Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Let’s Keep It Simple │ Msg 114

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Let’s Keep It Simple │ Msg 114 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Of all the sermons that have been preached, none is
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  Speaker 1: more famous, more profound, or I might add more convicting
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  Speaker 1: than the one Jesus preached on the mountain. It is timeless,
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  Speaker 1: ever relevant, never dull. With penetrating power, Jesus exploded the
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  Speaker 1: brittle veneer of Pharisaic hypocrisy and explained the essence of
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  Speaker 1: true righteousness. No one could do it like Jesus. Weaving
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  Speaker 1: threads from the Old Testament through this new garment of truth,
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  Speaker 1: he set forth principles that to this very day refuse
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  Speaker 1: to be ignored. Yet how few truly embrace Jesus' words.
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  Speaker 1: We analyze them and we interpret them. We outline and
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  Speaker 1: compare them. We admire and even quote them. But those activities,
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  Speaker 1: while worthwhile, are not the reason Jesus preached the sermons.
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  Speaker 1: He preached it so that change might occur, so that
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  Speaker 1: our lives might be different in this world gone wrong.
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  Speaker 1: God's people are to be thoroughly Christian, a divine minority
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  Speaker 1: who live in contrast to a secular and lost majority.
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  Speaker 1: The sermon Jesus preached from the mountain only takes about
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  Speaker 1: 15 minutes to read. I've selected several excerpts from it
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  Speaker 1: for our scripture reading today. I'll be reading from the
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  Speaker 1: New Living Translation, so you'll want to listen very carefully.
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  Speaker 1: It's easy to understand, but you can't let your mind wander. First,
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  Speaker 1: I'll read from Matthew 5, verses 1 and 2. One day,
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  Speaker 1: as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on
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  Speaker 1: the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him,
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  Speaker 1: and he began to teach them. Same chapter, verses 13,
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  Speaker 1: 14 and 16. You are the salt of the earth,
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  Speaker 1: but what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?
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  Speaker 1: Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown
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  Speaker 1: out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light
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  Speaker 1: of the world, like a city on a hilltop that
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  Speaker 1: cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your good
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  Speaker 1: deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone
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  Speaker 1: will praise your heavenly Father. Now let me slip into
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6, verses 1 and 2 and 5, and also
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  Speaker 1: verse 16. Chapter 6, verse 1. Watch out! Don't do
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  Speaker 1: your good deeds publicly to be admired by others, for
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  Speaker 1: you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: When you give to someone in need, don't do as
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  Speaker 1: the hypocrites do, blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets
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  Speaker 1: to call attention to their acts of charity, I tell
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  Speaker 1: you the truth, they have received all the reward they
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  Speaker 1: will ever get. When you pray, don't be like the
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  Speaker 1: hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and
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  Speaker 1: in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell
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  Speaker 1: you the truth, that is all the reward they will
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  Speaker 1: ever get. And when you fast, Don't make it obvious,
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  Speaker 1: as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable
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  Speaker 1: and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.
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  Speaker 1: I tell you the truth, that is the only reward
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  Speaker 1: they will ever get. And now finally, excerpts from chapter 7,
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  Speaker 1: verses 24 through 28. Anyone who listens to my teaching
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  Speaker 1: and follows it is wise. like a person who builds
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  Speaker 1: a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in
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  Speaker 1: torrents and floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house,
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  Speaker 1: it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But
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  Speaker 1: anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish,
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  Speaker 1: like a person who builds a house on sand. When
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  Speaker 1: the rains and floods come and the winds beat against
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  Speaker 1: that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. When
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  Speaker 1: Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed
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  Speaker 1: at his teaching. Hypocrisy is hideous. What cancer is to
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  Speaker 1: the body, hypocrisy is to the church. It is a
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  Speaker 1: killing agent. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is also addictive. And even though
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  Speaker 1: Jesus reserved his most severe words of condemnation for the hypocrite,
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  Speaker 1: we still seem to prefer that lifestyle to truth and authenticity.
