Turn with me to Matthew 5:27-30. Today we continue to work our way through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. As we get started I hope everyone sees that great benefit in working your way though a section of the Bile piece by piece. It forces us to teach the entire counsel of God. It eliminates the sinful desire that I might have in avoiding uncomfortable passages. We get to see God’s Word unfiltered, which should be what we desire. So with that said let us read our text, pray that the Holy Spirit would guide us, and see what Jesus wants to tell us this morning.

• Matthew 5:27-30 - "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”
  
  

Sin. In America today there is a push to eliminate the doctrine of sin. We call this relativism. It is the “enlightened philosophy” that we, in 2014, are so much smarter than all of human history and Church history, and the Bible, and God himself. It is the belief that we as humanity have progressed from this barbaric idea that there is a moral law given by a Moral Judge. So what we do is argue that sin is cultural.

Sadly, many of the attacks are coming from people who falsely claim to be Christians. Paul called these people wolves in sheep clothing. It is not something that should surprise us. God’s word tells us this will happen.

• 2 Timothy 4:3-4 - “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.“
  
  

It is hard not to believe that Paul was talking about today, for many people do not want pastors who teach the Bible. Instead they want cute videos, 45 minutes of praise music, and maybe 10 minutes of a funny story with an object lesson thrown in. The world wants pastors who stroke the ego of their sinful nature. Let us get one thing clear, this is not Jesus. Jesus does not tickle ears, he burns them off with, at times, with fire a brimstone.

Case in point, our text today. In Matthew 5, we find Jesus making some very radical statements about a specific sin, adultery. There could be so much said about these verses, but time will not allow me. Therefore I am going to focus on what I believe are three main points that we can draw from the scripture. First, we are all guilty of adultery. Second, Jesus is serious about adultery. Third, the only solution to adultery is death.

We are all adulterers.

As I stated last week, Jesus in this section is rebuking the teaching of the Scribes and the Pharisees. You can see this in verse 20 when he says, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” You can also see this implicitly when Jesus makes the repetitive statement “You have heard that it was said…” in verses 21, 27, 31, 33, 38, and 43. Jesus is pointing out the false oral teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees.

The main issue regarding the Scribes and the Pharisees was that they believed in their ability to save themselves. Their religion was a self centered, external religion. This is what we call works based salvation, or legalism; the idea that you can earn your way to heaven by your outward behavior. This teaching was Satanic because just like the devil, the Scribes and the Pharisees had distorted God’s Word and made it about their glory, not God's glory. Last week’s hoop was murder. This week’s hoop is adultery. And just like last week, Jesus takes the prohibited act of adultery and pushes it down into our hearts, where the real issue lies.

• Matthew 5:28 – “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” 
  
  

The Scribes and the Pharisees had taken the sin of adultery and turned it into merely the volitional act. The actual act of sexual intercourse. They put all the legal focus on the external. Therefore, they put all of the emphasis on your ability to restrain your physical body.

Jesus says, no. This is not the intent of the law, to merely restrain your physical body. The intent of the law is to point to the wickedness of your adulterous heart. The standard of the Scribes and the Pharisees was too low. Because it is not the body that is the issue it is the heart.

• Matthew 15:19 – “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
  
  

The heart is desperately sick and it produces the actual behavior. The heart is the issue, not the action. The actions are just the evidence of the sin that dwells in you and he tell us that the evidence is more that the actual act of sleeping around, the evidence is looking with a lustful intent. That is the evidence.

So with that said, who is an adulterer? My guess is every single one of them standing on the side of the mountain, and every single one of us sitting here today. If you have had one, just one lustful thought towards someone not your spouse, then you are as guilty as someone caught in the act. If you look at pornography you are an adulterer, if you day dream about some hunky guy your are an adulterer, if your eyes intentionally wander to places that they shouldn’t you are an adulterer, if you watch an R rated movie looking forward to the inevitable nude scene you are an adulterer, if you watch some television show because of the steamy sex scenes you are an adulterer.

Do you know what is interesting? We love to blame Hollywood and the media outlets and the advertisers for all the sex that is thrown in our face. Do you know why they do it? Because we demand it. They have scantily clothed women selling burgers because our evil heart’s desire it. If we want to fix Hollywood, it begins right here with our hearts.

This was the point of Jesus’ teaching. It was to raise the bar to the appropriate level that God intended. Society had lowered it, just like what is happening today. Jesus' words were an indict all of them and all of us. Jesus wants us to recognize that we are all guilty as we stand before a Holy God and that we are all sinners at our core.

Perhaps many of you are familiar with the story of the women who was caught in the act of adultery in John 8. The Scribes and the Pharisee were ready to stone her and they brought her before Jesus, and Jesus said to them:

• John 8:7 – “"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
  
  

How many of you have been a scribe or a Pharisee in your life? Willing and ready to throw stones. Well, Jesus has news for you, after you throw your stone, expect one in return. This is something we all need to get, I mean really get here at Cornerstone Church. We are all sinners. We are adulterers. We are wretched. Every…single…one of us. No exception. We all deserve God’s wrath. But instead of wrath, God gives us grace, through faith in His Son, Jesus. Jesus takes the stoning we deserve when he died on the cross. Jesus was smitten for that lady in John 8. If we get this, it will change how we deal with the sin. Having said that, this does not mean Jesus doesn’t care about adultery and about sin.

Jesus is serious about sin.

As I stated earlier, there is a war on the doctrine of sin. The world wants to argue that God is casual about sex. The world wants to paint a picture that God thinks sleeping around is biological and innocent. The world loves to tell you that God wants you to be happy, so if lusting outside of marriage makes you happy then go for it. The world loves to tell the story of John 8 and leave out Matthew 5. Jesus flat out tells us that if you don’t stop sinning, your destiny is Hell.

