"Sermon on the Mount" Pt. 2

Hi, this is John O'Zanting, lead pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

I get to preach part two of um the series we're doing on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Over the next few weeks, we're in Matthew chapter 5 through 7.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Two weeks ago, Pastor Brian Globish uh preached part one on the Beatitudes.

Uh man, I listened to his message as we were driving home.

We were on the Columbia Ice Fields Parkway and kind of coming through the Rockies.

And I gotta tell you, if you ever if you ever have a chance to listen to Brian Globish preach while you're driving through the Rockies, it's a pretty powerful experience.

Um I just loved uh his invitation into the Beatitudes and how he unpacked Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit.

Um it was it was just incredible.

If you missed it, you can always go back and listen on our podcast or on our YouTube channel.

Uh I would love for you to have a listen to that message.

Uh, one of the things I wanted to highlight is he began with the end in mind.

He he started this series with uh the last part of Matthew 7, verse 24.

Matthew 7:24

Jesus says, Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on a rock.

And that is the bedrock for this series.

It's it's do we have a compelling desire to not only listen to the teachings of Jesus, but to follow them and understand that when we follow and obey the teachings of Christ, it's like building our lives on a solid foundation.

We sang that.

And and so uh I want to begin Matthew 5, um, starting in verse 17.

Jesus says, Don't misunderstand why I've come.

I did not come to abolish the law of Moses, I didn't come to abolish the writings of the prophets.

No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.

Pause for a moment.

Have you ever had a season in your life as a Christian where you've like read something in the Bible, or maybe somebody challenged you in an area of your life, and you have this like, did God really say that?

Like, is that still true today?

Like, do I have to follow?

Like, what's going on?

And there's always like a part of our old sin nature that wants to rebel against God's best for us.

And Jesus is teaching that there isn't even a small iota of the law that will disappear until its purpose is achieved.

Verse 19, if you ignore the least commandment, if you teach other people to ignore the least commandment, you'll be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But anybody who obeys God's law and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

But I warn you, unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom.

And this is a stern warning to inspect how we are living.

It was a stern warning then.

It was actually an insult.

Because the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were standing right there when Jesus was like, unless you're better than these people, you'll never enter the kingdom.

And these people were like, Whoa, Jesus, we're as good as it gets.

We're the line of righteous.

Like when it comes to the law of the prophets and the law of Moses, we check all the boxes.

How dare you say, unless you're better than the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes?

So there's this like insult taking place while Jesus is saying, they check boxes.

How's your heart?

Do you know anybody that's ever gotten stuck on Christianity?

They're like, I can't be a Christian.

Too many rules.

Have you ever met a person that struggles with surrendering and yielding their life to the Lordship of Jesus?

Because there's like, I just can't get it all right.

And maybe they're like, I'm out.

I can't be a Christian.

I can't follow Christ.

I'd rather live my life however I want to.

I'd rather do whatever I want whenever I want, as long as it feels good.

Do you know anybody like maybe that's your story in the room today?

You're like, I've struggled with faith because, like, who are you to tell me what to do, you hypocrite?

I just want to say, feel that.

Even take some time to like be okay with thinking that.

You're in you're in the right room.

This is the best room for you to feel that and feel the weight of that.

Because on the other hand, are people who are like, um, man, I can do whatever I want because God's grace.

Like, I can I can repeatedly mess up because I can always come back to the throne of God's undeserved grace and He's gonna forgive me.

Didn't Jesus pay for it all?

And so there's also like an abuse of God's grace where we just go on sinning, go on doing whatever we want whenever we want to, because we think like, oh, I can always come back.

I call that like letter of the law people versus spirit of the law people.

Have you ever heard that designation?

Like a letter of the law person is like, I'm driving, the sign says 60 kilometers an hour, letter of the law, I'm gonna drive 60 kilometers an hour.

A spirit of the law person is like, I know it says 60, but I feel pretty safe going 68.

I even feel like pretty competent that I could go 72 and no one's gonna get hurt.

Like, there's letter of the law and then there's spirit of the law.

Does that make sense?

And I live in the world of and my kids like take advantage of this all the time.

What does that mean?

Live in the world of and it means like we were just on vacation and like, hey guys, what do you want, what do you want to do today?

Do you want to do you wanna go to the lake and go paddleboarding, or do you want to go on a hike to the skook and chuck narrows?