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  Speaker 1: The term hypocrite takes us back to the days of
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  Speaker 1: the Greek plays. An individual often played several different parts,
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  Speaker 1: and he played those parts behind various masks. He would
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  Speaker 1: place a mask of comedy in front of him and
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  Speaker 1: would repeat funny lines and the audience would laugh. He
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  Speaker 1: would go to the side of the stage and get
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  Speaker 1: another mask and wear a mask of tragedy, sorrow, and
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  Speaker 1: sadness and would bring these great lines of tragedy and
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  Speaker 1: the audience would at times weep or jeer, depending on
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  Speaker 1: the lines. He was called A hupocrites. Our word, actual
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  Speaker 1: English word, transliterated hypocrite. Interestingly, as time passed through the
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  Speaker 1: etymology of that word, it came to be used as
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  Speaker 1: a synonym for three things. One who participated in an
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  Speaker 1: artificial role. We would say one who put on a show.
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  Speaker 1: who lived a life that was not true of himself
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  Speaker 1: or herself. He really lived a life behind a mask. Second,
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  Speaker 1: it came to be used as a word that would
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  Speaker 1: describe someone who concealed true motives under a cloak of pretense.
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  Speaker 1: He came off looking better than he was. Third, it
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  Speaker 1: came to mean an individual who hid an evil heart
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  Speaker 1: beneath the guise of piety. He or she looked righteous,
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  Speaker 1: but deep within, there was wickedness. I have just described
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  Speaker 1: the most common ailment in our times, gross hypocrisy. It
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  Speaker 1: is amazing the public will tolerate it only so long,
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  Speaker 1: and then it will be outraged. We have seen hypocrisy
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  Speaker 1: in the political, the moral, Financial, ethical, yes, even the
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  Speaker 1: religious realms in these last several years. We were impressed
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  Speaker 1: as we heard politicians give certain messages or certain speeches
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  Speaker 1: that sounded terribly creative, impressive, and even eloquent. But we
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  Speaker 1: were angered and disillusioned to discover later that the individual
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  Speaker 1: plagiarized his material. We had no tolerance for that. Because
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  Speaker 1: deep within, we want to believe in our political heroes.
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  Speaker 1: Some were impressed with the appearance of an individual who
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  Speaker 1: looked handsome. He was rather suave in front of a
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  Speaker 1: microphone and could sway audiences. Until we found out that
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  Speaker 1: what he had talked about publicly, he was not living privately.
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  Speaker 1: And we were, well, now nervous. Not only disappointed, but
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  Speaker 1: we now gave disapproval to an individual who would look
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  Speaker 1: one way but would really live another. We don't like hypocrites.
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  Speaker 1: We have all had services performed that looked as though
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  Speaker 1: honesty had been the basis of that work. There was integrity.
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  Speaker 1: There was professionalism, only to find out later that corners
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  Speaker 1: were cut. And what looked like An authentic job of
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  Speaker 1: quality was, in fact, a veneer, a brittle veneer. And underneath,
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  Speaker 1: something was missing. We became suspicious and cynical. But we
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  Speaker 1: have reached the highest outrage in these recent years because
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  Speaker 1: we have seen religious leaders mouth certain things but, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: live another. This has created a jaded mentality. Chuck Colson,
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  Speaker 1: the very well-known author and former politician, talks about the
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  Speaker 1: caricature of Christians people have in their minds now. It's
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  Speaker 1: almost a comic caricature. But we're not laughing. It's embarrassing
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  Speaker 1: to us. Time once was when the minister would move
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  Speaker 1: in down the block and the neighborhood felt happy, somewhat
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  Speaker 1: and strangely secure. Now they're suspicious. Now the person bears watching.