• Matthew 5:20 – “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. “
  
  

Jesus does not sugarcoat it. Your adultery damns you to Hell. God is so serious about your lustful intent, that he will send you to a place that Jesus describes as unquenchable fire, outer darkness, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is a real place and this is your destiny if you continue to in your adultery, if you continue in your sin.

• Ephesians 5:5-6 – “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. “
  
  
• Colossians 3:5-6 – “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”
  
  

The Bible could not be clearer; God is serious about the lustful intent of your heart. Over and over and over again God warns us to stop lusting after those who are not our spouses because the consequences are dire.

In fact, Jesus is so serious about sin that he died on a cross so as to breaks it chains. In fact, the next time you are about ready to click on that webpage, or text your old boyfriend, or go parking with a girlfriend, I want you to think about Jesus spilling his blood for the sin that you are thinking about.

I want you to look over your shoulder and see your Savior hanging on the cross with blood dripping from his head and nails in his hands and I want you to hear him say, “I love you.”

How do we fix the problem?

There are few passages that Jesus speaks so bluntly about his desire for us to live Holy lives. Jesus does not mince words. The cure he provides for the sin of adultery in one’s life is off the charts. It is zealous and it is extreme.

• Matthew 5:29-30 - “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”
  
  

Tear it out, throw it away, cut it off. These are extreme actions. These are actions of last resort. These are actions of desperation. And why would we go to such great lengths? Because the stakes are high. Hell is far worse than walking around with one, or with one eye.

Now I want us to consider here what Jesus is doing. In a way, I believe Jesus is messing with the scribes and the Pharisees. He is pushing their theology to the limits of ridiculous. Remember the Scribes and Pharisees taught that avoiding hell was all about external, mechanical obedience of sin. Jesus then throws it back in their face and says, that if we are going to get serious about this, then lets get serious. If your theology is about what your body does and does not do then start ripping off the parts of your body that get you in trouble. If you eye wanders, tear it out. If your hand lingers, cut it off. Now we all know that if you tear out one eye, your other eye will do twice the sinning. Likewise your hand. Jesus has already told us that it isn’t your body, it is your heart.

Now here is what is interesting, despite how radical tearing out your eye and cutting off your hand is, Jesus actually calls us to do something even more extreme. If we want to get serious about avoiding Hell by eliminating sin in our lives, we must do way more than tear out an eye, we have to die to self.

• Matthew 16:24 – “Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 
  
  
• Galatians 5:24 – “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
  
  

If you want to get series about sinning, cutting your arm off isn’t enough. You have to lay down your life at the foot of the cross. You have to surrender, not just an arm, not just an eye, but everything. You have to die to self. You must crucify the flesh.

This is what Jesus is pushing us to in our text. He is taking the law of God and pushing it down into our heart. He is raising the bar to such a high level that none of us can reach it. His words are for the purpose of indicting everyone as adulterers, so that we will recognize our desperate need for a Savior.

I leave you with what I believe is the complete answer to overcoming adultery, and you will see that it is merely the Gospel.

• 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 - “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
  
  

The power to flee from sexual immorality is found in the truth that your body is not yours. Jesus has purchased you by His blood. When we dwell upon this, we will be able to flee the the power of sin in our hearts. The Gospel is the power to live a life in accordance to God's will.

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on March 23, 2014

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5:21-26. Today, we continue our journey through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. As we work through the text today, and every Sunday for that matter, it is important for us to remember that every passage has context; meaning that the Bible is not to be read as random unconnected statements of facts, but that we must read it as it flows from one passage to the next. Today that is doubly true, because we are looking at a portion of text that is within a singular Sermon and it flows out of a statement that Jesus just made. So with that said, let us look read our scripture, pray and then exposit it.

• Matthew 5:21-26 – “You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”
  
  

Last week we saw Jesus proclaim that He came to fulfill the legal requirements of the law of God. Jesus is the only person ever to exist that has fulfilled the entire law of God. He is the only one who is without sin. Everyone else on the planet is a sinner, you, me and everyone who has ever existed.

Jesus then goes on to say that for us to get into heaven our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. As we saw last Sunday, this creates a problem for us, because Romans 3:10 tells us that, “None is righteous, no not one.” Therefore, we lack righteousness, yet we need righteousness to get into God's Kingdom. As I said, Jesus proclaims that he fulfills the law, therefore He is righteous. Therefore Jesus has what we need, righteousness. And the good news is that Jesus will give us His righteousness, and the way we receive it is through faith in Him.

• Romans 4:5 – “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, “
  
  

The teaching of faith in God was not a new teaching. Ever since the Fall in the Garden of Eden God had revealed to humanity that faith in God is the key to salvation. Faith has always been what pleases God. You can see this very clearly in Romans 3 where Paul uses the patriarch Abraham to show that his faith was the key to righteousness, not his circumcision.

• Genesis 15:6 – “And [Abraham] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
  
  

Likewise, the author of Hebrews does the same thing in Hebrews 11. Going through a long list of Old Testament people such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the rest of the prophets showing that it has always been faith, not works, that makes you right with God.

Having said that, the religious leaders during the times of Jesus, the scribes and the Pharisees, had made a mess of this age old truth. Instead of placing the focus on faith in God, they put the emphasis on faith in good works. And Jesus was calling them out during the Sermon on the Mount when he said:

• Matthew 5:20 – “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
  
  

He was intentionally drawing the crowds attention to their false teaching. So with that background, let us answer the question, who are the Scribes and Pharisees? To answer this, look at verse 21. Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old…” This is helpful in understanding the scribes and the Pharisees.

In the days of Jesus, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and not many people could read Hebrew because the language of the day was Aramaic. In addition few people had copies of the Old Testament. If you were a commoner, people like you and me, the way you would know the Bible was through teachers. They would orally tell you what the Bible said, but they wouldn't just read it to you, they would teach it. This is why Jesus said, “You have heard…” You can see this same pattern through the rest of Matthew 5, “You have heard, you have heard, you have heard.” What Jesus is referring to is the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees.

