The Way of Jesus

Introduction

Father, put the troubles of the world out of our minds and concentrate on what we’re here this morning, this day to celebrate and to honor our Holy Father, Heavenly Father. I’ll have a few more announcements after service, but before we get started this morning, if you’ll turn to Psalms one forty-one verses one through four.

Hasten to me.

Counted as incense before you the lifting up of my hands as the evening offer. Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips, and do not incline my heart to do any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity and do not let me eat of their delicacy. This time we’ll be led opening song. No. Oh, scripture read. The scripture reading this morning will come from first Timothy chapter two, starting in verse one, reading to verse four.

Starting in verse one, it reads, therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to know the knowledge of the truth.

If you’re able, I’d encourage you to please stand and join me in singing a passion for my God.

Let’s see. I have a passion for my God. He is first in my life. He is first in my life. He is Before our prayer, we’ll sing Jesus draw me ever nearer.

Jesus draw me as I came through the soul. You have called me to his Holy and righteousness of my father. We come before you so long so grateful. Just that we are known by you, but that we are able to know you. Lord, we know that we awoke this morning only by your grace, that we opened our eyes and took a breath. That all things in this life come from your hand. And all things will return to you. Lord, be with us in this worship, this hour of unity together with people of like precious faith. Help us to open our hearts, open our minds, to retain the words that are brought to us from your scripture and apply them to our daily lives. Thank you for your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and for all he’s done for us and all that he continues to do.

And it’s in his name that we pray. Amen.

For those that are visitors here this morning, this is not a solicitation of funds. But for the members here, this is a time for us to reflect and to think back of all that we’ve been blessed. Let us pray.

We are so thankful, Lord, that we serve you. We know that you sustain us. We realize every day, as Michael mentioned, we wake up in the morning, we take a breath, we realize it’s from you. We realize that you fill our bodies with life. You give us purpose in this world. You give us a path to follow, and that we that we may follow that path every day by knowing your word, living it out. We pray, Lord, as we look into all that we’ve been provided and all we’ve been given, that we do so and we give back with a cheerful heart. That we can continue to support and expand the work that we’re doing here at Decca Prairie. That we can help support and expand the work that we’re doing abroad, that your message, the good news, may flourish.

Pray, Lord, that we always be that example that you and your son has set for us. We’re grateful for this opportunity. In your son’s name we pray. Amen.

If you would like to mark the song after the lesson this morning, it’ll be What the Lord Has Done in Me, number two hundred and ninety-seven in your songbook. Before this morning’s message, we’ll sing wonderful, merciful Savior. Again, if it’s convenient for you, would you please stand wonderful merciful?

You are no one be prayed.

Almighty and my father.

Been such a great weekend this weekend. Last night we were able to end that weekend with going and seeing Logan Bohan and baptized at the Walker’s Pool, which was just a wonderful experience. it was very late, like eleven o’clock, so some of you may have seen the post later. but what a great way to start our week. Having someone give their life to Jesus Christ, and we’re so excited for the Bohannons for Stacy and Adam and Logan and Avery, who’s not here, but I know she’s excited as well. And I’m excited for that to be kind of an intro to what we’re doing this morning and talking about the way of the kingdom and what Jesus had to say about the kingdom and what that looks like, the kind of character that we have, if we’re part of the people who are following his way.

And so this morning I want to do things a little bit differently. We’re gonna read some sections, so we’re gonna do a lot more reading than typical, because I think what’s most important is that you hear the words of Jesus this morning from the sermon from Matthew 5 to 7. And then I’ll give little bits of commentary along the way about what he’s doing here in this section. I want to start off in chapter 4, though. At the end of chapter 4, it tells us in verse 23, and he went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. He’s going around to these various places and he’s preaching the kingdom of God. And what we have in chapters five through seven is this introduction of Jesus’ teaching to the masses.

This is what his kingdom is going to be like. And he wants to summarize that in a sense in this sermon he’s giving to all of these people who’ve come to listen to him. It’s most likely that Matthew and Luke in their accounts are providing themselves, are providing a summary. I find it likely that Jesus said actually a whole lot more than what we have recorded. if we were to just begin reading, which we’ll do some of that this morning and go all the way through, it’d be about 15 minutes or so. And all these people are following Jesus all around through the wilderness. And I’m fairly certain he had more to say to them than just 15 minutes worth of material. But Matthew and Luke, I think, are taking some highlights, some big picture ideas, and they want us to see this is what Jesus’ kingdom is about.