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  Speaker 1: We have come upon hard times. If hypocrisy is hideous,
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  Speaker 1: authenticity is beautiful. When we find someone that we feel
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  Speaker 1: we can trust, Be that individual a teacher, a counselor,
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  Speaker 1: a preacher, some consultant in our business. We find ourselves
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  Speaker 1: so delighted to discover this rare find. We want to
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  Speaker 1: turn all of our energy of trust to that individual. Authenticity.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe that's why I tend to tune in more to
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  Speaker 1: Ted Koppel these days. He was bringing a commencement address
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  Speaker 1: at Duke University some time ago, and in it he said,
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  Speaker 1: we have spent 5,000 years as a race of rational
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  Speaker 1: human beings trying to drag ourselves out of the primeval
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  Speaker 1: slime by searching for truth and moral absolutes. In the
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  Speaker 1: place of truth, we have discovered facts. For moral absolutes,
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  Speaker 1: we have substituted moral ambiguity. We now communicate with everyone
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  Speaker 1: and say absolutely nothing. Our society finds truth too strong
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  Speaker 1: a medicine to digest undiluted. In its present form, truth
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  Speaker 1: is not a polite tap on the shoulder. It is
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  Speaker 1: a howling reproach. What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai
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  Speaker 1: were not ten suggestions. They are commandments. Are, not were.
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  Speaker 1: The sheer beauty of the commandments is that they codify
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  Speaker 1: in a handful of words acceptable human behavior. Speaking of
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  Speaker 1: words from a mountain, no one ever spoke wiser, more convicting,
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  Speaker 1: more authentic words than Jesus our Lord as he for
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  Speaker 1: who knows how long, 15, maybe 20 minutes of time,
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  Speaker 1: changed the thinking of his followers, or at least attempted
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  Speaker 1: to do so. This sermon is a howling reproach. It
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  Speaker 1: isn't a polite tap on the shoulder. If you enjoy
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  Speaker 1: being quietly put to sleep under the teaching of the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: you won't want to stick around for the Sermon on
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  Speaker 1: the Mount. This sermon is The more I get into it,
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  Speaker 1: the more I realize is a sermon that shakes me
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  Speaker 1: awake and slaps me in the face and pushes a
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  Speaker 1: long index finger from God into my chest saying, listen,
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  Speaker 1: straighten your life up, take off the masks, be different.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, if I were asked to give the Sermon
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  Speaker 1: on the Mount in five words from the sermon itself,
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  Speaker 1: I believe they would be the ones found in the
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  Speaker 1: eighth verse of the sixth chapter of Matthew. The only
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  Speaker 1: words of the sermon I have underlined in red in
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  Speaker 1: my New Testament. Matthew 6, 8. Therefore, here are the words,
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  Speaker 1: do not be like them. Five monosyllabic, simple words even
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  Speaker 1: a toddler could understand. But adults spend a lifetime trying
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  Speaker 1: to forget. This is nothing new. I took the time
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  Speaker 1: to go through the Old Testament and pick various sections
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  Speaker 1: from the prophets and the Psalms and the Kings to
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  Speaker 1: describe how the people of God have for centuries enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: being like all the other peoples of the earth, which
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  Speaker 1: invariably displeases God. Please listen. Leviticus 18, you shall not
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  Speaker 1: do what is done in the land of Egypt where
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  Speaker 1: you lived, nor are you to do what is done
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  Speaker 1: in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you.
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  Speaker 1: Psalm 106, they did not destroy the people. as the
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  Speaker 1: Lord commanded them. But they mingled with the nations and
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  Speaker 1: learned their practices and served their idols, which became a
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  Speaker 1: snare to them. 1 Samuel 8, now appoint a king
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  Speaker 1: for us to judge us like all the nations. Same chapter.
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  Speaker 1: The people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel.
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  Speaker 1: They said, no, but there shall be a king over
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  Speaker 1: us that we also may be like all the nations.
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  Speaker 1: Ezekiel 20, do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: but the people rebelled. We will be like the nations,
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  Speaker 1: like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone,
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  Speaker 1: they said. Jeremiah 10, thus says the Lord, do not
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  Speaker 1: learn the way of the nations. 2 Kings 17, they
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  Speaker 1: feared other gods and walked in the customs of the
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  Speaker 1: nations whom the Lord had driven out. Ezekiel 5, you
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  Speaker 1: have more turmoil than the nations which surround you. You see,
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  Speaker 1: this was no new fight. No new fight. The point
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus' sermon is precisely the same as it is today.
