Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount

We are aware that Jesus Christ preached what has been called the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount, we understand, was preached early in his public ministry, and that sermon, the bits and pieces, its themes, its principles, its instruction about his gospel, the kingdom of God, will reappear and be expounded upon and discussed throughout his three and a half year ministry. But when Jesus preached his sermon, people did not know who he was. They did not know who he really was. And of course, we do now. We do now. Let's turn to John, chapter 1, and just a few verses here in the book of John. The apostle John made his identity, Jesus's identity very clear in John, chapter 1, verse 9 through 10. And there's much more you can read, but just a few verses here. John 1, 9 through 10. John wrote, that was referring to the one who we know is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ. That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world is made through him, and the world did not know him. And then also, verse 14, in the word, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so Jesus of Nazareth was the word of God. He was the Logos. He was the life and light of men, but they, the world, rejected him. They could not comprehend him. And John explains why. John 3 now, verse 19 through 20. John 3, 19 through 20. Why did the world reject him? John 3, 19. And this is a condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and the men loved darkness rather than light, and because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds, his evil deeds, should be exposed. And of course, we understand that humanity still loves darkness. Humanity, generally speaking, does not like the light of Christ. And as scripture tells us, not everyone liked Jesus or his message. He had enemies among those in power. They said, for example, let's look at Luke chapter 23 verse 5, Luke 23 verse 5. They said a number of things about him. I'm just going to pick out a few of the choice comments.

Luke 23 verse 5, those in power especially said things like this, but they were the more fierce saying, he stirs up the people teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. So they condemned him for stirring up the people, getting the people who were nice and settled all stirred up. His disciples, let's look at Acts 17 verse 6, his disciples would be criticized and condemned for doing something quite similar. His disciples who later preached his gospel, who taught the same instruction that Christ taught, they would also be accused in Acts 17 verse 6 of having turned the world upside down. And here we see one of the times that happened with Paul in this case, but when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, these, these who have turned the world upside down have come here too. They have come here too. So part of what we're seeing as we look at these two scriptures and that Jesus Christ's teachings stirred things up. The message he brought unsettled the world. He unsettled the way things were. And Christ's faithful ones have suffered and died and still do for teaching his word. And frankly, as members of the body of Christ, the church, we intend to remain among those faith of ones who have suffered and died before us. And to do that, we must keep learning his instruction. We must keep pouring over the instructions we find in Scripture and applying them, hearing and doing what Christ says and what we find throughout the Scripture. And so the gospel and way of life Jesus Christ and his church teaches reveals the darkness of the world. And his teaching is life changing. It shakes things up. It turns things upside down. It is life changing for those who have an ear to hear. And so today, we'll focus on Christ's instruction found in Luke 6 verses 17 through 49. This is Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount. And what we'll see here in Luke 6, 17 through 49, Sermon on the Mount, we'll see that Jesus addressed at least three broad topics. We might call them three broad things we need to be aware of and doing. And I'll give you the three broad topics now, and we'll come to each one in due order. First topic was the Beatitudes, also called Blessings and Woes, and actually, which might also be called the Beatitudes, Blessing and Woes, they may also be called the Cost of Discipleship. The Second topic is Love for Enemies.

Love for Enemies was number two. Number three, Do Not Judge. Do not judge. So these are three broad topics we find in Luke 6, 17 through 49, Sermon on the Mount. In the title, the sermon is Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount. Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount. There are many, many lessons to be drawn. We're going to look at what we find here today. So we'll begin at Luke 6. Luke 6, but actually verse 17 through 20. Luke 6, 17 through 20. And if the thunder gets loud, I'll try to get louder until somebody pulls the plug and turn out a lot, and then we'll do something. Okay. It's great to have that backdrop of thunder. It makes me stand up straighter.