These are the are these are the important aspects. Here are the areas in where he’s focusing. And I’m sure Jesus went in much more depth at other times. Various synagogue teaching episodes that we hear about him doing that we’re not given detail about. But this is the core concept. These are the core ideas and concurrent themes that run through Matthew, but particularly within this sermon on the mount. And so rather than just spending a lot of time with me telling you all about it and not seeing what the scriptures actually say, we’re going to read some of these sections. So if you’re a young people a person taking notes, we’re going to have three major sections. Right? The first one is going to be chapter 5, 1 through 16.

1. Identity in the Kingdom

And I’m going to give you some terms too to kind of break this down and we’ll work back through them. The first section is going to be about identity. Okay, so identity in the kingdom. And then we’re going to go from chapter 5, 17 through 6.18. So 5, 17 through 6.18, and this is going to be about the heart. That’s going to be the general direction there. And then from there to the end of the Sermon on the Mount and the end of chapter 7. That’s going to be the next section, and that’s going to be about priority, about what is most important. So with that in mind, let’s work through this text. I want to begin reading in chapter 5 and verse 1. It says, seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets, who were before you are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. The first section here about the way of the kingdom, and with Jesus’ message, as I’ve already told you, is focused on the idea of kingdom identity. Essentially, what he’s getting at here is he’s working through this list of blessings, right?

It’s sort of mimicking some things from the Old Testament. Psalm 1, Blessed is the man, and that has a lot to say about this blessed man. And this is very common within Jewish writing, which I might show you here in just a moment. But what he’s doing here is he’s showing some boundaries, some markers of what it means to be a part of his kingdom. What this kingdom is actually going to look like. Kingdom citizenship with Jesus has these boundaries focused on character and influence, not geography.

What is vital is the nature of the kind of person you are. That’s what he’s spending time here in this section, making sure people understand. Then this is something that they would have been familiar with, as I mentioned from the Old Testament already. There’s also a Qumran document, interestingly, it’s called Beatitudes, which is what we often call this. If you want the technical name, it’s 4Q525. I’ll give that to you later, if you really want it. But it starts this way. I’m not going to read the whole thing. I just want you to see a sample. This is end of the first century BC. So 100 years plus before Jesus Christ. Blessed is the man with a pure heart and does not slander with his tongue.

Blessed are those who hold to her, speaking of wisdom, who hold to her precepts and do not hold to the ways of iniquity. Blessed are those who rejoice in her and do not burst forth in ways of folly. Blessed are those who seek her with pure hands. And it goes on talking about all the blessings that come essentially from those who live this kind of life. What the Qumran people are really working on here as they work through this list is this is how this kind of person lives. This is the nature of who they are. And so there’s boundaries being put around the kind of person who’s going to be following Jesus. And when they begin to hear him uttering these statements blessed are the poor in spirit, and blessed are those who mourn, and blessed are the meek.

They’re understanding Jesus is laying out here what I am going to look like and what you’re going to look like if we follow him. It’s the essence of what he’s doing as he begins the sermon to all those who have followed him. It’s also interesting because it’s what I’m going to call a rhetoric of reversal. If I was going to start a kingdom and you were going to start a kingdom, we probably wouldn’t go out and say, hey, we want all the poor and the people who mourn and those who are strong but they don’t really use their strength. We’re just kind of meek. You know, that’s who we really want. We want people who are hungry. And of course, he’s going to feed all these people.

Like we want needy people. You want to be in my kingdom, just if you’re needy, why don’t you come to me? That’s what I want. This is not how humans act. If we want to build our own kingdom, what are the kind of people we look for? People with influence and power, people who can sponsor our efforts, right? People who have money, who can put this aside and help us, right? We’re looking for someone who is advantageous to the things that I want to do. If that’s the sort of thing I’m trying to build, that’s what I’m looking for. And Jesus says, that’s that’s not what I’m interested in. I don’t need the elites to be part of my group. I’m looking for the people who are poor in spirit, who are willing to see life for what it is and mourn.

People who are merciful, who are not self righteous and think so much of themselves. I’m looking for people who are lowly and pure, people who are peacemakers, people who will say the hard things that need to be said and not just make people comfortable. That’s the kind of people I’m looking for, and those who are willing to be persecuted, which may go along with the peacemaking. So he’s not looking for the typical sorts of things that people look for when they’re trying to build their own earthly kingdom with power and strength and force. But instead, he’s looking for those who realize how desperately they need him.

