"18 Minutes With Jesus" | February 13, 2022

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today it's great to see you let's stand together as we sing psalm 100. [Music] of worship [Music] is [Music] is [Music] our lord god is so holy yes he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] with [Music] he is [Music] worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] i will enter [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] thanksgivings [Music] [Applause] oh let's praise and bless his holy name this morning he's our hope today and forever what is our open life and death christ alone christ alone what is our only confidence that our souls to him belong who holds our days within his hands what comes apart from his command and what will keep us [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all the ladies sing together [Music] [Music] who stands up [Music] is [Music] is [Music] right [Music] [Applause] unto the grave what will we see christ is christ he lives [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] christ our holy [Music] christ our holy [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] christ our hope today praise his name great worship church you may be seated well it is good to worship our lord and savior jesus together this morning here at first baptist dallas we welcome each and every one of you we also welcome our guests joining us in the room today as well as on our eye campus and guests we have a very special gift for you today it's our pastor's new book entitled invincible conquering the mountains that separate you from the blessed life and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find and close this welcome card please take the time to fill this out keep the card with you at the end of the service take it outside these main worship center doors you're going to find right there our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you we look forward to meeting you and you'll exchange your completed card for your gift today and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have regarding our church now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can slip the card in one of those and we'll mail you a copy of your gift and if you're joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to receive your gift as well again great to see each of you for worship this morning lots of exciting events taking place here at first baptist dallas so let's all take a look together now at the screen [Music] good morning we're so excited to be with you in worship today and we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events this friday february 18th girls and dads are invited to join us for the daddy daughter gala where we will enjoy an evening in paris this special night will include all of the elegance and the charm of the city of light as well as a delicious dinner and evening theater presentation if you are a guest with us this morning we would love to invite you to sign up for first step on sunday february the 20th in this class you will learn all about the beliefs ministries staff and the campus of first baptist dallas on that day our new members are invited to attend a special lunch with dr jeffress following worship ladies we are excited to host our heartstrong faith conference february 25th and 26th invite your friends for this evening of life change featuring an incredible lineup of speakers including julia jeffress sadler nika spalding rebecca carroll and sheila walsh we're also excited to announce that rebecca st james will be leading worship with our day one band for more information on everything happening at our church visit first dallas.org events good morning now you may not know this but today is world radio day some of us keep track of things like that but i got to thinking about pathway to victory and the tools that god has given us to take the message of christ all over the world i've just returned from romania with christians and media there they're translating some of our services and putting them on the air extending the power of the gospel through this church to places all over the world hope you'll pray for those who are serving that way on this day we want to read god's word together and we're going to be reading second peter chapter one verses two through four and it'll prepare us for this launch of the new sermon series with the pastor and we'll read from the new american standard bible so the words for that will be on the screen here in the worship center and for icampus you'll have those words as well and we invite you to stand we do that to honor the reading of his word as we read together second peter chapter one beginning with verse two and then ending with verse four grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of god and of jesus our lord seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence for by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust may god richly bless our reading of his word now keep standing as we continue our great time of worship together [Music] let's join together [Music] god almighty early in the morning our song shall rise to thee [Music] god [Music] [Music] [Music] there is [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh me holy holy lord god almighty all thy word shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea holy holy holy [Music] says [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] please [Music] holy [Music] me [Music] holy is the lord god almighty you may be seated as ben lavorne our executive pastor comes now with a special mission 1-8 milestone good morning church am i on now i'm on good morning church you know the apostle paul in talking about his life and his ministry he said i do not run aimlessly i do not box as one beating the air he was intentional about how he served the lord and when you give your tithes and offerings to the lord through mission 1a courageous we are intentional about how we invest those funds in god's kingdom to transform lives for eternity we have ministry partners here locally nationally and internationally and one of those that i wanted to tell you about today is our one for israel soldiers ministry we partnered with the one for israel soldiers ministry to minister to christian soldiers serving in the israeli defense forces you know in israel all men and women on their 18th birthday uh are to serve in their military it's mandatory service and of the 200 000 soldiers serving in the idf only about 400 of those are christians and these young men and women are thrust into service into circumstances in which they're disconnected from their christian community they don't have a christian influence in their lives necessarily and so one for israel's soldiers ministry comes together and hosts a conference to bring these christians serving in the idf together to minister to them to encourage them with the whole of god's word and to teach them how to remain faithful to jesus christ no matter the circumstances they say the one for israel soldiers ministry exists as a spiritual armory and a training center to support these and all believing soldiers equipping them to stand strong in their faith and against the spiritual attacks of the enemy they are working to raise up generations of ephesians 6 men and women who are trained to put on the full armor of god looking to him as their commander-in-chief and sticking with him no matter what battles they face so recently we sponsored with we partnered with one for israel soldiers ministry to sponsor a conference there for these christian soldiers serving in the idf to bring them together to encourage them in their faith in jesus christ so i wanted to share this with you today to encourage you this is one way through mission 1a that you are equipping men and women throughout the world to stand strong against the attacks of the evil one to put on the full armor of god and to go to battle under the banner of jesus christ you know christians are facing persecution all over the world and next week you'll have the opportunity to hear from someone who faced this very intensely and very personally pastor andrew brunson was a pastor who lived in turkey for 23 years he and his wife lived and ministered there as missionaries before he was falsely accused of terrorism and he was imprisoned and he was persecuted there in prison and he is going to be here with us next week just before pastor second message in his brand new series pastor is going to interview pastor brunson and you'll get to hear his story of persecution and how the lord delivered him out of prison through a worldwide prayer movement so i hope you'll be here next week to hear about that story of god's providence now during this time of our service we'll continue our worship through giving you'll have your opportunity to give your ties and offerings by leaving those in the boxes as you exit this morning you can give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but right now i'll invite you as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to our lord in prayer together gracious heavenly father we come before you now with glad and grateful hearts as we worship you as we thank you for that undeserved blessing of our salvation through jesus christ your son and our savior but even as we exalt your holy name this morning lord we must recognize that every season of life in this world is bittersweet there are christians your children all over the world experiencing persecution and trials and tribulations there are members of our immediate church family who are going through a season of difficult loss of sickness of trouble but lord we know that you are sovereign and it is these hardships that cause us to long and desire for your kingdom we look forward with anticipation to that day that jesus christ triumphantly returns and there is no more night there is no more sorrow there is no more pain but in the meantime lord as we serve you we pray that you would equip us to be salt and to be light in this world that we would glorify your holy name that we would herald your kingdom and we pray this in the saving name of jesus christ amen [Music] of god to him who was [Music] to him who traded crowns [Music] who