Sermon on the Mount - Part 1

Amen. Thanks for picking that song. I want to greet everybody in Jesus' name and express my thankfulness for all of you and the ability to gather with you all. It's a blessing to have you here this morning, Elmer, like it always is when you can make it. Yeah, I appreciate the things you shared. Sometimes those things that happen, that experience you shared, and we have to leave things in the Lord's hand and don't know, but sometimes they're for us. Sometimes the Lord wants to show us that He hears us and answers our prayers. I don't know if anybody else remembers, but some years back Elmer was here and gave an opening and he encouraged us all to memorize John 17. Anyway, our family took it to heart that time and we memorized it, the children and my wife and I. It's been a while since we quoted it. I think it's time to go back and refresh it and see if we can still quote it. Let's stand for a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven. We pray, Lord, for your blessing on this day, for your presence. We ask you to just be with each one of us. Help us to trust and obey, to walk in your ways. We pray that your will and your word could be alive in us and active and move us to be your body, your hands, your feet, your mouth, here on earth. We just pray that your will would be done. Help us as we look into your words. Give me a clear mind. Give us ears to hear and hearts to understand. In Jesus' name, amen. What's the most important part of a building? If you're concerned about the longevity of this building, Robert Cain, what's the most important part of it? The foundation. The foundation. It's one area where you don't want to cut corners. You don't want to skimp. You want to get this part right. If you want to cut corners, do it somewhere else. Don't do it on the foundation. Once heard the story of a multi-story building. After this building had been in use for some years, someone one day noticed on the 42nd floor of the building that there was a crack in the wall. Just a little hairline crack. And he calls the managing director at that time and tells him, hey, I see a crack, a small crack on the 42nd floor of this building. And the managing director immediately calls the architect. He's alarmed and he says, we've got a problem. We have a crack, a hairline crack on the 42nd floor of this building. And the architect says he'll be over. Sometime later, the managing director gets word that the architect is here and he gets on the lift. He goes up to the 42nd floor. He plans to meet the architect there and he waits and he waits and he waits and the architect doesn't come. And finally, in his frustration, he goes back down in his room and he tells the janitor or somebody, I don't know where this architect is. Let me know once you find him. And sometime later, the janitor tells him, the architect is here. He's down in the lowest basement. And the managing director goes down to the lowest basement of the building and he says, what are you doing down here? I told you we have a crack on the 42nd floor of the building. And the architect said, you may have a crack on the 42nd floor, but the problem's down here. The psalmist says if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? And I want to start a series of messages today about the foundation of Christianity. Thankfully, we don't have to wonder what the foundation of Christianity is, because Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, has told us what the foundation is. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, we have this teaching called the Sermon on the Mount. It's the longest recorded set of teachings and instructions. And at the end, Jesus says, he that hears these sayings of mine and does them, builds on rock. And he that hears these sayings of mine and doesn't do them, builds on sand. He has told us what is foundational. I'd like to do a series and just really go through the Sermon on the Mount. And I do not know how long this series will be or how many messages. We're barely going to make it into the Sermon on the Mount today. I'd like to talk about some things concerning the Sermon on the Mount before we get into the actual words that Jesus said. After all, there's a lot of cracking going on in what's called Christianity. And it's not just on the 42nd floor and it's not just hairline cracks. It's sagging and crumbling and collapsing all over this thing called Christianity. And more often than not, we find that people never ever started on the foundation that Christ laid. So here's a few of the overarching goals that I have as we're going to look into the teachings of Jesus. And one is why the Sermon on the Mount is essential to Christianity. In other words, why it is salvific or why it has the power to bring about salvation and redemption. If you ask most Christians what the plan of salvation is, they never go to the Sermon on the Mount. It comes from a wrong understanding of what salvation is. It comes from a wrong understanding of what we are saved from and what we are saved into. I believe that within the Sermon on the Mount, we get a very, very detailed description of what the new birth is. If you ask an evangelical Christian what the new birth is or how the new birth works, they never go to the Sermon on the Mount. It's because they have a wrong understanding of what a new creature in Christ is. And I'm almost sure that we know this. If I use the term evangelical, I think you brothers and sisters here know what I'm talking about. We're maybe more talking about like just Protestant Christianity. I remember one time, because we want to be evangelical, right? We want to be evangelistic. I remember