Sermon for Feb. 9, 2020

This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 through 20.

And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

The verses that I'm going to read are part of the sermon on the mount,,, as it's called,,, and here Jesus is giving the disciples,,, the people following Him,,, and us today,,, instructions of ways to use this information. He was also giving encouraging advise since we should stand out,,, or be different,,, from others in the world today!

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 17 “Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

-----------------------------------------------------------

In these verses this morning,,, Jesus is trying to prepare us for the way that the world should look at us if we are truly living the life that we should be living.

It seems like so many times,,, you can read about a pastor speaking from the pulpit and they are trying their best to twist the scriptures to make it appear that we are supposed to fit in with the crowd today.

We are supposed to get along with everyone and love everyone and everything will be okay as long as we let everyone do their own thing.

There are parts of that,,, that are true.

We "are" supposed to love everyone,,, even our enemies,,, Jesus gave us that command.

And it's recorded a little farther along in this chapter,,, in it says: 43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

We are supposed to love our enemy and pray for them just like Jesus told us to do!

But nowhere does it say that we are supposed to live like they live,,, or do the things that they do!

We as Christians cannot be the same as the people of the world,,, we must be different.

We cannot be “hateful”,,, but we should be different.

Hopefully after looking at these scriptures,,, it will help us to see why we are different from the world today,,, and ways that we can use this information to help others be able to see Jesus inside us like we are commanded to do.

-----------------------------------------------------------

In the verses just before this,,, Jesus has been talking to them about ways that they should live their life and it seems like He is giving them ways that differ from the ways that the Pharisees actually act.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that Jesus begins with the "Beatitudes" and these statements are in direct contrast to the behavior of the Pharisees of that day and time.

It says that these qualities contrast sharply with the "greater than thou spirit" that the Pharisees brought forth.

The Pharisees were not “poor in spirit”.

They did not “mourn” in recognition of their needs.

They were "proud and harsh", not humble and gentle.

They felt like they had attained righteousness and therefore did not have an appetite or desire for it.

They were more concerned with God’s laws and their own "man made laws" than with showing mercy.

They were pure "ceremonially",,, but not inwardly.

They created division among the people,,, not peace.

And they certainly did not possess true righteousness.

People possessing these qualities would naturally stand out in the crowd and would not be understood by others.

Thus they would be persecuted; others would speak evil of them.

However, Jesus’ words encouraged His followers, for they would be walking in the footsteps of the prophets, who also were misunderstood and persecuted.

The verses that I read this morning tell some of the ways that we should stand out from the world.

(6:00)

-----------------------------------------------------------

In verse 13 it says: 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.

To demonstrate the impact these people would make on their world, the first illustration that Jesus used was salt.

John Wesley said in his Wesleyan Commentary,,, as citizens of the heavenly commonwealth, Christians have heavy responsibilities.

First, they are to be the salt of the earth.

When one sees a unique person who possesses superior qualities in specific areas, he desires to discover why that person is different.

Salt does two things: it flavors and preserves.

Life without Christ is flat,,, or tasteless.

It’s like food with no salt!

It is also possible that salt means these people serve as a preservative against the evils of society.

His followers are to add tone to life and zest to living, just as salt adds flavor to food.

But Christianity must also be the preservative of human society.

When Jesus spoke these words,,, modern refrigeration was unknown.

Whichever view one takes, the important quality to note is that salt ought to maintain its basic character.

One of the most common ways to preserve food—such as fish shipped from the Lake of Galilee down to Jerusalem—was to salt it heavily.

If it fails to be salty, it has lost its purpose for existence and should be discarded.

What would the world be like today without the Church of Jesus Christ?

It has survived over 2000 years.

We as Christians must continue to do everything that we can to preserve the body of Christ just as those that came before us have done.

We must also be sure that we remain committed to Jesus Christ.

When salt has lost it's flavor,,, it is thrown out.

If we lose our commitment to Christ then we run the same risk.