The people couldn’t check to see for themselves what the Bible said, they had to trust the Scribes and the Pharisees. The Scribes and the Pharisees were the religious leaders of the Jews. They were the ones who were in charge. The problem with the people not having Bibles is that you cannot trust humanity. As I stated, the scribes and the Pharisees had a made a mess out of God’s Word. They had placed themselves, not under God’s Word, but over it. They manipulated it, changed it, added to it, and subtracted from it and then they went out and taught the people. As you can imagine, Jesus was not happy with them. In fact, Jesus eventually pronounces judgment on them in Matthew 23.

• Matthew 23:13 – “"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”
  
  

Can you imagine the arrogance of the Scribes and Pharisees to manipulate God’s Word to serve their purpose, while keeping the people in the dark about what the Bible really says? Can you imagine this? Of course we can! It is the oldest trick in the book, literally. This is exactly what Satan did in the Garden, manipulate God’s Word. Ever since the beginning, Satan has made God’s Word his playground. Sadly, many times the vessels he uses are “Religious Leaders.” They go around and tell people what the Bible says, and twist it into a false gospel, and keep the people away from the true Word of God. For a real world example look at same-sex marriage. Many religious leaders are now teaching the doctrines of the world.

Never trust a person or a Church who doesn’t encourage you to check their teaching against God’s Word. If a Pastor or Priest or some other religious leader tells you to let them worry about what the Bible says, run away as fast as you can. If Sunday morning is all about rituals, and going through the motions and God’s Word is not preeminent, then welcome to Satan’s playground. For Satan loves to twist and distort what God’s Word truly says. He did it in the Garden, he did it in the days of Jesus and he is doing it today, and the main way he does it is by turning our eyes from God and to ourselves. This is exactly what Jesus is rebuking through the rest of Matthew, Chapter 5.

The Scribes and Pharisees had turned God’s law into something it was never meant to be. The Scribes and the Pharisees turned God’s Law into a list of things that you did externally in order to earn your way into heaven. They turned God’s law into a mechanical process, teaching that as long as you jumped through the right hoops, you would be accepted by God.

Jesus comes and blows the roof off of Satan’s house, and he starts with what we see as the “sinful” human act Murder.

• Matthew 5:21 – “"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.”
  
  

Now at first glance, many of you may be saying, what is wrong with that statement? Isn’t’ that what the Bible says? Yes and no. This teaching by the Scribes and Pharisees is actually a combination of two versus, most likely.

• Exodus 20:13 – “You shall not murder.”
  
  
• Numbers 35:30 – “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses.”
  
  

The Exodus 20:13 verse is one of the Ten Commandments. The Numbers 35:30 is a civil statute in regards to how Israel operates as a Nation State dealing with the criminal violation of 1st Degree Murder. It is similar to the Iowa Code that sits on my desk at work. Both of these verses are given by God, but both are independent in regards to the spirit of what they are proclaiming. When the Scribes push these two verses together and teach them as one there is a distortion of what is being taught. The Pharisees take a behavioral regulation and turn it into spiritual judgment. Therefore they taught that “God will accept you, unless you physically murder someone.”

Behind this teaching of the Pharisees is a different spirit, or intent, then what God intended. The spirit behind the Scribes and the Pharisees was to instruct that you could be good enough to get into heaven, all you had to do was obey externally. This is what we call works based salvation, that your ability to get into heaven rests in your own hands. Jesus comes to reeducate the people and the way he does it is important. Look at verse 22.

• Matthew 5:22 – “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment”
  
  

They way Jesus corrects the false teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, is to start each of the next sections with “But I say to you…” I want us to understand the superiority of Jesus’ statement. Jesus is speaking with authority in this moment. He is not quoting from anything, He is not saying “This is what I think it means.” He is putting himself above the Scribes and Pharisees and setting himself as God’s equal. In fact what Jesus was doing was shocking.

• Deuteronomy 4:2 – “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.”
  
  
• Proverbs 30:5-6 – “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”
  
  

God's word is God's word. As we have already stated, it is not up for man to manipulate. Sadly, however, people, churches, leaders, scribes and Pharisees have done this since the beginning of time. Having said that, Jesus is not adding or taking away from God's word. He was proclaiming unadulterated truth. He is proclaiming the original intent of the law that had been lost. God's Word is not something he had studied in his systematic theology class and is trying to give a modern, relevant spin to. Jesus is the living Word of God, and when he speaks he does not speak as someone who has merely read the book, he speaks as if He wrote the book.

And what does the Author of the law say about murder?

• Matthew 5:22 - “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. “
  
  

Jesus takes the act of murder, and makes it a matter of your heart. He takes murder from an external obligation to an internal indictment. For that is what this is. Jesus, who just said previously that every dot of the law will be fulfilled by Him, says that the law as it relates to murder is not about the action, it is about your thoughts. Jesus is proclaiming a standard that is unattainable by sinful man. There is not a person on the planet, other than Jesus, who has not been unrighteously angry, insulted, or called another person a fool or a moron. How many of us, Christians have done this, even this week. The words of Christ are stinging.

How many times have you heard people say that they are going to heaven because they are a good person? When they say this they are thinking like a Pharisee and Scribe. They believe because they have not violated any major civil laws, they are “good.” Because they have never actually acted out their anger by ending someone else's life, the believe that they are good enough to get to heaven. This is just not true. For your thoughts towards another person is enough evidence to make you liable to the hell of fire.

The issue is not the level of the offense. The issue is, and has always been, your heart. Think about sickness and symptoms. Symptoms do not determine sickness. Symptoms point to the reality of our sickness. Physical murder is a symptom that you are a sinner, but so is insulting someone. They are symptoms of the same sickness..sin.