And they're like, Dad, you live in the world of hand and let's go on a hike and go to the lake.

Let's do both.

Let's let's have pizza and have ice cream.

I live in the world of and letter of the law and spirit of the law.

See, the Pharisees, they were all about the letter of the law.

They were all about this is what it says.

We're gonna argue about the nuance of what it says, and then we're gonna make sure that we appear as though we've checked all 613 boxes of the law.

We're gonna get it all right.

And no one's gonna say that we're not righteous because of look at me, I've checked all the boxes.

Jesus is like, the letter of the law is still in effect, but the spirit of the law means how's your heart?

How's your surrender?

What are your motives?

What are your intentions?

Are you living yielded and surrendered?

You know, within our volunteer culture at Evolve, we have this statement, a family value, that says this people before task, but not at the expense of task.

It means all of our volunteers have permission to push pause on what they're doing to see somebody and serve somebody.

Like if the amazing team in the parking lot, if all they did was like wave those neon Jedi wands and wear the vests and just make sure all the cars were between the lines, but they didn't see a single mom who was struggling to get her kids out of the car and one of them fell.

And if they didn't like put down the wand to go like care, like don't just follow the task, see the people.

And so there's this balance between a letter of law and a spirit of law that Jesus invites us into.

And evolved, Bennett and Tiffany said beautifully, this this these cultural pillars of belong to family and hope in Jesus, grow in your journey, become who God's invited you to become.

This continuum of surrender to Christ is all about who we're becoming as we live set apart, holy, righteous, in Christ, set apart for his name's sake.

Can I pastor your heart for a moment?

Are there areas of your life where you know what scripture says and you've done counter to it?

Are there areas of your life where you've made an excuse for sin?

Are there areas of your life where you sit in judgment of people that you know are living outside of God's best?

Or you look down your nose at somebody who isn't living full on for God for God and you you judge them?

Have you separated yourself from experiencing the love of the Father because you think your sins too great to experience his love?

You believe the lie of the enemy that you're too far gone.

It's vital that we as Christians stop judging other people by their actions, but judging ourselves by our intentions.

Do you know what I mean?

Like we're like, oh, you did that, and they're like, Yeah, but you did this.

I know, but I intended to do this, right?

We judge other people by their actions, but we judge our own hearts by what we intended to do, and that's so wrong.

And so the heartbeat of Matthew 5 and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is an invitation to examine our own hearts.

After all, a tree is known by its fruit.

We're invited to become a people of clean hands and a pure heart who walk humbly before the Lord our God.

And this invites us into regular practices of self-examination.

Do you know early Christians out of the Ignatian spiritual practice, they actually had a specific prayer.

It was called the prayer of examine.

It meant every night before they went to sleep, they prayed five things every day.

And I love this.

Number one, they prayed for God's light to understand the day that they just had from his perspective.

Can you imagine going to bed tonight and going, Father, with the light of your glory, help me see what you intended for for the day I just had?

The second thing, they gave thanks for the blessings that they received in that day.

Third, they reviewed the day's events and how they responded to them.

I just love this practice, this heart posture of examining.

Okay, I'm gonna review everything that went on today, and how did I man, why did I show up so angry to that coworker?

Man, why did I show up so hostile to my spouse in that moment?

God, why did I show up so like quick to judge and just like push them off in that in that interaction with my son today?

Man, God, why did I show up so frustrated in traffic today?

Like, can you imagine if you reviewed the events of every day as an examination of your heart?

Can you ask for forgiveness in areas where you fell short?

Can you look forward to tomorrow with hope and a desire to accomplish God's will?

This is in ignition spirituality.

This practice is called the prayer of examine.

And so as we continue teaching on Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims loudly, Church, what you do matters.

Okay?

What you do matters, but also can I have your heart motives and can I have your intentions as well?

Can I look deeper to not just the surface level behavior, but the the beforehand heart posture?

So in Matthew 5, 19 and 20, in Eugene Peterson's message paraphrase, he says, trivialize even the smallest item in God's law, and you will only have trivialized yourself.

But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you'll find honor in the kingdom.

So we're meant to take the law, the commandments of God seriously, but also invite others to consider them and in so doing find honor in Jesus' kingdom.

Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom of heaven.

How can someone do far better than the Pharisees who check all of the boxes?

Well, that's what I want to talk about.

That's what Jesus teaches us.