one time Holland Green told me that he met David Keeling. David Keeling did a lot of street preaching and David Keeling talked a lot about the problems with evangelical Christianity. And to him, David Keeling was the most evangelical person he ever met. But anyway, that's typically what we're talking about. I believe that the Sermon on the Mount is a description of heaven. If you ask most Christians what the kingdom of heaven is like, they never go to the Sermon on the Mount. It's because they have a wrong understanding of heaven, of what the kingdom of heaven is. So that's my one overarching goal, is why is the Sermon on the Mount essential? Why is it foundational? Number two, I'd like to show how it is both in word and type, it is a fulfillment of Old Testament teachings. It is the equivalent to the Ten Commandments and what happened at Sinai. If you would take the Sermon on the Mount out of Christianity, it would be like taking everything that happened at Sinai out of the Old Covenant. The prophets, I believe, spoke about it, about the particular message that was preached on the Mount. Number three, one of the things I would like to hope to get across is how and why the Sermon on the Mount is grace and truth. John says that the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. The things that Jesus taught here are eternal and universal truths. It is not uncommon in our evangelistic efforts, when we quote a teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, that those of the false gospel will say, but we're not under law, we're under grace. This comes from a wrong understanding of grace. Some of today's leading men in the evangelical church will list and give you reasons why the Sermon on the Mount is not for today. Why it is for a different dispensation, or why it is for the Jews, or if they're not quite able to convince themselves of that, they'll say that the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to teach us that we are unable to live the way God wants us to live. To live up to God's standards. Now, I think all of us would agree that Jesus is the greatest teacher. Every Christian would at least say that Jesus was the greatest teacher that ever lived. But don't you think that if a teacher, if we had a teacher, and he gave us a whole bunch of instructions, and he told us plainly that to pass, to get a passing score, to pass this test, hinges on your willingness to hear and obey the instructions I give you. But his real purpose was to let you know that you actually can't. You actually can't do these things. Wouldn't we call that a poor teacher? That would be bad teaching. I don't think that's what Jesus was doing. So, finally, number four, I hope to encourage us all to a more radical accepting and embracing of these teachings. I have heard the evangelicals say that every revival in history is hinged to people's returning back to the book of Romans. And I would like to suggest to you that every revival of people and groups of people returning to the gospel of the kingdom was a radical returning to the Sermon on the Mount. Okay, so in this first message is more of an introduction. Let's look a little bit at Moses. He's the central figure of the Old Testament, of the Old Covenant. He's the lawgiver. And toward the end of his life here, in Deuteronomy 18, this is what Moses says. In verse 15, he says, That's talking about Jesus. I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. The words of Jesus are to be heeded. God says here, a prophet like you, like Moses, out of your brethren. Now let's consider a few things that Moses and Jesus are alike on. After they were born, they were both sought for to be killed as babies and escaped the death that was meant for them. Moses came up out of Egypt. Jesus came up out of Egypt. Moses passed through the Red Sea, the waters of the Red Sea. Jesus passed through the waters of baptism. From there, Moses went 40 years into the wilderness. After Jesus' baptism, he went 40 days into the wilderness. For both of them, it was a testing ground. Moses went up on the mountain, and there he was given the law. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he gave the law of the New Covenant. The Ten Commandments are like a constitution to the nation of Israel. The Sermon on the Mount is like a constitution to the new nation of God under King Jesus. Now it's so easy for us to track Israel's history and to see that when they didn't follow this constitution, they were cursed. This structure that held them up as a nation that would show God to the heathens, that structure would start cracking. That structure would start crumbling. They were defeated in battles. Their fields were not fruitful. There was division from within. Instead of lending to many nations, they borrowed from nations. Instead of the heathens trembling at them, they trembled about the heathens. All these things happened. And it's not hard for us to connect the dots and see that, look, you guys fell away. You fell away from this thing that you were given, this constitution that you received, and eventually Israel literally crumbled and collapsed into ruin and exile. They had been told, if you obey these things, blessings will follow you. If you disobey these things, curses will find you. But somehow we Christians fail to connect the dots when this happens within Christianity. And here I'm not talking about the Protestants and the Catholics. Yes, they have problems. For many of them, as I had said, they never began on the foundation. But even with us, who have seen the error of people trying to build Christianity without starting on the foundation, even for us who believe that grace, the new birth, being