To end, Jesus then says this:

• Matthew 5:23-26 - “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”
  
  

Why does Jesus says this? I believe it is because the Scribes and the Pharisees were all about the form of religion, but the denial of the power. They were dead inside. They were robots who went through the motions of religion. They would treat people like dirt and then head to the temple, thinking that as long as they said their meaningless prayers, and gave their meaningless money, and sat through the meaningless rituals, they would be ok for another week.

Do you know what? God detests this form of hallow religion. He is not a God that will be mocked.

• Matthew 15:7-9 - “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"
  
  

God doesn't want religion. He wants your heart. He wants true worship. He doesn't want sacrifice, he wants loving obedience. These Scribes and Pharisees with their twisting of God's Word and hiding it from the people were ushering people straight to hell encouraging them to merely go through the religious motions and telling them, that as long as they are Jews, and they followed the traditions of their family, they would be just fine.

What the people needed was Jesus Christ. For what stands in the middle of liable to the hell of fire and loving obedience is Jesus. For when we accept Christ in our lives, and His spirit comes and dwells in our hearts, we no longer go through the motions, we live out faith. We are convicted by the Holy Spirit to obey and we lay down our offering and we go and reconcile ourselves to our brothers. The only way we can do this is by Christ in us.

If you are sitting here today at Cornerstone Church and you call yourself a Christian, and there is someone out there that you have sinfully angered, and you think that you being here is the answer, then you don't get it. Sitting in these chairs doesn't save you. Christ saves you. And those who have been saved by Christ, live to reconcile. Reconciliation is your spiritual DNA. So stop fooling yourself, and make things right with your brother, before it is too late.

 

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA  on March 16, 2014.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5:17. Here at Cornerstone we desire to be Bible people, and by Bible people I do not mean the four gospels, or the New Testament. I mean the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation and everything in between. Every single thread that weaves its way through God's redemptive story we want to read and embrace.

Too often this is not the case for Christians. Too often Christians only read portions of God's word. One reason that some people limit themselves is because they see the Old Testament as the law, and because of Jesus, we are not under the law, we are under Grace. Therefore, they believe the law is not important. First, this is an extremely shortsighted understanding of grace. Second, it is unfortunate because when we do this we are cheating ourselves out of understanding the fullness of God's glory as displayed in Jesus Christ, and therefore we cheat ourselves out of the joy of deeply knowing Him and what Christ has done for us.

Our text today helps explain why we, at Cornerstone Church, are entire Bible people, namely because Jesus was an entire Bible person. Let us begin today with reading our scripture, we will pray and then we will see what God had to say for us this morning.

• Matthew 5:17-20 - “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. “
  
  

As we begin, let us first answer the question, what does Jesus mean by “the law or the prophets?” The law and prophets was a common way by which people referred to the entire Old Testament. Remember, at the time Jesus spoke these words, the New Testament had not been written. In fact, Jesus, at this moment, was creating the New Testament. Therefore, the only Bible they had at the time was what they called the law and the prophets. This included Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and so on, all the way through Malachi.

Now that we know what Jesus means by the law and prophets, let us ask the question why does he make that statement about not abolishing the law and prophets, the Old Testament? Perhaps this seems odd to you. One possible reason is because there were a fair number of people who desired for Jesus to do just that. At this point in Jesus' ministry he was becoming extremely popular. Very large crowds were following him, and the religious leaders, the Pharisees, were starting to take notice and were concerned about his popularity. One reason He was so popular was that the Jews were tired of the burden, or the yoke, that was placed upon them by the Pharisees. Many of the Jews may have desired a complete reset of the Jewish system. The believed the bathwater was dirty, so they were ready to pitch it, baby included. Jesus kills these dreams by stating clearly that this is not why he came. He had not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill.

What does Jesus mean when he says that he has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets? This statement means several things, all of which are the basis to why we worship Jesus. His fulfillment of the Old Testament is what makes Him worthy to be praised. This is why we sing songs about Jesus and study about Jesus and pray to Jesus and testify about Jesus. It is because He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Or to put it another way, Jesus is the fulfillment of all redemptive history.

The first way that Christ fulfills the Old Testament is that it testifies about Him. The Old Testament is the shadow and Christ is the substance. The Old Testament is just one long story that points to Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says in John 5:39.

• John 5:39 – “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,”

Jesus is saying that when you read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, Psalms, Malachi, etc. they all point to one reality, Him. Think of each book of the Old Testament as the brush strokes of God in the creation of His singular masterpiece paining, His Son. Each Book provides more and more and more detail, color, and clarity of who the painting is about. This is not the only place that Jesus says something like this. Listen to His Words on the road to Emmaus:

• Luke 24:25 – “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.“

Jesus is telling his followers that when you read the Old Testament something in your heart cries out Jesus. You should see the Gospel of Christ dripping from every page.

Here is just a sample of what I mean. Jesus is the Seed of Eve in Genesis 3, He is the Passover Lamb in Exodus, He is the High Priest in Leviticus, He is the bronze serpent in Numbers, He is the Prophet in Deuteronomy, He is the Army Commander in Joshua, He is the lawgiver in Judges, He is the kinsman redeemer in Ruth, He is the Temple, He is the peace offering, He is the show bread, He is the lamp, He is the sacrifice, He is the King, He is Israel, He is the suffering servant, and so on and so on. Every single book testifies, points to, Jesus Christ, sometimes generally and sometimes specifically, but make no mistake, He is the substance of the shadow that is cast in the law and the prophets. This is one way by which Jesus fulfills the Old Testament.   However, this is not the only way that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament. Let us look at Matthew 5:18

• Matthew 5:18 - “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Why is the Old Testament called “the law?” The answer to that is quite simple. The Old Testament is primarily about God interacting with His people by means of law. We see this right out of the gates in the Garden of Eden.

• Genesis 3:3 – “God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

Of course, we know how that went. Adam and Eve disobeyed the law. Next, in the book of Exodus we have God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt in Exodus. What is the first thing God did? He established the law.

