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Sermon on the Mount, "Responding to Others", Matthew 5:33-45 · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Please join us today as Pastor Jeffrey Campbell leads us in an in depth study of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's scripture is Matthew, chapter 5, verses 33 through 45. And the sermon is entitled Responding to Others.
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  Speaker B: Take your Bibles, go to Matthew chapter number five tonight. It is my goal as we look through this scripture, scripture to finish up Matthew chapter number five. I thought about a couple times breaking it up a couple different ways. But basically tonight, my goal, my title of this message is responding to others. Responding to others and how important that is. When you respond to someone. For us today, time is crucial. When you respond to something. For me, time is crucial. When somebody calls Pastor Jeffrey, they usually want an answer. They want a reply. So that entails me walking around with my phone a lot now. There are times that I put it away and put it down and walk away from it for my own sake. And so I'm grateful for that. But most of the time, the terminology these days is nobody wants to be left on open or nobody wants to be left on read. And what that means is when you read a text message, it shows the person that you read it, they know you read it. They know you've looked at it and you haven't responded. So if a young person comes up and tells me or tells you that they were left on red or open, that means you in trouble, they're not happy with you. Okay, don't leave your wife that way. Okay? Just some wisdom there. But the response we understand time is of essence. But as Christians tonight, I want you to understand how we respond is also critical and crucial as well. In the Sermon on the Mount tonight, Jesus, we have been looking how he has been raising the bar and what that looks like. And he's going to raise the bar for his followers, those who would be Christians, those will be Christ followers. He's going to raise that standard once again. How we respond to God matters, how we respond to people matters, how we respond to God's call on our life, all of those things matter. But for Jesus and for Scripture tonight, how his followers responded to people was of utmost importance. Have you ever been guilty of a bad response? I certainly have. Maybe your tone of voice, your facial expression, your gestures, I could tell you stories of how these affect different things, how you respond written versus verbally. People take a written response differently. And I have some examples tonight. What if somebody said, bless your heart, if they responded, bless your heart, it depends. Right? So there are. Sometimes the dad of me tells my kids, well, bless your little heart. It's the tone. Right? It could mean a true blessing or it could be sarcastic. Right. What about maybe we got to be careful here. If you're. If your spouse is here, I'm sorry that you're sitting beside them tonight, but what if you responded, fine? Just one word fine. Your husband or wife ask you to do something, you say, fine. That could mean okay, or that could mean no. Okay, like reluctantly. Sometimes somebody asks me how I'm doing, and I'm guilty of answering everybody. I'm doing okay. And okay could mean okay, or okay could mean it's not really okay. So we understand tonight how we respond matters. And so tonight, three ways that I want you to look at where Jesus is gonna raise the bar and how we respond to situations and to those around us. We're gonna look at how we use our words, we'll look at how we use our actions, and we're gonna look at the greatest call of response that it must be. We must respond in love. Okay? So the three points tonight, I'll give them to you up front. It's going to be more than words. We need to respond more than words, more than action. It must be love. Those are our three points tonight. So Matthew, chapter number five. Look at verse number 33 is where we're going to pick up where we left off a few weeks back. And here's what God's words say. We're going to go 33 through 37 again. You have heard that it has been said by them of old time. Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all. Neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool. Neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst make one hair white or black. Black. But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Point number one, tonight, when we think about responding to others, point number one, it must be more than words. More than words. I wrote this down. When you respond to somebody, it's best in most situations that you use words. There are some situations where. Where words will not satisfy that situation. But this teaching, Jesus says, we've reached another teaching. You're going to hear the phrase you heard. It's been said. It's referring to the teaching that has been taking place in the temple by believers to believers as they understand or have been taught the law. And here's what the law says. Don't swear falsely, but perform your oaths to the Lord. And that comes from your Old Testament. Book of numbers, chapter number 30, verse number two. Just listen to this. You don't have to turn there. Numbers, chapter 30, verse 2. It says this. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. We are not living in the days where a handshake is good as somebody's word. That's what it used to be. Somebody's word used to be good enough. And the Bible says this, your word should be good enough. But those days are long gone, the days of a handshake. My grandfather, I've been with him on different occasions where they shook hands. They agreed to something, and both parties done that. They did what they said they were going to do. But we are long past those days in our culture. But what the Bible reminds us to do is what you vow to somebody. You take it as serious as you are making a vow unto the Lord, and you must follow through with it because you are making that promise before God. God is your your witness. But Jesus takes that command and he raises the bar by saying this. Don't you swear at all. Now, the word swear here is not a cussing. It's not a vulgar language. That's not what we're going to interpret it as. It's don't make a promise. Don't make an oath. Don't swear that you're going to do something and perform a duty before God. And so we understand that, that Jesus says, don't do that at all. That's a big difference, isn't it? So here's what the teaching has been. You can swear to anything, but you cannot swear to God. One of the things that kind of gets a pastor's blood boiling is when you hear somebody say, I swear whatever you've heard it. And what they're trying to say is, I mean what I say. And what Jesus says is, it doesn't take you swearing to mean what you say. Your word should be good enough. And so what we understand is this swearing as Jesus raises the bar, don't swear at all when you take the name of the Lord in vain. It's a direct violation of Exodus 27. But Jesus says this don't swear by heaven, don't swear by earth, don't swear by Jerusalem. Don't swear by someone's head. So in this day, you would have people making promises and deals. And what they would say is, I swear by Jerusalem or I swear to heaven. It's somebody vowing to do something, trying to give their word meaning they're going to follow through with what they're going to say. They avoided God's name, but they put items that are closely related to him in his place. And Jesus says this. It all belongs to him anyway. So if you swear by the earth, the earth is his. If you swear by heaven or by Jerusalem, Jerusalem is his city. And so what Jesus is saying, when you swear by these items, they all belong to the Lord anyway. They're all his. Don't swear by those things. Don't swear at all. Verse number 34. Look there. It makes it crystal clear. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne. By earth, it's his footstool. By Jerusalem, it is his city. And neither shall you swear by the head because thou canst make one hair white or black. You have no control over. Over anything you are promising by. How many of us understand that in this way Today we promise. There are times in my childhood I had to promise my parents that I wasn't gonna do something. And why did I have to promise them I wasn't gonna do something? Because there were times I told them I wasn't gonna do something and I did something. So to earn their trust or to be a person of my word, there were points in times. I promise I won't do that. I promise I'm gonna drive to school and come home. I promise I'm not gonna take any detours. Why? Because my word wasn't good enough? How many of you have, growing up or at times, made a pinky promise? You know, you hold that little pinky up and you lock it with somebody else, and those are promises with friends. How many of you have signed papers that you're gonna pay something back? Because the world says you're not gonna do that. You're not a person of your word, so you have to sign your life away. What about scout's honor? Anybody remember that? What about, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye? All of these sayings are ways that we have promised or vowed to do something. Maybe you're as guilty as I am of not following through with your promise. But as a Christian, Jesus is saying this. There's no need to swear at all. There's no need to make an oath or a promise. There's simply this. Your yes should mean yes, and your no should mean no. That's the standard. Now, I want to say this. It's not saying that you shouldn't say oaths at all. When you think of a marriage vow, God is saying, don't you take marriage vows? That's not what God is saying. But here's what I want you to understand with a marriage vow is like any other promise or any other vow you make. When two people stand to get married. And this is part of my counseling with them, my talking through with them, they're making a vow in three different ways. They're making these holy vows to one another. They're making these holy vows in front of witnesses. And the most important person, the most important witness is they're making a vow before a holy God. And so next time you promise, next time you make an oath, next time you say yes or no, here's what you're saying. God, you as my witness, me as your son, or me as your daughter. I want to be a person of my word. Let my yes be yes, my no be no. The challenge for us today is it needs to be more than words for the believer. Yes needs to be yes, and no needs to be no. But we're talking about a deeper issue of character here. Our character needs to be such that when we say yes, we will be there or we will follow through. And we need to be bold enough, we