saved, being in the kingdom of heaven, that all these things are found within the Sermon on the Mount, even for us, I am afraid that oftentimes we fail to connect the dots in the results of what happens to our straying away from what Jesus taught us here. If we are defeated in our battles against sin, if we are not being fruitful and multiplying, if there is division within the Church, if instead of controlling or converting the world, the world is converting us, if we are afraid of the world instead of the world being afraid of us, I think it is safe for me to say that 100% of the time, we have not been heeding these precious words that Jesus spoke on the mountain. These are the words that God, the creator of heaven and earth, said, I will put them into his mouth and he shall speak them. The prophet Isaiah said something that as of late I have been persuaded that he is specifically talking about the Sermon on the Mount. Let's look at Isaiah 2, just a couple of verses here in Isaiah 2, verses 2 and 4. Now it shall come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the Lord and the house of God shall be visible on the tops of the mountains and exalted above the hills. All the Gentiles shall come to it. Many Gentiles shall travel and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will proclaim his way to us and we shall walk in it. For the law of the Lord shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between Gentiles and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nations, neither shall they learn war anymore. Now we certainly believe that this is a prophecy of Jesus, but just maybe within the last half year, I have looked at that and I thought like, there's something about this, this specific prophecy that it says, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. For there he will proclaim his ways and the Gentiles will hear it and then he says what the results will be is we will beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks and no longer learn war. Now I guess I suspect, without it necessarily saying this for sure, I suspect most of the people that went with Jesus up on the mountain were Jews. Could have been a few Gentiles, but I'm guessing they were the majority Jews. So maybe we could say, well that part doesn't fit then, but this message of Jesus has been preserved. The sermon Jesus gave is for all people and many Gentiles have found their way to this word of God that went forth from the mountain. And as we'll look at later in the message, it is a message of beating our swords into plowshares, of beating our destructive ways into fruitful ways. And people from all nations have heard this message and if they received it, they have laid down their arms, they have dropped out of warfare, they have become traitors to these nations of violence and have become a citizen in the nation of God, a king of peace. So now I'd like to look at a few things in John chapter 1 yet. I know this is about the Sermon on the Mount. We'll try to get there at the end. We started reading through the Gospel of John for family devotions and I've just been really blessed. I just want to look at a few verses here in the very beginning. It says in the beginning, John chapter 1, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. This wording, what does it remind you of? He starts by saying in the beginning. Okay, that's how the book of Genesis starts. In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Okay, so you get this impression. I get this impression that in the beginning there was just chaos and disorder. There were elements, maybe particles of land, particles of water, air, but it was all in a chaotic disarray. There was no order in it. And perhaps, I get this picture and then God speaks a word and there's light and he separates the light from the darkness. In the beginning, though it appears to me like there was these other things, there was no light, there was no life and there was no order. So God speaks and there was light and he separated the light from the darkness. He speaks another word and there was a separation of land and water. He speaks another word and there's life. Okay, so in the beginning there was God, then light. And what is the connecting thing here between God and light? It's the word that he spoke. The word that went forth from God was the connecting thing between God and light, between God and life, and between God and everything that became visible. Each word that God spoke turned the chaos, the lifeless chaos, into a beautiful, well-ordered, fruitful, and visible existence. Whenever he spoke a word, that was the result. In other words, the elements heard the word of God and obeyed. And they became light and life and order. God did not have to take his hands and force these elements into place. He didn't nod or wink or motion, he spoke. And these elements came into their order. Now, here John, many, many, many years later, John the Apostle is writing his account of Jesus. And without a doubt, he's trying to persuade the reader who Jesus is. It seems to be a major theme through his gospel. And somehow, this is speculation, but I imagine John contemplating how can I make my case for who Jesus is? And he unrolls the scroll of the first book of Moses, and he reads this creation account. John is the beloved disciple. He's the one who leaned on the bosom of Jesus. And he has this very deep understanding of Jesus. He knows that Jesus is the connection between God and man. And he knows that with the coming of Jesus, there is a new creation. He knows that Jesus is the true light and life for humanity. Things that happened at creation. When he was born, in other words, when Jesus came into life, the dark night lit up and there was light. When he died, when he lost his life, the bright day dimmed down and it became dark. Now, I think John, using creation as a metaphor, he begins making his case by saying these words. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that was come into being. In him was life. And the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light so that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. There was the true light, which coming into the world enlightens every man. He was in the world and the world was made through him. And the world did not know him. He came to his own. And those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. In verse 9 he says, there was the true light that enlightens men. And this light, speaking of Jesus, comes down to his own and his own didn't receive him. But those who did receive him, he gave them the ability to what? To be born again of God. He gave them, those who received him, he gave them the ability to become a new creation. The wording here really fascinates me. He says, as many as receive him. If you look up that word, receive, it doesn't leave so much of the impression of something that was cast upon your lot or lap as something you took a hold of, something you take, something you seize. So as many as take a hold of him, as many as take him or seize him, those, he gave them the power or the right or the ability to become his children, to be born again, to be born of God. When they're in the beginning, the elements heard and obeyed God. I don't think there were any elements who didn't, that didn't. I don't think there were any, I don't think there were any particles, elements, water, land there that didn't obey God. I think all the sea, the water of the seas gathered exactly where God wanted them. All the rivers flowed through the valleys exactly where God wanted them. The clouds gathered, the light and the darkness stopped exactly where God told them to. There was no portion of creation that didn't, by the speaking of his word, do exactly what God told it to. Why? I don't think those things had any free will. But when God made man, he gave him this will, this ability to choose, this ability to receive, to think, choose, and take a hold of something. He gave him that ability. And so when he created man, he gave him the ability to either remain a child of God or become a child of the devil. And we know the story, thus we have sin. The curse, the fall. But in this new creation, he that hears and receives is given the ability to become a child of God all over again. Those who don't receive it, those who don't take a hold of it, are not given that ability. Okay, so let's keep reading here in John. A few more verses, 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him and cried out, saying, This was he whom I said, he who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me. For of his fullness we have all received grace, sorry, we have all received and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God, whom is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. So here's this connecting link between God and creation, which is the word. Here he says, the word became flesh. The word became flesh. This is somewhat mysterious, and yet it's very fascinating. So my words, what are they? They're my thoughts. They are my idea. They are my thought. They are me. They are certainly a part of who I am. Suppose we could visualize words. Suppose the words that I'm speaking right now would come out as something you can visualize, something you'd see come out. Now suppose, because these words were in here before they came out, let's suppose you could see them in me, we would totally recognize that these thoughts, these ideas, these are all part of what makes me me. I would not be me without them. Now as soon as I speak them, and as soon as they come out, they're still me, but they're also apart from me. And I think that's partly how I can grasp Jesus being the word. But okay, so now we not only have the elements obeying the word and in creation, but we have the word itself becoming a tangible part of creation. So the word becomes a visible, fleshly, human being with all its ability to choose, to move, to think, to act. This mystery is great. And I think I can say it is not fully comprehensible by us. I believe that Jesus is fully man, but he's not merely man. I believe he's fully God, but he's not merely God. I believe that he was with God and that he is God, like it says there in John. Can I explain that, that it makes perfect sense? No, but I accept these things. Okay, so here he says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. I didn't know this until just the other day. This word dwelt, if you look it up, it literally means to tent or to encamp. The English writers use the word dwelt or its forms dwell, dwelling, many, many times, but most of the time it doesn't come from this Greek word. This Greek word that's being used here is only used here and several times in the revelation of John, and it's always in the context of the tabernacle. The other times, we always see it in the context of the tabernacle. And so Jesus is the word made flesh who came into the tabernacle with us or encamped with us. So the word of God became a human being, and you know that glory that came down on the tabernacle? Like a cloud came down on the tabernacle that was so glorious and so full of glory that even Moses couldn't enter the tabernacle at that time. That thing, that glory, it became a human being and it camped here with us. It lived right here. That's really special. This word, this cloud, it came to us