For the Sake of Righteousness
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We'll let them filter out before we dive in. Hope you're having a blessed day. Hope you're glad to be here in the house of the Lord on this sacred time, the sacred day.
They came from all over the place. They came from The Decapolis, the 10 Gentile cities in and around the northern parts of Israel. They came from all of the Jewish villages that surrounded the Sea of Galilee, some of which have been discovered and excavated that we even get to go to in this day and age and see even the synagogue floors where they worshiped and read the Torah and where Jesus and his disciples taught. But on this particular day, they were all gathered to one place at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, just to the west, a little bit of Capernaum, to a mountainside where Jes. Jesus had gone up and sat down.
And not until he took his seat did the disciples approach. And as the disciples approached, then the crowds began to fill in. And my suspicion is it was probably the largest gathering that Yeshua ever spoke to at one time. Now, I don't know if he used just the natural amphitheater, the acoustic benefits of the terrain, or if he did some miracle so that everybody could hear. I've heard it said so that they would pass it down one by one.
And I've been around enough youth groups know no good could come of that. But somehow all of these people had gathered, and they all had one thing in common, expectation.
They came expecting to see. They came expecting, expecting to hear. They came to see what this itinerant rabbi, this man that they had heard about, some of them had witnessed his miracles already. Surely in that crowd there were people who he had healed. But they all came with an expectation.
Jesus was about to teach.
I ask you this morning as a people that have come from multiple backgrounds and multiple places, some of your spiritual journeys have been in the Christian church, the Baptist church, the Hebrew Roots movement, the Messianic movement, maybe a few Presbyterians here and there.
But regardless of what we have, don't have in common, my hope and my prayer, my genuine prayer today is that there is one thing that we share in this moment. Expectation. Not that Brent will be funny, clever, or insightful. That's a given and arrogant.
But that we will hear afresh. Not the words Brent speaks, but those ancient words that Yeshua spoke on that mountainside. Maybe you've been distracted before you got to this moment. It's not too late to let the Holy Spirit amp up your expectation. Will you pray with me, Messiah?
My prayer is simple. Speak to us. Speak as you spoke on that mountainside so many years ago. Speak as you have continued to speak through the ministry of your Holy Spirit, through the reading and preaching and teaching of your Word Master. We come here today with expectation that every time you opened your mouth, you changed the world.
So we come before you this morning to ask you to change our lives with the power of your words. I pray this in Jesus holy name. Amen.
As we dive into our continuing sermon series, the Torah of the Kingdom, I want to begin by just reminding you of a couple things, relevant things about the context that led to this. I want you to remember each time we come and we begin to dive into this sermon that the Kingdom was not an afterthought in Jesus ministry and message. It was the central dynamic truth that was repeated and manifested over and over and over again. Every miracle was a manifestation of the Kingdom. Every message was something that would draw us near to that kingdom that he was preaching, that kingdom of Heaven that had drawn near.
And so when we come to the Sermon on the Mount, or the Sermon on the Kingdom, as I like to call it, I like to call it that because that keeps it consistent with everything he's been teaching and doing up to that point. We have to understand that this message does not. Is just not a standalone, topical message where Jesus has a whole bunch of things he wants to talk about. He has one central thing he wants to talk about, the Kingdom. And everything else relates to that.
The second thing that I want you to always keep in front of you is that you cannot separate the nearness of the Kingdom and the call to righteousness. These are the dual aspects. The dual message of Jesus is that we are to seek his kingdom and his righteousness. You can't separate the two because actually there's no way into the Kingdom without righteousness. His, not ours.
But don't think that ours doesn't matter. The nearness of the Kingdom was revealed in the hearts of those who lived for the sake of righteousness. The redeeming work of Christ on the cross removed our biggest obstacle to inherit the kingdom. He was proclaiming the judgment of sin. He took that sin upon Himself so that you and I could enter the Kingdom as He called us to it.
And remember how his ministry began with his immersion by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. And his explanation was so that he would fulfill all righteousness. His message it just saturated with kingdom and righteousness. So when we come to the Sermon on the Mount, we are listening to the Messiah's instructions for those who are truly kingdom seekers. And there's only one way in and one way to live in the kingdom, and that's righteousness.
