WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:47.140 Well, good morning. 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:51.720 If you've got your Bibles with you, I'm going to ask you to go to two places this morning. 00:00:51.720 --> 00:00:53.880 I'm going to ask you to go to Ezekiel 36. 00:00:54.120 --> 00:00:55.040 That's where we'll begin. 00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:57.760 And then go to Matthew chapter 5. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.640 That's where we'll jump to. 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:01.580 I want to reemphasize what Berger said. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:03.160 We would love to see you tonight. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:08.680 And so if you are someone that likes to cook, likes to do that, I know, I believe from the 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:14.300 Bradbury House, we've got a chicken stew and a peanut butter pie that's coming with us tonight. 00:01:14.660 --> 00:01:16.340 So if you like to cook, that's great. 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:18.260 Come and be a part of that. 00:01:18.260 --> 00:01:22.300 And if there's not enough food, we'll just pray that God does another miracle for us, and 00:01:22.300 --> 00:01:23.380 we've never run out, right? 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:27.660 But if you're someone like, I don't like to cook, I don't want to cook, but I like to eat. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:28.140 All right. 00:01:28.220 --> 00:01:31.740 Well, you've joined the rest of us that like to eat as well. 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:33.800 And so it'll be a wonderful time, 4 o'clock. 00:01:34.220 --> 00:01:36.300 We don't have a program that we're doing. 00:01:37.300 --> 00:01:40.260 It's just a time of fellowship, of coming together. 00:01:40.440 --> 00:01:44.340 And so I would like to encourage all of you to come and to be a part of that. 00:01:44.720 --> 00:01:47.640 First time guests, I've seen a lot as they came through this morning. 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:49.700 I just want to say thank you for being here. 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:53.820 Aaron and I will be back here to my left at the end of the service and would just love for 00:01:53.820 --> 00:01:59.080 you to stop by so we can say hello and thank you for being here and for worshiping with 00:01:59.080 --> 00:02:00.360 us this morning. 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:03.600 Well, as we look at our scripture, I want to say this. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.680 This week, we're starting a new series on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.580 Now, we are in Ezekiel and Matthew, and I'll explain why here in just a little bit that 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:17.260 we're starting our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John by looking at Ezekiel and Matthew, neither of 00:02:17.260 --> 00:02:18.660 whom are by John, right? 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:23.500 But what we're going to have moving forward, many of our small groups are going to be following 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:24.460 along with us. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:31.060 In fact, what we're going to do for the next, I believe, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 weeks, somewhere 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:34.180 through there that we're going to be journeying through these books is we're going to be following 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:40.180 along also with our Right Now Media study that Dr. Tony Evans does on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. 00:02:40.320 --> 00:02:42.900 So maybe an opportunity for your small group to do that. 00:02:43.160 --> 00:02:47.540 Maybe it's an opportunity for you as a family or you as an individual to walk through that 00:02:47.540 --> 00:02:47.880 study. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.680 I would encourage you, allow Sunday morning to be the time where we come and open up God's 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:58.420 Word and whet our appetite for what's going to be discussed, and then you can go from there 00:02:58.420 --> 00:03:05.100 in your own study and really get the meat of what God is going to do in His Word for you. 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:11.360 So this week what we're going to do is we're going to lay the groundwork thematically for 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:16.280 what we think is going to happen where we feel like the Holy Spirit is leading us as we look 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.280 at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. 00:03:18.420 --> 00:03:24.220 And as Scripture reinforces Scripture, as Scripture interprets Scriptures, is what we're going to 00:03:24.220 --> 00:03:29.500 see that Ezekiel 36 and Matthew 5 speak to so much of what we're going to draw from as 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:32.300 we go through this study in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:37.120 And so I'm excited about that, that we had that opportunity to do that this morning together 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:43.560 to just get us ready for all that God is going to do as we work through this series together. 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:46.540 Now, we're going to look at Ezekiel 36 first. 00:03:46.600 --> 00:03:48.780 In just a moment we're going to start reading in verse 25. 00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:55.220 But I want to say this, this is one of my favorite passages that explains what happens 00:03:55.220 --> 00:03:58.720 in an individual when they become a follower of Jesus Christ. 00:03:58.920 --> 00:04:03.620 And I think one of the things that I like so much about it in these three verses that we're 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:06.620 going to look at this morning is that it is from the Old Testament. 00:04:06.940 --> 00:04:10.660 And so most people would not think that I'm going to journey to the Old Testament to learn 00:04:10.660 --> 00:04:11.260 about Jesus. 00:04:11.540 --> 00:04:15.660 But here's what we find, Old Testament, New Testament, it's the story of God, it's the story 00:04:15.660 --> 00:04:16.220 of Christ. 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:22.000 And that's what we find here in Ezekiel 36 is going to share with us that what happens 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:29.440 in our life when we become followers of Jesus Christ, what God is doing in us so that God 00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:31.380 can do through us in there. 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.720 So let's look at Ezekiel 36, starting at verse 25. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:42.800 It says, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanliness 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:47.560 and from all your idols, I will cleanse you. 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:52.460 So in this verse, God says he's going to do the work. 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:55.480 He's describing what he is going to do. 00:04:55.740 --> 00:04:57.680 He doesn't say you will sprinkle. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.720 He says, I will sprinkle. 00:04:59.960 --> 00:05:01.680 He doesn't say you will cleanse. 00:05:01.940 --> 00:05:03.560 He says, I will cleanse. 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:05.480 And then God's going to carry this forward. 00:05:05.740 --> 00:05:10.940 So what we can learn about this work in salvation, it is in the kindness and the grace and the 00:05:10.940 --> 00:05:14.340 goodness of God of what God is doing in our lives. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.480 This is no form of merit-based salvation where we've earned this. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:21.580 It is what God is doing in us. 00:05:21.840 --> 00:05:27.280 And then God says in this verse that God says that he forgives us. 00:05:27.900 --> 00:05:28.540 Yes and amen. 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:29.320 We like this. 00:05:29.320 --> 00:05:42.660 We like that what we get to bring is our sin, our failures, our idols, and that God, what 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:47.920 he tells us in Ezekiel 36 is that he cleans us from all. 00:05:48.460 --> 00:05:54.520 He cleans us from all idols, all of it, every bit. 00:05:55.820 --> 00:05:57.140 We like that. 00:05:57.840 --> 00:06:03.820 Now it causes in some of us to say, but what about this? 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:06.120 What about that? 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:07.540 Yep, that too. 00:06:08.520 --> 00:06:14.960 All of your sin, all of your idols, every foolish thing we settled for, every selfish pursuit 00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:17.560 that we've had, every sinful desire of the heart. 00:06:17.820 --> 00:06:20.580 God says, I cleans you from all of it. 00:06:20.780 --> 00:06:24.920 Every idol that we chase after, God's words that he cleans us from that. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:26.160 He does this. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.180 God in the gospel forgives us. 00:06:29.340 --> 00:06:30.520 But then look at verse 26. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:37.180 And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:43.320 And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 00:06:43.520 --> 00:06:46.540 So after he forgives us, God gives to us. 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:48.020 And we like that too, right? 00:06:48.940 --> 00:06:50.060 We like that God gives. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:54.020 God forgives and that God gives to us. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:59.120 Here in Ezekiel, he says that he gives us a new heart, that he replaces the old heart, 00:06:59.320 --> 00:07:02.320 the heart of stone, for a new heart, a heart of flesh. 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:04.220 God takes what's broken. 00:07:04.380 --> 00:07:05.340 God takes what's busted. 00:07:05.520 --> 00:07:08.040 God takes what is filled with the rottenness of our sin. 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:10.500 And he takes that from us and he gives us new. 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:13.200 He gives us a new heart. 00:07:13.820 --> 00:07:16.540 But he also gives us a new spirit. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:23.480 He takes out our rebellious, depravity, filled, sinful, pursued, evil spirit 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:28.780 that rests within us, that sends us toward the pursuit of the things of this world. 00:07:29.020 --> 00:07:32.540 And God takes that from us and he does not leave us void. 00:07:32.900 --> 00:07:35.460 And instead what God does is he gives us his spirit. 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:37.060 He gives us the Holy Spirit. 00:07:37.940 --> 00:07:41.780 Just as Jesus promised, just as we see fulfilled in the book of Acts, 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.540 that all those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:48.200 and are indwelt by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:51.080 That the spirit of God rests in. 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:52.820 This isn't a metaphor. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:54.980 This isn't a description. 00:07:55.980 --> 00:08:00.480 It is the truth of God's word of what happens and takes place physically and spiritually 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.280 in the life of all of us who are believers. 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:05.640 The spirit of God rests in us. 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:06.200 Right? 00:08:06.260 --> 00:08:07.520 This is good news for us. 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:09.620 We get God's forgiveness. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:12.160 We get God's gifts. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:14.540 Let's look at verse 27. 00:08:16.440 --> 00:08:22.120 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:25.240 and be careful to obey my rules. 00:08:26.340 --> 00:08:29.040 Now with the new spirit, change happens. 00:08:29.900 --> 00:08:30.820 Now here's what's interesting. 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.060 This is a promise. 00:08:34.020 --> 00:08:35.180 This isn't a suggestion. 00:08:35.700 --> 00:08:37.760 This isn't hope that this happens and takes place. 00:08:38.040 --> 00:08:42.700 This is what God says happens and takes place in the lives of the men and women and children 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:47.920 who are followers of his, who rest in him, who have found their forgiveness and their hope 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:49.820 that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:59.320 What happens is, is he promises that change happens and that as, as in this change, that we will walk in his statutes 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.080 and that we will obey his rules. 00:09:02.640 --> 00:09:04.720 And we're like, oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:07.220 Forgiveness, yay, right? 00:09:07.660 --> 00:09:08.740 Gifts, that's good. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:10.700 Now rules. 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:12.960 Oh, we don't like those too much, do we? 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:17.820 Now we're in church and we're going to say that we like rules, but what we see and experience in a lot of us 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:21.060 is that the rules aren't necessarily the things that we like and we get really excited about. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:26.060 Talking about forgiveness, talking about gifts, that, yes. 00:09:26.300 --> 00:09:28.360 Talking about the rules, maybe not so much. 00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:35.280 Now, but God says that this is what happens and that this is what he does and that this is what he changes in us. 00:09:35.280 --> 00:09:37.740 Now, does this happen instantly, right? 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:42.220 If you've been walking for, with Jesus for a while, you know the answer to this question. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:43.780 Does this happen instantly? 00:09:44.060 --> 00:09:47.320 Now, most of us would say, no, this doesn't happen instantly. 00:09:47.520 --> 00:09:52.800 But I would argue that, yes, that this does happen instantly in some areas of our life. 00:09:53.500 --> 00:10:01.520 In that moment when we are encountered with Jesus, when Christ saves us, there are those pieces and parts in our life that God begins to change. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:04.280 It's maybe how we view worship. 00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:07.260 It's maybe how we view the church. 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:10.020 It's maybe how we view forgiveness. 00:10:10.400 --> 00:10:11.920 It's maybe how we view love. 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:14.320 It's maybe how we think we're supposed to treat people, right? 00:10:14.760 --> 00:10:18.680 Instantly, God begins to take those areas of our life and change those. 00:10:18.680 --> 00:10:33.340 But for many things, what God does in his grace and his kindness over the course of our life is he works in those areas of our life, making us more and more like him, sanctifying us. 00:10:33.560 --> 00:10:37.400 So those things that we used to pursue, we don't pursue anymore. 00:10:37.520 --> 00:10:39.660 And instead, we're pursuing the things of him. 00:10:39.660 --> 00:10:46.240 So we can look back from the moment that we got saved and we can see those things instantly that God changed in us. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.180 We can see those things that God has changed later in us. 00:10:50.400 --> 00:10:54.640 We can also identify the things that we still know are there that God's working on. 00:10:54.800 --> 00:10:59.580 But then there's a third category of those things that you and I don't even really know that we struggle with right now. 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:02.480 And the Holy Spirit's like, just wait, that's coming later, right? 00:11:03.880 --> 00:11:05.680 And that's what God is going to work and do. 00:11:06.760 --> 00:11:12.860 And so here's the promise that we take away as we look at this in Ezekiel chapter 36. 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:19.220 It's that when you are saved, God changes you and promises to continue changing you. 00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:22.300 And here's what I have come to understand. 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:31.840 You and I, as a result of this, of knowing the work of God and the fullness and the work of the gospel and what the gospel wants to do in us and through us, 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:35.920 means that we can't sit back and say, man, I'm just good where I'm at. 00:11:38.780 --> 00:11:44.100 Spiritually, we cannot treat our lives like a Sunday afternoon sitting in a rocking chair looking at the pretty mountains. 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:46.380 I'm good. 00:11:47.680 --> 00:11:49.320 I'm fine right here. 00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:52.480 I'm good and comfortable. 00:11:53.520 --> 00:12:01.820 That within our being, we have to realize that we have not arrived, that we have not been perfected, 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:08.220 but that also that we're not good enough and there's no need to get any better. 00:12:08.780 --> 00:12:12.380 The gospel won't let that happen in us. 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:17.360 The truth of God's word pushes against that in our lives. 00:12:18.380 --> 00:12:21.720 You and I can't sit back and say, I've arrived. 00:12:22.040 --> 00:12:27.600 You and I can't sit back and say those areas of my life, I don't need to change. 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:41.600 On Twitter this week, I read a quote from Shane Pruitt, who's the next generation mobilization person for the North American Mission Board. 00:12:42.040 --> 00:12:43.240 And I got this quote on the screen. 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.280 For some reason this week, I got a lot of quotes, but this is the only one that's on the screen. 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:47.720 Here's what he says. 00:12:48.560 --> 00:12:54.000 Too many people want a God that saves them, but doesn't change them. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.460 The gospel doesn't work like that. 00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:01.680 That hurt my feelings. 00:13:03.520 --> 00:13:10.240 Too many people want a God who saves them, but that doesn't change them. 00:13:11.040 --> 00:13:12.980 And the gospel doesn't work like that. 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:18.020 The gospel doesn't say, here's your salvation and you're great. 00:13:19.160 --> 00:13:19.640 No. 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:28.680 Jesus says, here's the gospel, but what's going to happen is I'm going to work in you through this. 00:13:29.420 --> 00:13:32.700 And this is going to be our theme as we look at 1 and 2 and 3 John. 00:13:33.920 --> 00:13:43.900 This concept, as Berger and I were looking at the study with right now, we were looking at the study, reading through in God's word, and we came back with the thought of uncomfortable Christianity. 00:13:45.180 --> 00:14:01.920 That where we see, what we see that in this life is that too many of us want comfortable, good, laid back on the front porch with our feet kicked up, with a glass of sweet tea, taking a nap, Christianity. 00:14:03.300 --> 00:14:08.780 And I'm good, I'm fine, leave me alone. 00:14:10.180 --> 00:14:12.940 But that's not what happens. 00:14:13.760 --> 00:14:22.420 When we are saved, many of us see behaviors that we want to change, and we're excited about changing those. 00:14:23.140 --> 00:14:28.080 But what happens is eventually we have behaviors and sins that we don't want to change. 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:29.860 We like them. 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:32.160 They feel good. 00:14:32.680 --> 00:14:34.460 They meet a desire. 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:35.880 They scratch an itch. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:37.980 And so we don't want to let them go. 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:41.340 This is who I am. 00:14:41.680 --> 00:14:42.520 This is what I do. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:43.800 So here's the things we say. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:49.460 We say things like, when we're confronted by someone, this is what I found. 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:55.980 When someone confronts us with sin in our life, which by the way is biblical, it doesn't mean that it feels good, but it's biblical. 00:14:55.980 --> 00:15:08.200 When someone confronts us with sin in our life or the Holy Spirit begins to speak in us the sin that we're living in, we tend to have some posturing or some responses that aren't godly in this from time to time. 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:12.860 And one of the things that we say is, we know God's not working on that yet. 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:15.220 So here's what we do. 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:17.960 Here's what that statement does when we do this. 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:21.820 And I say we, because this is just as much me as it is you. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:23.360 We blame God. 00:15:24.920 --> 00:15:26.220 This sin is God's fault. 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:29.920 Well, I mean, God's not working on that yet. 00:15:30.560 --> 00:15:33.520 I mean, maybe he will, but right now is not his timing. 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:35.040 And you heard what Bo said. 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:36.600 We always have to trust in God's timing, right? 00:15:37.920 --> 00:15:38.780 We blame God. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:39.980 God's not working on that yet. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:44.240 The other thing we say is we say, well, you know, it's just the way that I am. 00:15:45.260 --> 00:15:46.320 It's just the way that I am. 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:47.100 And here's what that does. 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:48.120 That limits God. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:50.960 We're trying to put a limit on God. 00:15:51.140 --> 00:15:53.040 Well, that's just the way that I am. 00:15:53.060 --> 00:15:55.020 And it should change, but God needs to change it. 00:15:55.140 --> 00:15:56.560 And that's just the way that I am. 00:15:56.700 --> 00:15:58.840 And so what we're saying is God really can't change that. 00:16:00.280 --> 00:16:01.400 It's just who I am. 00:16:01.920 --> 00:16:02.920 It's who I'm going to be. 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:06.540 And I've accepted it, so you accept it. 00:16:07.760 --> 00:16:09.040 Or then we do this. 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:12.040 Well, you know, you really shouldn't judge me. 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:18.000 And you should just accept and love me for who I am, right? 00:16:18.940 --> 00:16:22.740 And that may go really well in a Hallmark movie, but it goes terrible in the Bible, right? 00:16:23.540 --> 00:16:25.620 And so we blame others. 