest, the vast majority of the people in here are some of the greatest Christians in this area. But they're still sinners. I mean, I love the people in this room. I love the people in this room. Some of the most charitable, loving, kind, cool people that I know come to this church. But there's sometimes this attitude of not recognizing the fact that you're still going to have sinners in this room. And when they transgress, when they do wrong, when they have problems, when they make mistakes, when they have blind spots, sometimes we judge them so harshly. And it's like if you're going to judge the people in this room harshly, that's such a poor attitude, considering how much better they are than the world. I mean, if you're going to give grace to anybody, can't you give grace to the people in this room? Of all the people to love, can't you love the people in this room? Of all the people you have to tolerate, can't you at least tolerate the people in this room? And you know what? Our church should be known as a church that's seeking for peace, not one, oh, this church is filled with cliques. It's filled with all kinds of groups, and if you're not on the in-crowd, or if you're on the west side, or you're on the east side, or you're in this specific clique, you know what? It's a bad mentality. We should be striving for peace in the house of God, and if you can't love these people, then you are someone that just can't love. If you can't love the people coming to this church, you have a lack of charity that is just incredulous to me. Because we should be willing to love people outside of these walls. We should be willing to love the lost. How much more are those inside the walls? How much more are those that love Christ that are His children? And you know, if you say, well, I think this person's kind of awkward and weird and goofy, well, maybe they think you're goofy. Maybe they think you're weird. Oh, I don't like this person. I don't really get along with them. Okay, well, that gives you an opportunity to strive for peace. Because, you know, it's not saying, be peaceful with the people you love and enjoy being around. That's easy. You're not even doing anything. The peace is with the people that irritate you a little bit, that annoy you a little bit, that do you wrong, that cause you problems. We should strive for peace with those people. We should seek for peace with those people, and those are the children of God. This is what I think is important. Think about this. Those are the people called the children of God. If the world looks at you if the world looks at our church from the outside in, and they see us all bickering and just constantly at each other's throats and we can't even like each other, they're not gonna be like, oh, look at all those wonderful children of God. But you know what? If they see a group of people that are constantly loving and compassionate and kind, and they're helping one another, they're helping when someone has a baby, they're helping when someone's sick, they're helping when someone has a need, when someone does them wrong, they do good on them anyways, and in fact, they do that not just here. They do that at their workplace. They do that amongst their family. They do that in their neighborhood, and they say, wow, if there is children of God in this world, it's those people. If there really is someone out there that's a child of God, the God that is love, then it must be that person because that person is so loving. That person's so kind. That person's constantly striving for peace, and those are the people that are gonna be called the children of God, not the ones that are constantly bickering and fighting, and well, at least I know the reprobate doctrine. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say those who know the reprobate doctrine are called the children of God. Those who know the truth about Jews are called the children of God. It says those that are what? The peacemakers. Hey, when someone's wrong on one of these doctrines, how do you handle them? Do you handle them with peace? Hey, look, there's a time and place to get mad. Jesus got mad. Jesus is a peacemaker. But at the same time, he didn't make peace with serpents and with scorpions, but generally speaking, he is a peacemaker. He's kind. He's compassionate. You know, when the young rich ruler came unto him, the Bible says that Jesus looked at him and loved him. The guy was wrong. The guy disrespected Jesus. He still loved him. Jesus looked at the Jews that killed him, and he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker by dying on the cross and making peace with God for us. This is the attitude we should have. What are these beatitudes? It's having a humble attitude about ourselves and saying we need God. We need his righteousness. We're striving for his righteousness. We need his purity. And we need peace and we want mercy and we extend that to others in hopes that God will give that to us as well. Verse 10, Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You know, sometimes we talk about people that are persecuted, and sometimes people bring up groups that are persecuted that are not Christian. You can be persecuted and not be Christian. You know, you can also be persecuted and it's not for righteousness' sake. You're persecuted because you're evil. You're persecuted because you're a bad person. But what the Bible is saying is the people that are blessed are the people that are being persecuted for no reason, for no good reason, specifically for righteousness' sake. They're trying to do right and then people are getting mad at them. What would be someone being persecuted for righteousness' sake? Well, keep your finger, go to 1 Peter 4. I want to look at another verse here, 1 Peter 4. Righteousness is doing right. That's what righteousness is. So when you're doing right, someone gets mad at you. Someone says something evil of you. Someone attacks you for doing something right, like going to church, like reading your Bible, like dressing like a godly Christian, and