EPIC: High-Impact Truths in the New Testament – Part 1

All right, well, today, as I said, we're starting a new series. It's called Epic High-Impact Truths in the New Testament. And today we're going to start in Matthew chapter 5. So we'll be going in this series, just so you know, we'll be going from Matthew to Revelation. We're going to go through the whole New Testament, but we're going to hit some of the major important passages that are high-impact, deep, deep passages that have loads of truth for us to digest. So with that said, Matthew 5, we're beginning in verse 17, oh my goodness, it's the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus has a fiery message for everybody around him. Now I want to summarize it for you, even at the outset. That's right. I want to give you a summary, because I want you to see where he's going. This is a preview of coming attractions. Here we go. Obey every part of the law. Don't leave anything out. Surpass the Pharisees. Compete and win against them. Anger. Every time you get angry, it's like killing someone. Call anybody a fool. Yes, that's you, Mr. T, and anybody else. You call them a fool, and you know what? You're hell-bound. You're in danger of the fires of hell. I want you to notice, hell is threatened. This is not a sweet passage. Hell is threatened three times. Now he goes on, and he says, looking with lust equals adultery. Pluck out your eye.

Cut off your hand. Divorce is adultery. Always keep your word. Let people beat you up. Give to whoever asks of you. Love your enemies, and if you didn't understand what he's trying to say, just be perfect like God. All right, how we doing? You need a moment to breathe, catch your breath a little? Maybe that's the whole point, right? So have you noticed that in Christian circles today, we've got kind of a major viewpoint, a perspective that's popular, and it goes a little something like this. Well Jesus didn't really mean these things. He was just exaggerating to make a point. What he really meant was, please try your best. Please, God grades on a curve. Please try your best. So this popular viewpoint today has gained a lot of traction, and what I'm gonna present today is that we believe that Jesus should be taken at his word. He's not exaggerating. It's not hyperbole. It's not to say, do your best and don't worry, it'll all come out in the wash, but he's got a dagger. He's got a knife. He comes with a sword. He's telling the Pharisees and the proud Jews of his day, you've got some rethinking to do. First, I'm not gonna let you squirm out. You don't get to pick the Ten Commandments. You don't get to pick your favorite parts.

You don't get to play multiple choice with the law. It's not multiple choice Moses. You're all in, and that's the whole point. So as we read this sermon together, you're gonna have to decide, do I think I can do this? And secondly, do I think Jesus is just exaggerating, or is there some other point he's making? And what I'm trying to share with you today is that when we come to grips with the stringency of the law, then we see our need for God's grace instead. Do you hear that? Until you come to grips with 613 laws, don't annul any, don't ignore any, don't eradicate any, they're staring you in the face, and then you say, whoa, God's perfect and impossible law, I can't do it. And God says, exactly. Now you got it. Now you got it. So you need to pivot and understand my grace. So if we water down the law, watch this, if we water down the law, what does that do? It ruins the effect. See people won't be driven to grace very quickly, will they? If we water down the law and say, oh, don't worry, you can do most of this, or just pick your favorite parts, or pick, it's not 613, it's 10, pick your favorite 10. No, you don't want to do the Sabbath, pick your favorite nine, you're okay, little pat on the back, right? And so if we do that, it waters down the law, it no longer drives people to grace, and the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is lost. So hear me, we are contextualizing the Sermon on the Mount. We're saying who's the audience? What's the purpose? Can any human do this? And if no human can do this, then what is Jesus trying to accomplish? You hear that? Alright, let's dive in. Verse 17, do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I didn't come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and

earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. Alright, has heaven and earth disappeared? I mean last time I checked, heaven and earth are still here. So is the law still here? Yes, the law is still here, and that's the whole point Jesus is making. Don't let anybody tell you the law has died. You have died to the law, but the law has not died. You try to take the law out of the picture, and now nobody sees that they've fallen short of the glory of God. We have to see that there's a measuring stick that we cannot arrive at, and then I discover, oh, that's exactly why Jesus did everything for me. That's why he gifted me with his righteousness. That's why he had to make me perfect, because I couldn't be perfect. So the whole puzzle is solved when we stop watering down the words of Jesus. Make sense? So he's saying, no multiple choice, no choose-your-own-adventure, no deletions, no redos, no sharpies where you mark through the parts that are kind of challenging for you. It's all or nothing in your face, oh my goodness. Alright, verse 19, whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So is that going to be you? Is that going to be me and you? Are we going to have our name and lights in heaven? Do you think you're going to be called great above other people in heaven? Is that what Jesus is saying? How many people can keep the law? Zero. We read it in Romans, by the law no flesh will be justified. You know what James says, you keep the whole law, you stumble in one point, and you're guilty of all of it. Now who's going to be called great? Nobody except Jesus. He did it, we couldn't, he fulfilled it, we didn't, it's all about him, it's not about us. But you can see, I mean come on, these are the Jews, these are the same Jews who might have said, Lord teach me, show me, how can I be first in heaven? And Jesus said, well here's the formula, the first will be last and the last will be first, and they're saying who's on first? What? They're confused, they're baffled. Jesus is a table-turner, he's a renegade, he turns everything upside down. They can't figure out the formula for how to be first, they're worried about being last. So I'm sure

when they get this sermon, they're trying to one-up each other. I mean at least some of them, the performers, they're thinking, I want to be great in the kingdom of heaven, and so Jesus, give me, give me, give me the formula, and he says, okay start with, I don't know, chopping off body parts, that'd be good. And then their mouths drop. Not even close, we're not even close. So what are we doing today? Contemplate this, what are we doing today teaching this as a sweet passage for Christian growth instead of letting it be the death sentence that it really is? We're watering down the law, we're telling people they don't fall that short of the glory of God, and then grace can't do its work. So verse 20 he says, for I say to you, you're in a competition. Unless your righteousness beats the Pharisees and the scribes, you got to surpass their righteousness or you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So again, what is this about? Already we're seeing he's starting to threaten hell, and then he's talking about heaven. So I would ask you, when you present a message to somebody and you're promising heaven and you're threatening hell, is that a passage about Christian growth? Is that a sermon about do your best church? No, this is all-or-nothing, heaven or hell, major consequences in your face, what you gonna do? What you gonna do when the law comes for you? I fought the law and the law won. No, I'm not singing that for you, but that is exactly what Paul concluded in Romans 7, and that's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ wanted Paul to conclude in Romans 7. I fought the law and it beat me up big-time. The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. You have heard, now he's starting to quote Moses and Old Testament concepts and then raise the bar, you've heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder will be liable to the court, but I say to you everybody who's angry with his brother will be guilty before the court. All right, a couple of big things here. First of all, anybody here ever gotten angry? I'm just curious, not trying to give you a way to guilt or anything, but I'm gonna guess that every hand would be raised or I've got you for lying, right? So either way, you're condemned. Under this sermon, anger is the same as murder. I hope we see that. So now, are we really gonna say, well

Jesus, yeah, Jesus didn't mean that, he just meant watch your temper, just be careful, you know, don't let the sun go down, be careful, you're mostly good, just work on that temp, patience, count to ten. Is that what he meant? He's saying anger is the same as murder, and then by the way, look at what he's talking, he's talking about a court. What court? Well, he's actually talking about the Sanhedrin, he's talking about an ancient court 2,000 years ago, which by the way, who's been hanging out with the Sanhedrin lately? Anybody? All right, so now we're on to something. He's talking to the Jews under the law who are familiar with the court, he's threatening hell, promising a kingdom, if you can achieve. Is this a growth passage for Christians? No way, no way, not even close. There's not a person in the room, there's not a person watching that has come close to obeying this passage, and that's the whole point. Now, whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing, shall be guilty before the Supreme Court, and whoever says you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Well, that takes Paul out because he said, and I quote, you foolish Galatians. So now, is Paul burning in hell today because he called him foolish? Well, I mean, according to this sermon, if it's for believers, that was the death death knell for him. I mean, nails in the coffin for Paul. It's over, it's done. Again, we have to see what's at stake. What do you do with people who think they're doing just fine under Moses? What do you do with people who think that God grades on a curve when there's 613 things staring them in the face? Do you give them a big bear hug and tell them you're getting there, buddy? This is tough love. This sermon is a killer sermon. This is the impossible teachings of Jesus Christ, and that's the whole point. Therefore, oh my goodness, rock-solid evidence in our face, what are these people doing? If you are presenting your offering at the altar, anybody done that lately? And then remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your offering there before the altar and go first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Now, you know what I've heard? I've heard people do gymnastics with this and turn it into communion. Have you heard that? Oh, well, don't take communion until you're right with your brother. So