is [Music] to the reason conquered [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] yes [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign we will sing [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] know [Music] fill this temple [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] way [Music] [Applause] [Music] a crowd gathers on a grassy hill overlooking the sea of galilee eager to hear from the popular young rabbi whose radical teaching is unlike any rabbi they've ever heard this rabbi speaks with authority he heals the sick and rescues those possessed by demons the scenic landscape soon becomes filled with men and women jostling for better places to sit in this natural amphitheater to hear what this teacher has to say silence descends over the crowd as the rabbi takes a seat and begins to speak shalom as most of you know my name is jesus welcome to my ted talk well now the bible doesn't say he actually said that but he could have said that many of you are familiar with ted talks ted stands for technology entertainment design these are short informative talks by an expert on subjects that are of interest to everyone ted talks actually began almost 40 years ago with a once a year convention and now they have become a global sensation a few months ago i began to think what if jesus christ came back to earth and was invited to deliver a ted talk what would he say and it became clear to me the answer is very clear i believe he would give the sermon on the mount i think the sermon on the mount is jesus ted talk for us why do i say that well they share a lot of common characteristics ted talks and the sermon on the mount for example a ted talk has to be short it can be no more than 18 minutes it takes about 18 minutes to read the sermon on the mount it's informative filled with practical and sound advice for living ted talks are original they're surprising and contrary to public opinion engaging they have to be witty witty and compelling accessible it's free to anyone who wants to listen or read it and it has to be globally appealing that is its message transcends any nation or any culture all of those criteria describe the sermon on the mount and today we're going to begin looking at this most foundational of jesus teaching john taught john john stott the famed bible expositor says that the sermon on the mount is the most familiar but least understood of all of jesus teaching and i might add it's also the least applied and obeyed of all of jesus teaching for a reason that we'll discover today so as we begin this study i want you to take your bibles and turn to the gospel of matthew beginning with chapter five matthew chapter five now actually the sermon on the mount is recorded in two places in scripture matthew chapters 5 6 and 7 and then you find it also in luke in just one chapter luke chapter 6 and there are obviously some notable differences between these two accounts of the sermon on the mount matthew's account is 130 verses luke's account is only 30 verses matthew is 107 verses luke is 30 verses a difference you also find in each of those accounts there's some teaching that one account has that the other has omitted and some that it has that the other has omitted so there are some notable differences which leads people to ask the question are we talking about two different sermons or one sermon how do you explain the seeming contradictions between the two accounts some people will say well these are two similar messages but they were delivered to a different group at a different time and that's certainly possible i mean we preachers do that all the time for example i'm working right now on a message that i'm going to preach next month at the national religious broadcasters conference in nashville and i'm taking a sermon that i preached here a few weeks ago that's going to be the core of it but i'm changing the introduction and the conclusion i'm changing the illustrations to be more applicable to the audience i'll be speaking to there the messages will be similar but they're two different messages delivered at two different times to two different audiences that could be happening here matthew and luke are similar but they are different messages or the more likely possibility is that this is one message that jesus delivered and matthew gives his account of it and luke gives his account of it well pastor doesn't that mean since the wording is different that this is a contradiction of the bible many people say that they are troubled by the differing accounts and different wording that you find in the gospel and they think that means there's a contradiction how else do you explain it remember this in the greek language there are no quotation marks in our language the english language we make a big distinction between what we call direct quotations word for word quotations that you find within quotation marks and indirect quotations which are summaries of what a person have said let me illustrate it for you this way let's imagine my sister jennifer is writing in her journal and she writes i remember what our father said 40 years ago quote don't speed because if you get a fine you'll have to pay for it in quotation marks and let's suppose i wrote in my journal i remember 40 years ago that our father said to us we should obey the law because if we don't we will suffer the consequences for it now is that a contradiction if somebody were to read our two accounts would they say one is contradicting the other one is lying and one is telling the truth no one is a direct quotation what my sister wrote mine is a summary of what my dad said but they're both accurate now that's very probably what is happening here in the greek language again there are no quotation marks maybe matthew was giving the direct quotes of the sermon on the mount and it's longer and maybe luke is giving a summary remember luke's gospel was not first-hand experience it was based on research and interviews with other people so maybe one's direct one's interact possibly both are indirect quotations they are summaries of what jesus said that day on the hillside and luke uh recorded and remembered those things that were important for the unique message of his gospel to the gentiles matthew recorded the things that were important to his audience the jews but they're not contradictions with one another it's very possible both are summaries of a much longer sermon which brings me to a point i need to make today this week i received an email from a smart alec deacon of mine who will remain nameless and he said pastor if jesus only took 18 minutes to preach this sermon why is it taking you 10 weeks to preach it and so i responded to bob osborne [Music] sorry bob i couldn't help myself i said both are probably summaries john calvin and others believe that this possibly took all day to deliver maybe it was a bible conference and took several days but here's what we need to know what we have is what god wants us to know from the sermon on the mount it is inerrant it is inspired and it takes maybe not 18 minutes to preach it but it takes 18 minutes to read it and i believe it's 18 minutes that can change your life now let's look at the setting of the sermon how is the sermon set uh when we look at matthew 4 verses 23 to 25 we find that this is the first major ministry event after jesus baptism his temptation in the desert and his selection of the twelve disciples look at verses 23 to 25 and jesus was going throughout all galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people the news about him spread throughout all syria and they brought to him all who were ill those suffering with various diseases and pains demoniacs epileptics paralytics and he healed them now here's the point large crowds followed him from galilee and the decapolis and jerusalem and judea and from beyond the jordan and that leads us to the audience for this sermon knowing to whom this was spoken helps us understand it remember there are no chapter divisions here chapter 5 verse 1 and when jesus saw the crowds the crowds that had begun following him he went up on a mountain and after he sat down his disciples came to him jesus is preaching this message to his disciples now there are some commentators who believe that although there were large crowds jesus dismissed the crowds and only spoke to the 12 his disciples whom he had called i don't believe that's true and here's why i don't believe it's true at the end of this message chapter 7 verse 28. matthew says and the crowds were amazed at his teaching so how are we to understand the people to whom this is directed it's directed to his disciples but that can mean more than 12 people this will help you understand the new testament the word disciples mathey plural disciples in a general sense means a follower to be a disciple means to be a follower and at this beginning phase of jesus ministry there were many many followers people who were following him they were curious about this new rabbi they were interested in him and his miracles and so he had a lot of people following him now the people who are following him uh had various motivations some were curious some were interested mildly in what he was saying some had a deep interest in following him but those crowds quickly thinned out when they started being persecuted and jesus and his apostles met opposition but at the beginning there were large crowds so it could be a reference to these large crowds people with mixed motivations but the greek word mother tastes disciple in its strictest sense means a learner or a pupil of a rabbi to be a disciple of a rabbi meant that you attached yourself to a rabbi to whom you were particularly interested in if you wanted to be a disciple of that rabbi you would study him his words his actions and seek to emulate that rabbi in your own life that's what it meant to be a disciple to try to imitate another person's attitudes affections and actions and in a strictest sense that's what a disciple is today dallas willard the late author gave a great definition of what it means to be a disciple of christ i want you to write it down to be a disciple means for me to live my life as jesus would live my life if he were i let me say it