1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:12,760 Matthew chapter 5 So we need to keep saying what we've been 2 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:14,440 saying. I'll just say it more quickly 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,720 this time. Jesus is preaching 2 disciples 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,760 the Sermon on the Mount. In our context now it should be 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,560 concerned, considered as a sermon to Christians rather than 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,240 hey, everybody everywhere. This is the list of stuff you 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,000 got to do to make it. No one could make it. 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,120 If this was a list of stuff you had to do to make it, there 9 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,120 would be no body making it. But this is a this is a 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,440 description of Hey, my people. This is what it looks like. 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:41,920 These are some particulars. These are some details of what 12 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,480 it looks like You you've been made new in Christ. 13 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,400 Yeah, Well, what does that new Kingdom life look like? 14 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:48,920 Well, we're not going to murder anybody. 15 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,720 Well, lots of people don't murder people, but in my 16 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:53,120 Kingdom, that looks even different. 17 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,000 The standard is way higher than what these Pharisees have told 18 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:57,520 you to do. Well, we shouldn't commit 19 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:58,800 adultery. Well, lots of people don't 20 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,240 commit adultery. But I want to explain to you the 21 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,440 standard is something more clear and more pure than what the 22 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,920 Pharisees ever told you. So now he's starting to get into 23 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:08,640 the details. So today we're going to look at 24 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,560 anger, we're going to look at lust, and we're going to look at 25 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,960 divorce. It seems like this is kind of a 26 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,760 random sermon. You know, as modern preachers, 27 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:18,840 if we were going to do a sermon, we're going to do a sermon 28 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,000 series on anger. You know, it's a three-part 29 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,600 sermon series on on anger. And we're going to talk to you 30 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,520 about getting really practical and and how not to be so angry. 31 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,720 Or we're going to do a three-part sermon series on 32 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:30,200 lust. And like, you know, here's where 33 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,040 lust comes from. And these are the behaviors you 34 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:33,880 need to avoid. And I don't think any of that 35 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,720 would be wrong. Or we're going to do a sermon on 36 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:37,880 divorce and we're going to answer some of those questions 37 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,520 that seem to be so tricky and sticky. 38 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,000 And how does this work? Or what about remarriage and and 39 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,920 what about this context? When would that apply? 40 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,160 We're going to it. We would typically be tempted to 41 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:48,880 get really specific in each of those things. 42 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,320 How in the world does Jesus lump these together? 43 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:53,960 How does that make sense? Well, it makes perfect sense 44 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,080 when you see what he's doing. He's, he's pointing to the heart 45 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,400 issues. He's going, hey, everybody wants 46 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,200 to measure the externals. He's going all this stuff has a 47 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,200 deeper heart motive behind it, he says. 48 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,800 And that's the thing that that you should have always been 49 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,120 targeting instead of, hey, what are the rules I need to follow? 50 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,000 So I look good for everybody. It's more more than that. 51 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,200 It's what's going on in here. This is always going to to show 52 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,320 up externally out of the overflow of my heart. 53 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,640 My mouth is going to speak. So rather than don't say that 54 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:23,520 word or don't say that word, don't say that word. 55 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,440 Well, have a pure heart, and then my mouth will respond 56 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,280 appropriately to what's already in my heart. 57 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,520 My mouth is, generally speaking, going to always be revealing 58 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:34,880 what's in my heart. Now, I might be able to fake it 59 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,600 in front of you here and there, but ultimately my mouth will 60 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:40,120 reveal what's going on inside my heart. 61 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,200 That's true of my whole life. It's true of your whole life. 62 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,120 We can't escape that truth. My life in general is preaching 63 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,040 the sermon that that's already met. 64 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,760 That's already the meditation of my heart. 65 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,000 So whatever is going on externally, it's a 66 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,320 manifestation. Well, could I nitpick? 67 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:57,480 Because you find exceptions? Probably so. 68 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,920 But generally speaking, it's definitely true that my life is 69 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:06,000 revealing what's in my heart. So this sermon is to encourage 70 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,480 us from Christ. It is to correct us from Christ. 71 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:10,440 It is to instruct us from Christ. 72 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,080 But it's not intended to just crush us, except in the sense 73 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,880 where we said yes. The message of Jesus crushes you 74 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,760 only for the motive of making you poor in spirit and making 75 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:22,880 you mourn over your sins so that you would run to the cross. 76 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,400 So the Lord would crush us only in the way that we would say I 77 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,800 can't do this and he would go. Finally you've arrived at all I 78 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,920 ever wanted you to arrive at. Anyway, now depend upon me, 79 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,880 actually need me instead of think I'm a supplement, right? 80 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:38,640 I take vitamins, I take supplements. 81 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,240 I don't know if I really need them. 82 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,000 You know, like every morning I take them. 83 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,160 I'm like, I feel like I'm a better person now because I did 84 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:47,800 this. I took my fish oil, I took the 85 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,720 vitamin D. But do I really need it? 86 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,800 I don't know. Maybe. 87 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:53,560 Maybe not. This is not Jesus. 88 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,480 He's not the supplement. Maybe he makes a difference, or 89 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,000 I feel a little better when I take my magnesium. 90 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,480 Jesus is a Jesus is a great supplement to my life. 91 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,760 That's not it at all. Jesus is more like your food and 92 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:07,920 your water. You're going to die for sure, 93 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,240 without Christ. So he's not a supplement. 94 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,720 He is actually our life. And now let's keep going into 95 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:21,959 his sermon. So we're in verse 21 where he's 96 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:24,880 talking about anger. You have heard that it was said 97 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,480 to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will 98 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,360 be liable to judgement. But I say to you that everyone 99 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,600 who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement. 100 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,760 Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and 101 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:45,280 whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. 102 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,440 So if you're offering your gift at the altar and you remember 103 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,240 that your brother has something against you, leave your gift 104 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,960 there before the altar and go first be reconciled to your 105 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,000 brother, and then come and offer your gift. 106 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:03,720 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're going with 107 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,720 him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and 108 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,960 the judge to the guard, and you to be put in prison. 109 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,080 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have 110 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,480 paid the last penny. So Paul is just here for a 111 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,280 moment and we're going to look back now at verse 20. 112 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,120 Remember the context of where what he's saying? 113 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,160 He said don't think I've come or verse 17, he says don't think 114 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,280 I've come to abolish the law. Why would he say that? 115 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:29,000 Well, because then he starts to say something. 116 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,960 Is that at first glance look like he's abolishing the law 117 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,200 like hey, you've heard it said this, but I say don't do that. 118 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:37,880 But but he raises the standard. He doesn't lower it. 119 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,960 He clarifies the standard. And then in verse 20 he says for 120 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,560 I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of 121 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,800 the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of 122 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,320 heaven. What was his point there? 123 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,400 Well, it's he's doing multiple things because he's brilliant 124 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,080 and he's wise and he's perfect. But one thing that's very 125 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,160 obvious that he's doing and he's saying the scribes and the 126 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,760 Pharisees, they don't even have righteousness. 127 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:05,600 So on one hand the listeners go, my righteousness has to be 128 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:07,200 better than the scribes and the Pharisees. 129 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,280 And she says yes, also fun fact, they don't have any 130 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,560 righteousness. They're doing exclusively 131 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,200 external things with the heart motive not in the right place, 132 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,360 which reveals that there is no righteousness. 133 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,200 So then he starts to get into the details. 134 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,880 So we have to keep coming back to verse 20, and then we can 135 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,480 look at what he teaches. Go back to verse 20. 136 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,120 Your righteousness has to exceed that of the scribes and the 137 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,400 Pharisees. Not just the minimum standard of 138 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,240 the of the interpretation, but the maximum standard of the 139 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,880 interpretation. Verse 27, he continues. 