"Man is not just unethical, he is lost and dead... The biggest difference between Jesus Christ and ethical and moral teachers who have been deified by man is that these moralists came to make bad people good. Jesus came to make dead people live."
"It may be easy at times to make enemies in politics and in the capitol. In the heat of campaigns, debates, and political maneuvering things can be said and actions can be taken which strain personal relationships. In light of this we come to what are perhaps some of Jesus’ most challenging words, "love your enemies". In our last study we saw that Jesus gave us a negative command on how His followers will respond if insulted, cheated, or done wrong. We are not to retaliate. In this last illustration we are studying today He sets the bar for true righteousness even higher. He teaches that His true followers will respond positively to their enemies who mistreat them by loving them, caring for them, and praying for them. Let’s look more closely at Jesus’ command to love our enemies."
We come to consider what may be some of the best known quotes from The Sermon on the Mount. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, “Turn the other cheek”, and “Go the extra mile” are phrases that often find their way into our every day language. However, they are probably also some of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted words from scripture.
The truth may seem hard to find at times in the world of politics. In a 2006 Harris poll, politicians were pretty far down the list of trusted professions. Only 35% of people said politicians were people they would generally trust to tell the truth. I would also be quick to point out the number of pastors and Christian leaders who have been caught publicly in situations where they have been less than truthful. In politics and other realms the term “spin” is used to describe the “creative presentation” of facts usually involving disingenuous tactics (i.e. lying). A lack of veracity is not confined to the world of politics.
We all struggle with it each and every day. John MacArthur described our situation this way: “The truth is scarce, and everyone is suspect: business people, salesmen, clerks, lawyers, doctors, advertisers, teachers, reporters, writers, politicians, and even preachers, with a few exceptions. In fact, the whole of our society is a network of fabrication. We shade the truth, we cheat, we exaggerate, we tax-dodge, we fail to keep our promises, we flatter for gain, we betray confidence, we make excuses, we tell half-truths, white lies, etcetera.”
It is in this context we come to our next section in our study of The Sermon on the Mount and we find Jesus has some strong words regarding the importance of telling the truth.You can read the complete study here.
You can listen to or download the message here."The gospel matters. Getting the gospel right matters. If you get the gospel wrong, and you don’t distinguish the difference between what morality is and what the gospel is, then what you’ve done at best is restrained the hearts of people, but you will not see their hearts transformed.
"If you don’t get the gospel right then what ends up happening is that men and women become conformed to a pattern of religion but they are not transformed by the Holy Spirit of God.
"Without the gospel you inoculate people against Jesus Christ. You give them just enough of Him to never know Him. The gospel matters."