just the attitudes and behaviors you have in your life. 1 Peter 4 brings this up. Look at verse 1. For as much as this Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God, for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walk in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquitings, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. So this gives you a great list. What would be being persecuted for righteousness' sake? Well, it's saying this group of people used to do what? They used to be walking in lasciviousness. Lasciviousness is lust, very similar, typically when we talk about fornication. That's a form of lasciviousness. And generally speaking, this is what the world does. This is just basically the college atmosphere, what we read, where they're just chasing tail. They're just chasing women, being a whore or a whoremonger, constantly just looking for the next hookup, the next relationship, the next one-night stand, the next relationship they can be into, just a constant, just desire of lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, talking about getting drunk, blacked-out drunk, and of course this includes drugs, smoking marijuana, doing even hardcore drugs, cocaine. Cocaine is extremely popular, folks. People, especially in rich circles, they do a lot of cocaine. And for the poorer community, they're more into fentanyl. They're into meth, because you can cook meth at home. I'm not giving you a recommendation or recipe, okay? Don't ask. Individuals are constantly into drugs and alcohol. They're taking prescription drugs and altering them or mixing them with alcohol. The world's constantly looking for a high, looking for some kind of a fix. Revelings, banqueting, parties. This is what the world lives for. They just live for the next party. They live for the next drunken fest. They live for the next concert that they can go to. Even just this carries its forth into sporting events. Tailgating, right? They just want to go and tailgate and just hang out and just drink and get drunk and party and act stupid and act foolish. Banqueting, just gorging themselves on food, all kinds of fancy things. And in fact, of course back then, idolatry was a major part of that society. But even today, what's a major form of idolatry? How about the Catholic Church, literally? And you know what the Catholic Church is well known for? Their parties. I mean, in fact, I can't tell you how many times I've knocked on doors and talked to people about becoming saved, becoming a Baptist, and they say, well, I want to stay Catholic for the parties. That's what they tell me. And I kind of know what they're talking about because one time, I played in a golf tournament. It was sponsored by a Catholic Church. I didn't really even know what a Catholic Church was at the time. And they had the after party back at the Catholic Church. So usually, you just eat at the golf course. It's all the golf course. But they had an after party at the Catholic Church. So we go to the after party at the Catholic Church, and in their fellowship hall, they literally have kegs. And I'm thinking like, what in the world? This is a house of God? And it's not like this was the first time a beverage to touch the lips of any man out there. They were already well drunk at the golf course. This is their version of John chapter number two, when the men had well drunk, that they go back to the Catholic Church, and Jesus is pulling out kegs. You know what? That's a drunken, wicked, blasphemous idea. Jesus didn't give people alcohol, folks. That wasn't the kind of parties that Jesus was going to. That wasn't the kind of weddings that Jesus was going to. And look, so many people in this world, that is even how they have their wedding. Why would I want to start the first day of marriage by everyone getting drunk and wasted and out of their mind? That shows you where the wedding's going to go. Weddings are supposed to be a picture of holiness and righteousness, the bride wearing white as a picture of Christ's righteousness. A picture of marriage is how a husband says, till death do us part. Just like once you get saved, you're always saved. And now Jesus Christ will never stop loving you. He'll never leave thee nor forsake thee as a husband is supposed to do unto his wife. And yet this is how the world acts. So this is what happens. You say, no, I'm not going to your drunken wedding at the Catholic church where you worship idols. I'm not going. And they say like, oh, you're so evil. How am I evil for not getting drunk? No, I'm not going to go and commit fornication with you. No, I'm not going to go to the bar with you. No, I'm not going to do drugs with you. No, I'm not going to have these activities in my life. And they say, oh, you're a goody-two-shoes and oh, you just think you're better than us. No, you're so prideful. No, no, no, no. I just don't want to sin. And then what happens is you're persecuted for righteousness sake, doing right, not getting drunk. It's crazy how you tell family members, I don't want to get drunk or be around alcohol and they act like you're a bad person. You say, I don't want to smoke marijuana or do all these drugs and they'll act like you're a bad person. You say, I want to go to church. Oh, you think you're better than me. No, I need church because I'm poor in spirit. No, I'm not going to church because I think I'm better than you. I know I'm a bad person and I need God. That's why I'm going to church. That's why I want you to go to church with me. But you know what? They're rich. They're increased with goods. They have need of nothing. And they're filled with another spirit, Jack Daniels. Coveywood back to Matthew chapter number five. That's what it means to be persecuted for rights and the sake. Knocking on someone's door trying to give them the gospel and they run you out like a sleazy door salesman. Oh, you're soliciting. I'm not soliciting. I don't want anything. I just want to give away the gospel. I want to give things away for free. I guarantee if you were the publishing