We are in danger of this when we get into a rut and begin to slowly miss more and more of our daily Bible study,,, prayer time,,, weekly church attendance,,, all of these can gradually get worse and worse until we just get comfortable doing without them.

The second illustration is found in the next three verses.

-----------------------------------------------------------

In verses 14-16 it says: 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

These verses shouldn't need a lot of explaining.

Jesus is saying that we must live our life so that others can see Jesus in us and they will wonder what is different about us and ask.

That's why so many people that aren't Christians watch to see how we react to trouble in our life.

They are searching for peace and we should be able to show them,,, thru our actions,,, that we do have the peace of God inside us!

Every time I hear or read anything about seeing Christ in us,,, I can't help but think of the little girl that was questioning her mother about God on the way home from church.

She told her mother that she didn't understand something that the preacher said in his sermon.

Her mother asked her what it was.

She told her mother that the preacher said that God is bigger than we are,,, "Is that true?"

Her mother told her,,, "Yes God is bigger than we are."

The little girl then asked,,, "If God is bigger than we are,,, and God lives inside us,,, then,,, shouldn't God shine through?"

The joke ends there,,, but it always gets my attention,,, because her remark gives a mental picture of how God "should" be seen outside of us,,, if He is truly living in us.

That's what Jesus is saying in these verses.

The Holy Spirit living in us will be seen by others and we should live our life accordingly so that it is not suppressed or covered up.

(9:46)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Verses 17 & 18 says: 17 “Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.

In these verses,,, Jesus is saying that He will fulfill the law,,, by obeying it perfectly,,, and,,, fulfilling the prophets predictions of the Messiah and His kingdom.

He uses the example of the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter because any change to them could change the meaning of the word that is written.

And He wanted to reassure them that He didn't intend to change "the law or the prophets",,, but through His life,,, death,,, and resurrection,,, all of these things would be fulfilled.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Verses 19 & 20 says: 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is saying that we must live the same way that we are going to teach.

The Pharisees were great at telling others what they should do but that didn't mean that they obeyed the law the same way that they taught.

We also see that Jesus makes it clear that the righteousness that the people were seeking,,, could not be found in the teachings of the Pharisees or their laws.

Unlike the Pharisees,,, Jesus was worried about their internal actions,,, what was inside of them,,, not just the way that they looked on the outside.

(11:40)

Jesus was worried about the way that they truly felt inside,,, not just going through the correct motions every week.

We can make that same mistake today.

If you think that going to church every Sunday is the most important thing to do,,, and when I say that,,, I mean if you think that's what will save you,,, then you are wrong!

Now,,, going to church "is" very,,, very,,, important!

I don't want you to leave from here and tell everyone that I said that you don't have to go to church anymore,,, because that's not what I mean!

But,,, if you are thinking that just going to church is what saves you,,, then it's that thought that is wrong!

The only thing that will keep you out of hell is your personal relationship with God and that is only available through accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

It's that personal relationship that makes everything that Jesus is talking about here possible,,, because it's only through the help of the Holy Spirit that it is possible to do everything that Jesus commands!

This is what Jesus was trying to tell the people that day,,, and us today as we read and study His word,,, that its not just going through the correct motions like the Pharisees were doing,,, but an inward action that can only come from the heart.

It must be personal,,, it must be a way of life and it must be continuous,,, not something that you put on Sunday morning as you get ready for church.

It must be something that you experience every day of the week,,, from the beginning of the week,,, to the end of the week!

-----------------------------------------------------------

As we prepare to leave here this morning,,, I want us to remember these scriptures and remember what Jesus was trying to prepare us for.

Remember that our focus should be on our inward actions and not just on our church attendance every Sunday.

Remember that being a Christian doesn't stop at whatever time I finish this sermon and we get out of here.

It begins and ends with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and He is with us daily as we go through each week until we meet back here again next Sunday,,, and the next,,, and the next,,, etc.….. I hope you can understand that it continues until we leave here or Jesus comes back again.

(14:20)

-----------------------------------------------------------

So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page - 462

Seminary - Hymn Page - 557

-----------------------------------------------------------