again to be a disciple of jesus means to live my life as jesus would live my life if he were i see we get this backwards we think that to be a disciple you know is asking what would jesus do and somehow we tried to transport ourselves back 2 000 years and say now what if i were living like jesus what if i were walking those dusty galilean roads and what if i worked as a carpenter and what if i had to face the jewish authorities who were opposed to me what would i do no that's backwards it's not me trying to go back to live jesus life it's asking the question if jesus were to live my life how would he relate and treat my mate what would he say to my children how would he do his work at my place of business how would he handle whatever amount of money god has entrusted to me that's what it means to be a disciple to live my life is jesus would live my life if he were i and the ten commandments shows us i mean pardon me the servant on the mount shows us how exactly to do that which leads to a question how are we to interpret the sermon on the mount now i'm going to make a confession here i have never preached a series on the sermon on the mount in 40 years of preaching and there's a reason i haven't done it for longer than i care to admit i really didn't think the sermon on the mount was that relevant for us today and let me tell you why i came to that conclusion there are three erroneous ways to interpret this sermon that are still popular among many christians three wrong ways to interpret the sermon on the mount some people view the sermon as a list of requirements to enter into heaven that's the most simplistic view of them jesus is a moral man he's giving us a list a checklist of what we have to do to enter into the kingdom of heaven of course that's a superficial reading of the sermon on the mount the fact is when you really look at it in depth you realize this is an impossible list of requirements for anybody to keep at least for a non-christian too i mean we think somehow the old testament is hard and the new testament is easy the old testament is law the new testament is grace but if you read what jesus says in this sermon his standard is much harder than the old testament standard the old testament you're not supposed to murder people and you're not supposed to sleep with other people's mates you do that you can check off the list jesus said i'm going to give you a much harder requirement it's not only you're not to murder somebody you're not to hate them or get angry with them it's not that you're not to sleep with the wrong person you're not to lust after them either it's a much tougher requirement and so if this standard jesus is giving us is a list of requirements he's no better than the pharisees remember what it says about the pharisees in matthew 23 4 and 13 they tie heavy loads onto the backs of men so that they cannot enter into the kingdom of god jesus has given us an impossible standard if this is a list of requirements to get into heaven secondly some people erroneously view the sermon on the mount as a road map to social justice a road map to social justice a little history lesson here at the beginning of the 20th century there's a group of people uh who took the sermon on the mount and started being proponents of the social gospel and their basic thesis was if society were to conduct itself according to the ethical teachings of jesus we would have a much better world a subset of that group called the post-millennialists said if we would obey the sermon on the mount we could create the kingdom of god on earth and it would be so good the earth would be such a pleasant place to live in that jesus christ would have no choice but to come and set up his kingdom that we had already established and they thought that's what the millennium was they thought that jesus would come post after we established the millennium by obeying the teachings of jesus the post-millennial viewpoint many baptists were post-millennialists at the beginning of the 20th century dr george w truitt the wonderful pastor of this church for 50 years i'm reading his biography right now he was a post-millennialist that's what he taught from this pulpit that's what he believed like so many people that the world was getting better and better and better and finally would usher in the return of jesus christ that was the beginning and prevailing view at the beginning of the 20th century but two world wars genocides recessions and all other kind of social maladies pretty much erased the post-millennialist view people gave up on that idea that the world was getting better and better and so you didn't hear so much about post-millennialism anymore but some people have taken that social gospel and they have renamed it and it's now the social justice movement now let me be very clear we ought to speak out as christians against injustice we should speak out against racism or the slaughter of unborn children through abortion we ought to speak out against the abrogation of basic human rights biblical rights like the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly and the freedom of religion we ought to speak out against injustice but i don't care how much we speak out and how much we do we're not going to create the millennium here on earth the great commission is not to reform this present world it is to prepare people for the next world by introducing them to faith in jesus christ that is what our primary calling is even while speaking out against injustice so this sermon is certainly not primarily a road map for social justice and that leads to a third wrong interpretation and that is that it is a constitution for the future kingdom a constitution for the millennial kingdom frankly that's the view i was taught in seminary it's the view uh that is prevalent among many today and uh it's one reason i didn't have a lot of interest in preaching on the sermon on the mount a lot of people relegate this to the future they will say this is impossible to live by you can't really expect people to turn the other cheek when they're you know slugged in the mouth you can't expect somebody to resist a lawsuit and give them the shirt on your back when you're sued this is a description of what life is going to be like in the future kingdom of god and it's impossible to try to live that way now as one commentator said trying to live according to the sermon on the mount is like planting a beautiful flower in stony ground or planting it in an arid region where there's no rain or moisture it cannot survive and people who believe this would say to try to live according to the sermon on the map today it just doesn't work in a sin infected world it is something completely for the future it's a constitution for the millennial kingdom i used to believe that until i started reading the sermon on that and when you start reading it you can see why that viewpoint makes no sense whatsoever i mean for example if you're supposed to turn the other cheek because somebody has slapped you i mean who's going to go around slapping people in the millennial kingdom when there is no sin there is no satan he's been bound for a thousand years that doesn't make sense you're supposed to pray for your enemies who would be your enemy during the millennial reign of christ you're supposed to rejoice and persevere during times of persecution when you're persecuted for righteousness who's going to be persecuting us during the millennial kingdom it doesn't make sense to say this is just relegated to the future no the proper understanding of the sermon on the mount is it is a guide for living in the world today and that's how you have to understand it martin lloyd jones the great bible expositor said if you regard any part of this sermon as impossible to follow your interpretation and understanding is wrong now let me be quick to say while it is impossible for a non-christian to live by these standards those of us who are christians have everything we need to live according to this standard that's why i had you read that passage from second peter chapter one this morning god's divine power second peter 1 3 god's divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness we have everything we need correction we have everyone we need the holy spirit of god living within us to live according to jesus standard and to experience the blessing of living according to this standard there are a lot of ways to organize the sermon on the mount the way i've chosen to do it is to take the 10 topics that jesus addresses in this message 10 subjects that matter most to us and to look at the revolutionary teaching of jesus about each of these topics now for the next four or five minutes i'm going to give you a preview of coming attractions of what we're going to look at on the sermon on the map have your pins ready just jot these down next time we're going to look at the first topic and that is straight talk about your happiness does god want you to be happy does he it all depends on your definition of happy he starts off talking about happy in fact he gives eight attitudes that are guaranteed to bring happiness into your life look at verse three blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven that word blessed macarios in greek literally means happy happier the poor in spirit happier those who mourn happier the gentle and on he goes we're going to look at what god's definition of happiness is and how to experience it and then beginning in verse 13 he gives us some straight talk about your faith you are the salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless how will it be made salty again you are the light of the world a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden these are the two metaphors of how we're to live life now as salt and light what does that mean in a decaying and a darkening world and then beginning in verse 21 jesus gives us some straight talk about our relationships in verse 21 he says you've heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court but i say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court when it comes to murder there's more than one way to murder a person as we'll see and we're going to look at what jesus said about the root cause