you got to get up out of your seat, walk across the auditorium, go give your apology, and then you're allowed to take communion. So I would ask you this, what are you offering at communion? Because this is about offering something. What are you offering at communion? Nothing. We are receiving at communion. We are celebrating at communion. So this is not about the Lord's Supper. This is about the Jews who were offering animals on a stone altar, dead animals, offered to God. for the forgiveness of sins, so this would apply to us if we're still trying to get forgiveness, if we're still offering sacrifices, and if we have stone altars in our backyards to work with. Again, all I'm saying is, can you hit the pause button and ask the religious society of today, what have we done with this sermon? How off-track are we? When we take this, you know, the king of good Bible study is context. They will always tell you that. Go to any good seminary, any good Bible school, and read any book about exegesis, and they will tell you context is king. So what's the context? Who's the audience? What's the purpose? These are healthy questions to ask, and quite candidly, I'm shocked that some of the top scholars in the world do so great, and then when it comes to this sermon, they toss all these passages about offering animals on an altar, and being answerable to the Sanhedrin, and all of this Jewish law context, we act like it's not even there, and then we just hope that Christians can somehow do it. What are we doing? These are the impossible teachings, the law on steroids, Moses 2.0, the beta trial version. Good luck with that. You're gonna need it. Verse 25, make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge. Some of you, maybe you've participated in lawsuits, you've been sued, he's saying, you know what, buddy up to that guy. I mean, meet him on the way to the courthouse, put your arm around him, tell him you're sorry, and buddy up to him, and hope for the best. Now he may take you for more money after that, but you see, the very people that are attacking you financially, but it's not just financial, he's gonna say physically, abusing you, attacking you, you know what, just open-handed, just let him have it. He's describing a radical love that

only Jesus can carry out. In fact, Jesus gave his life. You talk about open-handed, Jesus gave everything for us. There's only one person who can do this, Christ himself. All right, the judge is gonna hand you to the officer, and then you're gonna be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you'll not come out of there until you've paid up the last cent. He goes on and he says, you have heard, where? In the law, in Moses, you have heard, don't commit adultery. Well, that's common sense among the Jews, but I say to you, you ever looked at somebody with lust? I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So the thought and the deed are the same level, there's no level up, it's all the same, equal playing field. You thought it, you entertained it, it's the same as doing it. Now, how many times have you sinned in your life, gentlemen? You see, the number just went from, oh I don't know, the millions to the billions, right? The number just went, I know in this group over here, from the billions to the trillions, because I know some of y'all. But you see the point, all the sudden the standard is up here, skyrocketed to the highest level, 11 out of 10, no way, and now everybody's condemned, everybody's guilty, even if you looked and entertained, it's the same as sleeping with them. I mean, now are you gonna grab this verse and say, oh I mean he didn't, he didn't really mean it, he just meant, you know, don't look too much, you know, kind of try to balance it. This is not exaggeration, this is the standard of the law to the max. If your right eye makes you stumble, easy solution, tear it out, amputation ward coming up, throw it from you, for it's better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Now, again, I'm gonna ask you a thought question. Did Jesus say, tear out your eye or give it your best shot to avoid lust so that you can grow a lot? No. He said so that you avoid Hell. Do Christians go to hell? Christians don't go to hell. There's therefore now no condemnation. He's able to save us completely. He always lives to intercede for us. We have eternal life, everlasting life. Our sins are gone. He keeps no record of our wrongs. He keeps no record. He's removed them as far as the East is

