Matthew 5-7

Let's turn in our Bibles now to Matthew chapter 5 as we begin tonight the Sermon on the Mount and the, well, let's just get into it. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth, and he taught them saying. So first of all, note that this is not a general manifesto to the world, but this is a special message for his disciples.

And so, when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he taught them saying. So, a special message for his disciples, not for general consumption. And so, first of all, he more or less describes what a disciple is and the characteristics of a disciple.

And he begins with things that are sort of on the, well, you might say the negative side. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, there are those who are teaching blessed in spirit are the poor.

Not so. Then, I know a lot of poor people that are really not very blessed in spirit. In fact, they're pretty mean.

And so, just being poor doesn't really mean that you're blessed. But the poor in spirit, it's the opposite of being proud, being lifted up, of thinking that you are something or somebody. And it is that poverty of spirit.

And so, just the fact that I realize the truth about myself, and that's facing the honesty of myself. And when I see myself as I truly am and face the reality, it isn't a pleasant thing to see. And it does tend towards poor in spirit, which leads to the second, the attitude, blessed are they that mourn.

I can't believe that I am as bad as I really am. And I begin to mourn over my condition. And I ask the Lord for his help and his transformation of my life.

And then, that leads to the third, and they all sort of follow one after another. Blessed are the meek. And the best way, I think, to understand the word meek is to hyphenate the middle of it.

Blessed are the meek, me-ek. I mean, just seeing myself as I am, and having that poverty of spirit, mourning over my condition that I am in, it's just saying, oh, me-ek, you know. And so, they shall inherit the earth.

And so, notice the blessings. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those that mourn will be comforted, and those that are meek will inherit the earth.

But then it changes. And at this point, seeing myself as I truly am, honestly looking at myself in the light of him, it does lead to a hunger and thirst after righteousness. And so, blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So, now we begin to look at more or less positive aspects of the Christian life.

Merciful and obtaining mercy, pure in heart, they shall see God. And blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Now, if you meet a person that has these qualities and characteristics, you would think that everyone would just admire them, hold them up to adulation, and just speak well of them and all.

But Jesus follows on by saying, blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. If you are truly a child of God, living as the Lord would have you to live, well, as we used to sing, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. That one verse that was added to it, I have the happy hope that heckles heathens down in my heart.

And if you are really walking with the Lord, you're going to find that people are going to be irritated, and they're going to start making fun of you. They're going to start making remarks concerning you, oh, Mr. Goody, Goody, you know, and things of that nature. And so, blessed are ye when men start to persecute you for righteousness' sake.

Now, notice persecuting you for righteousness' sake, not persecuting you because you're a bore, or because, you know, you're just making a, well, because you're just offending people because of your attitude and so forth. And you're offending people. And so, when I was in Bible college, we had this one gal that was there in Bible college, and she was really an offensive person.

And she would, well, she would just, she was loud. She, they said, used to sing in opera, and she did have a very loud voice. And she would just do things that were just, you know, offensive.

And I worked downtown in one of the major offices downtown. And oftentimes, I would get on the same streetcar going back out to the college that she would get on in the evening, and she'd spy me. And then, with this loud, operatic voice, she'd say, praise the Lord, brother, you know, and I would look around like, you know, she's, who she's talking to, you know.

And, but I sought to help her, but I wasn't really much of a help to her. But I would just tell her, you know, it doesn't do any good for the kingdom of God to just be obnoxious, you know. You're to be, you know, to make it attractive to people and not something that causes them to wince as you cause me to wince.

And so, when I would talk to her and try and help her that way, she'd walk away, say, thank you, Lord, for the persecution. And so, I realized I'm not getting anywhere with this gal, you know. But, blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness' sake.

So, if you're persecuted, make sure it's not because you are being offensive, but, of course, you cannot really testify of Christ to many people, but what they are offended by it. But that is for righteousness' sake. It's because of a good testimony that you're giving.

But, not blessed are you because you're doing weird things and people think that you're a little few bricks short of a load because of the way you're acting. And so, watch on that one. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.

And if this happens, and it will happen if you are speaking of Jesus Christ to people, you'll find that people will often be actually offended by it. And they'll revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. And Jesus said, rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

So, if you find yourself being persecuted for Jesus' sake, rejoice. You're in good company. So persecuted they the prophets that were before you.

So, you go back in the Old Testament and you can see the prophets and so forth and how they were persecuted for righteousness' sake. Now, Jesus begins to declare just what you are as a Christian in this world in which you live. You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith will it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of man. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

And neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine. And this is the key.