140 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,440 You have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery. 141 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,920 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with 142 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,240 lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in 143 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,040 his heart. If your right eye causes you to 144 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,280 sin, tear it out and throw it away. 145 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,320 For it is better that you lose one of your members than that 146 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,000 your whole body be thrown into hell. 147 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,680 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw 148 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,440 it away. For it is better to lose one of 149 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,240 your members than for your whole body to go into hell. 150 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,520 What has to happen? Our righteousness has to be 151 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:10,760 greater than what we currently have. 152 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:11,880 Why? Because we don't have any 153 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,000 righteousness in ourselves. Verse 31. 154 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,280 It was also said whoever divorces his wife, let him give 155 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,920 her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone 156 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,240 who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, 157 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,280 makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced 158 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:34,440 woman also commits adultery. Let's pray again God, thank you 159 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,200 for your word and thank you for your wisdom as you cut through 160 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,840 the clutter as you clarify where man would want the rules that he 161 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:44,840 can accomplish so that he can be the hero. 162 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,600 You say that nobody is the hero except for Christ, and we have 163 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,000 to have a righteousness that's far greater than our own. 164 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,760 And still you have teaching. You have instruction to grow us 165 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,560 when it when it comes to crucifying anger, crucifying 166 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,240 lust, and holding high the standard of the marriage vows in 167 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,320 the marriage covenant, because they represent Christ in His 168 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,920 church, mature us, grow us, and prune us. 169 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,240 Today. In Jesus name we thank you. 170 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,920 Amen. So Jesus is quoting Old 171 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,160 Testament law, and these are, as we talked about, there's some 172 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,680 law that has been fulfilled in Christ that we no longer are 173 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,880 obedient to. And then there are other things 174 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,080 that still continue. And if you want to know how do 175 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,560 you know which is which? I talked about that quite a bit 176 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:33,120 last week. So go back and listen to that 177 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,559 sermon. But God's commands, we have to 178 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:37,480 remember, are always a blessing to us. 179 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,960 God's rules are not just rules for rules sake. 180 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,720 God gives us rules and standards for a couple of reasons. 181 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,440 But first of all, because sin is actually objectively bad for 182 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,280 you. It's bad for you. 183 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,200 Why can't I eat this? Because it will kill you. 184 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:53,760 Well, I just wish I could have it. 185 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,360 Well, I guess technically you can, but you shouldn't because 186 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,840 it's bad for you, objectively bad for you. 187 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,040 It will produce bad outcomes for you. 188 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,320 This is why sin is the sin that it is. 189 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,240 It's not because God was like, eeny meeny miny MO. 190 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,080 Some stuff is OK, some stuff isn't. 191 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,160 No, some stuff is like him, and that's good. 192 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:15,560 That's righteousness, that's holy. 193 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,000 And that also leads to goodness and human flourishing. 194 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:20,760 So all the things that fit in the Kingdom, he goes, this is 195 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:22,520 in. Nothing has to be changed or 196 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,640 adapted and anything. It's not like that go well 197 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,760 that's it's actually bad, objectively bad. 198 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:30,760 Not in my opinion, not subjective, but objective. 199 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,640 Plainly and clearly it will lead to bad outcomes. 200 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,360 Sin leads to bad outcomes in my life. 201 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,000 Sin leads to bad and destructive things in my soul. 202 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:41,960 It might not always show up instantly. 203 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,320 Oh, and one time I did this thing and, you know, and I I 204 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:46,840 didn't instantly get struck by lightning. 205 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,120 Correct. And yet still damage has been 206 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,440 done in my soul, and yet still something has been broken inside 207 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:54,880 of me. I've gotten farther from the 208 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,080 Lord as opposed to closer from the Lord. 209 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,840 Therefore, it's objectively bad that reveals that his presence 210 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,640 is wholly this is, this is a departure from who he is and 211 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,960 what he wants. So I've just taken a step away 212 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,240 from the Lord. My only reason for existing, 213 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,440 anyway, was to walk with him. That was why he invented you. 214 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,520 And I was to be with him. So anything I've done to walk 215 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,960 away from that. So remember, when we think about 216 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,360 law, when we think about rules, when we think about the king and 217 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,560 his standards is our temptations go. 218 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,440 It's a heavy, heavy load, but I'm going to press into it. 219 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,840 No, it's a good load. Jesus yoke is easy, thankfully, 220 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,720 and his burden is light. But there is a yoke. 221 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,160 There is a burden, but it's goodness. 222 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,840 It's goodness. Sin is bad not just because it's 223 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,600 disobedient to the Lord's command, but also because of 224 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:43,560 what it produces. Breaking God's law brings the 225 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:46,480 curse. The law of God is good, and it's 226 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,560 still in effect for Christians, except, like we said, for the 227 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:53,960 parts that have been fulfilled. So here Jesus is correcting what 228 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,760 the Pharisees have taught. The Pharisees took the law of 229 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,680 God. Imagine it's like just this 230 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,960 beautiful, rich mahogany wood. Well, the Pharisees come along 231 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,440 and they put a coat of paint over it, and then they come and 232 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,200 put another coat of paint over it, and they put another coat of 233 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:12,840 paint over it. They put all these layers of 234 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,200 paint on top of the wall and they made it say something other 235 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,120 than what God was saying. You can still see the shape of 236 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,040 the object that they painted, but you can't really see it. 237 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,160 They pretended that they've made it now more, but instead they've 238 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:28,240 made it less. Have you ever seen somebody 239 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,880 paint over wood? And you thought you made, you 240 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:33,400 know, like, oh, look at this beautiful paint. 241 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,120 Like, you made it less. You know, there have been people 242 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,680 who moved into houses and they, they pull up the carpet and 243 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:42,440 they're like, this is gorgeous. This is gorgeous. 244 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,400 Wood floors, like, Oh yeah, we put carpet on it. 245 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,480 I don't know why, because the 90s were a thing and we thought 246 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,760 you were just supposed to put carpet on everything, You know? 247 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,160 I think we've repented from that somewhat in our culture, and 248 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,920 we're we're recognized that wood is more beautiful than carpet. 249 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,160 But but they've come. They've pretended to make it 250 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,680 more with their paint job, but they actually made it less with 251 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:03,320 their paint job. With the paint job of the 252 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,640 Pharisees, you can hate as long as you don't stab somebody in 253 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,120 the chest with a pitchfork. With their paint job, you can 254 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,600 lust after someone as long as you don't go to bed with them. 255 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,840 But Jesus reveals that the will of God goes, He goes actually 256 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,480 always for the heart issue. And Jesus is coming and he's 257 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,920 stripping away these coats of paint and he's revealing the 258 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,880 beautiful original wood that's good for everybody. 259 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,640 Although the standard is high, it's actually also good news for 260 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:34,040 everybody. So us being sinful people, we 261 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,400 hear these standards in the Sermon on the Mount and we feel 262 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:41,440 just stop and he gives another example go, it's heavy, it's too 263 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,720 much. And yet, when you look at the at 264 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,560 the fruit of what he's describing, it's this is the 265 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:50,280 life that is truly life. Instead of being at odds with my 266 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:54,320 brother, we live in restoration. Come on, who doesn't want that? 267 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:57,800 Instead of, you know, being tempted in every direction and 268 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:01,040 committing adultery in my heart, having the richness of marriage 269 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,440 and sexual fulfillment in the marriage bed, this is the best. 270 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,760 This is the highest. It's not that God only hates 271 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,400 sin, but he hates sin because of what he loves. 272 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,040 We love the good, the true, and the beautiful. 273 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,920 Therefore, we're willing to hate sin. 274 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,720 It's not that we just go, oh, divorce, that's a crushing 275 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:20,480 burden. So many of us have been divorced 276 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,640 or or so many of us are currently divorced or whatever 277 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,160 the case may be. But instead we can go man who 278 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:26,720 do? Who wouldn't want the ideal? 279 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,840 That's what we all hoped for and wanted on day one at the at the 280 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,560 at the altar when we exchanged vows. 281 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,480 That was the thing that we were hopeful for. 282 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,240 So God is, again, not just crushing us with you're doing it 283 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,880 wrong, but God's also saying look at the pure thing. 