So we'll begin at Luke 6, verse 17 through 20. And here we find described kind of the background, the backdrop, you might call it, the scene from the Sermon on the Mount, the sort of thing that was going on as he began, as he was giving the sermon. And this is a, in a sense, this scene's going to repeat in many times throughout the three and a half years. People gathering together, maybe on a hillside somewhere, or he's in a boat, and they're on the shore. Many people standing around. He's teaching, he's instructing, and people are quietly listening. And here's what we find, verse 17. And he came down with them, with the disciples, and he came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits, and they were healed. We have people sick with ailments or accidents, people spiritually possessed, demon-possessed, and they also came to hear him. This was part of what they gathered together for. Verse 19, and the whole multitude sought to touch him, for power went out from him and healed them all. Can you imagine what that would have been like? Have you ever tried to think and imagine, place yourself in that crowd and that scene? Just really amazing. In verse 20, and then he lifted up his eyes toward his disciples, and here he starts what we call sermon of Mount, and he said, blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. The very first sentence recorded by Luke is a reference to his gospel message, the kingdom of God. And so what we find described here is that Jesus healed the sick, he cast out demons, and certainly we would understand that would draw a huge crowd, a lot of attention, and it also demonstrated his power and his authority from God. And he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, that gospel about God's love for humanity, about repentance from sin, about that true and real hope that is coming, that hope that will be fulfilled of salvation, eternal life, everlasting life, and the kingdom and family of God. And his message changed hearts and minds. His message is still changing hearts and minds, the influence of God's Holy Spirit from the Father in us and with us, and it changed the way people related to God and to others. And again, as I said, his message still does today.

And so now we're going to move on to Luke 6, 20 through 26. We're going to find the first topic here. This is the first topic of Jesus' sermon. It's been called different things, it's been called the Beatitudes, and sometimes it's called blessings and woes for obvious reasons, as we'll see here. So let's read on, verse 20, 23, and I'll pick up where we stop there in verse 20. And then he lifted up his eyes toward his disciples and said, "'Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake.' Rejoice, verse 23, rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets." And so what we have read so far, if we look at it closely, we'll understand that what we have read so far, there is something here that makes Jesus' sermon, there's something here that makes it turn the world upside down. There's something here that does turn the world upside down. What do we mean? His teachings upended, as we're going to look here a little closely, his teaching upended the world's value system. His words upended the normal way people think of class system, of poverty and wealth. In the ways of the world, you see the poor destitute, the powerless are not considered blessed. They're not. Find someone who's destitute and ask them, do you feel blessed? And most likely, on most occasions, they'll say, no, I definitely do not feel blessed. I have nothing. I have nothing. But from Jesus' perspective, to be blessed is directly related to the gospel of the kingdom of God. So the blessed are those who believe and hope in the kingdom. Their focus is there, what God is doing now in their lives and what God will deliver to them at Christ's return, as they remain faithful. And so in turn, they willingly submit themselves to obeying God's word and living according to his way of life. And with faith in Christ, they are also willing to forsake all in submission to God. Now the irony is that those who the rich and powerful of the world would consider to be least blessed, the least blessed in the eyes of the world, are the poor. They are the hungry. They are the powerless. They are what the world would often call the foolish of the world. They're the useless. They're the meaningless ones of the world. Yet it's those very same people that Jesus Christ is primarily addressing, it seems, here in the Sermon on the Mount. And these are the same people God chooses to call to salvation. He's not calling just the powerful. Let's hold our place here in 1 Corinthians. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 through 29. Paul explains this also in a little more detail. 1 Corinthians 26-29. I didn't say that right. Yeah, I did. 1 Corinthians 1, 26-29.

And so here Paul writes 1 Corinthians 1, 26. He says, For you see your calling, brethren. He's talking to us as well. That not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame. The King James, verse, says, To confound the wise, to upset their expectations. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the basings of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. And so God will exalt the poor, the hungry, the weak, the powerless of the world through Jesus Christ, their Savior. And those who are the powerful, and you can think of some of the powerful, you may have, you know, you see their names often on the news programs, on websites, makers, movers, and shakers of the world. They're not going to be the ones in those positions of power in the kingdom, unless they be called and repent and go through the conversion process, such as God requires of of those. Now, at the same time, does this mean that God esteems the poor more highly than the rich?

Does God esteem the poor more highly than the rich even more than other people? Well, no, that is not the case either. In Job 34, verse 19, I'll read a verse that was spoken by Eli-Hugh. And Eli-Hugh seems, from the context, he seems to have got it. He seems to have been a better understanding of God and the ways of God than some of the other speakers we see in Job, but that's for a different message. Job 34, 19, here's what Eli-Hugh says. He speaks, saying, "'Yet he, yet God,' that is, God is not partial to princes, nor does he regard the rich more than the poor. For they are all the work of his hands.'" They're all valuable to God. They're just in different places, different blessings have come to them, the different things have been allowed to them. And then back in 1 Corinthians 12, I guess I could have made you go there, but it's nice to have the little exercise of fingers. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13. 1 Corinthians 12, 13.

