Real Godliness

Welcome To The River. City Church podcast and a

message by our lead. Pastor Jason Powers.

Our prayer is that this message would Inspire and encourage you,

build your faith. And point you to the

life-changing love of Jesus. May you enjoy the goodness of

God as you follow him today? One of the scariest places in

the world are one of the scariest places that I've ever

been is on a Mountain Road between kind of Estes Park in

Grand Lake. It's called Trail Ridge Road,

and it goes over the Continental Divide.

And the thing about it is that it's like about this big, both

lanes. I mean, like, an actual size.

It's this big. It seems like your cars are

bigger and you start out at the bottom and it's fine because

you're just on a road trip, like, well, we're climbing the

mountains. Like, I'm a mountain guy like in

my soul are mountains and Hike, so we drive and it's good.

You got the radio. Blast and everything's good.

Right? But you start to go up and it

goes like this, right? And the switchbacks right?

Answer, you're always going. And so there are long stretches

of Trail Ridge Road, where it's just like down there like

thousands and tens of thousand feet, right?

And guys, with trailers or just, umm root.

And so you start out in your listen, it's all exciting,

right? And then you get up a little bit

of the way, right? And what you have to do with

like turn the radio off, so you can see better.

Right? So you're you're just like

gripping and then and then the trucks coming you're shaking

right and then The kids like the good nature laughing in the

background, you like to drive, right?

And you go and there's no more trees anywhere because like,

there's not enough oxygen there. I'm like, you can't grow trees

up here. But here we are just tooling

along, right? And there's these long chains.

And I'm like, gripping fingerprints into the into the,

you know, the steering wheel and you come down.

And you can, we have to live here now?

Because I'm never going over that again.

And you just you wonder like truly like I've I live in Texas.

Like, guardrails are a thing. Can you not just mix in a

guardrail every now and then, right?

But if you think about that, listen barrels aren't really

that much better. I mean, there's certainly

probably going to keep you from plummeting to your death.

But what really they mostly made me feel safe, but I wouldn't

feel any better if you're doing this, right?

If you're right in the Gargoyles, the guardrails are

great protection. It's good to have guardrails.

It's Her to be a good driver. So I've been working on that for

the last little while before I get back.

And that guardrail illustration. It works.

We started a couple weeks ago, looking at The Sermon on the

Mount, which is Jesus is like Kingdom, Manifesto, write, like

this is what the Kingdom looks like, and he started.

Well, we started actually in Matthew 1 and we just looked at

Jesus as he talks about the kingdom.

Jesus is the kind of guy that includes unlikely people in.

His story. He includes the Tamar's, and the

rahab's, and the bathsheba's, and, and the Mary's, and he

includes them, and he makes them part of their story because he

came to redeem their stories and our stories and histories.

And so, we've seen kind of Jesus come in and changing the scene.

And the guardrail illustration comes to deal.

Like, what we saw last week is, Jesus said, I haven't come to

abolish the law, but to fulfill it and then he said, Not only am

I not come to abolish it. But it said, unless your

righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees, then you

certainly won't even enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And so he's talking about like this, Fair season Returns the

law and the Pharisees did with guardrails was like they would

put like guardrails around the law just to keep you just to

make sure I cuz you got these big like don't murder and don't

steal and you know, honor the Sabbath and you know honor your

father and mother but can we really know what those mean

unless? We have really like a bunch of

other rules to support it. Right?

And so the Pharisees treatment of the law raises, the question

for us, and it's an important question.

I think we all asked a lot. What does it mean to be Godly?

What does godliness look for? And for the Pharisees and most

of kind of first century, it Judaism in Israel, right?

It looked like the law but again, these guardrails, right?

Because if we don't make sure, we're really sure that you

don't. And so it says, honor the

Sabbath respect the Sabbath and keep it holy, right?

And so the idea behind the Sabbath was no work.

And so they said, well, you can't just trust people not to

work. So we gotta say what not working

means. So if you take 218 219, 220 Not

work. You're fine. 221.

Well, now you're a lawbreaker. Now.

You've broken the Sabbath. You have work or even better.

Imagine you're a tailor, right? And you are a clothes store and

you are walking 214 215. Well now you just broken a law

because you have a pin in your coat and since you're a tailor

and since you use pins and needles, you have one in your

code and voila, you have now walked too far.

And so you have the sense of everybody going.

What? What just happened, right?

Or there's this law in the law? You don't cook an animal and its

own mother's milk. I don't know why.

That's I don't know why that's in there.

I think some of it had to do some, a part of the law.