• Exodus 19:4-6 – “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. “
  
  

The relationship was quite simple. God delivered them, he would tell them how to live, and they would obey. If they obeyed, they will be His treasured possession. If they did not obey, they would feel God's wrath. After this statement God then provided the law to Israel by which they were to live. This law governed every aspect of their life. It told them how to live morally, ceremonial, and as a nation state. Almost every book in the Old Testament is primarily about God's law, and Israel's failure to obey. And as many of us know, no matter how hard Israel tried, no matter how many prophets God sent to them, they could not obey God, they could not accomplish the legal requirement.

With that said, what does Jesus mean in verse 18 when he says, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” This is a pretty significant statement, for one dot of the law is pretty small. Yet Jesus says that all of it must be accomplished. What is he talking about? How does Jesus fulfill or accomplish the demands of the law?

Jesus accomplishes the law by giving it what it demands, specifically obedience and payment. The purpose of laws is to require a certain type of behavior. Take a moment to think about some of our local laws, speeding, seat belts, driving while intoxicated, possession of illegal drugs, etc. Each law is an attempt to make people live in a certain way that the State believes is good, or right. The law demands obedience. Alongside those laws is punishment. Speeding for example, if you exceed the speed limit and are caught, the fine is, let’s say $100. If there was no punishment, there are no teeth in the law. People will not obey. Punishment goes hand in hand with law. If there is a law, without teeth, then it is pointless. The law of God is no different. The first law that was given to man occurred in the Garden of Eden. God said you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. That was the law. Alongside that law was the punishment. God said if they disobey His law, they will die. Once again we know how the story goes. They ate from the tree and Adam and Even were instantly spiritually dead, and eventually they physically died. Due to their disobedience death entered into the world through sin.

Once again, as stated above, the Law as given to Israel was similar. Listen to what God says to Israel in Deuteronomy 28:15.

• Deuteronomy 28:15 – “"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” 

So once again, this law of God came with demands. It demanded obedience and it demanded punishment, and we are no different. All humanity sits under the law of God. 
 

• Romans 1:18 - “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

The law for all mankind is to live Godly lives. Everyone of us. We are all called to love Him, to trust him, to give thanks to Him, to honor him. You, me and every single person on this planet. If we do, we are His treasured possession, and if we don't we are going to feel His wrath. 

And just like the Israelites, we can't fulfill the demands of the law. No matter how hard we try, we fall short. We have all lied, lusted, coveted, cursed, gossiped, you name it. We are sinners. WE are rebels just like Adam and Eve and just like the Israelites. We want to live according to our own law, not Gods. Two famous verses that all of us should have memorized are Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23.

• Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
  
  
• Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death.”

We have all rejected our God and transgressed His law. This is what sin is. It is rejecting his authority in our lives. It is rejecting his sovereignty over us. Instead of loving Him, we want to love ourselves. Instead of living for Him, we want to live for ourselves. Instead of listening to him, we listen to ourselves. This is sin, this is law breaking. And the punishment for this, the wage, is death.  And no matter how hard we try we cannot abide by the law. We cannot end our rebellion. We do not have the capacity to do it.

• Romans 8:7-8 – “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

We cannot please God; However for justice to be upheld there must a price that must be paid, and Jesus does just that. Jesus fulfills the legal demand of the law. Jesus accomplishes the law by absorbing its punishment. He takes upon himself the wrath that we deserve. He stands in our place.

• 1 Peter 2:24 – “ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

Jesus fulfilled the demands of the law and paid the price required. Our sins required our life, yet Jesus gave us His life instead. This is Grace, and it is amazing.

Second, not only did Jesus pay the price that the law demands, but he lived the life that the law demands. Listen to Galatians 4:4-5.

• Galatians 4:4-5 – “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. “

Jesus submitted himself to the same law that you and I, and all of us are accountable to. This was part of the plan. In order for Jesus to redeem us, to bring us to God, he had to live a perfectly obedient life, a righteous life, under the law. If he would have sinned, than they entire rescue operation would have been over. Jesus Christ fulfilled all requirements of the law, to the dot. Everything His Father asked him to do, he did. The compass of Jesus’ life was His Father’s will. No matter what, Jesus drank from the cup that His Father gave Him. Jesus was on mission to do exactly what God asked of him. You can see this in a few chapters before this at the time of Jesus’ baptism.

• Matthew 3:14-15 – “John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.” 

Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. He is the only one every to walk on this planet that is without sin. No other religion, no other philosophy, no other academic can say this. It is an exclusive reality of Christ. He is the only one who is righteous. He fulfills every dot every iota of the law. He lived the life we couldn't. Jesus has what we lack. Which leads us to the last point.

• Matthew 5:20 – “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. “
  
  

This is a scary statement. Because we have already addressed that none of us our righteous. We all sin. We all fall short. We have all rebelled. Jesus tells us that we have to be better than the scribes and Pharisees. These people were the cream of the crop. They did everything in their power to be good. They worked and worked and worked to try to be good, and Jesus says that you have to do better. Who can do this? Who is better than them? Jesus of course.

Turn with me to Philippians 3:4-10. The writer of this passage is Paul. Paul was on the fast track of becoming the best Pharisee of his day, but Jesus interfered with his plans. Listen to what Paul says.

• Philippians 3:8-10 – “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--  “
  
  

Paul knew the law. He knew every iota of it. He did all that he could to obey it. IN the eyes of the world, he was a good person. Better than you and I will every be. However, in the eyes of God he was a sinner.

• Isaiah 64:6 – “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. “
  
  

No matter what Paul did, it wasn’t good enough. All his righteous deeds were like polluted rags. If we wanted to be reconciled to God. If he wanted to enter into the Kingdom of God, there was only one way, Jesus Christ. Paul needed the righteousness of Christ. He had to receive the gift of Jesus' righteousness. And the way he did this was through faith.