clearing house where you're handing out checks, they wouldn't have a problem. They wouldn't be mad at you as soliciting. They'd be like, can I be on camera? Do you have any But you know what's more, you know what's better than a million dollar check? The gospel of Jesus Christ. It's worth infinite riches. And we're going out and handing it out for free. And yet people get mad at you. Why? Because you're doing right. That's being persecuted for rights and the sake. You know, being lazy at the job, being a derelict, being a drunk, lying about people, railing on people. If someone gets mad at you for that, that is not being persecuted for rights and the sake. Getting in someone's face and screaming at them, that is not being persecuted for rights and the sake. And what we want to do is be persecuted for doing right. And this is what Jesus says, blessed are you. And it says, for theirs are the kingdom of heaven. You know who's gonna get the biggest inheritance in the kingdom of heaven? Those that were persecuted for doing right. Not the ones that were doing wrong. They're gonna just barely make it in. Verse 11, blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you. Notice this word, falsely for my sake. When you do right, you do not have to ask for people to persecute you. It will happen. Family members, friends, coworkers, this world, protesters, the news media, YouTube, it doesn't matter who it is, they will say you are so evil. You're so hateful for wanting to serve God. When it's the exact opposite, it's false what they're saying. But this is what the attitude should be, verse 12, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. You know, our attitude when we get persecuted is we should recognize, hey, I must be on the right path. When someone lies about me, I must be on the right path. I must be doing good. You know, if you get persecuted for being a bozo, you shouldn't feel like you're on the right path. You know, when you're going to jail for stealing, that's not the right path. When you're going to jail because you preached Leviticus, you're on the right path. And you know what? A lot of people went to prison that were good. Joseph, he went to prison. Why did Joseph go to prison? Because he wouldn't commit fornication. That's a good reason to be thrown in jail is for not committing fornication. But how many people today, they'll commit fornication without any threat? They want to. They're seeking for that. He's literally fleeing it and he gets persecuted falsely for righteousness' sake. That is the type of person that's going to be greatly rewarded. Joseph is going to be greatly rewarded in Heaven because he was persecuted for righteousness' sake. He was preaching the Bible to his brethren. They threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. That was being persecuted for righteousness' sake. And why? Because his brethren were lazy. Because his brethren were slothful. They were bad sons, bad kids, didn't want to do right. And they hated Joseph because he wanted to do right. And that tells me that you could be in a family with 11 brethren and they all hate you. Now, at the time it was 10. I get Benjamin was younger. But think about it. He's one out of 11 at the time at least and 10 of his brethren hate him. 10 of his brethren was with the same dad. And it was a good dad. It wasn't even a bad dad. That tells me that even in Christian families today, even amongst the people in this room, you could have your brethren criticize you and persecute you for you wanted to do right. Someone comes up to you in this room and wants to gossip and rail and you say, no, I don't want to participate in that and they'd be like, oh, you're a goody-two-shoes. Well, I'd rather be a goody-two-shoes than whatever you are. I'd rather be a goody-two-shoes than a railer. I'd rather be a goody-two-shoes than a gossip. I'd rather be a goody-two-shoes than a backslidden Christian. Don't think just because someone's in this room that they're going to strive for the kingdom of God or want to serve God. In fact, Jesus is preaching to a lot of his disciples and eventually a lot of them are going to walk away. A lot of them are going to quit. If you go to church for a while, it doesn't matter what church. People are coming and going. Every church, people are just constantly coming and going, coming and going. In a church where we preach the hard truths of the Bible, it's probably going to be the most vicious. It's going to have the most turnover. You're going to just have the most people coming, going, coming, going, because why? Because they don't really like the hard truths. When you have a church where they hardly preach anything, it's the most stable. You're not really going to offend anybody. No one's really upset about anything. And the reason why is they stopped preaching hard a long time ago and now they're afraid to do it again. It's good to go to a church to just keep churning and keep turning. Like, I don't want to go to this church. People keep coming and going. But the question you should be asking yourself is why? And if you strive for the kingdom of God, you'll recognize many people will be coming and going. But you know what? When you're persecuted for righteousness sake, rejoice. That's the right attitude. Verse 13, year of the salt of the earth, but of the salt of loss of savor, wherewith shall it be salted, as thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out year of the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither 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. So not only is he saying that you're going to be rewarded for being persecuted, but you're also going to be rewarded for letting your light shine. And many times, when you do right, people still will praise you. It's not that doing right only receives persecution. It also will sometimes receive praise, but that praise and that glory we're trying to shine is the gospel of Jesus Christ, is God's glory and his light, and we're trying to show people how good God is. And when we let our light shine, it gives glory unto God. Notice in verse 16, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. When you go out and preach the gospel and people get saved, they say, praise God, When they see a church standing up against the wickedness of this world, people say, praise God, there's a church willing to stand on the Bible. When you show somebody the majestic nature of the King James Bible, they can say, praise God for him preserving his word. And when we let our light shine brightly in this world, it gives glory to God. If you care about the glory of God, you will do good works to give him glory. Because when we do nothing, it gives no glory to God. What gives glory to God are people that say, I'm going to heaven no matter what, but I choose, I choose to serve God anyways. I want to serve God because I love him, because he's a good God, because he's a faithful God, and you know what? Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's why someone goes out there and preaches the gospel. I don't have to preach the gospel to go to heaven. I'm going to heaven. You can't stop me. You can put a bullet in my head and I'm still going. You can burn me at the stake and I'm still going. You can do whatever you want. You can hook me up to a computer in Neuralink and I'm still going. I don't care what happens. I'm going to heaven. But you know what? I choose to go out and preach the gospel to give glory to God because there'll be more people in heaven singing praises to God when we go out and get people saved. And you know what? We are the light of this world. We are the salt of the desert. Jesus Christ is in heaven right now and He's wanting us to take our time to shine for His benefit, for His glory. This is why we are here. This is your purpose in life. People always want to know what am I supposed to do in life? You're supposed to be a bright and shining light. You're supposed to be the salt of the earth. You're preserving. Whenever Christians stop being Christian, woe unto that area. Woe unto areas like San Francisco. Woe unto areas like Canada. Woe unto areas like UK. The United Kingdom used to be a beacon of light in this world. Used to be filled with Christians, with intelligence, with wisdom, with power, with majesty, shining a bright light all over the world. And now look at them. Now their salt is worthless. What does it say in verse 13? If it loses its salt, it's good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of men. That's Muslims. Just ask UK. Can you imagine King James how he would feel if he got to see his country overrun by Muslims today? You say he doesn't, he wouldn't know what that's like. Well look, Muslims existed when King James was around. If he had a foreign policy to bring them in, he would have been bringing them in. But let me tell you, he did not have a foreign policy to bring in Muslims, folks. Muslims wouldn't have been surviving in King James' throne. And you know what? It's just a sad day when Christians become good for nothing. America has been a bright and shining light for a long time, but we're losing a lot of the saltiness. We're losing a lot of the brilliance of that light. And we, as God's people, need to take responsibility and say, we're going to be a bright and shining light. We are going to be that salt again. Why? For the glory of our Father which is in heaven. Verse 17, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, to heaven and earth pass one jot, the law, till all be fulfilled, whosoever therefore 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. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Notice that Jesus Christ is saying that he fulfilled the law. And of course he did. The law, he fulfilled it perfectly. He had no sin. Not only that, all the ceremonial aspects of the law he perfectly fulfilled and broke down that partition between us, between the Jew and the Gentile and he created a New Testament in his blood as the Bible describes it. But the commandments are still valid. Verse 19, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach them and so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. There is a consequence to breaking God's commandments. But this is the cool thing about this verse is notice that person still went to heaven. Why? Because going to heaven is not based on following the commandments. Going to heaven is based on believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God that salvation is a free gift to those who put faith in Christ. Then after being saved, notice though that there is still a consequence and there is a reward attached to our behavior. When you're breaking the least commandments and you're teaching false doctrine, God is going to put you as the least person in the kingdom of God and when you are following those commandments and teaching people to follow those commandments, you're going to be called great in the kingdom of God. Now in verse 20, he brings up this interesting idea that you would have to technically have so much righteousness, you'd have to exceed the Pharisees in order to go to heaven. Why does he bring this point up? Well, Jesus is preaching to a mixed crowd even though it's his disciples because unfortunately not all of his disciples are saved. And he's making a big point in this chapter about the need for humility. What causes us to be humble? Recognizing how sinful we are. And so many people, especially at the time of Christ, thought they were righteous enough to go to heaven based on their own merits, based on their own works. And so often what Christ does is he tries to drag people down so that they can get saved. He tries to help them recognize their sinfulness and the fact that they're not righteous. And it's a two effect because number one, it helps us recognize how to be more righteous but at the same token, it helps people recognize how they're not righteous. So those are not saved, they can get saved and those that are saved, they can recognize I need to work on that area in my life. So it works as a two-edged sword