WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:09.039 The last couple weeks at a thought about different following Jesus in a world that is not. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:20.079 We've been looking at the Sermon on the Mount week by week, seeing different truths from it, and tonight uh this morning we'll look a little bit deeper in these verses and continue our search. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:24.559 And I've got a few statements I'll make and then we'll sort of dig into the scriptures. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:35.840 But one that I want to sort of um just lay out there is that God is not merely interested in outward obedience, he is after inward transformation. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:42.640 Sometimes we only look at the outside, but we have to be reminded that he looks on the inside. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:49.359 And it is good to be reminded not only in this moment, for us to remind ourselves of that day by day. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:52.399 He's not only interested in the outside obedience, right? 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.799 Outward obedience, it's it's a heart thing for him. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:06.719 And there's a sentence that I'll sort of repeat myself throughout our time together this morning, but every outward sin begins as an inward heart issue. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:11.680 Every outward sin begins as an inward heart issue. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:30.959 Jesus shows us that all through Scripture, but specifically here in this sermon on the Mount, as he has called his disciples after they have been healing people and doing some amazing ministry, he pulls them to the side and says, Let's get on top of this uh mountain area and let me just preach the word to you. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:40.159 And he's laying out this truth and he's trying to articulate to them that every outward sin always begins with an inward heart issue. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.000 We'll read here in a moment, starting in verse 17. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:53.280 But have you ever went to the doctor for something on the outside that perhaps didn't seem right, only for the doctor to find something on the inside wrong? 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.920 I've been in ministry long enough to have walked through different needs with people. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:04.879 And I remember one not too many years ago, this uh person had a lingering, ongoing cough. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.280 And they said, Preacher, I can't shake it. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.199 That's allergies, right? 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:10.000 So what do they do? 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:22.080 They go to Walgreens or wherever, and and they put and buy every over-the-counter allergy medicine they can and take two or three of them and squirt the stuff up their nose, eat the pills, whatever, and what happens? 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:23.120 Nothing. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.759 All right, and they're like, Preacher, what do we think we should do? 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:26.960 I'm like, I don't know, go to the doctor. 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:28.560 Let's go see this, what's going on. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:35.759 And they go to the doctor, and the doctor does some tests, and turns out they had pneumonia the whole time. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:45.759 I remember one person we were walking with that had some chest pains and saying that every time they eat a certain type of food, their chest gets tight. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:51.360 So they just equivocate that to indigestion from the spicy food that they eat. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.199 And I said, How often do you eat it every day? 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.039 Well, maybe that maybe it is. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.360 They go to the doctor, what did the doctor discover? 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.120 They had something wrong with their heart. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.439 They were retaining fluid. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:06.560 And what was going on was something far bigger than just some level of chest pains. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.879 Any anybody knows that a good doctor doesn't just treat your symptoms. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:16.800 They usually look for the source and then diagnose the problem for you and I to get better. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:22.319 If all we ever did was treat symptoms, the disease would never change. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:33.120 So you and I get to Matthew chapter number five, and that's exactly what Jesus is doing as he's preaching the word to the disciples and to us. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.960 See, as you begin to read in a moment, I'll read in verse 17. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:46.719 See, the Pharisees had become experts as to treat symptoms, but yet they never focused on the inward problem. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.120 They always focused on the outward behavior. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:04:00.560 And you'll, as I read these verses in a moment, you'll see that the outward thing that they mentioned was don't commit murder, don't commit adultery, don't lie, don't break an oath. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.680 That's what they said over and over, and that was an outward thing. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:11.360 But Jesus is saying, man, listen to me, you've been treating the symptoms, but yet ignoring the disease the entire time as he lays some truth out. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:11.680 Why? 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:14.879 Because every outward sin begins with an inward heart issue. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:20.319 That's why I called this one today, our title is a different heart or having different hearts. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:32.480 And as we look at these verses from verse 17 all the way through verse number 48, we're going to see some truths that Jesus wasn't just trying to make bad people a little bit better. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:36.399 No, Jesus was trying to transform the human heart. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:37.759 That's the difference. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.120 Look with me in the text and we'll read a few verses. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:42.079 I won't read all of them. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:42.720 You all know me. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:47.680 If I read from 17 to 48, we'd still be here when it's dinner time. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:48.720 You understand what I'm saying? 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:49.279 All right? 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.160 So let's just read a few and then we'll we'll dig out some and we'll preach through them all, but I'll just highlight a few. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:55.439 Look at verse 17. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:57.040 Look how Jesus begins. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:02.800 Do not think that I come to destroy the law or the prophets. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.920 I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:18.240 Verse 18 says, For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title will not by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:20.160 He uses that word fulfilled twice. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:28.720 Verse 19, whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:33.439 But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:43.040 In verse number 20, we'll spend some time on that here in a moment because it's it's a change of perspective for the Pharisees here, and the disciples are opening their eyes to see that. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:55.360 Verse 20, for I say to you, Jesus says, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:00.240 He's laying some truth out, and I'm sure in that moment they were a little bit, hmm, what's going on here? 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.439 Now let's go on a little deeper and look and notice a few things. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.000 In verse 21, you'll see this, you have heard. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:08.639 He mentions that six times through this text. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:17.439 But in verse 21, he says, You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.399 But then look what Jesus said in the next verse, 22. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:26.240 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.600 Then he goes on a little deeper, look it down in verse 27. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:35.519 You have heard that it was said, here it is again, that of old, you shall not commit adultery. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.199 Then look what he says, but verse 28. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:46.560 But Jesus says, But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her with her in his heart. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.160 Then he oh, he goes a little deeper, verse uh thirty-eight. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:56.560 You have heard that it was said, here it is again, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:06.959 But Jesus says in verse thirty-nine, but I say to you, not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.560 Oh, he goes a little bit further, verse forty-three. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:16.319 You have heard, here he is again, that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:30.319 Jesus said in verse forty four, but I say to you, love your enemies, and bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spicefully use you and persecute you. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:40.160 So he lays some truth out in this text, and I'll preach the entire text as we break it apart, but I wanted to highlight a few as we begin to read, and just give you full context. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:48.480 Remember, Jesus and them had been doing miracles and some many ministry works, and he pulls them aside and said, Guys, I need y'all to sit down and want to preach some truth to you. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:51.680 I got to give you some things, and that's what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:57.439 And what I love is two weeks ago, as we began this, we looked in the first 12 verses and we saw what we call the beatitudes. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:05.920 And the beatitudes, as he's talking to the disciples, is laying them know that, hey guys, here is the characteristics that a disciple should have. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.399 And he lays that out in verses 1 through 12. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.839 And he's talking to the disciples. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:10.319 Now, guess what? 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.040 What's the disciple? 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:12.079 A follower of Christ. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:17.600 So he's telling the followers of Christ that are in there, and now he's talking to us. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:24.079 He's saying that the first 12 verses is characteristics, character that we as followers should have. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:25.360 I get it. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:30.959 Then the next week, which was last week, he began talking about salt and light. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.440 And he tells us from verse 13 to verse 16, he lets you and I know that we should be the salt and light. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:44.559 He's essentially saying that as a disciple and a follower, you should have influence over those around you. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:48.879 That's why he referred to us as the salt and the light last week. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:56.000 And so he starts off with the character that we should have as a follower of him, and then he follows up with the influence that we should have as followers of him. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.440 And here's where we're at, verse 17 through verse 48. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.519 He now shows you and I how that's possible. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:08.080 See, sometimes we might look and think, man, am I going to be able to have those characteristics that he mentioned? 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:12.320 Am I going to have that smear of influence that he's speaking about in those previous verses? 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:27.600 But then he shows us and explains to us from verse 17 through verse 48 how it becomes possible for you and I to have the character of Christ and have the influence of him with all in wherever we go in this rotten world. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:31.919 See, the disciples were living in a world that wasn't all good. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:33.440 You and I aren't either. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:39.840 We know that the world that we live in has fallen apart and there's a struggle out there, but yet they had their own struggles that they had to deal with as well. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:46.000 And here's the beauty, as we look in these verses specifically, we're going to read, he's not going to ever tell us to do a little harder. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:48.320 So if I try harder, I'll be more like him. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.159 No, that's not what it says. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.360 He says that I have to have a transformed or a changed heart. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:55.840 That's what Jesus is going to get to eventually. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.279 It doesn't mean try harder. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:02.879 If that was the case, man, we would have a football coach over here yelling at us and blowing the whistle for us to work just a little bit harder. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.240 That's not where it's at. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.759 Now, that's what the Pharisees taught, outward appearance, remember? 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.200 But Jesus said it's an internal thing, it's an internal transformation. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:20.159 So it doesn't matter how hard I try, if I don't have a transformed heart, all I'm doing is fixing the symptoms and never going to the source. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:20.960 Why? 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.279 Jesus is not talking about more religion. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:24.559 That was the Pharisees. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:25.600 More religion. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:27.039 No, what is Jesus talking about? 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.919 He's talking about a different kind of righteousness, a different kind of righteousness that comes from a transformed heart. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:36.559 Remember, as we get through this, the Pharisees said change behavior. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.360 Jesus said, have a transformed heart. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.320 That's what he says as we take these verses apart. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:49.840 I'm going to give you three thoughts this morning, three points to hope, hopefully to convince you what Jesus is saying is true. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.200 He gives us several examples to prove this one truth. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:54.639 Remember the one truth he's going to prove? 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.080 I gave it to you earlier. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.440 Every outward sin begins with an inward heart issue. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:00.080 He's going to prove it. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:00.879 Here's the first one. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.919 Look at this first four verses in verse 17 through 20. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:11.279 Jesus came, Jesus came to transform the heart, not just the hands. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.639 So in verse 17 through verse number 20, we've read it. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:16.639 I might read a few thoughts within there. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:25.039 But he said and shows us that Jesus came not to just uh uh to change our hands, but he wants to transform our hearts. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:26.000 What does that mean? 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.080 On the outside, all you see is what my hands do. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.000 On the inside is the heart that only he can see. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:30.960 How do I know that? 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:32.960 Let's look in depth in these verses. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:43.440 Before Jesus ever mentioned anger, lust, or even loving your enemies, he makes one thing very perfectly clear as he begins in verse number 17 when he says, Do not think. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:49.120 He's letting all of us know that Jesus is not lowering God's standard. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:52.320 He said, I'm not laying this lowering the standard of God. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.799 He begins in verse 17, do not think for a reason. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.600 You understand how people can be, right? 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:05.519 Apparently there had been some uh misunderstanding of the ministry of Jesus. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.200 And there was folks out there that was talking junk about Jesus. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.120 Can you imagine talking junk about Jesus? 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:11.679 But they were. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:12.240 Why? 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:18.000 Because Jesus, through his earthly ministry, decided that somebody needed healing on the Sabbath. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.679 And the Pharisees thought that there was something wrong with that. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:30.799 And Jesus, a very well-known verse that you might can recall is that, man, he said, if my ox is in the ditch, man, I better pull it out, even if it is on the Sabbath. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.639 So what is Jesus laying out? 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.360 Jesus is saying, man, I'm telling you, this is a heart. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:36.960 It's not an outward appearance. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:42.879 So the Pharisees and the scribes have been talking trash about Jesus, and there's been a misunderstanding about him. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.679 So he lays the law down right from the beginning. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:53.600 He he covers the elephant in the room as soon as they begin to get into the nitty and the gritty of this sermon and says, Do not think. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:56.080 Yes, there's been some misunderstandings. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.960 The Pharisees didn't like me healing on the Sabbath. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:08.080 And there was times where Jesus actually challenged the Pharisees head on, and they didn't much appreciate that because in that day they were known as the spiritual elite. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:09.919 They could do no wrong. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:15.440 They were the snobs of the day, and they thought everything they did was perfect and everything everybody else did was not. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:19.600 They didn't like when Jesus ate with the tax collectors, the sinners. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:20.639 Why was that? 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:27.679 Oh, they they thought that that was beneath him, and Jesus taught you and I that yes, he did it for one reason and one reason only. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.399 He wasn't doing that to make them feel good about their sin. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:35.840 No, he was eating with them as a level of restoration, trying to lead them unto him. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.279 They didn't like that. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:38.240 So what do they do? 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:39.440 They begin to talk bad. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.519 So what did Jesus say to them? 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:48.240 Do not think, verse number 17, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.960 He stayed, laid it out, you've misunderstood me. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:52.399 And then what does he do? 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:58.000 He follows it up in verse number 17 and says, I do not come to destroy, but I come to fulfill. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.480 So let's look at that word fulfill just real quickly. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:01.919 That's used twice. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.000 Jesus fulfilled the law that pointed to Christ. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:15.840 Years and years ago, it changed the way I read the Bible when an old preacher told me, son, look for Jesus when you read and you'll find him, no matter where you're at in Scripture. 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:18.399 That's the Old Testament or the New Testament. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.919 So the law points to Christ when I open my eyes and look for him. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:28.000 And so the word fulfill that is used here in verse 17, it's also used again in verse number 18. 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:29.840 The word fulfill is very important. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.320 And it doesn't mean that Jesus is ignoring the law. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:39.360 Here's what that word fulfill means: it means to bring something to its intended completion. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:48.320 He's saying that he is bringing the law to its intended purpose, the way it was intended to be from the beginning. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:50.960 See, everything in the Old Testament pointed to Christ. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:15:02.639 You can look at the sacrifices, you can look at the royal priesthood, you can look at the temple, you can look at the prophecies, you can even look at the promises itself, and all of them pointed to Jesus. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:05.919 Even the Apostle Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, knew that. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:13.440 He even said it very clearly to when he wrote the letter in Galatians chapter number three in verse number 24. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:17.919 Paul said, Therefore, the law was the tutor to bring us to Christ. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:19.519 The word tutor, the teacher. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.240 He's saying the law was to bring us. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:27.679 It tutored us to realize that I can't do it on my own, but he has already done it all. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:29.519 Therefore, I should just give my life to him. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:37.519 So Paul said to them, Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:42.080 See, the law showed you and I our need for Jesus. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:45.519 If I hadn't have read the law, I wouldn't have realized I would never have been good enough. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.879 Therefore, he saved me and declared me righteous. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:51.360 The law is a mirror. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:52.799 What does a mirror do? 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:54.559 It ref gives you a reflection. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.480 Some of us don't like what we see, right? 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:57.519 No, I'm just kidding. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:57.919 Okay. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:03.759 Think about you been working outside all day and you got dirty and dusty and the little dirt's all over you. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:07.440 You might look in the mirror and say, Man, I need to go take a shower. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.360 Did the mirror wash your face? 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:09.919 Nah. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:11.440 The shower cleansed you up. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.519 You got a wash rag and you scrub down. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:19.360 Well, how the mirror only gave you a reflection of what was wrong with you, but it sure enough couldn't wash your face. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.519 Only Jesus can do that. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.480 See, Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.039 His blood was sufficient for all of us, and his blood is what made you and I clean. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.039 It cleaned us whiter than snow. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:32.080 How is that true? 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:34.879 Because that's what Jesus declared, and that's what it is. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.919 See, the law couldn't do that, but Jesus could. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:44.399 It meant for him to fulfill the law, he had to die and raise on the third day so that you and I could go to heaven. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:46.240 What else about this text? 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.320 Let's go to verse 20. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:50.879 17 and 18 talk about the fulfillment. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:51.840 Look at verse 20. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.080 You talk about rocking these guys' bow. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:04.000 For I say, Jesus said that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.440 Why is that important? 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.839 Because Jesus revealed the true meaning of righteousness right there in the text. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.799 I think this statement probably shocked them. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:21.359 As I told you earlier, the scribes and the Pharisees were the religious ice, that they were the ones that supposedly did it all right. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.720 We knew that if you were to be righteous, you had to act like them. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:27.039 Oh, they knew how to pray eloquently. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:28.240 We read that. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.720 Oh, they would pray eloquently, but their heart wasn't right. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.000 They knew how to fast. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.160 They knew the scriptures better than most. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.960 They knew how to lay out the rules and the regulations. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:38.640 Oh, they knew how to tithe. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.440 They knew how to do all the things very, very carefully. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:51.759 But ultimately what we've discovered and learned is that yes, on the outside they figured it all out, but on the inside they were rotten to the core, and Jesus was painting that very clearly in this text. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:02.319 See, the scribes and the Pharisees are probably thinking of themselves, or the disciples are thinking about the scribes and the Pharisees, and they're thinking to themselves, if they ain't righteous enough, how am I ever going to be? 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:03.119 And guess what? 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.480 That's exactly where Jesus wanted them to be thinking in that moment. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.440 Because he wasn't calling those guys to be more religious. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.480 No, he was calling them to a different kind of righteousness. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:15.119 Let me give you a couple contrasts here. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.920 The Pharisees focused on what people could see. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.279 Jesus focused on only what God could see. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.400 Outside versus inside. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:25.680 Well, let me give you another contrast. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:30.480 The Pharisees measured how clean your hands were. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:34.160 Jesus measured how clean your heart is. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:36.079 See the difference? 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:38.880 Outward versus inward. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.079 Jesus isn't introducing anything new. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:43.200 You gotta realize that. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.319 See, this wasn't a new thought, I don't believe. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.839 I think this was the original way it was intended to be understood. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:51.119 So what was going on here? 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:55.039 If it was the way that it was originally to be understood, what is happening here? 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:59.039 Jesus was laying the truth out, saying, this is how it was supposed to be from the very, very beginning. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.960 I know that because I found verses in the Old Testament that even declare this. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:13.680 When Samuel was calling David to be the king of Israel, in 1 Samuel 16, verse number 7, here's what the scriptures say, for the Lord does not see as men see. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.000 For men look on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:23.599 See, from the very beginning, God looked at the heart, and men look on the outside. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:28.319 So this wasn't a new thought when he lays this law down and the Sermon on the Mount. 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:33.839 No, it was just something he was a bringing back the original and restoring the original intent of it. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.880 The true righteousness begins right here. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:37.839 Within. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:38.960 Now I know how we are. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.039 We point, we thought, oh, yeah, I'm better than you, I'm better. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:43.039 No, internally we should look. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:45.119 This is the good contrast. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:46.880 The Pharisees would say this. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:48.720 What do you do? 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:55.359 Jesus is saying, man, what was happening within your heart before you did what you did? 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:57.920 Therein lies the source to be figured out. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:59.119 Completely different. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.079 When you lay it out, murder begins with anger. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:03.759 Adultery begins with lust. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:05.599 Revenge begins with bitterness. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:08.000 Broken relationship always begins with unforgiveness. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:12.079 Dishonesty always begins in a heart that lacks integrity. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.759 Jesus is showing us something everyone, I believe, needs to hear. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:17.839 It's a heart thing, not an outward thing. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.920 I can fix the outside, but if I don't fix the inside, it ain't worth fixing. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:28.799 You know what I believe, and I found this it's easy to measure our lives the way the Pharisees decided to measure. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.000 I can check a bottle, I've never killed nobody. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.039 I'm good. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:34.559 I've never done this. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:35.440 I'm good. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:36.720 I've never done that. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:37.359 I'm good. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.960 I can compare myself to some brother that did and say I'm better than him. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:43.839 That was the Pharisees' level of measurement. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:48.240 But that's not what Jesus intended any of it to be. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.160 No, he says transformation begins from in here. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:53.519 You know what I've realized? 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:58.480 You can clean up the outside while the inside remains untouched. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:09.920 Before Jesus ever changes hearts, the hands, the the the the the the before Jesus ever changes us on the inside, well, you and I have to surrender ourselves and allow him to do it. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:13.279 And when the heart changes, it flows on the outside. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:16.559 The Pharisees starts on the outside and goes, it doesn't. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:19.759 Let me give you this statement, then I'll dig in a little deeper in the next few verses. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.799 God is not satisfied with outward obedience. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.119 He desires inward transformation. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:30.079 That's what he wants us to transform within here, not just on the outside, on the inside. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:31.519 Let's dig in a little deeper. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:33.839 We're gonna go in verse 21 for a moment. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.799 We're gonna cover a lot of verses in just a second. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:45.039 But in verse 21, really through verse number 47, Jesus exposes the heart behind our actions. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:47.519 He covers a lot on purpose. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:53.519 And I've looked at this and I've taught this sometimes with a small Bible study, and I'll and I'll take a little bit more time. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:59.759 But what I found is that Jesus begins to prove his point that he's making in verse 21. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.880 Through verse number 47. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:07.599 And what I found is that he's not giving you and I six unrelated sermons. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:13.599 Now, we could preach them, I could do six weeks on this and just preach each section of verses. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:21.279 But what I've realized is that yes, he does preach on six topics, but they have one consistent truth in all of them. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:27.440 Here it is, every outward sin begins with an inward heart issue. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.160 That's the truth that is consistent through all of it. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:39.039 With me, in verse 21 through verse number 47, you're going to see the word you have heard six different times. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:40.400 Let's look at them real quick. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.000 Verse number 21, he goes off, right. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:51.279 You have heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:52.640 What did Jesus say? 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:53.599 22. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:59.599 But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:11.039 He says it first there, then he says it in verse 27, then he says it in verse 31, then he says it in verse uh 33, and then he says it in verse uh 38, and then he says it again in verse 43. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:17.039 Six different times he says, Have you as you have heard, but I say. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:19.839 As you have heard, I say. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:22.880 Now, Jesus is not correcting Moses. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:23.599 Why? 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:27.440 Because Moses was the one that penned the Old Testament law. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:30.079 So we understand that all scripture is given by inspiration. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:34.559 God breeds it into an existence, but God uses the pen of man to write it down. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:39.839 So one day God said, Moses, I need you to get up, pick a pen up, and began to write. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:44.079 And he wrote the first five books of the Bible, which was what you and I would understand as the law. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:57.440 And so as he wrote this out, as Jesus is referring, you have heard, you have heard six times, he's referring back to the words that Moses had jotted down all those years ago under the inspiration of God. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:02.720 So Jesus is not telling you and I that Moses is incorrect. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.279 If that was the case, then there would be an error in scripture, and by all means, there ain't no errors in scripture. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:13.200 All scripture given by inspiration, all scripture is perfect and infallible, all scripture is profitable. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:14.319 That's clear. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:19.359 So he's not trying to let you and I know that Moses was incorrect. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.200 You know what he's trying to show us? 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:29.279 He's letting us know that the shallow interpretation that the Pharisees had is what needs to be corrected, not what Moses originally wrote. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.240 He's correcting the shallow interpretation the Pharisees had. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:37.279 See, the Pharisees believed righteousness was measured by what they could see. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:44.240 And God's reminding us through Jesus here, I'm exposing that only God can actually see the true heart. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:45.039 Only him. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:46.799 He only knows your heart. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.519 I can see the outside, but God sees the inside. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:50.799 So let's let's break these down. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:51.519 There's six of them. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.160 We'll look at all of them in a couple little groups here. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:25:01.440 And so the first thing I look at in 21 through 26 is anger reveals a heart that needs reconciliation. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:04.000 See, we serve a God that wants to restore. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.240 We know that because he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:15.440 If he wasn't a God of restoration, he wouldn't have sent Jesus to die for us so that you and I would have access to heaven and go to heaven. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:17.680 He is a God of restoration, and we know that. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:23.119 And so as I read this text and see that, man, anger messed some things up. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:29.920 Jesus traces murder back to the source, which was anger, hatred, bitterness. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:33.200 Now, I understand that not everyone who is angry commits murder. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:33.680 I get it. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:35.519 Some of y'all was angry earlier, right? 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:35.920 What? 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:37.920 Your outfit didn't look good. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:40.319 Uh-oh, you're uh I'm about to get angry out here. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:41.920 Fawn, I'll be honest with you, okay? 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.039 No, I just kidding. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:44.960 Listen, some of us were angry at anybody. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.279 Did you get behind somebody's slow this morning? 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:48.319 Uh-huh. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.039 You didn't get, was your biscuit not just right? 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.880 Or maybe you didn't even get no breakfast. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:26:03.759 So I understand everybody that's angry hasn't physically murdered anybody, but what the scripture shows you and I is that everybody that was a murderer was angry at some point. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:04.720 They were mad. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:05.599 Something happened. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:12.640 And Jesus, I believe, in the text is exposing the roots, the source, the heart is the problem. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:13.920 Let me make a contrast. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:15.200 This is easy to remember. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:21.119 The Pharisees judged the act, Jesus judged the attitude. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.240 See the difference? 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:24.079 Pharisees judge the act. 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:26.240 Jesus judges the attitude. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:35.039 Something else that I noticed that I like in the following two verses, 23 and 24, he goes a little bit deeper and begins talking about reconciliation. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:48.400 Verse 23, therefore, because of what I just mentioned about anger, if you bring your gift to the altar and there, uh and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.960 First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:57.599 He says, he goes from talking about anger to talk about being restored. 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:00.480 Man, man, listen, if you've got an ought with a brother, go fix that thing. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.920 Life is too short to be bitter and to be angry all the time. 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:04.720 I love it. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:08.240 Jesus immediately follows this with trying to get it right. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:10.319 He's saying, he makes a very clear picture. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:14.000