in the form of a human being, and I think John does an excellent job in making his case for who Jesus is. In verses 16 and 17, he says, For of his fullness we have all received in grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth was realized through Jesus Christ. The law came from Moses and remember that it had a terrifying effect. Why? Because the people had no heart for God. The people, the multitude, had no heart for God, and when this law came to them, it terrified them. I think that's what the law of God does. I think it's why, or the word of God does, I think it is why so many people when you quote something out of the Sermon on the Mount, they're terrified, and they say we're not under the law, we're under grace. It comes from a wrong understanding of grace. Their heart is not toward God. It is just like Jude said, that the time will come when they will turn the grace of God into lawlessness, and Paul told us what the grace of God does. In Titus, he said, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men and it teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live righteously and soberly in this present age. That is a work of grace. When we are taught how to live right and we receive it, that is a work of grace. Grace and truth are realized through Jesus because those who receive him are given a new heart. They become a new creation. The new covenant is not like the old one where he took them by the hand and he took them out. No, the new covenant is not like that at all. It is for those who are willing and they get the law of God written into their hearts. They find his words gracious, they find his words precious, they hunger for them, they knock for them, they seek for them. Okay, now let's finally get into Matthew just a little bit. So, if we look in Matthew's account, in chapter 3 and 4, Jesus is baptized. He passes through the water. From there, he goes into the wilderness for 40 days and then he starts, he comes down out of the wilderness and he starts announcing something. He starts announcing that the kingdom of heaven is what? At hand. Not coming sometime a thousand years later. He says the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He says, repent, change your way of thinking. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's now here. The time is here for us to confront evil by laying the axe at the root of the tree. The time is here to restore God's reign. This time that you've all been expecting or talking about, it's now here. And he chose some of his disciples and he healed some sick people and some multitudes started following him and he begins creating a new family of God. And then we come to chapter 5 and he goes up on the mountain and he delivers his first message as the teacher. His first message as the yet one more prophet will I raise and I'll put my word in his mouth. He delivers his first message as that person. And I want you to notice the difference between here's one of these big differences between what happened at Mount Sinai and what happened here on the mountain where Jesus gives his sermon. In Mount Sinai Moses goes up on the mountain. Where's the multitude? Down below. And God is giving Moses this law because he wants to make a covenant with the descendants of Abraham. He promised he would do this. with the descendants of Abraham. He wants to make a covenant with these people. And so they're down here and Moses is up here receiving the law. And what are they doing? They're down there breaking the law. And Moses has to go down and straighten them up. And he takes this word of God that was written in stone and he smashes them down on the ground and breaks them. They did not have the heart of Abraham. They did not have the heart of God. They had to be coerced out of Egypt. How many times in their heart did they turn back to Egypt? It's not so on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus goes up on the mountain. His disciples and the people follow him up there. They're eager. They're desirous to hear what he has to say. Grace and truth are realized through Jesus. And he sat down. It says, when Jesus saw the crowds he went up on the mountain. And after he sat down his disciples came to him. I always find this interesting that he sat down. Here's the greatest teacher giving the greatest sermon and he sits down to give it. He's not trying to put on a show. He's not trying to make his words authoritative with bodily motion or having it over them in any way. No, he sits down. He is about to give words that are so universally and eternally true they will stand on their own. He does not have to try to make them extra authoritative. So he sits down and he opens his mouth and teaches them. He opens his mouth. So Jesus taught a lot of things by example. But here, here is this word of God that became flesh, that became feet and legs and hands and mouth and ears. And this, this word of God opens his mouth and starts teaching. And in the next message I want to get into the things I want to get into the words that he said and I will assure you that they are the words of God. And I will assure you that they have the capability to turn darkness to light and chaos to order and death to life. Just like the word of God did in the beginning. May the Lord add his blessing. We'll open it up for anybody that wants to share any comments or corrections. I would like to say amen to what was brought in the opening and in the main message. It's been a blessing and I appreciate it. I didn't really have that many thoughts but I read a piece or I read the chapter of the second chapter in 1st Maccabees this morning and this man Mattathias was came in the time when