[0:00] and turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 6. We walk through Luke's Gospel in which he seeks to convince us and give us certainty in this Gospel that we have heard.
[0:25] So Luke has written both a history that is that is verifiable, that is scholarly, but more importantly he's given us a view of Jesus that helps us understand what he has said is absolutely true.
[0:56] And what he has done is not only of historical record, but is life changing. And that's a bit of what we want to look at today.
[1:08] I bit off a big chunk of Luke here today. We're going to be reading from chapter 6 in Luke, verse 12, all the way to the end of chapter 6.
[1:19] Now we don't usually cover that much. I'm not able to do that. But I thought it would be good to look at the whole forest of what Jesus says before we pick out the trees to get a feel for where he's going and get a feel and impact of this whole, of his sermon as a whole.
[1:43] because it's quite powerful if we hear it. As he himself says, he who hears it. The one who hears these words and does them withstands the storms of life.
[1:59] In other words, his words are life changing. And those who hear these words and do not do them will experience ruin when the storms come.
[2:13] So it's huge, the impact of what he is telling us. So let's read it and then we'll pray and then we'll dig in. So if you're able, please stand. So read from Luke chapter 6, beginning at verse 12.
[2:24] I know we were there last week, but I won't read all the names. Let's do that. But verse 12, Luke 6, verse 12.
[2:36] In these days, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray and all night he continued in prayer to God.
[2:47] And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them 12, whom he named apostles. And there you see the 12 names in verses 14 to 16.
[3:00] Now go down to verse 17. So remember, he's up on the mountain. And now verse 17, he came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.
[3:35] And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him for power came out from him and healed all.
[3:51] And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
[4:09] Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
[4:25] Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
[4:44] Rejoice in that day. Leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven.
[4:56] For so their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
[5:06] Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall weep, mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you.
[5:21] For so their fathers did to the false prophets. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies.
[5:37] Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you.
[5:48] To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. And from one who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
[6:03] Give to everyone who begs from you. And from the one who takes away your goods, do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
[6:23] If you love those who love you, what grace is that of you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?
[6:37] Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what grace is that for you?
[6:50] Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. But love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return.
[7:06] Then your reward will be great. And you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
[7:21] Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive. Wait.
[7:31] Forgive? Forgive. And you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.
[7:44] For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. He also told them a parable. Can a blind man lead a blind man?
[7:56] Will they not fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.
[8:10] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the speck that's in your eye?
[8:26] When you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye, you hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck that is in your brother's eye.
[8:41] For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.
[8:55] Figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person, out of the good treasure of his heart, produces good.
[9:09] And the evil person, out of his evil treasure, produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.
[9:23] Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like.
[9:41] He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built.
[10:03] but the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.
[10:17] When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.
[10:27] so it reads, let us pray. Father, help us hear what Jesus says today. Help us see what he did and help us hear what he said.
[10:41] May what he said impact us as you intended to. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated.
[11:00] I started a little different. This might kind of seem odd to you, but who's Moses? Moses, Moses, who's Moses? Anybody remember who he is?
[11:14] What did he do? Anything called to mind? What's he known for? What? He wrote five books of the Bible. Absolutely right.
[11:24] Five points to Mr. Barton right there. No, I'm teasing. Yes, he wrote the first five books of the Bible. What else did he do? What's he known for? The Exodus.
[11:35] He led the Israelites out of the Exodus. He wasn't happy that he was called to do it. But he did. Led them out of it.
[11:47] That was quite a process as well. Remember? And that was called a redemption. He led them and God, through the blood of the Lamb that sparked the Exodus, redeemed them by the blood of the Lamb.
[12:09] Set them free from slavery. What else did Moses do? Murder. He wasn't all good, was he? He was a murderer.
[12:21] He had a bit of a temper. Brought the Ten Commandments down. Yes. He's, so he went up on the mountain, right, and met with God and God wrote out on two tablets the Ten Words of the Covenant.
[12:40] Remember? And Moses came down, right, and people were playing and then he threw the tablets and broke them, right, and he went back to God and said, what do I do? And he said, take two tablets and call me in the morning.
[12:52] No, he said, I know, sorry, couldn't resist. So he's known as the lawgiver.