need to be honest enough that when we tell somebody no, it means no. But many times our yeses are nos, our response to other people. And one of the greatest ways that we can witness is through our character that our word that we're honest, we're truthful, our word matters. That's one way you can witness and respond to other people. There's another way through action. Look at verses 38 through 42. You have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if a man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. The second point tonight, responding to others, it Needs to be more than action. Well, what do you mean, Pastor Jeffrey? How can it be more than your actions? Again, it's going to reflect on our character. But how many of you have heard that old saying, an eye for an eye and two for two. Maybe we've used it in the wrong way, but actually Exodus 21:24 says this. It continues on a hand for a hand and a foot for a foot. So that's what the true law says. But when we hear that, here's what we understand. That verse screams this. It screams, get revenge. An eye 49, a 2, 4 tooth. If somebody does something to you, you have the right to do it back to them. And that screams revenge, going to get even. And so what we need to understand is this verse was a civil law. Listen to me here. This verse was a civil law intended to prevent abusive punishment that would be handed down. So somebody would do something so severe they would hand down a punishment that was pretty severe. And so the civil law said this, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The punishment needs to be equal, not excessive. Does that make sense? So this law was a civil law, but it was taken out of the civil government context and used in personal relationships. And that's where people adopted it. It became the norm and the practice of Jesus Day and it even became the teaching. So when we think about personal relationships and this law being misused in a revenge filled way, the teaching had given people the right of revenge. And here's what that says. If someone smacks you or insults you, an open hand smack in Jesus day was a form of insult. It's still a form of insult today. Right? If somebody smacks you, it's still a form of insult. But that open hand smack. Here's what Jesus says, though. The teachings has always been if someone smacks you, you smack them back. Jesus says, no, if someone smacks you, you are to turn the other cheek. How many of you like that? That doesn't seem fair, does it? And as Jesus takes teaches this, it's counter to the law, it's counter to the culture, it's counter to what's being taught. It's not even natural reaction if somebody slaps you. The intent is that I'm going to get back, I'm going to get even with them. But at the beginning of verse number 39, look at verse number 39. But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him. The other also resist the evil Urge. Resist the urge to retaliate. That's the beginning of verse number 39. Don't respond in an evil, revengeful way. Instead, turn the other cheek. Here's what Peter writes about Jesus suffering. He says this. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. The warning is this. Resist the urge to pay evil with evil or to seek revenge or to get even with the one who has mistreated you. Now, I'm going to stop right here and say this. This doesn't mean that you should be a pushover. All right? You need to stand your ground. You need to stand up for what is right, but you need to do it in a godly way. That doesn't mean that you just stand there and take the punishment. That's not what Jesus is calling us to do. But what Jesus is calling to us is a response that doesn't scream, I am getting even with you. He goes a little bit further. Look at verse number 40. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak. Also, what happens when somebody sues you? Your response to them? Some responses are, I'm going to sue you back. Right? But here's what Jesus says. If somebody asks for your inner coat, give them your outer coat. Give them more than what they ask for. Now some of you are looking at me like Pastor Jeffrey. That ain't right. But here's what Jesus is trying to teach. Jesus is trying to teach it's better to get rid of those physical things than to be guilty of revenge, than to harbor revenge. We all understand that revenge is mine. Thus saith the Lord, right? So when people want to come after you, the response here is to extend kindness, to extend your possession, that you don't harbor the feeling to need to retaliate against those. He goes a step further. Look at verse number 41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him. Twain. There have been two sermons that have altered my life. One of them was when I was 15 years old. A preacher came and preached a sermon about I need a father, and I got saved that night because I needed Jesus. That changed my life. The second sermon that changed my life a couple years ago is a sermon by Scott Pauley that is titled the Second Mile. I encourage you. Go on YouTube and listen to it. It's called the Second Mile by Scott Pauley. Scott Pauley is an evangelist and it changed my life. So Much so that I listened to it on repeat once a month because it challenged me and it changed my life. But here's what this verse means. Here's what it means. In Jesus day, under Roman rule, the Jewish people could be walking down the street and those