• Romans 8:1-4 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” 
  

How can our righteousness exceed those of the Pharisees and scribes? Only through what is called the great exchange. Jesus takes our punishment and we take his righteousness. It is at the cross that the law and grace collide. And they way by which we receive this amazing grace is by faith. Just like Paul says, we do not have a righteousness of our own. None of you are good enough to avoid God's wrath, we must receive Christ righteousness by faith alone. Thanks be to Jesus.

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on March 9, 2014.

Open your Bibles to Matthew 5:13-16. We are going to get right to work today, so let us read our passage, pray and then pursue God by studying His Word.

• Matthew 5:13-16 - “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
  
  

Jesus spoke these words on a side of a mountain to his disciples. Of these disciples, none of them were royalty, none of them were rich, none of them were natural born leaders; in fact they were ordinary. They were as ordinary as they come. They were just like you and me. Prior to following Jesus they had jobs, families, stress, good days and bad days, weaknesses and mild strengths. There was nothing superhuman about them. They were just flesh and bone.

Yet, to this average group of people Jesus proclaims this over-the-top statement and tells them that they are salt of the earth and light of the world. And the use of “You” in this passage is not passive, it is emphatic, meaning that Jesus is saying that you, and you alone, are salt and light. The disciple that Jesus just got done describing in the beatitudes of verse 2-12 is the one who is salt and light. No one else.

You almost wonder if at that moment, the people looked around with a confused look on their face and said, “Who us?” For this statement seems somewhat ridiculous, when thinking about the crowd who was listening. How can stinky fisherman, tax-collectors, and sinners be salt of the earth and light of the world? Yet Jesus, who is truth incarnate, looks at them in the eyes and tells flat out who they truly are.

These words that Jesus spoke 2000 were not only for the disciples on the side of the mountain, but they are for all Christians. Jesus might as well be standing on this stage and looking at each one of you in the eyes, with perfect knowledge of all your past, and say these exact words, “You, Cornerstone, are salt of the earth and light of the world.” And when Jesus proclaims truth to us, we must not doubt His words. We must embrace them. We must swallow them. Jesus, in this passage is not just saying words to pass the time, he is speaking into our lives so as to wake up our soul to the reality of who we are in Christ. So what does Jesus mean when he says that His disciples are salt and light?

First, let us start with salt. What is salt? To begin, salt is not a neutral compound. Salt is a distinct, powerful and extremely useful substance on this planet. Ever since the beginning of civilization, people have used salt to improve life in one way or the other. The two main purposes of salt in the times of Jesus were food preservation and food flavoring. In those days, they did not have freezers or refrigerators for their meat. If an animal was killed, it was salted, packed in salt. Why? So as to stop the decay of the meat. Without salt, the meat would begin to break down, decompose, smell, eventually becoming putrid and rotten, repulsive to those who pass by. Salt was used to slow down the decay. Salt was rubbed into the meat so that it would not decompose as quickly.

Salt also provides flavor. This does not need a lot of explanation, because all of us can relate to this. In fact, many of you today will eat the food for our pot-luck and instantly your taste buds will cry out for salt. In fact, when you do eat today, attempt to imagine these foods without salt. If you were eating saltless food, would you savor every bite, or would you merely be going through the motions?

Next, let us dwell upon light. What is light? Light is the way by which we see. Without light, there is darkness. Without light, I cannot see the nose in the front of my face. Without light, we stub our toes and startle when we hear a sound. I am sure many of you have experienced extreme darkness before, perhaps in a cave, or being shut in a closet when you were a child, with absolutely no light reaching your eyes. It is an eerie and unsettling feeling; however, all that darkness is, is the absence of something, namely light.

With these two descriptions of who a Christian is, salt and light, we catch a glimpse of how God sees the world. When God peers down and looks upon humanity, he does not see an explosion of life and light. He sees decay and darkness. God sees death and decomposition and rottenness. He sees blindness, senselessness, a people who lack vision, understanding, and knowledge. This is a true today and it was 2000 years ago.

The world loves to proclaim how we in this age are so wise and smart, but let us be hones, we are just as lost as they were 2000 years ago. Despite all the information we have, despite our self-proclaimed enlightenment, and civility, we still have wars. We still have broken hearts. We still have starving children. We still have domestic violence. We still have drug and alcohol addiction. We still have anxiety, fear, anger, confusion. None of the knowledge that we have obtained answers the deeper questions and problems of life. The world is just as broken today as it was during the time of Jesus.

What is amazing is that in the midst of this decay and darkness, Jesus tells his His followers, that they, and they alone, provide the answers to these two problems. I love how David Platt puts it in his book radical. In fact, he names an entire chapter this. “There is no plan B.” The Church, meaning those who have faith in Christ, are the only option on the table. God has set up one way by which He rolls out his purposes for this dark and decaying world, and this plan is you and me and all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Think about this for a moment. How often have you as a Christian felt inferior in this world? How many times have you cowered and shrunk back from having a crucial conversation with a co-worker, family member, friend of neighbor?

Several weeks ago we read, “Blessed are the meek” and we saw that meekness does not mean weakness. Instead meekness is like a tamed animal. Picture a lion that you can pet. Meekness is power under control.

The sad fact is that Christians don’t see themselves as approachable lions. Instead we have a tendency to see ourselves as beaten dogs, lurking in the shadows, flinching at every sudden movement or noise. This doesn’t make sense. This is entirely inconsistent with who God tells us we are in Christ. We are not second-handers. We are not subpar. We ARE salt and light. We are not becoming salt, we are not becoming light. It is a fact. We are plan A. We have in our possession the cure to the cancer.

So what does it mean to be salt and light? First, salt and light does not come naturally. We are not born salty and glowing. In fact, by nature, we are still born into darkness. From birth until God intervenes into our life, we are spiritually dead, destined for physical and eternal death, and utterly and absolutely walking in darkness. It is only when we have believed in our heart that Jesus is the Messiah that we become this new creation. For it is He who is the cause and the source of our transformation. If you have not been born again by the spirit of God, then you are not salty and you do not have light.