Really was God's particularly kind of the ceremonial law in

the judicial. All the idea was God telling the

issue of People. You're you're different.

You need to look different. You need to be a different kind

of culture, and society. And so a lot of that has kind of

passed away. But there's this law that says

don't cook an animal in its mother's milk.

Right? And so the Pharisees really

wanting to be good at the law started to ask questions.

Well, how can, you know, whether it was this?

Mother's know. How can, you know whether this

pig this ham was made as weather.

And so at the Pharisees said, is like just to be sure.

You should never eat meat and dairy at the same time, which

tells me that Orthodox Jewish people have never had a ham and

cheese sandwich. And you can't tell me that's not

in God's design, right? So, you put these guardrails

around the law that says, no, just to keep you just to stay

safe. Just think right in the middle.

And Jesus, now takes up this issue of rules of the law of

what do we do about godliness, and about being good?

And what Jesus shows us. He says that both at the rules

that the law is important. It's important, the law that God

established even in the Old Testament.

The law is important. Jesus said, I did not come to

abolish the law. Jesus didn't say.

Hey, it's a For all now, you go do what you want to, I want to

do a, but what Jesus said is the law as useful as it is.

It's not ultimate because he talked about a righteousness

that surpasses that. So, what does it look like?

Well, he explains it. Matthew 5:20, one simple and

Matthew 5:20

easy, straight ahead, right? You heard it said to the people

long ago, you shall not murder and anyone who murders will be

subject to judgment and you go, that's a good law.

Is that enough? But I tell you, Jesus says that

anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be

subject to judgment. Can you imagine hearing that the

Pharisees are undergoing loud? What else are you going to make

murder legal? And she's like, no murders.

Not legal. Anger is illegal.

Now, in the Pharisees, like, well, that's terrible.

Again, anyone who says to his brother or sister raka, right?

Like that's you empty head, right?

Like that's his personal something that's like so mad,

they're shaking, right? But then he goes on his answer

with court. And anyone who says you fool

will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Now. There's this progression here,

right? Like there's this anger and then

there's a seething anger and there's this rage and then

there's just like what a fool contempt.

But Jesus doesn't do is say, the murder is okay, but Jesus also,

Do is say it's okay to hate people.

As long as you don't murder them.

Go down to verse 27. You heard that it was said, You

shall not commit adultery and were like, oh, that's fine.

That's good. Right?

Most of us. Do y'all haven't done that?

But Jesus says, but I'll tell you that anyone who looks at a

woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her and

her heart. He got Jesus.

That's so heavy. Right?

Like I don't think the point is like this you go.

Oh, that's the nature side. It's the point is The point is

the wolf whistle, right? The point is like the cartoons

of the eyes when looking at a person for the purpose of

lusting. Now, this takes all kinds of

shapes on our right? Like you can go online, right?

And you can see all kinds of ways of looking through us,

right? And a lot of that falls kind of

on the male's. Now listen, there's such a ideas

fantasy, the ideas, like who is filling your brain right now.

Listen, I'm watch some of those soap operas.

Right? Like I know some of you like

have like a Sonny Corinthos thing, right?

Going on. Some of you I was at Days of Our

Lives. Nobody in here.

Got that, that makes me happy first.

Service went uproarious on that. So we knew where they are

spiritually, right? You guys are doing a great job.

The problem is fantasy and it can be books.

It can be 50 Shades of Grey. It can be all kinds of things.

The question is, what's filling your Head and Jesus says, it's

not okay to not commit physical adultery with your spouse and

yet to have all these fantasies of other people filling your

head all day. Yes.

The physical but also the mental violations are both violations

and he goes down, verse 31. It's been said that anyone who

divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.

Now that comes from a law of Moses were most.

Now the listen, let's be real clear.

The original law goes back to Genesis and Is where Adam wakes

up? He's like, hey, that's Eve.

Right? And it says, for this reason, a

man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife and

they will become one flesh. That's the original picture of

divorce. Now Moses said, yeah, that's

fine. You can divorce.

If you can give, you know, if you can convince that or if you

just want to write. So that seems kind of

duplicitous, right? Because look he goes down there.

Yeah, you can you can divorce anyone, right?

But I tell you, anyone that divorces except for sexual

immorality, make sure the victim of adultery And anyone who

marries a divorced woman commits adultery again, you have heard

that it was said to the people long ago.

Don't break your oath. So in the law of Moses said,

sure you can divorce your wife, but don't you dare break an oath

to someone else. It seems duplicitous, right?