of murder and hatred in our hearts and then beginning in verse 27 jesus gives us some straight talk about your sex life now that i have everybody's attention look at verse 27 you've heard it said you shall not commit adultery but i say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart we're going to see that adultery immorality doesn't begin in the bedroom it begins in the mind how do we control those impulses that destroy our relationships and our life we'll look at what jesus says about that then when we get to verse 38 straight talk about your adversaries don't get mad get even is the watchword of our age and it's a lot easier to get even with social media today you can ruin somebody's reputation on social media out of revenge but notice what jesus said in verse 43 you've heard it said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but i say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you we'll talk about how to pull that off in this message and then beginning with verse one of chapter six jesus moves from how believers are to treat other people to how we're to practice our own faith beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them otherwise you have no reward with your father who is in heaven then beginning in verse 5 jesus gives us some straight talk about our prayer life you know prayer is the most fundamental but perhaps the most difficult of all of the spiritual practices how do we pray in a way that causes god to listen well in this familiar passage of scripture jesus is going to give us a model for how to pray effectively then beginning in verse 19 straight talk about your money you know it's very clear wealth or the lack thereof and worry go hand in hand just like vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce they go together you can't separate money from worry we're going to see what jesus antidote is to both worry and money do not store up for yourselves verse 19 treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven and then verses 1 to 2 of chapter 1 to 12 of chapter 7 straight talk about your needs we all have needs most of our needs we're incapable of fulfilling other people are incapable of fulfilling for us only god can fill those needs how do you depend on god for those needs that you're incapable of filling we'll discover the answer to that in matthew 7. and then finally jesus gives us some straight talk about our eternal destiny one of the greatest fears people have is about a future about the future is there a heaven and a hell how can you make sure heaven is your eternal destination jesus answers that question in matthew 7 verses 13 to 27 jesus closed his sermon on the mount with an illustration don't put up your outlines i'm not through yet jesus closed his sermon with an illustration that left his crowd speechless and it's an illustration that really explains why we are studying the sermon on the mount today why it is so applicable to us right now in 2022 you remember the illustration that's found in verses 24 to 26 after he'd wrapped up his teaching he said therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand we are in the process ladies and gentlemen of coming out of a 100-year event a pandemic that has affected directly or indirectly every person living on this planet and as you read about the effects of the pandemic you'll find that many sociologists are saying that a lot of people are hitting the reset buttons in their life they're thinking about the future in a way they've never thought about the future before they're facing the question am i going to continue to living my life like i did before the pandemic or am i going to start a new way of living specifically people are rethinking their work life do i really want to continue in this job the rest of my working career or do i want to retire or go to a different job if you're single maybe you've been thinking about maybe i need to pursue a marriage relationship more diligently maybe i don't want to go through life without a companion some who are married or thinking maybe i'd rather be single for the rest of my life or maybe at least change mates some people are thinking about their money in a different way instead of just socking money away for some future retirement that you never may never experience maybe you want to take that trip now or by that possession now people are rethinking what they're going to do with the rest of their lives all of us just like building a house are building a life what kind of life are we going to build from this point on jesus said everybody who hears my words and acts upon them that's the key is like somebody who built their house on a rock building that house on the rock didn't prevent the storms from coming people who live their life according to jesus standard don't escape problems they still experience pandemics they still experience divorce and illness and the loss of loved ones but when you build your house on the rock of jesus christ and his teachings your life doesn't collapse when the storms come those who hear the word but don't act upon it or like people building a house on sand when the storms come and they will come it destroys the life not immediately all the time but eventually what kind of life are you building right now i hope you'll be here each of these next 10 weeks as we look at jesus radical teaching revolutionary teaching about the things that matter most to us the things that will ensure we have a storm proof life let's bow together in a word of prayer i'm asking that nobody leave for any reason this is the most sacred time of our service our invitation time i believe there are those watching in day one those here in our worship center those watching online right now it's no accident you've tuned into this message maybe you're rethinking a lot of things in your life you want to make sure you have a life that survives the storms that will come into your life there's no bigger storm any of us will face than our own death and our judgment by god there's only one way you can withstand that storm and that is by having your sins forgiven now by trusting in jesus as your savior now that is the foundational decision every man woman boy or girl needs to make to survive the inevitable judgment of god i don't think it's an accident you've tuned in today or you're here in this worship center or in day one today i want to give you the opportunity to trust in christ as your savior remember the simple prayers that the tax gatherer prayed lord be merciful to me the sinner are you ready to pray that prayer lord i'm trusting in jesus and what he did for me to save me to forgive me of my sins if so i want to invite you wherever you are to pray this prayer in your heart as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you loved me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me for my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen for those of you watching online if you prayed that prayer i'm going to invite you to go to the top of your screen right now click on the link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ as soon as you do that will be notified i have some free material i want to send you this week about what it means now to start living your life as a christian don't wait a moment longer go to the top of the screen and click that link i prayed the prayer today for those of you in day one pardon me or in our worship center i want you to take out the card that is in your bulletin and if you prayed that prayer with me check the third box i prayed the prayer and we'll send you that same material this week if you're a guest today check that box if you're interested in more information about our church you can check that box you can actually join the church today by checking that final box i'd like to join first baptist church dallas today this last thursday night at our dinner with the pastor at maggiano's we had 30 people check the box and join the church thursday evening there are many of you who would like to do that as well when you check that box we'll be in contact with you this week now once you have finished your card if you would just drop it off at the welcome center on the way out and we'll exchange your completed card for my hardcover latest book invincible and it's about conquering the mountains that separate us from the blessed life if you don't want to stop at the welcome center you can drop the card in one of the receptacles on the way out we'll process the card and get the book to you thank you so much for doing that well it is super bowl sunday and because of that we're going to have in-home fellowships organized by sunday school classes all around the city tonight find one to go to and enjoy the super bowl with some friends and we'll resume discipleship university next sunday at 5 30. then the choir and christy and everyone do a great job today thank you choir and orchestra tyler joe jared for your music today we'll look forward to seeing you next sunday as we look at some straight talk about your happiness from the sermon on the mount let's stand together now as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor let's worship together singing this is my story this is my story this is [Music] this is my story this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so good morning and welcome to worship here at first baptist dallas it's great to see you let's stand together as we sing psalm 100. [Music] with praise [Music] is [Music] is [Music] our lord god is so holy yes he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] with [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] him in worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] thanksgiving i will [Music] thanksgiving i will [Music] i is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] his holy name this morning he's our hope today and forever what is our hope enlightened christ along christ alone what is our only confidence that our souls to him belong who holds our face within his hand what comes apart from his command and what will keep us [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the ladies sing together [Applause] [Music] who stands above the storm is [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] christ our hope today amen great worship you may be seated and let's turn our attention this morning to the baptistery thank you tyler we continue our worship this is an act of worship and obedience to the lord and this is gamalia leiterman they've been attending since october here at our church and gamalia came to the lord when she was 24 years old listening to the gospel on the radio gamalia because you have placed faith in the lord jesus christ and in obedience to the lord's high command i baptize you my sister in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit we're buried with christ in the likeness of his death and raised to walk in newness of life we praise the lord this morning for changed lives through christ jesus our savior and we welcome each of you to worship this morning here at first baptist dallas those here in our downtown dallas location as well as on our eye campus we welcome each of you and to our guests we have a very special gift for you it's our pastor's new book entitled invincible conquering the mountains that separate you from the blessed life and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find and close this welcome card please take the time to fill this out and keep the card with you at the end of the service you can take it outside these main worship center doors you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can place the card in one of those and we'll mail you a copy of your gift and if you're joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to access your gift as well again welcome to each and every one of you to first baptist dallas this morning so many exciting events taking place here in our church and we want to tell you all about it so let's take a moment now and look together at the screen good morning we're so excited to be with you in worship today and we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events this friday february 18th girls and dads are invited to join us for the daddy daughter gala where we will enjoy an evening in paris this special night will include all of the elegance and the charm of the city of light as well as a delicious dinner and evening theater presentation if you are a guest with us this morning we would love to invite you to sign up for first step on sunday february the 20th in this class you will learn all about the beliefs ministries staff and the campus of first baptist dallas on that day our new members are invited to attend a special lunch with dr jeffress following worship ladies we are excited to host our heartstrong faith conference february 25th and 26th invite your friends for this evening of life change featuring an incredible lineup of speakers including julia jeffress sadler nika spaulding rebecca carroll and sheila walsh we're also excited to announce that rebecca st james will be leading worship with our day one band for more information on everything happening at our church visit first dallas.org events good morning you may not know this today is world radio day some of us keep up with that sort of thing but i just got back from romania working with christian broadcasters in radio and television and it reminded me how god uses pathway to victory all around the world to touch hearts and lives god's given us amazing tools like media radio television i believe for the purpose of sharing the hope of christ and so god's got great people all over the world i can guarantee you pray for them as you think about how he's using this church to extend the gospel far beyond the walls let's read god's word together ii peter 1 2-4 will be the passage we'll read today and we'll read from the new american standard bible so we have the words on the screen here so that we might read that but also i campus you'll have those words from that translation as well so we can all take part in reading god's word and i invite you to stand to honor the reading of his word again it's second peter chapter one beginning with verse two and ending with verse four grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of god and of jesus our lord seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence for by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust may god richly bless the reading of his word now let's keep standing and praising god together in worship let's join together in singing this powerful hymn of the faith [Music] holy holy holy lord god almighty [Music] in the morning our song shall rise to [Music] god in three persons [Music] sing holy holy [Music] there [Music] you are [Music] [Music] we cry [Music] holy holy holy [Music] lord god almighty all thy word shall praise [Music] [Music] merciful [Music] is [Music] we cry [Music] we cry [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] please [Music] [Applause] holy is the lord god almighty amen you may be seated as ben lavorne our executive pastor comes with a special mission 1-8 milestone good morning church you know the apostle paul in talking about his life and his ministry he says i do not run aimlessly i do not box like one beating the air but he was diligent he was intentional he was strategic in how he invested his life in god's work in the same way when you give your tithes and your offerings to the lord through his church and through mission 1a we want to be strategic in how we steward those resources we invest those resources in the kingdom of god to transform lives with god's word throughout the world and we do that in partnership with ministries here locally nationally and internationally so i want to report to you on one of our recent partnerships with one for israel soldiers ministry and this is a special ministry that we've partnered with through mission 1a to minister to those christian soldiers who are serving in the israeli defense forces now many of you know that in israel when you turn 18 men and women it is required that you serve in the idf for at least two years of the 200 000 soldiers serving in the idf only about 400 of those are christians so these young men and women are being thrust into service thrust into these circumstances where they are disconnected from their christian community they are disconnected from a direct christian influence or discipleship opportunities many times they don't even know each other so by partnering with one for israel soldiers ministry just last month we were able to help host a conference where hundreds of christian soldiers serving in the idf came together to be discipled through the full wholeness of god's word and to hear about their lord and savior jesus christ to be encouraged in their faith in him one for israel soldiers ministry writes to us they say we exist as a spiritual armory and training center to support these and all believing soldiers equipping them to stand strong in their faith and against spiritual attacks of the enemy they work to raise up generations of ephesians 6 men and women they are trained to put on the full armor of god looking to him as their commander in chief and sticking with him no matter what no matter what battles they face so church when you invest in these ministries through mission 1a courageous you are helping people across the world to stand firm against the attacks of the evil one to put on the full armor of god to be strengthened in their faith in jesus christ now we know that christians all over the world are facing various types of persecution and we've seen that in different countries we've seen that growing persecution in our own country next week you'll have the opportunity to hear from someone who has an incredible story of god's faithfulness pastor andrew brunson is going to be with us next week now pastor brunson lived with his wife for 23 years amid as missionaries in turkey when they were falsely accused of terrorism they were imprisoned and persecuted there in turkey and pastor brunson will be joining us next week for our service prior to dr jeffrey's second message in his brand new series dr jeffress is going to interview pastor brunson about his story of faith and many of you know because of a worldwide prayer movement on his behalf pastor brunson was ultimately released and freed from that prison and persecution and he's going to be here with us to tell his story so i hope that you will be here next week to hear that story and to hear from our pastor as he continues in this new series that he'll begin today you'll have of course as we continue our time of worship this morning your opportunity to leave your ties and offerings in the boxes as you exit you can give those ties and offerings online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but during this time of commitment i want to encourage you as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to the lord in prayer together grace's heavenly father we come before you now and we worship you this morning with glad and grateful hearts thankful that in the midst of everything we face in the midst of the darkness and the troubles of this world that we know that we have been saved we have been redeemed we have been reconciled to you through this the blood of your son jesus christ and lord we know that christians your children are facing persecution all over this world they are facing troubles and trials and tribulations we know that people even in our own church family have experienced loss they are experiencing sickness they are experiencing difficulties but in the midst of these trying times lord we come to you for strength we trust in your sovereignty and we look forward with anticipation to that day that jesus christ will return triumphantly to establish his kingdom a kingdom in which there will be no more night there will be no more tears and there will be no more pain and we pray lord that during this time as we wait for your return you would strengthen us by your holy spirit to proclaim the good news of jesus christ throughout the world that many more may come to a saving knowledge of your son and we pray this in the saving name of jesus amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] of god to him who was [Music] to him who traded [Music] holy [Music] fill this [Music] is [Music] um [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] just [Music] see me [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] with [Music] time [Applause] is is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] a crowd gathers on a grassy hill overlooking the sea of galilee eager to hear from the popular young rabbi whose radical teaching is unlike any rabbi they've ever heard this rabbi speaks with authority he heals the sick and rescues those possessed by demons the scenic landscape soon becomes filled with men and women jostling for better places to sit in this natural amphitheater to hear what this teacher has to say silence descends over the crowd as the rabbi takes a seat and begins to speak shalom as many of you know my name is jesus welcome to my ted talk now he didn't exactly say that but he could have many of you are familiar with ted talks they are short informative talks about interest of global appeal the ted talks are organized in such a way that they transcend culture what began 40 years ago as an idea is now a global sensation this non-profit organization ted talks are devoted to quote spreading ideas that are worthwhile a few months ago i began thinking if jesus came back to earth and he were invited to give a ted talk what would he say and the answer became very clear to me he would give the sermon on the mount the sermon on the mount was jesus ted talk perhaps the first in history the reason i say that is jesus sermon on the mount met the criteria required for a ted talk first of all a ted talk has to be short it can't be more than 18 minutes well you can read the sermon on the mount in 18 minutes it has to be informative that is filled with practical and sound advice for life it has to be original it has to be surprising and counter-intuitive it has to be engaging that means it is witty and compelling it has to be accessible ted talks are required to be free to anyone who wants to access them and finally they have to be globally appealing they can't be restricted to one time or one culture but for everybody doesn't the sermon on the mount meet those criteria well today we're going to look at jesus ted talk we call the sermon on the mount john stott says the sermon on the mount is the most familiar and yet the least understood of all of jesus teaching and i might add it's also the least applied of all of jesus teaching we're going to discover why in just a moment but if you have your bibles i want you to turn to matthew chapter 5 as we begin our new series on the sermon on the mount 18 minutes with jesus now this sermon on the mount is actually recorded in two places in the bible it's in matthew matthew five six and seven it's also found in luke chapter six and there are some obvious differences between the two accounts of the sermon on the mount that disturbs some people i mean matthew's account is longer it's 107 verses luke's is only 30 verses each account contains material the other account leaves out and so it's caused people to wonder is this an example of the bible contradicting itself some of the alleged contradictions in the bible how are we to account for two accounts of the sermon on the mount well some people say that these were actually two different sermons that jesus preached on two different occasions to two different audiences they're similar but they're different now those of us who are preachers we do that all the time i'm preparing a message right now that i'm going to deliver next month at the national religious broadcasters conference i'm working on it now i'm taking a sermon that i preached here a few weeks ago that's going to be the core of it but i'm changing the introduction i'm changing the conclusion i'm changing some of the illustrations to be more applicable to the audience i'll be speaking to next month this message is similar but it's different it's actually two messages in two different places some people say well that's what's going on here jesus was just using different material and some similar material in two different sermons but most scholars believe that this is actually one sermon that jesus preached on one occasion so how do we account for the differences the different wording in the two accounts is this an i an occasion in which the bible contradicts itself not at all and let me explain why this will help you whenever people ask you about contradictions in the bible in the greek language there are no quotation marks did you know that quotation marks are big in the english language when something is within quotation marks it means this is literally exactly verbatim what was said if it's not in quotation marks it's a summary for example let's say my sister jennifer were writing in her journal and she said i remember 40 years ago when our dad said comma quotation marks don't get caught speeding if you do you'll have to pay the fine period exclamation point in quotation marks and suppose i were to write in my journal i remember our father saying that we should obey the law when we're driving otherwise we'll experience the consequences now are those two accounts contradictory not at all my sister was giving a direct quote i was summarizing in an indirect quotation what my father said but both are accurate representations of what our father had said now that's very well what could be happening here perhaps matthew gave a verbatim report he was there for the sermon on the mount perhaps he gave a verbatim quotation of what was said perhaps luke who composed his gospel later and did it not by first-hand experience but by research supposed he was giving a summary both accounts are accurate other scholars believe both matthew and luke were giving indirect quotations they were summarizing what jesus said and they chose the parts they used according to the individual purpose of their specific gospel it could have been that both were indirect quotations the important thing is what we have in our bible is what god wants us to know and it is an accurate inerrant representation of what jesus said which leads me to something i have to get off my chest right now this week i received an email from an unnamed smart aleck deacon i won't use his name but he said pastor if it only took jesus 18 minutes to preach this sermon why is it taking you 10 weeks so my response to bob osborne was this i said there's no mandate that says jesus preached this in 18 minutes he may have taken hours he may have preached it over several days on that side of the sea of galilee but what is important is what we have is what we can know and we can read this in 18 minutes or less now let's look at the setting for the sermon on the mount matthew says this is the first major ministry event of jesus it occurred after his baptism after his temptation in the wilderness after his calling of the disciples this was the first thing that he did to prepare his disciples look at verse 23 of matthew 4. jesus was going throughout all galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people the news about jesus spread throughout all syria and they brought to him all who were ill those suffering from various diseases and pains demoniacs epileptics paralytics and he healed them now here's the point verse 25 large crowds followed jesus from galilee and the decapolis in jerusalem to judea and from beyond the jordan now there's no chapter break in the original text look at chapter five verse one large crowds are following jesus verse one when jesus saw the crowds he went up on the mountain and after he had sat down his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and began to teach his disciples now there are some people who believe that jesus dismissed the crowds and just taught this sermon to his 12 apostles i don't believe that's true and the reason i don't believe that is at the end of the sermon as we'll see today matthew 7 28 it says and the crowds were amazed at his teaching the crowds were still there but it says that he taught his disciples how are we to understand that the word disciples mathetay in greek disciples actually is used in two ways there's a general sense in which the word disciple is used to be a disciple means to be a follower and there were literally masses of people following after jesus at the beginning of his ministry they were curious about him they heard something about him some of them were mildly interested in knowing more about him some were ready to devote their lives to him and he had a mixed crowd large crowd following him at this time of course as time went on and he began to face persecution and his disciples did the crowd spinned out pretty quickly but at this point there were large crowds and so in a sense jesus was teaching yes the 12 he had called but he was teaching everyone that day who had various degrees of interest in jesus teaching but the word disciple is used also in a very strict sense mate it refers to somebody who is so enamored with a rabbi that he would attach himself to that rabbi he would be a mate a disciple a follower of that rabbi he would study everything that rabbi ever taught and wrote he would watch the rabbi and how he reacted to certain situations and try to imitate the rabbi in his affections attitudes and actions that's what it meant to be a disciple a follower of a rabbi and the bible says god has called us to be not just converts we are called to be disciples of christ people who model jesus attitudes his actions his affections in fact let me give you this definition of a disciple that came from the late dallas willard it's so key to understanding what our christian life is all about to be a disciple means for me to live my life as jesus would live my life if he were i let me say it again to be a disciple means to live my life as jesus would live my life if he were i we get this completely backwards we think that to be a follower of christ means trying to transport ourselves mentally back 2000 years ago to first century israel and we ask ourselves okay what if i were jesus what would i do what if i were walking those dusty galilean roads and were working in my father's carpenter's shop and you know what if i were jesus how would i live my life no that's not the point it's just the opposite it's not about me going back it's saying if jesus were here today and he were living my life what would