from the West. So is this about Christians maybe going to hell if they don't grow enough or something? Because I thought you said this was about growing in Christ. But suddenly we got fire in the dialogue. We got fire in the picture. So, tear out your eye. He goes on. It's not going to get any prettier. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. He's done it again. He's not being sweet. This is not your friendly neighborhood, Jesus, is it? This is the Lord with a sword. Cut off your hand. Pluck out your eye. Soon he's going to say, be perfect just like God. So, we got some rethinking to do. Now, if you think this is a big downer, it's not. It's a big downer if you're under the law. It's a tremendous relief when you see Jesus's true intention. What I'm saying is you don't have to crack open Matthew 5 17 and start giving it your best shot, beating yourself up every day. What, almost 50% of the Christian population who's been married are divorced. I mean, that's a lot of adultery. Almost 50% are condemned according to this passage. People will go and cherry-pick out of this passage and say, oh, you've been divorced? Well, that's adultery. Oh, you got remarried? Oh, that's adultery. Really? You saying I'm an adulterer? Have you chopped your hand off lately? Because it's the same passage. Same passage. I see you still got your eyes in your sockets because you're reading this passage to me like it's for me, but not you. When are we going to be consistent? Verse 31, it was said whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce. That was the Old Testament way. Notice it's possible to get a divorce. Just give her a certificate. Let her remarry. That's God's love and mercy and patience. Do it legally. But I say to you, everyone who divorces his wife except for the reason of unchastity makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. We have people all the time, all the time, and they're asking, calling into the radio program, asking, am I a perpetual adulterer? Am I living in... I mean, you know, my husband and I got divorced 15 years ago. I'm remarried now. I've got kids. You know, maybe I should divorce the second

husband and then try to go back to the first. Well, does he want to get back? No, he doesn't want to get back. Oh, so you think two wrongs is gonna make a right or something? You see how the weird logic we get into trying to fix our fix? We think we're in a fix that's unfixable. We try to fix our fix with another fix, and then it's two wrongs make a right, we think. We're trying to get back in, and you're in. You're in Christ. You're in Christ. You're living in the present. You're righteous. You're the righteousness of God. Do whatever you can to save your marriage. If it ends in divorce, you are righteous and holy and blameless. You're a royal priest. You're part of a holy nation. Oh, my goodness. Do whatever you can to save your marriage, but it takes two. It takes three. It takes dependency and trust and sometimes counsel and communication. Do whatever you can to save your marriage, but in the end, there are no second-class citizens in the body of Christ. So suddenly, there is freedom on the horizon. Not freedom to sin, but freedom from the law, and when I see my freedom from the law, I see grace and the grace of God. Titus 2, the grace of God teaches us to say no to sin and live upright lives. Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, don't make any false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool... his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King, nor shall you make any oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black." He finishes that thought this way, he says, let your statement be yes, yes, or no, no. Anything, watch this, anything beyond these is of evil. You ever say, I mean I swear, I swear, I swear on the Bible, I swear on my mother's grave. We got all this, no I really mean it, I promise. He's saying evil, all of that, just yes or no, always keep your word perfectly, like God keeps his word. Now, again, that's a dagger, we're not doing so hot. You have heard it was said, hey this is fair, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, that's fair in warfare, I mean come on, that's a good agreement, but I say to you, here comes the passivity, do not resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to the other

for him also, all right? What does this mean in common everyday American English? Let them beat you up, let them take your stuff, if they come into your house, if they assault you, take whatever you'd like, you know, do whatever you want, you can slap me around, do whatever they say. I mean this is where cults are built on that, doctrines are built on that, doctrines of passivity are built on that, do nothing ever, let's all go live in a commune and be passive and let anything happen, and you know, someone, an intruder comes into your home and you don't defend yourselves, and where is that coming from? An application of this to the Christian life today, Christians worldwide, going passive, doing nothing, because we've told people, we've told them this is a sweet passage of Christian principles for daily living. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, or your house, or all your possessions, let them have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him too, you know we've used this as a pep rally, right? Be a good Christian, if they want to go one mile, take them two miles, you're good, you're a good friend, you're a good person. Pep rally time, go twice as far, but in context, now don't get me wrong, I mean obviously the New Testament is filled with passages about loving one another, we've seen that in past messages, right? Put on love, put on Christ, forgive others as God has forgiven you, you know clearly we are loving others even as He's loved us, that's not the point. The point is, we've had these little pep rallies, picking and choosing from the Sermon on the Mount, instead of looking at it as a whole. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Somebody says, oh man, you know what, that's great that you're obeying Paul, you know, Paul, Peter, James, John, but I, you know, I'm a red-letter Christian, I obey the words of Jesus Himself. And you take them to Matthew 5 and you say, okay, let's read verse 42 and then I want you to give me all your stuff. What? Yeah, yeah, I want us to read verse 42 and then you give me all your stuff. They say, what do you mean? Well, let's read it together, give to him who asks of you, I would like all your stuff, and if not, I'd like, I'd like to borrow $50,000 if you don't mind. You're a red-letter Christian, right? I mean, you