284 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,120 The standard is high, but the reward is great. 285 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,800 The fruit is delicious. So we shouldn't only see this is 286 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,760 heavy. We should see who this is. 287 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,000 Good. Are there challenges? 288 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,520 Well, yeah, because of sin and the fall and my temptations. 289 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:55,400 Yeah, those challenges are there. 290 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:58,880 And yet there is something that I should contend for as I 291 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,080 crucify the flesh, as we're going to talk some about. 292 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,840 But let's look here first at anger and murder. 293 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:10,400 You have heard it said to those of old you shall not murder and 294 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:12,120 whoever murders will be liable to judgement. 295 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,440 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother 296 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,680 will be liable to judgement. Whoever insults his brother will 297 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,040 be liable to the council. So the council referencing like 298 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:24,480 the Jewish leadership of the day. 299 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,560 So depending on what kind of insult you might use against 300 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,960 somebody, you could actually have to answer to Jewish 301 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,520 leadership for this accusation for what you said to them. 302 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:38,000 And then he goes on, he says, and whoever says, you fool, will 303 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,000 be liable to the hell of fire. Now, our English language can't 304 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,720 do justice for the phrase that Jesus used there. 305 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:50,120 The the language that he used there was probably even 306 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,120 scandalous for him to use it in his sermon as he's sharing it 307 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:54,760 with his disciples. Kind of like last week I 308 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,560 scandalized everybody because I kept saying circumcised and I 309 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,880 went a little too far there. So just like you were 310 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:03,000 scandalized last week, Jesus's listeners, you knew I was going 311 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,560 to slip in circumcision again today. 312 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,360 Jesus's listeners were probably scandalized by the very word 313 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:13,040 that he used because it was such a graphic and detestable insult 314 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:14,560 that would have been used against somebody. 315 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,960 It was a hatred. It was a deep hatred. 316 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,720 It was AI wish I'll for you, not just. 317 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,720 I don't care for you. And I would like to not spend 318 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:23,680 time with that person because they're obnoxious. 319 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,560 But, you know, God bless them, but I just don't want to be 320 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,640 around them. But this is AI Wish I'll for 321 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,240 you. This is I want bad for you. 322 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,600 That's hatred. Hatred goes beyond just they're 323 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,000 not my cup of tea. I'd like to not hang out with 324 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,080 them this weekend. There's plenty of people that 325 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:41,280 you don't want to hang out with this weekend. 326 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:42,280 Fair enough. No problem. 327 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,640 But then there's people who you're like, oh, if you heard 328 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,880 bad news about them, it would call. 329 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,280 It would bring you delight. If you're. 330 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,480 If I heard bad news about them would it bring you delight. 331 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,760 If you heard bad news about the president today would it bring 332 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,960 you delight? Oh, Pastor, don't be going there 333 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,680 now. Was the last time you prayed for 334 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,560 him, by the way, praying that God's best would happen in his 335 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,160 life. Man, you thought I was just 336 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,440 going to go to your neighbor and to your spouse today, right? 337 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:15,360 But we went. I went, I went somewhere else on 338 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:16,320 you. Or you know what? 339 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,080 I I like the president. I voted for the president. 340 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:19,560 OK. The other one then. 341 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:22,520 Yeah. Which other one do you mean? 342 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:23,880 It doesn't matter. You know who I meant. 343 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,200 Doesn't the, the one you have somebody in mind that you don't 344 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:28,600 like? There's there's that politician 345 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,040 where if you heard I'll of them, you're like, yes, like that's 346 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:36,360 they had it coming, right. So anyway, back to the point 347 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:37,400 here. There is there. 348 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:41,160 There are degrees of insult, their degrees of hatred, and 349 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,120 Jesus is bringing it back all the way to the highest standard. 350 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,960 He's saying it's not only that I don't want you to just not 351 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,440 murder, but I'm saying you can commit murder far before the 352 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,120 physical act. And he's saying my standard was 353 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:55,720 always higher than that. The Pharisee said. 354 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,080 We'll just paint over it. Scripture said the law said you 355 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:03,000 shouldn't murder, but the Lord had a bigger interpretation than 356 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,319 what we did. We just said, ah, we're not 357 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:08,040 allowed to take another life without just cause. 358 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,079 And God said that's not what I said, That's not what I meant. 359 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,839 I had something higher in mind. The whole law reveals that, and 360 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:18,400 it and the whole law is fulfilled, of course, by loving 361 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,960 God and loving your neighbor. Why? 362 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,200 Because the whole law shows that all laws were love your neighbor 363 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,760 laws, all laws were to protect you, to care for you, to make 364 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,880 sure that you were going to be well taken care of because of 365 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,960 migrate, care for you. So just like we know that a tree 366 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,600 doesn't just show up out of nowhere, I get to be like Jesus 367 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,320 now. I get to reference nature right 368 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,040 around me. I can't reference exercise bikes 369 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,240 all the time. But that tree didn't just come 370 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:46,160 from nowhere fit. The act of physical murder 371 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,800 doesn't just come out of nowhere, right? 372 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,440 That tree didn't just get fully grown overnight. 373 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,600 That took time. But you know what it started 374 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,120 with, right? You know what went into the 375 00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:59,280 ground some years ago? What was it? 376 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:02,800 It was a seed. A seed went into the ground. 377 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,080 A small seed went into the ground many years ago, right 378 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,200 there in that spot. And that's where it all started. 379 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,000 That was murder. The rest is history. 380 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,120 The the rest is just the passage of time. 381 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,920 But when the seed got into the ground, the rest is there. 382 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:22,560 When hatred gets into your heart, the rest is history. 383 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:24,760 Well, you can root it up. Yes, you can. 384 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:26,480 That's called repentance. Praise God for it. 385 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,880 That's what we want to do. That's what we must do. 386 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:31,160 We go. That's man I'm. 387 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,320 I want. Well, that's the beginning. 388 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,000 It's just that's where murder starts. 389 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,080 Murder doesn't start here. Murder starts somewhere else. 390 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,160 And this is what Christ knows about all of our sin. 391 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,480 Like we were saying earlier, everything that comes out of my 392 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:48,280 life, it started somewhere else. Murder has a seed and the seed 393 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,360 is anger. And God is after pure hearts, 394 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,760 not just after people not being physically killed. 395 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,880 He's after the higher standard, not just don't hate, but love. 396 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,560 And that's where he goes on to in his sermon. 397 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,840 He says you've heard it said love those who love you and hate 398 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:06,640 those who hate you and hate your enemies, he says. 399 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,760 But I say love your enemies. Like what? 400 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:11,680 That's crazy. We're used to it. 401 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,240 Now we've got 2020, so we know, you know, y'all got all the 402 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:15,920 spoiler alerts for the Sermon on the Mount. 403 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,840 That's amazing. And again, who can do this? 404 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:21,720 These are hard sayings. Only a person who's been made 405 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:23,960 righteous by God. Only a person who's been made 406 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,440 new. You don't even have the inkling. 407 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,040 You don't even have the unction. You don't have any desire to any 408 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,840 of this. You just go, just dismiss it. 409 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:36,760 No thanks, no thanks. But whenever we have hatred in 410 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,800 our heart, he's saying that's when we're in the risk of the 411 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,680 Hellfire. So a quick side note here, there 412 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:44,240 is such a thing as righteous anger. 413 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:46,960 How do you know? Well, it's obvious because Jesus 414 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,360 was angry, right? We see Jesus getting angry. 415 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:50,840 We see the apostles getting angry. 416 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,720 So we see that. And we know that was done 417 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,440 without sin. You can get angry with sin, but 418 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,560 you can get angry without sin. Typically, you know the 419 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:02,640 difference because you're angry by You're angry without sin 420 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:04,360 whenever you're angry for the Lord. 421 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:06,280 And you're saying that is not right. 422 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,760 That is an injustice against someone else. 423 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,040 But typically, whenever it's been done against me, typically 424 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,480 my threshold for what's right and wrong is really small. 