here. No one can exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees. And the reality is they were hypocrites and they were very sinful, but it's not like the prostitutes were better. It's not like the publicans were better. In fact, the Apostle Paul, he described himself as touching the law blameless. There probably was not anyone that was physically more righteous than the Apostle Paul at that time. He probably lied the least, he probably did the sacrifices the best, he probably, as far as just the letter of the law, the Apostle Paul was probably the top of the top or in the upper echelon and he even he himself recognized, wow, that's not going to get it. All my righteousnesses are as filthy rags in comparison. So that's not the way into heaven. The way into heaven isn't to be like Paul following the law, it was like Paul becoming blind and recognizing the need of a savior and humbling himself and counting it all but dung and then accepting Christ as your savior. Salvation is not repenting of your sins and going to church and kissing the icons and bowing down to Mary and confessing your sins to the priest and turning over a new leaf. Salvation is putting all of your faith in the death, burial and resurrection and saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner and putting all of your trust in him and in that moment, that's what salvation is and he's trying to help these people recognize you're not getting in on your righteousness, buddy. If you think you're going to get in on your righteousness, be better than the scribes and Pharisees. It's like, oh no, I'm not better than them. Right? So that's not how you get in because if that was how you got in, no one's getting in. That was the point. No one gets into heaven because of their righteousness. Verse 21. He hath heard that it was said by them of old time, thou should not kill and whosoever 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 and whosoever shall say to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the council but whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Oh, you're one of those hell, fire and brimstone preachers, hell and damnation preachers. Well, that's Jesus. Your beloved Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ is warning about hell. Did you realize that? There's a lot of great points here. One I want to make is this idea that Catholics have and even Orthodox of this idea of mortal sins. Who's heard of mortal sins before? Okay. This idea of mortal sins is like you commit this one sin and you're just doomed to hell. It's just a deadly sin. It's over. And one of those will typically say is murder. But look what the Bible says here in verse 21. Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. It doesn't say that they're definitely going to the judgment. They're just in danger of that. Why? Because you can even be forgiven of murder. Like Moses. Like King Saul. Why? Because murder doesn't send someone to hell. All sins send someone to hell. And how you get saved is by believing in Jesus, regardless of which sins you committed. You committed horrible sins. You can still be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, which washes away all sin. All sin. Even murder. Even suicide. It doesn't matter. If you've believed in Christ, you're saved. But what's the point here? Don't just kill people, or not kill people, but also you can't even be angry with your brother. Notice this caveat, without a cause. Did you notice that? It didn't say you can't be angry with your brother. It didn't say you can't call your brother a fool. It said you can't do it without a cause. Meaning if you don't have the right cause to call someone a fool, then don't say it. Now, you say, how do I know it's the right time? When the Bible does it. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. If your brother says if your brother's an atheist, he's a fool. There's nothing wrong with calling an atheist a fool. God does. The Bible does. But if someone does something you just don't like, you can't just call them a fool, say rock onto them, be angry at them when they haven't done anything wrong. You know what? That is a sin that, look in verse 22, shall be in danger of hellfire. So some people thought, I've never killed anybody. Have you ever been mad at somebody when you shouldn't have been mad at them? Cause you're also in danger of hell now. Why? Because every sin puts you in the danger of hell. And then once you're saved, you can never lose it. Okay? But he's trying to warn these people, hey, you guys think that you're going to heaven because you haven't killed anybody? Well, wait a minute. Have you ever been angry at somebody without a cause? You've probably got 90% of the people. Like 90% of the people are like, yeah, I've done that. Okay. It's going to get harder. All right? Verse 23, therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there are members that thy brother hath ought against, they leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and the judge of thy reason. So if you've ever done anything wrong to somebody and you haven't apologized or made it right, he's saying you've got to do that first. And he's saying, why do you think God wants a sacrifice from you when you have done wrong to your brother? Meaning you should seek to right every wrong before you present yourself to God. Before you try to get favor with God, you better make sure you right every single wrong you've done. You know what? You know what the attitude most people have? I'm going to make sure that they pay for the wrongs that they've done. As opposed to saying, I'm going to make sure I pay for the wrongs that I've done. That's the attitude we should be having. Verse 26, verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence that thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. God considers how you behave towards other people very seriously. Be careful. At this point, most people kind of recognize that I've screwed up. But if you haven't yet, you will at this next one, all