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  Speaker 1: From pulpits of authenticity around the world, do not be
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  Speaker 1: like them. How do all the other nations around us
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  Speaker 1: solve their conflicts? It doesn't matter, says God. You solve
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  Speaker 1: them my way. How do people that we rub shoulders with,
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  Speaker 1: who rub us the wrong way, how do we solve
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  Speaker 1: those conflicts? Don't listen to the counsel of the system.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to me. I'll tell you how to do it.
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  Speaker 1: How do we get the attention of God? Wood? Stone?
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  Speaker 1: Some metallic object? No! You come my way. You be different.
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  Speaker 1: You be unlike all of the others. Oh, but that's
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  Speaker 1: So unlike us. How do I respond to affliction? My way,
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  Speaker 1: not like you see around you. How do I handle
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  Speaker 1: my business? My way, not like all the other businesses.
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  Speaker 1: How do I get my priorities straight? Listen to me.
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  Speaker 1: Don't listen to all of those around you. You see,
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  Speaker 1: the problem is, in those days, people had already imbibed
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  Speaker 1: at the fountain of the Pharisees. The Pharisees. Not only
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  Speaker 1: did they embrace the Ten Commandments, they added 365 prohibitions
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  Speaker 1: and 250 additional commandments. And Jesus had the audacity in
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  Speaker 1: verse 20 of chapter 5 to say to those listeners,
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  Speaker 1: unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees, you
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  Speaker 1: won't see the kingdom. Can you imagine how many Pharisees
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  Speaker 1: sucked in their breath at that point? I mean, they
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  Speaker 1: were past masters at fleshly righteousness. They looked holy. They
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  Speaker 1: played the part, masks, masks. They could do it so well,
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  Speaker 1: they had it down to a science. And Jesus says
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  Speaker 1: in chapter 5 of Matthew, out with hypocrisy. You want
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  Speaker 1: to follow me? Out with hypocrisy. Come to terms with it.
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  Speaker 1: Admit where it is. Deal with it. Rip it out
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  Speaker 1: of your life. Out with it. This is tough preaching,
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  Speaker 1: even for a preacher to hear, because so much of
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  Speaker 1: my work, it seems these days, requires diplomacy. It requires
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  Speaker 1: handling very delicate issues, requires, well, telling the truth, which hurts.
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  Speaker 1: And the great temptation on the part of insecure preachers
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  Speaker 1: is to tell people what they want to hear so
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  Speaker 1: they'll keep being liked. The more I read Jesus, the
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  Speaker 1: more I am impressed with the fact that he didn't
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  Speaker 1: care whether you liked him or not. He didn't. It
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  Speaker 1: was his task to live present truth. No one ever
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  Speaker 1: did it like he. What does it mean to have character? Well,
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  Speaker 1: the Beatitudes are set forth in verses 3 through 12,
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  Speaker 1: and there's no question left. You want to have character?
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  Speaker 1: Put to use the Beatitudes. Blessed are these, blessed are those,
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  Speaker 1: blessed are you, blessed are we, all the way through,
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  Speaker 1: that's character. You want character? Don't read it in the Times.
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  Speaker 1: Don't read about it in the journal. Read about it
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  Speaker 1: in the Beatitudes and do it. and you'll be different.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, you'll have character. Don't do it like you've
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  Speaker 1: heard it is to be done. What does it mean
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  Speaker 1: to make an impact? Verses 13 through 16. We're living
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  Speaker 1: in a day when people want to make a good impression.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the good impression. Shake salt and spread light. That's
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  Speaker 1: the way to make an impact. It's amazing how succinct
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  Speaker 1: Christ is at times. What does it mean to be godly?
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  Speaker 1: Verses 17 through 48. I find six different times you
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  Speaker 1: have heard it said, but I say to you. You
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  Speaker 1: have heard it said, but I say to you. You
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  Speaker 1: have read, but I say to you. Look at them.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 21. You have heard the ancients were told you
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  Speaker 1: shall not commit murder. Verse 22. But I say to you.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 27. You have heard that it was said you
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  Speaker 1: shall not commit adultery. 28. But I say to you. 31,
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  Speaker 1: it was said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give
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  Speaker 1: her a certificate of dismissal. But I say to you, 33,
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  Speaker 1: you have heard the ancients were told you shall not
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  Speaker 1: make false vows. 34, I say to you, 38, you
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  Speaker 1: have heard it was said, an eye for an eye,
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  Speaker 1: a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, 43,
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  Speaker 1: you have heard it was said, you shall love your
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  Speaker 1: neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say love your enemies.