Speaking of those who make up the body of Christ, the church Paul writes here, he says, "'For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves, the bottom of society, or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. And so the poor are not more worthy of salvation than the rich. But the poor, we might understand, the poor and the powerless would seem to have greater reason to look to God, to trust totally in God and his promise of the kingdom of God. For they have nothing, and God Christ is offering them everything, as it were.'" Now, let's also consider something else about the poor.

While the word poor often means those in economic need, the poor can also refer to those who are poor due to their devotion to God. They are willingly poor because of their devotion to God. Now, we find an example of this in Luke 21 verses 1 through 4. We find an example of such devotion poor even willing to become more poor in devotion to God. And here we might recall how it was that the poor widow, the poor widow who put two mites into the treasury, giving all she had, how that act on her part caught the attention of Jesus Christ. And he praised her. Luke 21 verse 1, and he looked up, Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. Now, we've heard many times explain that the two mites look like two little aspirin-sized pieces of metal. You know, they're, I think Mr. Crane has shown us some examples of that in the past. They were really insignificant bits of metal. But for the widow, what we see here, she put in those two mites. And Jesus said this, verse 3, so he said, truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all, more than all those rich people he just watched. For all out of these, out of their abundance, have put in offerings for God. But she, out of her poverty, put in all the livelihood that she had. She didn't have much, in other words, but through her faith, because of her faith in God and her devotion, she gave it all to God. She trusted it all to God. Now again, if we took a worldly view of what that widow did, by worldly standards, this widow did a very, very foolish thing. She needed those two mites, and she just gave it away. She threw it away in that donation box, the offering box. The world would see that as foolish because she took a great risk. She's risking her well-being. She gave all her livelihood, Jesus said, to God. Of course, the world tends not to have much regard for God. They think God is a made contrivance, an old myth that the sooner let go of, the better the world will be. I am so glad to know that is absolutely, well, foolish talking. Yes, it's foolish talking. We know better. We know better. You see, Jesus recognized her action as it truly was. It was a mighty act of faith and reverence towards God. Her faith moved her to become even more poor materially. But she became more rich in faith, and God would bless her. God would bless her. God looks at the heart, not the amount. What is in the heart?

Now, would we be willing to give all we had in such an act of devotion to God? That's the question that is forced to our minds when we understand Christ's instruction here and the attitudes about blessed are the poor. Those with such a willing devoted heart will be blessed now, we understand, and especially so in the kingdom of God. And it's the same devotion to God that we must have no matter what others do to us. That's also a part of this. As you read earlier, back in Luke 6, verse 22, Jesus said, blessed are you when men hate you. Blessed are you when they exclude you and they revile you and they cast your name, they cast out your name as evil. They destroy your reputation for the Son of Man's sake. They're doing this because you're standing with, you're standing fast with God, with the Son of Man, with Jesus Christ. Do you ever hear anything nowadays about people being excluded, being pushed out?

You ever hear anything about cancel culture? It's happening more and more often.

Today we hear a lot about cancel culture, how people and organizations, Christians, other, sometimes people of other faiths being shunned, they're being boycotted, they're being silenced by those who disapprove of their beliefs.

Are we willing to be canceled for our faith in God? That's one of the questions. These instructions, these lessons of Christ, are teaching us. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake. Are we willing to be canceled for our faith in God? Let's be turning Philippians 3, verses 7 through 11. In Philippians 3, verses 7 through 11, we find so much strength and inspiration for courage because what's happening to us, what will happen to us, has happened to those who preceded us. Philippians 3, verses 7 through 11, Paul experienced what his day and age we might call cancel culture. Paul experienced what it felt like to be canceled, in a sense. He willingly accepted society's hostility, too. He gave up all he had for Jesus Christ, as well. Philippians 3, 7. Paul writes, But what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish. Why? That I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God, by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul had his goal. He knew the goal that God had given him, and he held fast to it. Paul willingly gave up all so that he might truly know Christ and be worthy, be found worthy, of the resurrection to everlasting life when Jesus Christ returns.

And the question that is being begged here towards us, of us, are we willing to do the same? And I know we say we are, and so we need to ask God to help us do that when that time comes. When that time comes in our lives, we need to be asking God now to help us to be ready.