he do how would he treat my mate what would he say to my children how would he conduct his work at my place of business what would he do with whatever amount of money god has entrusted me to me that's what it means to be a disciple to live as jesus were to live if he were i so the whole message of the sermon on the mount is exactly that how we're to live our life not two thousand years ago but how to live in this world and particularly how to live in your world that's what we're going to discover in the sermon and that leads to a discussion of how are we to interpret the sermon on the mount now i'm going to make a confession here many of you if you've been here the 15 years i've been pastor probably already realized this and that is in 40 plus years of preaching i have never done a series on the sermon on the map i preached one message because i had to uh when i was going through luke in luke chapter six but it was only one message in 40 plus years i've never preached on the sermon on the mount you know why that is for longer than i care to admit to i felt like the sermon was irrelevant to life today i didn't think it had any relationship to life right now you say how could you even think that pastor i'll share that with you in just a moment there are a lot of people who think that there are a lot of theologians who think that but they're wrong in fact there are three wrong ways to interpret the sermon on the mount one way is to look at this sermon as a list of requirements to enter into heaven that's the most simplistic reading jesus is giving us a checklist of what we have to do to enter into the kingdom of heaven you find the phrase the kingdom of heaven used throughout this series series in the sermon on the mount so he's just saying do this this this and this and you'll enter into heaven but even a casual reading of the sermon on the mount makes you realize if that's the case he's asking us to do the impossible i mean we have this idea that the old testament oh that's really hard to live by but the new testament is easy because it's grace it's just the opposite jesus standard here is harder than any standard found in the old testament for example in the old testament it says don't murder another person and don't sleep with somebody's wife now if you check that off you're okay right jesus is going to say in the sermon on the mount it's not enough to murder somebody don't hate them don't even be angry with them it's not enough to sleep with the wrong person don't even think about it don't even lust after that person that is a much harder standard to keep and if jesus is giving us an impossible list of requirements for a non-christian to keep in order to enter into heaven jesus is no better than the pharisees that he talked about in matthew 23 4 and 13. he said the pharisees they tie heavy loads on the backs of men so that they are incapable of entering in to the kingdom of heaven now this is not a list of requirements to enter into heaven some people secondly wrongly interpret this as a road map for social justice a roadmap for social justice brief history lesson here at the beginning of the 20th century there were many people who preached what we now call the social gospel and these christians and non-christians really too believe that the sermon on the map was a road map for social reform and that if society would simply conform itself to the ethical teachings of jesus we would have a better world and those who were christians who embraced that developed what we know in eschatology the study of end times as the post-millennial viewpoint the idea was that we can bring god's kingdom now to the world by following the teachings of jesus and the world is going to get better and better the more we follow christ and finally it will get so good that jesus in heaven will say i just have to come back to earth it's such a wonderful place to be and he will establish his millennium after we have basically built the kingdom of god that's the post-millennial viewpoint you kind of laugh when i say that but many people believe that dr george w truitt the wonderful pastor of our church for 50 years like many baptists was a post-millennialist he believed that the world was going to get better and better as we won people to christ and instituted christian leaders that it would be a better place until finally the millennium would arrive but that was the first of the 20th century after a few decades two world wars mass genocides recessions and a number of other social maladies people realized the world was not getting better and better they realized we're not going to bring in the kingdom of god and so we have adopted the pre-millennial viewpoint that is that jesus christ has to come before the kingdom of god comes on earth only he can set up the kingdom of god and so some people many people have given up on the post-millennial idea but there's a new iteration of it that has appeared in recent days called the social justice movement and you find that among many christians they believe that it is the primary duty of the church to institute the kingdom of god on earth and to rid the world of every injustice that we can that is really what the so-called great commission is all about now let me be very clear as christians we should speak out against injustice we should speak out against racism or the murder of the unborn through abortion or the suspension of basic human rights and biblical rights like the right of free speech and the right of free assembly we ought to speak out against injustice but we need to keep in mind the primary assignment that god gave us in the great commission is not to reform this present world it is to prepare people for the next world by introducing them to faith in jesus christ that is the mission of the church and so that's why this is a sincere but a sincerely misguided effort to simply view the sermon on the mount as a roadmap to social justice and that leads to a third wrong interpretation and that is people who see this as a constitution for the future kingdom in reaction to the social gospel movement of the early 20th century there was another diametrically opposed viewpoint and the one by the way i learned in seminary that said the sermon on the mount has nothing to do with today it is all about the constitution for the future kingdom when jesus sets up his millennial kingdom on earth there is no way we can live by the sermon on the mount today one theologian said trying to apply jesus words in the sermon on the mount to today is like planting a flower in stony ground or in a withering environment where there is no rain or moisture the plant will die it can't survive in that kind of environment and this theologian said when you try to live by jesus rules here in today's world it just doesn't work is that true is that true the fact is we can't live by the sermon on the mount in our own strength but the fact is god has given us everything we need through the holy spirit of god to live out jesus commands in his strength you know i grew up in my seminary experience hearing this idea that the sermon on the mount had no application for today and it was all about the thousand-year reign of christ but as i started reading it it started to puzzle me the bible says if somebody slaps us on the cheek we're to turn the other cheek well are we going to go around slapping people in the millennial kingdom i mean satan's been bound evil has been done away with who's going to do the slapping in the millennial kingdom it says we're supposed to pray for our enemies in the millennial kingdom who's going to be our enemy evil again has been bound for a thousand years it says pray for those who persecute you in your christian faith what kind of persecution is there going to be for christians during the millennial kingdom it makes no sense to say this is something future no i believe that the sermon on the mount is a guide for living in the world today that is the only correct interpretation of the sermon on the mount it is not for tomorrow it's for today the late expositor martin lloyd jones said if you regard any part of this sermon as impossible to follow then your interpretation and your understanding is wrong and again it's impossible for the non-christian to live by these standards that's admitted but ii peter 1 3 god has granted to us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness through the power of the holy spirit of god you and i have the ability to live the sermon on the mount now and to enjoy the blessings of doing so now there are a number of ways to outline the sermon on the mount the way i've chosen to do it is to take the 10 topics jesus discusses and organized the message that way and that's why i'm calling 18 minutes with jesus straight talk from the savior about the things that matter most now for the next five minutes i'm going to give you a sneak preview of coming attractions in this sermon series get your pen and your outline ready let's look at it next time we're going to look at jesus straight talk about your happiness does jesus want you to be happy how many of you think jesus wants you to be happy how many of you think he wants you to be miserable okay you're not raising your hand but some of you believe that we're going to talk about what jesus says about happiness yes jesus wants you to be happy as long as you define happiness correctly notice how he begins the sermon in verse 3 blessed are the poor in spirit verse 4 blessed are those who mourn blessed are the gentle that word blessed is the greek word macarios it means happy happy are those who are poor in spirit we'll discover what that means and then beginning in verse 13 jesus gives us some straight talk about your faith he says in verse 13 you are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world what does it mean to be salt and light in this decaying and darkening world we'll look at that in the second message thirdly in verse 21 straight talk about your relationships matthew 5 21. you've heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court but i say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court there's more than one way to murder a person and we'll discover uh what is at the root of all murder and