So if we are to understand what it means for us to be salt and light, we need to understand what it means that Jesus is salt and light. Turn with me to John 1:4-13.

• John 1:4-13 - “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. “
  
  

When Jesus stepped into the world and became a man, there was something different about him. He was not like anyone else that every walked on this planet. What was it? He was salt and light.

So how does this text help? What does it tell us about Jesus being salt? Look at the main purpose of Jesus coming into this world. Jesus came into the world to shine light and to give life.

Now think about this. What is the main problem in this world? Our main problem is sin. Why? First, because sin has caused us to have darkened minds.

• 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers “
  
  

Humanity is blind. It lives in darkness. We are constantly stumbling over ourselves and breaking everything we come into contact with. Second, not only are we blind, but we are destined for God's wrath, which is physical death and eternal death, otherwise known as Hell. This is the wage of our sin. This is what we earned when we rebelled against God. Because of sin, humanity know lives in a bland, lifeless, gray, and unsatisfying world, and Jesus comes to fix that.

Jesus' main purpose in coming into this world is to reverse the curse that was brought on through Adam and Eve's rebellion. He comes to shine light into our hearts and to stop the decay of our lives. He is the incarnate salt and light of God. Meaning that God has come in the flesh and his presence reveals to us our sinfulness and need for a savior and and his righteousness. His presence in the flesh is the living revelation of how God was going to save humanity. Jesus is the mystery revealed, and when the light of Jesus shines into our lives, we have only one response, to accept his gift of grace, and when we do this the decay of our lives is stopped, for we are given eternal life.

So how does that translate to us, the Church? If this is how Jesus is salt and light, how are we, the Body of Christ, salt and light? Our being salt and light is similar, but yet different, for we do not preserve and illumine as Christ did, but instead we point to the one who does.

First, we are to live as if we have been salted by Christ. When Jesus Christ, comes into our lives and delivers us from death, everything changes. We go from children of wrath to children of God. God tells us that we, in fact, become new creatures, another way to think of this is that we become salty. When we are living in this bland world we add a flavor that is distinct. We love. We forgive. We have peace. We have discernment. These things are not present in those who are passing away, only those who have been salted by Christ. It is us, and us alone who are salt.

When people come in contact with Christians we have an effect. Sometimes good and sometimes bad. We are either like salt in their wound, or they crave more. Either we repulse them or they are drawn to what makes us different. For those who are drawn to us, what is really happening is that they are drawn to Christ in us. And this is where light comes in.

The primary way we are light is through the proclamation of the Gospel. For it is the gospel that is the light that shines in the hearts of men.

• 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 - “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. “
  
  

When we proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord to the elect, God shines the light of the gospel into the hearts of his children. He illumines them, and we are a part of this process. As I stated earlier, the Church is plan A. There is no plan B. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 10

• Romans 10:13-17 - “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.“
  
  

The way we shine the light of Christ is to preach the light of Christ. We must either send or be sent. We must go into the world and be light. We must preach the good news to those who dwell in darkness.

Jesus makes this very clear, that we have a job to do on earth. We are not so sit around in our holy huddle and merely have potlucks, not that there is anything bad about potlucks. However, our main task is to shine. We are not to hide out. We are to be in the world. We are to be like grains of salt being worked into the meat. We are to be a beacon of light for all of Cascade and the surrounding areas. This is our mission.

So let us not be disobedient. Let us be who God saved us to be. Let us chose today to be salt and light starting today.

Preached on Mary 2, 2014 at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5. Today we are at the end of our journey through the Beatitudes. I hope it has been as beneficial to you as it has been for me. These 8 simple statements are jam packed with truth and grace and challenge, and hopefully it has transformed your thinking and your heart all for the glory of God, and also for your good. Let us began by reading the entire section, then we will pray and ask for God's guidance, and then we will see what God has prepared for us today.

• Matthew 5:2-12 – “And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
  
  

Our focus today is verse 10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.” To start, I think it is helpful to understand where we have come from to understand where we are going.

As I have stated over and over again, the beatitudes are supernatural, meaning that these are not qualities that the natural man can produce in his life. It takes the work of the Spirit of God to produce these things. In our Sunday School class, this week we saw the that our book describe the beatitudes as the “ethics of the Kingdom,” for these are the qualities that one should observe when looking at a citizen of Heaven. It is the work of God in our lives that cause us to be poor in spirit, mourn over our sin, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, and have a pure in heart. The unbeliever does not have any of these qualities that Christ is describing in his opening remarks of the Sermon on the Mount.

Last week we unpacked verse nine, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” It is at this point that Jesus makes a switch, for his text begins to turn the focus away from a Christian's character and to the world. For a peacemaker is one who desires to go out into the war of this world and make peace in the hearts of the lost. They desire to be like Paul and go from city to city making peace, by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, an interesting thing happens when a Christian does this. IN the midst of attempting to make peace, a war is declared against him or her. A peacemaker is not welcomed with open arms. Instead verse 10 tells us that a Christian is reviled, lied about, and persecuted. We saw this last week when we examined what it looked like to go and make peace. Paul had proclaimed the Gospel in Lystra and they stoned him until they thought the killed him. Paul in an attempt to make peace between God and man, through the proclamation of the Gospel, created a significantly strong reaction to the point they wanted him dead. Jesus, in Matthew 5:10-12, tell us that this is standard operating procedure. This is just how it works.

• Step 1: God makes you a disciple through someone sharing the Gospel with you.
  
  
• Step 2: You then display the characteristics of a disciple.
  
  
• Step 3: God sends you out to make more disciples by proclaiming the Gospel.
  
  
• Step 4: Disciples are made and you are also hated for it.  
  
