Sermon on the Mount Part 4

Under you want to be sure that your spiritual house is built on a firm foundation, built on the Rock Jesus Christ? Do you want to be sure that your spiritual house will not seriously waver and will certainly not fall no matter how difficult times become? Well, it only makes good sense, then, to study the teachings of Jesus Christ, to study the teachings of the Rock, the head of the Church. It only makes good sense to not only read and study Christ's words, but to also live by each and every one of those words. So today we're going to continue with the series on the Sermon on the Mount. This is the fourth part, the fourth installment to the Sermon on the Mount series. Of course, the Sermon on the Mount is no doubt the most popular sermon ever written, ever given. It is most likely a compilation of many of many sermons that Jesus Christ gave, condensing it down to some of the most important and salient points that Christ wants us to get. Today we're going to, again, talk about these foundational teachings. And you know one thing that is pretty scary when you buy a house, if the foundation starts to crack, it starts to split, we're talking some big bucks to fix the foundation. That's probably the homeowner's worst nightmare, or at least very close to the top. When the foundation is unsound, it really brings a lot of problems. So it is very important that you understand that this Sermon on the Mount is foundational. We need to build our lives on the rock. And Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount gives us these words of life. Of course, the entire Bible is important that we study the entire Bible, but we certainly need to get the foundation right. And one of the foundational teachings, of course, comes from Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. So rather than take time in summarizing the past three sermons, I've decided that I'm just going to skip through all of that and ask you to go review them yourselves. Go back and watch or listen to the sermon again. They're all posted on our website. So we'll go right into verse 10. I figured if I kept reviewing, we'd take a couple extra sermons and we don't want this to get too long. However, this is, as I said, very foundational teaching and it deserves that we take quite a bit of time to cover it. So let's begin reading in verse 10. It's at the end of the Beatitudes.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Remember, these Beatitudes are exclamations of how we ought to live our lives. Christ says, blessed are those who are persecuted. Now, most people don't naturally look at it that way, do they? When we're persecuted, we don't always count that a blessing. But Christ says it is a blessing. Blessed are those who are persecuted, of course, only for righteousness sake. If you're persecuted for your own sins, then that's a different matter. But if you're persecuted for righteousness sake, that is a blessing, and yours will be God's kingdom. You'll be given the gift of eternal life in the kingdom of God. So those who are willing to suffer persecution for Christ's sake, or for righteousness sake, which is the same thing, Christ was totally righteous. We are told to become righteous. In fact, we're told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added to us. We will be given the kingdom of God. Now, it is imperative that we are all willing and able to suffer persecution without compromising.

We should not compromise with God's law. We should not deny God. We should not deny Christ. And of course, we ought not deny one another. We should be willing to stand up for each other and be counted. Who knows what's going to happen in the future? Who knows who's going to be alive when Christ returns in this room? None of us know that. We might all be alive. Perhaps none of us will be alive. Perhaps some who are the youngest will be alive. We really don't know. We know Christ is coming, and we know what we are taught in the Bible, and that's what we need to live by. When we suffer for righteousness' sake, we need not be shaken. Remember, we are not to fear what man can do to us. Matthew 10. We are not to fear what man can do, but we are to fear what God can do, because we can be cast in the lake of fire if we are unfaithful. If we're not true, if we rebel against God, if we deny Him, if we deny Christ, we will be cast into the lake of fire. So we should be more concerned about what God thinks, and about what God wants, than what people think, say, or do to us.

If we are faithful, then God will certainly provide entrance into His Kingdom, and that is what really matters. What goes on in this physical existence is important. Yes, it is important, mainly because it prepares us and allows us to qualify for a spiritual existence that is going to allow us to live forever. We're not going to earn salvation, that's not what I mean by using the word qualify. We qualify for this gift by following God and being repentant. That's how we qualify, is by striving to live by every word of God, striving to put sin out of our lives, striving to become like Christ, and continuing to have a repentant attitude.

So it's in this context that we should consider persecution. Persecution will come.

We are told to keep our eyes on God's heavenly Kingdom, and not on the cares of this earth and this age. We are told to lay up treasures in heaven, not here on the earth. That's where our focus needs to be. However, too often we find our focus on the things of this life, rather than the things that are to come that are eternal. That is a huge mistake. We need to make sure we get it right, put God's Kingdom first, and the material things in this life are a distant second.

So we must find our courage and strength in relying upon God and God in us. By the power of God's Holy Spirit, we will be made strong in the days ahead. The fact of the matter is that most of us in this country, in this day and age, do not suffer much persecution. Can we really say we've really suffered a lot? I can't say that I've suffered a lot of persecution.

Not to say I haven't suffered a little bit of persecution, but I can't say that I've suffered very much, especially compared to those who came before us, the prophets who were martyred, most of them, also the apostles who were martyred, Stephen who laid his life down as a martyr. So today, we have freedom of religion. We have a lot of freedom. It's a secular world in many respects, but that allows us to be given more latitude and more leeway in what we believe. Now, we do have rather isolated cases of some who are persecuted. Some have lost jobs because of the Sabbath. In this country, usually there's another job that you can find. So it isn't often a huge trial, but sometimes it is. You know, some people have gone through some severe trials because of observing God's Sabbath day and being unwilling to work on the Sabbath. They've lost some very good jobs. They've lost income. So I'm not making light of what some may suffer in this life, but frankly, the majority of us, we get by pretty easily when it comes to persecution.