The receiving of his life is an act of righteousness. And then living a transformed life of righteousness is our response. So let me frame it this way. Every aspect of Yeshua's life was for the sake of righteousness. And if I want to be a Talmid, a Talmudim of Yeshua, if I want to be a disciple of Christ, then every facet and aspect of my life has also supposed to be about for the sake of righteousness.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added. But you stay focused on the kingdom and righteousness. So let's dive back into Jesus teaching, remembering all these contextual things, remembering that this moment on the mountain is reminiscent of the ten words that God spoke to Moses and the children of Israel at Sinai. Jesus is going to begin this message with 10 beautiful beatitudes or blessings. And I just want to sow this definition when I say a beatitude or a blessing.
A blessing in the Bible is simply a prophetic promise. And if it's a prophetic promise, then it's going to come to pass because God doesn't lie. Amen. So we remember that we're keeping in mind the kingdom and righteousness as the primary focus. So let's read again the opening first seven blessings.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain. This is Matthew, chapter five. He went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying the Word of God. Opens his mouth to speak the Word of God. This is a moment.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied, satiated, filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart. I can't even fathom this one. For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. These are the first seven prophetic blessings that we looked at last night.
And they are the introduction to Jesus ministry on the kingdom and righteousness. Right away we see a dramatic juxtaposition with what these people, these masses of people, have heard from the Torah teachers, the scribes and the Pharisees. From their vantage point, the Righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees position was everything, what you were supposed to do. And they're not completely wrong. The doing of righteousness must be a priority in the life of a disciple.
In fact, it should be the first priority. But Jesus shows that the doing must flow from the being. What I do with my hands, if I just do it because I'm obligated to do, it becomes a law. What I do with my hands, because it flows, flows from my heart. That is an act of righteousness.
Because if it flows from my heart, it's not about me, it's about the one I'm serving for the sake of my king. Right away, as we dive into this Jesus, words are going to expose or reveal the condition of the heart. For the Pharisees and the scribes, it is going to be an exposing, an unveiling, a very uncomfortable season for them. But for those whose hearts are ready to hear the Word of God, they're ready. You know, we talk sometimes about the Shema.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. That first commandment begins with the Word in English here. Add one letter and you have heart. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The righteousness Jesus was proclaiming flowed out of a heart that caused a person to choose to live for the sake of righteousness, not just in what they do on the outside, but who they are on the inside.
When Jesus was speaking, you know, all these different people from all these different backgrounds. Yet as His Word came forth, none of those things mattered. The condition of their ethnicity was irrelevant. The condition of their social status was irrelevant. The condition of their gender was irrelevant.
It was the condition of their heart that was being laid bare. Are you a heart kingdom seeker or are you just looking for, you know, what are the do what I have to do. If you're just looking for what you have to do, you're looking for the wrong kingdom and you're never going to find his. Today I want to finish the three blessings, the three final blessings. And I know a lot of people divide the Beatitudes into eight.
I divide them into 10, because there's three more that I want us to look at. And there's a shift that takes place beginning in verse 10, Jesus says, Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your Reward in heaven is great for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you, these final three of the ten words of Christ shift gear in the sense that they move from the inward focus of who we are to how that lifestyle, being that kind of person is going. People are how they're going to react to us and the things that we're going to endure, not because we're obnoxious.
If you get persecuted because you're obnoxious, you deserve it.
That wasn't in my notes, so I'm sure I'm blame him anyway. The final three are kind of a testing ground to see if anybody can really is really experiencing the first seven in our life. Because if you're not experiencing any of the final three, and I don't want to set this as a standard, well, if I'm not being persecuted, I'm not walking with Jesus. You know, not every day is persecution. All right?
Don't go out there and try to be a martyr. Go out there and be a disciple. When it's time for there to be suffering, when there's time to, it'll find you. Trust me. You don't have to go looking for it and you don't have to go create it.
So let's look at these blessings. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Have you ever read anything more counterintuitive than that? Yea, for me, I got persecuted today. Notice they are being persecuted because of the way they live and because of who they are, because they are living for the sake of righteousness.
My friends, again, we come from all sorts of different denominational and Christian backgrounds and flavors and things. But the bottom line is, how are you. How we are going to define who we are had better be about how Jesus defines us. And Jesus is looking for those who are looking for him. Jesus is looking for people who don't identify themselves by a name or a title or a group.
Jesus is looking for people he can identify as having had a heart for righteousness, for the sake of righteousness so much that it irritated people around them.