See, the law, the books from Genesis to Deuteronomy was scripture par excellence for the Jews.

And they examined it with minute thoroughness.

They were constantly discussing and arguing about the law.

They discovered, for example, that there are 613 commandments as a part of that scripture.

613 commandments.

How you doing?

I don't know about you, but I'm I am not checking 613 boxes in my day-to-day practice of following Jesus.

248 of those were positive commandments.

In other words, hey, daughter, hey, son, I love you, do this.

365 were negative.

Hey, daughter, hey son, don't do that.

613.

And Jesus was like, the Pharisees and the religious leaders, they're arguing, they're always discussing the minute thoroughness of all of these commands, and they're getting it right.

They're checking all the boxes.

And unless you're better than that righteousness, you won't enter the kingdom of heaven.

What hope do we have?

Is anybody else feeling like, all right, peace out, I'm gonna go do my own thing?

Right?

What then was the place of the commands that scripture conveys so clearly?

It was important for Matthew's readers as well as for Jews and the disciples of Christ that Jesus' attitude toward the law be made plain.

And in this section of the Sermon on the Mount includes important teaching about the law.

He shows that Jesus affirmed its continuing validity and that Jesus came to fulfill it.

What does that mean?

It means if you want to see the law made perfect, don't look at perfect people, look at Jesus.

If you want to see the fullness of God's heart and law, the letter and the spirit, look to Christ.

That's why when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were like, Jesus, you shouldn't do that.

But there's a beautiful combination, a collision of the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.

Why?

Because we see Jesus' heart for people and his heart posture to do the will of the Father in obedience to the Father.

There's some strong words that Jesus has for anyone prepared to break, even the least of the commandments, and to teach the other people to do the same.

The statement that the righteousness of those who enter the kingdom of heaven must exceed that of the Pharisees must have come as a very surprising piece of information.

See, go back to the beginning, to Genesis 3, original sin in the garden.

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord had made.

And one day the serpent asked Eve, the woman, did God really say?

And if you and I are honest about any moment where we've felt a temptation to live outside of God's best, there's always attached to it a lie of the enemy.

It's like, did God I know you learned in Sunday school, but did God really say?

Like it's that's still how the enemy's working in the life of the believer to this day.

Did God really say?

The enemy has always challenged your obedience to the commandments of Scripture and my obedience to the commandments of Scripture by questioning the motives and the intentions of the Father.

It's true that our salvation comes only through faith in Jesus.

It's true that through this powerful understanding and receiving of God's amazing grace that we're made whole and set free and transformed.

But our relationship with the Father stays clean and stays pure, and our Christian witness remains beautifully consistent when we as followers of Christ pursue a desire for obedience that spills over into a practice of obedience.

You can't say, I'm forgiven, so I'll do whatever the hell I want.

Did Pastor just say hell?

Yes.

Because by that you're choosing the wrong kingdom.

You're choosing the kingdom of darkness when you say, I'll do whatever I want and deal with the consequences later.

This this Christian witness and this sense of daily dealing, prayer of examine, clean hands, pure heart, walk humbly.

Man, I love Psalm 119, 45.

I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.

Doesn't culture and the world that we live in say, Do you want to be free?

Do whatever you want, whenever you want to, as long as you're not hurting anybody.

And Jesus says, real freedom comes when we devote ourselves to his commandments.

The freest life you can live is by saying yes to the way and the truth and the life of Christ.

Do you know any people?

This I was thinking about it this way.

Do you know any people that have made a decision to start a faith journey or even come back to church when they're like newly married and they begin a family of their own?

I just find it over the last 30 years as I've pastored, I've met so many people in that like mid-twenties to 30s.

They're freshly married, they've got either a kid or a couple of kids, and they they come to church often for the first time.

They got new babies, um, and they're like, well, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

And I've been curious about that.

It was actually when I was studying for this message that I kind of had this like powerful click.

You know, when you become a parent, when you become a mom or a dad, you reach a point in your parenting journey where you're quite good at saying to your son or to your daughter, I love you, don't do that.

Or I love you so much, do this.

And you're good with it.

You're like, well, of course, that makes sense.

Because this little one doesn't know what I know, and this little one can't see what I can see, and so it's like, would you trust mom?

Would you trust dad?

Don't do that, or can you trust me?

I love you, do this.

And then you're like, oh wait, God the Father loves me.