It seems like those things go together, but fulfill your vows

to the Lord, you have made. But I tell you, do not swear an

oath at all. See the idea for the law, the

good use of the law as we see it front counter from the Old

Testament. Don't murder law is, it's a

great way. Way to keep us from not doing

bad, which is, which is fine. Right?

Like the law keeps us from that. But here's the deal.

God isn't just not bad. God doesn't just not murder you.

God loves you. God cares for you.

Now. The law is good.

God is good. It's like the difference between

broccoli. Broccoli is fine.

I broccoli right? But broccolis not steak.

Right is God, broccoli. Or is God, like steak?

We know, we know the answer to this, right?

We get this right. Fine.

Sure. That's good.

We know it adds something. We know the value of broccoli is

good, right? Nutrients and pro, and all that

stuff. Right, but we know that there's

something bigger in, there's something better out there.

So Jesus talks about the law, and he talks about

righteousness, and he talks about this surpassing

righteousness. He talks about this

righteousness is greater than the Pharisees, and then he takes

the whole system and raises. It, he doesn't say, unless your

righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and really go

ahead and do whatever you want. He raises the ball so that it

covers the heart then. And what Jesus does he does

something that is very good for us.

Even though we don't like it when Jesus makes it.

Not just about what you do with your parts.

Not just where your hands and feet and parts go.

But what goes on in your heart, you're out what he does.

Is he removes this whole idea of moral relativism right?

Where? Oh, well, as long as it's okay

for you. It's ok for me, right?

Oh well as long as As if you do it, then I can do it.

Right? It keeps us from ranking sins

and he goes, no, it doesn't matter if you have physically,

literally committed adultery, and you have physically,

literally committed, adultery through through fantasy in your

heart. You diminished someone you have

heard someone somewhere. And the other thing it does, is

it dissing it removes us from what about ISM?

When somebody says, oh, that thing in your life is keeping

you from God's Beth. Oh, wow, but what about them?

It's as if, as long as we're not the most sinful person in the

world, we're okay. Right?

Like, that's a whole, like, kind of the mindset of like, oh, some

were you going to go to heaven when you die?

Well, yeah. Well, I'm not a murderer.

Oh, that's the standard good. I didn't, I didn't know.

I thought it may have been more, but as long as we don't murder

someone and we'll get in, right? Jesus doesn't use the law.

That way he doesn't use it. Relative doesn't make it

relative. He doesn't make it about, what

is mm. So now the question, Comes,

what's the difference? What's the difference between

the way, the Pharisees and the religious leaders used the wall?

And the way that Jesus used law, the difference, I would say

between the way these to use the law is compassion.

Let me share with you. The definition of compassion

compassion is sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings

and misfortunes of others. The difference between Jesus and

the Pharisees was compassion the Pharisees elevated.

The law. They made the points of the law.

They emphasize the law so much so that they D emphasized

people. There can be people.

That are hurting and lost and all the Pharisees saw was God's

judgment. Well, if you were better, God

would heal you, if you were better.

God would make you rich. And the subtext is if you were

better, God would bless you. Like he has blessed me.

He would make you like me and what Jesus Does by raising the

bars. Go know if you want

righteousness. You need to be like me.

Jesus emphasized the law. All without D emphasizing the

person. That's what the law of Jesus is.

The law of Jesus doesn't make away with rules.

The law of Jesus, instead is an invitation to compassion.

The law of Jesus is an invitation to compassion.

I believe that compassion is the thing around without which the

law doesn't listen to Old Testament.

What does god require of You? O mortal.

He has shown you. And what does he require Micah?

6:8 act, justly, love, mercy and walk humbly with your God.

Justice and mercy, together, evidence of compassion when I

look and go know, there is a standard in the standard is good

and in his right, but I see Mercy.

I look at your heart and I see the person behind it.

If you have these things, if you walk humbly with your God, you

will have compassion because he has compassion on the others.

Jesus is law. Is about compassion and look at

2nd Corinthians chapter 1 starting in verse.

Three, praise be to the praise, be to the God and father of our

Lord. Jesus Christ, the father of

compassion, and the God of All Comfort, who comforts Us in all

our troubles. So that we can comfort those in

any trouble with the Comfort. We ourselves receive from God to

be Godly, is to be Godlike. And to be Godlike, is to be

compassionate because our God is compassionate.

When Jesus gave The Sermon on the Mount, he wasn't thinking

about when we died and went to heaven, and sat on a cloud

because Jesus said, the Kingdom of Heaven is here.