[13:05] The lawgiver. He recorded the first five books and particularly what was important was the book of Exodus, which has the law, and Deuteronomy, which 40 years later was the second law.
[13:20] That's what Deuteronomy means. Second law or second giving of the law before they went into the promised land. It's the lawgiver. So he reveals God's covenant.
[13:32] God met him on that mountain, right, and revealed, and he came down from the mountain and he gave people that covenant, which were the Ten Words. And then the rest of Exodus is an explanation of working out the bylaws, basically, the extra, how those Ten come into practice in their lives.
[13:54] So they were words of life and death. They were words at the end of Deuteronomy that are a blessing. If you do the words of the covenant, you will be blessed in every facet of your life.
[14:08] Every facet. You will be prosperous, healthy, wealthy, but if you did not do, you would be cursed.
[14:21] So it was a covenant of you either do it or you don't do it. And Israel said, we'll do it. And then how'd they do it? They didn't do it. The Old Testament is proof that they could not do it.
[14:33] They never did it. Not for lack of trying. So, why do I bring that up? Because I see an image, when I read here in Luke that Jesus went up on a mountain and met with God like Moses did and then comes down from the mountain and delivers his sermon, I see a second Moses.
[15:00] Which Jesus was prophesied to be. Moses himself said, God will raise up another one like me. And, yeah, you don't listen to me.
[15:11] you better not listen. You better listen to him. So, we see Jesus who is also sent by God like Moses to deliver his people in a redeeming and exodus from slavery.
[15:28] But a deeper kind of slavery, isn't it? Slavery from sin. And we see him also descend from the mountain and reveal the word of God. And what he reveals as we read in verses 20 to the end is a new word.
[15:50] So, in fact, these are words like the covenant, words of life and death. As Jesus says at the end, he says, if you listen, it's life.
[16:01] If you don't listen, it's death. He uses words of blessing. These are what Jesus brings.
[16:14] And this is why I want to take a big look at it first to see how radical these words are as a whole. And they are life-changing. They are life-changing.
[16:29] If, Jesus says, if you do what I say, the storms will come and will not take you down. You will withstand the storms.
[16:43] It is a difference of how we do it. How we do it. Anybody need a change today?
[16:54] Need a life-changing thing? How you doing with the storms? I know there's storms coming. How we do it? So, Luke gives us a focus on the words of Jesus.
[17:10] We saw in the previous chapters, Luke has been focusing mainly on the works of Jesus. That he's been healing, he's been doing things, he's been taking care of a paralyzed man, a leper, etc.
[17:22] Now, he's going to show us in a nutshell really the first sermon that Luke records that is a sermon to his disciples. We saw one back in chapter four that was a kind of a synopsis of what he said in the synagogue in Nazareth in his hometown where they rejected him.
[17:42] And then Luke has told us numerous times, he went here and preached, he went here and preached, he went here and preached, he was teaching here and teaching there, he hasn't given us what did he teach? And so now we see it.
[17:54] I want to briefly note, perhaps, you know, what Luke gives us is really similar to something in Matthew.
[18:05] Anybody heard of the Sermon on the Mount? Yeah, if you've been around for a while, if you've read the Bible, you've heard of the Sermon on the Mount. And that's best known as Matthew.
[18:18] Do you know how long it is, how long that sermon is in Matthew? Because Luke here, we have 30 verses. Anybody know how long Matthew records the sermon in Matthew?
[18:29] chapter 5, chapter 6, and chapter 7. So 107 verses. Three and a half times what Luke records.
[18:43] So they're very similar. They're similar, there's a parallel with Matthew, and I just want to briefly mention that. Both start with the blessings, you know, blessed are, right?
[18:55] And both ends with this application about a foundation. You're building on the rock, you're building on sand. Both have crowds that are there to hear the sermon.
[19:07] Both have disciples to whom he's speaking. And many of the words in Luke are in Matthew's sermon. So there's a lot of similarities, but there's a lot more differences between what Luke records and Matthew records, a lot more differences than there are similarities.
[19:26] in Matthew, he goes up to the mountain and sits down and teaches. And Luke, he comes down from the mountain and stands on a plain.
[19:41] Not a plain like this, level ground. As I mentioned, Matthew has 107 verses, Luke has 30 verses, so Matthew includes a whole bunch more.