He's like, do this.

Don't oh yeah, I'm going back to church.

Right?

I'm going back, I'm going back to the law of the Father because I trust him, because he loves me.

And and I love this powerful click in the life of so many people.

We become all the more eager to trust that God's ways and plans and commandments are really his loving best for his children when we begin to ask our own kids to obey us from a place of trust in mom and dad.

Mom and dad, no better.

We we can see what you can't see.

Just trust us.

Do this, don't do that.

And you're like, oh, I need I need to see God that way.

Psalm 119 in the message paraphrases, let your love, God, shape my life with salvation.

Father, let your love shape my life with salvation exactly as you promised.

Then I'll be able to stand up to the mockery because I trusted your word.

Don't ever deprive me of truth, Father.

Not ever.

Your commandments are what I depend on.

I'll guard with my life what you've revealed to me.

I'll guard it now, I'll guard it ever.

I'll stride freely through wide open spaces as I look for your truth and your wisdom.

And then I'll tell the world what I find.

I'll speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.

I cherish your commandments.

Oh, how I love them, relishing every fragment of your counsel.

Father, in other words, you can have my heart.

You can have it all.

When I make a decision to live yielded and surrendered to the Lordship of Christ Jesus, it's not just in some of my behavior, it's my whole life, my inner life and my outer life.

And Father, because you have my heart, I believe that you are as good as Jesus says you are.

And because I believe that, I trust you.

And because I trust you, I'm gonna obey your commandments.

Like a good father, I trust you.

I'll take you at your word, I'll do what you ask of me.

So, what does the Father ask?

I'm not gonna go to uh the law of Moses and the law of the prophets.

I'm not gonna unpack 613 laws, but we are gonna continue in the Sermon on the Mount and some of the things that Jesus highlights in the rest of Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Jesus makes six, you heard it said, or the law tells us statements.

And he makes six statements about six specific things about anger, about adultery, about divorce, about making vows, about revenge, and about loving our enemies.

Man, I understand as a pastor when I stand in a place of like teaching and inviting people into scripture, that even when I say the word adultery or say the word Divorce or say the word anger, that someone in the room is already feeling less than.

Someone in the room is already uh feeling the weight of shame and condemnation, either for yourself or for someone you know and love.

But Jesus in in Matthew 5, he says, Man, if you if you leave out even a little bit of this, if if you don't teach somebody to even do this, you're not gonna enter heaven's kingdom.

And so can I can I shepherd your heart for a moment?

Can I can I invite you to consider and to draw from the heart of a father who loves you, from a posture of a father who says, I love you so much, I'm gonna be crystal clear.

Do this, don't do that.

That's his heart.

And from a place of trust, we take him at his word.

And and there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

And so if your story is marked by any one of these six, and you stepped into this room today, feeling less than, feeling like, man, I don't fit here, I don't belong here.

If people knew my story, I want to give you permission to deal with today, to allow the Holy Spirit to help you hold today, to examine today.

And it's it's not based on the actions of your past, it's actually more about your heart posture, living yielded to Christ today.

So, number one, about anger.

Verse 21, Jesus says, You've heard that our ancestors were told.

He's quoting the law, Deuteronomy and Numbers, you must not murder.

And the Pharisees are like, check, haven't killed anybody, right?

Show hands if you didn't murder anybody today.

I'm waiting.

I should be really worried.

There's lots of hands that didn't go up.

How many people did you murder on your way to church today?

You've heard it said, you must not murder.

If you commit murder, you're subject to judgment.

That's what the law said.

I haven't come to abolish the law, I've come to fulfill it.

And by fulfilling it, I say, if you're even angry with someone, you're subject to judgment.

If you call someone an idiot, if you curse someone, religion says, haven't murdered anybody, check.

And Jesus is like, but that's not enough.

Have you thought about it?

I could kill that person, right?

Have you thought about it?

Has your anger percolated in your in your heart and in your thoughts and perhaps even spilled over into your words?

Following Jesus is not about checking boxes, it's about surrendering our hearts, our thoughts, our emotions, our intentions.

King Jesus, your Lord of it all.

In 1 John 3, it says, if we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves we've passed from death to life.

But a person who has no love is still dead.

Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart.

Isn't that wild?

Jesus says it's not about checking boxes.

It's way more than that.

How's your heart?

That means what?