Which is some way exemplified by those who go out into these deserted places with no food and no resources, based on the very fact that they just want to hear the things he’s saying. Now, maybe we could say they haven’t put much forethought into the situation, which is how the disciples feel, and sometimes that’s how we feel about many things. Well, they just didn’t think ahead. But what they did realize is they wanted to be with Jesus, and so they followed him. And when they followed him, Jesus made sure they were provided for.

Now, maybe some of those realize how much they need Jesus as well, and he will welcome them in with open arms. But he’s really looking for the people who most realize their need for him. And beyond that, people who are, though they’re not noble or wise necessarily in the eyes of the world or rich or powerful, they are wanting to have influence. You are the salt of the earth, he says. You are the light of the world. It is a mixture here of both identity, realizing who we are, but also realizing the need, even in this kingdom, which is not an earthly kingdom, but the need to expand the kingdom of God, to work for his purposes, to be a light that shines to all around to see.

When I was in Jerusalem, one of the most vivid things I remember is we were walking around at night one evening, and I was looking around, and I looked out, and there’s all these little hills all around, and you could see off in the distance the little lights shining on these hills, which made me think, because you do, when you’re in Jerusalem, you’re thinking about all kinds of scripture and things as you walk around. It made me think about this text. You know, this existed back in Jesus’ day. He’s using an example that makes sense to them. You look out to the hills and you see people’s dwellings, and you see these lamps, these candles that are lit, and it’s just this little light. But even this hill off in the distance from where you are, you can see that light shining out into the world.

2. The Way of the Heart

And he tells them that’s what you are. Even though you may be someone of not much importance, you’re just someone who’s humble in the eyes of the world. You may not have an amazing life in the eyes of everybody around you, but if you follow Jesus and you’re willing to say the things that he wants us to say, if you’re willing to be persecuted for his sake, you are salt and you are light. And when you’re willing to do that, then it’s going to give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Jesus then continues, this is going to be a little bit longer reading. Verse 17, Matthew 5, verse 17. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, You fool, will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly I say to you will never get out until you’ve paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

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

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the grounds of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, that shall prefer perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king, and do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say simply be yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil.

You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if any one slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. If any one would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles, give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Beware of practising your righteousness before others, in order to be seen by them. For you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them. For your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

The way of the kingdom is the way of the heart. It is a heart that is desirous of the will of the Lord, of accomplishing his purposes, not just keeping some rules and laws. And at the same time, Jesus was not here to promote lawlessness and rebellion, but rather fulfillment. And so that’s where he starts this section of the sermon. He’s not here to abolish the law, and he wants to make that very clear. And that temptation would be very real. Anytime you’re trying to go against whatever the establishment is, you’re going to attract those who feel this sort of rebellious nature. Right? They want to oppose the laws and the rules and the restrictions that are placed on them by others. But Jesus wants to make very clear his goal here is not to abolish the law of God, but actually to fulfill it.

And while the Pharisees and the scribes are hypocrites and they try to bind things on other people, he says, you actually need to be better than them. Your righteousness needs to exceed their righteousness. But this has everything to do with the desire to fulfill the will of God as Jesus Himself is setting out to fulfill. And if we’re following Him, it’s not that we just keep the right rules and laws, it’s that we have an intent behind them. And what Jesus is going to get at in this section is that following Him and being in His kingdom is beyond rules. It’s beyond laws. It’s a matter of the heart. It’s allowing Christ as King to rule in our hearts, as He says in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 15.

That’s the wording of the Apostle Paul. Anyone can go through some motions and keep some rules and laws. And what Jesus is warning about here is the danger of the external, the deception of the external things appearing to others and even to ourselves as we look at what we’re doing, as if that is actual righteousness. If that is actually following the kingdom and doing the will of God, and what he’s saying here is you can keep some rules and laws and yet still be very far from the heart of Jesus’ vision. There’s a mixture of ways he addresses this, and we certainly can’t talk about all the different sections that we just read, which is one reason I wanted to read them all to you.

But what he’s getting at here is that legal code is actually there for an intent. And we should not allow the law to supersede its purpose, which is extremely easy to do. What does he criticize the Pharisees for regularly? Finding technicalities and loopholes, technically keeping a law or a rule, but doing it in such a way that they actually fulfill their own desires and they neglect the will of God or neglect their parents or whatever it might be. They find some way around it where they can technically say they have kept the law, and yet in reality their heart is far from him. The point of the law is actually meant to help limit and control poor behavior. That’s the reason for it. The law is actually a relatively low standard in reality, which is part of what Jesus is getting at.

Paul actually says something very similar in 1 Timothy chapter 1. The law is not laid down for the just, that’s the righteous, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane. The law is not really there for people who in their heart want to serve God. The law is there to try to limit evil and wickedness. And as we’re approaching some of the boundaries of the law, we realize things aren’t going well here. Right? That’s the concept of what’s happening with law. And so even in the Old Testament, sometimes we see these different laws, you know, the extent of that law may be that someone is executed. That’s not always what actually happened with that law, but it’s giving us boundaries or giving them boundaries of how they could act in a lawful way to deal sometimes with that which was evil and wicked.

And yet we see often the religious trying to abuse even some of those laws to trap Jesus or trap his followers, to try to find some way to say they’re blaspheming or going against the law of Moses so they could condemn them. And in doing so, Jesus is saying, you’re missing the purpose of the law. You’re missing the heart or the intent of what this law is for. And that’s not going to be how his kingdom works. And so he lists some of these laws. Some of them are laws from the Old Testament. Some of them are kind of half laws, half interpretation, depending on where you fall on some of these. So let me just give you an example that I think you’ll see immediately.

In verse 43 of chapter 5, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor. That’s good. Right? They’ve heard that. That’s actually a law, but he doesn’t stop there. You’ve heard, this is what you’ve heard you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Now, through a lot of convoluted interpretation and those sorts of things, you could probably find a way in the Old Testament to say, oh, God condemned the Philistines, or he condemned. So, you know, love your neighbor, but hate all those other people. Of course, that was never God’s intention, and Israel’s purpose was to be a light to the nations. The very thing Jesus is talking about in this sermon. That was their actual goal. They fail. And so Jesus comes, as we talked about last time, and he relives the story of Israel, and he’s fulfilling all the things Israel was supposed to do, like being faithful in the wilderness in chapter 4, where we just looked.

And now he is telling his people to be a light to the nations, a light to the world. And so some of these are misinterpretations or misunderstandings of the law. Some of these he is giving the law and he’s saying, Yeah, but there’s a little bit more expected there. Yes, don’t murder. You know, this is Exodus 20. This is pretty simple stuff. But maybe our measure should be a little bit better than that. You know, like when your kids first start driving, we’ve been through this, we’re going through it right now. Your expectations are very low at first. You know, like here’s some lines. Try to just keep it in those lines. And they’re like, great job. You kept it in the lines. Very low expectations.

But now when I ride behind my daughter as she’s driving, my expectations are a little bit higher. I’m not saying, great job, you didn’t run off the road. I’m wanting there to be some a little bit better skill and ability now that she’s on her own driving, right? And I think that’s the essence of what Jesus is at getting here. Yes, great job, you don’t murder people. But maybe it’s a little higher than that. You know, like maybe we shouldn’t be angry and call people fools and speak evil of our brothers and sisters. You know, like he’s he’s trying to raise the bar here. Like the law’s there. The law is good and it’s important. And yes, people shouldn’t be murdered, and when that happens, we need consequences so that way we don’t go that direction and we are incentivized to not do that.

Yes, we want that. And there are evil people who don’t want to do the will of God, and we need ways to control that. God actually is working to control evil. He’s doing that even now, and he did it then. But the standard is a little higher than that. And that’s what Jesus is trying to get at here. This is not just about keeping laws. It’s not that you can go beat your brother almost to death, but you didn’t murder him, so you’re okay. I think we all understand that is a pretty poor way to look at one of those Ten Commandments. You shall not murder. And as followers of Jesus, we would hope that we would have higher expectations. But that’s the concept of what he’s getting here.

And some of these he’s pulling out other ideas, like, you know, you’re told to give us a certificate of divorce, and he’s like, how about we just don’t divorce? You know, how about we just love our spouse and actually work on our marriages and not divorce our spouses? That’s what God actually wants. And the only reason Moses did this is because you have hard hearts. That’s not the goal.

But he wants us to understand on the heart level, from the from the sense of what’s within, that we’re trying to accomplish the will of God, and we should have higher standards than just the basic low level. That’s what’s going to get us in trouble. So the question is not, well, is it wrong? You know, am I going to get in trouble if I do this?

