The Biblical Worldview on Self-Defense and Retaliation

all right we're in Matthew chapter five back in our series that we are calling worldview and the title of the message is the biblical worldview on self-defense and retaliation based on the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter five of course today is Memorial Day a day that is dedicated to those who have served in the military and died in our nation's service and how we should thank God for every one of these people in all who have served and are serving in the military today but sometimes the question might arise among some how does this work with the teachings of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount for instance in a few moments we're gonna read that the Lord tells us to turn the other cheek and not repeat evil for evil but then when we think of the military and we think of those who are in law enforcement is that a contradiction to what the Bible is actually teaching and what does Jesus mean when he tells us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile I mean should a Christian be a complete pacifist should we never defend ourselves how does this all work well it all fits here as we look at the worldview of Jesus Christ if you will you want to know how Christ Himself sees the world read the Sermon on the Mount you want to know how his heart beats then study this Sermon on the Mount you want to know how Jesus feels about life and living in general again study the Sermon on the Mount because the Sermon on the Mount is the official manifesto of the king of kings and the Lord of lords but I must add this this is for believers only this is not for non-believers this is not even a set of principles to govern a society by these are the words given by Christ specifically to those who have chosen to follow him look at Matthew 5 verse 1 and 2 we read seen the multitudes he went up to a mountain and when he was seated his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them Saint quick little aside here back in those days the teacher would usually sit and those who were listening would stand I think we should bring this back because after three services you know I'm gonna sit - so let's just do that today I'll sit here and you stand what do you think if he could could you fall asleep every service second I'm kidding I just made that up oh but I'll keep and listen to what this says here seeing the multitudes he went into a mount and when he was seated his disciples came to them and he taught them see these words were given to his followers not to the masses not to the crowds they were given to those who were following him this phrase he opened his mouth is a colloquialism in greek it's used to describe something that a solemn grave and dignified in other words this is a phrase that is describing some weighty statements that are about to be given these words were not addressed to fair-weather followers and Jesus had those and they're still around today you know there are people that have an interest in Christianity and interest in the teachings of Jesus but they haven't really committed themselves to him you know you may be surprised to know that there was a time in his ministry when Jesus was actually quite popular we focus a lot on his betrayal as crucifixion but for a time Jesus was the talk of the town huge crowds formed wherever he went because after all he was performing miracles he was restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the Deaf and healing an incurable disease known as leprosy even resurrecting people back to life again but his most popular miracle without question was when he gave a free lunch to everyone and the feeding of the 5,000 but when the Lord addressed the topics of sacrifice and deeper commitment the crowds began to shrink and ultimately the crowds even turned against him know these words were given to come followers here in the Sermon on the Mount know it's a funny thing some people will say all the religion I need is found right there in the Sermon on the Mount really have you ever read the Sermon on the Mount because I think these are some of the hardest teachings Jesus ever gave I think it's harder to keep the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount then even the ten commandments and I'll tell you why because the 10 commandments deal primarily with external actions thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not lie these are things we do the Sermon on the Mount deals with a heart Jesus as you've heard that it has been said but I say unto you if you do it in your heart so this is a much harder thing to deal with so these are words that are given to people that have totally committed themselves to him people that understand what he was teaching in the Beatitudes you remember it start off with blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are they that mourn and so forth blessed is a man of the woman who sees himself as they really are before God spiritually bankrupt and destitute and they mourn over this their sin and they repent of it these words are for believers only let's read some important introductory words now of the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 5 verse 17 Jesus says do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets I did not come to destroy but to fulfil for certainly I say to you till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled a jot or tittle would speak of the crossing of a tee or the dotting of an eye verse 19 whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these Commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven for I say unto you unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven let's pray now Lord as who read your words