right? Verse 28, but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. He was like, any of you still prideful people out there, let me just give you another sin that you're for sure guilty of. Have you ever had a lustful thought? Anybody that says they have it is the dumbest liar because no one believes you. I don't care if you could even convince yourself, you could never convince another person that this has happened. And he's just saying, look, I know you've probably, a lot of you have never committed adultery, but have you ever thought it? Because just even thinking about it is a sin. Now again, don't take what Jesus is saying in an overly literal fashion. This is what people do because they don't like the death penalty. They'll say, oh, if you think adulterers should be put to death, then that would be everybody because look what he says here in this verse. But he didn't say adultery, he said adultery in the heart, meaning it's a different type of adultery. There's different types of murder, there's different types of adultery, there's different types of sin. God does not have crimes for thought crimes, okay? He doesn't have penalties written in the Old Testament. This guy had a thought crime, arrest him. This guy had a thought crime, penalize him. No, no, people had punishment because they did the crime, not because they thought the crime, but he's also saying even by thinking the crime you sinned, it's still a sin, it was still wrong. And of course, where did those bad actions come from? Well, they started with a thought first. And the person, instead of taking captive that imagination, they ended up acting on that imagination. So when we have those bad imaginations, we're trying to take captive of them and bring them into subjection, bringing them into the right place, getting rid of those thoughts. This is a challenge for all of us every day. But to those that still didn't quite get it, he's saying, okay, you think you could actually literally never stop? You think you could actually stop lusting? Or you think you have to stop lusting to be saved? Well, go ahead and verse 21, if thy right eye, if any, pluck it out. If you think that you have to never have another lustful thought to get into heaven, you better go ahead and just pluck your eyes out. But here's the problem. You probably could still think of things, couldn't you? Even being blind, things that you've seen in the past, right? For it is profitable for you that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast in hell. He's saying hell is so bad that you would actually be way better off literally cutting your eye out right now than going to hell. That's how bad hell is. And then specifically, if you genuinely thought you had to keep the law perfectly to go to heaven, then why are you not cutting your eyes out? Like those who believe in repenting of their sins, I want to know, here's a knife. Oh, you're going to repent of your sins? Cut your eyes out then. Or are you going to tell me that you somehow don't sin that way anymore? Liar. Everyone sins that way. And it's not a justification, folks. I'm not trying to say, hey, if you sin this way, don't try to fix it. No, we should work on that. But we should also recognize that's a sin that will never be cured until you have your eyes ripped out, and then you still probably want to be cured of it anyways. Okay? That's how stupid it is. Verse 30, and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, for it is probable that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Look, if you think that you have to stop sinning, you might as well put yourself in a coma. And even then, I'm skeptical. Okay? Verse 31, it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a riding on divorcement. But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, cause of her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, commiteth adultery. You just go to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus already says don't commit it, don't get divorced. And if you do get divorced and remarried, that was a form of adultery. Again, people say like, oh, so you want to put people to death for that? No, that's a different type of adultery. No one was put to death for getting divorced and remarried. That's a way different sin than actually committing adultery while married. Way different, not nearly the same. But it's still a form of adultery, and it's still wicked, and it's still super wrong, and Jesus condemns it. Think about it. You want to know who walked away from his sermons? People that were divorced and remarried. I am almost convinced that one of the main reasons why these big non-denominational churches are so big is on that one point alone. Why? Because here's the thing. There's so many people that are divorced, and they're seeking remarriage, and where do people try to find a spouse at church? But here's the thing. They're not allowed to find a spouse in my church. So of course they're not going to come here shopping for a spouse when they're divorced. So where do they go? They go to the non-denominational church where they're all swapping spouses That's why they go to those kind of churches. And if church by and large just didn't permit that, then people would have to get over themselves and get their butt into a real church. But because they're so sinful and they're not hungry for righteousness and for godliness, they go to a fun center and listen to Steven Furtick in a bunch of girl jeans lying to them. Why? Because they want someone to lie to them and tell them it's okay, get divorced and remarried, I know that it's adultery and whatever, it's not a big deal because God's not mad at you. Oh, by the way, you have to repent of your sins to be saved. What? Those are like dens of iniquity. What sins did they even repent of anyways? They're not an axe murderer? Wow, congratulations. Congratulations on your congregation not being drug-out serial killers. I mean, it's ridiculous the world that we live in. And you know what? Someone needs to preach against