425 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,680 Like, I bring it down to minor traffic infractions. 426 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:20,680 And now I'm really angry with this person. 427 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,320 I'm like, I can't believe they did that. 428 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,800 Like, don't they know the almighty John Michael is in this 429 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:26,760 vehicle? And they've like, that's what I, 430 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:30,360 you know, it's me. Now my standards are even more 431 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,120 extreme. My standards for you. 432 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:33,120 I can't believe they did that to you. 433 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:34,520 I'm really sorry about that. That was wrong. 434 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,280 But my standards for me are way different. 435 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,080 Like, you can't do anything wrong against me. 436 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,800 I'm easily offendable in every single way. 437 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,280 Why? Because because that's my flesh, 438 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,760 That's my fleshly temptation is to hold myself, to to hold you 439 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,720 to a standard in the way that you interact with me. 440 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,600 That I would never hold myself with anybody else. 441 00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:58,840 But there is a righteous anger. There's a time and a place for 442 00:20:58,840 --> 00:20:59,960 that. But we won't spend a lot of time 443 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:01,720 talking about that. We're talking about the 444 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,360 unrighteous anger that's most common to us. 445 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,320 The unrighteous anger that that leads to my what what I say I 446 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,120 just got a quick temper. So is that my get out of jail 447 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:13,960 free court? I I got a quick temper. 448 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:15,840 So you just have to bear with me. 449 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,160 I just tell it like it is. No. 450 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,760 It's just in your heart. It's in your heart. 451 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,120 There's something that's there. And maybe it's been there for a 452 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:24,640 long time. Maybe it's a sapling. 453 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:26,880 Maybe it's a mighty tree at this point. 454 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:29,520 And so that would be what we would call a stronghold. 455 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,240 This is a massive pillar. This thing's going to take some 456 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,680 some axing and it's going to take more than one swing. 457 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,000 There's there's more that's going to go into it than just, 458 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,240 you know what, I'm going to try and do better. 459 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:44,600 Oh, that was. That might have been easier when 460 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,400 it was just like, remember the in the kindergarten we drew the 461 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,240 we grew the things in the cup. You could have plucked that 462 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,040 thing up, no big deal. There's an ease that comes with 463 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,160 that. It's too easy for the Lord, but 464 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,320 it requires real surrender. It requires real brokenness of 465 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,000 spirit and real willingness of mourning. 466 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,360 And then the Lord can do that. But that is, there's a 467 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,960 difference between a tree that his roots can extend 50 yards in 468 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,080 every direction around him, and it goes down 30 feet and you're 469 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:16,240 going, well, I repent like absolutely you can. 470 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,720 And when that's real, it will be, it will be. 471 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,520 The Lord can pluck that thing up and rip it up and and he can 472 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:26,280 cast it into the sea. But murder, sin, and again, like 473 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,040 this ties in with lust. This ties in with everything 474 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:29,560 we're talking about. That's his point. 475 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,840 His his point is the hard issue. He just happened to get 476 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,640 specific. His point is what you name the 477 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,040 sin that it started in seed form. 478 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:39,440 The external thing that everybody sees, it started 479 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,560 somewhere else. So I'm sorry I stole. 480 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,280 Well, I'm sorry you stole too. But really, there's a heart of 481 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:46,800 greed there. There's a heart of envy. 482 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,000 There's something else. Like you've been meditating on 483 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,880 that thing for a while. You didn't just see my my 484 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,760 wallet. And just impulsively. 485 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:56,600 Just like I've never done this before in my life. 486 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:58,160 I've never thought about this before in my life. 487 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,120 But I can't help myself. That's not how it works. 488 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:02,720 You see my wallet fall on the ground. 489 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:03,240 You go. Hey, Joe. 490 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:04,920 Michael, here you go. Why? 491 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:06,440 Because you can't even relate to that. 492 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:08,680 You can't identify with that because you haven't lived that 493 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,640 way or you haven't thought that way or you haven't meditated on 494 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:12,760 that particular sentence. Some of you going, hey, I would 495 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:17,200 take your wallet And again, that's just, that's fine except 496 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,480 in the example. But that just reveals like 497 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,160 that's in the heart. It's that envy or it's that 498 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,160 greed or it's that jealousy. Or it's that fear. 499 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,680 But there's some seed there that's been growing and now it 500 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,800 manifests in the physical thing. Whereas the Pharisees go, I 501 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,440 haven't done this wrong. I haven't done this wrong. 502 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,840 No one has seen me doing this. No one has seen me doing that. 503 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:38,200 The Lord says to you and I both. I see everything. 504 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,840 I see your every thought. I'm with you when you're 505 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:43,640 thinking it. I'm with you when you're 506 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,760 meditating on it. I'm with you when you're 507 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:47,520 considering it as you're pondering it. 508 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,200 I search the inward most being. That's where I'm at. 509 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:55,280 That's that's my house. That's why sin is so intolerable 510 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,200 for the Lord. Because you're it's always with 511 00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,320 him. Whenever I sin, I'm bringing 512 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,000 that into my inner man first. That's where I begin and and I 513 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:04,720 bring this guest into the Lord's house. 514 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,440 And Lord goes, who is this? The Holy Spirit goes, I'm 515 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,560 grieved by this. And I go, well, you know, it's 516 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,320 not that big a deal. They can just come in and stay 517 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,000 for a while. The Lord's school, this is. 518 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,560 We got division here. Who's running the house? 519 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,840 Is it Christ? Or is it something or someone 520 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:22,880 else? But these two can't be together. 521 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,440 How can two walk together unless they be in agreement? 522 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,360 So I'll clarify. I'll I'll even say this This 523 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:35,120 idea of this heart issue is not a new idea to the New Testament. 524 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:36,640 That's a common misunderstanding. 525 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,040 Is the Old Testament. The Lord just made it confusing. 526 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,560 It just said external, external, external, external. 527 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,400 That's not true. There were many external laws 528 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:46,160 that were given and particular things they had to do. 529 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,400 But all throughout the Old Covenant, God constantly is 530 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,920 correcting his people through his prophets and he's always 531 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,320 going after their motives. So this isn't just something 532 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,160 that newly showed up by the way and go Oh well in the Old 533 00:24:58,160 --> 00:24:59,840 Covenant, he really didn't give him a chance. 534 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,520 He did. He constantly was making 535 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:03,800 reference and we'll get to this later. 536 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,920 He's constantly making reference to a husband and wife he would 537 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:08,200 treat. He would call Israel. 538 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:09,800 We'd say you're an adulterous wife. 539 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,320 And like how can you, how can a nation commit adultery if 540 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,720 adultery is just this one particular physical act? 541 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,400 He's so it's the heart, it's the heart thing. 542 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,000 He kept going after the heart over and over and over. 543 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,280 Let's look at verse 22 and get a little more specific here. 544 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:27,960 He references if whoever says you fool. 545 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,040 So let's just say we could let's say we could summarize that 546 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,840 Aramaic word or that Aramaic phrase, which we can't in 547 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:35,160 English. It would take us a paragraph to 548 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,400 be like you low down dirty rat. You know it'd be worse than 549 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,000 that. But if we could do that, Is name 550 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,600 calling going to send me to hell? 551 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,440 The answer to that question is no, but it might. 552 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,120 Name calling might reveal that you're already on your way 553 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:54,600 there. So it's not that saying the 554 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,600 thing, it's like you broke the rule, but he's pointing out it 555 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,160 came from somewhere else. It comes from your heart. 556 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,440 And then yes. So if you say that you're in 557 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,800 danger, the hell of fire and the Pharisees would go, aha. 558 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,520 So I'll make sure I never say that phrase again and Christ is 559 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,640 going, no, I wasn't. My point wasn't just the phrase. 560 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,680 My point was it's revealing what's in you? 561 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,800 I can't say the blank word. We all have different language 562 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:21,560 guardrails, probably for our own life and our own standard. 563 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,120 We're like, OK, I don't say this, I don't say that. 564 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,320 I do say this. That one's kind of OK. 565 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,960 It's funny how we justify we have lines and boundaries. 