Let your light so shine that when men see your good works, they glorify your Father which is in heaven. You know, there are two different ways that you can do your good works. You can do them in such a way as it draws attention unto you.

And everybody is saying, oh, aren't they wonderful? And you know, it's possible to do things in such a way as to draw attention and notice to yourself. But actually Jesus is saying, let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, they glorify your Father which is in heaven. And if when people are glorifying God over your good works, then you know that you're doing them in the proper fashion, in the proper way that it's bringing glory to God and not glory unto you.

So this is what the Christian is to be in the world. You are the salt of the earth. And of course, we would recommend that you get a tape if you weren't here this morning.

As we dealt on this particular passage, you're the salt of the earth and showing what we are to be as the salt of the earth. In verse 17, or 617, think not that I've come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Jot and tittle, those are just little marks that are made to help you in pronouncing a word or all, but they're just punctuation marks in the Hebrew text and even those are important. Not one of those will pass until all have been fulfilled.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least commandments and teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So when Jesus is talking about, you know, breaking the commandments and so forth, being called the least, whosoever shall do and teach shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. We sometimes, we have heard this text used to try to put the church back under the law and as a basis for your righteous standing before God. And there are many churches that, you know, they talk about keeping the Sabbath day and they talk about the law and the importance of keeping the law.

And they usually are emphasizing this particular verse. Here they use it as their proof text that you should be obeying and keeping the law. But the next verse would explode that one.

For I say unto you, unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus day, the Pharisees were considered the most righteous people on the planet earth. They spent their whole life endeavoring to keep every portion of the law.

And, you know, they were amazing. The things that they would do, and it was all an outward righteousness. They would do it before men to be seen of men because they wanted the reputation of being, oh, they are so righteous.

And so they would do things in such a way as draw attention to themselves. And that's what Jesus is really still speaking about here. And he's saying, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you're not going to make it.

And can you imagine the effect that that would have upon the people that Jesus was talking to? Because as they looked at these scribes and Pharisees and saw them as they were doing everything to keep every little bit of the law, when they would say you were a merchant and you had scales to weigh the merchandise that you were selling, they would take and before they would weigh the produce or whatever you were buying from them, they would take and blow the dust off the scales, sort of showing how righteous I am. I don't want you buying dust from me, you know, and so make sure that the scales are free of dust. And they had all kinds of little things to sort of demonstrate how honest I am and how obedient I am in keeping the laws.

And the Lord is just sort of coming against this outward display. But in the minds of the people, they were the most righteous people in the land because they were always doing things ostensibly to be seen of men in doing these things in order that they might receive the praise of man and the plaudits from man for being so righteous and so good. And so, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

Now, in talking about your relationship to the law, as we look at the law and the life of the believer, the purpose of the law, we are told, is that it might show the whole world is guilty before God. The purpose of the law was not to make you righteous. Keeping the law will not make you righteous.

The purpose of the law is to show your sin. The purpose of the law is to reveal the truth about your sin and that you are not and cannot be righteous by the law, that you can't keep the law. It's impossible for you to keep the law.

And of course, if righteousness could come by the law, then Christ died in vain. And Paul tells us in Romans 3.20, by the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. We are told by Paul in Galatians 3.24, the law was a schoolmaster to force us to Jesus Christ.

The law and the purpose of the law is to make you feel guilty and is to help you discover that you are guilty before God and that you won't try to depend upon your own righteousness for acceptance by God, but you'll realize, I can't make it myself. And so you accept the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ, and his righteousness then is imputed to you. And so that's basically the lesson here of not trying to have a righteous standing before God by my keeping the law, but by recognizing the law has condemned me, and my only hope is the grace of God through Jesus Christ and accepting that righteousness that he has provided by my simple trusting in him.

As the Galatians 2.16 tells us, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So he said, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness could come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. So your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees if you're going to hope to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But that was to make sure that you just didn't try to have a righteous standing by your efforts of keeping the laws, but just by putting your full trust and faith in Jesus Christ. So Jesus is going to now give a series of illustrations of the law, and how they were interpreting the law, and how the law was truly intended by God. Basically, and here's the flaw, the way they interpreted the law, they could keep it.

And so to understand what the law was really saying, and seeking to govern, was not really so much your actions, but your attitudes that created the actions. And thus, a person could be doing things that looked like they were obeying the law, but their heart, their attitude was wrong, and thus they were not really fulfilling the purpose of the law. And so Jesus is going to give a series of illustrations to show where the law was intended to govern the attitude that creates the actions, rather than the actions themselves.