divorce and remarriage. It's not a popular thing. And look, I'm not mad at people that are divorced and remarried. I just don't want people to do it. There's plenty of great people that are divorced and remarried. There's people serving God that are divorced and remarried. You can still serve God. But don't tell me it wasn't a sin. Don't tell me that you recommend that to other people. Be humble enough to say, you know what? That was wrong. I did wrong. But you know what? I don't want to do it anymore and I don't want my church members to do it because you know what? It wasn't right. Verse 33 again, You have heard that it has been said by them of all time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but 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, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Now this was so funny to me, when people preach on Matthew 5, they'll only ever use these words, swear not at all. They don't bring up any of the context that we just brought up. And then they turn swearing into something that it's not. They turn it into four letter words. But that has nothing to do with this passage whatsoever. And what's sad is they ignore what God actually taught and then they replace it with cussing. Okay, what is four swearing yourself? It's going back on an oath you made. What would be going back on an oath that you made? Oh, how about a marriage vow? How many churches a day are permissive and allowing their church members to go out and commit divorce and remarriage, a form of adultery, but they would say, how dare you ever use a four letter word? What about your hypocrites? They would get mad at me like, oh, you've used bad language before, and you don't know this verse, swear not at all. But then they'll literally perform a marriage in their church of a remarriage of a type of adultery. And then they'll use this verse to prove that. Swear not at all. Look, you know what this is saying? No, you don't. What does it mean to not swear? It's saying when you make a promise to not invoke God or Jerusalem or some higher power or your mom, say like, I swear on my mother's grave or I swear on God or I swear on the Bible or I do this. You know, isn't it interesting that every president puts their hand on a Bible and swears on it? Huh. And what does the Bible say? That comes of evil. You want to know how I know the presidents are liars? They put their hand on a Bible to say that they're not. Because the Bible says you should just say yea, yea, nay, nay. And if they were going to take this passage literally, then that's the only words they could ever use in their mouth. But they don't do that. Look, this is not prohibiting certain four-letter words, folks, okay? That's a bad doctrine that doesn't come from this book. Now, look, if you want to choose to not use certain language because you think it's offensive and you don't want to offend people, I'm for you, that makes total sense. But don't tell me that it's this passage where it says swear not at all. Go to a different passage, okay? And I'll go there with you and we'll read the Bible and we'll think about it. But you know what? Don't use this passage because that is not what it's saying. It's saying when you promise something, you do it. Verse 38, He hath heard that hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain, giving him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. He hath heard that hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for ye maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans the same? Do not even the publicans so? Be therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. So this last section is dealing with the idea of going beyond what is expected. If someone says, Go a mile, that's expected, right? Going twain is going above what's expected. Loving someone that loves you, that's expected. Loving someone that doesn't love you is going above what is expected. Doing good unto people. He's saying generally, hey, if someone does you wrong, let them do you wrong again. Saying if someone says, Hey, can I borrow 20 bucks? And you give them 20 bucks, and they never pay you back? And then they come back around and they're like, Hey, can I get another 20 bucks? Instead of saying like, Well, you didn't pay me back the last time. Just be like, Sure, here's another 20. So they got you on the left, now they got you on the right. Right? That's what it's saying. It's not saying if someone breaks into your house to rob you, just be like, Here's the TV. Can I help load it in the car? No, no, no. I'm going to help unload my gun to their forehead. Okay? That's what I'm going to do. But it's saying when someone is just doing you a little wrong, pushing you around, messing with you, you just say, You know what? I'm seeking for peace. You know, this is, I'm going to be kind to this individual. And we should be like God who reigns on the just and on the unjust, does good unto people. Look, you know, I've heard people that are not even safe, and they'll say, God does so much good to me. And I'm thinking, Yeah, God does good to unsaved people. God's done so much for my life, or God's helped me, or I think God's done good for me. That's true. God has done good for those people. But you know what? He was doing that good unto you so that right now I could preach you the gospel and you'd get saved. That's why he did good. And even sometimes they recognize it. They say, Wow, this really positive thing happened in my life. And I think it's because God wants me to hear from him right now and to seek him. And it's like, you're right. Even crazy events. I had a guy I met in a bookstore, and he said, I literally almost died in a car accident two weeks ago. And I've said, I know that God wants me to figure out like how to be saved and like what's going on. And I was just like, Well, if you died today, are you sure you go to heaven? He's like, No. Will you show me? Yeah. Like this is like a soul winner's like dream. You're kind of pinching yourself. Like, is this real? Like, what do you