said, now I'm not just trying to be sarcastic, I'm pushing us to see the point. We don't get to pick and choose, we don't get to play with our favorite roles, or pick our favorite parts and act it out, this is all or nothing, in your face, nails in the coffin, rays in the bar, you thought Moses said this, I'm showing you what Moses really means, you got to give up your whole life for anybody and everybody. Now, do you know anybody who gave up his whole life for anybody and everybody? This is a description, this is Jesus's resume. Verse 43, we're coming to a close here, you've heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. You know, Israel had many enemies, they would war against them. What does this say but I say to you Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you Wow Love your enemies. We talked about that How many of you now just be honest, right? I don't need hands I'm not trying to embarrass you but how many of y'all kneel at the foot of your bed every night and just kind of you Know just just pray for all your enemies You know what? I mean? Cuz you're a good Christian, right? I mean you're you know, you like me I mean, I'm at the foot of my bed all the time praying for all my enemies Nobody is doing this and If if you want to hear a sweet message where you can kind of do it, that's fine. It's out there It's 90% of what we hear about this passage. I'm just telling you I've come to the conclusion I'm nowhere near living out this passage I don't think anybody I've never met anybody that lives out this passage except Jesus so Why would you do all this So that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. So it's salvation. It's kingdom. It's family It's getting righteous That's the focus for he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and he sends righteous

sends rain on the righteous and The unrighteous, all right now notice this isn't about you getting more mature It's not about you growing up in Christ This is about so that you may be a child of God so that you may enter the kingdom So that you avoid hell Salvation this is evangelistic if you want to achieve salvation Here's the standard cut off your hand pluck out your eye be perfect Sell everything you own like the rich man be perfect. Just be like God you want the train to self-improvement just be God Be God All right, for if you love those who For if you love those who love you Okay, what reward do you have do not even the tax collectors do the same if you greet? Only your brothers what more are you doing than others do not even the Gentiles do the same So we say look anybody can love their family Anybody can like somebody who likes them Have you ever tried to like somebody that just does not like you? How's that going? So he sums it up with the finale you talk about epic This is an epic teaching on self-righteousness You want self-righteousness be perfect? Just like your Heavenly Father is perfect. You want to achieve it. You want to maintain it. You want to sustain it? Here's the standard. No, here's no. Here's the standard way up here Beyond anything you could ever imagine you don't get to pick and choose. There is no choose your adventure It's not multiple choice. It's not pick your favorite parts It's the law in your face Moses 2.0 a perfect and impossible standard. I'll finish with this Watch this summation Obey every part of the law surpass the Pharisees Anger equals murder call anybody a fool and you'll go to hell looking with lust equals adultery Pluck out your eye cut off your hand

Divorce is adultery Always keep your word let people beat you up Give to whoever asks of you love your enemies and be perfect like God now I would just ask you How are we doing? Huh? You got that little gulp in your throat Guess what? You don't have to have it because it's like it's like you lived this out, but you didn't Because he lived it out and he gave you a gift of perfect cleanliness perfect closeness Perfect righteousness. He treats you like you've never sinned against this passage ever He treats you like you've never sinned a single day in your life now final thought Who respects the law? Who really? respects the law The one who says I'll take these ten The one who says I'll take these nine or I'll take these eleven You know We'll take the ten plus tithing or we'll take the ten minus Sabbath or we'll take minus Sabbath plus tight We'll just come up with our own look ma. It's a new set of ten Is that respecting the law or? when we turn to 613 commands, all of them, not annulling any of them, all of them, and we say, the perfect and impossible standard of the law, I need God's grace instead. Now, I've respect the law. I'm respecting the law when I recognize I need grace instead. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for this truth. Your son has given us a dagger. I mean, he's not mincing words. It's in our face. Moses 2.0, we admit, Father, we cannot even begin to accomplish it. We try to climb Mount Sinai, and we're still at base camp. We try to achieve it, jump through the hoops, and we're nowhere near, so we just admit it, and instead, we trust your grace, we trust your life, we trust your death, we trust your resurrection, we trust you, you are awesome. We thank you that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who say, I can't perform, and I need to be in Christ. Thank you for showing us the law in all of its glory. We respect the law, we honor the law, and we choose your grace instead. In Jesus' name, amen.