[19:59] There's a lot in Luke's. So this is typically called, Luke's version is typically called Sermon on the Plain, whereas Matthew is called Sermon on the Mount, so Luke's isn't known as well.
[20:13] And most scholars believe that those two sermons are really just the same sermon, which I think is quite ridiculous because both Matthew and Luke introduced them differently, one on a mountain, one on a plane.
[20:30] And you got to jump through some hoops to try to make it the same. Sometimes scholars, I appreciate the work they do, but sometimes they treat what Jesus says as if he never said, as if he spoke a word and it was recorded and he only spoke it once.
[20:46] it's as if he never repeated himself, as if it's simply unreasonable to think that he would preach the same truths more than once.
[21:03] So, does it matter at the end of the day? No, it doesn't matter. But I think what Luke is portraying for us here is a sample of what Jesus taught, probably just about everywhere he went.
[21:19] This was a sermon he regularly preached. Not a canned thing, but these were the truths that he taught everywhere.
[21:33] This is discipleship 101. This is core truth. This is true Christianity. This is how you live. If you follow Jesus, this is how you live.
[21:45] And if you follow Jesus, and live as he calls us, it will change your life. It's life altering. And so I say today, do you need a change?
[22:00] Do you need to be altered? I need a little alteration. You know, we're on the right road and what do we do? Sometimes we're prone to wander as we sing, right? We get off track.
[22:11] And so I'm hoping that this focus on these words of Jesus helps us get back if we've been off to get back on that road because we all get off the road.
[22:23] Sometimes the storms blow us a little sideways. So let's look at it. More importantly, what does Luke present to us in Luke 6?
[22:34] As we take the big picture, I think Luke's giving us a portrait of Jesus. A portrait of Jesus as the greater Moses. In fact, greater than the greatest prophet of the Old Testament.
[22:46] Moses would be considered the greatest of all the prophets. Remember on the Mount of Transfiguration, who were the two figures that Jesus met with on the Mount?
[22:59] Moses and Elijah. Those are the greatest ones. Moses was the foundational law giver. Elijah was the first. of all the other prophets that came later.
[23:14] But Moses is the one referred to. Because Moses was unique. He alone met with God face to face.
[23:25] He alone went into the tent, not as the priest had to, right? All these things they had to do for them. He just went right in. He'd come out glowing, right?
[23:36] I mean, Moses was unique. So he stands apart even from all the prophets. And what I believe Luke is portraying for us, which is a fulfillment, is that Jesus is even greater than Moses.
[23:56] He's like Moses in many ways. Moses. But he's even greater than Moses, if you can imagine. And why is that important?
[24:08] Because what Jesus brings as the new Moses, as the greater Moses, is about the change that we need in our lives.
[24:19] his sermon points out to us things that we fall short of. As I read the sermon, how'd you feel?
[24:30] Like, yeah, I'm okay. I'm doing all that. Yeah, I'm good, right? Oh, yeah, guy strikes me. I'm just like, hey, hit me again. Yeah, I'm totally like that. Right?
[24:41] Did you feel like that? Did you feel like, oh, what Jesus called me to do, I'm good. No, you felt like dust, didn't you? I feel humbled. Oh, who lives like that?
[24:59] Well, people whose lives are changed can live like that. So, what I want you to see, the question I want to ask today is, how is Jesus' fulfillment as the greater Moses so life changing today?
[25:18] I think we see how his life changing impact in two ways. One, we see in verses 12 to 19 in his works. His works are greater than Moses.
[25:28] His deliverance is greater than Moses' deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Jesus' deliverance from our bondage in slavery is greater than what Moses accomplished, which was incredible.
[25:45] Right? And then secondly, not only his works are greater, but Jesus' words are greater. Because what we see a sample of here in Luke 6 is a much higher, much higher, much higher word than Moses ever gave.
[26:05] So, look with me here. He's greater in, first of all, in his power, his works. He's a greater deliverer than Moses of his people from a greater bondage.
[26:16] Whereas Moses delivered people from physical slavery out of that bondage, Jesus delivers people who are captive to Satan, who are captive to their sinfulness, and he delivers, he wakes them up and he delivers them out of that so that they are free, not only from Satan's bonds, but from the bonds of sin itself.