here in the Sermon on the Mount as we understand how you want us to live help us to hear it and see it the way you want us to and help us to internalize it and live it out speak to us as we open your word we ask in Jesus name Amen unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus says you will in no way enter the kingdom of heaven I remember when I first read those words as a brand new Christian I thought what on earth how could my righteousness ever exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees you see the scribes were men who had dedicated themselves to the study of the law of God they would carefully go over it interpret it copy it in the manuscript form and then the Pharisees they were a select group never numbering more than six thousand and they spent their time going over the law debating the law quoting this or that rabbi to make their point and Jesus comes along and says unless your righteousness exceeds theirs you will you'll in no way enter the kingdom of heaven now first of all Jesus was setting himself apart from all the rest because normally when a debate would ensue a rabbi would be quoted well you know Ravi on rabbi Gamaliel says thus and so oh well wait a second rabbi so-and-so has a different view we oh well there's this other rabbi Jesus says you've heard it said before but I say unto you Jesus was not recognized by any rabbinical school he did not need the authority of another teacher to support him he was the authority and he spoke in that manner he says I have not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it the word fulfil means to carry it out to make it full to get to the heart of it everything that the law was pointing to was fulfilled in Jesus Christ all the Old Testament types laid out in Leviticus and numbers were fulfilled in him he was the Passover lamb he was the burnt offering he was the scapegoat he was now going to fulfill everything that the law was pointing to but ironically they accused him a breaking Sabbath day because he dared to help a person in need on that particular day and that's because they had completely twisted and perverted what the Bible was saying on these topics and Jesus was getting to the heart of the matter so when he says that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees here's what he means their righteousness was based on their works their righteousness was not real theirs was a self righteousness no he says that's not enough you need real righteousness and that is given to you when you put your faith in Christ it's called imputed righteousness and it's placed into your spiritual bank account as a result of you being justified by faith through your belief in Jesus so he says I'm getting to the heart of the matter now this is the bottom line and your righteousness needs to exceed theirs and now he lays out what that actually means here and their Sermon on the Mount he deals with a lot of important topics helping us to form our worldview topics like hatred and sexual sin in marriage and divorce and speaking the truth and retaliation and loving others the Sermon on the Mount it's not about giving the bare minimum but the maximum you can give as a Christian to borrow Jesus own words it's about going the extra mile taking it to the next level and being a radical sold out follower of Jesus Christ listen the Sermon on the Mount is heavy-duty stuff for hardcore Christians the spiritual lightweights need not apply if you're a Fairweather follower you're gonna be blown away about what we're gonna talk about today if you're not really interested in living as a Christian this is going to be stuff that you will say I can't do this but if you want to be a real follower of Jesus this is what he has laid out for each of us to do again this is for believers only so let's read some more word Matthew 5 verse 21 you've heard that it has been said of those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of judgment but I say unto you whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment whoever says to his brother raca shall be in danger of the council but whoever says you fool will be in danger of hellfire therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and therefore remember your brother is something against you leave your gift there before the altar and go your way and first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift agree with your adversary quickly while you're on the way with him lest your adversary deliver you to the judge and the judge hand you over to the officer and you be thrown into prison assuredly I say unto you you will by no means get out of there till you've paid the last penny you have heard that it has been said of those of old you shall not commit adultery but I say unto you whoever looks on a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart so if your right eye causes you to sin will pluck it out and cast it from you for it's more profitable for you that one of your members parents then for your whole body to be cast into hell if your right hand causes you to sin will cut it off and cast it from you for it's more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast in the hell Wow now what does this all be I have no idea god bless no Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter as I said the Sermon on the Mount is about the heart the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart and here's what he st. it has to be more than just external pressure in other words let me ask you this why don't you go and steal something that you really want why don't you go ahead and kill that person that bothers you why don't you commit adultery well sometimes if we're honest we would say because I don't want to face the repercussion I