It's at hand. The Kingdom of Heaven is in the

atmosphere Among Us at his breaking out all over.

It's breaking Out Among the ne'er-do-wells among the sick

and the lost, and the hurting. But what Jesus does, when he

says, the Kingdom of Heaven is now.

And he said, you can't take part in the Kingdom of you disobey

the rules. And if you walk away from the

commands. You can't do without compassion.

What he's saying? He's saying is the law.

The compassionate law, infused with the heart of God, the

missing element to make that the Redemptive force in the world is

compassion. And Jesus is law, is an

invitation, and it's an invitation to certain two

specific things. The first thing, it's an

invitation Beyond, outraged and contempt.

Man, the fruit of the spirit is not anger.

The fruit of the spirit is not Fury.

The fruit of the spirit is not outraged.

Ever. The fruit of the spirit is love,

and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and

goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness and self-control.

And I Is reliving the evil times preacher.

Jesus turned the tables in the temple.

Righteous indignation is what Jesus is about.

Like weird. Listen, Jesus lived under the

Roman Empire. So certainly there was some

Moral relativism. Can we say that at the time?

Certainly there was some cultural.

So let's see what Jesus got so mad about right.

Did he go in and kick all the Romans out of the temple.

We go to Mark chapter 10, starting or chapter, where we

Mark 10 · chapter mention

have 11 in verse 15 on reaching Jerusalem.

Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who

are buying and selling their, he overturned the tables of the

money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

The reason they were selling doves is for sacrifices, so that

people wouldn't have to Carry their sacrifices from a long way

so that they could go be forgiven receive atonement.

Right? So, people are just like, well,

that's great. We'll just have all the stuff in

the temple for you. So you just show up.

Oh, by the way, there's gonna be like an 87 percent markup just,

you know, cover the cost of expenses.

So he goes in. Turns him over.

He wouldn't allow anyone to carry merchandise through the

temple and as he taught them. Now, notice this is important

because Jesus is about to tell you why, he just cleared the

temple. If we're going to be table,

Turner's like Jesus, when got to be tabled, Turner's like Jesus.

So what did he say? You're so mad.

You're stepping on my right. You're opposing me or against

me. Rome will never rise.

Israel forever know what he says is it, isn't it written that my

house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

Do you know why Jesus was Turning Tables there?

That Gentiles in the temple in Jerusalem and its to be a prayer

House of Prayer for all nations. So righteous indignation is not.

When somebody hurts my feelings righteous indignation isn't

somebody said something that I don't like righteous.

Indignation isn't well, people are here that shouldn't be here.

Righteous indignation is when we see our religiosity or somebody

else's religiosity, keeping people away from God, that

should be drawn to God, if we're going to be table, Turner's, if

we're going to have righteous. Indignation, we are righteous

indignation needs to begin when our compassion.

For people who are far away from God, begins to wane and diminish

and look ugly to them and keep them away that I believe is when

Jesus started. He hasn't called us into a life

of outrage. He hasn't called us into a life

of of Fury. Jesus called us beyond that.

Matthew Chapter 5 going back. Right?

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Remember where he says, you're in danger of the fire of hell.

It can, can we show that graph? I'm going to go out of order

right here and show this, right? Because this is the deal right?

Emotional engagement agree. Hey, I'm just annoyed with

somebody going. Don't think about it much but as

I start to get angry, that's where I start going home and

telling Natalie, right? Other.

Can you believe it? Didn T.

You can't believe this, right? And with rage is now when were

Furious and we're just walking around where, and we're planning

out, right? I'm gonna get them.

And I'm going to say this, right?

You have that conversation, right?

All of the things that I'm going to say them, right, and it's

building its building in there taking up increasing in and then

contempt comes and you just go. Yeah, forget you.

I'm on the time of day for you. The language of contempt.

Is you are dead to me. I won't give you time and will

give you energy and will give you resource.

You're dead to me. So when Jesus says, yeah, sure

don't kill your neighbor, but let's not kill him.

Emotionally either. Let's not kill him, right?

So what does Jesus say, if you're offering your gift at the

altar, he's talking about the worship.

Now, he's talking about the temple.

If you offer your gift at the altar, and remember that your

brother or sister has something against you, this doesn't say

that if you stand there and you remember somebody that really

just ticked you off. You just left, but we'll get to

that. Second.

But at first, it says, if you're there praying and you remember

that you have offended somebody or the somebody took exception

to you or that somebody hurt you.

If you're doing that, leave your gift in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to them and then come offer your

gift. You know what the precursor to

worship is. Hey, I think I may have hurt

your feelings and I'm really sorry.