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:30.240 We blame brothers and sisters in Christ who are trying to help us in our sanctification. 00:16:30.640 --> 00:16:36.260 And so in this, when we're not willing to address these things, we blame God, we try to limit God, and we blame others. 00:16:36.260 --> 00:16:42.420 But here's what we've learned from Ezekiel, that God forgives if you're saved. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:44.900 God gives if you're saved. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.000 And God changes us if you're saved. 00:16:49.260 --> 00:16:54.860 And all throughout the Bible and all throughout the teachings of Jesus, this is what we see. 00:16:56.360 --> 00:17:07.080 Jesus calls his followers to a different, to a higher standard for themselves in their lives. 00:17:07.280 --> 00:17:08.900 Go ahead and turn over to Matthew chapter 5. 00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:12.160 We'll start in verse 38 here in just a moment. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:16.300 But I want to give some examples of this that are even outside of Matthew 5. 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:17.600 And there are so many of them. 00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:23.480 We could stay here until 4 o'clock tonight or this afternoon and read through all of these that we see. 00:17:23.580 --> 00:17:24.740 But here's just a handful. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.600 Rich young ruler, remember him, he comes to Jesus, wants to be a follower of Jesus. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:31.980 What does Jesus say? 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:33.580 Jesus attacks his idol. 00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:40.900 He says, take all your possessions, all that you have, sell it all, and give it all away. 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:44.920 You know, that's a little, that's a little much. 00:17:45.040 --> 00:17:45.320 Jesus? 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.720 Did Jesus mean that? 00:17:48.580 --> 00:17:49.020 Yes. 00:17:50.100 --> 00:17:50.880 Yes, he did. 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:53.060 Jesus meant that. 00:17:53.580 --> 00:17:55.180 When he came, he attacked his idols. 00:17:55.260 --> 00:17:57.400 Remember he said, I'm going to cleanse you from all of your idols? 00:17:57.560 --> 00:17:59.660 So he attacks his idols. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:01.920 Give it all away. 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:02.700 Here's the thing. 00:18:02.760 --> 00:18:06.640 We're going to see this in just a few moments also about the illustrations that Jesus gives. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:12.680 You know, sometimes more of us in here, more so than others, I include myself in this, 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:18.060 sometimes we say things that we didn't really think about saying and then we just say them. 00:18:18.600 --> 00:18:19.660 Anybody else ever have that? 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:21.620 We've got a filter like a basketball net. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:22.880 Are you there with me sometimes? 00:18:23.820 --> 00:18:24.040 All right. 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:25.560 See, that's not Jesus. 00:18:27.260 --> 00:18:30.840 Everything Jesus says is perfect, is holy, is divine, and is inspired. 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:32.740 That's who Jesus is. 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:35.800 So Jesus doesn't flippantly say anything. 00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:40.540 So everything he says, he means, everything he says is truth. 00:18:42.940 --> 00:18:46.040 So the rich young ruler, I want to follow you. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:47.420 Well, cool. 00:18:47.760 --> 00:18:48.900 Well, let me attack that idol. 00:18:49.780 --> 00:18:50.100 Sell it all. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:50.740 Give it all away. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:52.740 That's uncomfortable. 00:18:54.300 --> 00:18:55.140 That's uncomfortable. 00:18:57.460 --> 00:19:04.200 Later on in Scripture, Peter, and this is probably the most uncomfortable call that we see. 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:09.960 Peter comes up to Jesus in a moment of pride for himself. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:17.940 You know where he's got an answer to the question that he's about to ask, and he's waiting for Jesus to affirm him in front of everybody else. 00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:21.320 He says, Jesus, how many times should we forgive someone? 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:22.380 Seven. 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:22.500 Seven. 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:26.080 Seven, the number of perfection. 00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:29.840 Jesus, should we forgive them seven times? 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.040 And Jesus says, no. 00:19:34.040 --> 00:19:35.420 How about 70 times? 00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:36.820 How about 70 times seven times? 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:39.100 That's forgiveness. 00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:43.860 How many of you are keeping track of forgiveness? 00:19:44.260 --> 00:19:45.800 Probably a lot of us. 00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:52.600 But I forgave them here, and I forgave them here, and I forgave them here, and I forgave them here, and now I'm just done. 00:19:53.560 --> 00:19:54.760 I'm done forgiven. 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:58.020 The only problem with that is Jesus. 00:19:59.620 --> 00:20:00.780 And Jesus says, no. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:02.560 No. 00:20:03.580 --> 00:20:04.720 You keep on forgiving. 00:20:04.860 --> 00:20:05.820 You keep on forgiving. 00:20:06.040 --> 00:20:07.440 You keep on forgiving. 00:20:08.580 --> 00:20:16.320 And so in Matthew 5, verse 38, what we find here is that Jesus is teaching, and Jesus is doing the Sermon on the Mount. 00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:21.200 So I want to kind of hit the structure of it so far to kind of get to where we're going here. 00:20:21.380 --> 00:20:24.040 But Jesus is already given the Beatitudes. 00:20:24.320 --> 00:20:30.440 The Bible tells us that there's this group of people, and they've been following Jesus, and this bigger crowd is coming, and bigger crowd is coming. 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:38.200 And Jesus kind of looks around, and in the guidance of the Spirit of God and obedience to the Father, the Son begins to preach. 00:20:39.560 --> 00:20:45.440 And what we see is the Beatitudes are first, and Jesus defines that this is what it means to be blessed. 00:20:47.120 --> 00:20:58.820 And then it's the calling of Jesus to missional living, to being on mission, to understanding that we are missionaries in Christ. 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.820 He says, you're going to be salt and light, that we are sent people. 00:21:02.620 --> 00:21:04.500 If you're going to follow, this is who you are. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:12.400 And then in chapter 5, starting in verse 17, Jesus talks about how he came to fulfill the law. 