don't want to be arrested for stealing I don't want to go to prison for killing I don't want that on my conscience and and I'm afraid if I commit adultery I'll get caught okay well then let me ask you a follow-up question if a set of circumstances were to arise where you thought you could steal that something and get away with it would you then do it or if you thought you could get away with adultery would you go ahead and commit it if your answer would be yes and we have a problem because really that means in your heart you still want to do these things our heart needs to change and though there is a place for those external reasons we must have a change of heart where we won't want to do those things anymore so instead of just dealing with hatred Jesus gets back and nip said that somebody says let's talk about anger let's talk about what's really going on deep inside of you verse 22 if you're angry with your brother without a cause you'll be in danger of judgment how many of you have ever been angry with your brother or your sister or Oakland get your hands up all of us have we all have been angry the Bible is not saying you can never be angry there's even a place for righteous indignation the more to the point there are times we are angry with one another you know kids get upset with their parents and parents with their kids and husbands with wives and wives with husbands and friends with friends and Christian Brothers with Christian Brothers this happens we get angry sometimes we say things we should not say and we find ourselves apologizing for it this is normal day-to-day living this is not what Jesus is dealing with someone who has a little bit of anger here and there this is talking about a person who has become bitter who is developing a grudge who is nursing and feeding it the word that he uses here for angry could be translated a settled anger malice that is nursed inwardly you know what I've discovered some people like to fight it's not even what they're fighting about they just like to scrap they like to mix it up they like to debate they like to argue they always have to have their opponent the person that they're upset with and the reason you know this is as soon as one issue is resolved another one takes its place they just like to be in some kind of confrontation in some way shape or form Jesus is talking about a person like that a person that is nursing bitterness a person that is actually allowing the anger to grow where does this anger and hatred start sometimes it starts with envy I think it was Shakespeare that called Envy the green-eyed monster and you remember that the first homicide that was ever committed was done by King toward his brother Abel why because his brother sacrifice was accepted in his was not he was envious welcome his sacrifice is accepted a mine is it and that's how it often starts you know one person gets that promotion one person gets something you want one person has something you don't have an Envy begins to develop and envy turns to anger and anger turns to bitterness and bitterness turns to hatred and effectively you're murdering that person in your heart because you're spreading lies about them and you're slandering them and and that's what your whole life becomes about so Jesus says don't let this happen it should not be true of a child of God first John 3:15 says everyone who hates his brother is a murderer notice it does not say they're like a murderer it says they are one that's how severe it is first John 2:9 says he that says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness don't tell me you love God and you hate your brother if you hate your brother you hate your sister if your heart is filled with this deep malice the Bible is saying you're not really a Christian so we need to ask God to change our heart if this is the way we feel toward others now the Lord tells us in verse 22 if you say to your brother raca you'll be in danger of the council you think what raka what's that well it's hard for us to understand what this phrase means because there is no modern equivalent in the English language today a literal definition of Baraka means a brainless idiot an empty head a bonehead it I think it's not so much about the word it's about the attitude this is speaking of a superiority over another person it's the phrase that comes from an arrogant contempt so if you say to your brother you're worthless or you say you fool which means you're a godless person both of these ideas convey the attitude of someone that sees himself above someone else and Jesus is dealing with that now he shifts gears and he talks about lust and verse 27 you've heard it said of those of old you should not commit adultery but I say whoever looks on a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery to earth with her in his heart now look that doesn't mean if you see a pretty girl or a good-looking guy as you are not seen right now but we'll probably see later outside of church but it doesn't mean that you noticed someone is attractive you say well there's a pretty girl oh there's a good-looking guy that's not what this is talking about this is talking about seeing that person but then allowing your mind to go to the wrong place in fact the word that is actually used here to describe this phrase whoever looks on a woman isn't referring to a casual glance it's referring to the continuous act of looking not an incidental or involuntary glance but an intentional and repeated gazing with the express purpose of lusting this is the idea of a man or even a woman that would put themself in a place where they would look at others to stimulate feed and encourage their lust and Jesus is saying this is like committing adultery now sometimes you don't do