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  Speaker 1: This is a howling reproach. This isn't popular preaching. And
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  Speaker 1: how easy it is to fake it. Doesn't it just
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  Speaker 1: make you sick when you see righteousness faked? I'm so
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  Speaker 1: weary of seeing people that try to look like Brother
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  Speaker 1: Teresa or St. Francis of Fullerton or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: I love the old 70-year-old country preacher's council. Be who
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  Speaker 1: you is. Because if you ain't who you is, you
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  Speaker 1: is who you ain't. That is wonderful. That's the Sermon
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  Speaker 1: on the Mount. Out with hypocrisy. I dare you. What
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  Speaker 1: an assignment. What a tough, tough assignment. We ain't who
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  Speaker 1: we is. We're trying to be who we ain't. And
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  Speaker 1: it makes God. If chapter 5 is saying out with hypocrisy,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6 is saying down with performance. Down with performance.
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  Speaker 1: Quit trying to look good. Quit trying to appear pious
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  Speaker 1: if in fact beneath there is hidden wickedness, ugliness, shameful deeds.
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  Speaker 1: Quit trying to fake it with a mask of smiles.
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  Speaker 1: If underneath There is sadness and depravity and heartache and brokenness.
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  Speaker 1: He says it all in verse 1. Beware of practicing
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  Speaker 1: your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Ouch.
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  Speaker 1: That is a howling reproach. He's saying stop acting before
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  Speaker 1: others like you're something you're really not. And then he
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  Speaker 1: gives us four illustrations. Verse 2, when therefore you give alms,
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  Speaker 1: when you give your money, do not sound a trumpet
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  Speaker 1: before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogue. Da-da-da-da-da-da!
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  Speaker 1: Five dollars! That's what hypocrites do. Oh, we don't blow trumpets.
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  Speaker 1: We just want our name in bronze. We just want
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  Speaker 1: it to be remembered that we're the ones that built
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  Speaker 1: the gym. We're the ones that put in the carpet.
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  Speaker 1: We're the heavy givers. We're the high donors. How come
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  Speaker 1: you want anybody else to know it? Where in the
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  Speaker 1: world is secrecy? Whatever happened to it? Whatever happened to
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  Speaker 1: the anonymous giver? Don't sound a trumpet. They do that.
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  Speaker 1: They love to sound it in the streets and be
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  Speaker 1: honored by men. I'll tell you, they have their reward
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  Speaker 1: in full. But when you give, do not let your
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  Speaker 1: left hand know what your right hand is doing. I
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  Speaker 1: call that secret. That your alms may be in secret
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  Speaker 1: and your father who sees in secret will repay you.
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  Speaker 1: What a wonderful way to live. Not if you're a hypocrite.
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  Speaker 1: You want the credit. You want the glory. You want
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  Speaker 1: the lights. You want the attention. You want your name dropped.
