Well you know where we’re continuing on in the Sermon on the Mount. When I when I read it, I feel like Jesus is making his point and then he makes this point and then he makes this point. And he keeps driving it home until I think he wants us to get it. It’s kind of like watching TV and you’re watching a ballgame. And you see the same commercial over and over and over and over and over. And then finally on about 215 time you figure out what they’re trying to sell. Well thank Jesus knows we’re slow learners, and he knows we need to hear something more than once. So in chapter five is he begins to play out what the Beatitudes were all about. What Jesus is done and given us our salvation in the Gospel, knowing that we’re poor in spirit, and we’re mourning and repenting over our sin, and we’re humble and, and then we’re hunger and thirst for righteousness. And then we become merciful. blesser, the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God bless are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. And so he’s been through all that. And then he starts saying, this is a lifestyle, that if you believe in me and follow me, this is a lifestyle you’re going to lead. A lot of people didn’t get that in the fine print when they came to know Christ. They bought the theology of the Gospel, Jesus died for us, John 316, so that we would not perish but have eternal life, that Jesus was buried and raised and lives today for us. So they bought the theology. But when it comes to buying the lifestyle as a different thing, there’s a penetrating question Jesus asked his disciples in the passage we’re looking at today. And it’s in Matthew 546, to 48. And we already been over Jesus saying seven times. Now you’ve heard it said, you’ve been taught by the Pharisees, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, so he’s correct in everything that the Pharisees were teaching, they always taught the letter of the law. Jesus always taught the spirit of the law. It’s not just doing the right thing. It’s doing it with the right attitude. It’s doing it with the right motive. And so I think you and I struggle with that a lot of times we do the right thing. But we’re doing it with a bad attitude, in the wrong attitude. And so he’s saying, I’m always looking for the spirit, the motive, the character of what you’re doing. And this is the kind of lifestyle you’ll leave. And then he goes on, and it says, when he said I for an eye and a tooth for tooth. And then he says, You’ve heard it said that you should love your friends and hate your enemies. We talked about that last week. But I say to you, love your enemies and Bless those who persecute you. So we started getting into a lifestyle thing where that stops you in your tracks. Love your enemies, so all your friends, include your enemies. And that’s what God taught me years ago, about my physical maladies. I was having some physical issues. I had a list of them still do? And he says, Oh, you’re listing your friends. I said, Pardon me? He says, yeah, those are your friends. This is this define friend is anything or anybody that points you to Christ is your friend. And so all these things that you’re listing here, they’re pointing you to me, you’re praying about them, are you seeking my face on them? So call them your friends. And I never heard it put like that before. And that changed my attitude about my maladies, that they’re pointing me to Christ. So you’ve four if you love those who love you, what reward Do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, and this is a penetrating question, what do you do more than others? If you only greet your brothers, if you’re just gonna love those who love you What do you do more than others? Don’t even the Gentiles and tax gatherers do that. Therefore, you’re to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. And he holds a pretty high standard there. The heavenly Father is perfect in every way. And we know we’re not perfect in every way. So what’s he talking about?