Sometimes our children have been persecuted to varying degrees because of our beliefs and not observing the holidays, holidays that are steeped in paganism. We find some of that paraphernalia around us, even at this time. I've noticed that certainly some people around here enjoy certain symbols of the holidays, and I did it once upon a time as well. So I'm not throwing any stones at people because without the knowledge of God and His truth, then I'd be doing the same thing.

But that doesn't make it right. That doesn't make it the right thing for us, surely, or for our children. God clearly told us to not learn the way of the heathen. We're not to learn the way of the heathen or the pagans. We should look back in history and see where things came from. It's not hard to do. You can go to any encyclopedia and it'll tell you the origins of man's holidays. Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween. Those origins are there for anyone to read and to study into if they have a mind to. I think it makes a difference. We are not to learn the way of the heathen. They weren't supposed to learn it back then. We're not supposed to learn it today. So it is important that we do stand up. It doesn't mean we have to go out of our way to be persecuted. It doesn't mean we rub our beliefs in other people's noses. That's not how we're to conduct ourselves, but we're also not to compromise. And that's a delicate balance, finding the right balance in how we handle the situations that we come in contact with today.

Certainly, God's holy days are to be observed. His days are holy. They should be observed. They should be honored. They should be respected. And man's pagan holidays are to be rejected.

Flat out, they are to be rejected. Now is the time to stand up and be counted when it comes to these days. They are signs between us and our God. That's one way that we are known by the things that we do, the laws that we keep, the days that we observe. The Bible is clear about the Sabbath day. It was sanctified at creation. It was set apart for a holy purpose and a holy use. So, we should be faithful in observing the Sabbath day. We should be faithful in observing God's annual holy days. It's very clear that the annual holy days are also to be observed. The apostles kept them. Jesus Christ kept them. They're going to be kept in the millennium. There's plenty of proof in the Bible about these days. We should not compromise when it comes to God's holy days. They are indeed a sign between us. It's not the only sign. Love is a great sign, isn't it? How we have love for one another. Again, we should not think we're better than other people because of the knowledge that we've been given and the calling that we have. We should be very careful how we treat one another and treat all people with respect, regardless of their beliefs. We should have a balanced, godly approach when it comes to this.

Are we fully committed and convicted to observing God's holy days? Well, you're here, so that's definitely a good thing. That certainly means something. What about when you children grow older? Will you observe God's Sabbath? Will you keep the annual holy days? Or, as so many other teenagers or young adults, they will get away from doing these things for a time, maybe for a long time? That's not what we should do. We should be faithful throughout our lives.

We may also suffer some persecution because of our beliefs and a variety of God's law. Certainly, the Sabbath and the holy days aren't the only laws. We know what the Bible says about homosexuality, for example. The Bible is pretty clear. It's not a lifestyle that God endorses. It's not just an alternative lifestyle that's hunky-dory. It's not what the Bible says. The Bible is to be our guide. We are to follow the Bible. Certainly, this world is becoming increasingly more immortal and permissive. Certainly, I've seen that since I've been growing up for the last nearly 60 years. Well, a little over 60 years. I'm 61. So, I think seeing things continue to slide downhill when it comes to morality, at least in many ways. So, it's truly a sad state of affairs, pun intended, in this country. It's a sad state of affairs, what's going on and the way people conduct themselves today in this day and age. We may be persecuted as a church or as individuals for what some may label hate crimes. God himself would be guilty of hate crimes, and yet we know God is love. Right? But in some people's thinking, God would be guilty of hate crimes.

Again, we must stand firm in our godly beliefs. And again, we don't go out of our way to bring persecution upon us, but we should be careful and circumspect when it comes to our beliefs and how we share those with others. But we should certainly share them as the opportunity arises, and we must not compromise. Of course, we're to love all people, including homosexuals, transgender people. Yes, we should love all people. It's important that we set that example for our children and for one another. There are some very nice people who are corrupt in their sexual orientation.

They're corrupt. But they may be very fine people in many other ways. You know, they may be very decent people in so many other ways. And remember that sin is sin, and all of us are sinners.

That doesn't make excuses for any sins. We should not compromise with sin regardless. All sin needs to be repented of, no matter what the sin, no matter how little or large it is considered. At the time Christ said these words back about 2,000 years ago, he was very aware of what was going to happen to him personally. He knew what would become of his disciples. You know, Christ understood that there would be great persecution upon him and upon his disciples, his followers. He knew they would all be persecuted to one degree or another. Persecution in Christ's time affected all areas of life for a follower of Christ.

First of all, a Christian's work could be disrupted because of persecution. If someone were a stonemason, let's say, back in ancient times a couple thousand years ago, his company might sign a contract to construct a pagan temple.