Listen, I wasn't trying to, but that doesn't diminish it.

I know that what I said wounded, you and listen.

If I could do it different. I'm sorry.

And you just say, but they were wrong.

So what so are you? Because we are all badly broken

deeply love. Do you know why?

Jesus wants this? Because Jesus wants to live in a

world where nobody has to walk around like this.

And so if I can come to you and go, please forgive me.

I wish I had done different. I will listen.

We've got disagreement. We got to go to dinner, and we

got to figure that out. But listen, no matter how

different we are on this issue or that issue, no matter how

different, how far apart we are on that.

I believe that you are a person loved by God.

And so, I want to love you. And I want to figure this out

and I want to get to the bottom of this, but I want to get

through it together. And you know, what?

If that can save somebody from, you know, from the arms folded

Death, March, I believe that's a little bit more like the Adam of

heaven when that be good. So what if we just live beyond

outraged? So, that's the question.

Who do you need to ask forgiveness of?

Does Jesus talks about that in the same paragraph and the same

message in the same teaching as murder?

His anger talks about in terms of the law.

But he goes on settle matters. Quickly with your adversary.

He was taking you to court, do it while you were still together

on the way or your adversary will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge May hand, you over to the officer and you may be

thrown into prison. Now.

There's a reason for this order. Jesus begins with saying, you

need to ask for forgiveness because once you've received I

need forgiveness. It becomes much easier to

forgive others. And so what Jesus calls us to

with this law, is too radical compassion to love and to care

for people and to call people and Jesus.

Jesus is like, yeah, you want to be like God again.

God doesn't murder you, but he also doesn't hold content

overview. And I have to say, if I'm

honest, 100% honest. This is where my theology.

I'm really having to work on this because while I know my

theology is good. I know that God is a god of

love. There's a part of me and my

soul, my spirit that I'm considering where I just feel

like God is kind. Like, just disappointed in me.

That's not what the scripture tells me.

What the scripture tells me that he loves me and he walks over

and in fact, he has commanded his church to not hold grudges

so that we can resolve so that I can make peace through

forgiving. But also through being forgiven.

That's how we grow together. That's what all of this is about

where to seek peace through confession, but also to seek.

Peace through reconciliation and through forgiveness.

That's how Jesus reflects his goodness by forgiving us.

What compassion does it just reinforces the goodness of what

compassion does. When we begin with an I go got I

need to be forgiven. Got any be forgiven by you, but

there's also other people in my life that need to be forgiven.

Apologize to your kids, parents apologize to your kids a lot.

Show them. Hey, I was wrong.

Hey, I made that I made that mistake because as we begin to

walk in that, we begin to live in a world Beyond outraged and

Beyond fury because what his Fury do, it divides.

It separates as it pushes apart. And it doesn't really solve much

gives us ulcers working through without more ulcers.

But what compassion does when we Forgiveness.

And then we forgive give forgiveness others.

What compassion for others does? Is it reinforces the idea that

they're just like me? The problem is, I'm an

us-and-them world, right? Us as good them as bad.

What compassion? What forgiveness does is just

go. Oh, yeah.

I know. They're like me, you know, the

verse like love your enemies as yourself.

That's hard, right? What if what that means is?

Do you know the excuse is that you'll make for yourself?

You don't justify. You don't say you're sinless,

right? Nobody would say I like, I know

like if we're here just go Johnson, right?

But I just go. Well, I do that.

Yeah that's in. But listen.

The reason I do that is because my dad was really mean to me and

neglectful and so I'm insecure and I had these, I have these

heart wounds that hurt me. And so, you know, when you said

that thing I felt betrayed and and sure it was a it was a sin

but it's not that I don't love you.

And will you accept me back, right?

And we say that we do that, we want that.

And we believe that, right? Loving your neighbor as yourself

one. Aspect one component of that, I

believe is making it making the same excuses for the person

across the table that I would make for myself.

If they're cranky, maybe it's not because they are a disciple

of Satan. Maybe they didn't get enough

sleep last night and a little compassion would help, maybe

they're hungry and they need a sandwich and a little

compassion. Would feed a brother in need

right? Whatever?

Whatever this is, but this brings back.

The second thing, when Jesus talks about, right, raising the

bar, what he's doing is he's inviting us, not just beyond,

outraged and content, which by the way, just sidenote church.

Let's get Beyond outraged and contempt.

Let's stop. I'm so mad all the time.

Wouldn't it be better? When we better for our, like,

our blood pressure, like our cholesterol, like all of that.