You've heard that it was said by those of old time, thou shalt not kill. Whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment.

Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raka, or you know, worthless fellow, shall be in danger of the counsel. But whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and you remember that your brother has ought against you, leave your gift before the altar, go your way, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

And so the law says, thou shalt not kill. Well, I might be angry with someone over what they have done to me. And in my mind, think of ways that I could, you know, throttle them or kill them or get rid of them because of what they did to me.

And I'm just in my mind, seething and going over my hatred and, and just having this bitter hatred towards them. Now, Jesus is saying that hatred is making me guilty. Not just taking actions on the hatred and clubbing them to death, but just the fact that I desire to club them to death means that I violated that law that said thou shalt not kill.

And so he's showing that it is really the attitude in my heart that God is looking at, and that is important. So again, agree with their adversary quickly, while you're in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out from there until you have paid the uttermost farthing.

So you have heard that it hath been said, the second illustration, by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. Isn't that what the law says? Yes, the law says thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

And so again, it's what's going on in my mind, the attitude, and the things that are going on in my mind are the things that God is seeing, and that God is judging. So that I can violate that law, thou shalt not commit adultery, without having physical relationships with another woman, but having a strong desire, or thinking, my, you know, I would like to, you know, have an evening out with her and whatever. And I could, by in my thoughts, fantasize and actually commit the sin in my thought without having to carry it through in a physical way.

And thus the law is spiritual. And it is judging me on the spiritual aspects, rather than the physical itself. And, and, you know, you might think you're pretty good until you start reading how the Lord is looking at things and you realize, I am guilty before God.

The law was not given in order to make you feel righteous or self-righteous before God, but to make you feel guilty in order that you will come to him and seek his righteousness that is imparted to you by your faith and trusting in him. So if I say to you, whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already in his heart. And if you're right, I offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of your members should suffer, then the whole body should be cast into hell.

Now, Jesus is going to the extreme here, saying, you know, if you're, I offend you, pluck it out. Does that mean that, you know, I should pluck my eye out? No, it doesn't. He's just using an extreme illustration here to just show you how important it is that, you know, we realize that the law is spiritual.

We are carnal and that we are not trying to justify ourselves with the law, but that the law is a schoolmaster to drive us to Jesus Christ. So if I, my right eye, you know, is looking and lusting because what I'm seeing, and I pluck it out, I still have my left eye. And so he's not talking about literally plucking it out.

If your right hand offend you, cut it off, same truth, cast it from you, for it is profitable for thee that one of your members should perish and that the whole body should not be cast into hell. It has been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. And so this is the way they were teaching the law.

But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her, that is divorce, commits adultery. Again, you've heard it hath been said by them of old time that thou shalt not forswear thyself, but thou shalt perform unto the Lord thine oath. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is the Lord's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.

And neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair black or white." That was before Lady Laurel. But let your communication be, yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than this comes from evil. In other words, he's saying, be a person of your word.

And don't be a person that has to say, I swear by God, or I swear by the Bible, you know, that what I'm telling you is truth. Just tell the truth and be of the kind of reputation that people know that when you say something, you mean it. There's no double entendres there that you're trying to deceive them by what you're saying.

But your yes is a yes, your no is a no. And anything more than that is really comes of evil. So make sure that you don't take these kinds of oaths, or have to take an oath in order to convince someone that you're telling them the truth.

So you've heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, the law of revenge. Under the law, they did have this under the law, an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth. If you were in a fight and you knocked out a person's tooth, then your tooth could be knocked out, a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye.

But Jesus said, you've heard that this has been said, and of course it was a part of the law of the Old Testament. But I say unto you, that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. If any man will sue you at the law to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.

And whosoever will compel you to go one mile, go with him too, and give unto him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow thee, turn thou not away. You've heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you, pray for those that spitefully use you and persecute you, that you might be the children of your father, which is in heaven.

For he makes his son to rise on the evil and on the good. He sends the rain upon the just and upon the unjust. For if you love those that love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans or the sinners the same? And if you salute only your brothers, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.

So if up to this point you think, well, I might be able to achieve that. I think, yes, you know, I could. Well, he sort of closes the whole thing with the last verse, be therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect, which causes us to realize, you know, he's giving requirements and standards that are beyond my capacity to keep.

And thus I have to just put my trust and faith in him that the righteousness of Christ through my faith in him might be imputed unto me. And thus is my hope for my standing before God, especially when that day of judgment comes. So he is saying things here that, you know, the eye for an eye, tooth for tooth.