that's hatred and anger and how jesus directs us to deal with both fourth straight talk about your sex life now that i have your attention let's look what jesus says in matthew 5 27 you've heard it said you shall not commit adultery but i say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart adultery immorality doesn't begin in the bedroom it begins in the mind and we'll see how to resist those thoughts that lead to the destruction of our relationships and our own lives beginning in verse 38 jesus offers some straight talk about your adversaries don't get mad get even is the watchword of our age and it's a lot easier to do in the age of social media to exact revenge on other people but notice what jesus said in verse 43 of matthew 5 you've heard it said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy i say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you how do you pull that off that's what we'll discover in that message and then and when we get to chapter six straight talk about your worship there's a change in uh direction in the sermon on the mount instead of talking about our um relationships with others ought to be transformed jesus turns now to our relationship with god he begins by talking about our worship public worship matthew 6 1 beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them otherwise you have no reward with your father who is in heaven and then beginning with verse 5 of matthew 6 straight talk about your prayer life prayer is the most fundamental but also the most difficult practice in the christian life and in this familiar passage jesus is going to give us a model not a mantra but a model for how to pray in such a way as to make sure god hears your prayers and then verses 19 to 34 straight talk about your money wealth or the lack of it wealth and worry go hand in hand with one another just like vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce it's hard to separate the two and we're going to see what jesus has to say about wealth or the lack of wealth can cause anxiety in our life and what the remedy for that is matthew 6 19 and 20 do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven for where your treasure is there your heart will be also in the first 12 verses of matthew 7 jesus offers straight talk about your needs we all have needs don't we most of our deepest needs can't be fulfilled by other people or even ourselves we have to depend on god and we'll discover how to depend on god for our needs in that message and then finally straight talk about your eternal destiny matthew 7 verses 13 to 27 the greatest fear people have is about the future is there a heaven is there a hell how can i make sure that i end up in heaven when i die jesus tells us precisely the answer to that question now before you fold up your papers and put them away jesus isn't quite finished jesus closed his sermon on the mount with a great illustration it's an illustration that left his crowd speechless it's one i want to close today by looking at because it's an illustration that explains why we're studying the sermon on the mount right now and why it's so applicable to where you are probably in your life right now jesus closed his sermon with these words matthew 7 24 therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them not just hears and understands but acts on them the person who does that may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his hand his house on the sand you know we are coming out of a 100-year event a global pandemic there is not one person on this planet whose life has not been impacted directly or indirectly by this pandemic and this produces a decision point that sociologists are talking about after the pandemic how are we going to live our lives are we going to keep building the same kind of life like you build a house are we going to keep building the same life we were building before the pandemic hit or do we want to build a different kind of life a different house so to speak sociologists are saying that people are rethinking every major area of their life right now they're rethinking their work life do i want to continue in the same job i was in i want to do something different do i want to retire they're rethinking their relationships if they're single some are starting to put a greater premium on getting married others who are married are thinking about becoming single or at least going through life with a different mate some people are rethinking their whole idea of money and retirement they've been setting aside money for the future the future this pandemic has made them realize there may not be a future maybe out of splurge right now take that trip by that possession what kind of life are you going to build we're all building some kind of life hear what jesus says the person who hears his word and acts upon those words is like the person who builds his house on a rock when you build your life on the teaching of jesus christ found on the sermon on the mount it doesn't exempt you from storms people who follow jesus still experience pandemics they experience loss they experience the death of a loved one but their lives don't collapse when they do we have two families in our church i'm thinking about right now friday we said goodbye to beverly stoner godly woman in our church that family is a faith-filled family that didn't exempt them from the pain of losing a loved one this afternoon we have the funeral service for a great couple larry and carol pierce saying goodbye to their 38 year old son their faith in christ didn't exempt them from that heartache but their lives haven't collapsed their faith remains strong because it's built on the rock those who hear christ's words but decide that's not for me doesn't apply doesn't work they're like the person who builds their house their life on the sand and when the storm comes and it will come it may not destroy their life immediately but it will so eventually i hope you'll plan to be here each of these next 10 weeks as we look at jesus revolutionary teaching about 10 key issues in life how to apply them and how to build a life that is truly storm proof let's bow together in a word of prayer the most important decision you can make in building a life that survives is trusting in jesus christ as your savior that's the beginning point because there's one storm we're all going to face and that is our death and our judgment by god the only way anybody will survive that storm is by having your sins forgiven now i can't forgive you of your sins no priest can forgive you of your sins you can't forgive yourself only jesus christ can forgive you of your sins and he's willing to do so if you're willing to ask to become a christian means to believe that when jesus died he died for you he paid the penalty that you and i deserve to pay and when we trust in him as our savior we can be sure that god will wipe the slate clean and forgive us forget our sins and assure us of a forever relationship with them today i don't think it's an accident that you're here here in our worship center or you're watching this service god is offering you that free gift of salvation if you're ready to receive it today if you'd like to receive that gift i invite you to pray this prayer in your heart to god as i prayed out loud knowing that god's listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know that i have failed you in many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today but you loved me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen if you're watching right now online and you prayed that prayer with me i want to encourage you to go to the top of the screen right now click on the link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ when you do that i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material i want to send your way this week about what it means now to live your life as a christian so don't wait another moment go to the top of the page click on that link right away for those of you in our worship center i'd like you to take the card that's in your bulletin right now and if you prayed that prayer with me check that third box i prayed the prayer to trust in christ today we'll send you the same material this week as well maybe you're a guest go ahead and check that first box maybe you'd like more information about first baptist you can indicate that maybe you'd like to join our church it's so easy to join all you have to do is check that box thursday night at our dinner with the pastor we had 30 people who joined our church thursday night just by checking the box so it's easy for you to do and we'll be in touch with you if you check that box this week now when you have completed this card you can drop it off at the welcome center on the way out exchange your card for a copy of my hardback book invincible conquering the mountains that separate you from the blessed life if you don't want to stop by the welcome center drop this in one of the receptacles on the way out we'll process the card and get the book to you so thank you for doing that now this evening we're suspending discipleship university we're having super bowl parties all around the community by sunday school classes you find your place and go root for whatever team you're rooting for and have a good time of fellowship and we'll resume discipleship university next sunday don't forget next sunday morning before my message i'll be interviewing pastor andrew brunson he's got a tremendous testimony of god's power and you'll enjoy hearing him next sunday morning thank you for being here today hope you have a wonderful week we'll see you next time let's stand together now as tyler comes to lead us in our closing song thank you pastor thank you for a great morning of worship church let's go out singing his praise this is my story this is my song this is my story this is [Music] [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas i campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the eye campus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus you

Channel: First Baptist Dallas

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Length: 182min 30sec (10950 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022