It means when I'm angry, when someone does something or says something, or I encounter or experience something that causes rage to fuel in my heart, and I want to start shouting names or calling names or get on a tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

You just wait.

Like when that anger pulls out, like you're like, I'm not gonna actually kill anybody, but you're an idiot, right?

Um, when when anger addresses our hearts, we have to be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, Holy Spirit.

The Bible says, be angry, but don't sin when I'm angry.

Why am I angry?

That's maybe the most important question you ask.

Why am I angry?

Well, because that person said that and did that.

Okay, but why did that make you angry?

Well, if I'm honest, it made me angry, God, because when they said that, it reminded me that in that area I don't have any control.

It made me feel really unsafe.

And so anger came.

Anger tried to protect that vulnerable piece of my heart where I feel like I'm out of control.

And so I confess my my need for control over things.

Come, Holy Spirit, Jesus, you're Lord of it all.

Would you be in control over this relationship, over this dynamic, where my anger caused me to want that person to experience harm and to say horrible things about them?

Would you forgive me, Lord?

And so Jesus is like, it's not enough that you check a box, you actually have to process your heart.

And that's this powerful teaching in Matthew 5.

I could go on about adultery.

You've heard the commandment that says you shouldn't commit adultery.

Religion says the Pharisees are like, perfect.

I haven't had sex with anybody that isn't my spouse.

Have you thought about it?

Have lust and sexual desire percolated in your heart and in your thought life?

Has pornography gripped your understanding of the opposite gender?

Has it taken a hold of your glances and your gaze and your habits and your idle time?

The heart of Jesus isn't about checking boxes, it's about surrendering our hearts.

It's about surrendering our habits, our thoughts, our emotions, our intentions.

Come, Lord Jesus, have it all.

About divorce?

31 says, You've heard the law that says a man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.

And there's lots I could say about divorce today, but at the heart of it is Jesus' teaching in Mark 6.

God made them uniquely male, uniquely female from the beginning of creation.

And this explains why a man leaves father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

Since they're no longer two, but one.

Let no one split apart what God has joined together.

Marriage is a sacred and spiritual covenant between one naturally born man and one naturally born woman.

Two people submitted to one another in their and under their shared commitment and submission to Christ Jesus.

And it's holy and it's sacred, and I think it's so beautiful.

I think Mary, I always say marriage was was maybe God's best idea.

Outside of sending Jesus, marriage serves as a picture of Christ's sacrifice, Christ Jesus' love for his church, self-sacrificial, spotless love, self-serving and preferring the church over his own title and position and needs.

Of course, divorce happens in our world.

And scripture's actually clear on why divorce can and should happen.

But at the heart of it is not just saying, well, if I do it this way, I'm good.

It's dealing with my heart.

And so those of you that are afraid of getting married because your story came out of a home of divorce, I just know that God would love to redeem your story.

I know he would love to paint new pictures.

In this room are some of the best marriages that I've ever seen.

Husbands and wives living submitted to one another as unto the Lord.

And so where scripture talks about divorce and the enemy wants you to feel the weight of shame, I just encourage you to allow Christ to paint pictures of redemption and healing and wholeness as he invites us into making all things new.

Number four, about vows.

You've heard our ancestors say you must not break vows, you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.

Don't make any vows, Jesus says, by heaven or because of God's throne.

Don't say by the earth this teaching on like uh making vows.

In other words, let your yes be yes and let your no be no.

I love Proverbs 10:19.

Proverbs 10:19

Too much talk leads to sin.

Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

Don't you love the Bible?

Like, have you ever had somebody just like prattle on and on and on trying to convince you that what they're saying is good and right?

You're like, let your character speak.

Shut your mouth.

Let your life serve as a conduit and a picture of Christ Jesus.

Jesus taught, Warren Wearsby says, Jesus taught that our conversation should be so honest and our character so true that we would not need crutches to get people to believe us.

Words depend on character, and oaths cannot compensate for a poor character.

In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

I prefer the NLT.

Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

The more words a man or woman uses to convince, the more suspicious we should be.

Um, this is a great teaching, right?

Let your yes be yes, let your no be no.

I grew up in a in a home that like a solid word and a handshake was enough.

And sadly, the integrity and the character of humanity has waned and shriveled, and Jesus invites us back to a heart posture that says, Because of the one I'm submitted to, I'm gonna say less and mean more.

