Hi, I'm Glenn Russell,
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welcome to our exploration
of the gospel of Matthew.
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This is part of 3ABN series
entitled Books of the Book.
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And it's been a
fascinating journey so far,
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with our teacher
Dr. Ranko Stefanovic,
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as we've been digging in through
this wonderful, wonderful book.
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There is just so many
under, depths of meaning that,
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we're not even able
to touch so much of it.
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And especially today
we'll find that challenge.
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We're into one of the
most powerful passages,
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the sermon on the mount of
Jesus in Matthew Chapter 5.
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Ranko, it's a marvelous
thing to explore, this sermon.
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You've preached
a lot of sermons.
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I've preached a few.
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Never have I ever
been able to match
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the beauty, the
depth, the symmetry.
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This is just a
marvelous document, isn't it?
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Yeah, no wonder that
even many in non-Christians
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and I lived in completely
different political system
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that was fighting against God.
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But actually they stick
to the Sermon on the Mount,
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they said, this
is the masterpiece,
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how people, people should live.
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And really here we
have, that Jesus describes,
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the characteristics of
the citizens of His kingdom.
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It's a masterpiece,
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we need the master
to help us understand.
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Let's pray together.
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Lord, as we go
through Your word.
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We want Your word
to come through to us.
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Not human opinions,
not our own speculations
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we want to
understand what You have
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given to us in the scriptures.
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Lord, be with
us now as we study,
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as we explore, as we
learn and most of all,
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may we be doers of your
word, in Jesus name, amen.
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Ranko, we've been walking
through the gospel of Matthew.
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We're in Chapter 5, we've
seen that Jesus presents here
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these beatitude a radically
new way of looking at life.
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A new way of living,
a new way of thinking
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about God and following Him,
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a way they will
turn us into light
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and salt to make a difference.
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You see, Glenn, as we mentioned,
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ancient Greeks they
believed that the people
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are spared [02:31] of how
much of farthey're blessed.
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The Jews were
not quite different.
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Wealth was a sign from God.
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Yeah. Poverty was a curse.
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But Jesus radically
changes this concept,
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telling that people are not
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because of
external circumstances.
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People are because of
their internal relationships,
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their internal
connection with God.
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What God did
that's not around them,
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what God does
personally with them.
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All right, let's go on
now with Matthew Chapter 5
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and I like to read
verses 17 through 20.
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"Do not think
that I came to destroy
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the Law or the Prophets."
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Now, we must
remember, Jesus speaking.
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"I did not come to
destroy the law of the prophets,
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I did not come to
destroy but to fulfill.
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For assuredly, I say to you,
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till heaven and earth pass away,
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one jot or one
tittle will by no means
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pass from the law
till all is fulfilled.
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Whoever therefore
breaks one of the least
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of these commandments,
and teaches men to do so
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shall be called least
in the kingdom of heaven.
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But whoever does
them and teaches them,
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he should be called
great in the kingdom of heaven.
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For I say to you that
unless you're righteousness
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exceeds the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees,
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you will by no
means enter heaven."
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Now let me just
ask one question,
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the people of Jesus day
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thought that the Pharisees
were pretty good folks.
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We don't have
the same view today.
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But they thought that the
Pharisees were pretty good.
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Jesus is raising
another standard.
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Actually Pharisees
were very good people.
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They were very--
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But you see when
people read the Bible
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they get different
picture of the Pharisees,
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and so many times unfortunately
in Christians they say,
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you see the gospel
as they do not present
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the correct
picture of the Pharisees.
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That's not true.
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The gospel is they do not deal
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with the
Pharisees in general terms.
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They deal with special
groups of the Pharisees.
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You see the
Pharisees and Sadducees
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they hated each other.
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They don't like each other.
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They can't
understand each other.
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Their philosophy mindset
was completely different.
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But in the gospels you
have always certain Pharisees
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and the Sadducees
they're always together.
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Jesus addresses a particular
group of the Pharisees.
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Not all the
Pharisees in general.
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Many Pharisees
actually they accept Jesus
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like Nicodemus or
Joseph of Arimathea.
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And in the Book of Acts
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many Pharisees they
became Christians, yes.
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But they often were in conflict
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with Jesus over
the issue of law.
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Help us see now,
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how does Jesus
address the issue of the law.
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Did Jesus come to
do away with the law?
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Jesus makes very
clear that actually
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He did not come
to abolish the law.
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This is strange
that many Christians
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go in the Sermon on the Mount.
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Actually they
argue when Jesus came
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that He brought
the end to the law.
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But Jesus makes very clear,
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but we have something to admit,
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what kind of law, the
law does Jesus talking about?
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It says, the
law and the prophets
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actually this is not
about really Ten Commandments.
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The law and the
prophets in the Bible
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means actually the
entire Old Testament.
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So Jesus came not to
abolish the Old Testament,
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its significance and
meaning, Jesus came to fulfill
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all those Old
Testament prophecies.
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Do you remember we talk,
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that the purpose of
the gospel of Matthew
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is to show that actually
Jesus was the fulfillment
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of all those Old
Testament prophecies.