this on purpose but you're exposed to something that you wish you had not been exposed to but then you have a choice as to what you're gonna do with it a good example as David the king of Israel who was up in this rooftop patio and he happened to notice a very beautiful woman named Bathsheba bathing herself and he couldn't have helped noticing her I suppose and I'm not quite sure that Bathsheba did not know that he would have a good view of her and did not put herself in that place there is a responsibility in her part to it she was culpable she cooperated with David she could have refused his advances of course but David saw her so there it was now he could have turned away from it but instead he acted on and you know how the story unfolded he had her brought up to his chambers they had sex together she was pregnant and then instead of just coming clean and admitting it he wanted to make it look like her husband was the father of the child so he called the husband Uriah in from the battle and wanted him to spend the night with his wife but Uriah wouldn't do that and ultimately David had Uriah sent to the front lines and he was killed in battle effectively had a murder and then David married Bathsheba thought he covered up his sin and then of course on Nathan blew his cover and confronted him and said you've sinned against God and then tragically the child died after it was born it was just a mess you see but it all started with a lustful look and so we need to think about that that is why job said I've made a covenant with my eyes not to look on a woman but a better translation would be not to look lustfully you're gonna see women and men but don't look lustfully you you actually sometimes have to literally turn away maybe you're walking down the street and approaching you with some gorgeous girl or some great-looking guy and your mind's going to the wrong place sometimes you need to avert your gaze just look away don't look that way maybe if you're watching television then something comes on the screen you know it's gonna stimulate lust you need to stop it and there's a button on your remote control usually read do you push it images disappear it's called the power button use it don't go in your computer and just Google random words and just click whatever sites pop up you might have images appearing on your computer screen you wish you had never seen before be careful guard your thoughts guard what you expose yourself to this is the idea that is being conveyed let me add one thing to this not only should men not be looking lustfully at women but women need to think very carefully about the way they present themselves so they don't encourage lust don't look at me that way girls you know what I'm talking about the way you dress what you wear what you don't wear what are you talking about that you know what I'm talking about well how should I dress that to have to wear sack cloth I don't know say class that's nice no I'm kidding you can still be stylish you can dress still dress in a cool way but just maybe apply this principle act as though Jesus were picking you up and taking you out that night would you feel comfortable wearing what you're wearing I'm going home right now the sad thing is it's guys I'm going over you say Greg give me a break some guys would lust after a tree this is true but there is a responsibility in the part of the girl as well there's a word that we seem to have taken out of her vocabulary we need to get back again called modesty and Christian grills are to apply it so here's the answer look at verse 29 so if your eye causes you to lust gouge it out and throw it away so there you go and if your right hand sins cut it up because it's better to lose your arm or your hand or your eye then they're not making it into heaven now what does that mean well obviously Jesus is not speaking literally because if the problem is in the heart what good is gouging out an eye or cutting off a hand if the right eye were gone the left one could still look lustfully if the right hand were gone the left one could still carry on sinful acts let's understand what he was saying in the culture of the time in the Jewish culture the right can represented a person's best skills a most precious faculties the right eye represented ones best vision and the right kin ones best skill so here's what Jesus is saying do whatever is necessary to keep yourself from falling into sin and sometimes you have to take drastic measures maybe you're in a relationship right now and you've allowed it to become sexual and it's dragging you down you need to probably just cut that relationship off right now it needs to be a serious step maybe you have a problem with internet pornography and and you did well you know what at the very least put a filter on your computer but maybe you need to just stink and unplug the computer and stop going online I'm not saying for everyone but I'm saying for some people if this is a weakness and a vulnerability you may have to take extra steps and the right direction do whatever it takes to walk right before god that's the idea of gouging out an eye or cutting off an arm Hebrews 12 says let us lay aside the sin and the weight that so easily besets us excuse me let us lay aside the weight and the sin that so easily beset you and the weight varies from person to person what may be a weight for one may not necessarily be a weight for another what brings one person down doesn't necessarily bring another person down so we each have to make these decisions before God now having established this let's read some of the hardest statements Jesus ever made these may be easy for you but they're not easy for me verse 38 I've heard that it has been said and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but