About revenge, you've heard the law say that punishment must match injury, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and here's this but I say turn the other cheek.

1 Peter 3 9 says, Don't repay evil for evil, don't retaliate with insults when people insult you.

Instead, pay them back with blessing.

That's what God's called you to do, and He'll grant you His blessing.

In order to turn the other cheek, we must stay where we are and not run away.

Man, it's hard when things hurt us.

We're always tempted to just run away.

But in order to turn the other cheek, we have to stay where we are and not run away.

And this demands both faith and love.

It also means that we'll be hurt.

But it's better to be hurt on the outside than to be harmed on the inside.

It further means that we should try to help the sinner.

We're vulnerable because he might attack us anew, but we're also victorious because Jesus is on our side, helping us and building our character.

What a powerful, again, this is like classic Jesus.

The law said repay repay what's owed, but but no, I'm like turn the other cheek.

Right?

There's this like if if somebody asks you to carry their load, keep going.

That's the heart of Jesus.

The caveat I want to throw at this text in this moment when it comes to revenge and our desire to like seek justice.

If you're in a relationship where you're constantly being assaulted, if you're in a dating relationship or a married relationship or a friendship or a working relationship where you're actually being abused consistently, don't turn the other cheek.

Okay?

I just think like emotional abuse in a marriage, physical abuse, that's adultery, according to scripture.

That is not a spouse loving their spouse the way Christ loves the church.

That's not something you have to take and endure.

Um this is a whole teaching in and of itself, but it's important to say when we read this text, because I've met I've met women that have endured years of abuse because of this verse, I'd I I'm supposed to turn the other cheek.

Well, actually, not in this case.

But there's there's life and freedom for you outside of that abusive relationship.

So that's that's my caveat.

Is that okay?

Lastly, about loving our enemies.

As we close our service today, Jesus, one more teaching in 43.

You've heard the law says, love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

Can you believe that the law of the of the prophets was like, love your neighbor, hate your enemy?

But Jesus says, I'm gonna flip that around.

Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.

And in that way you'll be acting as true children of your father.

He gives a sunlight to both evil and the good, he sends rain on the just and the unjust.

If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?

Even corrupt tax collectors do that.

If you're kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?

Even pagans do that.

But you you're to be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect, perfect in love, perfect in intention, perfect in motive, perfect in heart, clean hands, pure heart.

God blesses those who work for peace, for they'll be called the children of God, Matthew 5:9.

Matthew 5:9

Even when it's hard, especially when it's hard, I want to please the Father.

See, our our surrender to Jesus is not one of convenience.

It's not one of, I'll say yes, I'll obey the Father when it works in my favor or when it's easy, but I'll do it when it costs me something.

I'll I'll obey when it's hard, I'll obey when they mock me, I'll obey when they put me down, I'll obey when they betray me, I'll still say yes.

We see this set apart, holy, righteous example best in the person of Jesus Christ.

And that's why it's important where our surrender lands.

Jesus says, Come and follow me, keep in step with me, become a practitioner of my life, become a disciplined follower of me.

Which is why Jesus sets up these six uh lookbacks and his heart, it's why he sets it up with verse 13 through 16.

Some of you might have noticed I skipped over that, but I want to close with this beginning text, Matthew 5, 13 and 16.

In light of what the law says, in light of what Jesus invites us into, don't be a person that checks boxes.

Allow your heart to be surrendered to Christ and in so doing, overflow in how you live and how you serve and how you think and how you feel.

Why?

Let me tell you why you're here.

You're here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavors of this earth.

If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?

Salt of the earth, so that those who don't know God might taste godliness.

You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage if you lose that salt quality.

In other words, this is why obedience matters.

Here's another way to put it you're here to be light, bringing out the God colors in the world.

God's not a secret to be kept.

We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.

If I make you light bearers, you don't think I'm gonna hide you under a bucket, do you?

I'm putting you on a light stand.

And now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand, shine, keep open house, be generous with your lives by opening up to others.

You'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

This is why our obedience to the way and the truth and the life of Christ, this is why paying attention to our hearts and living righteous before the Father matters, so that we can be a city on a hill, bringing the God colors out in this world and inviting everyone we encounter to experience the generosity and the love of the Father.

In other words, I will walk in freedom, for I've devoted myself to your commandments.

You can have my heart.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch dot com.

We hope to see you soon.