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Lord, thank you so much for this time. Thank you so much for my family members who are here. And thank you for your love. Thank you for giving us an awesome, abundant life, for giving us in spite of our jacked up, sinful nature. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for the freedom to, for this freedom to spend time with my family and be here with your people. I love you, and I and I ask that you move the Spirit through here like wind. You can't see it. You can only feel it. Have no idea where it's coming or going. And speak to our hearts, people who love you and people who don't know you. In Jesus' name, amen.

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It was cold. One of my highlights, there was 11 of us there in the other place. One of the highlights for me was seeing John Michael uh dance uh in a competition against the inmates in front of about 54 hardcore criminals. So we did have a good time. I was so pleased to serve you know this church has a heart of service. There were 11 people there. Somebody approached me the night before a training from one of the really large churches in the area. And they said, Boy, you got a lot of people going. Big church. They had one couple. It's not a numbers game. We don't play competitions on numbers, but we have a heart to serve here. And those guys were right out there in the gals, right out there, remember the great blessing of my life. Well, as you know, if you've been. Oh, is this not working? What's the matter with it? Maybe that's me. Okay. How's that? Is that better? Okay, as you know, if you've been around or have been there for a Sunday or two, we have been studying in the book of Matthew this what's called the Sermon on the Mount. Awesome study. We are continuing that series this morning. I want to back up a little bit by way of just setting the stage to Matthew 4. As Jesus begins his public ministry, he makes the statement, repent, repeating what his forerunner John the Baptist did, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. First words out of his mouth in public ministry. The idea of a kingdom to the people of Israel was not a new deal. They had been reading about it, it had been prophesied to them forever. They were waiting for it, they're waiting for Messiah. What was new to them was this idea that something might not be right with them that they needed to change when Jesus said repent. And that became an issue, an increasing issue, to the point they hated them for it and killed them for it. I would venture to say this morning, the issue we struggle with is the same issue. We love the benefits of heaven, we love the benefits of being forgiven, we love the benefits of fellowship with God, etc., etc. It's the repent part that gets us. Is that not our struggle? But the Lord makes it very clear. The condition for admittance into the kingdom is bowing down to the king, like one of the songs we just sang. You want into God's kingdom, you want into relationship with Him. He's the king. You bow down to Him, you repent, you turn from your ways. Extremely important word, in order to reap the benefits of the kingdom. So the kingdom Jesus teaches us is first spiritual. At its very heart, the nature of the kingdom is spiritual, which is the issues are ultimately expressed in the physical, in the material world. But the benefits themselves are spiritual. And it's a great list, and Nick Harley, Alex, some of the other men have been teaching on this in past weeks. Benefits, fellowship with God, belonging to the kingdom, becoming a son of God, a son or a daughter of God. That's a deeply intimate relationship term. Seeing God, that means knowing him well, not just hearing the Bible, that means knowing him well, being comforted by him. We all love that one. Receiving mercy from him, we like that one. And one maybe we don't talk about enough, being satisfied by God. Satisfied by God. Have you figured out yet there is no satisfaction in your life that will last more than a brief time without the presence of God? If you haven't figured that out, you need to pay some attention to that or come talk to some of these guys and we'll lead you the way. Everything else, by the way, is called idolatry. If you're looking someplace else, it's called idolatry. So the sermon that Jesus preaches here, teaches here, is a description of the character of those who are members of the kingdom. This is what it looks like in the lives of people in the kingdom. Sure what John Michael is mentioning here. We look different. Not because we don't have prison garb on, it's the heart condition, the character that is manifested. And it's the character conditions actually that create the results of the blessings of the blessedness we receive from God. How wonderful. The character. Notice here, and this is very important because we get hung up on this routinely. The sermon, the teaching of Jesus, doesn't say anything about having something or doing something. It says everything about being something. Very important. Character. Well, what does that being something look like? What does that kingdom life look like? I think to make it real simple, read the gospels. Look at the man Jesus. Look at how he lived his life. That's what it looks like. That's what