The way they were interpreting that law was that if you would say black my eye, then I was compelled to black your eye, an eye for an eye. And rather than forgiving and saying, well, I realized that was an accident. You really didn't mean to do that.

And so, you know, that's all right. But they would, they interpreted it in such a way as you had to go ahead and do eye for eye, tooth for tooth. And, you know, and it was sort of a requirement to take the revenge.

And that's what Jesus is coming against here. And of course, in my attitude towards those things that are mine, and, you know, a man sues you for your coat, let him have the cloak also. If he asks of you to borrow something, don't turn him away.

And so it has been said, love your neighbor, hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies. Bless those that curse you.

Do good to those that hate you. Pray for those which spitefully use you and persecute you, that you might be the children of your Father, which is in heaven. For he makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

So, chapter five. Looking now at chapter six. Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them.

Take heed that you don't do your righteous activities with the motive of being seen of others in doing them. Otherwise, he said, you have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven. So, that's the basic premise that he's going to start out here with.

To be careful that you don't do your righteous activities with the motive of people seeing you and saying, oh, he is so righteous. And be careful about that. Therefore, when you do your alms or your righteous deeds, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have the glory of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. The fact that people are saying, oh, they are so spiritual, they've given so much. I grew up in a church where in taking an offering, they would often have people pledge.

And in the services, they would take pledges from the people and, you know, stand up and tell how much you're going to give for this building project. And people would stand up and say that, you know, our family will pledge. And, you know, even have people hold up bills and so forth.

And the pastor would run and collect them. And everybody would think, oh my, look how much they're giving. Aren't they generous? Isn't that good? And, you know, with that, if you are giving, and that's, you know, you want everybody to go, ooh, ah, my, you know, enjoy it.

The oohs and the ahs, because you're not going to get any reward from the Lord. And when you get to heaven, you say, Lord, but don't you remember, you know, when they had that pledge drive, how I gave that $100 bill, you know, waved it there in the air. Yeah, Lord, I saw that, you know, but that's your reward.

I mean, everybody said the oohs and the ahs, and that's your reward. You're not going to get any in heaven for that, you know. So, when you do your alms or your gifts, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

That your alms might be in secret, and your Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And so, that's in the giving aspect. In the prayers, you shall not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, and that they might be seen of men.

But verily I say unto you, they have their reward. And so, it all depends. Do I want my rewards from the Lord? Do I want them from men, in the praise of men, and the applause of men? Is that what I'm desiring? And if it is, that applause is my reward, and don't expect any from God for those things.

So, and again, in prayer, don't use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. They think that the long prayers are the effective prayers, but not so. You know, it isn't how long you've prayed, but it's just with what faith.

You have prayed. Be not therefore like unto them, for your father knows. When you pray, don't use these vain repetitions, and don't be like those, for your father knows the things that you have need of before you ask him.

Sometimes in people in prayer, want to explain to God of every little detail of the prayer. In other words, Lord, I really need this, because, you know, this is going to, and this is, and so you spread the prayer out, and make it a long prayer, when in fact, all you need to just say is, Lord, help. You know, I need some guidance here, and just leave it there, and the Lord can help you with a short prayer just as easily as a long prayer.

So, don't be unto them. Your father knows what you need of before you ever ask him. You don't have to explain to God what your need is, or why you need it.

He knows that before you ever ask him, but after this manner, pray, and now he gives to us this model prayer, and again, it is short, it is to the point, and it is a good model for prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven. The first thing about your prayer is the address that you're putting on your prayer.

Who are you addressing? And, you know, unfortunately, many prayers are really addressed to the people. You're praying in order to let people know what your particular need is, and I've seen this abused so often in prayer. It is not really addressed to God.

Our Father, which art in heaven. That's the one I'm calling upon to help me, and to provide for me, and it isn't, you know, for the fellow that's sitting in front of me, and where I'm praying, Lord, you know that I have this bill that I've got to pay tomorrow. I don't know where the money's coming from, and Lord, please, you know, provide for me that I can pay this bill, because I'm just in big trouble over this if I don't get it paid by tomorrow, and, you know, you tell how much the bill is, and where you can, your phone number, where they can call you up and, you know, send you the help, and so forth, and so be careful of this kind of stuff.

Our Father, which art in heaven. The address on the prayer. Who are you addressing your prayer to, and rather than, oh, mister sitting there in front of me, you know, here's what my problem is, and here's what I need for you to do.