[26:37] now, that's pictured here. So, I want you to see the picture. I already kind of mentioned, so I'll go a little faster.
[26:51] We see a portrait of him on the mountain, right? Verse 12, he's up on the mountain, he's praying, that he calls his disciples, he chooses 12. Interesting, choosing 12, just like Moses came down to the 12, right?
[27:03] And now Jesus comes down with the 12. He comes down, verse 70, he comes down from the mountain to a great crowd, just like Moses came down from the mountain, and there's a great multitude of Israelites there, and Jesus comes down to a great crowd, because we see in verse 17, the way Luke describes it, he comes down with them, the 12, he stood in a little level place, with a great crowd of disciples, and a great multitude of people, so there's a huge amount of people there.
[27:34] Just that's what Luke's portraying, so it's a great crowd. And then we see, after he does some healing, verse 20, we see that he now reveals the word. He reveals the word, so very Moses-like.
[27:49] Then we see the people, notice there's three groups, verse 17, he comes down with them, so the 12, right? He's just talked about the 12 apostles, he comes down with them, that's one group, stands in a level place, and with a great crowd of disciples.
[28:09] So not only are there 12, but outside the 12, there's a huge amount of disciples. Those are the ones that he chose the 12 from. So he's got a big group, as Luke calls it, a great crowd of disciples who are followers, committed followers, they're learners, they're wanting to learn, and this is who he's going to talk to.
[28:33] And then in addition to that, there's a third group, a great multitude of people, just other people. So these are just the curious people, these are just the people who are hurt or bringing people to be healed.
[28:46] These are people from all over, they're from the south, all Judea, and Jerusalem, so that means there's probably some religious leader folks in there.
[28:56] And then he mentions the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. Do you know who Tyre and Sidon are? In Israelite history? They are bitter enemies with Israel.
[29:08] So it's really interesting that they're there when Jesus starts talking about loving your enemies. Hey, Peter, see that Sidonian over there? Yeah, go love him. You know what they did to us?
[29:21] Okay, so that's just interesting. And verse 18 mentions they came, they came for two different reasons. Some came to hear him, but he that's probably the disciple group.
[29:32] And then a whole multitude of people came to be healed of their diseases. And then he tells us, here is Jesus the deliverer. Verse 18, those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.
[29:45] Isn't that an interesting way to say they're troubled by unclean spirits? They were being annoyed by this demon. I think that's just kind of interesting. They're being troubled.
[29:56] demons are a little more evil than troubling and annoying. But Jesus cures them. He delivers them from that bondage.
[30:09] He's setting a captive free when he does that. And then we see why in verse 19, all the crowd sought to touch him for power came out from him and healed them all.
[30:24] Interesting phrase, isn't it? People were seeking to touch him. People were just seeking to get near him. Just touch him. Apparently people were touching him like the woman later we hear story, right?
[30:37] Who come and if I just touch the hem of his robe, right? And he felt power go out. Remember here there's a whole multitude are coming just to touch him because apparently power would come out to people that just touched him and they were healed.
[30:52] Wouldn't that be great? Got any aches and pains? Got any? Yeah, yeah. We pray for people that are dealing. Look, Nathan, you know, wouldn't it be great? See, Moses couldn't do that.
[31:15] Moses was great. But there wasn't power coming out from him unless the Lord said power comes out from you. They could do the staff thing, you know.
[31:33] But just power came out from Jesus himself and healed. He's a powerful deliverer. And though that's a historical note that really happened, I believe, it's also a picture and a foreshadow of what Jesus can do in our lives.
[31:52] Power comes out from him. If we reach out to him. Excuse me.
[32:04] I was toast before I got up here, so. So he's the great deliverer.
[32:15] So he's a greater deliverer of his people from a greater bondage. This was his mission to set captives free. Let me ask the question, let's take this back a step.
[32:26] How is Jesus greater than Moses? How is he a greater Moses? Is that a right way to refer to him? Is that biblical? And why is this significant? Well, let's go back to see what Moses said in Deuteronomy 18, verse 15 to 19.
[32:42] Moses himself said, the Lord your God will raise up for you, speaking to his Israelite people, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.
[32:54] In other words, a unique kind of prophet. A prophet like me from among you. So it'll be from one of the descendants of the Israelites.