righteousness looks like. That's what kingdom character looks like. The perfect fellowship with God, perfectly submitted to the Father. And that his teaching and his life are taught throughout the Bible, throughout the remainder in the epistles. So just keep in mind his teaching, we've reviewed this previously also, back in chapter 5 and verse 20, Jesus makes it clear that what has been taught by the Pharisees, the religious leaders, is not good enough. Our righteousness has to exceed what they taught, and actually what they live in order to enter the kingdom of God. Enter the kingdom of God. That means to come into relationship with God for eternity. So Jesus didn't come here to make our life better or more comfortable. He came to save us from the life that we were living. And there is this is great news. The more I study, the more I know the Lord, the more I read the book, the more I fellowship with believers, it's nothing but good news, as long as you want to walk with him. It's nothing but good news. So I went right back as I was thinking about this, and when the king of the kingdom was born, surprisingly to Israel, he was born in a barn, nonetheless, the king, the angel said to the shepherds, Behold, I bring you good news of great joy. For today a savior is born. A Savior. Our King is our Savior. It's a little bit different than the world was anticipating. It's interesting as Jesus, the term frequently used, Jesus going about the countryside, and you see it in Matthew 4, 23. The apostles use the same term. He said they went about preaching the good news of the kingdom. Everything about the kingdom is good news because the king is the good news. So I'm highly encouraged to be a member of that kingdom. Well, Jesus takes it deep as he always does, and we'll pick up our scripture here in Matthew 5, 27. So Jesus said, This is what you heard before, as I already referred, this is the way you heard it. It's not good enough. It takes more. He said, You've heard it said of you commit adultery simply by looking at a woman and lusting for her. Significant thought. So you commit sexual adultery without a physical act, but having a desire, an evil desire in your heart. Adultery, by the way, if you don't know definition, we'll just keep it clear. Sexual intercourse between a married person, at least one person married, not married to each other. Voluntary. Adultery. So Jesus says that everyone who looks with lust in his eyes, lust is an evil passion. 99.9% of the time in the scripture, it is an evil passion. It does have a couple instances where it actually has a positive meaning, but has an evil desire in your heart that's ready to express itself in some kind of bodily activity. And that is the natural tendency of the fallen man to have evil desires of that sort, highly inconsistent with God. So looking with lust in your eyes. Now I have to say up front, because being a man, I know the struggle. So listen, Mrs. Potiphar's wife. You know her? Potiphar, captain of the bodyguard, secret service for Egyptian Pharaoh. Joseph lived in that house, handsome guy, single guy, in the house all day long, taking care of business. So was Mrs. Potiphar in the house all day long. And the scripture says Potiphar's wife looked with desire at Joseph and said, Lie with me. Lust in the heart. So trying to level the plane for a little bit here. So it says you've already committed adultery in your heart without any action. You've committed adultery. I want to talk about heart a little bit because that might seem confusing. Only a couple times in the scriptures does that word actually refer to a physical organ. Sometimes you'll see kidneys or uh something like that, but the picture is not literal. It refers to the seat or the center of human life. A seat, like the government seat. If you have a seat, a government county or national seat, that's where all the activity happens. That's where all the business happens. That's where the decisions are made. That's where people determine their values, they make decisions, and then action comes out of that. The heart. Unless it's Washington, D.C., and then there's probably not a whole lot of action that comes out, but nonetheless you get you get the right picture. So the heart, extremely important. Think about like this: the seat or the center of our intellect, our emotions, our feelings, and our desires, and our will. And the meaning, the way heart is used, the meaning of heart in Scripture changes. And it changes based on which human function is being discussed. For example, we're talking about thinking and reasoning of the intellect, it'll scripture will say something like the thoughts of the heart. If we're talking about feeling, emotions, or desires, you'll see phrases like, comfort your heart. If we're talking about functions of decision making, you'll see words like, or phrases like, love the Lord your God with your whole heart. So it encompasses in all of that your values, all your values. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Your innermost being. And when Peter preached that first message, they were pierced to the heart. It might be discouraging to know that the heart that you were born with, described in Jeremiah 17, 9, is like this. The heart is more deceitful than all else, and desperately wicked. The one you were born with. As a result of the fall of man in the garden. The heart is also the sphere where God functions. That's where he meets us. That's where he influences us. A few quick scriptures, and if you want references of these, you can come see me later. God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. How about this one? If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, you shall be saved. Notice that. In the heart, no action, believing, resulting in salvation. Give you an idea of the function of the heart, the significance of the heart, sin in your heart, believe in your heart. Let's look over at Matthew 15 for a minute. The attitude of a heart should be apparent now, it's absolutely critical. The posture of your heart determines the quality of your relationship with God. It's interesting in 1 Samuel we read that when God was selecting his king, he selected this young guy named David. And the scripture says, God sees not as man sees, for man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So in Matthew 15 we read interesting terms, encouraging words and convicting words that's from the Lord when he says, They honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. You ever feel like that? Boy, I have. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, our subject of the day. Adultery, fornication, theft, slander. These are the things which defile the man. These are the things that make us unpure, corrupted, polluted. These are the things that break our fellowship with God, hinder our relationship with Him. He is a holy God. So we get encouragement from Proverbs 4. We're told to watch over the heart with all diligence. Guard your heart, for from it flow the springs of life. The fountain of our action. The heart. The condition of the heart. Well, quickly I would just say, I say quickly, just for a minute, for believers, quick checklist. I use myself some. You want to learn how to guard your heart, you want to practice guarding your heart. Psalm 119 in Philippians 4 gave us some good instruction. With all my heart, I have sought you. Your word I've treasured in my heart that I might not sin against you. Pursuit with intimate relationship with God, valuing the word of God. And then Philippians 4 tells you to pray about everything. Don't worry about anything. Pray about everything with thanksgiving. That means you trust Him. Pray about everything, believing. And the peace of God, how wonderful, shall guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Well, so the problem's the heart. The heart. Far from Him. So how do I fix that? How do I change that? Well, how can I become righteous? I think the answer is, and the scripture tells us, you need a new one. The old one doesn't work. The old one's corrupted. It's like my eyes. I just got new eyeballs, so now I gotta wear these things. My ears, I gotta have like new ears. I got some stuff in there. Unfortunately, but I got a new heart to our point today. I need a heart like his. We need a heart that is like his so we can be close to him and near to him. And that is a heart of love. If we know anything about God, it's love. Divine love, not human love, divine love. Unconditional love, unqualified love. Love that says, I care about you more than me. I will sacrifice anything about me for your welfare. That kind of love. You notice if you compare that to our simple definition of lust, diametrically opposed. Lust being evil desires for self-gratification, regardless of what kind of damage that brings into somebody else's life. Romans 13 says, 13, verse 10, says this love does no wrong to a neighbor, or love works no evil to a fellow man. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. God's way of dealing with people and with him and viewing people and interacting with people is to love him and love them. How many times have we heard that? Love accomplishes what the law requires righteousness. 1 John 4 7 tells us love, this is divine love, God's love, is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, born of God, from God, of God, and has a relationship, a personal relationship with God. That's why Jesus tells this guy Nicodemus, when he came around, he's wondering about the kingdom and good teaching. Jesus goes right to the heart of it, as usual, and he says, You're not ever going to enter the kingdom of God unless you're born again. You need a new heart, buddy. You need a new heart. You need a different core to your being in order to relate with me. He says, You cannot enter the kingdom of God. And when you do that, when you're born again, and I pray that you, every one of you, is born again. I guess that's not true, but I know many of you knew. The scripture tells you when you're born again, you're a new creation. A new creation. Old things pass away, and everything becomes new. It's a process, all things become new. And you know what that new man looks like? I love this scripture in Ephesians 4. It says, put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in holiness and righteousness of the truth. Can you believe that a child of God, the nature of God, the identity of a Christian is like God? Is that astounding? It should not be surprising because if you read the first page of the Bible, God's plan was to make you like him. Just like him. So he took