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Of course, a part
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of that Old
Testament are the commandments.
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The Ten
Commandments that are later
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elaborated in the text.
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And He repeatedly says,
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"you've heard that it
was said, but I say to you."
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"But I say to you..."
Actually the key text here is,
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"I say to you," it's a verse 20.
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"I say to you, that unless
your righteousness surpasses
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that of the
scribes and Pharisees,
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you will not enter
the kingdom of heaven."
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Then something I
learned, very interesting.
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I don't know if you notice it.
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That Jesus does not indicate
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the Pharisees did
not have righteousness.
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They had the righteousness.
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They really were engaged
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in studying the
Torah and the law.
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But what was the problem?
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They tried to stick
to the letter of the law.
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The law says,
you shall not kill.
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They did not kill.
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But Jesus indicates
here in all these passages
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that actually a person
can be guilty of killing
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without taking somebody's life.
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So he's taking
it to deeper level
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and restoring the meaning,
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because it must have been bit
of a shock for His listeners.
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For them to hear, look
you got to be more spiritual
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than the most spiritual person
they knew or more religious
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than the most
religious people they knew.
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How is that possible?
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No, actually here it comes
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a radical shock
to all the Pharisees.
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Jesus first said, I did not come
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to abolish the
law and the prophets.
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Second, He recognizes
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the
righteousness of the Pharisees.
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But actually
Jesus, can I say that,
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Jesus is more
legalist than the Pharisees.
00:08:05.15\00:08:08.36
You better
explain that one, Ronko.
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It's better. Why?
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Because for Jesus it's not
only not to commit adultery
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to have physical act
of sexual relationships.
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Jesus said that the
person can commit adultery
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even in his own thoughts.
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So Jesus goes much, much deeper.
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You see Jesus does--
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the difference between
the Jesus and the Pharisees
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is that the
Pharisees paid attention
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to the external
performance of the law.
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Jesus internalizes the law
and he intensifies the law.
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Do you see the difference? Yes.
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I wanna catch and make
sure we catch these two words.
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Internalizing and intensifying.
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It's a higher standard.
But it's an internal standard.
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In that sense what I say
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that Jesus is more
legalist than the Pharisees.
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But in positive way, you
know, not in negative way.
00:08:58.20\00:09:01.83
Now there is so much here
in this Sermon on the Mount
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that we could talk
about that's so powerful.
00:09:05.16\00:09:08.39
Every Christian
should read this regularly.
00:09:08.40\00:09:10.22
Oh yeah. Regularly, regularly.
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But theirs is also
some puzzling parts.
00:09:12.31\00:09:15.90
Matthew Chapter 5,
verse 48 for example. Yeah.
00:09:15.91\00:09:20.42
Is one that there is
a lot of struggles over.
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Can you help us with
that one a little bit,
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because, you know, true or false
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if you ask your
students this question?
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Does God want us to be perfect?
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You know, some people say
no we should strive our best
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and then we'll
quote this phrase.
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So can we move up to that
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and lead us
into that discussion.
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You see, Glenn,
the starting point
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for understanding of
this what Jesus said in 5:48
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it's really verse 20.
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If your
righteousness does not exceed
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the
righteousness of the Pharisees.
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You know, I would
like to remind our viewers
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that we talk about
that before we understand
00:10:02.30\00:10:04.80
what the text means to us today.
00:10:04.81\00:10:07.86
We have to understand
00:10:07.87\00:10:09.76
what the text meant to
those people of this time.
00:10:09.80\00:10:13.62
If we want really to
make this text relevant to us,
00:10:13.63\00:10:15.91
we can ask what
kind of righteousness.
00:10:15.92\00:10:18.97
My right shouldn't exceed
the right of the Pharisees.
00:10:18.98\00:10:21.17
We don't have
the Pharisees today.
00:10:21.18\00:10:23.40
But let's make sense of that,
00:10:23.41\00:10:25.03
what was the
righteousness of the Pharisees?
00:10:25.04\00:10:27.25
Jesus said in verse 21,
00:10:27.26\00:10:29.22
"You have heard you
shall not commit the murder."
00:10:29.23\00:10:33.02
But in verse 22, Jesus says,
00:10:33.03\00:10:36.10
"Whoever is
angry with his brother.
00:10:36.11\00:10:40.04
He is already guilty of murder."
00:10:40.05\00:10:44.82
Or we go to verse 27,
00:10:44.83\00:10:48.74
"You have heard it was said
00:10:48.75\00:10:50.32
you shall not commit adultery."
00:10:50.33\00:10:52.41
And you can say,
you know, I'm pure.
00:10:52.42\00:10:56.56
I'm not guilty I
never commit adultery.
00:10:56.57\00:10:58.75
But Jesus said
at the judgment day
00:10:58.76\00:11:00.86
many will be
found guilty of adultery
00:11:00.87\00:11:03.30
because they did not
have an opportunity to do it
00:11:03.31\00:11:06.28
but they did
everything in the thoughts.