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  Speaker 1: And when you pray, verse 5, don't pray like the
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  Speaker 1: hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues
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  Speaker 1: and on the street corners in order to be seen
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  Speaker 1: by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their
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  Speaker 1: reward in full. Ever been around somebody that just couldn't
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  Speaker 1: wait for you to hear them pray? I mean, Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: when you pray, you go into your inner room. And
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  Speaker 1: when you have shut your door, pray to your Father
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  Speaker 1: who sees in secret. Here it is again, secrecy. Father
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  Speaker 1: who sees in secret will reward you. I see you,
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  Speaker 1: my child. I hear you. I will answer. Let this
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  Speaker 1: be between you and me. But when you're praying verse 7,
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  Speaker 1: and they love to do this, do not use meaningless
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  Speaker 1: repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they
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  Speaker 1: will be heard for their many words. Many words never
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  Speaker 1: caused anyone to be heard in prayer. I love the
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: story from the Puritan days, a preacher who loved to
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: get into prayer with about five minutes of preface. Eternal, gracious, merciful, sovereign, almighty, beautiful, loving.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: One day a lady in the choir just about had
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: her belly full of it and she reached over and
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: pulled on his robe and said, just call him father
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: and ask him for something. Just call him father and ask.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Whatever happened to the simplicity of prayer, the prayer of
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: a child? And while we're at it, verse 16, whenever
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: you fast, don't put on a gloomy face. Now I
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: run around with some preachers and And I'm guilty of
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: it at times. There's a way to look like a preacher.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: People often think you're kind of ill or something, and
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: you have a look about you that's like you've fasted
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: or something. And look at verse 16. It says, they
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: neglect their appearance in order to be seen. Fasting. Why,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: fasting is a private thing. Christianity is a private thing.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Of course it is to make its move around the world,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: and of course it changes lives, and of course it
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: has a message with it, but the deep-seated Christian truths
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: are private, not on display, not for public consumption, not
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: to be graded with a 10, 8 1⁄2, 4. Coming
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: out on a platform every Sunday, the pastor is faced
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: with The eyes of the congregation, may God give us
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: the grace to get beyond that look that we think
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: we have to give to look pious or as though
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: we have been fasting. When you fast, anoint your head,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: wash your face so that you may not be seen
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: fasting by men but by your Father who is in secret.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: And your Father says it again. We'll repay that way.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Out with hypocrisy, down with performance. If performance is ministry,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: you've missed it. And how we hide the fact that
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: we're anxious. That last part of chapter 6 is about that.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Act like we've got it put together when down underneath
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: we are worried and anxious. And he tells us in
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: these beautiful words that even a little child can understand.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: I know the condition of just the sparrow that flies.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: And I know your needs and I will meet them.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: How easy to put up a mask as though we
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: are sufficient and secure when in fact we are none
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: of the above. Out with hypocrisy, down with performance. Chapter
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: 7 says, up with tolerance. At least the first few verses.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Do not judge lest you be judged yourselves. For in
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: the way you judge, you will be judged. Ah, that
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: is a haunting thought. And by your standard of measure,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: it shall be measured to you. And why do you
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: look at the speck in your brother's eye but do
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: not notice the log? There's a little. humor in that,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: I've got to believe. The log that is in your
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: own eye. How can you say to your brother, let
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: me take the speck out of your eye, and behold,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: a log is in your eye? You hypocrite. He says
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: it again. It is hideous. It is hideous. This is
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: a howling reproach against hypocrisy. And Sunday afternoon after Sunday afternoon,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: we're busy with specs and we've missed the logs. Picking
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: at specs and choosing specs and selecting specs and forgetting
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the fact that in our head is a log that
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: needs immediate and constant attention. up with tolerance. Be tolerant
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: of those who have different methods in life. Be tolerant
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: of those who don't look at all like you look,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: who don't dress at all like you dress, who don't
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: care at all about the things you care about. Be
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: tolerant of them. Be tolerant of those whose theology differs
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: somewhat from yours. Be tolerant of those individuals who don't