566 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,400 Like, in this context, I'll say this, I'll say certain things in 567 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,480 front of Mom that I, you know, I won't say in front of mom that I 568 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,880 might say with my brother. So we've got this, all all these 569 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,240 rules around language that somehow we've all come up with, 570 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,440 each our own standards, each our own ideas. 571 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,840 But what's the big deal? The big deal is the heart. 572 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,480 The big deal is what's going on inside of me. 573 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,240 Where did that come from? How am I processing it? 574 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,480 How am I using this language in a way that glorifies God? 575 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,720 And the standard, of course, is actually love. 576 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,200 And Jesus is showing us that That is God's standard. 577 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:05,200 And the standard of love gets violated long before it's fully 578 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:06,800 grown. Murder and you kill somebody. 579 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,000 That's not the moment that that the standard of love was 580 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,640 violated. The standard of love was 581 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,560 violated long before it ever became a fully grown tree. 582 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,160 And then of course he tells us what to do, even if we have a 583 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,840 strained relationship. So he gets specific and he gets 584 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,320 practical. But there's two surprising 585 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,320 things that happen here right away. 586 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,600 The thing that jumps out to me is he says stop what you're 587 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:33,520 doing if you're if you're making a gift at the altar or or if we 588 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,640 were to bring that into the new covenant context. 589 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,520 Because even though this is the New Testament, what we're 590 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,080 reading, the new covenant had not yet been established in his 591 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:41,680 blood. So if they would have been 592 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,920 bringing sacrifices to the altar, let's say you and I are 593 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,520 getting ready to receive communion together, and you 594 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,960 remember that your brother has something against you. 595 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:56,120 You pause the sacred sacrament of the Lord's table to go seek 596 00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:58,880 reconciliation. Which is interesting because he 597 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,040 was just talking about me being angry with others. 598 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,120 And now he says if someone's angry with me, I should go seek 599 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:05,600 reconciliation. What's his point? 600 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,520 Again, the heart is so much bigger than just me taking 601 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,360 ownership of me. I'm also trying to go to you. 602 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:13,280 I'm also trying to go to my brother. 603 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,760 I'm going. Hey, Isaac, man, I want to make 604 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:17,680 this thing right. I know that you're upset with me 605 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,760 about what happened. Maybe I owe Isaac an apology, 606 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,840 and if so, I bring that fully and completely. 607 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,080 Maybe I don't. And maybe Isaac is just truly 608 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,280 offended about something that I haven't sinned against him 609 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:30,640 about. That's typically the case with 610 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:32,360 this guy. He's always getting offended 611 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:36,040 over nothing. So I come to my brother and I 612 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,160 say, Isaac, man, I want to make this right between us. 613 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,240 I love you. I want there to be unity again. 614 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:41,640 Yeah. I don't want there to be any, 615 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,640 any challenges or any disunion. That's an awkward conversation. 616 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,480 That's a difficult thing. And this is the standard that 617 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,920 Christ brings to his church. The standard of love is high. 618 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,680 I'm not going to murder anybody. Congratulations. 619 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,120 Will you love somebody? Because that takes a lot more. 620 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,120 That's a lot more righteousness than the Pharisees. 621 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,000 Pharisees death count 0. We've killed no people. 622 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:07,480 Which isn't true, because at least Christ, but the most 623 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,160 important person. But instead the standard of love 624 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,600 Way beyond. Or are you mad at Isaac? 625 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:13,960 No, I'm not mad at him. I forgive him. 626 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:14,960 Is he mad at you? Yeah. 627 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:16,080 Well, have you tried to talk to him about it? 628 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:17,880 Well, no. That's his business. 629 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,040 Is it? Is it? 630 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:21,600 Or should you actually give him a call? 631 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,360 Hey, man, I'd love to meet you and and just catch up. 632 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,520 I know it's been a few weeks. Or you know, I let it. 633 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,640 I let it go too long. I wasn't supposed to let the sun 634 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,400 go down on on our anger. I shouldn't even let it go 24 635 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,240 hours. But now years go by and I and I 636 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,160 hear the rumors of gossip and I'm taking the high ground but 637 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,760 still refusing to speak to the man instead of, hey, I want to 638 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:48,720 make this right to the degree that I am able stop doing what 639 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,400 you're doing. This is a massive priority. 640 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:53,560 And then so that's the first surprising thing. 641 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:55,920 And then the second surprising thing I just mentioned is it's 642 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,960 not just if you've got something against someone else, but who's 643 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:05,480 got something against you, man. This Christian stuff is it's 644 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,560 almost like you need to be a new person to be able to live this 645 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,680 way. So are you worshipping, are you 646 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:14,400 praying? Are you reading the word of God 647 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,560 with unforgiveness in your heart towards somebody or does someone 648 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:21,720 have unforgiveness towards you? We should keep short accounts is 649 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,240 what Jesus is teaching and we should seek to obey Romans 12/18 650 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,040 which says if possible, so far as it depends upon you live 651 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,360 peaceably with all. Well, it's not always possible. 652 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,920 That's absolutely true. I might go to Isaac and be like, 653 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,440 dude, no that that doesn't sound like an apology. 654 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,680 I'm like going to be like, well brother, I want unity. 655 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,200 No, I'm can't. I have to I would be lying if I 656 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,320 was to apologize for the thing that happened or the way it went 657 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,800 down or in the other case maybe I can And then it's really easy. 658 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,400 We bring quick resolution because I'm truly sorry for 659 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,560 something that I've done. But if possible, to the degree 660 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,360 that you're able, you want to live at peace with everybody. 661 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,720 So go quickly when you hear that person is gossiping about you. 662 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,440 Go quickly when you suspect something's off. 663 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,040 Not in a way to corner them and to accuse them. 664 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,680 Hey, is there a problem? I don't think that's the spirit 665 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:11,400 with Witch Christ. Because again, why? 666 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,320 That's me being offended again. I'm angry at your anger. 667 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,480 I'll beat you at the anger game. No, I'm going to beat you at the 668 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,120 love game. Hey, hey, man, it seemed like, 669 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:21,880 Hey, can I speak to you privately? 670 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:23,120 Always. Private. 671 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:24,920 Hey, can I speak to you privately? 672 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,880 Is everything OK? It seems like something's off. 673 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:29,960 Am I missing something here? No, man. 674 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,400 No, it's fine. It's fine, bro. 675 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,000 Man, it doesn't seem fine. Come on, talk to me. 676 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,360 What's going on? Like something's off here. 677 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,280 I want to make it right, and I don't know what it is. 678 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:40,760 Oh, you don't know what it is, huh? 679 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,000 I don't. But if you'll help me, we can 680 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:45,360 process this. What does this take? 681 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,320 This is love. I actually love him or her, and 682 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,240 I really want reconciliation. And I'm really looking to move 683 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,280 things forward in a way that glorifies God and brings 684 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,760 reconciliation. It's awkward. 685 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,080 It's difficult. It's following Jesus. 686 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,880 So go today. If you're holding unforgiveness, 687 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:10,000 send the text message today, the e-mail, the phone call, ask to 688 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:11,520 meet in person, whatever is needed. 689 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,120 But the priority is high. Let's keep going. 690 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,840 Y'all are listening slow today so we got to y'all got to pick 691 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,480 it up now. Lust. 692 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,720 You've heard it said, you shall not commit adultery. 693 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:25,840 You're like, Yep, I have never done that. 694 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,960 OK, great. But I say, anyone who looks at a 695 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,120 woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with 696 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:33,960 her in his heart. What? 697 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,280 You can commit adultery in your heart. 698 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:39,120 Yes, If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and 699 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,160 throw it away. For it is better that you lose 700 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,440 one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into 701 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:45,080 hell. If your right hand causes you to 702 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:46,400 sin, cut it off and throw it away. 703 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,880 For it is better that you lose one of your members then your 704 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:49,800 whole body. Go to hell. 705 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,560 We know Jesus. I'll answer something obvious 706 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,000 here. We know Jesus wasn't talking 707 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,440 literally about the eye and the hand. 708 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:56,920 Why? Because I could gouge out my 709 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:58,480 right eye. But guess what? 710 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:04,080 There's still a left eye and I still have the capacity to lust. 711 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:05,640 And you know what? If you gouge out both of my 712 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,760 eyes, I would still have the capacity to lust. 713 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,520 Because I still have a mind and I still have an imagination. 