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:18.420 And this is really important, because in a minute, he's not going to attack the law, but he's going to speak to the law. 00:21:19.820 --> 00:21:25.940 And Jesus talks about that in him, that he, he is the fulfillment of the law. 00:21:26.120 --> 00:21:32.740 and then what we see is Jesus begins teaching what I'm just calling like a Christian ethic, 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:38.560 a Christian character, and over the next several sections, he begins by saying something like, 00:21:38.560 --> 00:21:45.900 you have heard it said, or you've heard it said from times of old, and then Jesus in each one of 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:50.820 these, he talks about anger, he talks about lust, he talks about divorce, he talks about oaths, he 00:21:50.820 --> 00:21:59.580 talks about retaliation, he talks about love, and in each one of these, he says this, and he quotes 00:21:59.580 --> 00:22:05.060 from the Old Testament of you've heard it said, and then gives the standard of the Old Testament 00:22:05.060 --> 00:22:12.180 of what God sent for his law, but then Jesus digs deeper, and he digs deeper to the heart 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:15.560 issues, so we're not going to look at all of those, but I do want us to look at, let's look 00:22:15.560 --> 00:22:22.560 it started in verse 38, Jesus says, you have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth 00:22:22.560 --> 00:22:26.880 for a tooth, now this quote here, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is found in 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:35.680 Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19, and God gives to his people, to the nation of 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:42.580 what's there, not to individuals, God gives this standard for governing, for punishments 00:22:42.580 --> 00:22:48.460 of what needs to be done, now God doesn't look at them and say, hey Bo, in your life, here's 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:54.680 the standard to live out, buddy, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, but he says to his 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:59.600 nation, to the group, here's how we're going to govern, and this is what you're going to 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:07.220 do, but individuals, right, have taken this as their individual duty, now how many of us 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:13.600 have ever quoted that verse for me, well you've done this to me, so I'm going to do this to 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:21.360 you, and what we do in there is we try to manipulate God's word to justify our sin, and Jesus says, 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:27.360 you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and then verse 00:23:27.360 --> 00:23:40.380 39, he says, but I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil, do not resist the one who 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:49.360 is evil, now in this moment, what you've got to do within your heart is decide if you believe 00:23:49.360 --> 00:24:01.020 God's word, you've got to take verse 39 and ask yourself this question, do I believe in 00:24:01.020 --> 00:24:09.440 what God's word says, and if the answer to that is no, thank you for being honest with 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:19.340 yourself, thank you for being honest with yourself, and our prayer for you is that you will, and 00:24:19.340 --> 00:24:26.640 if you do, then what we're about to find, Jesus is going to give us four examples of this, 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:34.760 of what this means for a greater calling on our life, look at the rest of verse 39, 00:24:35.760 --> 00:24:48.340 but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also, okay, that's not fun, 00:24:48.780 --> 00:24:56.100 all right, now remember Jesus said what he said, we believe all of his words that they ring true, 00:24:56.100 --> 00:25:04.040 and so Jesus gives us some very specifics in this, Jesus says, but if anyone slaps you on the right 00:25:04.040 --> 00:25:14.660 cheek, turn to him the other also, so what's Jesus saying here, all right, pretend with me that you're in a 00:25:14.660 --> 00:25:20.260 situation where you're about to get slapped, not necessarily the greatest moment of your life, 00:25:20.300 --> 00:25:27.040 right, not one of those where you say, sign me up, I'd like to do that, I did find out this week that 00:25:27.040 --> 00:25:33.360 there's a sport of professional slapping, where people stand across the table from one another 00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:40.360 and slap each other, and I will say, I think they have limited judgment and great restraint in that 00:25:40.360 --> 00:25:45.940 moment, right, hey, sign me up for that, you want to play kickball or get slapped in the face, I'll 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:51.860 take slap in the face, nope, not what we're doing, right, this is what they do, take, just, let's look at 00:25:51.860 --> 00:26:02.160 this, Jesus says, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, right cheek, right here, but why does that 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:10.340 matter, it matters because Jesus said it, if anyone turns and slaps you on the right cheek, now 90% of 00:26:10.340 --> 00:26:14.940 the world, how many left-handed people do we have in here, raise your hand, raise your hand, oh, we got a 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:20.360 handful of y'all, all right, there's not many, here's the reason for that, right, there's not many left-handed 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:29.160 people in the world, roughly 90% of the world's population is right-handed, so if a right-handed 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:37.060 person is going to slap someone on the right cheek, if I'm coming at them, I'm coming at the left 00:26:37.060 --> 00:26:48.460 cheek, this way, so how do I slap someone with my right hand on the right cheek, backhand, every 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:58.520 translation, it is not punch, it is not hit, it is slap, and so Jesus says, if anyone would slap you on the 00:26:58.520 --> 00:27:07.260 right cheek, turn him the other also, now this deals with the physical nature and a physical example of 00:27:07.260 --> 00:27:11.820 what's happening and taking place, but I believe there's, there's more to what Jesus is getting to. 00:27:14.140 --> 00:27:24.400 If you've ever seen someone hit someone like this, it's a physical action of violence that takes place, but with a 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:34.400 unique and particular goal, it's to put someone in their place, it's to belittle them, it's to insult them, it is to 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:48.600 show you are less than me, so I will hit you like this. And so Jesus says, if someone seeks to physically 00:27:48.600 --> 00:27:59.720 attack you with the goal of insulting you, turn and give them the other cheek, these are Jesus' words. 00:28:00.980 --> 00:28:01.900 Verse 40, 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:12.020 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 00:28:12.280 --> 00:28:17.120 I did some reading about the clothing that was worn during the times of Jesus, and here's what I found. 00:28:17.120 --> 00:28:25.500 Alright. Most individuals wore five items of clothing on their body. They wore their sandals, something to 00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:33.940 cover their feet. They wore some type of cloth to cover their head. They wore a loincloth of some fashion as 00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:42.040 their underwear. And then they would wear their tunic, which was more tighter fitting and fit to the body, 00:28:42.040 --> 00:28:51.280 against them, right? And then they wore on top of that a cloak. Now, the cloak was the most expensive thing 00:28:51.280 --> 00:28:57.320 that the person would have. A cloak was often, and these times is what people would travel. As they would 00:28:57.320 --> 00:29:02.900 travel, they would have to take journeys, even go from town to town. And so oftentimes a cloak would be that, 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:07.540 that would protect you from the sun. It would protect you from the cold. It would protect you from the rain. 