Roman soldiers could just simply tap them on the shoulder and put their pack, put their luggage, put whatever they're carrying. And the Jews had to carry it a mile. They had no choice. Imagine that. And here's what Jesus is saying. When somebody taps you on the shoulder and commands you to carry something for a mile, just continue to go to the second mile. It didn't matter what you had planned, it didn't matter what you wanted to do. The law stated if they ask you to do it, you had to do it. But the challenge from Jesus is this. Don't stop at mile marker one. Keep going the second mile. Scott Pauley I'm not going to re preach the sermon. I probably could re preach it tonight. Scott Pauley breaks down what a second mile Christian looks like. And I believe our churches all across this world need to hear that. When you think about going the second mile, when you think about giving somebody extra than what they have sued you for, when you think of somebody insulting you so bad that Jesus says turn the other cheek. These are things that are not normal responses. They're not human responses. But they should be the responses of those that are following Jesus. Give them more than they ask for. Not through hatred or revenge, but through acts of kindness. And your action and your reaction can scream. Jesus can scream. Something's different. And that's what we're challenged to do. There's a third point tonight as we close this and think about our reaction to others. Look at verses 43 through 48. I'm going to include 42 and I'll pick up there. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. You've heard that has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans do the same. And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others do not even the publicans. So be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven and perfect. Pick up number 42. I should have included that in the last round but. Or the last point. It just says this. Give to him that asketh and from him that would borrow of thee, turn him not away. I think you have to use discernment. But I have never gone wrong helping someone that needed it. I've never came back home and said I wish I wouldn't have helped them. And I believe God puts people in our paths that only you or I can help. Maybe it's in a physical way, but more importantly it's with Jesus whom we carry. I met somebody at the gas station this week, needed gas. What do you do? I swiped a card and here's what I did. I said this is just a one time gift. Don't expect this every time. But here's what you need more than fuel. That gas is going to run out. But Jesus won't. That gas is only going to get you so far in life. But Jesus, you need him every inch of every mile of every day of your life. The church member was at the other pump. God doesn't make accidents. Point number three must be love. That last was just an example. Please don't accept it as bragging or doing something out of the ordinary. It's not. It's just an example of how you can give and meet the needs you have heard. There's our statement again in verse number 43. You've heard that has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. Be careful here. I'm going to ask you a trick question. If you have heard that teaching before, raise your hand. Don't raise your hand. Please don't raise your hand. Because only half of that statement is true. And here's what they have done. They have done in the modern day, I mean, excuse me, in Jesus day, is this the first half of that is true? But what they have done in the teaching is added the second part. Yes, you are to love your neighbor. But nowhere in scripture does it say hate your enemy. Except for here. But here's what Jesus says. You've heard that it's been taught, love your enemy. Excuse me, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But Jesus takes it a step further. There in verse number 44, he says, I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Well, I'll tell you what. The first part of verse number 43 is from Leviticus 19:18. That's just for reference. But the part that we are challenged with is to pray for those who you would consider an enemy. I'm gonna ask you a real question tonight. I don't need any response. This is between you and God, and that is this. When is the last time you prayed for someone that you would consider an enemy? Sometimes, even as Christians, we just wish the worst would happen. Maybe we don't wish the worst on them, but we don't wish the best. We don't even pray for him. We don't even bring the situation before God, who can deal with it and who can sol those issues. And so what Jesus says is this. You should not hate your enemy. But the bar has been raised that you love your enemy, and you love them so much that you are willing to pray for them. Those that hate you and those that curse you and those that disrespect or despitefully use you and persecute you. The goal is that the prayers and. And God can even change these people. One of the hardest things to do is to pray for somebody that you don't love. The hardest thing to do is to love somebody that doesn't love you back. And the greatest way that you can express love to an enemy is to lift them to a heavenly father. That can change a heart and that can change a life and that can work on your own heart and change you. Four things in verse number 44 that we are challenged to do. We're challenged to love them. We're challenged