Israel again just destroyed themselves with doing exactly what we heard today of being chaotic and not and he said oh why do you have to live in this time? I think we're kind of that time too. We've got to describe how Christianity has broken down. I forget the words but it's in bad shape and and this man I won't go into all of it but I'm going to read what he said when he was about to die in verse 49. Now the days drew near for Mattathias to die and he said to his sons arrogance and scorn have now become strong. It is time of ruin and furious anger. Now my children seal for the law and give your lives for the covenant of our ancestors and this is the covenant of the New Testament that we need to have that seal and I just feel like we've been given much encouragement that way and haven't got there yet I guess. Remember the deeds in everlasting name was not Abraham found faithful when tested and was reckoned to him as righteousness. Joseph in time of his distress kept the commandment and became lord of Egypt. Phinehas our ancestor because he was deeply zealous received the covenant of everlasting priesthood. Joshua also because he fulfilled church in Israel and the chapter before this described how they they just give themselves over to other sacrilege and they just didn't honor the commandment of Christ of God in the law. David because he was merciful inherited the throne of the kingdom forever. Elijah with great zeal for the law was taken up into heaven. Hananiah, Asariah, Michal believed and were saved from the flame. Daniel because of his innocence was delivered from the mouth of lions and so observed from generation to generation none of those who put their trust in him When we put our trust in Christ that's where we get our strength. Do not fear the words of the sinners for their splendor will turn into dung and worms. We've heard that today. Today they will be exalted but tomorrow they will not be found but be courageous grow strong in the law for by it you will gain honor. And I just transfer this to the Sermon on the Mount. May God bless us. Yeah I do really appreciate the message this morning. The Sermon on the Mount is very very precious to me. I remember when I read the Sermon on the Mount and one of the things that that I remember I will never forget it as long as I have a sound mind I don't believe is when I read the I think it's verse six it says they that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. And when I was reading it I saw like the word shall just just enlarged. It was awesome. I never forgot it. It's just amazing. But the Sermon on the Mount if I believe that's why the world is in the trouble that it is. It's not recognizing the Sermon on the Mount. But I'm so grateful that I can I can believe it. I can read it. I can study it and I can grow there by even if no one else will. I I will believe Jesus is the greatest teacher that has ever lived. And how would we ever ever say anything like that. It's just way beyond me. So anyhow God bless you. Yeah it was a blessing. I think that's maybe one of the most encouraging topics to me. I think once you start when you start thinking you're making the connection in Deuteronomy to Jesus. It's the New Testament just starts opening up this whole new. And then and then everything just starts coming together and like it's almost like I feel like you could say like this is not an act. This is probably not accurate but I just feel like if you ever read anything that's in the in the Bible that's really mysterious. You don't know what it's talking about. It's probably talking about Jesus. And I mean there's probably that's probably a high percentage is that's factual. But when you had shared the word receiveth. Was that what it was receiveth. It made me think about the verse the kingdom of heaven is preached and the violent take it by force. And then there's another verse that says that I think it says the kingdom of heaven is preached and every man presses into it. It's very similar to that. But this it's the same word the violent and presseth into it like and even the early Christians talked about how like this this like you give everything you have to lay hold of this thing. And it's not like it's not like a physical violence as a pressing into it. It's with all your heart your mind your soul and your strength you're pressing into this thing to lay hold of this thing. And then and then those are the ones who Jesus has given the power to become the children of God. And then when it another thing that you kind of reminded me of when you were talking about the book of John just how like when it says in Deuteronomy it speaks about it's not his words. It's the father's words and John talks about that. I'd like to read a scripture here in John 12 14 well maybe 48 starting 48. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I've spoken the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself but the father which sent me. He gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak therefore even as the father has said and said unto me. So. So I speak. Like he's just. He's this prophet that's that's speaking the words of the father he's faithful to. To uphold the father's will. And then I was thinking also too I never was thinking this before until you were talking. But how if if it's not Jesus's words it's the father's words and I can see how. That could be one way you can say he is the father. Like that's how one way Jesus could say how long have you seen me. Philip. Or was it Peter or Philip. That I've been with you like I am the father. I'm I'm the father's voice I'm the father's will. This is this is what the father. If the father was a man this is