714 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,720 You cut off both of my hands. OK, now I'm nubs and I'm blind. 715 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,720 But now do I still have the capacity for lust? 716 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:20,800 I do. I can still. 717 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,000 Why? Because lust happens in my 718 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,120 heart. So you can continue to cut off 719 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,080 all the members that you want. We won't go too far there. 720 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,240 But I would still have that capacity because it's in my 721 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,880 heart. So, well then why would he say 722 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:35,520 that? Well, he's pointing out again 723 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:37,360 that we we should go do extreme measures. 724 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,800 He's using hyperbole because he's showing we want to go to 725 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,200 the degree possible to root these things out, to actually 726 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,160 get rid of sin and to take it seriously. 727 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,920 Again, the Pharisees painted over the law, but the Lord 728 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,680 always intended to include the motive of the heart in his 729 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,240 commands. This is shown even by the 10th 730 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:57,880 commandment. We think of the 10 Commandments 731 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,160 as all the externals. But you look at the 10th 732 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:02,120 commandment and it's it's longer. 733 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,320 It's you shall not covet your neighbor's house or his wife or 734 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,000 all these other things, but essentially you shall not covet. 735 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:11,360 That's a heart motive. That is a heart issue. 736 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:13,600 You shall not murder. And they're like, all right, 737 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:15,560 I'll never kill anybody. You shall not steal. 738 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,280 That's an external thing, but the Lord's revealing with the 739 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,639 10th commandment. This is all heart based. 740 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,040 You shall not covet. So that covered stealing, didn't 741 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:28,480 it? That covered adultery, didn't 742 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,400 it? That covered greed. 743 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,000 It covers all kinds of things. Because I'm not coveting, I'm 744 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,520 not wanting what you have. Oh man, man, if only my wife. 745 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,040 This, if only my husband. That, and then I. 746 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,080 Careful, careful. You might be going to the store. 747 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,159 You might not have bought the seed yet, but you're getting 748 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:50,400 closer to 1. It's my desire that begins and 749 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,800 desire when it's satisfied. It gives birth to sin and sin 750 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,440 when it's fully grown. How'd this tree get in here? 751 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,360 Where'd that come from? Well, it didn't happen 752 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,120 overnight. Trees don't grow that fast. 753 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,160 Thank God for it. That's a mercy of God that these 754 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,760 things take time. But because I've meditated on it 755 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:14,280 now, over time it has grown. So the devil and our own flesh 756 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,480 may try to make all nine of the other 10 commandments an 757 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,600 exclusively physical thing, but you can't do that to the 10th to 758 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:23,240 the 10th commandment. God gives a commandment directly 759 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:27,480 to our will, our inner life, because that's what all the 760 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:29,240 commandments were pointing to in the 1st place. 761 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:32,840 So again, Jesus is showing sin comes from the heart and that 762 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,800 you should be ruthless in protecting your soul from sin. 763 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,560 And he's also pointing out that, OK, go ahead and do that, then 764 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:41,080 go ahead and go to those extremes. 765 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,600 So he he's not talking out of both sides of his mouth. 766 00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:47,040 He's reemphasizing his point. You could do those things, but 767 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,480 those things still won't actually protect you. 768 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,040 We know he's not being literal there because, again, in his 769 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:54,960 ministry, he didn't gouge out anybody's eyes. 770 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:56,640 He didn't cut off anybody's hands. 771 00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,960 So he's showing us you need a new spirit. 772 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,040 Our attitude towards sin must be ruthless, physical. 773 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,800 Sin is the birth of something that was conceived in the heart. 774 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,200 It's not a sin to see a woman and know that she's beautiful. 775 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,400 Women are beautiful. God made them beautiful. 776 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:18,200 But it is a sin to decide to desire her sexually because that 777 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,840 is an act of the will. Now I'm choosing and now I'm 778 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,320 meditating and it's adultery in particular when you desire her 779 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,720 sexually and she's not your wife or vice versa. 780 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:32,320 Obviously it's not a sin for a woman to beautify herself, but 781 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,280 it is when her motive is to create sexual attraction for 782 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,680 someone other than her husband. Often times the lust of men 783 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,080 wants to look upon, but the lust of women often wants to be 784 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,360 looked upon. And this is a point that's 785 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,240 pretty easy to illustrate. But I'm going to move on because 786 00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:52,320 of our wide audience present. So as Christians wanting to keep 787 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,280 ourselves holy, we know that eyes aren't responsible for all 788 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:57,920 sin. We know that my eyes are not the 789 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:03,400 the the source of all sin, but it comes from somewhere else, my 790 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:05,200 flesh. As a born again believer, our 791 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:08,960 spirits are made new, but our flesh, our unrenewed mind, still 792 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,720 has these temptations. So as I give it new prompts, as 793 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:14,600 I give it new things to listen to and new things to look at, 794 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,680 yeah, I can cultivate something that doesn't belong there. 795 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,160 So we know. So we know our eyes are not 796 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,400 responsible for all sin, but we also know that our eyes are not 797 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,080 separated from our spiritual life. 798 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,160 So I don't mean to imply that our bodies are just our spirits 799 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,120 and our bodies are two totally divorced things. 800 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,760 They're not. That's not a biblical idea. 801 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:40,920 They are connected in deep, inexplainable ways that we can't 802 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,720 even begin to understand yet. So they're deep connections 803 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:44,720 here. So we're not, we're not 804 00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:47,360 minimizing the physical. We're recognizing that there is 805 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,800 a connection and how one could sometimes lead to the other. 806 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,240 So we recognize that the physical life matters. 807 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:59,040 So This is why we reject all forms of lust. 808 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,440 We reject pornography in all of its forms. 809 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:05,720 In images and in literature, we guard the shows that we watch 810 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,160 and the music that we listen to. Why? 811 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:11,200 Because we're the prudes who have all these rules? 812 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,560 No, because we love the good, true, and beautiful expression 813 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,960 of the marriage bed. That's why we have a higher, 814 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,240 better thing. We've talked about this before. 815 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,480 You can have the the amazing, rich, gorgeous Thanksgiving 816 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,000 feast, or you can run up to 711 and get you a burrito that's 817 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,400 been on the roller for three days. 818 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:33,360 Like, well, they're both food. Technically, I guess 819 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:38,200 scientifically, that's probably true, but they're not equal. 1 820 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,320 is better than the other, although one might seem 821 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,080 convenient, although one might be able to be displayed in an 822 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:46,840 enticing way. Although that food does not 823 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:50,200 entice me like the little churros on the roller. 824 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,840 They're like, hey, you can get four of these for $0.25. 825 00:38:52,840 --> 00:39:01,680 I'm like Nah, I'd rather starve but it. 826 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,040 But sin? But sin often is very enticing. 827 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,960 I mean that's why it's entice. Like I wouldn't be tempted if it 828 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,160 was never enticing. It would just be like, no, 829 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,880 gross, gross, gross. But instead, that's not how sin 830 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,080 hits, is it? That's not how lust has ever hit 831 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,880 any one of our hearts. And I know I'm talking to human 832 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:20,320 beings. Salt Church is made-up of 833 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,480 humans, so I know it's safe to say that we've all done this. 834 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,480 So that's not how it happened. We didn't just go. 835 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,160 Gross, gross, gross. We go, oh, hey, something in 836 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:34,040 your heart goes interesting. Beyond just wow, he's great. 837 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,720 Beyond just wow, she's great. But I want to grab his 838 00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:40,800 attention. I'm going to come back to this 839 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,080 coffee shop. There's nothing wrong with 840 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:44,720 getting coffee. No, there's not. 841 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:46,920 But I could go to the wrong coffee shop for the wrong 842 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,480 reason. Well, there's nothing wrong with 843 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,920 having, you know, Netflix. Nothing wrong with having a 844 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:55,280 smartphone. That's true. 845 00:39:56,040 --> 00:40:00,760 But my heart and my motives are going to show up in different 846 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,440 places and in different ways, and the realities are going to 847 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:06,440 keep coming through. So it wasn't wrong that David, 848 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,120 it's not wrong to take a census of your people and to count the 849 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:11,800 people of the nation, right? I'm. 850 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:13,600 I'm a ruler. I want to understand things. 851 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,720 I want to know are we taxing properly. 