They would have to deal with that. Where would they draw the line? What would they be willing to do? It's really not a whole lot different from what happens today. We still have to make decisions on what we will do or not do and try to have a godly balance. Remember Demetrius? I think it was Demetrius in the Bible that was a maker of idols. He made idols, and they didn't like it when Paul was speaking out against idols because it was causing a problem with their business. Their sales were going down. They were plummeting when people stopped buying those pagan idols. So there was a big ruckus. You might remember what happened in Ephesus over this situation. I believe it was Ephesus. So that's what happened back in ancient times. Some might be called upon to sell paraphernalia for observing various pagan holidays. Someone might be called upon to sew robes for heathen priests. I don't know. Where do you draw the line? That's been an age-old question for a long time now. But we know we ought not compromise, and we should see God's wisdom when it comes to these things.

Another area was a Christian social life. It would be affected as well. The world was more steeped in paganism and heathen ways than it is today, at least blatantly. It was a lot more blatant back in those days. It's a lot more subtle these days. New wrinkles, same old story in many, many respects. In ancient times, most feasts were held in the temple of some pagan god.

Even in most homes, a libation or toast would be made to a pagan god, or a drink offering would be poured out to a foreign god. It was blatant. No doubt these pagan heathen practices caused problems and issues for true followers of Christ. Barclay says in the Gospel of Matthew by William Barclay, he said that when invitations were sent to people, they would say something like this, I invite you to dine with me at the table of our Lord Serapis. Serapis was another name for the sun god. So what would you do if you got an invitation like that? You wouldn't go, right? I mean, you have to set an example. I don't worship the sun god. I'm not going to engage in this activity. Another area where persecution would involve a Christian was in their family life. The family life could be greatly affected. Oftentimes, only one or two people in a family, an extended family, would be called by God. Only a couple people would respond.

Immediately, there was a split in the family. Does that remind you of what happens today? When someone's called? Of course. I mean, some of us have these situations in our own families, right? Sometimes it's caused a large breach. There was a time when my grandparents were that close to kicking me out of the house around Christmas time, because my kids, you know, and what they wanted to do, and what I didn't want them to do, and I don't know if I handled it the best way possible. But I took a stand and almost got booted out of the house for it.

So these are delicate issues, but we do need to be careful that we don't compromise, and that we set a godly example in the things that we do, the things that we say. We don't want to give a wrong impression. On the other hand, we don't want to go overboard either, because people can go overboard. I've seen a lot of people go way overboard when it comes to these things, and they've caused breaches in their families that were not necessary. They weren't necessary, and I hope and pray we've learned a lot over the years. I think we have. It seems to me we have a better balance, and it seems like we deal with it better than we used to, at least in some households. I don't know if that's true in every household, but it's true, I believe, in some homes.

Again, godly balance is the key.

One who became a Christian might be rejected immediately because of the dangerous times. Back in those days, they'd haul Christians off and kill them. I mean, that's how severe it was at times. So, say your brother or sister starts believing in Christ. I mean, what are you going to do?

Are you going to protect them? Are you going to just kick them out of the house? What are you going to do? How are you going to treat one in your family who becomes a Christian?

I'm sure we've heard of stories of how Emperor Nero persecuted Christians, even making them human torches, setting them on fire, covering them with pitch, and then setting them on fire. He would even light his gardens, it was said, with Christians. So, we don't know how bad it's going to get in the future. It's hard to fathom something like that going on, but the Bible talks about some very cataclysmic, tumultuous times that will happen in the future. It's called Jacob's Trouble, and it's a time such as no other time on earth. There's been some bad times on earth.

Christianity often did bring strife and trouble to a Christian's family, I think much more so than today, even though it can certainly bring trouble today.

Christians were tortured, they were persecuted, and what happened to Christianity? The true Christianity. What happened to it? It pretty much got stamped out, for the most part, not totally, not completely. The gates of hell were not to prevail against God's Church. There would be a thread of those who would be faithful throughout history. But when you look at history, 150, 200, 300, I mean, there's fewer and fewer true Christians to be found. They were scattered, and they became greatly diminished in their numbers, and a lot of it had to do with persecution. Persecution took its toll. So blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Always keep that in mind, because there is great reward when you're willing to be persecuted for righteousness' sake, and that great reward is eternal life in God's kingdom.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Now, verse 11 and 12, Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So, brethren, we're in good company if we're persecuted for righteousness' sake. Keep that in mind as well. You're in good company if you're persecuted. Christ certainly was persecuted. As were all the prophets and anyone who speaks the truth on a consistent basis, eventually it's going to bring some trouble upon us. We should expect some persecution if we are being righteous. The more one is righteous, the more likely there will be greater persecution. We are tested in various ways, and some are tested in this way more than others. Some have been more greatly tested than I have when it comes to persecution.

Many lies and slanders were spread against early Christians. For example, for one thing, they said they were cannibals. That was a rumor that went around for a time. This was largely due to what Christ said about eating my flesh and drinking my blood at Passover. You know, Christ was talking in symbols. We're to drink wine that is symbolic of the shed blood of Christ. We're to eat on leavened bread, symbolic of the broken body of Christ.