what he would look like. And and also when you said. When you did the analogy about the word and then imagine my word and then this is what it would look like. I was thinking of a. Like an architect. An architect makes a blueprint. And then the blueprint becomes a building. It's kind of like the word of of God is the blueprint. And then Jesus is the building. This is this is the word manifested in the flesh or God manifested in the flesh like this is. Like he he made the blueprint. This is my will. This is what I want. And then this is. And then we have Jesus like he is that. Yeah I'm looking forward to part two. God bless you. Yeah thanks brother for the. The effort that you put in studying that. There's a verse in Isaiah that tells us. That was back when this was prophesied. It says. In verse 18. Chapter 1. Come now. Let us reason together. Sayeth the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet. They shall be as white as snow. Though they be red as like crimson. They shall be as wool. Wool is. There's a lot of comfort in. In. In wool. It's just like. I just can't explain it. Yeah. We can come together and reason together. Because of Jesus. Lord bless. Amen brother Dwayne. I'm going to tell you I'm looking forward to the next lessons. Wonderful words of life. Tell us. Tell us to us again. Wonderful words. In a verse that you quoted by the tale. My words would judge you at the last time. And brother Alma too. I was thinking of them too of. I can't wait. I'll. I'm dying to say. Hunger and thirsting for righteousness. From what the early Christians believe. But I'm. I'm holding it until next week or two weeks. Whatever. But. Yeah. OK. Right. Back there. Yeah. Sure. I believe that. Not really. I'm being sarcastic. But. I believe that. Sermon on the mount. Pick and choose. Be selective. That's not for today. It's more blessed to give and receive. And that's not today. Unless you pick up your cross and deny yourself and follow. That's not today. That is called selectivism. Or the Greek word. Or the word we get today is called. Anti-nominism. Which basically means. Lawlessness. Lawlessness. Is anti-nominium. Which is speaking over and over again. The Old Testament. And how sad it is. For many will say. As he says. You get. Many will say. Lord. Lord. Didn't we do all these things. And I can say. I never knew you. Depart from me. Because of. Selective. Well. Sermon on the mount. That's not for today. More blessed to give. Not for today. Pick up your cross. Is not for today. Whatever you want to say. Is not for today. Oh boy. Well. Let's pray for them. It's so. It's so. The terror that awaits for them. The Lord be magnified. Waits for me. If I don't obey. Yeah. Brother Duane. Yeah. Thank you so much for that. Yeah. I'm not sure if you're aware of this. But. No. When you were talking about. Deuteronomy. Eighteen. Peter refers to this. When he's preaching to the Jews. The unbelieving Jews. In Acts. Chapter three. He says. Verse. Twenty two. For Moses truly said to your fathers. The Lord your God will raise up for you. A prophet. Like me. From your brother. And him. You shall hear. And all things. And whatsoever. He says to you. It shall be that every soul. Who shall not hear the prophet. This last part of it. Is not exactly. How it says. In the Hebrew. This is obviously. How. Figuratively. How Peter understands it. It says. Shall be utterly destroyed. From among the people. So. That's what he says. Peter's saying. So he's making it really clear. That that. Is talking about him. And then. I guess another point. Is. According to historical record. John died around the year. One hundred. So. Fifty ish. You know. Fifty five. Whatever. Years later. Justin Martyr. Is preaching to the Jews. And. In this writing. Dialogue. With trifle. The Jew. You know. He was Jewish. Him with his Jewish friends. He's trying to convince them. And convert them. That Jesus of Nazareth. Nazareth. Is in fact. The Christ. Or the Messiah. He says. And. So this would be. Anti-Nicene Fathers. Volume one. So this would be. Chapter thirty nine. Of this writing. It says. When the spirit of prophecy speaks. As predicting things. That have come to pass. We know. As Brother Dewayne said. This to be Isaiah. Justin says. He speaks in this way. For out of Zion. Shall go forth the law. And the word of the Lord. From Jerusalem. And he shall judge. Among the nations. And shall rebuke. Many people. And they shall beat their swords. Into plowshares. And their spears. Into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up. Sword against nation. Neither shall they learn. War anymore. Justin goes on to say. And then it did. And that it did. So come to pass. We shall convince you. For from Jerusalem. Went out. Into the world. Men. Twelve in number. These illiterate. Have no ability of speaking. But by the power of God. They proclaimed. In every race of men. That they were sent. By Christ. To teach all the word of God. And we are formally used. To murder one another. Do not only now refrain. From making war. Upon our enemies. But also. That we may not lie. Nor deceive our examiners. Willingly die. Confessing Christ. For that saying. And then in quotes. The tongue has sworn. But the mind is unsworn. In scripture. Might be imitated by us. In this matter. But if the soldier. Enrolled by. Anyway. Goes on from there. He talks about the Jews. With their soldiers. And stuff. But. Clearly. We're seeing Justin showing. Fifty years after John. And this is while. Direct disciples of the apostles. Are still alive. Polycarp's still alive. He isn't. You know. He doesn't die until a few years later. Or somewhere around that period of time. But. In any case. This is how he understood