[33:06] from your brother. It is to him you shall listen. So Moses is kind of passing the baton. He's kind of saying, I didn't mind, now there's somebody else coming who's like me, and you listen to him.
[33:21] It is to him you shall listen. Watch this likeness. He says, just as. To him you shall listen, just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see his great fire anymore lest I die.
[33:45] So in other words, the speaking of this next prophet that comes will be like the voice you heard on the mountain that you said, let me not hear it.
[33:57] I tremble at that point. In other words, Moses is hinting this voice of the next prophet is the voice of God.
[34:11] He goes on, and the Lord said to me, they are right in what they have spoken. That was a good observation the people made. It's good that they recognize that if they hear my voice they might die.
[34:24] And God says then to Moses, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him, and whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
[34:51] Wow. Sounds like the end of Jesus' sermon, the one who listens to me, and the one who does not listen to me. Huge difference.
[35:04] Life changing. So like Moses, Jesus is sent by God with his words. He carries the voice of God, he gives direct revelation that comes from God himself.
[35:17] God said, I will speak to him my words, he will speak everything that I command him. Like Moses, he also does the works of God.
[35:28] He also gives by his healings and his casting out of demons or curing of demons. We see a picture of his deliverance from a greater bondage.
[35:43] Like Moses, Jesus had a unique relationship with God the Father. Moses, as I mentioned, alone had direct access to God, went into the tent without preparations apparently, and heard the voice and spoke face to face like no one else.
[36:04] And God himself refers to Moses being unique in that way. Other prophets, right, hear visions or see dreams. Hear visions. I guess you see visions. I don't know how it works.
[36:16] Moses. But Moses, he spoke face to face. And like Moses, he delivers people from a greater bondage.
[36:27] So, there's a second way we see that Jesus is a greater Moses, not just in what his works go beyond what Moses could do, but now his words are greater.
[36:38] So, we see a difference in his preaching. His words reveal a greater hope to those who hear.
[36:52] Moses revealed the law of God, what was holy and right and just and good. The law was flawless in its justice and in it's true.
[37:11] But Jesus' words reveal a greater hope to those who hear. So, let's briefly look, if it's possible, let's just briefly look at this sermon.
[37:24] It breaks into three parts because apparently Jesus went to seminary and you learned that you have to have three points in a sermon. No, I, no. Jesus doesn't seem to follow the rules that the homiletics professors come up with.
[37:37] Mark and Rick and Zach and I are going through a book and it's kind of like, it's great stuff. It's great, it's very helpful. And I think of how Jesus preached. I don't know if Jesus applied all of this.
[37:49] Anyway, but we're not Jesus, so there you go. We need help. So first, I think we see some things in his sermon. In verses 20 to 26, where he talks about the blessed are and the woes, I think we see he brings a new identity.
[38:05] He talks about a new kind of identity. And then in verse 27 through about 45 or so, he brings a new command that wasn't in the Old Testament.
[38:16] And then finally in verses 46 to 49, he brings a new foundation. And he makes himself the foundation instead of the covenant and the law.
[38:32] So I propose to you that Jesus is giving something new. something beyond what Moses did. His words reveal a greater hope.
[38:43] So we see it first of all in the new identity. It talks about who people are. Blessed are, right? Blessed are, blessed are, blessed are, and woe to you who are. So it's about identity, about who they are.
[38:57] And note in these blessings and woes a reversal of values, right? Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry, blessed are the weepers, blessed are the ones hated.
[39:12] That doesn't fit in our culture. That's upside down. And then woe are the rich, and woe are the fool, and woe are the, you know, the laughers, and the ones that everybody likes.
[39:26] It's upside down. So he's reversing all the values. Who are these people? So who are the poor, and the hungry, and the weepers, and the people who are hated?
[39:39] Does he mean, is he saying that everyone who's poor, everyone who's economically poor, are blessed? Is that what he's saying?
[39:52] Is he talking about physical poverty? How do you know? That's what the word means. You know, in Matthew's sermon, Matthew helps us, because Matthew adds the little phrase, blessed are the poor in spirit.
[40:08] So we know, oh, he's talking about spiritual poverty. Well, Luke's record doesn't have that. It just says blessed are the poor. So how do we know?