  

First of all, I love that Jesus does not hide the ball from us. I love that He does not sugar coat what it means to be His follower. He tells us flat out what we are to expect. He is not a God of bait and switch. He is a God of truth. If I were going to make up a religion, I would leave sections like this out. Not only did Jesus not leave this out, he repeated it over and over again.

• Matthew 10:16 – “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, “
  
  
• Luke 21:12 – “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. “
  
  
• John 15:18-20 – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
  
  

Over and over and over again, Jesus warns his disciples that persecution is part of the package. It comes with the territory. If they hated Jesus, they will hate you. The question is why? Why would the world hate Christians? Why would the world hate people who follow Jesus? I think we have already answered this question in John 15, but I also think it is in our text for today.

In verse 10 Jesus says, “"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.” What does that mean, “righteousness sake?” I think the answer is one verse down? Take a look at verse 11.

• Matthew 5:11 – “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
  
  

Jesus, in verse eleven, almost repeats himself in regards to verse ten. He just changeds a couple of things. I believe he is saying the same thing as verse 10, but adding detail. Instead of saying just “persecuted,” he gives a picture of persecution: revile, persecute, utter all kinds of evil. Likewise, instead of saying “righteousness' sake” he states, “on my account.”

Therefore, I believe that for sake of righteousness and for the sake of Christ are synonymous. They are the same. This is crucial for us to understand right up front. The persecution that Jesus is talking about in verse ten that is “blessed” is not any type of persecution. It not persecution because you are rude. It is not persecution because you are insensitive. It is persecution that is due to following Jesus. Meaning when we are truly being His disciples, i.e. acting like, speaking like him, loving like him people will hate you for it. When we start displaying the image of Jesus in our daily lives we will be persecuted.

This still doesn't completely answer the question of why? It just deepens it to an extent. The question is now, why does the world hate the image of Jesus. Why does the world hate the living display of righteousness that is found exclusively in Jesus? Because it reminds them of who they aren't.

• John 3:19-20 - “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

The world cannot stand the incarnate display of God's standard. It is too piercing. The judgment is too uncomfortable. So what do they do? The darkness attacks the light. From the moment Jesus was born, there was a hit put on him: Herod, his home town, the scribes, Pharisees, lawyers, Judas, Pontius Pilate, and the crowds who chanted crucify him, crucify him. They all wanted him dead. Why? Because the darkness hates the lights. It wants to extinguish it.

And now as Jesus stands on the side of the mountain, he tells his disciples, that it will also happen to them, and it does. Of the 12 disciples, minus Judas, who were sitting there listening, 100 percent of them were persecuted. Peter, Thomas, Philip, Andrew, Thaddeus, and Simon were crucified. Bartholomew was beaten with rods and then beheaded. James Son of Alpheaeus was clubbed to death. James son of Zebedee was executed by sword. Matthew was killed with a spear. The only one not to be killed was John and he was exiled to an Island so that they wouldn’t have to look at him, and it is believed that John was horribly scarred because they tried to kill him, but couldn’t.

This pattern of persecution was not exclusive to the 12. The first martyr was actually Stephen. His story is laid out in Acts 6 and 7. He was a disciple that was appointed to help the neglected widows. He is described as full of grace and power, and there was something about this grace and this power that enraged the people to the point that they stone him to death. Stephen's Spirit filled words caused such anger in the hearts of these men that they threw rocks as hard as they could so as to stop the heart of Stephen. Why? Because they could not stand seeing the image of Christ in Stephen’s life.

And then there is Paul. We saw a picture of his persecution last week when discussing peacemaking. Listen to Paul’s description of his life:

• 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 – “ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. “
  
  

Eventually Paul was executed, but the persecution did not stop there. There were others: Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, John Huss, William Tyndale, John Rogers, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and these are just the famous ones.

According to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, since the murder of Jesus, it is estimated that 70 million followers of Christ have been killed because of their faith. It is further estimated that 100,000 Christians die every year directly because of their faith in Christ, and it is believed that this number is on the rise in the world.

As I said, the proof is in the pudding. Jesus said it would happen, and it has played out exactly as he said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Paul put it very bluntly as he wrote to his young apprentice in 2 Timothy 3:12

• 2 Timothy 3:12 - “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” 
  
  

Persecution is a reality. If you live a godly life in Christ Jesus, it is inevitable, and this is why it is “blessed” this is why we can “rejoice” in the midst of it. As I have stated over and over again, the beatitudes are a mark of a true Christian. Persecution is no different. Persecution is a another way by which we know that we are in Christ; that the light of Christ is shining through us into this dark world.

This leads us to a point of self-examination for all of us. Are you being persecuted? Are people reviling you and uttering all kinds of evil against you falsely on Jesus’ account? If no, then why not? Is it because that God’s word is not true, or is it because of something else.

Let me throw some question out there for us, and I am putting myself right in the front of these questions. I struggle with these things as much as the next person. How many of us refuse to join in the gossip at the coffee shop? How many of us refuse to laugh at the dirty jokes? How many of us chose not to watch R rated movies? How many of us stand up for the unborn? How many of us stand up for a God designed marriage that glorifies Him? How many of us run to the person at work and pray with them when you hear they are going through a divorce? How many of us carry our Bible at all times so that at any moment we can encourage someone with God’s Word? How many of you have shared the gospel with your co-workers, classmates, neighbors, family, and strangers on the bus? How many of us invite people to church? How many of us move to Sudan?

It is no wonder that Satan hasn’t sent lions to devour us, we are no threat! We might as well be working for the enemy. Instead of letting our light shine, we are hiding under a bushel basket where no one can see it. This is why there is no persecution in our lives. We instead sit at home and watch Netflix. Is this what God saved us to do?

No, Jesus ransomed us to be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness in his marvelous light.

The problem is that when the world looks at some “Christians,” they are not enraged by the display of their righteous acts, for they do not see an image of Christ. Instead the world looks at “Christians” and sees an image of themselves.