And when we do, Jesus Christ will certainly call us blessed. So though we may be poor and foolish and bullied, though we may be shunned and persecuted for our faith, perhaps now, perhaps sometime in the future, we must never waver in our devotion to God, for we are blessed now, and even more so at Jesus Christ's return.

But there's a few more verses here in this section, this first topic in Luke 6. Let's go back and read Luke 6 now. Luke 6, verse 24 through 26.

And here, in contrast, talking about the blessings, now Jesus shifts in Luke's account, Luke 6, 24-26. In contrast, he shifts to talk about the woes. He declares the woes or condemnations to the rich, those rich and powerful ones of this world. And sometimes we may not consider ourselves rich or powerful, but perhaps in some ways we are, and there's meaning for us. There's meaning for everyone here. Verse 24, Jesus continued in his lesson, saying, But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation, your comfort, woe to you who are full! For you shall hunger! Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep! Woe to you when all men speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets! His warning is, don't get cozy getting the flattering platitudes from people. Don't get too cozy in the worldly ways of comfort and ease. God has called us to something more than just comfort and ease. Now again, Christ's teaching here turns the world's value system upside down. He's upsetting how things normally are viewed from the world point of view. The rich, as well-fed and as powerful as they are, he says, should actually consider themselves cursed. As rich and powerful, as well-fed as they are, he says, they should actually consider themselves cursed due to their greater poverty of faith, due to their greater poverty of devotion to God. They're setting their faith in material things that will not last.

I read somewhere and I liked it. You never see a trailer hitch on the back of a hearse heading to the funeral. You don't see a rental trailer. You can't take your stuff with you.

You can't take it with you. Sometimes we may forget that, and Jesus is instructing us to be careful. Now Jesus is not condemning the rich simply because they are rich materially. That's not it. You know, by most standards of the world, I'm guessing every one of us would be considered rich according to other people's standards in different parts of the world. We are very wealthy as Americans. We might not think we are, but that's in the eyes of the beholder who's looking at us. And so Jesus is not condemning the rich simply because they are rich materially. He's condemning them because of callousness. Because of callousness. The rich he's talking about here use their wealth for self-gratification rather than for helping others in need. And that's what, as Christians, we are also part of our calling is to do to help our brothers and sisters and those in need or to help people get their donkeys out of a pit. The rich don't realize that worldly riches are no substitute for the true riches in God's favor. Back in 1 Timothy 6, 17-9, 1 Timothy 6, 17-9, Paul reveals the superior ways to use material riches. I should say superior way to use material riches. And here Paul is instructing 1 Timothy 6, 17. Paul says, Timothy, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, you know, puffed up, nor to trust in uncertain riches, here today gone tomorrow, but trust in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them, let the rich, do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may hold on eternal life.

Isn't that beautiful? It's what we're to be doing with the blessing God gives us. True riches then come from using what we have to do good works for others to the glory of God. And so God expects us to be willing to give up all we have and all that we are to become totally poor in this world to this world as the cost of our total commitment to God and his way of life, his way of life leading to salvation. We must never hold too tightly to this physical life, to this worldly existence. And so although this portion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is called the Beatitudes, it's sometimes called the blessing or woes, it is also, it can also be known as the cost of discipleship, the cost of discipleship.

So now let's move on to the second topic. The second topic of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is in Luke 6, 27 through 26, verses 27, I said that wrong, verses 27 through 36. And this topic is, again, love for enemies. Luke records this as part of what Jesus spoke on in the Sermon on the Mount. So among the principles Jesus taught, the one which goes so contrary to her human nature into the ways of this world is his emphasis on our need to love our enemies. That just is not the way the world thinks, is it? To love our enemies. It's just not the natural way the world thinks. It's not the natural way we think. We have to learn that. We have to be taught that. We have to practice it. So reading verses 27 through 28, Jesus said, But I say to you who hear, you have hearing, true hearing, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray, pray for those who spitefully use you.

The word for love here is agapeo, A-G-A-P, A-G-A-P-A-O. That's the verb form of agape, and it means to love dearly, and to love dearly in a social or moral sense, a lot of the Bible dictionaries tells us. Agape means to have a genuine concern for someone regardless of whether that concern is returned or not. Again, that goes against our natural way. When we do nice things for others, what do we expect?