dirt with his own hands. He didn't speak you into existence. Dirt ball, I like calling the dirt ball, man, dirt ball, takes a dirt ball with his own hands, and then he breathed into him what? The breath of life. And the man became a living soul in the image of God and woman. So guess what? When you get born again, you get you created with a new nature that tends to want to worship him. Without the ability. So, what does God do? He breathes into you the breath of life called the Holy Spirit. He breathes into you the breath of life, and you become a living soul. You can say praise God anytime you want to. You understand that? That wicked heart is replaced with a new one. The bad news is the old does not go away until this body's transformed. So hang in there, fight the good fight. This body will get cleaned up, my ears will work, my eyes will work. I might even have hair in heaven, I'm not sure. Do you understand God's design plan? Notice it says, has been created. If you're a believer, it already occurred. You've already been created brand new in his image. That means you can live that way by the power of the Holy Spirit. That means, men and women, you do not have to have evil desires. Control your life, lead your life, lead your way. All that stuff. Well, the scripture says in 2 Corinthians that God made him. That's Jesus. That's our King. That's our Savior. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. That we might become the righteousness of God in Him. How can we attain this? You can't pull us off. That's why I said you need a new heart. He did for us what we could not do, He rescued us. The King, the King of the Kingdom. This book is filled with good news. The gospel of the kingdom is really good news. I hope it rings true in your heart this morning. But you have to bow down to the king, my friends. You have to bow down. You have to repent. And it's not a one-time deal, my experience. I always hoped it'd be a one-time deal. I struggle so much in sin. It's a lifestyle of bowing down to the king. Your old nature resists, rebels against that thought. And I can sense your heart right now not wanting to hear those words because I can sense them in my own flesh. Well, good news, the requirements of the law to meet God's demands, to have eternal relationship with Him, for fellowship with Him, eternal life. What we could not do, He did. Substitutionary death. It's one of my favorite stories in prison. I won't go into it now. Substitutionary death. Going to court and taking a sentence for somebody who's guilty when I'm innocent. And those guys get that story. They understand that story. Anyway, that's an aside. So what is the requirement law? Righteousness is love.

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Love.

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To be loving, to be like God and loving. In relation to him and relationship to others, as I've said. And this is the fundamental principle of God's design plan for his kingdom for society. To love him and to love each other. The system is to be built on the foundation of loving relationships, starting with him and then with each other. And the core of that, listen to me, is marriage. The core of God's ordained society for the welfare of the human race is marriage, godly marriage under him. Marriage. A loving marriage. The first center of society, the circle, isn't the church. We're a bunch of families together in a family, spiritual family. It's the family and the home. That's why it's such a high priority. It's divine law, it's sacred, it's from God, it's for God. He makes it to happen. He ordains the process. And when Jesus said, what God has joined together, what God has joined, not what you joined, not who you've taken or who's taking you, what God has joined together, let no man separate. Because, you know, the things that he does and what he says are permanent. They're eternal, they're unchanging. Marriage is just like that. Also, there's an essential quality of God because of his nature and his character, his kingdom is holy and pure. And so is marriage. And so the welfare of society at large is wholly based on the welfare of the marriage. Does that make sense? That might give you an indication why marriage has been under attack for so long by the devil himself. Tear apart a family, you hurt the kids, the kids grow up hurt, and a lot of them we get to meet out in these jails around here, or they go other places, and society continues to unravel because the core has been attacked and weakened, if not destroyed, in many cases. Well, it's sacred because God instituted marriage and he did it in paradise. You can see the picture right in the Garden of Eden. He gave the man a woman for a reason. It shows you the high value that God puts on marriage, whom God has joined together. And it says, and they become one flesh. They are joined together, sexual union. Sexual union in the context of marriage. One, they become one. Well, it doesn't seem like one. Anyone that knows Susie and I, we've been married over 50 years, and we are nothing like, in some people's view, but we are one and growing to be one. But God made us one. Even though we met in the bar, listeners hope met in the bar, live like hell for a decade. But I can tell you today, it's wonderful, and it's getting