And listen, let me just listen. I've read the book.

I gotta tell you, I'm going to be like someday Jesus is going

to come back and it's all going to get better like all at once

and suddenly and it's going to be awesome.

It's going to be great. But until then it's not, it's

not that doesn't excuse us from doing all the good that we can

as often as we can to, as many people as they can, whether they

deserve it or not, because they don't deserve It because none of

us deserve it. But Romans 5:8 tells us that God

Romans 5:8

shows his love for us in this while we were still Sinners, he

died for us and then he said, follow me and I don't like that.

Part of follow me. I liked the part of follow me

where you like, walk on the water.

I haven't had that part yet, but I do have the part about

forgiving and I do have the part about loving and about serving,

right? And so is Jesus holds up this

mirror, and he's right, like, yeah, sure.

Glad that you haven't murdered anybody.

But are you angry with people? And he says this to a crowd of

outcasts, right thing about the Pharisees.

Have them out at the system. Yeah, they're mad at the

Pharisees and the Sadducees in the religious leaders and

they're mad at the whole dang thing in Jesus.

Like we got to work on that and we got to figure that.

Listen, if you're angry. This isn't even on my notes.

This is me pleading with you right now.

This is so good. Don't Harbor it.

It's eating you up and it's killing you and it doesn't have

to be that way in Jesus sees you and he knows you and he loves

you and he wants to set you free and he wants to walk with you

and encourage you. And he wants to tell you see the

thing about anger is it's like it's a secondary emotion.

It's in front of something. It's a Active emotion.

It makes its if you're angry, it's because you're hurt or your

wounded or you're scared. And you're afraid.

That's the thing to take to Jesus.

And Jesus. Like, listen.

I'm in control. Read the end of the book.

We're gonna get there y'all but Jesus everything's terrible.

He's like, I know, You know what?

Make it better compassion. Go do that.

And as we realize how difficult that is, he shifts our ideas to

us, right? And we get nervous wreck off.

We just talked about love and grace all the time.

People just going to go out and sends, right?

We'll all of this is Jesus raised the bar.

It's an invitation to take our own sins.

Seriously. What I would say is it's an

invitation to take our own sins as seriously as we take the sins

of other people, right? Because we look at the sins of

other people who just like, well, that's the worst one.

You should never never, Do that. Right?

And the idea is that mental sins are just as real as the physical

ones. Here's here's an experience

experiment, guys. How would you feel if you came

home at the end of the day and you're talking to your wife,

your life, honey, like honey. How were things she goes?

Oh my gosh. They were amazing.

I thought about my high school boyfriend for hours today.

Then I went and found him on Facebook and we chatted for a

couple of hours and week talk. And yeah, we're going to talk

again tomorrow while you're gone.

It's going to be awesome. Guys, if you're listening,

you're going to go. Excuse me.

I'm sorry. What was that?

Because we know the mental is not different.

We want it to be but it's not. And these are all things when we

focus and we fantasize on something that is not that it's

not, not ours. It impacts us.

And here's the deal addicts. When addicts go, and they get

sober, right? And they start to go.

It's not uncommon for addicts and all kinds of dishes to have

suffered a relapse. Here's the thing about

addictive. Ecology.

Relapse has begin long before the person ever actually takes a

substance, you know, when a relapse happens when a relapse

begins? When people start thinking about

the thing, when they start thinking about the drink, when

they start thinking about the High, when they start thinking

about the Escape, see the problem with making the law,

just about the external stuff? Is it doesn't get to the root.

Have a dog? Any Dino.

Is it going somewhere? He's a vessel a dog.

He's amazing. Right?

He's like he doesn't shed. His name is Remus.

He's high. Energy loves me, man, kisses all

the time. Like now I didn't always had a

dog when I was growing up. But when we first got married we

were I was married for like probably ten years before we got

a dog. Do you know what happened?

The one day I started sitting it out.

I was like, you know what? I used to have good dogs, man.

I had dog. Mr. B was my dog.

And then we had Lacy with my dog and I started thinking that I

had a thought, like, once a month and then about a month

later, I go men, dogs are great, and I start having a thought.

About a dog every two weeks and I started going man.

What kind of dog would I get if I were going to get a dog?

Alright odd Germans light and you start them out and it's very

like Natalie. We gotta what kind of we were

gonna get a DOT right in. So you start talking about and

then guess what? Dog.