They're going to do something nice for us, right? That's the normal way we're wired. That is not the way God is telling us to live. That's not quite the way his love is.

This is a type of love that gives without expecting someone, excuse me, something in return or something in exchange. You love because you love. You don't expect anything in return.

Here in verses 27-28, Jesus clarifies and describes how we must love our enemies. We must do good to them, he says. Bless them, pray for them.

Then these verses clarify and describe how we must love our enemies. You see, we love them God's way, not our own carnal way. Not our own carnal way.

At the same time, Jesus also describes how our enemies act toward us. He tells us here in these verses that they hate us. They curse us. They spitefully use us. Does that help to define for you who your enemy is? Yeah. Their hate toward us refers to their hateful attitudes. Sometimes you can see that attitude in the eyes and the face. Their curses refer to their hateful speech. They may fling at us. And their spiteful use of us refers to those hateful actions.

And so no matter how some will hate us, no matter how some will hate us, Jesus instructs us to practice godly love toward them all. That is God's way of love.

It turns the world upside down. That is not the way of the world.

And so as Christ's disciples, again, we're striving to live as our teacher and master taught and lived. Romans 5 verse 8. Hold your place here, please. In Romans 5 verse 8, let's notice something. It's part of what Paul talks about in Romans 5 verse 8. He says, but God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And so what he's teaching here is what he would do at the end of his public ministry. He would put down his life for all people, even all these evil people, all these sinners, people like us. And so God demonstrated his acape towards us and that Jesus Christ only gave his life for humanity. Jesus was, again, the life and life of man. And even though humanity loved darkness and rejected him, violently so, he nonetheless laid down his life for them, for everybody as well.

And we're to be practicing that same sort of life toward those, to everybody, toward those who hate us. And we can do it. And we are doing it. I know we are. But we're doing it with the help of God's Holy Spirit. And of course, with a lot of God's help and wisdom, we can do it. But the question is, in these lessons Christ teaches us, we're learning the big questions of us. The question here is, are we loving our enemies? Do we do that? Are we learning to do it better?

So now, going back to Luke 6, verse 29, let's continue on. And so, after this instruction, Jesus then gives four examples of how to respond to hate in a godly way. We need to know these things because we face hate. We're going to face hate in our lives. Luke 6, 29, To him who strikes you on with one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give him a little bit more of your clothing you're wearing. Verse 30, Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. He's setting up the ideal. He's setting up the principles that we need to be striving to follow.

Now, again, these four examples are not describing the way people naturally respond. It's not the way I would naturally respond. In the synagogue, when they heard these things were filled with wrath, and they rose up and thrust him out of the city, and they led him to the brow of the hill in which their city was built, that they might throw him down over the cliff. That's pretty life-threatening. But then verse 30, what happens? What happened in the gap? I don't know. Then passing through the midst of them, he went his way.

It seems somehow he slipped. He just slipped their grip. He got through them. He got away from them somehow. And you can see the similar thing happen. I'll give you these references. John 859, John 859, and also John 1039. This is something he did at times, and it seemed to be an example for us to consider. You see, here's the thing. By avoiding the direct violence upon him, Jesus did what at that time was best for them.

It was best for them that they not try to throw him off the cliff. You can imagine what might happen to them before that happened. Yeah. So Jesus would avoid being taken until that time when that time should be fulfilled, when he lay down his life for their sins and for the sins of all humanity.

And so rather than teaching pointless passivity when confronted by hate, Jesus was teaching that one must remain persistent in expressing and showing true godly love. So if someone hits you on the cheek, literally or figuratively, it happens a lot figuratively nowadays, perhaps, we must keep on practicing godly love.

If someone takes our cloak because they want it or really need it, let him take it and be willing to offer more to him as well. You see, the idea is to act generously out of concern for the other without expecting anything in return. But of course, all of this requires wisdom and faith. Even in defending ourselves, sometimes we understand it can be an act of love and protecting the other person from a terrible retribution that could come upon him or her.

Now, back in Luke 6. Back in Luke 6, 32-34, we find a shift in Jesus' instruction to address just how we must be willing to extend ourselves, just how much we must be willing to risk being uncomfortable by loving our enemies in a more direct and personal way. In other words, we must do more than just avoid our enemies at times. Sometimes we do have to face them. Verse 32, But if you love those who love you, Jesus says, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit, what benefit is that to you?