to bless them or speak well of them. You hear me, church? Don't gossip about them. Don't say any bad thing. And just take the advice of Thumper. If you ain't got nothing to say, don't say nothing at all. If you ain't got nothing good to say, don't say nothing at all. Love them, speak well of them, do good to them, and pray for them. And the big question is this. Why would we do this for our enemies? Look at verse number 45. That ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven. The first reason that you are to do this is because you need to show that you are different and you are a child of God. We need to imitate our Father. So why do we pray and bless and do good and love them? Because we need to show them that we are children of God. In verse number 45, you see this? That he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good and on. And sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Here's what that says. God has common grace on all people. God's common grace showers on people. We can't understand why the bad people seem to get all the good things that happen and it all goes their way. And here we are doing things right and it doesn't go our way. But here's what we need to understand. We need to share God's grace and love even to our enemies, to show that we're children of God. Verse number 48. If you go all the way to the end, Jesus says, be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is heaven is perfect. That word perfect doesn't mean perfect as in our understanding, it means mature. And so the second reason tonight that we are to love and to pray for our enemies is to show that our maturity and show that we are trying to be like our Father, just as our Father is perfect. We desire to be perfect. We need to mature in our faith. Mature Christians turn the other cheek. Mature Christians pray for their enemies. And the third reason, in verses 46 and 47 he says this. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same. And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans. So the third reason that you are to love your enemies is a witness. We are called to that higher standard, to that second mile lifestyle that looks and reaches and gives beyond anything that is in our power. It must be Jesus. When people look at you, they understand that's not the normal human response. That person is different. That person is responding in a mature way. That person is responding in a godly way. They are imitating their Father. We are called to be like Jesus, not to be like our enemy, not to seek revenge on our enemy, not to be like the unbeliever, not to be like another person. Simply this, we must be like Jesus. And the greatest way that we can do that is loving the unlovable situation. And here is the truth of God's word. Every single one of us in this room was an enemy of God and we were unlovable. And if God can look down and look at us and look at our wicked hearts as his enemy and love us, oh how we're called to be like him. Listen to these words from Romans chapter number five. Romans chapter number five, verses eight through ten. But God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Listen to this. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:10 tells us that we were all enemies of God. But through Jesus Christ we have been brought in relationship with our Heavenly Father. Praise be to God. And it is only in that love that we are to respond to others and we are to respond to situations that we are called to elevate the standard in the lifestyle that we live that others may know Jesus. And so tonight my prayer as we close chapter number five is the bar has been raised high and we just need some second mile Christian go listen to that sermon. Report back to me. Maybe it's not as meaningful to you as it is to me. Report back to me what you think of that sermon. But tonight, what do you think about Jesus words? Is it doable? Are these goals attainable? Here's the answer. Absolutely. And if you're called to follow Jesus, this is the standard as Jesus raises it. Let's pray together. Father. God. Lord, thank you for the blessing of this night. God, thank you for the blessing of the people that are gathered here tonight. And God, thank you for your word, Lord. Your holy word is active tonight, Lord. I believe it with all my heart. And so, God, as we center our hearts on it, Lord, as we claim it tonight, as we will pray through it in just a few minutes, God, I pray, Lord, that you will lead us to be people that are examples of Jesus, that have raised the bar and that love those that we come in contact with and that reach to our enemies and that understand what it means to go beyond what the law has commanded, but to follow and be obedient to what Jesus has for us. Lord, tonight I pray that every person in this room understands what it means to have a relationship with you. Lord, tonight if there's somebody that needs that relationship, that desires to walk with Jesus, God, I pray your Holy Spirit would work in their life. Lord, we love you and we give you this night in Jesus name. Amen.
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  Speaker A: You've been listening to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church. You're always welcome to visit Clifford Baptist Church for Sunday School at 9:45 worship at 11aM and Wednesday evening worship at 7pM Join us again next Sunday for Truth for the Journey.