That’s pretty poor standard. You know, is it against the law? The better question is my heart right in what I’m doing? Am I acting in a way that’s actually going to please Jesus? Am I allowing Jesus to control my heart with the decisions I’m making? Those are questions that are reaching at a much higher level than, okay, I just want to make sure I don’t break a rule. But other than that, I’m just going to do what I want to do. And on the other side of that, Jesus also hits on this reality. It doesn’t matter how technically right you are, how technically right your worship is, or any of that, if you treat your brother poorly or you are at odds, it is ineffective and empty and worthless.

What is most important in that moment, I’m kind of stealing the next point here, but it fits. What’s most important is you go take care of that first, because this won’t mean anything if you haven’t. It’s just an empty external deception. It’s an image thing that makes me feel good when I actually haven’t really taken care of the core problem. This is what Jesus calls us to in his kingdom. Dealing with the real issues of the heart, not just going through the motions to look good. And so a kingdom heart is one that is not self-focused. A godly heart works to uphold their brothers in the eyes of others. A sincere heart works to control the eyes and thoughts. Right? Again, not just actions. I haven’t committed adultery.

What about lust? This is what Jesus is saying. Yes, that very low bar. I’m really glad you haven’t done that. You shouldn’t do that. But what about raising the bar a little bit? If I’m actually in God’s kingdom and trying to follow his will, am I controlling the things I’m thinking, not just the things I’m doing? The child of God does not practice righteousness to be seen and praised by others, but to seek to please and connect with God the Father and be like Him. This is actually where he ends chapter 5. Sometimes we get stuck in these chapter breaks, but notice we haven’t been really doing that here as we’ve been reading. But at the end of chapter 5, therefore you must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, Jesus, I think, is pretty well aware that none of us is going to be literally perfect. But he’s looking for the completedness of us being recreated after the image of God and acting like him. And part of that he’s saying here is stop doing stuff to be seen by other people. You know, prayer is great and helping people is great, and fasting is great. We don’t really do a lot of that, but he says it’s great. But here’s the thing don’t do it so other people look at you and say, wow, you’ve been fasting. You are you’re more spiritual than I am. If that’s what I’m doing, I do not understand the kingdom of God. There’s a lot of hyperbole and metaphor and things like that through the section that I’m not going to get into here, but I’ll just say the one section where he says, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.

That whole idea, it’s not literally, I mean, obviously, you can’t do that, right? I’m knowing what I’m doing. But the point there is the intent is what matters, not that people see what I’m doing and praise me for it. We have some wonderful people in this congregation who are amazing examples of this. They often do things without seeking any kind of recognition or notice. Ironically, you probably know who many of them are, which is kind of the strange thing about that. But that’s the nature of how the kingdom’s supposed to work. We don’t go on street corners and try to make ourselves look great. That’s the point he’s making here, especially in their society. This is about God. It’s about my relationship with God, your relationship with God, and yes, our relationship with each other, but it’s not about seeking self-glory through offering amazing prayers that everyone will later come and tell me how great it is, or giving lots of money to people, or practicing my spirituality in such a way that everyone has to remark how spiritual I seem.

3. Priority: What Is Most Important

Now look, some things are noticeable. They’re obvious. And over time, people are going to notice people who are spiritually oriented and seeking God, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But what he’s getting at here is the intent of what we’re doing. He’s not looking for people who are wanting to glorify themselves. He’s looking for people, remember, who are poor in spirit, who are meek, who are willing to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. And I’m if I’m out for my own sake and my own glory, that’s probably not going to be where I am. This is the sort of thing that Jesus is recognizing. Alright, let’s finish up in Matthew 6, 19 through the end. We’re going to talk about priorities here. And there’s some overlap, as we’ve already mentioned.

But he says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rest destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is your d is the darkness? No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about your clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, he will not will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye when there’s a log in your own eye? You hypocrite. First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot in turn to attack you. Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be open to you, for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be open.

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not every one who says to me, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it. In this last section, Jesus is really focusing on the concept of priority. It’s where we allow our lives to be focused.

And it relates to choices, what we value. And so he starts maybe in a place that really resonates well with us even today. Where are our treasures? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Because if we really love it, we treasure it, we want to talk about it’s important to us. And so it becomes evident. It’s on the surface.