For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those for whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? What risk, what sin, what risk, what sacrifice, in other words, is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. And so again, Jesus urges us to go beyond our natural inclination to love and do good only to those who love and do good to us. That's easy. The harder, more godly thing to do is to do what Christ did, laying down his life for those who hate, for those who were sinners.

And so we must push ourselves to do good and to be kind and loving to the likable and to the unlikable that we meet in life. And as an upside down—and that is such an upside down thing to do, but that is exactly what we must be doing as part of God's agape mindset, a mindset we must keep developing.

And so the question is, are we doing this? Or can we do better? And of course, I think we can always do better. I always see that we can do better. And then verse 35-36, Jesus then ends his instruction on loving our enemies with this exhortation. This reminder about the goal of our calling. Verse 35, Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping nothing in return, for your reward will be great. That's our focus. And you will be sons of the Most High. For he, for God, is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore, you be merciful just as your Father also is merciful.

And so it is when we yield to God's Spirit, because it's God's strength in us that helps us desire and even to have the will to do these things. When we yield to God's Spirit and love our enemies, we are doing good works of the glory of our Father in heaven, and we will be rewarded. It's a promise.

And so in loving our enemies, God's way, we really have nothing to lose but some of our old carnal nature, our own carnal ways of thinking. And that's part of what we wanted to bury in that watery grave of baptism. And we need to do it. We need to be merciful as God is merciful. And the third topic then, third topic is found in Luke 6, 37 through 42. Do not judge.

In his third topic, Jesus taught a truly different approach, one again unlike the typical approach of the world. We must not judge others. Reading Luke 6, 37, judge not and you will not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. Now, to understand Christ's instruction here, we need to understand what to judge means. There can be great confusion about this.

Here, to judge means to condemn. To condemn, to judge in a highly judgmental and unjust way.

It's to condemn in a highly judgmental and unjust way. And so you see here, condemn not, the first sentence says judge not, the next sentence says condemn not. They're synonyms. They help to explain the meaning. Albert Barnes, in his notes in the Bible, does more to clarify the meaning of what judge not means. And here's what he said. Albert Barnes wrote, quote, this command, judge not, refers to rash, hypercritical, and unjust judgment. Did you get that word? Rash, hypercritical, over the top, criticism, and unjust judgment. He continues. Luke 6, 37, explains it in a sense of condemning. Christ does not condemn judging as a magistrate or as a judge, a court judge. He says Christ does not condemn judging as a magistrate for that when according to justice is lawful and necessary, nor does he condemn our forming and opinion of the conduct of others. For it is impossible, Barnes writes, not to form an opinion, not to form an opinion of conduct that we know to be evil. But what Christ refers to is a habit of forming a judgment hastily, harshly, and without an allowance for every extenuating circumstance, and a habit of expressing such an opinion harshly and unnecessarily when formed. And so, to judge not, rather instead refers to private judgment than judicial judgment, and perhaps primarily to the customs of the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees were always being hypercritical of Jesus Christ, even as was mentioned in the sermonette today about his healing doing good on the Sabbath. And so we should understand then that to judge not means to not be judgmental and fault-finding, and to put aside any self-righteous attitude. Epocracy is like this, and hypocrisy is truly ridiculous, as Jesus is going to illustrate here in just a few verses. So Jesus is not telling us not to practice discernment or not to recognize sin or to see how we might help others. Instead of being judgmental, we're to be forgiving and merciful.

And then verse 38 underscores Christ meeting more. He says, in essence, he's saying, do unto others as we would have others, do unto us, and we might add, do unto others as we would have God do unto us. The idea of mercy. Again, how well are we doing this? Can we do better? And then to emphasize his lesson about not judging others, Jesus also told two quick parables. The first appears in verses 39 through 40. He spoke a parable to them. He said, can the blind lead the blind? Now the correct answer is no. The blind, especially we're talking spiritually blind, cannot lead the blind. Will they both not fall into the ditch? There's the ditch. Will they not both fall into the ditch? The answer is yes.

And then he says the disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And so what's the point he's making here? The lesson in the short parable explains how a disciple will be like his teacher whose instruction he follows.