We're not to eat human flesh, and we don't eat human flesh. We never have eaten human flesh. Christians don't do that sort of thing, but that was a rumor that went around in some circles about Christians. Another rumor was they were accused of immorality and actually engaging in orgies of lust.

Why was that? Because they kept their love feasts. They kept God's holy days. And there was a time, anyway, when they would greet one another with a holy kiss. Not some lustful kiss, but what's referred to as a holy kiss. Now we shake hands, we hug each other. You know, I mean, it's a huge stretch to go from that to some kind of an orgy, but evidently those things were spread to slander people.

I mean, when the times are right, people will say anything to get people against one another. Another thing that they would say about Christians was they called them incendiaries or accused them of inciting upheaval and rebellion because of their beliefs in the end times.

Now we believe what the Bible says, so we believe that some difficult times are going to come. And when that starts to happen, oftentimes people will start pointing the finger at those who said it was going to happen, and they'll claim they're the reason it's happening.

In fact, the Jews were slandered and it was said that they were the cause of the bubonic plague back in ancient times. They tried to pin it on the Jews. There are many instances of that type of persecution. Another thing, Christians were accused of being home breakers because of the impact that Christianity had on families. And yeah, there's some truth to that because of keeping the laws of God and the truth of God, it causes problems and issues and troubles in families when others aren't willing to do the right thing.

So these things were going on, all kinds of persecution. There was a lot of political persecution too at the time when Christ wrote this. The Roman Empire spread throughout most of the known world around this time. And for the first few hundred years of Christianity, Rome was king. Rome had brought peace and prosperity to the world to a large degree. First there was worship of the goddess Roma.

It became very prevalent, trying to unify the world basically by worshiping this goddess Roma. And then later it was emperor worship that became prevalent and even compulsory at one point. According to Barkley, I'd like to read a little bit from page 114 here in regard to emperor worship. It says here that, as the years went on, the Roman government saw in this emperor worship the one thing which could unify the vast empire of Rome.

Here was the one center on which they could all come together, so in the end the worship of the emperor became not voluntary but compulsory. Once a year a man had to go and burn a pinch of incense to the godhead of Caesar and say, Caesar is Lord. And that is precisely what the Christians refused to do. For them, Jesus Christ was the Lord, and to no man would they give that title which belonged to Christ.

It can be seen at once that Caesar worship was far more a test of political loyalty than anything else. In actual fact, when a man had burned his pinch of incense, he received a certificate called a libellus to say that he had done so and then he could go and worship any god he liked, so long as his worship did not interfere with public order and decency.

The Romans gave a lot of latitude. They didn't. They kind of picked their battles carefully in a way. In some ways, they allowed all this different kind of religious variance because there was tremendous religious variance. People were worshiping different gods, all kinds of stuff was going on. But the Christians refused to conform to that. They wouldn't sign something that said Caesar is Lord, master.

So they uncompromisingly chose Christ. They utterly refused to compromise. The result was that however good a man, however fine a citizen a Christian was, he was automatically an outlaw. In the vast empire, Rome could not afford pockets of disloyalty. That is exactly what every Christian congregation appeared to the Roman authorities to be. A poet has spoken of the panting huddled flock whose crime was Christ.

How will we see this played out in the future?

The only crime of the Christian was that he set Christ above Caesar, and for that supreme loyalty the Christians died in their thousands. They face torture for the sake of the lonely supremacy of Jesus Christ. The scripture talks about a time when there will be a false prophet, there will be a great beast power, and people will worship these two beings.

There will become a time, and people will have to make choices. They won't decide who they will follow. So we ought not think that persecution is dead forever. Certainly not true.

Polycarp lived around AD 69 to about 155, and we've often considered him likely a true Christian because of what we've read about him and heard about him. I'd like to read from page 115 his last words. Polycarp.

He said, 80 and six years have I served Christ, 86 years I have served Christ, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king who saved me? So they brought him to the stake, and he prayed his last prayer, O Lord God Almighty, the father of your well-beloved and ever-blessed Son, by whom we have received the knowledge of you, I thank you that you have graciously thought me worthy of this day and of this hour.

So he showed his loyalty to Christ at that time. He was martyred. He was one of the most famous of all the martyrs. He was the aged bishop of Smyrna. The mob dragged him to the tribunal of the Roman magistrate, and he was given the inevitable choice, sacrifice to the Godhead of Caesar, or die. He chose death. But again, not many we know of were that faithful and that true. I mean some, yes, but Christianity took a huge hit back in those days, and Constantine comes along, and he sees some of the loyalty of some of these Christians, and I'm sure he was impressed by that. But he also wanted to have the masses involved. So syncretism. You've heard of the word syncretism, where you mix up some truth with some error, some paganism, and you get what we got today. So it is important that we are willing to suffer persecution. We have to remain faithful, no matter what. Now let's go on to verse 13. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. Now the main message here is that we are to be true Christians, and we are to set a sterling example of the Christian way of life at all times. If we're going to be the salt of the earth, that's what it's talking about. It's talking about our example. It's talking about how we live our lives. We are to remain steadfast in our faithfulness and obedience to God and His way. We are to be unwavering in our pursuit of righteousness and goodness. Our actions should be above reproach. And we should always take the high road. When we are proven to be unfaithful, and we are not repentant, and we continue to act unfaithfully, eventually we're going to be cast into the lake of fire. Such a one will be trampled underfoot as he becomes ashes before the righteous, the righteous who will become glorious, eternal spirit beings.