If that’s our pursuit, it’ll be pretty clear. And this really has nothing to do, actually, with how wealthy or how poor you are. A very poor person can treasure the things of this life and be greedy and seeking after possessions, and a very wealthy person can have the opposite feeling and be extremely generous and not be trying to grasp on to all their possessions. And so in this illustration, it’s not really about you your stand, your status in life. It’s about, again, your heart and the way you see all of this. Are you treasuring the things here and putting a priority on all of that? Or is the treasure you have in heaven and the most important things of life? Is that where true value is found?

And then he makes probably one of the greatest statements that Jesus ever made in his ministry that we remember very easily, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. This is the most important thing. So much so that he says, all these things will be added to you. All the other things we worry about, all the other things that draw our attention or that sometimes seem so important, what he’s saying is if we focus and we put our priority on the kingdom, those things will all fall in line as needed. Now it may be that they’re not as important as we thought. And so we don’t actually need some of them. It may be that they’re provided in the ways that we need.

But what he is concerned with is that I’m seeking the kingdom first, and then whatever happens from there happens. But if that’s the case, I understand what is the priority in my life. So kingdom priority leads to the right kinds of relationships with others. Treat others the way you want to be treated. And it should be a red flag to us if we realize that’s not what we’re doing. Something is not right with my heart if I realize I don’t treat people the way I would like for them to treat me. I’m missing something in my identity or in the character of what it means to be in God’s kingdom. If I treat people in ugly ways, but then I want them to not be that way with me, or if I’m impatient with them, but I want them to be patient with me.

And in a numerous of other sorts of ways I could direct this, but the bottom line is what Jesus says himself. Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. It’s about priority. Am I seeking first the kingdom of God and putting that first rather than my own wants and desires? If I’m putting myself first, I’m more than happy to treat somebody in ways I would never want them to treat me. But that’s not living according to the kingdom. It’s not living according to the way of Jesus.

In our self-evaluation, it’s if we’re honest, if we’re not just looking at the other person, but we’re actually willing to look at ourselves.

But this is what a kingdom citizen is willing to do. As you know, whether it’s with your siblings or with co-workers or people at the place you worship, or whatever it might be, it’s pretty easy to see someone else’s problem, at least as you perceive it, right?

This is precisely what he talks about. And it’s not that you never can judge, right? Judge not that you be not judged. The world loves that verse. You know, you can’t ever tell anybody they’re doing anything wrong. That’s not his point. He actually tells us to make good judgments later. But his point here is the hypocrisy of not clearing my own eye first before I start telling somebody else they’ve got problems with theirs. Not being willing to do the hard work of introspection and making sure that my heart is right, that I’m doing the things properly, that my relationship with God is in a good place before I start going around and telling other people they’re out of alignment. And it’s important enough that Jesus includes this in this first sermon to the masses.

That it’s so easy as a person to look around and identify the things that other people aren’t doing right, again, in my own judgment, of course. And yet, meanwhile, I’m missing the deficiencies and the things that I’m not doing properly. I can’t make any hard and fast rule about how to handle this, but what I can say is what I probably need to spend the most time doing in my life is checking on my own heart, making sure my own attitude is right, that I have a good relationship with God, that I’m seeking in the things of God myself. And one of the reasons I say that is because a text like Galatians 6 talks about you who are spiritual are the ones who are supposed to restore someone who has fallen into transgression.

I’m a lot likely, more likely to do that well if most of my focus is on getting myself right, rather than trying to make myself feel good by pointing out all the problems of other people. Which is the very thing Jesus is warning out about here. And furthermore, if I do that, then I’m going to be judged by my own measure. If I am unmerciful, and if that’s the way I judge other people, then that measure is going to be measured back on me. Which I can assure all of us, we do not want that. And that’s the warning that Jesus gives here. And as he concludes, what he says is the most important thing, essentially what I was just talking about is that I’m focusing on building on the word of Jesus.

Not that I’m focusing on breaking down other people. Not that I’m focusing on my own desires and building that up in my life, but I’m looking at the words like we read this morning, the words of Jesus Himself, and that becomes my foundation. It is the foundation of everything in my life. And when I’m willing to do that and I’m willing to listen to what he has to say, that is a solid foundation that will make it through the storms of life, the difficulties that come, the unfairness of how we’re treated sometimes, how we’re persecuted because we believe in God and want to do things God’s way. If we will build on the foundation of Jesus and His words, He promises us that our house will stand.