When he’s talking about our goal, our aspiration or our inspiration and desire is to be like Christ. Now we know and we make peace with the reality that this out of heaven will never be perfect in our behavior and our thought life in the not sinning, not being insidiously preoccupied with ourselves. That’s just not going to happen. But our if your goal is to be perfect as your Father in heaven that changes everything in regard to sin in your life. You don’t justify sin anymore. You call it what it is. You don’t try to rationalize and I can do this or get away with this or this is not that big a deal. God says you got to look at that differently. And so you don’t see sin like that anymore. You start seeing sin is something you hate. So if you’re going to hate anything, don’t hate your enemies, hate your sin. Hate the wrongdoing, hate that wrong motive. Hey Dad hurt that you heard that slide that you gave. Hate that sin of being vengeful and having to explain yourself and then the case yourself all the time, the sin of holding grudges, of being easily offended, of lashing back, or being critical. We could go on and on. But Jesus is saying, what do you do more than others God has called us as Christians to do more than others. And that’s what being slapped on the right cheek is all about. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, do more than others, volunteer to go two miles, turn the other cheek. If they force you to go that one mile volunteer to go to that’s doing more than others. Nobody does that. But I’ve called you to live a life that nobody can do. Nobody can live this life apart from me. And so I’ve called you up higher to a higher standard of living. But I’ve also given you power to do it. When you received the Holy Spirit, and it says in Romans one you did not receive a spirit of timidity, but power and love and discipline. So he’s not telling us to do something one that he hadn’t done himself. When he was reviled, He reviled not when he suffered, he uttered no threats he could have called 10,000 angels when they came to arrest him. They will add this mock trial and false witnesses with a sin against him, beat him and slapped him around, made fun of him. Beat him almost to death, then carried across as far as he could, went up to the cross and died on it. He could have called 10,000 Angels, but he didn’t. And when they started asking him questions, he didn’t have to answer him. He didn’t have to vindicate himself or explain himself when he was reviled, He revile not, when he suffered, he uttered no threats. What do you do more than others? Don’t even Gentiles do the same. So the great climax of the discipleship, the life that we’re living as we would become like Christ, which means that we’re going to live a life that most people won’t do won’t live. Most people again, who bought the theology, but not the lifestyle, that are professing to be Christians, justifying and rationalizing the sin, as if we’re not going to have to stand before God one day an answer for that is if sin is not a big deal. Sin is what the fall was all about. We talked about that last week, appealing to the self, making God look like he’s unfair and unjust. Or that God will look the other way. He didn’t care about that. The amazing grace that He gives us, even in that process it we fight through. And we fight every one of us fight through that. Every one of us are dealing with sin in our lives. And hating people. And we live we don’t like to say we hate them. We say we don’t like them. We don’t prefer them. But God says you either love him or you hate him. You don’t love him or hate him.
You don’t love him, you spy them. If you don’t love them, you get even with them. If you don’t love them, you’re offended easily by them. And God says you have to love them. And we talked last week about that love is Agave love, that unconditional love. And we talked about what that’s all about. And it’s not a love that anybody can live. You can live arrows and Romans and filet o friendship, have a friendship, love, a family love. And you can do that without the help of the Holy Spirit. But you cannot have a God a love without the Holy Spirit. That’s the spirit that comes into your heart when you come to know him. He’s imparted that to us. So we have no grounds to stand down. And we can look at our resentment banks and justify everything that we do that sin instead of call it sin in repinning. But if you don’t know these words, you won’t even be aware that you can harden your heart to sin. And Jesus says, you know, you guys you’re in the world. In John 17, he said I have given them he’s praying to God, to his father. He says, I have given them your word in the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world, not only asked you to take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil one. They’re not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Twice, he said that. Look, what he’s saying, Guys, I left you here, I didn’t save you and take you right to heaven. I mean, some people may have had come to Christ on their deathbed and gone right to heaven. But he said, I’m leaving you here, I’m not asking you God to take them out of this world, or out of California has moved to Texas or Idaho. I’m not asking you to do that. Here’s what I’m asking. Keep them from the evil one. You know, guys, we’re in a spiritual battle. And in the spiritual battle, there’s angels and demons. And they’re very real. And the demons job is to entice us to tempt us. To destroy in us everything that loves Christ, and every all the character that we have. He’s a accuser that heaps guilt and shame on us. Even after we’ve asked forgiveness and received it, he will accuse us. He is the one that points that bony finger at you. And says, Yeah, you’re the one aren’t you want to his? Didn’t you do that? Now they don’t, they’re not all knowing, but they keep their eye on us pretty close. And so there’s a lot of demon possession going on in our culture. But they say that if you’re a Christian, and you truly have the Holy Spirit, and I believe this, you cannot be possessed by the devil are an evil spirit. But you can be oppressed by it. You can be tempted to temptations, not a sin. It’s fallen to temptation. That’s the sin. Everybody, Jesus was tempted. So we know it’s not a sin. But we saw how he thought that temptation with the Word of God the truth. And so we need to be protected from the evil one. And God protects us from the evil one, but he has a easier job protecting us when we’re walking in the Spirit. We’re abiding in him. We’re spending time in His Word. When you’re spending time with guys like you’re sitting around this morning. That’s how he can more easily protect us from the evil one. He protects us from the evil one by giving us his word, and given us His truth, and given us prayer and the privilege of praying in his name. And coming before a holy father, like we did this morning, was a great prayer time this morning. But you know, the gospel is always a paradox. If you want to live, you have to die. If you want to be first you have to be last. If you want to be great, you have to become a slave. And so that’s the paradox of the Christian life. And so if you don’t like paradox, you’re not going to like trying to figure out how to live the Christian life.