The teacher who is blind to the light leads his disciples who are blind because they follow the instruction of their blind teacher. Blind following the blind. And thus both fall into a ditch, or ditch is a symbol for destruction. And here Jesus seems to be warning against following false teachers who walk in darkness not seeing the light of God's truth. But it's not that way with Jesus Christ. Those who follow Jesus Christ who is the light. The disciples who follow Jesus Christ will not fall into a ditch if they adhere to his instruction. If we follow Christ's instruction, we will stay out of the ditches. We will stay out of the destruction. We will remain on the path to salvation. And then there's another second parable in verses 41 through 42. Again, to illustrate with a rather ridiculous image this point about being judgmental, the absurdity of it all, of being a hypocrite in particular. Verse 41-42, Jesus says, and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye? The idea of that speck was like a tiny, itty-bitty tiny piece of sawdust in your eye. He says, why do you look at that speck, in other words, of sawdust in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye when you yourself cannot see the plank that is in your own eye? Can you imagine? Here's the silliness of the image, and it's meant to be ridiculous so we remember it. Imagine you had a, it's kind of painful to think of, imagine you had a two by six by twelve plank, a 12-foot plank in your eye, and you're trying to get close enough to look for the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye. You can't do it. How do you take care of the speck in your friend's eye? You've got to get rid of the plank in your own eye so you can even get close enough to help him to even see what you're doing. And so that's why Jesus said, first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you'll see clearly to remove the speck that's in your brother's eye. And so Christ in these two parables is telling us that being judgmental and self-righteous blinds us to our own sins, and moreover, being blind to our sins makes us less than helpful in helping others to overcome their sins. It's not possible to help others truly until we get rid of our own hypocrisy, our own sins. Instead, we need to do the opposite. We need to be humble. We need to be teachable through repentant heart. And so are we being judgmental of others? Rather than finding fault with our brethren, we need to be examining our own lives for sin and repenting. And so that is the third and final topic from Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount. And so we've considered Jesus's lessons about counting the loss of discipleship, counting the cost of discipleship. We've heard his lesson about loving our enemies and about not judging others. And each of these lessons are meant to be deeply personal for each of us.

But there's more before he concluded his sermon as Luke records it.

To wrap up his lesson, he made a powerful point through two additional parables, verses 43-45. Verse 43-45, first he explains that a tree is known by its fruit, and so is a man's heart known by his actions. With this parable, it seems Jesus is giving us a measurement. He's giving us a means of evaluating ourselves, or maybe to help evaluate our brother who is like us, united trying to walk this pathway to salvation in God's church. He's giving us a means of evaluating whether we're making progress. Verse 43, he says, For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. And so he's telling us our actions, our words, pay attention to what we're doing. Do they reflect the way of Christ? Do our words and actions reflect the way of God's love, that acape of self-sacrifice? And if they don't, then there's something we can find that we need to be working on. In the second parable, verses 46 through 49, begins with Jesus' poignant question, a very pointed question here. Verse 46, he says, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? Again, that's a question for evaluation. We need to be evaluating ourselves with that question. We call upon God. We call him our Lord. Are we doing what he says? Are we actually doing what he says? If we hear, then we will be putting into action his instruction. And so then he continues, verse 47, Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings, and does them, I will show you whom he is like. And this is what we want to be doing, building our lives, our house, and this rock. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against the house and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth, on just bare dirt, without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. Again, powerful images that are meant to be engraved in our minds and our hearts, not to be forgotten. The man who hears and obeys is a man who founded and built his house, his life, on that rock, which the flood of troubles can never destroy. And so are we building on that rock of our salvation? Can we do better even as Jesus instructs us to be doing throughout his sermon, throughout this message we've been studying more carefully here today? And so it's with these concluding parables Jesus urges his followers to action. He's urging us not to be passive, but to be active, to believe, and to obey what God has given him to tell us. Can we do better? That's up to us. And so Christ's Sermon on the Mount is a call for us as disciples to no longer follow the ways of the world, to upend our habits, our worldly habits, our worldly ways, and to be transformed, to conform to Jesus Christ, to live, and to be more like Christ. And it does require our careful hearing of God's instruction. It does require our careful examining of ourselves, repentance of sin, seeking God's forgiveness, and then with the spiritual help of God himself, in moving ever forward persistently with endurance onto salvation. Jesus Christ taught that we have been called to true life and true riches in the kingdom of God. So brethren, our calling, our duty, is to get busy. It's time to get busy practicing the lessons of the Sermon on the Mount.