I tell you not to resist an evil person whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also if someone wants to see you and take away your tunic let him have your cloak as well whoever it compels you to go one mile go with him to Kim D Kim who asked you and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away you've heard that it has been said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say unto you love your enemies bless those that curse you do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you needless to say these are high standards turning the other cheek going the extra-mile loving your enemies now here's the question are these standards by which we govern Society and if so how can we justify having military and police the 19th century Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote a book entitled what I believe and when she gives the conclusions that he came to after reading and rereading the Sermon on the Mount Tolstoy said and I quote Christ forbids the human institution of any court because they resist evil and even return evil for evil Toy Story also believe that criminals love good and heat evil as we do and he did not think that a Christian should be involved in the army or the police force or the courts of law one man who was dramatically influenced by Tolstoy teachings was Gandhi Gandhi believed by practicing these teachings you could bring about a perfect state where punishment would end and prisons would be turned into schools sounds good but it's wrong what the teachings of Jesus know their interpretation of them the Sermon on the Mount was not given as a set of principles by which we govern our society so if somebody means harm toward another the police officer supposed to turn the other cheek and were attacked by a foreign power who want to destroy us we're supposed to just go the extra mile know there is a place for self-defense there is a place for standing your ground the biblical teaching of the Sermon on the Mount was given by Jesus for believers to live by but if you want to know how a society should be governed that's down to verse 38 you've heard that it has been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth and next to this 21 it continues on and it says hand for hand foot for foot burn for burn Rouge for bruise wound for wound I modern equivalent would be tit for tat this was the Hebrew civic justice system its purpose according to Deuteronomy 1920 was so that the rest will hear and be afraid and never again do such an evil thing among you this was never carried out by the victim but by the legal system it was a merciful law because it limited the judgment it matched the punishment to the offence God has established government he has established military and he has even established the use of force when necessary because Romans 13 says obey the government for it is God who put it there all governments have been placed in power by God so those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God and punishment will fall but the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right but they frighten those who are doing wrong so do what they say and you'll get along well then speaking of the soldier or in our case the police officer as well the Bible says he's God's servant doing good and he does not bear this sword for nothing he's God's servant an Asian of Wrath to bring punishment for the wrong doer now what is this sword use for it's used to usually kill a person a modern equivalent perhaps would be a gun god delegates vengeance or the enforcing of justice to the government otherwise evil people will dominate and so according to scripture government law enforcement and military all have their place a God ordained place in fact the Bible even uses a soldier as a model of what a Christian ought to be Paul spent a lot of time around Roman soldiers and he analyzed their gear we were in Rome after we went to Israel and I saw this little store that sold recreations of Roman armor and I was fascinated by it and was looking at various pieces the and these were actual reproductions of of what it would have been like they went back to the original drawings and design so they had the breastplate that you put on they had a leather one and then they had one made out of brass that was very heavy and they had the helmet which of course I had to put on my head and try out and then the sword you know and and the big large shield that the Roman soldier would carry and so forth and it was fascinating to study that armor Paul spent a lot of time doing so because in Ephesians 6 he talks about putting on the armor of God you know the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit and so forth but my point is that God would never have chosen that this honorable profession as an illustration for a Christian he used the idea of the military to show how we should follow Jesus because 2nd Timothy 2:3 enforces indoors sufferings a good soldier of Jesus Christ and as Christ's soldier don't be tied up again in the affairs of this life for then he cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army to bring this up because some would say the Bible teaches pacifism Jesus was the ultimate pacifist Jesus was the first hippie right peace and love men no actually that's not true at all Jesus administered justice when he drove those money changers out of the temple with a whip and overturned their table he told us disciples of coming dangerous days where they may need swords and Peter mentioned that they already had two swords now why would they carry swords for shish kebob later no for self-defense so this is important God has established human government to administer justice it is acceptable for a