[40:21] Well, we know this is beyond physical here, because Jesus gives us some hints. So even in verse 20, blessed are you who are poor. Why?
[40:33] Are they going to be rich? Is he promising prosperity? No. Yours is what? Kingdom of earth.
[40:44] No. Nothing earthly here. No, blessed are those who are poor, because yours is the kingdom of God. You belong to God. God. You're in God's kingdom.
[40:56] We're not talking about just physical poverty. We're talking about a different kind of poverty. And then notice verse 22, the fun one. The fun one.
[41:07] Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil. Why? Just because you're annoying? Because you're a jerk?
[41:18] Why do they hate you and spurn you and revile you and exclude you? Verse 22. Because of Jesus. On account of the Son of Man.
[41:31] These blessings are about your relationship to Jesus. These blessings are about people who are related to Jesus. And your blessing comes because other people know you're committed and connected to Jesus.
[41:47] they hate you and they spurn you and they exclude you because you are a Christian. Because they know that. Do people know that? Or are you liked by, see the flip side of that, right?
[42:03] The woe. Notice how it's worded. Verse 26. Woe to you when all people speak well of you. Don't miss the all part. He doesn't say woe to you when some people speak well of you.
[42:19] Because there are people that spoke well of Jesus. There are people that spoke well of Paul and Peter and Little Lock Church. But do all people speak well of you?
[42:38] Because Jesus says woe if all people speak well of you. If every, nobody has a problem with you. Because if you're a Christian, Jesus is saying people will have big problems with you.
[42:52] And do they know that? And if they know that and they have big problems with you and they start excluding you and hating you and spurning you and telling lies about you and spreading rumors about you and shunning you and all that kind of stuff, guess what?
[43:07] Rejoice! Leap for joy! Like when the 49ers scored a touchdown, yeah! And then when the Chiefs scored the last touchdown, no!
[43:19] I wept! I laughed and then I wept! And Jesus says that's such a good thing! That we would rejoice and leap for joy over that.
[43:35] That's not a natural thing to do. That is not a worldly, that's not natural to me! I leaped for joy when the 49ers did good! That's natural, I didn't have to work at that at all!
[43:52] But when in the past, when people have reviled me and spurned me and done some of this kind of stuff, and I hear years later of rumors that are still spread around, it's not my natural thing to leap for joy about that.
[44:08] I kind of want to go set the record, I want to go tell them, so to leap for joy and rejoice about these things, to be this kind of person, means I need a radical change from what I naturally am.
[44:27] And then he gets into the new command in verse 27. Notice this, verse 27, and he's going to say it twice, he's going to say it in verse 27, and then he's going to summarize it again in verse 35, love your neighbors.
[44:41] And notice he starts out, but I say, I say to you, as if he's contrasting to what others say, but I say to you, so he's giving an authoritative statement at this point, I say to you, who here, because not everybody can hear this, I say to you who hear, love your enemies.
[45:00] Now, there are some who will say, well, yeah, the Old Testament talks about that, I challenge you to find that, I challenge you to find that.
[45:14] The Old Testament does not say it, in fact, the Old Testament talks about killing enemies and taking out, you know, you're not going to find it in Moses' writings, you're not going to find it in Joshua, you're certainly not going to find it in the Psalms where David talks, he does pray for his enemies, right, and God would not forgive them.
[45:38] That attitude is not an Old Testament attitude, to love your neighbor. These words would be shocking. Okay, and then how do you love your enemies? Well, then he talks about how do you do that.