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:11.920 It would protect you from the wind. If you had to sleep on the streets at night, your cloak 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:18.160 would be the thing that you would cover up with. Your tunic that you would wear while it was comfortable 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:21.160 and allowed you to have it, it wasn't considered 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:33.320 a necessity of life. And so Jesus says, if someone sues you and take your tunic, let them have it and end there. 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:41.340 Because you're like, well, I'm good. I got my cloak. I'm cover up. No need to see my undergarments, right? 00:29:41.340 --> 00:29:45.280 I'm fine. Still is going to protect me. Still is going to do all those things. 00:29:46.280 --> 00:29:50.460 But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let them have your cloak as well. 00:29:52.260 --> 00:29:58.340 Jesus says, if someone seeks to take this from you, voluntarily surrender more. 00:30:00.140 --> 00:30:01.820 What does that mean you look like? 00:30:03.820 --> 00:30:04.840 You don't have a tunic. 00:30:06.080 --> 00:30:07.040 You don't have a cloak. 00:30:08.340 --> 00:30:09.820 You've got something to cover your head. 00:30:10.860 --> 00:30:12.320 You've got something to cover your feet. 00:30:13.600 --> 00:30:16.440 And you've got your undergarments on. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:18.240 And that's it. 00:30:20.580 --> 00:30:24.560 This is the heart of what Jesus is, is cutting to. 00:30:25.940 --> 00:30:32.180 Verse 41, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him. 00:30:33.760 --> 00:30:34.200 What? 00:30:35.780 --> 00:30:36.780 I'm not going there. 00:30:38.260 --> 00:30:39.680 Here's what Jesus is talking to. 00:30:40.620 --> 00:30:41.680 There was a practice. 00:30:41.860 --> 00:30:48.100 Now, remember, in this time where Jesus is in the setting, it is filled with Roman occupancy, okay? 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:53.160 And Rome has occupied them and is taking from these people. 00:30:53.460 --> 00:30:57.160 They are foreigners in their land, in their country. 00:30:57.420 --> 00:31:01.320 And this is a war-torn area, much like it is today. 00:31:02.800 --> 00:31:12.080 And what the Romans would do, any Roman member of the military could walk up to any person and say to them, 00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:17.780 pick up my belongings, pick up my equipment, and come with me. 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:22.420 And you are required by law to go with them one mile. 00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:24.420 One mile. 00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:27.280 But what if you're headed to work? 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:28.580 It didn't matter. 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:29.480 You've got to go. 00:31:30.840 --> 00:31:32.920 What if you were older and you couldn't make the trip? 00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:33.760 It didn't matter. 00:31:33.860 --> 00:31:34.340 You had to go. 00:31:35.360 --> 00:31:37.840 What if you're headed to the temple and you're headed to your time of worship? 00:31:38.040 --> 00:31:38.680 It didn't matter. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:39.420 You had to go. 00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:40.880 What if you're there? 00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:48.880 What if you're a young mom holding her baby and you cannot carry everything that they're demanding of you and carry your baby? 00:31:49.120 --> 00:31:50.360 Well, then you leave the baby. 00:31:52.840 --> 00:31:55.520 Jesus says, go two. 00:31:57.400 --> 00:31:58.140 Go two. 00:32:00.140 --> 00:32:05.740 That even that those who seek to oppress you, Jesus says, serve them. 00:32:07.020 --> 00:32:07.840 Serve them. 00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:11.340 And in doing so, who do you also serve? 00:32:12.300 --> 00:32:13.780 You serve your brother or sister. 00:32:14.840 --> 00:32:18.980 Because when you lay it down, someone else has got to pick it up. 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:24.300 So Jesus says, when they ask you to go one, you go two. 00:32:25.820 --> 00:32:32.380 Some commentators say that when they ask you to go one, you go two on top of that. 00:32:33.460 --> 00:32:34.940 So in the end, you've gone three. 00:32:37.980 --> 00:32:42.260 Jesus gives this one last illustration here in Matthew 5. 00:32:44.860 --> 00:32:53.780 He says, give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 00:32:55.080 --> 00:32:59.000 So Jesus gives two financial situations. 00:33:00.520 --> 00:33:01.960 The one that begs from you. 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:05.980 You know, we've had that happen. 00:33:07.780 --> 00:33:09.260 Jesus didn't say, think about it. 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:12.440 Jesus says, give. 00:33:14.080 --> 00:33:15.020 And these are his words. 00:33:17.340 --> 00:33:23.240 He says, the one who would borrow from you, let them have it. 00:33:24.580 --> 00:33:25.940 But what if they don't pay me back? 00:33:27.220 --> 00:33:29.120 You know, it's fine. 00:33:30.560 --> 00:33:31.480 Let them have it. 00:33:32.760 --> 00:33:38.100 Jesus says that we're to live generously in who we are. 00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:47.100 As we look through what it means to understand what it looks like to follow Christ, 00:33:48.380 --> 00:33:53.360 Jesus desires and commands and calls for change, 00:33:53.740 --> 00:34:04.460 even in the most self-focused, self-entitled areas of our lives that you and I long to hold on to. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:09.460 But Jesus, they insulted me. 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:12.540 We'll give them the other cheek too. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:16.300 Jesus, but they took from me. 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:18.600 We'll give them more. 00:34:20.620 --> 00:34:22.520 But Jesus, I'm oppressed. 00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:28.300 Then go as a servant and you're no longer oppressed. 00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:32.680 It's harder. 00:34:33.680 --> 00:34:37.840 It's different, but that's the point. 00:34:39.640 --> 00:34:45.120 Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth. 00:34:45.420 --> 00:34:47.980 You're the light of the world. 00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:50.400 You're different. 00:34:52.260 --> 00:34:53.600 So go and be that way. 00:34:55.420 --> 00:35:03.240 The way of Jesus is different, is better, is sacrificial. 00:35:03.680 --> 00:35:05.220 Essential and essential. 00:35:06.620 --> 00:35:10.200 Continue reading with me in verse 43. 00:35:12.520 --> 00:35:20.820 Jesus says, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:35:22.180 --> 00:35:30.020 Now, this one, first part, Jesus quotes, found in Leviticus 19. 00:35:31.020 --> 00:35:32.400 You shall love your neighbor. 00:35:33.660 --> 00:35:41.500 But that next part, and hate your enemy, well, that's taken from culture. 00:35:43.140 --> 00:35:54.380 And so what Jesus is saying to his followers then, Jesus would say to the church today, is that oftentimes we take God's standard and we culturize it. 00:35:55.780 --> 00:36:05.680 Well, here's what God's word says, but let me view what God's word says in light of culture and let me allow culture to influence what God says. 00:36:07.560 --> 00:36:10.140 And that's not even just simply not biblical, that's sinful. 00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:23.360 Our approach should be, how does God's word affect the culture, not does how God's, or how does, not how does the culture affect God's word? 00:36:25.020 --> 00:36:26.220 And so we looked at that. 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:27.400 We talked about forgiveness. 00:36:28.680 --> 00:36:37.600 Ephesians 4.32 tells us to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. 00:36:38.900 --> 00:36:39.900 There's the standard. 00:36:41.900 --> 00:36:42.920 How do you forgive? 