It is important, obviously, that we are the salt of the earth. Now, in the ancient world, salt was highly valued. The Greeks called salt divine. It was connected in people's minds with three special qualities. According to Barclay, he gives three. One is purity. Romans said it was the purest of all things, coming from the sun and the sea. A pure white salt is pure. Now they mix it up with all kinds of stuff. Himalayan pink salt. I don't know. But a lot of salt is white. It looks pure. Sometimes they put pepper and salt together. But salt was the purest of all things in the ancient days. It was valuable. They would mine salt. It's been valuable for many, many years. It doesn't cost much today. We were able to mine it much more cheaply and all that. But what if we had no salt? Do you enjoy salt? I enjoy salt. I like to salt my foods. I know you can overdo it. You can put too much salt, but no salt at all?

That was another one of those values. Salt was highly valued because it lended flavor to foods. It lended flavor. Salt adds to the enjoyment of many foods. A Christian is to add flavor to life.

You should be a joy to be around. People should want to be around you because you're loving. You're kind. You're true. You're honest. You're faithful. You're self-disciplined. You're humble. You're patient. You're producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit.

It is sad that there is so little true Christianity in the world today.

True Christianity. I'm not saying there aren't people who produce some of the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. Certainly, we are to be producing that fruit in abundance.

But, unfortunately, there's little true Christianity. There's a mixture of good and evil in this world. We see that oftentimes. There are people who do a lot of good things out there. The Bible says every good gift comes from God. I would never attribute to Satan that which is good.

I think in some ways we've made mistakes in the past by not really looking at this carefully and properly. There are good deeds that are done. People can do some good things out there. We might even ask ourselves, can they even produce the fruit of God's Spirit to some degree? Is God's Spirit working with people? Before we're baptized, don't we believe God's Spirit is working with us? Isn't that how we change? Isn't that how we become different? We allow God's Spirit to work in us. Who's to say that people that aren't yet converted can produce a bit of the fruit of God's Spirit? That may sound strange to you, but I'd like you to think about that. Think about what I'm saying. I'm not saying these people are converted. I don't believe they're converted. You have to live by every word of God, and there are some words they're definitely not living by. Are they keeping God's commandments? All of them? Sabbath? The holy days? If they're not, they're not likely converted. God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. And that's not just in a few things. That's essentially in most everything. That we understand, that we know about. God gives us knowledge and truth. He gives us understanding. And we're to be faithful to what we know and understand. And God gives us more and more as we serve Him and obey Him. So I think that explanation helps us understand how there can be a lot of good people that do a lot of good things. I mean, when I say good, I know what Christ said. There's none good but one. In the final analysis, there's none good but one. That's God. God is perfect. He's completely good. The rest of us, you know, we're somewhere lower than that. So it is, I think, it helps me anyway to understand how I can see a lot of good in the world, even though these people aren't converted. They may not even be religious. God's Spirit is everywhere. It's powerful. It's a powerful force.

So if you have any questions about what I'm saying and not saying, please talk to me because I don't think I'm saying anything blasphemous. In fact, that's what we have to be careful that we don't blaspheme God's Holy Spirit. All right, let's go on to what a couple people said in regard to religion. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was an American author and poet throughout the 1800s, he went to Harvard. He said, I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers. I doubt if I would be accused of acting like an undertaker. I have too much fun to be called an undertaker. That doesn't mean I don't have a serious side. That doesn't mean I am completely off my rocker in other ways. But I do enjoy life. I think life is to be enjoyed. God gives us this gift of life. We should enjoy it.

Another quote from Robert Lewis Stevenson in regard to religion was, he said, I've been to church today and I'm not depressed. I mean, that tells you something. He said that that's the common thing that happens when you go to church. You're depressed. You hear a depressing message. You hear a fire and brimstone type of sermon where you're lacerated on every side, which sometimes we deserve to be lacerated. We're all sinners. We all fall short. I don't make light of that, but a steady diet of that? I mean, we don't need a steady diet of that. We need to understand that we do fall short of God's glory. But God is a very loving, kind, compassionate, merciful, forgiving God, and that's how we should look at God primarily.

Jewish custom is interesting. When an apostate returned to the synagogue back in ancient times, according to Barclay here in page 121. I'm not going to go there, but I'll just tell you basically what he says. Jewish custom was when an apostate would return to the synagogue. There was a time anyway in history where he had to lie down on the threshold, as you come in the room here. He had to lie down and people would walk over him to get into the building and he would say, trample upon me who am the sought which has lost its savor.

So if we did this today, I seriously doubt anyone would ever come back.