better because by God's grace and mercy, he grows us and our nature to be more and more like him. And guess what? You get closer and closer together. We're still very different. We always will be. She still doesn't take notes on stuff and take advantage of having the microphone. So you get a great picture here in Genesis 4.1, because Adam, the scripture says, here's marriage, ordained by God, sacred. And Genesis 4.1 says, and the man Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived. They had sex. The word new, it means to have relationship. New, intimate, personal relationship. God's way. Words that you'll see when it's not God's way is he laid with her. That's not God's way. That's somebody you took. Or took you. No, he knew her. That's the same word, the same concept when God talks about, I know my sheep and they know me. Intimate, personal relationship, valuable, important relationship. Same word used for sex in this case. The context may understand. There's some other words for immoral sex. Fornication, even a more common word, it really just means voluntary sex from among unmarried people. Can apply to any sexual sin, actually. Well, let's go to a verse I think that will help focus Hebrews 13 4. And this helps me a lot. Being a guy, even though I'm an old guy, my blood is still red, it still can run hot. And so what I do in my heart, sometimes we wonder have I crossed the line? I saw her, gosh, she looks good. And we are mine, or women. And so this is my focus right here. Marriage. I focus on my marriage, the beauty of marriage, and what this passage tells me is we are to hold marriage and honor. All people, married and unpeople, are to hold marriage because this is God's way. This is the way he established society and conducts the affairs of society is through marriage. And so it's to be held in honor among all. And the marriage bed is to be undefiled. So, guys or gals, when your mind starts drifting into the dirt, starts heading south, consider verses like this and God's way. And to honor marriage, it'll help you recover quickly as your mind begins to drift. And notice it says here that any improper sexual relationships among married or unmarried people, God will come against the offender. This is a big deal. God will come against the offender. So we're holding it in high esteem. So a natural result of honoring marriage is not to violate the sanctity of marriage or the marriage bid. What do we see from the world around us? I mean, you could we could spend hours probably in this, but it doesn't take a whole lot to understand that this world is corrupted at the core. That should not be surprising. And sexual immorality is probably the number one issue. We've taught on this in here before. You should know that number one issue. You cannot turn on a television program. They skip, should you kiss on the first date anymore? You just jump in the sack. You skip everything. And that's some kind of manhood. That's some kind of it's everywhere. And and the homosexual relationship, they're introduced everywhere. And males over men or leaders, I mean, you see the total corruption of the world. That should not be a surprise. Because the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. That's a quote. The whole world. What is the world? Made up of everyone who is not a disciple of Jesus Christ. That's the world. And it is ordered and arranged by what is referred to, or he who is referred to as the God of this world, small g. He didn't get a big g. He gets a small one. Actually, he's a prince, not even a good, not even a world. So, heads up. We're not to be conformed to. We don't do things. John Michael said this. We don't do things like the world does things. We don't think like they do. We're not of the world, Jesus says. You're in it. We're not of it. He says, My people aren't of the world. Just like I'm not of the world. How much is he not of holy man? Same way. Well, there's a caution to us in the book of James. It says not to be friendly with the world. Don't make friends with the world. If you want to be a friend of the world, you're an enemy, you're making yourself an enemy of God. And the action we should take, pointing out in Matthew 5, 29, our last verse here, it says if there is something, this is just a figure of speech here, but if your eye, the things you see, the way you're thinking, or your actions, anything about your hands is causing you to sin, causing you to stumble, and trapping you, do whatever it takes to get rid of it. That's what that means. It doesn't mean gouge your eyes out, because blind men can lust just like guys with bifocals. That makes sense. Get rid of it. Just notice that if you have a habitual heart condition, habitual heart condition that demonstrates sin, disobedience to God. You're not rightly related to God. This verse tells you you will be cast into hell. See that? You'll be cast into hell. Now, I told you this book is filled with good news, so I will say quickly. That is the truth of Scripture, to be cast into hell. But Colossians 1, 13 and 14 tells you this. This is what's available to any human being. He rescued us, or he will rescue you, from the domain of darkness, and transfer you into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He rescues. I told you, he came here to rescue us. He