Because he says, If you want to be great, you have to be a slave of all. And so in God’s economy in his system, slaves, guys who choose to be slaves as Jesus did, who humble themselves, give up their right to themselves. He said, those are the great people in the kingdom. Because you’re not going to be great in God’s kingdom. If you’re still living for yourself in your motive is insidiously preoccupied with you. It’s all about you. And we have a culture that’s always been this way ever since the Garden of Eden. But we have a culture today that’s twisted it is turned it on its ear. It said it’s all about you get what you deserve. Get the car you deserve the insurance you deserve those pecan pie you deserve. Well, leave that out. It may be okay. With a scoop of ice cream. You know, we’ve found in scripture in Luke Simeon who held Jesus in his arms when he was a baby. It says and then he prophesied and said this child is set for the fall and the rising tide and of many in Israel. So we say in that one in the same time Jesus is for rising up in the falling of men. There are men that will be broken on the rock of Christ. There are men that will rise up and become men of God, because of Christ, and they’ll stand on the rock of Christ that cannot be shaken. Jesus has been concerned that we should understand who we are in light of the fact in how we’re supposed to live. You have to be perfect. So you’re not going to be perfect in your lifestyle. But you can be perfect in your heart. When God looks at you, he sees the perfect perfection of Christ. He didn’t see all your stumbling around and sin and he didn’t see my excuses that I make and the things that I do the lust in the heart, he’s decided not to see that. Because I have the Holy Spirit in my heart, I’ve been cleansed by the blood of Christ. So when he looks at me, that’s what he sees. He’s not the accuser of the bread, that brother and that’s the devil. He’s the blesser of the brother. And he reminds me of who he is, he gives me grace. He gently corrects me. And he tells me to gently correct others, if I correct them, to be like him, have this attitude in you, which was also in Christ. Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God is something to be held on to. But He emptied Himself took the form of a bondservant, made in the likeness of a man. And being found in the likeness of a man, He humbled Himself, even to the point of death on a cross, have this attitude in you. And the only way you can do more than others is to have that attitude that Christ said, Christ attitude was an attitude of servanthood, of blessing of putting others first of humbling himself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Why, so that he may exalt you at the proper time. There will always be an exhausting of the humble man, who doesn’t need to talk about himself all the time, then love to hear his name, although we all do. He wants He’s humble. He, Jesus made a point and one point of saying, when you walk into a banquet, don’t go sit in the place of honor. He says, Stay in the back. And if they want you in the place, they’ll call you up. Because if we go sit in the place of honor in front of everybody, they’ll have to come up and say, Hey, this is not your seat. You need to blow him out of here. And that’ll embarrass you. So I can embarrass, you are exhausted. And you have to decide what you want. Do you want to do more than others? Do you want to live a lifestyle exemplary of Jesus Christ? Is that your desire? Is that your motive? Is that why you do what you do? You want to honor Christ and be like him in this very evangelistic? You can’t. You can’t separate discipleship, stomp in the word and prayer fellowship and witnessing, being obedient to Christ in obeying Him, making Jesus Lord of your life. All of that’s about one thing about evangelism. If it doesn’t work itself out in having men who are done with themselves, men who had turned the other cheek and go the second mile, then we’ve aborted what he’s what all the discipleship was about. Some guys read their Bible and study and to get smarter,
to have more of a up at sown others, because of the way they know the word. And God’s not impressed with that. God’s press with a humble guy who reads a word and obeys the word who wants to become this like Jesus Christ, he reads the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and goodness and kindness, understanding self control, and he looks at that and he goes, that’s what I want. I want that in my life. I want that to be my character. I want that to be how I act. I want that to be who I am. I want to be those things. And I can be those things in Christ. But you have to hold on to him for all your worth and follow Him with all your heart. So we’re we’re talking about being the men of God that God has called us to be. But we have a problem. In one day, I was thinking