I did not set out to buy a dog. And now, I love my dog, my dog

is there, but what happened was? I let little things get into my

brain and I let those brain. So, when that's what's called

entertaining, right? If I entertain you, at my house,

I set a place for you. We cooked dinner, bring out our

best all that. We do those same things with

these thoughts, with these ideas that come in that, that pop into

our head, right? We don't take the thoughts as

seriously as the behaviors, seriously, as the action, but

notice what Jesus says in verse 29, these numbers are so small.

Um, verse 29, if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it

out and throw it away. It's better for you to lose one

part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown your

health fun. Right?

Glad we're talking about this. This is good.

Right? And if your right hand causes

you to stumble cut it off, and throw it away for, it's better

for you to lose one part of your body for then your whole body to

go into hell. So, what do you do with this?

Now? This passage of scripture has

been used to dismiss the whole thing.

Like Jesus was cracked. Jesus was a whack job.

I don't, I don't think so. So there's A couple ways we

lose. Let's take it the silly way.

Right? Like, if we just look at and go.

Okay. He's all right.

The point here is this imagine that we're talking now about the

adultery, right? And you have a guy here and he's

like, and he's thinking in his head, right?

He's looking to lusts and he goes, he goes.

Oh my God, gouge his eye out, right next walks by, I is like

this. Now, it looks like, oh man, this

right? And now, I got to do it right

and start cutting his hand. They've just whatever, right?

You've seen Monty Python, right? The nitrite means lights coming

around. He's a stump.

Listen. Are you hearing me?

I saved. That stump is no better prepared

to resist sin than he was when he had all of his Parts because

the problem isn't out there. So in Jesus saying, cut off your

hand cut off your foot, kind of your all that, he's not saying

that that's going to solve the problem.

He's showing the absurdity of an externals only kind of reality.

Now, let's imagine that. Jesus is seriously, Oswald

Chambers, you wrote writes a great devotional called My

Utmost For His Highest talks about Jesus here, talking about

the severity, the significance of sin and going.

Listen, sin is so so detrimental and so important in your life

that it is less severe to dismember yourself than to

tolerate and to deal with sin. It is better for you to be

dismembered than to give your life to sin.

And so now this presents us with an issue, right?

Great. Well, what do we do with sin?

Well, here's the question. What does Jesus do with sin?

He forgives it. Isn't that compassionate?

Isn't that great? Now, it's not Costless Grace.

It cost him the cross. It cost him everything.

But that's the standard. That's the model.

That's what compassion looks like.

He doesn't dismiss the law. No, it's right.

It adds to it. You have to have heart.

You have to see people. You have to see love, and grace

and forgive. And so we're fact we find that

Jesus forgives. In fact, we read Second

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 5. We read that reconciliation is

God not. Running man's sins against them

which was made possible by Jesus At The Cross.

And so to forgive is Godly. And so if we want to be Godly,

we can't behave enough to be Godly because godliness is the

forgiveness. And so, Jesus is just turning

her eyes to our own Hearts turning our eyes to what's

inside of us and inviting us. Now, as he looks and goes, look

your heart. You got all this stuff is

inviting us to deal Faithfully with others.

I am frustrated, if you will, by Moses duplicity.

How can you allow divorce and not allow the breaking was that

you can't break, right? See the problem with both when

we don't divorce and we read, you know, keep your word to

others. What we're dealing with is this

idea of Covenant? We're dealing with this idea of

your word, meaning, something about being the kind of person

who's Yes, means. Yes, and your no means no.

And listen. This is so important is so

important. I can't stress this enough.

The Sermon on the Mount is not another law.

If it's a law, were all sunk, right?

Jesus didn't go out. Say, you know what?

He just he's doing is he's showing us the condition of our

hearts. He's showing us our duplicity.

He's showing us how much in his, we will cook the books to be our

own, right? And so, what he does is, it's

dealing with are dishonest hearts.

And what does he say? In verse 34.

Don't swear an at all. Either by heaven for it is God's

Throne or by Earth for it is his footstool or by Jerusalem for

it's the city of the great king and don't swear by your head

for, you can't make even one hair white or black.

All you need to say is simply yes or no anything beyond.

This comes from the evil. On the old translations say let

your yes. Be yes and your no be no.

Now, here's why this here's the idea.

Right? If I came up to you and said,

I'm going to jump from here to the back of the room.

What are you going to go? No, you're not.

No, you're not because, you know, I'm not that kind of guy.

I can't do that. Right?

So the problem there is, you don't believe me.

So, how can I make, you believe me?

No, I swear. I promise.

I promise I watched. I watched Survivor a lot, right?

Lot of swearing on Mothers and grandmothers and jobs and Graves

and kids. Stuff like that.