00:11:06.29\00:11:10.43
Then in verse 31 Jesus
talks about a common way
00:11:10.44\00:11:14.73
among the Pharisees to the verse
00:11:14.74\00:11:16.39
why for any reason.
00:11:16.40\00:11:18.07
But that Jesus
said, and you see,
00:11:18.08\00:11:20.10
we call it antithesis.
00:11:20.11\00:11:21.28
Jesus said, you heard
this is the popular opinion.
00:11:21.29\00:11:26.12
This is the popular view.
00:11:26.13\00:11:27.82
But Jesus said, the
Christians are not those
00:11:27.83\00:11:31.84
who behave according
to the popular morality,
00:11:31.85\00:11:36.07
according to the
popular standard of honesty,
00:11:36.08\00:11:39.36
the popular way of life.
00:11:39.37\00:11:41.58
The Christians behave
by asking the question,
00:11:41.59\00:11:44.74
is this God's will for us?
00:11:44.75\00:11:47.86
What is God's will
for me to do in this life?
00:11:47.87\00:11:51.22
And now we're
coming to you question,
00:11:51.23\00:11:54.29
the last of all
these things Jesus said,
00:11:54.30\00:11:57.32
"You have heard
that it was said."
00:11:57.33\00:12:00.19
Verse 38, an eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth.
00:12:00.20\00:12:06.86
Jesus here quotes
00:12:06.87\00:12:08.28
the Old Testament
law. Old Testament law.
00:12:08.29\00:12:10.86
But you see,
that Old Testament law
00:12:10.87\00:12:12.94
was given to the
court and to the judges.
00:12:12.95\00:12:17.12
Not to, for personal
relationship among the people.
00:12:17.13\00:12:20.82
Unfortunately, all
this antithesis here
00:12:20.83\00:12:23.57
they do not deal
with the law of God,
00:12:23.58\00:12:25.11
they deal with the
forsake system of the law.
00:12:25.12\00:12:29.65
Their interpretation, the
interpretation of the law,
00:12:29.66\00:12:32.35
that was the
standard that was the norm
00:12:32.36\00:12:34.37
that they
established in the society,
00:12:34.38\00:12:36.16
but the followers of Jesus,
00:12:36.17\00:12:38.15
can I say, the Christians today.
00:12:38.16\00:12:39.80
They do not behave according
to the popular standard
00:12:39.81\00:12:43.10
that the people
sets, they behave according
00:12:43.11\00:12:45.76
to the standard
that God set for them.
00:12:45.77\00:12:49.18
So it means it's not minimum,
00:12:49.19\00:12:52.23
it's not about
the letter of the law,
00:12:52.24\00:12:56.17
it's about that
inner attitude toward God.
00:12:56.18\00:12:58.30
Can you explain that one?
00:12:58.31\00:13:00.33
See I got married very long ago,
00:13:00.34\00:13:03.28
next year will be
our fortieth anniversary.
00:13:03.29\00:13:06.77
I marry to the beautiful
wife and we got married.
00:13:06.78\00:13:13.30
We did not write any rule
00:13:13.31\00:13:16.32
that I will have to follow
00:13:16.33\00:13:17.69
in order to be
legally right before my wife.
00:13:17.70\00:13:21.67
But I still keep
all those rules, why?
00:13:21.68\00:13:24.67
Because I love my wife.
00:13:24.68\00:13:26.95
In my marriage, I am
not trying to do minimum,
00:13:26.96\00:13:30.90
you see, the birthday comes
00:13:30.91\00:13:32.60
I have to buy
something to my wife.
00:13:32.61\00:13:34.21
Let me go and buy
something for five dollars
00:13:34.22\00:13:36.54
and something to do for my wife.
00:13:36.55\00:13:38.05
I try to do something,
00:13:38.06\00:13:39.55
the best and the most
that I can buy for my wife.
00:13:39.56\00:13:42.67
Does it make sense?
I hope she's listening.
00:13:42.68\00:13:44.40
Because my
relationship with my wife
00:13:44.41\00:13:46.49
are defined by
that inner connection,
00:13:46.50\00:13:49.67
inner
relationships that we have.
00:13:49.68\00:13:51.74
In that way your
righteousness exceeds
00:13:51.75\00:13:56.06
that minimum that you can do.
00:13:56.07\00:13:57.56
This is exactly what
the Pharisees were doing.
00:13:57.57\00:14:00.54
Were keeping a very
relationship perspective. Yes.
00:14:00.55\00:14:03.65
That our
attitudes, our behavior's
00:14:03.66\00:14:05.91
not the only measurement.
00:14:05.92\00:14:07.51
It's also the
motivation behind it,
00:14:07.52\00:14:09.66
the desire the
relationship with it.
00:14:09.67\00:14:11.87
Well, you've
still not fully answered
00:14:11.88\00:14:13.71
the question to my satisfaction.
00:14:13.72\00:14:15.36
So dig into it a little bit more
00:14:15.37\00:14:17.59
right after our break
here, we'll be right back.
00:14:17.60\00:14:19.65