Christian to defend themselves and to exercise their rights even the Apostle Paul when he was falsely charged and beaten he exercised his rights as a Roman citizen the Bible is not saying that the Christian is supposed to be some kind of a doormat now having established what this doesn't mean let's talk about what it does mean this is the advice of Jesus for a specific situation in which a believer is being persecuted these are not mechanical rules but principles for meeting the personal wrongs that come to those that follow him there are times for the sake of the kingdom and for the salvation of a soul will take the hit well turn the other cheek well go the extra mile the idea is do what you can to reach a person with the gospel Paul said in Romans 12:19 never pay back evil for evil to anyone never take your own revenge leave room for the wrath of God for that's written I will repay vengeance is mine says the Lord so the idea here is that we are doing what we can to influence a person Jesus actually uses the example of turning the other cheek in verse 39 now let's understand this is not so much about someone just coming up and punching you in the face this is more the idea of an insult that is offered because back in these days to be slapped in the face was a deliberate insult demeaning and contemptuous act so someone comes up and they do something to offend you I'm modern equivalent I don't know what it would be maybe this spit in someone's face it doesn't physically hurt a person but it's insulting and actually you can really anger you it might be using certain words you know what they say this to you or something else about someone you love or sometimes it's a gesture you see these gestures on the road quite frequently I won't see what they are but they have something to do with birds and we'll leave it at that and people are so quick to do this you know you they'll cut you off and then do the gesture to you like what was that all about and when that happens you are you know you want to do it back or even worse no Jesus is saying don't do that now is this an easy one to live by absolutely not it's very hard even the great Apostle Paul struggled with it at one point the order was given to hit him in the face he turned back and said to the high priest got a smite you you whitewashed wall someone said you speak that way to the library oh I didn't know he's a high priests re yeah I think Paul being a member of the Sanhedrin knew who the high priest was I think Paul struggled with this like anyone else does but here's the point even if you struggle with it the objective is to try to win a person to Christ first 40 if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic let them have your coat the tunic was an undergarment everyone would have won the cloak was the outer garment that served as a blanket at night it was indispensable for living in Israel especially in the cold evenings Jesus is saying go further than they asked don't you give your tunic give him your cloak go the extra mile see back in those days a Roman soldier had the right to ask any citizen to carry his armor for a Roman mile a Roman mile was a little bit shorter than our mile and I already mentioned that armor I was looking at one thing I noticed was how heavy it was the breastplate was really heavy as was the helmet as was the shield and so Roman soldier would see someone say here carrying my armor you have to do it so Jesus says you know it if they ask you to carry their armor take it for the Roman mile then go an extra mile normally bureaus are you take your armor it's so heavy yeah I'll go an extra mile by the way let me tell you about my faith kind of the idea of a captive audience go the extra mile so you can do that at work instead of giving the bare minimum give more sometimes your co-workers will get mad at you frankly they don't work so hard you're making us look bad but you see you understand that your boss is not your employer it's the Lord so you do it for the glory of that go the extra mile go a little bit further than that would just require do it for the sake of the gospel to win the hearing of the person that you are trying to reach try to turn your enemies into friends and know this if you are a follower of Jesus you're going to have enemies why because darkness doesn't like light Jesus said in John 15 if the world hates you know it hated me before it hated you if you're of the world the world would love its own yet because you're not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you but no we're told to love our enemies first 44 bless those that curse us do good to those who hate us and pray for those who spitefully use them persecute us don't strike out don't give tit for tat but love them in a positive way Abraham Lincoln said quote the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a and quote do you have some enemies right now try to win them over not just as a friend but as a follower of Jesus Christ this attitude blows people's minds when they see a Christian willing to forgive a Christian willing to turn the other cheek a Christian willing to go the extra mile was the attitude that Abraham had toward his nephew lot when he offered him the best land it was the attitude that David had when he did not strike back at King Saul though he was trying to take his life it was the attitude that Joseph had when he extended forgiveness to his brothers who had meant him dead there was the attitude that young Stephen had when he prayed for those that were stoning him saying Lord don't lay this sin to their charge maybe as we've talked about some of these things you've realized that you're guilty of some of the things Jesus is addressed maybe you're harboring hatred in your heart towards