mean? He's like, somebody just walking up, sir, to be saved. You're like, okay, here you go. I mean, wouldn't that be nice? You walk in the neighborhood and everybody just gets out of the house and just walks straight up to you like, sir, what must I do to be saved? Like, this is great. You know, this is easy. But sometimes that happens. Why? For that opportunity for the gospel. God did good under them for that opportunity of the gospel. We go out and love people for that opportunity of the gospel eventually. They say, wow, that guy wasn't as much of a jerk as I thought. Wow, they're kind of cool. That actually made sense what he said about that. I like that. These people like children. You know, I remember even some of our protesters, they emailed us and they said, I was, you know, really mad at y'all but then when I showed up and I saw how happy all the kids were and all the ladies and, and I read your doctrinal statement. It was like, y'all are exactly what you say you are. And like, all the people that were there were hypocrites and liars and scumbags. And they're like, I'm sorry for protesting you. Maybe that person will get saved someday. You know, and we can do good on them. Now, of course, some of those people in that crowd were for sure reprobates. And I'm not like wanting to welcome my church or anything, but we should do good even unto the unjust and the ungodly. And yeah, wouldn't it be cool? Wouldn't it be cool if you go into heaven and you walk up to somebody and you shake their hands and they're like, hey, I protested your church one time. Wouldn't that be cool? I mean like, yeah, I know I protested. I mean, think about it. The apostle Paul was at Stephen Stoney and he was consenting to his death. He was holding the coats. Don't you think it was a little awkward when Paul is like, hey, Paul, I want you to meet Stephen. You're like, yeah. Hey, man. What's up? He's like, I know you, don't I? And he's like, yeah. I mean, think about that. But you know what? We're going to all laugh about it. It's going to be fun in heaven. Lighten up a little bit, folks. Jesus Christ is just saying, hey, be like God and just love people and do good unto people and be humble and be like God and be perfect. Strive to be perfect like he is. Go to Leviticus and we'll finish. You know what's so interesting is how Jesus is constantly quoting Leviticus in Matthew, chapter number five, because he said to love your enemies. Well, you know where it comes from? Leviticus, chapter 19. Look at verse number 18. Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. You know who likes the book of Leviticus? Jesus. And not only did he quote it here, but look at verse number two. Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them, Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. The same as you should be perfect, for the Lord thy God is perfect. What is holy? Set apart, striving to be righteous. And so Jesus is quoting multiple passages in the book of Leviticus. That tells me I need the book of Leviticus. That tells me that this is a great book instructing us on how to live our lives. Even chapters 18 and 20, folks. We should like all of it. And people get mad at you for quoting Leviticus. Well, you know what? Jesus quoted Leviticus. Like, why don't you preach the Sermon on the Mount? Well, Jesus quoted it. Why are you preaching on hell? Well, Jesus preached on hell. Why are you preaching on divorce and remarriage? Jesus preached on divorce and remarriage. And look, we're just getting started. That was just chapter five. We haven't gotten to chapter number six and to chapter number seven yet. This is some hard preaching, and you can see why people left. But you know what? Those that are hungry for righteousness will continue to strive to be perfect. Will say, you know what? I've made a lot of mistakes, but I want to get better. And I want my children to do better. And I want my church to do better. Why? For the lost. For those that will accept Christ. I want to do good so that those unsaved, unjust people will be turned to righteousness, that our bright and shining light will give glory unto the Father. And you know what? Those are going to be called the children of God, the peacemakers. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for this great sermon from your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that we would get his words deep into our hearts and our minds. And we would love all the truths, the good truths, the unpleasant truths, the hard to hear truths. And I pray that we would seek to be more humble, we'd be more poor in our spirits, that we'd recognize our need for you and for church. And I pray that you would give us more love in our hearts towards our brethren, not just our brethren, but to those that do us wrong, to this lost and dying world, to those that may even smite us on the cheek. I pray that we would have Jesus' attitude, that we would turn to them the other also. And I pray that no matter what, we would seek for peace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. For our last song, let's sing 238. Song 238, Christ liveth in me. Song 238, let's sing it out. Once far from God and dead in sin No life my heart could see But in God's word the light I found Now Christ liveth in me Christ liveth in me Christ liveth in me Oh, what a salvation it's that Christ liveth in me As rays of light from yonder sun The flowers of earth set free So life and life and love came forth From Christ living in me Christ liveth in me Christ liveth in me Oh, what a salvation it is That Christ liveth in me As lives the flower within the seed As in the cold the tree So praise the God of truth and praise his Spirit well within me Christ liveth in me Christ liveth in me Oh, what a salvation it is That Christ liveth in me With longing all my heart is filled That my divine may be As on the wondrous binder That Christ liveth in me Christ liveth in me Christ liveth in me Oh, what a salvation it is That Christ liveth in me Thank you all for coming. God bless. You are dismissed.