852 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:17,680 Want to. There's all kinds of good 853 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,000 motives that you could do that. But that wasn't David's motive. 854 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:22,840 David had an evil motive. It was David's own pride and 855 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:25,000 David's own glory that he was seeking after so much so that 856 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,200 his own men corrected him. Said, O king, may our people be 857 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:30,680 multiplied 1000 times, but don't do this wicked thing. 858 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:32,480 Why? I'm just counting. 859 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:33,960 David could have even stood on script. 860 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,600 The word of God says you're supposed to know the state of 861 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:39,960 your flocks like you could. And you can do that, right? 862 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,240 You can pretend. You can pretend righteousness. 863 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:43,920 I'm doing this thing for this reason. 864 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:46,640 That's great. You're a perfect Pharisee. 865 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:50,200 Unfortunately for us, and fortunately also the Lord lives 866 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,040 in our hearts, and that's where the work is happening. 867 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,000 That's where the seed is starting to take root and his 868 00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:57,320 first little root comes out of him. 869 00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:59,080 But that's also where the Holy Spirit is. 870 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,520 And He can say, hey, you don't want this here and go, well, 871 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:03,400 I'm. I'm doing it for this reason. 872 00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:10,800 But the Lord protects us, so this will make us look 873 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,560 different. Because, you know, adultery 874 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,760 doesn't start in a bed. It starts by going to that place 875 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,320 for the wrong reason. It starts by this conversation. 876 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:24,560 It starts by this other thing which started somewhere else, 877 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:27,720 which started somewhere else. And if I go back, there was a 878 00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:29,840 safe place. There was an easy place where 879 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:33,000 the Lord said you have the power to walk away from this right 880 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,040 now. But when it gets here, I might 881 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:39,880 not have the power to, it might actually overpower me, and I go, 882 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:41,760 I couldn't help myself. That's true, Joe. 883 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,120 Michael, you couldn't. But it's because of the past 884 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:47,240 five years that you got to the moment of not being able to help 885 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:49,640 yourself. Five years ago you could have 886 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,440 been safe had you actually walked in repentance, humility, 887 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:53,920 and in the confession of your sins. 888 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:58,280 But because this time, whether that was 3 minutes or five years 889 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:02,560 or or 4 decades, whatever the sin is, the anger, the lust, the 890 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,280 greed, it doesn't matter. But I don't just decide to rob a 891 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,040 bank because it's a Friday morning and I'm short a few 892 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:11,480 bucks in the budget, right? That started somewhere else. 893 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:14,400 It started somewhere earlier. This will make us look 894 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,520 different. This will cause your life to 895 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,920 look entirely different. And this is good news. 896 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:23,640 This is a good thing because the Lord has blessing connected to 897 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:25,800 all of it. There's not only a don't, there 898 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:29,280 is much of A do. I'm going to speed along here. 899 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,640 I know we're short on time. We're going to go to verse 31. 900 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:37,480 It was also said whoever divorces his wife let him give a 901 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:40,480 certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone 902 00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:44,400 who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality 903 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,440 makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced 904 00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:49,960 woman commits adultery again. What are these? 905 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:52,880 Anger, lust, divorce. So random. 906 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,360 Not at all. He's just heart, heart, heart. 907 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:57,160 He's going for the heart of the thing over and over and over. 908 00:42:57,160 --> 00:42:59,640 Hey, it's just the heart. That's the lesson here. 909 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:01,440 The message is the heart. But yes. 910 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:03,400 Does he give us specific instructions on some other 911 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:05,400 things that are very helpful? Absolutely. 912 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,120 The he could have, he could have pulled any examples he wanted to 913 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:11,640 with sin and said, hey, here's a hard example versus the versus 914 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:14,600 the visible example, but he does it with divorce now. 915 00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:21,200 So I'm also going to read to you from Matthew 19 where he talks 916 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:25,240 about divorce again and verse 5 through 9, to give you even more 917 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:29,680 context, he's answering them about marriage and remarriage, 918 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:33,120 talking about divorce. Where am I here? 919 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,840 Verse five he said therefore a man shall leave his father and 920 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,800 mother and shall hold fast to his wife and the two shall 921 00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:41,800 become one flesh. So they are no longer 2 flesh. 922 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:44,400 So there are no longer 2 but one flesh. 923 00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:49,040 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. 924 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:53,200 And then he goes on to and then they said to him. 925 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,960 Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce 926 00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:01,040 and to send her away? So Moses gives the command and 927 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,160 gives the allowment to divorce. Of course they frame it as like 928 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:06,400 we're commanded to. I have to divorce my wife. 929 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:10,120 Moses said to as opposed to what actually was done. 930 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,960 Jesus said, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed 931 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,800 you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not 932 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,840 so. And I say to you, whoever 933 00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:22,600 divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality and marries 934 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:26,640 another, commits adultery. Then his disciples said to him, 935 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,440 if such is the case for a man with his wife, it is better not 936 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:35,320 to marry. They sound very American right 937 00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,040 there. It's better to not get married. 938 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:40,640 If you can't just divorce over nothing, if you can't just call 939 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:43,520 it quits for no reason whatsoever, it's probably better 940 00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:47,160 to just never even start right? And then he goes on into 941 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:48,720 teaching, he says. But he said to them, not 942 00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:50,880 everyone can receive this saying, but only to those whom 943 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:54,200 it is given For their eunuchs who have been been so from 944 00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:56,800 birth, and their eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, 945 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,400 and their eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake 946 00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:01,640 of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let the one who is able to 947 00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:05,120 receive this, receive it. I can't unpack all that. 948 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:08,120 And I'm sure that after last week's talk about circumcision, 949 00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:09,520 you're happy. I'm not going to talk a lot 950 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:13,280 about eunuchs today, so we'll just continue back into our 951 00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,400 context of divorce here. Why did God allow divorce in the 952 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,560 old covenant? It's similar to the same way he 953 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,720 allowed Israel to have a king. I don't want you to have a king. 954 00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:23,640 I'm your king. The nation of Israel didn't have 955 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:25,800 any kings FYI, until they had soul. 956 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:28,120 And they're like we want a king, other nations have a king. 957 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:29,400 And the Lord's like I'm not giving you a king. 958 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:31,320 And Samuel's like Samuel the prophet at the time. 959 00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:32,960 You don't need a king. God's our king. 960 00:45:33,240 --> 00:45:36,120 And finally the Lord said they can have a king because of their 961 00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:37,840 hardness of hearts. And he said, but you're not 962 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:41,120 going to like it. But you know what? 963 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:44,120 Still, in my grace and goodness and kindness to you, if your 964 00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:48,720 king does well and you do well meaning obedient, then 965 00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:52,000 everything will be well. Still God's grace and his 966 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:54,360 kindness there, That's the same thing he says to those of you 967 00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:55,800 who already wondered. Because that's the question that 968 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,600 comes up right away. What about what if I have? 969 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,640 What if I have divorced? What if I have remarried and it 970 00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:04,840 wasn't on the grounds of my my spouse was unfaithful or 971 00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:07,640 committed adultery? We'll get to that. 972 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:08,880 We'll get to that. I'm going to answer all that. 973 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,400 But I want to talk more about, again, the heart of the issue. 974 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:15,080 Why does God hate divorce? Because God loves marriage? 975 00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:17,720 Because marriage is a picture of Christ in the church. 976 00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:21,160 He loves the good and true and beautiful that produces A hatred 977 00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:24,480 for something else. I love my family, so that 978 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:29,440 produces A willingness to defend them and protect them, to use 979 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:31,360 any means necessary to do so. Why? 980 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:34,520 Not because I hate anyone, but because I love someone so 981 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:38,880 deeply. So this idea of this hard 982 00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:41,560 hearts, which is what Jesus pointed out, He says Moses 983 00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:44,520 allowed that because of your hard hearts, your heart hearts, 984 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,520 the Lord made an allowance. That is not his ideal. 985 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:50,520 It is not what He wants. This is how we got to our wicked 986 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:53,720 moment in our day, What we now refer to as no fault. 