But when you read those first seven, I mean, who wouldn't want to live next to people like that? The gentle, the meek. You know, you see these reels and things on online, you know, of the Karens, and if your name is Karen, it's a beautiful name. I'm sorry it has been tagged so negatively. It actually has biblical origin.
I only use it in the cultural context. Nobody wants to live by those people. But who doesn't want to live by the gentle? Who doesn't want to live by a peacemaker? Who doesn't want to live by someone who is humble, who, when they come to talk to you across the fence, they're not just interested in telling you their opinion, they're really interested in hearing yours.
It's kind of strange. How could such a righteousness cause such a commotion? You see, those who choose to live for the sake of righteousness cannot be naive. We cannot have this mentality that if I live this way, everybody will love me. You know, I've said this before.
There's a thing that goes on with some of these young preachers that are out there, and they're kind of. A lot of them are kind of in the woke cast, the social gospel category. Well, if we would just be more Christlike, if we would just be more Christ, like, then the church wouldn't hate us. And every time I hear one of these young guys say this, and I know they're trying to encourage their people to be more like Jesus, but it's. There's an ancient word for it, poppycock.
It's nonsense. On what day did Jesus ever come to the end of the day, lay his head down on a stone or a tree or wherever he was at and say, oh, Father, forgive me, I just wasn't Christlike enough today. Jesus was Christ, like, every moment of every day. And what did they do to him? They crucified him.
Don't be naive, Church.
Choosing to live a life for the sake of righteousness does not mean everybody is going to love you, no matter how noble and holy you live your life. Why does that happen?
Because there's nothing that exposes somebody else's selfishness like somebody living selflessly. And if you choose to live your life, selflessly, you expose my selfishness. Because what you're doing is you are proving it can be done.
And you are messing up my reality. Because my truth is that no one can live like that because everybody else is selfish and narcissistic. And if you choose not to live that way, well, you're messing up their paradigm. Selfish people are narcissists, and narcissists believe that everyone else is just like them. Have you ever noticed that a narcissist, that they are the ones who are actually doing the things they are always complaining and accusing other people of doing.
You know, when we were little kids, we had a saying about that, you know, be careful when you point the finger because you got three pointed back at you. And that's some elementary wisdom.
Well, those people are always judging me when in fact they're the ones passing judgment on everyone else. Well, those people are just. They're just trying to curry favor. They're not genuine, when in fact that's the person that's attempting to curry favor. Well, those people are mean spirited and say mean things.
Have you ever had a narcissist say something like that to you? Ooh, that tests you. That tests my Christianity all the way to the edge. I have to let my heart tell my hand. Put that fist down.
No, there's no such thing as a holy backhand. Stop. Put it down. Pack it away.
Why does righteousness in one person evoke such a response in someone else?
Because it removes the alibi.
Those who choose to live for the sake of righteousness, living a life of selflessness, you won't have to provoke somebody. And I want to just tell you that there, in virtually every flavor of Christianity, there are those who think they're spiritual because they're provocative, because they have a bully pulpit because they like to expose somebody else's sin. And Jesus says no. You know what's going to really provoke them? Live like me.
Walk in humility. Do you remember our study of Paul's letter to the Philippians? We were looking at the dogma, the doctrine of Christ and the Father and the dogma, the example that Jesus set. Paul describes that example for us. He said that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond, servant and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearances of man.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason God has highly exalted and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. Do you remember that series where the humility, the relationship that Christ has with the Father is the relationship we're supposed to have with Christ, a relationship of humility. You see, Jesus showed righteousness to us in the way he humbled himself for us. That is our example of what the Father is looking for.
That is what for the sake of righteousness looks like. Because for the sake of righteousness will cause you to put somebody else first. For the sake of righteousness will put you needing to be right in the backseat, you needing to be number one in the backseat. And that only flows from the heart of humility.
But those who choose selfishness will hate it and they will persecute it. Do you remember the and just Say yes and pretend you do. Guard my ego. Do you remember when we were in the series on the gifts of the Spirit, First Corinthians 14:1, where Paul tells us to actively, aggressively pursue the gifts of the Spirit? Why?
For our benefit? No. So that we can be a relevant, meaningful part of the body of Christ to assist others.