00:36:43.860 --> 00:36:45.300 Well, how has Christ forgiven you? 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:47.160 There you go. 00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:50.380 How has Christ forgiven you? 00:36:50.700 --> 00:36:54.320 Same way he's forgiven me, freely and completely. 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:56.300 Culture says do the opposite. 00:36:57.840 --> 00:36:59.460 Culture says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:36:59.780 --> 00:37:00.280 Mm-mm. 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:02.020 They don't deserve it. 00:37:02.020 --> 00:37:07.120 And it drives me insane when my heart wrestles with that. 00:37:09.500 --> 00:37:12.780 And it drives me insane when we wrestle with that. 00:37:14.120 --> 00:37:16.320 How has Christ forgiven me? 00:37:16.620 --> 00:37:18.160 Freely and completely. 00:37:18.500 --> 00:37:24.220 Ephesians 4.32 tells us, forgive others as Christ has forgiven you. 00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:25.420 That's it. 00:37:25.900 --> 00:37:29.120 There's no, and here's an asterisk, and here's how we get out of that. 00:37:30.520 --> 00:37:31.440 This is it. 00:37:33.040 --> 00:37:40.960 And so Jesus' disciples must live and love in a way that is superior to the ways around them. 00:37:41.500 --> 00:37:45.380 That doesn't conform to the ways around them, but that's superior. 00:37:45.380 --> 00:37:56.200 So Jesus says in verse 44, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. 00:37:56.560 --> 00:38:04.160 For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 00:38:04.560 --> 00:38:08.400 Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:38:08.560 --> 00:38:10.220 Those aren't empty words, church. 00:38:10.380 --> 00:38:11.700 That's what Jesus did. 00:38:16.020 --> 00:38:20.780 The Bible says that before Christ that I'm his enemy. 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:30.380 And so the Bible tells us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:38:31.060 --> 00:38:32.580 He served us. 00:38:33.020 --> 00:38:34.180 We couldn't do it. 00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:36.240 And so he did it. 00:38:37.240 --> 00:38:38.480 He did it. 00:38:39.920 --> 00:38:41.700 You're like, okay, but praying. 00:38:42.220 --> 00:38:44.340 Praying for people who persecute me. 00:38:45.680 --> 00:38:52.660 You remember that phrase that Jesus said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. 00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:56.500 Do you know what was happening during that time? 00:38:58.060 --> 00:38:59.600 He was hanging on a cross. 00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:05.940 He had just had spikes ran through his feet and through his wrists. 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:11.280 He just had a crown of thorns placed on his head. 00:39:11.500 --> 00:39:19.560 And I'm not talking about thorns like what we have on our little rose bushes that cut our finger a little bit and we put a band-aid on it and we get over. 00:39:19.720 --> 00:39:26.920 I'm talking about thorns this long that would have gone all the way through and potentially even punctured his eyes as it was pressed down. 00:39:28.840 --> 00:39:39.300 This was a man that was beaten and had the skin ripped off of his back so that he could then be placed on a cross where he'd have to pull himself up on that cross in order to breathe. 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:49.820 And see every splinter and every piece of that wood penetrate into the exposed flesh that was there. 00:39:52.740 --> 00:39:59.080 And Jesus in that moment says, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:05.400 Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:40:09.980 --> 00:40:17.860 Verse 45, he says, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. 00:40:19.240 --> 00:40:20.620 We got to do something with that. 00:40:22.740 --> 00:40:27.660 D.A. Carson wrote this and thought it was the best. 00:40:27.740 --> 00:40:29.340 And I apologize, it's not on the screen. 00:40:30.980 --> 00:40:36.820 He says, the point of the passage is not to state the means of becoming sons. 00:40:38.100 --> 00:40:48.340 But the necessity of pursuing a certain kind of sonship patterned after the father's characters. 00:40:50.040 --> 00:40:55.620 The sons and daughters should reflect the father. 00:40:55.620 --> 00:41:10.540 He says that in this, in this, when you get this, when you're praying, when you're serving, when you're enduring insults and hardship, 00:41:11.040 --> 00:41:21.340 when your generosity is being taken advantage of, and your response to those who do this is love and is prayer, 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:30.860 what is happening in you is a divine work with where what the people see is not you, but they see the heavenly father. 00:41:32.860 --> 00:41:37.300 A particular type of sonship that's there. 00:41:37.300 --> 00:41:42.580 Look at verses 46 through 48, and we'll close on this. 00:41:44.580 --> 00:41:51.280 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? 00:41:52.740 --> 00:41:55.360 Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 00:41:57.140 --> 00:42:03.300 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? 00:42:04.320 --> 00:42:08.260 Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 00:42:09.600 --> 00:42:13.520 You, therefore, must be perfect. 00:42:14.520 --> 00:42:22.240 My last quote, Alfred Plummer said this. 00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:29.260 To return evil for good is devilish. 00:42:30.280 --> 00:42:36.560 If someone does good for you and you return evil to them, that's devilish. 00:42:37.700 --> 00:42:41.580 He says, to return good for good, that's human. 00:42:42.620 --> 00:42:43.980 That's what we hope for. 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:48.340 That's what we kind of expect out of humanity. 00:42:50.100 --> 00:42:56.160 But to return good for evil is divine. 00:42:58.040 --> 00:43:02.820 You see, when you're good to me and I'm good to you, that's really great fellowship. 00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:11.680 If I return evil for what you do for good for me, that's sinful. 00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:22.640 But if you do evil for me, and what I give back is good for you, then that's what God did for us. 00:43:24.060 --> 00:43:29.280 As we gave him our evil, and he gave us his goodness. 00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:32.080 And it's the call. 00:43:33.760 --> 00:43:40.780 And so Matthew says, you, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 00:43:42.140 --> 00:43:45.320 This word perfect is where we get the word holy from. 00:43:47.200 --> 00:43:52.600 That as God, as Christ calls us to this life that he has. 00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:59.280 It's not to give us restraints and rules and restrictions. 00:44:00.980 --> 00:44:07.400 It's not to punish us so that we have these boring lives and we can't do all the things that we want to do. 00:44:08.760 --> 00:44:16.640 But it's to grow us in our obedience to the Lord so that we reflect something particular. 00:44:18.440 --> 00:44:19.360 Our heavenly Father. 00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:19.780 Our heavenly Father. 00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:26.060 And to let us have the pursuit that we chase after. 00:44:26.820 --> 00:44:30.820 The pursuit of the standard for my life and for yours. 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:33.360 As we are found in Christ. 00:44:34.820 --> 00:44:38.760 Is the holiness and the perfection of God. 00:44:40.460 --> 00:44:46.700 If you're here today and you know that you are found in Christ. 00:44:47.640 --> 00:44:49.080 And that's who you are. 00:44:50.300 --> 00:44:51.660 May that be our pursuit. 00:44:53.340 --> 00:44:57.120 But if you're here today and you don't know Christ. 00:44:58.500 --> 00:44:59.940 And you're here this morning. 00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:03.440 And you're searching for those answers within your heart. 00:45:04.520 --> 00:45:08.040 I just want to remind you in closing the truth of Ezekiel 36. 