Hallowed be thy name. So, it is, again, worship of God, and prayer begins with an address and worship of God. Thy kingdom come, and thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

The first petition is not for my needs. The first petition deals with him and his kingdom, and I want his kingdom to come, and I'm longing for that day when his will is being done here on earth, even as it is in heaven. So, the primary desire of prayer is to accomplish God's purposes and God's will.

It is not until we get to verse 11 that we get to the personal petition and the personal need. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And these are the petitions, the personal petitions in the prayer, and then he goes on again and finishes the prayer with praise and an acknowledgement of who God is, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen. So, very little with personal petitions. Most of it is just relationship, and if you don't have the relationship, the prayers really are not that meaningful.

For, Jesus said, if you forgive men, and so there's one petition in here, forgive us our debts even as we forgive those who have, you know, even as our debtors, we forgive our debtors. And that one petition is brought up at the end, as Jesus said, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive men their, but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

And so, the importance of forgiveness, and if I'm asking for forgiveness, forgive us our debts even as we forgive our debtors, and Jesus emphasized that portion of the prayer. Moreover, when you fast, and this is again a spiritual activity, don't be as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast, and verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face, that you don't appear unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

So again, our righteous activities are not for man's view or applause, but they're to the Father, and they are to, you know, be in secret to the Father, and not really to be paraded before men that we might be thought of and acknowledged as deeply spiritual or righteous people. So, don't lay up for yourself treasures upon earth where moth and rust corrupt, and thieves can break through and steal, but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, and thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So, the light of the body is the eye, and therefore if your eye is single, the whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness, and if therefore the light that is in thee is darkness, how great is that darkness.

Now, no man can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. So, the divided heart doesn't work.

You cannot serve God and Mammon. Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life, that is, don't worry. Take no anxious thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you will drink, or for your body, what you're going to wear.

Is not life more than meat, and the body more than clothes? Behold the fowls of the air, they sow not, and neither do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them, and are you not much better than they? So, he's telling you, don't worry about the daily needs that you have. Your Father knows what you have need of, and your body is more than just food and clothes, and behold, he said, the fowls of the air. Look at the birds, for they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father, and I think this is the emphasis here, look at the birds.

He is not their Father. He is their creator, but he is your Father, and your Father takes care of the birds, and they don't have to worry about, you know, barns, or storing things up, or whatever. Your Father takes care of them, and are you not much better than they? And yes, you are, because he is your Father, and he's going to watch over you.

He's going to take care of you. Behold the fowls of the air, and then which of you, by taking thought, or by worrying, can add one cubit, or 18 inches, to his stature, or to his height? Now, it may be that you're dissatisfied. It may be that you're shorter than you'd like to be, and you'd like to be 18 inches taller, and so you just sit and worry about, I'm so short, I wish I were taller, but which of you, by taking thought, can add 18 inches to his stature? So, why take thought for your raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

They do not toil, and neither do they spin, and I say unto you that even Solomon, in all of his glory, was not clothed like one of these. Wherefore, if God will so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought that is anxious thought, or worry, about what we shall eat, what we shall drink, or how will we be clothed? For after all of these things do the Gentiles, or the heathens, seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all of these things.

But you seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take, therefore, no anxious thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And so, don't worry about, you know, how are we going to get along and all. Your Father is fully aware of your needs, and if you just trust in him, he's going to see to it that the needs are met.

There'll be food on the table, there'll be clothes for your, clothes in the closet, and your Father knows that you need these things. Getting into the seventh chapter, again, starts out with a basic principle and then sort of expands on it, as he did in chapter six, the basic principle that he gave in the beginning that he expanded on. Take heed that you don't do your alms before men to be seen of men, because you have your rewards.

And to do things in secret and before the Lord, and knowing that he knows you, and he's going to take care of you. So now, here's the basic thought. Judge not that you be not judged.

For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured unto you again. And why do you behold the sliver that is in your brother's eye, and you don't consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, let me pull this sliver out of your eye, and behold, you have this four by six in your own eye.

You hypocrite, first cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see it, see clearly to cast the sliver out of your brother's eye. And give not that which is holy unto the dogs, and neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and they turn again and rend you. So be careful how you judge others, because you are setting the standard for your judgment.

And that's why I like to be very liberal in my judging of others. I don't like to judge motives or whatever. And I like to think the best, because I want the Lord when he judges me to be very liberal in the judgment, and I want him to think the best.

And so you're setting, though, the measure by which when you stand before God, you will be judged according to the measurement by which you have judged others. And that's why it is so important to not be real strict in your judgment of others. Ask, and it shall be given you.

Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receives, and he that seeks shall find.

And to him that knocks, it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? And if you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? So coming to your Father, ask, and it shall be given. Seek, you shall find.

Knock, it shall be opened unto you. And know this, your Heavenly Father is desiring to give good things to you. And if you being earthly fathers, not righteous, but yet when your children ask for bread, you don't give them a stone and say, chew on that kid, you know.

But you provide for their needs, because you are their father, and you feel that that's your duty and your obligation. And if you being earthly fathers are faithful in providing for the needs of your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father provide for your needs when you ask, when you seek? So therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

From this we hear, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even unto them. For this is the law and the prophets.

Confucius said, don't do to others what you don't want done to you. Buddha said much the same thing. If you don't want them to do it to you, don't do it to them.

Jesus put it in the positive. That is, do to others what you would like done for you. Not in the negative, don't do what you don't want done, but do what you do want done to you.

And let that be the criteria of what you're doing to others, what you would like to have done to you. Enter in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it.

So the broad way and the narrow way and the exhortation to enter in at the narrow gate, it is the way that leads to life. Now having said that, he then warns, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, and neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire, and wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. For many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works, and I will say, I'll profess to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This is to me one of the scariest scriptures you might say in the Bible, because we here all are saying, Lord, Lord, and he's saying not all who say, Lord, Lord, are going to enter the kingdom of heaven, but they that are doing the will of the Father which is in heaven, and many will say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, in thy name we've cast out devils, in thy name we've done many wonderful works, and I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And so it causes me to really examine myself often and say, Lord, you know, I know one day I'm going to stand before you, and I don't want to hear the words, depart from me, I never knew you.

Lord, I want to know you in such a way that, you know, there's that full assurance there that when I meet you face to face, I will hear your words, well done, good and faithful servant, you've been faithful in the little things, now I will make you ruler over many, enter into the joy of the Lord. Therefore, and so now the conclusions, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him unto a man who built his house upon a rock, and the way the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them not, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that has authority and not as the scribes. The two houses, one built on a solid foundation, built on the rock, the other built on the sand, and it would appear that from looking at the houses, just observing them, they appeared probably, they looked like each other, and you couldn't tell the difference until the storm came. Notice, and do note this, in life storms are going to come, you can't escape them.

Not every time are things going to be just smooth and smooth sailing, but there will be storms that will come. And it is during that storm that the truth is revealed, and that is the kind of a foundation upon which your relationship with the Lord was built. Was it built on something solid, or was it built on sand? And there are many people today who have built upon a sandy foundation, there's not a solid foundation underneath, and when the storms come, they're not going to abide through the storm, because the foundation, their house will be swept away.

And that is the teaching of Jesus, and great is the fall of it. And so the people are astounded at his teachings, for he taught as one who had authority. In those days, the scribes, as they would teach, would never teach with authority.

They would never say, this is the way it is. But they would say, they would just be quoting, Rabbi so-and-so declares that, and they would always just be quoting someone else, some other rabbi, or whatever, but they wouldn't really teach with authority. Jesus is teaching with divine authority, and it surprises them, because he is teaching as one having authority, because he did have authority.

And not as the scribes who would never teach with authority, but always quoting some other rabbi. So, Sermon on the Mount, and it's an important document, and I would encourage you to read it over and over. And there's so much there that I spent actually over a year in the Sermon on the Mount, in a series of sermons.

And so, to cover it in one night is quite a feat for me, because there's so much there that we just can't hit in one evening. So, we just tried to get the highlights for you from the Sermon on the Mount, and let you now go and just study and get from it what the Spirit will give to you. So, Father, we thank you for this teaching and instruction given to us by Jesus, and Lord, help us as we are building the house to make sure that we have a solid foundation underneath.

That we are not building, Lord, just on the premises of man, upon the speculations of man, but we're building, Lord, upon your Word. And we know, Lord, that one day the foundation will be tested. Storms are going to come.

Life is not going to always just be a bed of roses, but problems are going to arise. And Lord, we pray that when these problems do arise, the proofs might be given to us of the solid foundation upon which we have built, that we might be able to withstand, Lord, these storms and come out victorious through and as a result of being in these storms, stronger than ever before. And so, Lord, we thank you for the test that we have studied here tonight, and that we can take a look and apply these tests to our own experiences so that, Lord, when you do come, we will be accepted by you, and we will hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant.

You've been faithful in the little things. Now I will make you ruler over many. Enter into the joy of thy Lord.

And so, Father, help us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.