But He does promise us that our house will stand if it is built on the rock, which is Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

That the things that are lacking in what I said in my thoughts are made up by the power of Jesus’ own words. And that your heart is convicted to follow him and do what he says, and to give your life to him, and to be a part of his kingdom. We can help you with that this morning. You can give your life to him, we’ll bury you in baptism, we’ll be resurrected in newness of life, become part of his kingdom, and you can walk with him and do his will.

To help us prepare our hearts and minds to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Join me in singing before the throne of God above.

Before the throne of God’s name is love.

If there’s anyone here this morning that needs the emblem, please raise your hand and someone will pass those out to you this morning. If you’d like to turn your Bibles over to Exodus chapter 33, Exodus chapter 33 is where we’ll begin reading this morning. Exodus 33, let’s begin reading in verse 7. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord will go would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent.

And the Lord would speak to Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. While the Israelites were in the wilderness at the base of Mount Sinai, God spoke to Moses in multiple places. God spoke to Moses while he was up on Mount Sinai. But he also spoke to Moses in this place called the tent of meeting. This place is not the tabernacle. Here in chapter 33, the tabernacle has not been built yet.

This is a separate tent that God would meet with Moses and where the people could go and worship God.

At some point prior to this passage that we just read, the tent of meeting may have actually been inside the camp. But we just read that it is outside the camp. Several chapters before this, beginning in chapter 25, God gives very detailed instructions on the tabernacle. You want to turn over there, we’ll read one passage in just a few moments.

God tells the people exactly what he wants with his tabernacle. Turn over to chapter 25. Let’s read verse 8. God is telling Moses, he says, and let them make me a sanctuary. Sanctuary just means holy place, but he’s talking about the tabernacle. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. And then he goes on for another seven chapters, and he tells the people what he wants, how he wants this tabernacle built. And that he wants to be among his people. And yet, when we get to chapter 33, God is not in the midst of his people. Why? Why is he not in the midst? He’s saying, I want to be in your midst. Well, one chapter before this, in chapter 32, we read about the sin of the golden calf.

This sin is so egregious that God wanted to destroy the entire nation. But Moses intercedes on behalf of the people, and God, okay, decides not to destroy the people. But because of this egregious sin, God cannot be in the midst of the people. Right now, the sacrifices had not been established. There was no system yet set up for the sacrifices. But that part of the law had not been given yet. And so God had to dwell outside the camp, away from the people, away from their sin. Moving now into chapter 36 through 40, the tabernacle is now being erected. All the articles are made, the ark that would hold the Ten Commandments, the table and the lampstand, the altar for the burnt offering. All these items were built, and then they would need to be consecrated.

Not only the items would be consecrated, but the people who would be serving with these items, the Levites, Aaron and his sons and all the Levites, they also had to be consecrated. We read about this in Leviticus chapter 8. How we read Aaron and his sons, and then all the Levites, and then eventually all the people had to have a sin sacrifice in order for this tabernacle to begin functioning. And it is that is when then God comes into their midst. Turn to chapter 40. Let’s read about this. In chapter 40, in verse 34, it says, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting. Okay, a clarification here. This now also says tent of meeting, but it seems that the phrase tent of meeting transferred from what we just read in chapter 33, which was a temporary tent, to now talking about the tabernacle.

So these are two separate types of tents here. It’s transferred basically what I see is where God is now dwelling. God has moved his presence from a temporary tent that we read in 33 to a now more permanent tent of the tabernacle. Then the cloud, verse 34, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up.

For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. Even though now God was in their midst. He had moved from outside the camp to now being inside the camp. We read that every time the camp moved in Numbers 2, that they literally would set up the tabernacle in the middle of the people, and all the tribes would be surrounded, would surround the tabernacle. So literally he was in the middle, but he was also spiritually in their midst. And he, this is how he revealed himself to the people through the tabernacle. But this is not how God wanted to fully reveal himself. Listen to this exchange between God and Moses.

Turn back to chapter 33. Look at verse 18. This is right after God pleads with God, not sorry, Moses pleads with God not to destroy the people after they had just committed this egregious sin with the golden calf. Chapter 33, verse 18. Moses said, please show me your glory. He’s asking God. He’s asking God for confidence that you’re gonna still be with us because God was like, I’m gonna destroy you all. No, please, God, don’t do this. So now Moses is asking for some confidence from God. Please don’t destroy the people. Let me see your glory. Verse 19. And the Lord says, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

But, this is the Lord speaking, he said, You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. God would only partially reveal himself in this moment to Moses and ultimately in a public way to the people through the tabernacle. But it was not fully how God wanted to reveal himself to the people.