I doubt if many would come back then, but supposedly they would have them lay down on the threshold of the synagogue and in order to, you know, everyone would walk over them, and they would say, trample upon me because I am the sought that has lost its savor.

I mean, it would be pretty humbling, wouldn't it, if someone was willing to do that?

Again, we don't do that for obvious reasons.

There's no one in the Bible that says that has to be done, so we don't do that. All right, let's go on to verses 14 through 16. Christ says, you are the light of the world. Okay, we just talked about being the salt of the earth and what that means. When someone says you're the salt of the earth, that's a compliment. That's a good thing.

That's a very, very good thing to have people say about you. Also, when people consider you a light, Christ said, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Okay, the main message here is that as Christ is the light of the world, John 9, verse 5 is a reference. If you want to write that down, I've given whole sermons on Christ as the light of the world. As Christ is the light of the world, we are His followers, and we should reflect His greater light in all that we say, think, and do. The analogy has been made that Christ is as the sun. He's the Son of God. He's also as the sun in brightness. He is the light. We are like the moon. We reflect that light. Now, a full moon is a beautiful thing. That's reflecting the light of the sun, and we are to reflect Christ's light and the way we live our lives. Our good works, our light, is not to be hidden, but will become known just as a city on a hilltop is easily recognized. If you're driving and you look up ahead at night, you can see all the lights on a hilltop. It's very easy to see. There's a city up ahead. It's easily recognized. Now, we are to be actively producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit so that we will also be easily recognized. We are to be set apart because of our conduct, the way we treat people. That's how we should be known. We should be known because of the fruit that we produce in our lives. Again, a person who is loving, who is joyful, who is peaceful, who is patient, who is kind, who is good, who is faithful, who is meek, who is self-controlled, will be one who is well known and largely respected by those with whom such a person comes in contact. Now, if people know you for other things, then you should at least question your example. You know, if you're known because of your temper, if you're known because of your grumpiness, if you're known because of your hatred, if you're known for these reasons, and you really all need to repent, if we're known for those things, then we should try to go about writing what we've done in the past, if it means to go and apologize for the example that we've set. So we should analyze these things. How are we known by others?

We should not try to hide who we are, but we should humbly go about doing our father's business, doing good works. Ephesians says that we were created for good works. That's why we were created for good works. And those good works, obviously, are the works of God. All kinds of works that are godly. Our good works will benefit others just as a light on a lampstand will benefit all who are in the house. The lamp will guide their way. It will help them to stay on the right path as they move safely around the house. Where would we be if we had no lights in the house? When nightfall came, we'd all have to get in bed and stay there until the sun came out.

Because it would be dangerous to wander around in the house with no lights. It's amazing what a little bit of light can do. You know, you have these little light, night lights. That's how we get around at night. Barbara comes down and oftentimes—I won't go into her routine—but it's because of these little night lights that she can see to get around. She doesn't want to turn on the big lights because then she wants to try to go back to sleep. And I wake up long before sunset or sunrise. I wake up long before sunrise, most days. I'm well before that. And it's good to be able to turn on some lights. A light is meant to be seen. A light is meant to be seen. It helps guide us on our way to our destination. When we go out at night, we're driving a car. What if we didn't have headlights? We wouldn't get very far, would we? We wouldn't arrive at our destination. Secondly, so a light is meant to be seen—I'm going to give you three things here. A light is meant to be seen. A light can also warn us of possible danger. It can be a warning. Christ is our light. He warns us through His Word. We should take His warnings seriously. We should yield to Him and His warnings. We can also personally avoid obstacles that a light reveals. Christ has revealed many obstacles. We can avoid those things if we follow Him. A third thing, as lights, we can help others see the true way. We are to be lights as Christ is the light. We are to be lights for our brothers. We are to be our brother's keeper as well. We're to get involved in a godly way to help serve others. Yes, we are to be our brother's keeper. We should be a light to our brothers and to our sisters in Christ. We should benefit one another.

Christ is our Creator, and we should be recognized as one of His greatest gifts.

Every good gift comes from God. You are a gift of God.

And you should be seen as a gift in this world. This world should be a better place because of you.

All right, let's go on to verses 17 and 18. Matthew 5. Do not think, Christ said, that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For surely I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Now, even though Jesus Christ is very clear about people not thinking that He came to do away with the law, is that not exactly what most people think when it comes to the law? Oh, Christ did away with that. That was nailed to the cross. Christ did away with the law. Well, wait a minute. It says, I did not come to destroy the law. Isn't that what they're saying? That Christ came to destroy the law? Isn't that essentially what many theologians, religious people say that Christ destroyed the law? He did away with it. He got rid of it. It was an old, bad law, right? It was an old slave law. It was the Father's law. The Father's harsh.