about this and ministered demand for a lot of years it just and by this time So I got to know myself and I got to know guys. And so I asked the question, what’s the average guy in the average church look like? What’s it? What kind of guy is he? What characterizes this guy? Go Jesus has called us and said, Look, when he showed up, and they said, we’ll come and be our king. He says, My kingdom is not of this world who come into politics? He said, I’m not going to get in politics. He said, What is your plan? He looked at Matthew leave at the time in the tax table, he said, See that tax gather over there. He’s a plan. And he looked at guys like me and you and say they’re the plan. But we got a problem because our pro profiled what the average guy in the average church looks like today. And I gotta say, before I read this, it’s not only the guy, not totally to blame, but you lead a guy to Christ, you’re supposed to disciple the guy in discipleship is not a strong suit of churches. That’s not what they’re really good at. Helping guys. The men of the word, understand what it means for Jesus to be Lord of their life. Be man of prayer, the importance of fellowship that you’ll never be a godly man or man of God, if you’re not running around women of God. Never do the man of God and you could be in should be if you don’t have godly men in your life. So what characterizes and challenges this average Christian guy, he’s insecure and inadequate, isolated, lonely and fearful. He’s casual relationally with Jesus. And with others, he’s under challenged spiritually, and has to look very hard if he wants to be a part of something bigger than he is to give his life to. He has misplaced priorities and rarely takes time to consider how to make them right. He works hard, usually more than is needed or healthy. He’s stressed and he hates it. But he doesn’t think he can do anything about it. He feels trapped. He doesn’t take care of himself physically. Didn’t really exercise enough than eat right? Probably overweight, will not go to the doctor even if he suspect something’s wrong. He’s not had a physical exam in recent memory. This man has a basic struggles with things like guilt and shame. Believing God loves him, receiving grace, giving grace, making commitments and keeping them business ethics. You might call him more businessman who happens to be a Christian than a Christian who happens to be a businessman. This guy struggles with being able to say simple things like I was wrong. I don’t know. I’m hurting. I need help. I’m sorry. I love you. He has a father wound. Possibly grew up without a dad and been looking for one all his life. Or maybe had an absentee dad who was home but never spent much time with him. Or maybe never never heard his dad say son, I love you. Or son, I’m proud of you.
He could never please his dad and be good enough. Maybe his dad was verbally critical of him and did not believe in him and those put downs have dogged him all his life. He had a hard time respecting his dead. He was hurt seeing his dad mistreat his mom or seeing his dad dominated by his mom. He was never mentored or helped spiritually or morally by dad. Maybe he was never disciplined by his dad and felt that he didn’t care about him. He was maybe he was punished by his dad a lot and was physically kicked around. This man is struggling with pornography if he’s not already addicted to it. He has an anger problem and usually does not even know why. He’s challenged if not struggling in his marriage. He’s not interested in his marriage as much as his wife is. He had no preparation for marriage didn’t read any books or attend any classes or premarital counseling. He does not pray with any consistency with his wife. He feels that he cannot please her and that she does not accept him for who he is. He feels that he cannot be himself. and still be loved by her. While he knows he’s not perfect, he resents that she spends most of her time trying to change him. He would like for her to be as interested in having sex as he is. He does not initiate. He doesn’t initiate things like going to counseling for himself or his marriage. For didn’t initiate date nights or romantic weekend getaways. Anything that’s designed to work on his marriage, such as couples retreats, marriage workshops, classes, small groups, reading something that focuses on a relationship. He’s not interested, not enough to pay a price to go and do that. He doesn’t communicate with his wife in anything more than an informational level. And this guy’s plateaued spiritually. He’s heard 1000 sermons, he’s been to numerous retreats and workshops, seminars, classes, small groups, Bible studies, conferences, maybe even Promise Keepers. He’s read the latest and most stimulating books about men. He knows there’s a lot more to God than he’s gotten to yet. He feels that he needs an accountability group but doesn’t