Through his son Jesus Christ. The reason he could not fully reveal himself was because of sin. We read about in Hebrews 10, for it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats in the tabernacle to take away sin and allow God to fully reveal himself. He wanted to, but he was unable to because of the current system that was set up. It was only through his son, his perfect life, his perfect sacrifice, that God could be fully revealed and truly in the midst of his people. Now let’s turn over to the New Testament. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. We’re now going to see how God fully revealed himself to his people. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. Remember what Moses asked back in Exodus? He said, Show me your glory.

Show me your glory. Now here in Hebrews. He, speaking about Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Only after the purifications of our sins, could God then be fully revealed to his people. He could then truly move from outside the camp to in our midst. Alright, last passage in John chapter one. John chapter one. Verse 14. John chapter 1, verse 14 says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. Not even Moses was able to see his full glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Verse 16. For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. God, the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. We can now see God through Jesus and His sacrifice. And now we can fully say that God has moved from outside the camp to inside the camp in our midst. And this is now happening through Jesus and His sacrifice. Let’s pray. Almighty Lord, thank you for this good day, this moment that we can remember.

That the sins of the people, the Israelites, caused you to leave their presence. You had to remove yourself from their camp. And you could not be near them. And it is today, Father, that you do the same with us. Our sins cause you to remove yourself from us.

That even the sacrifices of the Old Testament, you could only partially reveal yourself. But now, through with your Son’s perfect sacrifice, his perfect life, that we now can fully see your glory. Thank you for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

That’s very good.

Lord, we thank you again for the sacrifice of your Son. That it is through Him, through His blood, through His body, that we now are your glory is revealed through Him. And that we see Him and we see your glory.

It’s good to be here this morning. Again, if you’re visiting with us, we ask that you would spend a few moments and let us get to introduce ourselves to you. Just a few quick announcements. as was announced by Brent Logan Bohanna, who was baptized yesterday, and we’re just so happy and proud for that. Just please encourage him and all of our young people as we go through this life together, that we encourage them to follow Christ and His will, as was mentioned in Brent’s lesson. What’s our priority in life? And that’s to get us to heaven and those around us. So let’s keep that we definitely need we the Beth and Jaden O’Lennox definitely needs our prayers. Beckett will be undergoing surgery on October the third.

So let’s definitely check with them and see if there’s anything we can do. As most of us know, Beckett’s had several operations. This one is to try to correct eye problem, and we just ask that you keep him in this prayer in our prayers. Also remember the those of our number that have undergone surgery, and we’re glad to have them back with us or request we’re still waiting on Dina. She seems to be dragging up the imp, but we’re just so happy for her improvement. But those have and God truly bless us. So let’s keep that in mind. Also remember the Milby family. They will be leaving at the end of the month for a couple for a few days to service for Rick’s father.

So we want to remember them and continue to remember them. Also the Smiths and their loss. And group three meets tonight. So if you’re in group three, if you don’t know you are, you can look in the bulletin and the groups have been there and you can see which group you’re in. That’ll be group three tonight. Also, tonight we have our Bible classes starting at 5 p.m. for all ages. If you’re visiting with us, we’d love to have you back with us. Also, glad to see Timothy back. he’s been all the out of Anton in Hawaii. So we’re glad to have him back with us. Is there any other announcements? If not, we’ll be led in a closing song within a closing prayer.

And some man was a lot of someone with fear and some such dreamless passions all heal us all in us all and some have found the world is pain yet to the world came under you and some friends have not sought a friend in you and not all birth for holy dream and those who seek to serve him our consciousness must have wrong with him.

Mercy.

Your mind was searching blessed and send.

Your husband saves us all in this soul beyond your mercy give us soul your mercy.

We are blessed today to be able to come together as a family sing songs of praise and worship to you. To focus our minds in prayer to draw away from this world. Lord God, we ask that you please let today and the time we spent together as a family fill us and give us the strength, courage, and wisdom to face this week. Lord God, from your word today, we ask that you please allow us to take these lessons from your Son. That He spoke here on earth, giving us wisdom and guidance. Lord God, we ask that you let us be the light on the hill. Let us stand out in a dark world, the flickering light of who you are and the love that you shared and grace you’ve given to us sinners here on earth.

Lord God, call us home soon. Give us the opportunity to bring those that we love with us. And we pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.