[45:50] You do good to those who hate you, you bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you, the one who strikes you, that's my enemy, the one who strikes me, let him strike the other side, the one who takes away from me, steals from me, don't withhold for him to steal more, this is ridiculous kind of stuff, give to everyone who begs for me, everyone, everyone, really, every time I go by the thing where the guy's sitting, everyone, how literal do we take this, and the one who takes your goods don't demand it back, that's not Old Testament law, Old Testament laws, they steal from you, you seek justice, justice, Jesus is teaching something much greater and higher and beyond what Moses ever taught, and there's nothing wrong with what Moses taught, Moses taught what God revealed, Jesus by saying this is not dishonoring the law, and he's not dismissing the law, he's going beyond it, he's giving,
[46:51] I believe, a new, higher law, whether you agree with that or not, it doesn't matter, what his words say is what matters, okay, I just think he's doing something so radical, verse 32, 34, what sets people apart, Jesus, he's such a good teacher and preacher because he tells you stuff and then he backs up and he makes you think, he starts asking questions, so look at verse 30, so he's talked about loving your enemies, right, in verse 31, summary, kind of, here's a summary statement, here's your, as you wish that others would do to you, that's what you do to them, so there's your life principle, you know, the golden rule, then he's going to ask questions, look, verse 32, 34, so if you don't get it, let me put it in another way, if you love those who love you, that's what we all do, right, if you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you, or literally what grace are you showing, because even sinners love those who love them,
[48:02] I mean, you're setting the bar pretty low, if you love those, and then he goes on, same thing, if you give to those, same thing, if you do good to those, same thing, even sinners do that, what sets you apart, if all you do is what everybody else does, if that's your bar, you ain't following Jesus, but that's what comes natural, to love those who love me, of course I do that, well, that's because I'm a sinner, and I do, that's what's easy, that's what's easy, that's what's natural, Jesus isn't calling us to anything easy or natural, by any means, or even to what's just, that's enough, and then here's the standard, he says in verse 35, love your enemies, do good, lend, expecting nothing in return, why?
[49:10] Your reward will be great, right now? Probably not, but here's what the truth is, you will be sons of the most high, you're going to look just like God, you're going to act like God, you're going to have that DNA passed on, you're going to look like a real child of God, because you're doing things that only God does, because he says in verse 35, for he is what?
[49:47] He's kind to who? He's kind to those who are kind to him, right? God loves those, right, who love him. Oh.
[50:01] He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful even as your father is merciful. So, see, what Jesus is saying is the standard is not the law, the standard is the character of God.
[50:22] And even in the Old Testament, there's two things that come out in the Old Testament. The Old Testament has the law, there's the standard, that's the covenant, that's what you do. And then there's God, who even when Israel didn't do the covenant, what did God do?
[50:39] Forgain. held off. Didn't give them what they deserved. And people like Nehemiah and Ezra would pray how, oh, we blew it and then you were kind, we blew it and you were kind.
[50:54] You kept giving us more chances. And even when we ran out of chances and just sent us to Babylon, you still didn't give up on us, you still had a plan to bring us back.
[51:05] So what Jesus is focusing on is not something we're ever told to do in the Old Testament, but something that was displayed by God himself.
[51:17] And that's the standard now. That wasn't the Old Testament standard. Not that that matters. I just want you to hear what Jesus is calling to. And then, so he calls us to a greater love than the Old Testament.
[51:34] the Old Testament calls us to love our neighbor. Right? Love your neighbor as yourself. Right? That's wonderful. And remember when the Jew asked Jesus, one of the Jewish people asked Jesus, who's my neighbor?
[51:50] Who's my neighbor? He got an answer he did not expect. He got an answer that he never heard in synagogue school. He got an answer about something about Samaritans.
[52:00] And you're like, no, no, no, no, no. Way of love those people. Jesus has turned things upside down here.
[52:20] And then in his conclusion, he wraps up, he wraps up, he gets a little illustration on a poem. No. He wraps it up with this, you know, how do you respond to what I just said?
[52:36] Right? So, verse 46, why do you call me Lord and do not do it? I tell you, that's going to win a lot of friends and influence people, isn't it? Jesus is sounding a little John the Baptist here.
[52:49] It's not all, you know, heartfelt and rosy and some of it's like, you call me Lord, Lord, but don't do what I say. Ow. So, he gives two foundations.
[53:03] Verse 47, everyone who comes to me, hears, comes to me, hears my words, and does them my words. He is like the man with a building, who builds a house, digs deep, lays a foundation on the rock.
[53:17] So, he digs down to the rock, and he builds on the rock, so when the storms come, the house withstands the storm. And on the other hand, the one who hears and does not do my words is like the man who builds a house on the ground without a foundation.
[53:35] When the storm comes, immediately it shall. And the ruin of that house was great. What his words have are a life-changing foundation.
[53:50] There are two kinds of hearers, those that hear and do, and those who hear and ignore. those who hear and apply, those who hear and dismiss his words.