really want one. He knows he does not even does not serve enough, read his Bible enough, pray enough share his faith enough, often feels like throwing in the spiritual towel because he’s just no good at. He does not feel that he can be just himself and still be a Christian and a man of God. He believes that other men have their act together, but he doesn’t. He believes that God loves the other guys, but not him. He believes that he’s unique and the only guy struggling so much with his particular temptations and sins. He struggles with believing that he’s really saved. He spends most of his time in sin management rather than feeling free in Christ. He compares himself to other men and comes away feeling inferior or like a loser or maybe comes away feeling superior. He’s uncomfortable with this term with the term man of God as it applies to him. He wants to be a man of God kinda but does not know how to become one. He’s afraid to get too close to anyone because he’s afraid that they’ll find out who he really is. And he’s terrified of losing control. He feels uncomfortable on spiritual turf. He doesn’t particularly like going to church. He has a hard time identifying with the guy up there preaching. He’s afraid that if he really gets serious with God, he’ll make him go to Africa as a missionary. He struggles in his prayer life. He cannot keep up with his wife spiritually and allows her to take the spiritual lead in their relationship. He’s fearful of sharing his faith, because he does not know how to and he fears rejection. He knows he does not know the Bible very well. And avoids places or situations where you might be asked to pray out loud or look something up. He’s willing to be an elder or Deacon but does not believe he’s qualified spiritually. So he ducks in dodges and does a lot a lot of fancy spiritual footwork, so not to be found out. He’s more apt to attend a business meeting or painful root canal than a prayer meeting.
He doesn’t have a best friend. He’s not that interested in the Men’s Ministry if they have one. He has a hard time trusting other men. He feels competitive with other guys. He’s afraid to be really known by another man he wants to be but is afraid to take the risk. He’s afraid to lose control of his emotions and embarrass himself if he gets too close or invulnerable to others. Other guys, he does not have time to cultivate a best friend. So he settles for shallow relationships with men who are not even who are not more interested in going deeper than he is. He’s more comfortable isolating when he’s struggling or hurting than sharing his perceived weakness with another man or men. There’s absolutely no hugging going on. He finds his identity in his job. I am what I do, or his bank account, or possessions I am what I earn. Are his sexual prowess. Real men always have great sex or a self sufficiency I walk alone I’m a self made man or in his emotional Strength big boys don’t cry. He’s confused about what a real man is in our day or what a man of God is and how he might become one. He’s confused about spiritual leadership, and how to be a spiritual leader in his home, or what his role as a Christian husband and father is and how to do it. Or how to work out his salvation in the marketplace and still be able to provide for himself and his family. In other words, how you going to turn the other cheek and go the second mile and still make a buck out of that. He sees himself as basically a good guy. And he really is, even though he doesn’t tithe much that he gives occasionally when he can. He does not help or serve a volunteer at church much but feels pretty good about it when he does. He reads but not much. And basically when the job requires it, he walks away from things he can’t do well, or soft, quickly, or fix easily. He struggles with feeling unappreciated and respect and respected for who he is and for what he does and contributes. He wants to be respected but basically does not feel he deserves it or worse, does not feel he’s earned. He wants things as long as he can have them in on his own terms. He wants a best friend but not if it’s going to take a lot of time. He wants to be in a small group and not if they have homework. He wants to be involved in spiritual things, but not if they happen in the early morning. He wants to be a better husband and father but no book or reading or attending classes. He wants to write out a check to help but not get personally involved. He wants to go to church but thinks it’s more for women and kids. He wants to crown but not the cross. He wants to be glorified with Him but not crucified with him. He wants to live spiritually but not if it means dying to himself. He wants to be humble but not broken. He wants to have a clear conscience with not if it means he has to repent. He wants to be pure but not without confessing his sin, but without confessing his sin.