is a rescuer, he's our savior. So when you struggle in this stuff, go to the rescuer and bow down and reap the blessings of the kingdom of God. It's a choice. So continually seek his kingdom. My encouragement to you would be, and we'll hear more about it when we get to Matthew 6, but Jesus says, you know, the first thing ought to be, your first prayer ought to be seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. So I referred earlier to the new man and being created new, and I gave you a bit of a description there, but I'll go back to Ephesians 4. And I would leave this with you for you to meditate on, or we go into time of reflection, is consider the options a believer has. If you're a non-believer this morning, or you're not sure, if you're not sure if you're right with God, would you come and talk to us? We had guys, men and women in the back and couples, would you come and talk to us? This is not one of the things you want to waffle on. This is one of the things you want to get right. So please come and talk to us. We'll pray with you, we'll encourage you and point you at the scriptures. But here's for a believer, here's the options you have. You can live in accordance to the old life, Ephesians 4, 22, in reference to your former manner of life, lay aside the old self. Look at this description, which is being corrupted, ongoing being corrupted in accordance with what? The lusts, evil passions of deceit. That's what happens to the old man. It doesn't ever get better, it's just as bad as always, and it keeps getting worse. So if you decide to live in the flesh, it will always be just as bad. Like being a drunk and get recovery and going back. You don't start over, you start right where you left off, if not worse. Same deal. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Change your mind by the renewing, by the reading and study of the Word of God and obeying the Word of God. And then put on the new self. You see the option? You got an option here. Put on the new man. And I referenced this before. Which, in the likeness of God. What an option. In the likeness of God has been, past tense, created in holiness and righteousness of the truth. It's almost like you'd have to be a brain donor to choose the old. You understand the option? But remember, sin is deceitful. It's called the deceptiveness of sin. It always is worse than you think, and it takes you further than you want to go and costs you more than you want to pay. Always. So I would encourage you, uh, in the Psalms, Psalm 139, I forget, ask God. I I would encourage you, even on a reflection time, as you're looking at the option here, God, search me. Search me by your spirit, go to the depth of my being, and see if there be any wicked way in there. And if there is, show it to me and lead me in the way everlasting. You willing to do that? Sometimes it takes a little guts, it takes a little courage to let God really look and really show you what's there. Because it's not always real pretty, is it? But he'll rescue you. Well, before I pray first, I just want to remind you. Um we have some options here, you know, at this point. Probably the most important option is for you just listening to listen to me babble up here, is just get real quiet before God. Get real quiet. You gotta get quiet down here, not just quiet. You gotta get quiet in heart, and that's hard. And listen to what God has to say to you. What does he have to say? It's the most important thing you're gonna hear all day or for the rest of your life, is what he's gonna say to you right now. And then I cannot encourage you enough. Do something about come see us, come see. There's a bunch of people that love to pray with you, encourage you in life groups. We'll have people in the back, you know, that have some yellow tags on, and they're men and women that want to pray with you and for you. Come see them, fill out your prayer request things. I think Alex already mentioned that. Um, we have communion tables around it, that's always available. I just have to encourage you. Make sure your heart is right with God before you do that, because you're recognizing him, remembering him for what he did, and he died for your sins. So don't go there and up with unconfessed sin. You're mocking him, you're dishonoring what he died for. Does that make sense? So get right with him and then go rejoice and commit to him and remember what he did because he rescued you for eternity. Good news, I told you. Book of good news. Okay? Can I pray for us for a minute? Uh Father, I'm I'm just sort of filled up with love for you in this time, sensing the power of your presence, your spirit of God moving in myself and moving in these your children, God. I pray for us, Lord God. I pray against Satan. I pray in the name of Jesus. You would rebuke him from this place, from these people, uh, from any satanic activity, God, and move freely in our midst. We are your people. We belong to you. And I pray, Lord God, in these moments that hearts will respond to you, hearts will will reorient, people will repent and understand the significance of knowing the living God and being able to be set free through the shed blood of Jesus Christ to live the life you called us to live. And we pray these things together in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.