it. I guess one other thing. To share too. And I'm sure you all. Maybe have noticed this as well. But. Most of the times. I've noticed. In the scriptures. And I think Duane. Maybe you alluded to this. A little bit. There at the beginning. Like you said. That is a really important point. That Jesus sat down. Which is really interesting. And it could just. Said from there. Much like these other scriptures. Where it said. And Jesus. You know. Said unto them. Or something like that. But it says. He opened up his mouth. And it's like. Okay. What. Why did. Why did. Why did Matthew. Have to write that detail. Because it's really not. In the gospels very often. But right there he did. And in the same way. In Genesis chapter one. God opened up his mouth. And spoke. And the word went forth. And made all things. And so here's Jesus. Open up in his mouth. I mean it. I mean he did it all the time. But the writer. Matthew. Specifically says that right there. I just find it very significant. I. To me it's a little bit of a mystery. Like. What exactly is he saying. But I know that when he. Opened his mouth. And spoke these words. That the spirit of God. The word went forth. Out of Jesus's mouth. And these. These amazing. This new law. That would. Teach people to. You know. Pound their. Plow. Or their. Swords into plowshares. Says. Love your enemies. So. Yeah. I just want to say. Amen. And. Thank you. For sharing. To. Dwayne. And. Elmer. Very. Encouraging. Inspiring. I was. Blessed. With the. Account. That you shared. Of how. You prayed for that. Receptionist. And. I was just. Just thinking about. She said. If I remember. You said. She said. You. You don't realize. What. What you've done. Or. What. I've done. How much this means. And. I think that. You maybe have a little bit of an idea. Actually. Now. Because. As a result. You know. You got into the hospital. And. But. I was just thinking then. On about how. I think we. I think we can. Sometimes. Have. An impact. I know. Of situations. Where someone had a really. Big. Impact. On someone. And to this day. They don't know it. I know. They don't know it. They have no idea. What. What they meant. Or what they did. Or what they said. Meant. To that person. And. But. I was just thinking about. Times. Like that. I can. Remember a time. When I helped someone. Beside the road. That it seemed like. There was something. That I didn't understand. That it meant something. A lot. And. I can. Think of times. When somebody. Helped me. When it meant. Way more. Than I could have. Ever. Expressed. To them. I was just thinking. About how. How powerful. That is. Just to encourage. Someone. Or help. Someone. When they're. When they're. Thank you. At the bottom. I can just imagine. If you. At the beginning. Close. Was that close. To the beginning. Of. When. COVID-19. Was shutting down. Hospitals. Towards. Not. Not really. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. If you. Just. Look at. What people. Say. Like. People. Just. All. The negative. Things. That people. Voice about. About. Those things. And. I'm. Guilty of that. Myself. Restrictions. And things like that. She was probably. Bearing. Up. Like. People. Like. Feeling the brunt of it. Like. Directed at her. And. Without. People. Realizing that. That's what they were doing. And then. To have somebody. Come along. And. And. Pray for her. And encourage her. Was how. Was probably. Just. Mind-blowing. Versus what she had been experiencing. It. It can be pretty powerful. It. I. It also made me think about. An instance. Of a. Brother. In Indiana. Who. Reached out. To somebody. Who was being. Who was just. Who was. Really under fire. Receiving a lot. Of. Hate. Mail. Bad. Negative. Phone calls. He just. Reached out. And. Left a message. Shared. An encouraging message. And. To his surprise. The person called back. I'm not. I don't remember for sure. The name of the person. So I'm not going to try to say. But it was somebody. That he wouldn't. Have expected. To get a call back from. Like. A fairly high profile. Person. But. So. I'm just encouraged. To try to remember. To. Be an encouragement. To people. If. If somebody's. Somebody's. Suffering. Or. Discouraged. Okay. To be happy in Jesus, love to trust and go with. For we never can prove the delights of His love, Until upon the altar we lay. For the favor He shows and the joy He bestows Are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, love to trust and go with. In fellowship sweet, we will sing and do His will. For the walk of life is done in the way He says we will do. Where He sets, we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, love to trust and go with. Oh, by my wondrous love He died upon the tables of my house, That I may keep Thy statute so, and never from Thy way depart. Oh, with Thy perfect love true, through seasons change, By day and night, be Thine and life and strength to me. By meditation, my divine. Oh, by Thy law of holiness, in living characters of faith, That by a life of purity I may be worthy of Thy name. Oh, with Thy perfect love true, through seasons change, By day and night, be Thine and life and strength to me. By meditation, my divine. Oh, by Thy law of tenderness and of compassion in my breast, To heart and voice and hand reach out to help the weary and distressed. Oh, with Thy perfect love true, through seasons change, By day and night, be Thine and life and strength to me. By meditation, my divine. Oh, by Thy law of love within me, tell my soul, show me Thy bonds no storm can ever break, united to Thy flock and me. Oh, with Thy perfect love true, through seasons change, By day and night, be Thine and life and strength to me. By meditation, my divine.