When we were going through that, I just, I love the connection. Because Jesus is saying, if you do these things, they're going to persecute you. And that word literally means in Greek, they're going to run you down, they're going to chase after you so as to overtake you. And that's the same word Paul uses when he calls us to pursue the gifts of the Spirit, to open ourselves up to receive from the Lord, not for our benefit, but so that we can be a fully functioning, gifted, joy filled person, doing what I need you to do and you doing what I need to, serving one another.
That lesson has stuck with me because I have to admit, I'm not sure that I pursue the righteousness of Christ, what He gives in the Holy Spirit, the way the wicked pursue me.
I think sometimes the wicked are better pursuers. But this is what he calls us to. He calls us to be grace, gifted, filled people, to do the work of righteousness. So quite honestly, if you're not pursuing the gifts for the sake of righteousness, you're probably not walking in those gifts.
Instead of Christianity, instead of your walk as a disciple being filled with expectation of what the Lord might do, a divine appointment, a ministry that might happen, a word that might be given, you just get up every morning and try to do what I call do better Christianity.
I am bored to death with do better Christianity. There's no joy there. If my day is all about what I think I'm gonna do, instead of filled with expectation of what he might do through me, that's way better. Way better.
But that happens in the hearts and lives of people who choose to live their lives for the sake of righteousness and notice the price tag. Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
I said it last week and I'm going to say it again. It's time to be brutally honest. The Kingdom of Heaven is not for everyone.
What do you mean? You're saying there's gonna be a lesser. No, I'm just saying Jesus is looking for disciples who are looking for Him. He's not looking for a crowd. He can turn, you know, the pebbles on the, on the beach into a crowd if he wants a crowd.
He's looking for hearts he's looking for people who want to live their life for the sake of righteousness, because that is. That is what the kingdom is defined by. The next word about living for the sake of righteousness. The ninth blessing is in verse 11. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Okay, first of all, notice they are saying all kinds of things about you falsely.
It doesn't count for righteousness. I'll say it again.
If the things they're saying about you are true, if they are accusing you of being fake and it's true, you're not being persecuted, you're being exposed. It's not the same thing.
Some people are so narcissistic they want to pretend they are martyrs for Jesus or martyrs for righteousness when they get accused of being legalistic and judgmental. But sometimes that's exactly what they are.
Also noticing that the kingdom blessing is for those who are spoken against because of Jesus, not because of you. Oh, this is going to get.
Let me ask a few questions. Do you live enough Jesus for anyone to notice?
Do you live enough Jesus for anyone to notice?
Is Jesus Yeshua, the guy with holes in his hands? The Son of God?
Do people even know he is your primary focus of life?
Do you live enough Jesus for someone to notice?
Well, yeah, as long as I'm not on the highway, as long as no one cuts in front of me, we're good. I am all kinds of Jesus.
Let me ask you another question. Does anyone know that you live the way you do because of and for the sake of Jesus? Or do people know you for your opinion about the Torah and how it should be lived out?
I'll wait.
Do they know you because of the primacy of Yeshua in your life? He and his righteousness are the primary aspect of your life. He is the first thing you want to talk about. Or are you known for what you do and what you don't do? Are you known for your holidays or the Holy One?
What do people expect you to talk about? How wrong somebody else is or how right and righteous he has been and is being to you?
Brent, you're. You're not supposed to talk about those things he did because the vast majority of those people that were standing there were Torah keepers. And what arguably one of the most Torah observant generations in the history of Israel and their teachers told them they were doing it all right. The point is we should be living for Jesus in such a way that people have to in such a way that people have to do to us what they eventually did to him. Make things up.
Do you live enough Jesus for anybody to notice? Soon the scribes and Pharisees will resort to accusing him of casting out demons by the Prince of demons. They will accuse him of speaking against the Temple, breaking the Torah, ignoring the traditions, all of it false. And ultimately they will reject him because he claimed to be God. Let me say something to you as clear as I can.
Yeshua did not claim to be God. Yeshua is God in the flesh. He didn't have to claim anything.
The Father was making the testimony who he was. He said, go read the Gospel of John. Everything he did was a testimony of the Father. It was the Father testifying. That's my son.
The Word of God made flesh. Jesus says, you are blessed when the insults and lies are levied against you because of your relationship with me.
So what did all those people hear that day?
Go home and offer another sacrifice?
They heard, the righteousness of God is found in the one that the Father sent.
Do we have enough of a relationship with Jesus for anyone to notice?