00:45:09.260 --> 00:45:11.080 No matter what you've done. 00:45:12.180 --> 00:45:14.460 No matter what you're capable of. 00:45:15.420 --> 00:45:18.680 No matter what your past says. 00:45:20.040 --> 00:45:21.080 God forgives. 00:45:22.680 --> 00:45:24.400 And when God forgives. 00:45:25.500 --> 00:45:26.660 God gives. 00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:29.840 And he gives you a new heart. 00:45:30.660 --> 00:45:32.660 And he gives you a new spirit. 00:45:33.580 --> 00:45:35.280 And he gives you a new family. 00:45:36.120 --> 00:45:38.080 And he makes you sons and daughters. 00:45:38.520 --> 00:45:39.620 Of the living God. 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:41.960 And in that. 00:45:43.100 --> 00:45:44.300 Whether your journey. 00:45:44.860 --> 00:45:46.160 Is one more moment. 00:45:47.080 --> 00:45:49.160 Or 90 more years. 00:45:50.780 --> 00:45:51.960 Praise the Lord. 00:45:52.040 --> 00:45:52.620 He's working. 00:45:53.720 --> 00:45:55.220 And God changes us. 00:45:56.280 --> 00:45:58.660 And God makes us new. 00:45:59.580 --> 00:46:01.960 And God is working in us. 00:46:02.320 --> 00:46:03.460 As God changes. 00:46:03.780 --> 00:46:04.820 Not himself. 00:46:06.580 --> 00:46:08.340 But as he changes you and I. 00:46:10.040 --> 00:46:11.300 And God's forgiveness. 00:46:12.340 --> 00:46:13.600 And God's gift. 00:46:14.900 --> 00:46:16.840 And the change that God promises. 00:46:18.220 --> 00:46:19.980 Is not found in your works. 00:46:20.780 --> 00:46:22.040 And it's not found in mine. 00:46:23.100 --> 00:46:25.360 It's not found in our ability to be good. 00:46:26.020 --> 00:46:29.000 It's not found in our ability to change things in ourself. 00:46:29.860 --> 00:46:32.000 It's found in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:34.240 Who died on the cross. 00:46:34.320 --> 00:46:36.860 So that you and I could have forgiveness of our sins. 00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:40.520 Who paid the debt and the penalty that you and I deserve. 00:46:42.080 --> 00:46:44.720 But the tomb could not hold him. 00:46:45.540 --> 00:46:47.520 That while he died three days later. 00:46:47.700 --> 00:46:48.680 He rose again. 00:46:49.800 --> 00:46:52.740 And just as he rose in newness of life. 00:46:53.100 --> 00:46:54.260 So too can you and I. 00:46:55.260 --> 00:46:57.520 And then later he ascended to the father. 00:46:58.640 --> 00:46:59.760 And one day. 00:47:00.640 --> 00:47:02.340 When our time is up here. 00:47:03.800 --> 00:47:05.520 When God calls us. 00:47:06.840 --> 00:47:07.940 He'll call us home. 00:47:09.040 --> 00:47:09.740 To him. 00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:12.500 Folks that's the hope. 00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:14.720 Of what we know to be true. 00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:15.960 Of the gospel. 00:47:16.940 --> 00:47:17.680 Would you pray with me? 00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:22.620 Lord we come to you this morning. 00:47:23.800 --> 00:47:26.520 And Lord we thank you in your kindness and your goodness. 00:47:27.620 --> 00:47:29.960 Lord of who you are and your love for us. 00:47:31.960 --> 00:47:33.120 Lord I thank you. 00:47:34.260 --> 00:47:37.160 That you are kind and good and patient. 00:47:38.700 --> 00:47:40.620 And Lord I pray for us. 00:47:41.440 --> 00:47:42.420 That we would see. 00:47:42.760 --> 00:47:43.860 Not to settle. 00:47:46.300 --> 00:47:48.180 Lord for what we long for. 00:47:48.340 --> 00:47:49.300 What we desire. 00:47:49.480 --> 00:47:50.520 What we think is right. 00:47:54.020 --> 00:47:55.980 Lord I pray that we would not allow. 00:47:57.320 --> 00:47:59.620 The culture in which you've called us to. 00:48:00.220 --> 00:48:02.320 The culture in which you've placed us. 00:48:03.580 --> 00:48:05.500 To be our determining factor. 00:48:05.640 --> 00:48:06.540 Of who we are to be. 00:48:09.780 --> 00:48:12.220 But Lord you call us to something better. 00:48:14.120 --> 00:48:15.920 You call us to something different. 00:48:17.220 --> 00:48:18.960 You call us to something beautiful. 00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:21.840 You call us to something essential. 00:48:23.340 --> 00:48:27.740 If we are going to go and be the salt and light. 00:48:28.960 --> 00:48:31.220 If we're going to go and carry the gospel. 00:48:32.040 --> 00:48:33.780 And share the love of Christ. 00:48:33.880 --> 00:48:34.640 And how we live. 00:48:34.740 --> 00:48:35.900 And how we speak. 00:48:36.020 --> 00:48:37.140 And how we treat people. 00:48:38.820 --> 00:48:40.420 And so Lord what that means. 00:48:41.680 --> 00:48:44.400 Is that we have to look at what Jesus did. 00:48:45.980 --> 00:48:47.560 Lord we need to endure. 00:48:48.940 --> 00:48:50.480 The attacks of this world. 00:48:52.540 --> 00:48:53.880 We need to endure. 00:48:54.740 --> 00:48:55.140 Insult. 00:48:55.560 --> 00:48:56.500 We need to endure. 00:48:57.180 --> 00:48:57.620 Injury. 00:48:59.100 --> 00:49:00.540 We need to endure. 00:49:00.820 --> 00:49:02.340 All that would throw at us. 00:49:03.660 --> 00:49:05.700 Lord we need to be people of generosity. 00:49:06.080 --> 00:49:06.940 Of love. 00:49:07.220 --> 00:49:07.820 Of kindness. 00:49:08.100 --> 00:49:08.840 Of compassion. 00:49:09.240 --> 00:49:10.580 People who forgive. 00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:14.980 As we have been forgiven. 00:49:15.980 --> 00:49:23.060 Lord I pray. 00:49:24.260 --> 00:49:25.940 That as we gather here. 00:49:27.020 --> 00:49:29.320 We will not just simply stand. 00:49:29.680 --> 00:49:30.840 And sing a song. 00:49:31.080 --> 00:49:32.380 Because that's what's next. 00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:36.620 But Lord may the words we sing. 00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:40.580 Be the echoing of the spirit. 00:49:40.960 --> 00:49:43.060 Of God inside of us. 00:49:44.420 --> 00:49:46.740 May we examine our hearts. 00:49:47.840 --> 00:49:49.400 And say God okay what next. 00:49:50.580 --> 00:49:52.260 What area do we need to attack. 00:49:53.460 --> 00:49:54.960 Where do I need to be broken. 00:49:55.760 --> 00:49:57.120 Where do I need to repent. 00:49:59.720 --> 00:50:01.920 And Lord may we keep our eyes. 00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:04.140 Focused on you. 00:50:07.920 --> 00:50:09.220 Jesus thank you. 00:50:11.240 --> 00:50:13.440 Thank you for dying on the cross. 00:50:14.360 --> 00:50:16.960 The death that I deserved. 00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:19.440 But you took in my place. 00:50:21.640 --> 00:50:23.180 Thank you for forgiving me. 00:50:23.180 --> 00:50:23.500 Thank you for forgiving me. 00:50:24.640 --> 00:50:26.160 And making a way. 00:50:26.800 --> 00:50:27.960 For me to be. 00:50:28.560 --> 00:50:29.340 The father. 00:50:30.560 --> 00:50:31.940 It was a way Lord. 00:50:32.020 --> 00:50:32.840 That I was incapable. 00:50:33.600 --> 00:50:35.400 Of obtaining on my own. 00:50:37.600 --> 00:50:39.280 Thank you for saving me. 00:50:39.940 --> 00:50:40.760 And keeping me. 00:50:42.180 --> 00:50:44.380 In spite of my continued battle. 00:50:45.600 --> 00:50:46.300 Shortcomings. 00:50:46.380 --> 00:50:47.100 With my sin. 00:50:48.600 --> 00:50:50.200 You extend me grace. 00:50:51.040 --> 00:50:51.660 With love. 00:50:52.340 --> 00:50:52.980 And mercy. 00:50:54.580 --> 00:50:56.060 And it's in your name we pray. 00:50:57.160 --> 00:50:57.540 Amen. 00:51:11.540 --> 00:51:13.480 Thanks again for listening. 00:51:13.480 --> 00:51:15.620 To the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:51:16.100 --> 00:51:17.240 We hope that you enjoyed listening. 00:51:17.380 --> 00:51:18.240 To this week's message. 00:51:18.920 --> 00:51:19.780 If you'd like to learn more. 00:51:19.940 --> 00:51:20.640 About who we are. 00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:22.260 Or explore additional resources. 00:51:22.900 --> 00:51:23.720 Visit us online. 00:51:23.980 --> 00:51:27.280 At www.willowridgechurch.com 00:51:27.280 --> 00:51:29.520 Or by searching for Willow Ridge Church. 00:51:29.680 --> 00:51:30.840 On Facebook and Instagram. 00:51:41.540 --> 00:52:11.520 Thank you.