WEBVTT 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:16.239 Matthew chapter 5 brings to a close the first point of the Sermon on the Mount. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.239 Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:27.120 And Jesus, like any good Baptist preacher, has three points in the Sermon. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:31.679 And Jesus didn't preach the Sermon on the Mount with chapter divisions. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:37.359 Of course, he just preached the Sermon on the Mount, and it was recorded and given verses and chapters later. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:42.479 However, the chapter divisions do pretty much mark those three points of the sermon. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:51.200 So as we read Matthew 5, verse 48, I understand that this verse is acting as a summary remark for the first point. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:01:07.200 The first main point Jesus has made in the sermon, back in Matthew 5, verse 2, is brought to a close here in Matthew 5, verse 48, which reads, You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:13.760 We are brothers and sisters in the Lord, and Jesus is our Father. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:20.480 The command that this verse gives is that we must, it's an essential imperative, we must be perfect. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.920 We are designed by God to be perfect. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:25.599 Now, what does this mean? 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:33.519 This gets you back to the beginning of Jesus' first point, which is that if you're going to live on your own righteousness, you will fail. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.680 If you're going to live on your own works and your own effort and your own merit, you will fail at it. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:45.200 And this is where the Sermon on the Mount begins with blessed are the bankrupt, blessed are the broken, blessed are those who mourn. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:46.799 You have to be blessed. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:51.359 In order to be blessed, you have to realize you don't have the righteousness that God requires. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.439 You don't have what it takes. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:02:03.920 And by and large, the majority of people who have ever lived, and particularly Americans, love to think that they are going to heaven when they die because they are good enough. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.799 That is the standard American answer. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:08.719 You know, do you believe in God? 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:10.319 No, or I don't know. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:11.840 What's going to happen to you when you die? 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:13.199 Well, God's going to let me into heaven. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:17.199 That kind of logic is prevalent in our society. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.639 God, if he or she exists, will let me into heaven. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.400 That's the way most people think. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:27.039 And when you drill down on that, you think, why would God let you into heaven? 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:31.120 And the standard answer is because God knows that I am a good person. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.400 God knows that I try hard and I do get you know what? 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:36.800 The bottom line is I do the best that I can. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.280 That you may not think like that. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:41.439 I know not everybody thinks like that. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:03:00.159 Like there are those with you know low self-image and the woe is me kind of mentality, but most people settle into the category of I try hard and I'm going to be okay when I die, because if heaven exists, I can stand before God based upon how I have lived my life. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:06.800 And so Jesus is hammering away at that, hitting it with a jackhammer over and over and over again. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:13.439 You there's no way to enter into the Sermon on the Mount apart from your own brokenness over your own inability. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.319 You have to recognize that you are spiritually bankrupt. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:21.280 You don't have what is necessary to stand before God and receive eternal life. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:22.479 You don't have it. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:24.319 You don't have that kind of righteousness. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.840 But if you want to live that way, that path is open to you. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.879 And so Jesus hits at this over and over again through Matthew 5. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.240 I mean, have you you think you're going to be good enough to stand before God? 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:36.719 Have you ever looked at somebody with lust? 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:38.560 Then you're an adulterer. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.479 Have you ever coveted something? 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:41.759 Then you're a thief. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.639 Have you ever had a hatred for somebody in your heart? 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:45.759 Then you're a murderer. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:47.680 I mean, he's hitting you over and over and over again. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:49.360 So you think you can stand on your own. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:54.639 Jesus is trying to peel the onion back here and let you see what's really inside of your heart. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:57.439 It's not the kind of heart that's able to stand before God. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:00.159 That's the main point of chapter 5. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.479 And I want to reiterate that point just by looking at verse 48 again. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.560 You therefore must be perfect. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:08.240 God is perfect. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:10.159 God defines righteousness. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:14.560 Something is holy and righteous if it conforms to God. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:23.680 Any lack of conformity to God is failure in that sense and is sin. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.519 Anything that does not come from faith is sin, the scripture says. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:33.040 Anything not done with a heart fully devoted to the Lord is in itself sinful. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:38.079 Because the standard is that you must be perfect. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:44.639 Now, this separates what's going to happen in chapter 7 of the Sermon on the Mount is that there's two paths. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.639 Jesus is going to lay out two different ways to live. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:48.879 And he's sowing the seed for that right here. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.399 He's tilling the soil of the first half. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.000 Are you going to live for yourself? 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:00.160 Are you going to live based upon your own standards and your own righteousness? 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.879 Are you going to live to try to be good enough? 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.639 Do you want to stand before God when you die for judgment based upon how you lived your life? 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:10.560 That's this first question. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:15.199 And I'm here this morning to tell you that that is a path that is open to you. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:24.800 That the Bible makes it very clear if you want to live in a way where you will be judged for how you lived and rewarded or condemned for how you lived, you have that option available. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:26.639 That's the default option. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:31.680 If you don't scroll down on the terms and conditions to get to page two, this is the default option. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:32.639 This is the setting. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.560 You will stand before God based upon how you lived your life. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:43.360 You will be sent to heaven or hell based upon your own personal conduct, based upon how you did. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.240 But the standard is perfection. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:51.759 Now I want to demonstrate to you for the rest of the morning that this is not a new thing Jesus is saying. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.439 This is as old as it gets. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:58.160 The first human being in the world had the same option laid out for him. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:01.120 I want you to flip back to Genesis chapter 2. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:02.639 Leave Matthew behind. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:07.759 Matthew chapter 2. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.360 This is before it had sorry, Genesis chapter 2. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:14.879 All the way back to the beginning. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:16.399 Genesis chapter 2. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:21.839 This is before it had even rained. 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:23.759 There's animals in the earth. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.519 The plants are under the soil, beginning to grow. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:29.199 There's no rain. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:30.879 There's no eve. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:33.759 There's just the earth and the animals. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:35.199 And that's it. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:42.720 And God tells Adam, this is what you need to do, Adam, verse 15, get in the Garden of Eden, and God puts him there. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:44.480 Work it and keep it. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.399 This is called the creation mandate. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.240 It's going to include being fruitful and multiplying and subduing the earth later. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:56.480 That Adam is given the task of cultivating the earth, subduing the earth, which means beating back the wildlife. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:58.879 You know, don't weed your yard and see what happens, kind of thing. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:00.079 It'll take over. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:08.079 You as a human being are called to subject the earth, to cultivate it for your purposes and for God's glory. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:12.000 We are supposed to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth to accomplish that globally. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:13.839 Adam can't do this by himself. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:17.360 Adam can't weed his own garden by himself, honestly. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.519 Much less be fruitful and multiply. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:20.800 You can't do that by yourself. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:22.560 He needs a helper. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.399 That's going to come in verse 18. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.319 It says, I will make a helper fit for him. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:36.879 But in between this reality of the creation mandate and the helper fit for him, God explains to Adam what the standards around here will be. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.160 Verse 16, Genesis 2. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:46.000 Yahweh commanded, saying, You may surely eat of every tree in the garden. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:48.399 Now, pause here. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:50.800 He can eat whatever tree he wants. 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:51.360 That's fine. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:52.560 Choose your favorite fruit. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:53.120 Go for it. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:54.560 That's not the main point. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:58.639 The main point is that the tree of life is in this garden. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:05.199 And if Adam eats from the tree of life, as long as he eats from the tree of life, he will live forever. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.720 If he eats from the tree of life, he will not physically die. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:15.120 He doesn't need to worry about heaven or hell because he's not going to die as long as he has access to the tree of life. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:17.360 He will have complete fellowship with God. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.120 God walks in the garden with him. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.199 We learned this later on in Genesis 3. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:24.079 God is walking the earth with Adam. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:25.279 I don't know what that looks like. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.199 I don't know what kind of physical manifestation that was. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:33.360 I have no idea, but God had a communion and a fellowship and a relationship with Adam. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:35.600 They dwelled together. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:43.519 And as long as Adam did what God commanded him, he would live and have that life. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:44.399 It's eternal life. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:52.879 It's a relationship with God, eternal life, based upon his conduct, based upon keeping the earth, subduing the earth. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.600 He could live forever if he was obedient to God. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:59.120 That charge comes with law in verse 17. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.200 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.200 That's the law that's here. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:13.759 So he can live with God forever as long as he keeps the command of God, which here it's a very low shelf command. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:16.720 You have the whole world, Adam. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.639 Don't eat the one tree. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:21.200 Okay? 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.639 You're not going to get a more basic command than that. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:32.879 But if he eats from that tree, the bad news bears. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:35.039 Look what it says in verse 17. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:39.440 The day you eat of it, you will surely die. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:47.679 Now we understand that when Adam and Eve eat from the tree, which they will, one rule. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:49.120 They had one rule. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:50.240 They broke it. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.039 When that happens, they did die on that day. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:58.960 They did not die physically on that day, they died spiritually on that day, which is much worse. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.919 They hide from God, the fellowship and communion with God is broken. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:11.840 They become outlaws on their own planet, refugees without even a country. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:13.440 They're hiding. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.120 That's what happens. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:16.559 They will die physically. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:18.399 The wages of sin is. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:26.320 And so when they sin, they're entering, they're allowing corruption into their own physical bodies. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:29.120 Their genetic disposition will decay. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.519 There will be genetic decay, and this takes time. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.120 They ate from the tree of life. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.840 It takes time for that to work out of their bodies. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:42.320 So they live for century after century after century after century after century after century after century. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:44.639 They lived a really long time. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:51.679 Even though they had sinned and died spiritually, it took a long time for them to die. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:11:05.279 Now, human life expectancy will decline after them as the genetic code has defects in it, and the sin starts to work its way through the world until it drops down to much less, and then through our medical advances, we can add a couple more decades on it. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:07.200 Great news, I guess. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:14.480 But the day they ate from the tree of good and evil, they died. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:17.600 This was the command Adam. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.679 Obey God, live forever. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.840 Disobey God and die immediately. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.840 Now we also deserve death. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:38.639 Even if you led a perfect life, you would deserve death because of Adam's sin. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.960 Adam's sin is passed on to you. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.559 You have Adam's sin nature. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.039 And you might say, that's not fair, that I would deserve hell because of Adam's sin. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:47.919 That's not fair. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:51.840 And if you yourself were sinless, I would probably agree with you. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:12:00.639 Like if you actually were sinless and you never sinned in your life, and then you were told that you're on your way to hell because of Adam's sin and you said that's not fair, I would say, you got a really good point. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:05.759 But it is, you would grant an academic hypothetical conversation. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:07.759 Because you have your own sin. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.679 You don't need to worry about Adam's sin being credited to you because you have your own. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.440 But the truth is that you have Adam's as well. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.639 That was the promise that God made Adam. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:19.759 Do this and live. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:21.840 You break it, you die. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:26.159 We have death because of Adam's sin. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:29.759 Now this premise is repeated throughout the Bible. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.120 I want you to flip over to the book of Leviticus. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.320 So Genesis, go right, Exodus, Leviticus. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:37.600 I know we have some new people. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:39.279 I've met some new people with us this morning. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:41.679 This is their first time at church ever. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.799 I don't presume that they would know where all the books of the Bible are. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:47.759 So Genesis is the first, Exodus, Leviticus is the third. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:49.519 So you're at the front end of the Bible here. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.639 Leviticus 18 is where we're headed. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:57.360 This is after, this is after their Exodus from Egypt. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.159 The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.240 This is a long time from Adam. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:04.639 There's a million plus Israelites. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.399 And they are led out of Egypt. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:08.399 They're in the wilderness, they are in the desert. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:09.919 Behind them is Egypt. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:13.039 In front of them is Canaan, the land of Israel where they're going. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:17.679 In the middle of there, God is giving them rules for how they're supposed to live. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.159 That's what Leviticus 18 is about. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:25.679 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I'm Yahweh your God. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.799 Now this revelation is in itself an act of mercy. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.279 When the Israelites were in Egypt, they knew that they had a God, and they knew they were Israelites. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:37.519 They spoke a different language, they were slaves there, they were not Egyptians, they understood that. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.639 But they didn't know what God wanted from them. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.279 God hadn't given them a law. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:45.600 But now God is giving them a law. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:47.120 He's giving them rules to live by. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:56.799 Verse 3 of Leviticus 18, you shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they land in Canaan, where you're going. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.080 Don't live like them. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:13:59.519 Don't walk in their statutes. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:07.759 No, you, it says in verse 3, or in verse 4, you will follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them, because I'm Yahweh your God. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:09.840 As I mentioned, this is an act of mercy. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.799 You are not supposed to fit in, God is telling the Israelites. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.320 Don't look like them, don't look like them, look like me. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:17.919 Do what I'm telling you to do. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:19.919 Doesn't matter if the other nations don't do it. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.919 I'm giving you what you're supposed to do. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.000 And then verse 5, here comes the reward. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.080 You will keep my statutes and my rules. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.279 If a person does them, he will live by them. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:30.720 Because I'm Yahweh. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:32.159 Does that sound familiar to you? 