He wants to be an accountability group but not held accountable. He wants to be called a servant but does not want to be treated like one. He wants to be a man of character but not if it means discipline himself. He wants to be obedient but not if it means giving up control. He wants to be a man of prayer but not if he has to be alone with God. He wants to be a leader but not if it means being a footwashing slave. He wants to make commitments but maintain his right not to keep them. He wants to keep his vows with only a few keep years. He wants to be involved but only when it’s convenient. He wants to be depended on but still be free to keep his options open. He wants to be able to sin but without having to face the consequences. Is that enough? That’s our struggle, guys. Jesus says what do you do more than others? These are the things that guys struggle with. You probably heard a few things in there you might could identify with. But God has called us to be the kind of guys that other guys want to be. They have a hard time finding the guy they think is a man of God or a man of prayer. A guy of character guy who puts others first God who sacrifices and serves the gods what God does in our hearts when he’s making a man of God. So this week, or maybe just less limited to this day. Something we might can handle this go this do more than others. What do you do more than others? That’s a valid question that God could ask every man who follows Him and claims to be a follower of Christ. What do you do more than others? He’s called us to be a more than others life. Most people won’t live this life. Most people who profess Christ don’t aspire to do this. But in times like these, we need men who aspire to do this as who they want to be and they’re willing to sacrifice and deny themselves. They will endeavor be prepared for the crisis when it comes because when the crisis comes in courage is required. He wants to be that guy that can be depended on that guy that will stand In the face of danger and bear up under suffering and sacrifice for the good of others, as what God has called us to be guys, let’s never forget that. Let’s pray as we close. Let’s pray that God would make us these kind of men. Let’s pray that God would shake us free. They would protect us from the evil one who just wants to do everything in his power to keep us from being these kind of man. This Don’t be lazy unless repent from being lazy. This repent for more than the easy road rather than hard road. This repent for being on the wide road in the broad way, instead of the narrow gate in the narrow way. This repent of whatever we need to repent off. I can’t imagine that this morning God hadn’t said something to your heart. Something that you want to repent of and stop doing. In the power of Christ, not in your own willpower, not in your own sternness. But letting Jesus Christ come in and dominate your life and he’ll conquer that you can’t conquer the sin in your life. But when you’re walking in the Spirit and abiding in him, he said, he said, you will bear much fruit out deliver you from that. That weakness, that sin, that lust, that unhealthy appetite, that aspiration, that glorify yourself, that desire to have more than you need or deserve. And all those things that we struggle with. And Father, we come to you this morning as a bunch of guys who are here because we want to be men of God, we showed up this morning because we love the fellowship. We love the music, the worship, not so much about the teaching. But Lord, this teaching is hard. And I had to go through it myself and look at myself, to know myself to be able to write this stuff down because I’ve struggled so much with so many of these things. And Father, we are desires to be perfect because our Father in heaven is perfect. And so we’re asking you today to help us be perfect in Christ. protect us from the evil one. Help us be the men that you called us to be that you died on the cross to redeem. Help us be the fathers in our homes. Help us be the husbands to our wives.
Help us be the businessman that honor you, in all of our dealings, help us guard our mouth, and our critical spirits, our profanity, our lust after women, our temptation in pornography, our habits that are unhealthy for us physically. Lord, there’s so much but thank you for if we never did one thing we tried, we were giving it our best. And you said Well done good and faithful servant. Thank you for your grace and Your mercy as we traveled this road of being God’s man, thank you for leading and guiding us. Thank you for protecting us on the freeways on the highways and byways of life and all our circumstances. Thank You that we always have you to turn to thank you that you gently correct us. Thank You that You love us anyway, no matter what. And thank you that you’re raising up men like these for Sam such as this, because these men are what the world needs. These men are not the world is not worthy. And I’ve asked a blessing on each one today, each one in the sound of my voice and we want to go out there and give them heaven and bless your name. And see people come to Christ. And so you bring make friends of enemies. And so you do what only you can do in our hearts and lives in the days of head even today in Jesus name and all God’s men said Go get him heaven guys.