Like you people hate your family because you're lying to

everybody and I can see it. Right.

But one way that we manipulate people one way that we coerce

people is by promising and by swearing and what Jesus is

calling us to an inviting us to is to be the kind of people who.

Yes, means. Yes to be the kind of person

that knows if I couldn't jump to the back of the room.

I wouldn't say that I could jump to the back of the room.

He says, Do what you can. And guess what that means that

people may not believe you at first.

They may not listen to you. They may not like you but that's

not what it's about. What it's about.

Is, you being the kind of person whose Yes means.

Yes. And whose no means.

No. And the reason that this is

compassion is because compassion seems the value and dignity and

other people so much. So that they wouldn't think of

diminishing that with dishonesty.

That's the command to not bear false.

Witness against your neighbor right to tell people.

Or the truth, whether it's about you or about them or about other

things, he that's really the difference between Jesus and the

Pharisees. It's not confidence in the law.

Both Jesus. And the Pharisees knew the law,

and they valued the law. The difference is compassion.

Jesus didn't diminish people for the point of upholding, the law.

And so, that's why his invitation is for us to be

transformed From the Inside Out by Jesus compassion.

Listen, if I just tell you go into the world and be

compassionate and if you don't, Jesus is gonna be mad at you.

That's another law. That's what Jesus came to be

said. Free from listen.

If you're like me, you don't have compassion.

I'm not I there's it's yeah, it's a thing.

I'm working on it. Right?

What I need is Jesus is compassion and the way that I do

that is confessing. I wake up in the morning.

Go. Oh God.

I'm going to run into a whole bunch of people today.

And if I'm not careful, I'm gonna be cranky and I'm going to

be Snappy and I'm going to hurt someone's feeling.

I'm gonna respond in the flesh and just go, Jesus.

I need you to help me. Feel what you feel for those

people now be prepared because his feelings are way more

intense. It's been hours.

So, if you want Jesus compassion be prepared, it changes

everything, but boy, does it make us more like him?

When that be great to have a compassion, like that.

So what do we do? The first thing we got to do, is

we got to be reconciled, not angry.

Have you confessed, your sin, your hurt anybody.

Had you own your part in a relational break.

Have you, forgiven people who have confessed their part.

Now? I'm not saying you got to, you

know, jump back into business with every crooked person.

You've ever been in business with it may be time for you to

have some space, but you need to forgive, you need to stop

carrying that wound and they hurt.

You really bad. I get it.

My guess is they didn't nail you to a cross.

And Jesus, forgave the Roman Empire and he forgave us and he

says, follow me deny. Self take up your cross and

follow me. We need to be disciplined.

Not selfish. We need to be disciplined about

our spirit. We need to be disciplined about

the things that we do. We need to be disciplined about

being generous, need to be disciplined, about being for

about forgiving. We need to be generous about

confessing. We need to be disciplined about

those things. And what discipline means is.

I don't want to, I don't want to forgive.

I don't want to be generous. I want everything in the world

to be about me and my guess is you do to?

That's why there's so much. Each conflict.

And so the way of Jesus is to step back and go know that whole

system is broken and it's passing away.

There's a new system and the new system is where everybody gives

themselves entirely that's a better system.

That's a system Surplus. And so we can be disciplined,

and not selfish. We can be humble and not

forceful. We can allow ourselves to be

misunderstood. We can allow ourselves to be

misinterpreted. We can allow ourselves to be

even stepped on. In the name of compassion, in

the name of Grace, in the name of Peace, in the name of the

Kingdom, Jesus. I pray that you would make us

Kingdom people. I pray that you would give us

your compassion. Even if it breaks the mold of

what we thought we could feel or be about.

I pray that your church River City Church, but also Oakwood

Church in New. Braunfels Bible Church and

Redemption Bible Church and epic life and hope pres.

And all the churches here in town and pray that we would be

known for our compassion. I pray that we would be known

for how seriously, we take getting free from sin and how

ruthlessly we support each other.

In that Pursuit, how we take no prisoners and encouraging and

loving and blessing. Others is they follow you.

So Jesus, teach us. Teach us.

Help us to be like you that's our desire.

That's our goal. We ask father for your help to

bring this about when we ask in your name.

And for your glory. Amen.

Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about

experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and

community. And we hope that you've been

able to experience that today as grateful.

As I am, that you've spent this time, listening in this morning.

This podcast is no substitute for full participation in a

local church. I love it.

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who show up week after week Faithfully, giving their support

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May the Lord bless, and keep you in all Grace and peace.