Only the person who lives for the sake of righteousness in relationship with Jesus can withstand all of that. Well, let's look at the 10th word. The 10th word is kind of interesting because it's not a blessing, it's an imperative.
It's a commandment. It's a command when something is imperative. In the Greek, it means you must do this, but it's still a blessing. So what is the command? Rejoice and be glad.
You must rejoice. You must be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Why is it such a must? Well, how is anybody going to believe what you're saying?
If you go into a pity party about your sufferings and the persecution, all this stuff, what does that say about what you believe, about the promise he has made? Your reward is great in heaven. You must be joyful. You must rejoice in these things because that's the moment those people know you're for real. Think about all the martyrs in the Coliseum in Rome singing weeping praises to God for the privilege of giving their lives for Him.
Rejoice comes from the same word as grace. Rejoice in the favor you have that you should be counted worthy to suffer with Jesus. And because of that great reward, be glad. You must be glad. I love this.
You could literally and accurately translate this. Jump for joy. Have you ever heard that phrase, Where'd this idea of jump for joy come from the Bible.
When Jesus says, be glad, you see, it's made up of two Greek words. One that means much and the second one that means leap for joy.
We're called to leap for joy, and sometimes we don't. We struggle just to get out of our seat. And I'm not talking about physical reasons.
Why are they a must do? Because if we ever forget why we are going through the things, we will forget who is going through them with us and the reward that comes from him. Jesus then gives another reason to rejoice. And I think this is really cool. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you, there's a teaching in the Talmud that talks about that anyone who receives a prophet receives a prophet's reward.
If you just show hospitality to a prophet, that that is such an act of righteousness according to the ancient Jewish sages, that you get a prophet's reward. Well, if that's true, how much more do you deserve a prophet's reward if you suffer for the same things and in the same way? The prophets suffered because the world didn't want to hear their message. Now, let's be clear about something. The world didn't persecute the prophets.
This is a theme that is going to begin to be played out through Matthew's telling of the gospel. There's a murder mystery going on here. We'll get to it at the very end. Spoiler alert. Jesus is going to look at the scribes and Pharisees and say, by your own words, you are exactly like your fathers who murdered the prophets.
And Jesus says, rejoice and be glad if you choose to live for the sake of righteousness and pursue the kingdom in humility and meekness and gentleness and making peace. Great is your reward in heaven like unto that of the prophets.
So sometimes you need to be aware that the persecution isn't going to come from without.
It might come from within.
You got some church hurt.
May I humbly and compassionately minister to you in this moment? Get over it.
Great is your reward. But they said I did this, and I didn't say that. Great is your reward. They accused me of doing this, but I didn't do it. Great.
Your reward. You want a biblical reaction to church hurt? Rejoice and be glad. Because you're not the first person in the people of God to get picked on sometimes by the people of God.
All right, I'll move on.
Jesus gives us. There is so much power that he gives us to Live this life. The power to jump for joy. The power to walk in humility, not hubris and arrogance. The power to be gentle when the world wants you to be brutal.
The power to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for selflessness, even while the world craves its gluttonous passion, for selfishness. And even though that battle wages in my flesh, he has given me a new appetite by the presence of His Spirit. The power to want something better. The power to give when others only want to take. The power to walk in the spirit given by Christ, to do righteousness from the heart of righteousness.
Wow.
Thousands of people on that mountainside, and they're sitting there going, can you just see them looking at each other?
Man, I'm just saying they don't talk like my rabbi. My rabbi doesn't talk about humility. In fact, my rabbi is kind of full of himself.
Glad you all don't have to put up any.
Can you imagine?
We've heard it so many times. The familiarity may rob us of its impact, of its import for our lives, but this was new and radical. And the truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter how many times you've heard it. All of us wake up in the flesh struggling with those things. And we need the words of Jesus calling us to live a life for the sake of righteousness.
And I just. For some reason, I feel like I need to throw this in. I've said it before. But living a life of righteousness is not just a life of pressing against the sin in my life. It's pressing into his presence, into his power, into his purpose for my life.
If I will press into him, he'll take care of those battles. When my focus is on the kingdom and righteousness, I don't have time for my mind to go somewhere else. And the minute it does go somewhere else, I need to turn around and get my eyes back on Jesus.
So Jesus goes on and he gives two parables, think, oh, my goodness, Brent, this is enough for today. No, I want you to hear these today in context.