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:34.480 Is that ringing in your ear a little bit? 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.039 That's essentially what Adam was told. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.600 Do this and live. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.000 Don't do this and die. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.360 So you want to approach God based upon your own conduct? 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:51.919 That's an option available to you. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:54.000 Do this and live. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.120 Well, what are the kind of commandments we're talking about here? 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:01.120 I'm not going to walk you through all of these because some of them are kind of graphic here in Leviticus 18. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:03.200 It starts with a lot of sexual sins. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.639 Like don't sleep with your father's wife. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:08.559 Your stepmom kind of thing is in here. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:09.679 Don't sleep with your sister. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.279 Like there's those rules in here. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.440 And you so you're going through this list and you're like, okay, I can relate to God like this. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:16.559 Check, not gonna do that. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:18.240 Check, not gonna do that. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:20.639 You go through the list, you're like, I got this. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:21.840 I'm doing well. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.480 Don't sleep with your neighbor's wife, verse 20 says. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:24.960 Don't do that. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:26.480 You're like, okay, don't have an affair. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:27.440 I I got it. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:31.600 Verse 21, don't sacrifice your children to Molech. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:32.720 Because I'm Yahweh. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.080 You're like, okay, I'm there. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.799 Don't lie with a male as if he was a woman. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:39.279 Verse 22, all right, I won't do that. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:41.600 And it goes through this list. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:43.039 And you think, you know what? 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.240 I can handle these kind of restrictions. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:51.600 I can keep these commandments, and if I do them, I can live by them. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.759 But then you keep reading. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:58.320 Verse 30. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:02.960 Don't do any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.440 Never make yourself unclean by them. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:07.600 I'm Yahweh your God. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:15.600 Verse 2 of chapter 19, speak to all of Israel and say to them, Be holy, for I'm Yahweh your God. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.120 Like, alright, I'm gonna try to do this. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:21.360 Verse 3, honor your father and your mother. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:22.879 That's the fifth commandment. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.279 Verse 4, don't make idols. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.360 That's the second commandment. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.279 It keeps going. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.440 Verse 11, don't steal. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.120 That's the eighth commandment. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:34.639 Don't deal falsely. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.000 That's don't lie to each other. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:37.200 That's the ninth commandment. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.279 Don't swear by my name falsely. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.039 That's the third commandment. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.399 Verse 14, don't curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block before the blind. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:47.440 I'm Yahweh. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.080 So you see, like, there's a broad expanse here. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.960 Like there's very specific things, these kind of sexual sins. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:55.600 There's very general things, like the Ten Commandments. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:58.320 There's a very specific thing, don't trip a blind person. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:16:59.200 I mean. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:02.879 You think that's this is how do you make sense of this? 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:08.880 This is total, complete and total obedience, covering every area of your life. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.079 That's the point that he's driving home to you. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.559 Verse 16, don't slander. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.559 Protect your neighbor. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.359 Verse 17, don't hate your brother. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:23.039 Does that sound familiar to you? 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.720 That's a Sermon on the Mount. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:30.319 Don't hate, if you hate the other person, you're a murderer, Jesus says. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.119 That's not just a New Testament ethic out of nowhere. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:34.880 That's right in the heart of this stuff. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.119 You want to relate to God on your own works. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:38.240 Don't hate anyone. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.000 Don't slander anyone. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:43.839 Don't take vengeance, verse 18 says. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.519 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.759 You want to relate to God on your own works? 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:51.519 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:57.839 And you should start realizing right here, I don't, I'm starting to wonder here, can I do this? 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:06.880 It's total obedience to the Lord, to where you love your neighbor as as if he was yourself. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:10.799 You prefer him over you all the time. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:12.880 In every way. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:18.319 You're careful to do everything God has commanded you to do. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:23.440 Skip down to verse 34 of Leviticus 19. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:28.000 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.319 You shall love him as you love yourself. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:39.680 So here, I heard somebody recently argue that loving your neighbor as yourself means loving those in your own country and not those outside of your country, like a form of nationalism here. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.000 They get that from the love your neighbors yourself. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:46.079 That's you see, you gotta love Americans before you can love other kinds of logic. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:49.759 But look, when that enters the Bible here, love your neighbor as yourself. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:55.599 It is in the context of loving the stranger, loving the foreigner, because you used to be in Egypt. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.359 That's what verse 36 says. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:59.680 Uh you used to be out of the land of Egypt. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:00.880 You are brought out of Egypt. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:06.079 Yahweh is our God, so don't cheat each other, don't wrong each other, love your neighbor as yourself. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:12.319 Verse 34, because you are strangers in Egypt and I'm Yahweh, you love each other perfectly. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:20.240 And even if you are naive enough to think, I'm still with you. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:29.680 I won't slander anyone, I won't rob the foreigner, I won't have any sexual immorality, no idols. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:32.240 I'm with you, God. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:34.559 And verse 37 drops. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:43.279 All my rules, and do them because I'm Yahweh. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:51.359 Adam had one rule, and he couldn't do it. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.440 Here, think of all of them. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:19:57.599 Can you do it? 00:19:58.240 --> 00:19:59.440 What do you think? 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.799 Skip over to Deuteronomy now. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:05.680 Leviticus, Numbers is next. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:08.160 Deuteronomy, we go and write a few books more. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:10.480 Go all the way to Deuteronomy 27. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:15.440 Now we're a long time after Leviticus, 40 years later. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:17.200 All the Israelites are dead. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:20.400 They all died in the wilderness, new generation came up. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.680 So what Deuteronomy is doing in the Bible, it's repeating what was said in Leviticus and some of Exodus. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.599 It's repeating them to the new generation. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.240 These new people are going to go in the promised land. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:32.559 And they're getting the same speech by Moses. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.160 Moses doesn't get to go. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:37.519 Moses will die in the wilderness, but this new generation will get to go. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:44.480 And before they enter the promised land, Deuteronomy 27, God is reiterating the same kind of covenant to them. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:53.759 Verse 1 of Deuteronomy 27, Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep the whole commandment I command you today. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.359 Verse 2, you're going to cross over the Jordan, the land that Yahweh has given you. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.079 You're going to cross the river and you're going to go into Israel. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:06.319 When you do that, verse 2, set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.519 So there's the canyon walls there across the Jordan River. 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:10.960 There's the wilderness rocks. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.359 It's got kind of the Shea rocks. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:15.279 They carve very easily. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.759 When it says set up rocks here, we're not talking about the kind of rocks you'd find in a creek or a river in Virginia. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:23.279 We're talking about these big, like canyon walls. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.359 And you're supposed to cover them with plaster, it says. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.960 And then verse 3, write on them. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:34.000 This is the first graffiti in the Bible, right here. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:47.920 Plaster the walls and write on them, and write all the words of the law so that when you enter the land that Yahweh is giving you, the idea here, you're going to walk by all of the law written on the wall. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:50.559 So you will have no excuse. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:58.880 When you cross into Egypt or into Israel, you're going to be walking by the words of God literally written on the wall. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.440 You think even in DC, we're kind of a land where this works. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:08.960 You got all kinds of declarations and promises and freedoms and commandments and stuff written on the monuments. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.759 So there's no excuse. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:13.440 There's no excuse. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:20.240 You walk in the Supreme Court, you're walking by these images carved into these massive doors about equality under the law. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:26.000 So it'd be very strange for somebody inside the Supreme Court to say, hey, is equality under the law a principle we even know about yet? 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.319 It's written on the wall. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:31.119 That's what's happening here in Israel. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:38.960 You're going to walk in and you're going to walk by all of the laws that God wants you to do, painted on the wall next to you. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.599 Verse 5, build an altar to Yahweh there. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.160 Don't use any iron on it. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:45.759 Don't chisel it out. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.519 Remember, it's the Shea Rock here. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.519 Just paint over it and make it to God. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:51.920 You're not approaching God by your own works, is the point here. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.720 You're not going to carve the rock into some kind of idol. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.880 You're just supposed to build the altar there. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:58.880 Sacrifices and offerings. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.319 And then verse 8, write on the stones every word of this law. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:03.119 Very plainly. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.680 Make sure your handwriting is clear, so there's no excuses. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:07.279 Can't say I didn't know. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:09.440 Did it say commit adultery or don't commit adultery? 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:10.799 I couldn't read the knot very well. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:12.720 No excuses. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.920 What kind of laws does God give them? 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.359 Well, it's everything in the book of life. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:23.279 Everything in the Torah. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.759 Everything they're supposed to do is written for them. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.839 And it's going to be repeated. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:32.079 And if you do it, you're going to get blessings. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.519 But if you don't do it, you're going to be cursed. 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:36.880 And Moses starts going through it. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.160 Look at verse 15. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:40.880 Cursed is the man who makes an idol. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:43.440