And Christ came to do away with that old, harsh law. Okay, that's what so many will have us believe but we know that isn't true. So even though Christ is very clear, people take it so wrongly, they think that Jesus did away with that old law, that restrictive law, that is burdensome. Although the Scripture says that God's law is not burdensome, right? Christ said, I and my Father are one. So why is there such a disparity here between supposedly what the Father brought? And what Christ brought? Well, first of all, the one who became Christ was the one who brought the law. It helps to know that. It helps to understand that. It's difficult to say that Jesus came to do away with His Father's law when He was truly the lawgiver. The one who became Christ. That's a whole other topic, and we've all heard sermons on that. The Christ was the one who became Christ was the Logos who brought the law that was given on Mount Sinai. Christ was the God that was mainly revealed in the Old Testament. It's not that the Father isn't talked about some. He certainly is in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. But primarily, the one that people think is the God of the Old Testament is the one who became Christ. There are some references to the Father, but the vast majority of the references are to the one who became Christ, who created all things. All things were created by Him. Nothing was made that was made. The New Testament is very clear that Christ created the world. So, again, Christ said, I and my Father are one. Their law is the same law. They're not at variance about the law of God or the law of Christ. So don't let anyone fool you with that kind of an argument, because those types of arguments have been used in the past. So Christ came to fulfill the law by keeping it fully. That's how He fulfilled it. He kept it fully. He never sinned. Is that hard to understand? That's really not that difficult to understand. He fulfilled the law by keeping it, by observing it, by setting an example for us to follow. He also magnified it. He showed us the spirit of the law. We're not just to live by the letter, but we're also to go beyond the letter and live by the spirit of God's law. And we'll get into that in some verses here in the future. So Christ fulfilled it by living it, the law, and by not breaking the law. That's how He fulfilled it. Others want to say that He fulfilled the law by doing away with it. That's how He fulfilled it. He did away with it. Now, to me, that doesn't make much sense. My mind doesn't see logic in that argument at all. If someone fulfills an obligation of some sort, it means that they did whatever it was they were supposed to do. If I fulfill a contract, that means I did it. That's how I fulfilled it. I did it. It doesn't mean that they did away with something, and whatever they did doesn't normally also apply to others. I'm talking about in regard to them not having to do something. In other words, they will say that Christ did away with the law so we don't have to keep it. He fulfilled it, so now we don't have to do it. Where's the logic in that? I don't get that. That is not good logic in my mind. Jesus' unwarranted death paid the penalty for our sins, but it did not do away with God's holy and righteous law. That's how the law is described by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. The law is holy and right and good. That's in Romans 7.

Jesus again died and paid the penalty for our sins, not doing away with sin, but paying the penalty for our sin. He was that ultimate sacrifice. He laid his life down that our sins may be forgiven. He clearly sees some things but not others. He's deceived when it comes to the true understanding of these very clear verses, and I want to make that clear by showing you a little bit of what he says. First of all, he begins by mentioning Romans 10. That's the scripture that we should know what it says. It says Christ is the end of the law. Well, there you go. Christ is the end of the law. So that means he did away with it, right? This verse actually means that Christ is the aim or the purpose of the law. That's what this Greek word can mean as well. It's the aim or the purpose. It doesn't mean that Christ ended the need to keep the law or did away with the law when he died. The one who became Christ gave the law. Christ is the Word of God, and we are to live by every word of God. We are to keep his law, which is also the Father's law. Jesus set the example that we are to follow in regard to the law. We are to strive to keep it perfectly as Jesus did. Now, we all know we're going to fall short, but we should still strive to put on the mind of Christ and to be like him in regard to the law. Christ made it possible that we could be forgiven breaking the law. It doesn't mean that he gives us license to go on breaking the law. Paul made that very clear as well in the book of Romans. So you have to hear a little there, a little, you have to take it all, put it together. Then you have a clear picture if God opens your mind. If God doesn't open your mind, then you don't get it. Even if you're smart, like William Barclay, you don't get it. In fact, let me go to page 126 and let's just read a little bit of this.

He says, Okay, this is pretty interesting, I think. Listen. At a first reading, it might well be held that this is the most astonishing statement that Jesus made in the entire Sermon on the Mount. In this statement, what I just read, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. In this statement, Jesus lays down the eternal character of the law, and yet Paul can say Christ is the end of the law. Again and again, Jesus broke what the Jews called the law. He did not observe the hand-washings that the law laid down. He healed sick people on the Sabbath, although the law forbade such healings. He was, in fact, condemned and crucified as a law-breaker. And yet, here he seems to speak of the law with a veneration and a reverence that no rabbi or Pharisee could exceed. The smallest letter, the letter which the authorized version calls the Jot, was the Hebrew letter I-O-D-H.