someone right now maybe you're feeding lust and it's getting worse it's like a wildfire taking you over well we need God saw to live by these principles no one can do this on their own and who is a greater example of what Jesus taught than Jesus himself everything Jesus told us to do he practiced he told us to turn the other cheek he literally did that when they ripped the beard from his face he told us to go the extra mile he literally did that when he carried this cross of the streets of Jerusalem he told us to love our enemies and he literally did that when his first words from Calvary were Father forgive them for they know not what they do those words were so radical so unexpected that they produced the conversion of a man who was crucified next to him a hardened criminal who had seen it all done it all and yet when hear Jesus forgive the ones who had treated him this way he believed on the spot and said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus said today I say to you today you'll be with me in paradise yes Jesus forgives and maybe some of us need his forgiveness today if we've broken some of these Commandments these principles given to us and this sermon this is the time to say Lord forgive me for that and help me to live as your child in a way that honors and glorifies you maybe some of you hearing these things would realize I'm not a Christian at all because I do have hatred toward people or I have been a fair-weather follower I'm a person that follows him only when it's convenient I haven't really gone to that next level of total commitment as we close now in prayer I'm gonna give you an opportunity to make a first time commitment or a recommitment to Jesus Christ let's all pray Lord we would admit to you then we fall short of your standards we would acknowledge Lord that we have sinned against you but we also would thankfully acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and paid the price for every wrong has ever been done and I pray for any person here Lord that does not yet know you help them to see their need for you and help them to come to you now we would pray but our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying maybe God has spoken to your heart today and you've realized that you are not really a Christian you don't really have Christ living inside of you but you want to be one you want to change you want to be forgiven of your sin you want to know God in a personal way you want to go to heaven when you die if you've never asked Jesus to come into your life if you don't know right now that you would go to heaven when you die and you want Christ to come in your life front into your life today I want you to lift your hand up wherever you're sitting now I'm gonna pray for you today if you want Christ to come into your life god bless you over here on this side god bless you anybody else just lift your hand up and I'll pray for you today god bless you up there in the balcony god bless you as well anybody else lift your hand up now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and forgive you of your sin god bless you God bless you God bless you up in the balcony maybe your outside in the amphitheater I can't see you there but I would ask you to lift your hand up as well if you want Jesus to come into your life and you up in the court building please lift your hand also I can't see you but the Lord sees you you want as forgiveness today maybe some of you have been like a fair-weather follower you know you you say you're a Christian but you know you're not living these principles you're not even trying but you want to you want to be a real follower of Jesus and you're willing to commit yourself to do this today if that's your desire would you lift your hand up and I'll pray for you god bless you god bless you anybody else just lift your hand up now god bless each one of you now I'm going to ask that all of you that just lifted your hand if you would please stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer a prayer of commitment or recommitment to Jesus again you that lifted your hand just stand to your feet wherever you are up there in the balcony here on the ground floor outside in the amphitheater stand to your feet you up in the court building just stand up right now and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer of commitment anybody else just stand now even if you didn't lift your hand but you want to make this commitment a recommit 'men to Jesus stand up now anybody else god Bless You God bless you anybody else in this final moment outside inside wherever you are stand up now and I'll lead you in a prayer god bless each one of you all right all of you that are standing pray this prayer out loud after me this is a prayer of commitment to Jesus Christ again as I pray pray this out loud after me now pray this Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner I've broken your Commandments I have fallen short of your standards but you went to the cross and died for my sin and you rose again from the dead I turn now from my sin I put my faith in you I choose to follow you Jesus from this moment forward I want to be your disciple and your child and your friend thank you for calling me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen amen god bless each one of you that doesn't pray that prayer [Applause]

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 40,491

Rating: 4.7887998 out of 5

Keywords: greg laurie, Sermon on the Mount, adultery, steal, matter of the heart, matthew 5, sin, laws, legal, government, envy, green eyed monster, david, bathsheba, turn the other cheek, ghandi, leo tolstoy

Id: S1eJ4j7eFBY

Length: 46min 12sec (2772 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 03 2010