987 00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:55,640 Divorce. That's clever, isn't it? 988 00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:58,120 It's nobody's fault. It's just poof. 989 00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:01,480 It's just surprise. I don't know where this came 990 00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,080 from. We just fell out of love. 991 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:06,840 Or I finally met my soul mate. We we got married too young. 992 00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:09,080 It's nobody's fault. It's not true. 993 00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:10,680 It's both. It's everybody's fault. 994 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:14,480 In a no fault Divorce. But God hates divorce because he 995 00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:16,880 loves marriage. He loves what it represents. 996 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:20,240 Doesn't God want me to be happy? Our culture would say God wants 997 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:23,920 you to be happy with your spouse, which is why he commands 998 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,720 in the Song of Solomon. He says delight in the wife of 999 00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:30,560 your youth. So in saying all this, Jesus is 1000 00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:33,680 essentially saying you're not divorced just because you got 1001 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:37,080 divorced, which is why it's actual adultery if you remarry 1002 00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,640 after divorce. What? 1003 00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:41,520 The government said it is. And I thought we were allowed to 1004 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:42,840 divorce. Yes, that certificate of 1005 00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:45,080 divorce. But Jesus is plainly saying if I 1006 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:49,040 were to divorce Natalie and she hadn't been unfaithful and I I 1007 00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:51,400 cannot remarry, I couldn't have divorced, first of all. 1008 00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:55,040 But now I cannot remarry. And if I do, I've committed 1009 00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:55,720 adultery. Why? 1010 00:47:55,720 --> 00:47:58,480 Because I'm not divorced. But you are divorced. 1011 00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:01,360 Yes, but again, the Lord's pointing to the heart of the 1012 00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:04,880 issue instead of just what do the legal documents say? 1013 00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,080 Thank you, Pharisees, for the legal documents. 1014 00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:09,280 We know that. And still the Lord is targeting 1015 00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:13,120 the thing behind the thing. Well, on paper it says, if only 1016 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:16,720 that paper could make it to the throne room and the King could 1017 00:48:16,720 --> 00:48:18,400 see. Oh, I didn't realize a judge 1018 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,880 signed off on it. Turns out I'm wrong, you guys. 1019 00:48:22,240 --> 00:48:26,240 Oh, a justice of the peace. Wow, this one's over my head. 1020 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:30,800 Is this to condemn us? No. 1021 00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:33,680 But it's to point to the good, the true, and the beautiful. 1022 00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:36,720 So we would cherish that the Church would cherish what God 1023 00:48:36,720 --> 00:48:39,000 cherishes. That we would contend for what 1024 00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:41,560 the Lord contends for. That we would value what the 1025 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:44,320 Lord values, and that we would not let the leaven of the world 1026 00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:46,960 impact us. That we would not let the yeast 1027 00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:48,960 of the Pharisees get into our hearts. 1028 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:50,880 Beware the yeast of the Pharisees. 1029 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:53,040 A little bit of yeast leavens the whole lump. 1030 00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,600 I'm not much of A cook. I don't know much about kitchen 1031 00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:03,960 and fooding, but I do know you put yeast in dough and then it 1032 00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:08,440 swells, right? I'm smart. 1033 00:49:11,720 --> 00:49:13,600 So we're always looking at the outside. 1034 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:16,040 God is still always looking at the heart. 1035 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:18,120 So what If I divorced for reasons other than the 1036 00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:20,840 unfaithfulness of my spouse? Then you're not to marry. 1037 00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:22,680 All right, So what if I already remarried? 1038 00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:26,000 Then you are to pray. You are to repent of the sin 1039 00:49:26,240 --> 00:49:29,720 with your current spouse and then move forward in the grace 1040 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:32,400 of God. Like Israel. 1041 00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:35,040 When they asked for a king, God did not want to give them one, 1042 00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:38,400 but he eventually said you can have what you're demanding but 1043 00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:40,200 you're not going to like it. But then in his mercy and 1044 00:49:40,200 --> 00:49:43,120 kindness, he said if your king does right and if you do right, 1045 00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:45,440 it will be well. And he says the same thing to 1046 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:50,680 the remarried after divorce. Wow, does that bring relief and 1047 00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:52,600 clarity? Am I supposed to divorce again? 1048 00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:55,520 No, no. Move forward in the grace of God 1049 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,360 with repentance. And the Lord says do well, do 1050 00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:02,640 right, I will be with you. This is God's kindness for His 1051 00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:04,720 name's sake for our good. Why? 1052 00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,920 Because the Lord is not after rules for us to break. 1053 00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:10,880 That was not his motive. How many trip wires can I put in 1054 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:14,440 front of these humans I created? How many barriers can I make for 1055 00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:15,800 them? How many burdens can I crush 1056 00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:18,160 them with? His whole point was I want to 1057 00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:20,960 lift these people up to me. I want them to be up with me. 1058 00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:24,280 I want them to walk with me. So no matter what your reason, 1059 00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:27,080 no matter what your past the Lord says, there is a path 1060 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,640 forward from this moment. The Lord is always having to 1061 00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:32,680 adapt to my sin. We have the whole gospel because 1062 00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:34,480 the Lord adapted to our sin in the garden. 1063 00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:38,640 So there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are 1064 00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:43,120 in Christ Jesus, no condemnation for those who are in Christ 1065 00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:45,520 Jesus. We are a free people. 1066 00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:48,800 We are a rescued people. We are a delivered people. 1067 00:50:49,800 --> 00:50:52,360 And I'm going to read to you, we're going to close with this. 1068 00:50:52,360 --> 00:51:03,960 Am I going to read to you Ezekiel 20, Ezekiel 36. 1069 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:08,480 To show you the Lord's heart again, Old Testament here, 1070 00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:14,760 Ezekiel 36, verse 24. I will take you from the nations 1071 00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:17,240 and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into 1072 00:51:17,240 --> 00:51:19,840 your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on 1073 00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:23,880 you, and you shall be clean from your own cleanness and from all 1074 00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:25,960 your idols. And I will cleanse you, and I 1075 00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:29,080 will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within 1076 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:30,880 you. And I will remove the heart of 1077 00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:33,960 stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 1078 00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:38,440 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my 1079 00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:41,320 statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 1080 00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:44,960 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your Father's, and you 1081 00:51:44,960 --> 00:51:48,280 shall be my people, And I will be your God, and I will deliver 1082 00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:50,400 you from all of your uncleanness. 1083 00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:53,080 This is the word of God for the people of God. 1084 00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:56,720 This is his promise to the very people who said you, wicked and 1085 00:51:56,720 --> 00:52:00,000 adulterous people. Why do you keep cheating on me? 1086 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:01,720 Why do you keep sinning against me? 1087 00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:04,160 And then he comes back to the says, I'm going to, I'm going to 1088 00:52:04,160 --> 00:52:04,840 fix it. Why? 1089 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:07,760 Because I know you can't. I know you can't. 1090 00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:10,560 You can't do it. I'm. 1091 00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:12,600 I'm overwhelmed, As you should be. 1092 00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:17,440 And yet I will restore you in repentance with the blood of 1093 00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:19,400 Jesus. I will restore you. 1094 00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:22,000 I will renew you with the blood of Christ. 1095 00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:24,480 What is our answer? What is our hope? 1096 00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:28,440 What is our salvation? It's back to verses, back to 1097 00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:33,920 verses two and three, or back to verses three and four. 1098 00:52:33,920 --> 00:52:37,680 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of 1099 00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:39,960 heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for 1100 00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:42,240 they shall be comforted. God, I ask that you would 1101 00:52:42,240 --> 00:52:46,000 comfort your people today, as we have seen both the high standard 1102 00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,560 of your holiness. God, I pray that you would also 1103 00:52:48,560 --> 00:52:52,240 refresh us and bless us with your extreme goodness as we see 1104 00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:55,080 the standard of love and we know that we fall short. 1105 00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:57,880 We're also encouraged to know that you love us deeply, that 1106 00:52:57,880 --> 00:53:00,840 you restore us, and that you have You promised Israel that 1107 00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:03,440 you would do it in the future, but for us we rejoice that 1108 00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:04,680 you've already done it in the past. 1109 00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:07,760 You put a new spirit within us, and that's why we love you. 1110 00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:10,200 It's why we seek to please you. It's why we seek to obey you 1111 00:53:10,200 --> 00:53:12,760 now. Help us to crucify the deeds of 1112 00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:15,360 the flesh and to be filled with the Spirit. 1113 00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:17,920 If we're not filled with your spirit, then we're going to 1114 00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:20,600 constantly defer to what our flesh would want anyway. 1115 00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:25,240 Protect us, root out those things inside of us, God, that 1116 00:53:25,240 --> 00:53:27,200 you don't want there. That we would be safe. 1117 00:53:27,360 --> 00:53:29,320 That we would enjoy the highest and the best. 1118 00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:32,160 That we would enjoy the feast. That you prepare the table that 1119 00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:35,040 you have set for us even in the presence of our enemies. 1120 00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:38,800 That you would make our cup to run over, keep our eyes set for 1121 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:42,240 you. Help us to be a people like you, 1122 00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:47,360 slow to anger, quick to forgive, holding high the standards that 1123 00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:50,120 you have for marriage. Because they represent Jesus's 1124 00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:53,320 love for His church and the vow that you have made to us. 1125 00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:57,120 We love you, Lord. We thank you for your love and 1126 00:53:57,120 --> 00:54:02,040 your compassion in Jesus name. And now the Lord bless you and 1127 00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:04,800 keep you. The Lord make His face shine 1128 00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:06,760 down upon you and be gracious to you. 1129 00:54:07,520 --> 00:54:10,360 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great 1130 00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:12,440 peace. In Jesus name. 1131 00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:13,440 Amen.