Salt and light. Don't worry, I'm not going to give you another sermon about all the things salt does. Is there anybody here that doesn't know that preserves tape? Go online. You can have people give you five alliterated points on what salt does.
That's not his point. I could talk to you about light and illumination and all. Let's remember. Let's read what he says. He says, you are the salt of the earth.
But if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand.
And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works, AKA works of righteousness, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. When we study the Gospel of John, John is going to be led by the Holy Spirit to highlight, I think, seven statements of Jesus where Jesus says, I am, I am the door, I am the light, I am the life, I am the breadth. Matthew highlights something a little different. It highlights Jesus saying, you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.
Now I know all those Jewish people sitting there hearing that, especially the light of the world, they had a frame of context for that. The temple and the menorah, one of the names of the menorah was literally the light of the world. They have all that Jewish history and tradition and context for those terms. But what is Jesus actually saying and why does he follow up these 10 blessings with this? Because when Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world, who is he talking about?
He's talking about the people he has just described as the genuine kingdom seeking, righteous living people he's not talking about. Okay. By the way, there's two other things I need to talk to you guys about that I really want you to try a little harder on. I want you to do better Christianity. Some of you are just not very salty.
Some of you are too salty.
Oh, and by the way, could some of you, like, let your light shine every once in a while? This was not like, hey, here's two more issues you can try harder on. He says, you are the salt, you are the light. Why? Because they're the, the people who walk in humility.
Whose the kingdom belongs to them. They're the pure in heart, they're the peacemakers. These are the people who are the salt and light of the earth, not the people who just decide, oh, I'm gonna try harder to be salt, I'm gonna try harder to be light. Well, if you wanna be salt and you wanna be light, go back and learn the heart of God in those 10 blessings. Because you do those things, you, you strive after having a heart of humility, wanting to be a peacemaker, having the Lord take Charge of your life.
And you will then be salt and light. You won't even have to try.
This is not a self improvement sermon. It's a self evaluation sermon. You know, Ray Comfort does a great job going out on the streets and using the ten Commandments to show people that they need a savior. Have you done this? Have you done that?
I didn't do that one, but I did that one.
But when Jesus stands up to teach on this mountain, he's not so much asking what he telling you what to do, he's asking who you are. Now, some of you will look at that and say, you know what, though, Brenda, I am that selfish person. I am the me first. Okay? David was a man after God's own heart, and he made a lot of mistakes in the flesh.
The fact that you can find sin in your flesh, congratulations. You just proved the Bible to be true again.
But the heart that presses into God, that says, God, I don't want to be this way. I don't want to just change how I act. I want to change. I want you to be. Transfigure me.
Remember that sermon. I want to be transfigured and transformed. You pursue him like that, and you will be the salt of the earth worship team. You can come back.
We must understand the context these people lived in when they heard these words. This was not what they heard and not what they saw in the lives of the Torah teachers. They.
They were looking at that man seated on that mountain. And so many of them had been touched. Almost every one of them probably knew somebody who had been healed in their village. They were there to press in, to lean in and listen. And when they leaned in to listen to this man seated on the top of this mountain, they didn't see a man adorning himself in glory.
They didn't see a man trying to draw the crowds, you know, just so he could look good. They saw and they heard a man who. Everything he said, it just dripped and oozed with the power and presence of the Father. And they were drawn to that.
It was a moment. It was a moment for those people to look at who Jesus is, consider everything they've heard, and then look into their heart.
And the way you look into your heart is to check how you hear out of the heart. The mouth speaks, but it's what the heart has allowed itself to hear that fills the heart.
When you leave this place today, in a moment, we're going to invite you to stand and sing a song of response, Just a time of reflection for you to press in to the Lord and think these things through for you.
Maybe there is some selfishness in your life that needs to be abandoned. Maybe there's some saltiness that's not salt that needs to be let go of.
Maybe there's some people in your life that are desperately waiting on someone to step up and be a peacemaker.
I can guarantee you there are people in your life who are waiting for you to listen to them more than they are waiting for you to tell them anything.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, the humble, the gentle, the meek.
You do these things you ask God to help. If you become that you leave this place you will be the salt of the earth and you will be the light of the world and it's going to irritate some people but it's also going to be an incredible blessing and a rescue for so many others. Will you consider these words of Jesus as we stand and as we worship him together.