In form, it was like an apostrophe, just tiny. Not even a letter, not much bigger than a dot, was to pass away. The smallest part of the letter, what the authorized version calls the tittle, is what we call the serif, the little projecting part at the foot of a letter, the little line at each side of the foot of, for example, the letter I. This is like a Roman numeral I, you know, it has a little segment there at the end of it. The basic point was it was very tiny. Jesus seems to lay it down that the law is so sacred that not the smallest detail of it will ever pass away. Some people have been so puzzled by this saying that they have come to the conclusion that Jesus could not have said it. They have suggested that since Matthew is the most Jewish of the Gospels and since Matthew wrote it especially to convince Jews, this is a saying which Matthew put into Jesus' mouth and this is not a saying of Jesus at all. But that is a weak argument for this is a saying which is indeed so unlikely that no one would have invented it. It is so unlikely a saying that Jesus must have said it. See, he sees this as very unlikely that Jesus would have said, think not that I've come to destroy the law because he believes that that's what Jesus did. So, but he also sees that that doesn't really, I mean logically he thinks, well, there's got to be another explanation. Jesus probably said it. It's an outlandish statement. Jesus must have said it. He says, and when we come to see what it really means, we will see that it is inevitable that Jesus should have said it. The Jews used the expression of the law in four different ways. They used it to mean the Ten Commandments. They used it to mean the first five books of the Bible, that part of the Bible which is known as the Pentateuch, which literally means the five roles, was to the Jew the law par excellence, and was to them by far the most important part of the Bible. Number three, they used the phrase the law and the prophets to mean the whole of scripture. They used it as a comprehensive description of what we would call the whole Old Testament. And number five, no, number four, they used it to mean the oral or the scribal law. In the time of Jesus, it was the last meaning which was most common, and it was, in fact, the scribal law which both Jesus and Paul so utterly condemned. What then was the scribal law? I don't have time to read all this, but he goes on and a lot of what he says is true. He talks about how they made a burden out of the law, you know, like what you could do on the Sabbath day. I mean, there's lots of historical fact about what was not allowed on the Sabbath. You know, we know the Pharisees went way overboard, so he talks about a lot of that sort of thing.

He says in the Old Testament itself, we find very few rules and regulations.

Now, I don't see that. I think there's a ton of rules in there. What we do find are great, broad principles which a man must himself take and interpret under God's guidance and apply to the individual situations in life. In the Ten Commandments, we find no rules and regulations at all. How do he get that?

He says they are each one of them great principles out of which a man must find his own rules for life. They're great suggestions. I don't know. They're not commandments. To the later Jews, these great principles did not seem enough. They held that the law was divine and that God had said his last word and that therefore everything must be in it. If a thing was not in the law explicitly, it must be there implicitly. They therefore argued that out of the law, it must be possible to deduce a rule and a regulation for every possible situation. That's where the Pharisees went with this. The scribes and the Pharisees. So there arose a race of men called the scribes who made it the business of their lives to reduce the great principles of the law to literally thousands upon thousands of rules and regulations. Again, godly balance. Isn't that the key? I mean, Barclay is not being balanced here. He's saying that there are no rules in the Ten Commandments? Thou shall not lie. Is that not a rule? Thou shall not steal? I don't know. It's bizarre. So he kind of hemholes around, talks about healing on the Sabbath, things like that, what they did, their Talmud, and things like that. Yeah. But he never gets back to really saying the truth that the Ten Commandments are to be kept. They are rules that are to be kept. And yes, they are great principles as well. And we're to live by the spirit of those Ten Commandments, which Christ showed us how to do that. But we make a lot of these judgments ourselves. Whatever is not of faith is sin. So there are cloudy areas where an individual might make a different choice. You might decide differently on what you might allow in some cases than I would. On the Sabbath, for example, whatever is not of faith is sin. And a lot of those areas, if you're going to draw the line somewhere, you better be careful that it follows the Scripture first and foremost, and that your conscience is okay, and that you're not just deceiving yourself. So it is an interesting thing. If you want to read more about some of it, I don't want to take any more time to read out of this book. But I find it fascinating, because he has a lot of good stuff, but then he gets to certain Scriptures, and he sees the laws done away, and so he kind of wiggles around. It's really quite interesting. Well, brethren, again, do not think that I come to destroy the law. That's what Christ said. I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. For surely I say to you that until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle, not even the smallest of these commandments, will pass from the law till it's all fulfilled. And what's going to happen ultimately in God's kingdom?

Ultimately, there is only going to be righteousness. It's going to be a kingdom of righteous beings, godly beings, law-abiding people. The law will be fulfilled in that all beings will be living righteously by God's laws. All things will be fulfilled. There will be no sin in God's ultimate kingdom. There'll be no sin. No breaking of the law will be allowed in God's kingdom. Ultimately, now we know during the millennium there will be human beings around. There will be people breaking the law. Satan's going to be loosed. There will be plenty of law breaking when Satan's loosed. But at the end of everything, when the new Jerusalem comes out of heaven, when there's a new heavens and a new earth, only righteousness will dwell. So I believe that's what it's really talking about here when it says all these things will be fulfilled. Not one jot or tittle is going to pass until it's all fulfilled. And there will be righteousness throughout the universe.

If you want to build your spiritual house again on the rock, then again take heed to what Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount. I find it fascinating. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to study in detail Christ's instruction that leads to peace and it leads to contentment, not just in God's kingdom, but even now. We can find peace and contentment now in spite of persecution, in spite of hard times, in spite of hard knocks, in spite of everything. When we truly live by these words, we can be fulfilled now. Not fully. Certainly not until we become spirit beings. We'll have our struggles. We'll have our sinful thoughts, sinful ways. But we can have great peace if we'll learn to yield ourselves to God and His truth.