[54:07] And the difference is life-changing. If you do, you withstand the storm. If you refuse, you experience ruin in your life. Now, what's the big question here?
[54:21] How in the world do I do what he calls me to do? How do I, in all my sinfulness and my selfishness and my fondness of what's natural to me, respond like God responds to people who hate me?
[54:44] And respond as God responds to people who are ungrateful evil and evil. How do I do that? Because I want a house that doesn't fall, don't you?
[55:01] So how do I live like that? Do I motor up? Do I bear down? Do I gird my belt and just, you know, we got to tough out the fourth quarter and really make it happen, 49ers?
[55:17] We didn't do that. I'm sorry. I have a little obsession there. Forgive me. But how do you do that? Some Christians will say we got to get, we just got to make promises and do better.
[55:31] Well, that's well intended, but that ain't going to happen. That ain't going to do it. if you're depending on you, how are you going to do it? How are you going to do it?
[55:44] Well, he says, verse 48, no, verse 47, everyone who comes to me and hears my word and does them. Everyone who comes to me, who keeps coming to me, keeps coming to me and keeps hearing and then does it.
[55:59] Everyone who keeps coming to me, come to me all who are weak and weary and poor and hungry. and you read these words and you weep because they expose you.
[56:18] Come to me. That's how. Peter proclaims that Jesus is the fulfillment not only of Moses but of all the prophets and that he himself brings a greater blessing.
[56:33] Here, I'll close with this, what Peter says in Acts 3, Peter's preaching to the Jews about Jesus. Then he says in Acts 3, 16, he says what God foretold by the mouth of all prophets that his Christ, his Messiah would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
[56:55] so he's saying Jesus has fulfilled what all the prophets claim that Jesus would, that the Christ would suffer. Therefore, there's an implication, therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be blotted out and that times of refreshing may come, oh that sounds good doesn't it, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
[57:35] He's going to quote Moses. Moses said, we read this earlier, Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
[57:46] It shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. So Peter is quoting that prophecy from Moses.
[57:59] And then Peter goes on and he says, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaim these days, these days referring to the Messiah.
[58:12] You are sons of all the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers saying to Abraham, now he's going to quote the promise to Abraham, in your offspring, in your seed, in one seed, one offspring of Abraham shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
[58:36] God having raised up his servant sent him to you, speaking to the Jews, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
[58:49] He's saying that to religious people. He's saying that to people who consider themselves righteous, who work at righteousness, to turn every one of you from your wickedness.
[59:05] See, blessing from God comes by repentance. Those who truly listen to the words of Jesus, if you truly hear these words of Jesus, it ought to, careful with ought, it hopefully will bring you to the point where you bow and say, Lord, help me.
[59:22] This is not me. I'm not okay with the words that you have said. Bring me to that place.
[59:35] His words are life and death. If we take his words seriously, his words are blessing to those who turn from sin and ruin to those who do not listen.
[59:48] So, Jesus is the greater Moses. His acts of suffering brings redemption, a death that pays the debt of our sin, and his words bring greater hope.
[60:03] He speaks of a higher identity about who we are, who are in contrast with our culture. He speaks of a greater love and how we treat people like only God can treat people.
[60:21] And he speaks about a foundation of our life which marks the difference between withstanding storms and ruin. That's pretty foundational.
[60:38] Only Jesus can change your life. You need a change today? Or just an alteration maybe? Just a refocus? Huh?
[60:51] I do hearing these words. I've been looking at them all week, okay? Only Jesus can change your life. I don't mean a quick change. I don't mean a feel-good-for-today change.
[61:03] I mean a lasting change, a deeper change change. That brings a fulfillment that earthly things can never break.
[61:17] I hope you know this Jesus. And I hope you seek him, come to him as he were, his words, come to him today. And not just today, but let's pray.
[61:31] Father, thank you for these tremendous, powerful words of Jesus that both slay us and give us hope because he tells us the truth that exposes us, but he also gives us hope.
[61:57] He speaks of reward and he speaks of change, he speaks of with standing storms amidst all the other earthly junk. And so we thank you for a Jesus that doesn't just tell us what we want to hear, but he tells us what we need to hear.
[62:20] Give us ears to hear, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.