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: have a worship style that is different from yours. Even
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: be tolerant of those who have been turned off by
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: Bible-thumping evangelicals. And they're up to here with church. Be tolerant.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Be tolerant of the young. Be tolerant of the uninitiated.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: And theologically trained men and women who happen to be
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: listening right now, be tolerant of those who don't know Greek.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: I give thanks for people who don't know Greek. My associate,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: Paul Sailhammer, told me a great story some time ago
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: about Jorge Rodriguez that I will never, ever forget. It's
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: worth repeating. Senor Jorge was the worst, worst bandit in Mexico.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: And he would slip across the Texas border and he
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: would raid the banks in South Texas and just steal
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: them blind. And then before they could catch him, he'd
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: slide back into Mexico and hide out. He could never
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: catch him. Texas got the belly full of him and
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: decided to put the meanest Texas Ranger they had on
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: the case of Jorge Rodriguez. Sure enough, he found him.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: Some dusty saloon south of Juarez. He walked in on him,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: pulled both guns. Okay, stick him up, Jorge, I got you.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: I know you got the money. And the guy over
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: in the corner says, wait a minute, wait a minute, amigo.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Jorge does not speak English. I translate. I use amigo.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Ha ha. So he tells him, look, we know he's
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: a thief. We know he's a robber. We know he's
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: taking such and such amount of money. We want the
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: million dollars back he took. Okay, okay, I'll tell him.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: I'll tell him. So he turns and says to Jorge,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: speaking in Spanish, all of this stuff. Jorge listens, you know.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: So Jorge responds in Spanish. Okay, he got me. Tell
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: him to go to the well, four stones down, pull
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: it out. There's a million dollars in there. And the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: translator turned and said to the Texas Ranger, Orge says,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: go ahead and shoot him. He don't know where the
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: money is. You know something? When you know the original language,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: you got to jump on them. You can make it
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: say stuff that they don't know any different. You've got
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: a good education? Great. Get over it. Just get over it.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: Stop impressing people with your original languages. Stop impressing people
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: with all of the theological jargon that you can drip
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: all over the place, but your business is run just
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: like everybody else's business. Who cares about the impression you're
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: making at church? On with commitment. That's what chapter 7 concludes.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Commitment to the gospel. Don't give what is holy to
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: the dogs, verse 6. Don't throw your pearls before swine,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: lest they trample them under their feet and turn and
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: tear you to pieces. We're not groveling for attention as Christians.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: We're not begging people to please accept this message. Walk
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: on me if you must. But where do you find
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: being walked on for the sake of the gospel in
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: verse 6? If they choose to reject it, you turn
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: to those who are ready to hear it. This is
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: a howling reproach against hypocrisy, against intolerance, against performance. This
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: is a statement of commitment even to prayer. Verse 7,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Knock and it will be opened. It's just that simple.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Verse 11, if you then, being evil, know how to
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: give good gifts to your children, how much more will
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: your Father in Heaven Give good gifts to you. It
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: works like that. And it comes all the way to
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: the end and he presents this wonderful story of the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: houses built on rock and then built on sand. You
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: know what he's saying here? He's saying we need to
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: mean what we say and we need to do what
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: we hear. That is the Sermon on the Mount. Hypocrites
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: do neither. We need to mean what we say and
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: we need to do what we hear. We need to
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: mean what we say. We need to do what we hear.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: One man wrote, I was hungry and you formed a
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: humanities club and discussed my hunger. Thank you. I was
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: prayed for my release. I was naked. And in your mind,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: And you knelt and thanked God for your health. I
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: was homeless, and you preached to me of the shelter
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: of the love of God. I was lonely, and you
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: left me alone to pray for me. You seemed so holy,
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: so close to God. But I'm still very hungry, very lonely.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: and very cold. Verse 28, the result was that when
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: Jesus had finished these words, the multitude were amazed. Amazed. A.T.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Robertson writes, they listened spellbound to the end and were
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: left amazed. Note the imperfect tense, a buzz of astonishment.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Listen to this and that. Did you hear that? Listen
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: to that. Can you believe that? Can you believe that?
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: You ever heard anything like that in your life? That
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: kind of buzz of excitement. Astonishment. Now why? It says
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: in the next verse. Because he was teaching them as
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: one having authority. And he didn't sound like one of
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: their scribes. One of the hypocrites. Robertson continues. The people
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: had heard many sermons from the regular rabbis of the synagogues.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: We have specimens of these discourses preserved in the Mishnah
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: and Gemara. the driest, dullest collection of disjointed comments upon
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: every conceivable problem in the history of mankind. That's what
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: they were used to. Maybe that's what we're used to.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: My response is very, very basic. It's an admission before
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Almighty God, and I join you in the response. Number one,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: I am not completely free of hypocrisy. I am not
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: completely free of hypocrisy. That's the place to begin. I
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: confess it, Lord. I admit it. I am not completely
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: free of hypocrisy. Robert Raines writes, I'm like James and John, Lord.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: I size up other people in terms of what they
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: can do for me, how they can further my program,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: feed my ego, satisfy my needs, give me strategic advantage.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: I exploit people, ostensibly for your sake, but really for
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: my own sake. Lord, I turn to you to get
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: the inside track and obtain special favors, your direction for
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: my schemes, your power for my projects. your sanction for
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: my ambitions, your blank check for whatever I want. Change me, Lord.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: Make me a man who asks of you and of others,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: what can I do for you? I am not completely
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: free of hypocrisy. There are hidden agendas within all of us. Second,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: I do not always search my motives. I confess that.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: I do not always search motives. motives. I do not
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: always ask why. The Sermon on the Mount will force
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: me back to motives. You know when I search my
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: motives at times I see ugly things. I tend to
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: display holiness. I tend to have an undisciplined mind and
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: ear for the praise of other people. I do not
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: always search my motives. Third, I have not stopped judging others.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: My intolerance is at times blistering, my pride at times
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: rotten and stinking. Fourth, I dare not continue as I am.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: I need help, says the listener to this sermon. All
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: of us. As I sit here shocked and convicted and guilty,
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: I need help. Some years ago, I was given a
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: book of Puritan prayers. Valley of Vision, it's called. I
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: read from it on other occasions. Late in the afternoon
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: as I was finishing the final touches on this sermon
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: that Christ preached to me, I happened upon a very
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: small vignette from this Valley of Vision book that I
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: close with. O Lord, I am a shell full of dust,
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: no rare object of valuable price. I am deeply convinced
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: of the evil and misery of a sinful state, of
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: the vanity of creatures, but also of the sufficiency of Christ.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: When thou wouldst guide me, I control myself. When thou
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: wouldst be sovereign, I rule myself. When thou wouldest take
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: care of me, I suffice myself. When I should depend
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: on thy providings, I supply myself. When I should submit
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: to thy providence, I follow my will. When I should study, love, honor,
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: trust thee, I serve myself. I fault and correct thy
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: laws to suit myself. Instead of thee, I look to
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: man's approbation. and am by nature an idolater. Lord, it
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: is my chief design to bring my heart back to Thee.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: Convince me that I cannot be my own God or
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: make myself happy, nor my own Christ to restore my
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: own joy, nor my own spirit to teach, guide, and
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: rule me. Help me to see that grace does this
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: by providential affliction. For when my credit is God, thou
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: dost cast me lower. When riches are my idol, thou
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: dost wing them away. When pleasure is my all, thou
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: dost turn it into bitterness. Take away my roving eye,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart. Show me that none
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: of these things can heal a wounded conscience or support
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: a tottering frame or uphold a departing spirit, and then
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: take me to the cross and leave me there. May
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: we bow together. Out with hypocrisy, down with performance, up
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: with tolerance, on with commitment. 12 simple words that say
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: it for us. I don't know where you are in
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: a talk like this, but you can only represent yourself
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: before the Lord. Please do that. This is not one
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: of those talks that cause people to to walk away
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: feeling comfortable. It is a howling reproach against not just
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: our times, but against your life and my life. It
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: is an appraisal, and it will be that for a
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: period of time as we listen closely to Christ's brief
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: but penetrating sermon. By the way, the only way to
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: tap his resources in righteousness is to come to the
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: place the Puritans spoke of, the cross. Come to the
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: cross naked, without rationalization, only open confession. Tell him where
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: you are. Tell him what you need. And make yourself available.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: That's all. If it's salvation, tell him you're lost. If
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: it's a filthy lifestyle that is hidden behind a mask
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: of righteousness, tell him. If it's self-righteousness and stinking pride,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: tell him. The cross is the place for those bloody things.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: Tell him. It will help. Our Father, it never fails
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: that when we hear from the word of God, you speak.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Take only that which is worth remembering and rivet it
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: into our minds. that it might make a difference in
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: our lives. Forgive us, Lord, for the wasted years spent
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: in hypocrisy and pride and religious paganism, putting up a
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: front that has been false, faking it, talking a good fight,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: mouthing truth. Bring us to the cross and to the
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: one who hung there and paid the price for all
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: of these sinful ways and set us free for Jesus' sake.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: The preceding message, Let's Keep It Simple, was copyrighted in
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: 1988 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2014 by
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.