The Plain Sermon of Heaven Rules | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from X Church. We hope this message

will light up your day. I've simply entitled the sermon in which I want

to share today, the plain Sermon of Heaven Rules. You'll probably be wondering

when the world is he talking about. Okay, I will explain, because

what I did was at the start of the mind usually when I'm preparing for

messages for the plans, asked a lot, a lot, what shall I

preach on this man? And then I was led to just preach on God's

word, God's sermon. And of course when we think about God's sermon or

Jesus's sermon the autumn, we automatically will focus on a sermon on the mound.

Sermon on the mound, of course they can from Matthews chapter five to

seven. If I were to preach the entire Sermon on the Mound, we

will be here for a few days because it's a lot, it's a lot

of things to preach on. And so I was thinking, okay, I

need to do something in one sitting because I don't know when it's the next

time. I'll see you all in Humpang as well. And then I was

led to a portion of scripture from Luke chapter six Versus twelve to forty nine,

which I will be reading through this scripture, this portion of scripture throughout

my message today, and of course Luke chapter six Versus twelve to forty nine.

Some people know it as the Sermon on the Plane, not aeroplane as

in plane the flat land flat Land. Some have argued that this could be

the Sermon on the Mound from another gospel writer's perspective, because one is taken

from Matthew one is the other one is taken from the Book of Luke.

They do seem to cover the same ground, although as the reason why I

chose Luke is because it's much shorter. So you realize that the Luke's account

is actually my shorter. Oh yeah, just before I forget, I want

to say hello to Kelvin and Emily Balu, who are here visiting from somewhere

in the world. Uh. But they're from Mauritius and they used to be

part of I'm punk Somebney PG even for a while. No, no,

a few plans. I know they were part of a few plans, but

mainly subun Kneeli Somebney. Then I'm punk uh and it's good. So good

to see both of them. They came for Stephen Kong's wedding yesterday. Steven.

Of course it's our church plank coordinator out in x some money, part

of a set of twins. Uh. And so we had a lot of

twin jokes yesterday at the wedding. Know they were trying to confuse the wives.

We've known that you married the right tween, play games or involved a

tween. And yeah, so it's quite he's quite hilarious. But it was.

It was good. It's good. We had good fun. So I'll

come back Kelvin and Emily. I have to say I was privileged to walk

both Kevin and Emily through pre marriage counseling many many years ago. So it's

good to see them come back together as a happily married couple. Yeah.

Hopefully the next round you come back with a bus load of kids. Okay,

whoa Okay, Okay, so coming back, coming back. Let me

draw you back to my message. So some people actually like to pick four

with the Bible and then they try to highlight these contradictions. Ay, one

is on the mountain, the other one is on the flat land. You

know, look, look looks like you know, it's it's contradicting. There's

something that's contradicting. I'm not sure if there is any contradiction here at all,

because the obvious thing is, I'm quite sure Jesus preached many sermons and

repeated his teachings on different occasions and at different places for different crowds. Let's

let's let's accept that, and what he has said is actually worth hearing over

and over and over again. That's what I really believe him. And sometimes

people say, if everybody live the sermons that the Lord Jesus preach, whether

it's on the mountain or on the flat ground, that's all we need in

life if we can live by follow it. And I agree wholeheartedly known But

the only problem is, I've never yet met anybody who can actually live out

jesus sermons to the tea. That means to follow it to the tea.

And this sermon on the plane has to be one of the shortest that has

ever been preached, but it is also one of the greatest. And so

today what I'm going to do is I'm going to go to the entire sermon

on the plane. It may seem like I'm jumping from different topics with different

topics to different topics, but I want to show you this is one sermon

that was preached many, many years ago by Jesus himself, and we're going

to try to glean from the Lord's teaching because this is God's word coming to

us, giving it us guidance, always guidance for practical living. That's something

that we must remember, and we must endeavor to apply all of the Lord's

teachings in our lives because this is how Heaven can ultimately rule in our lives.

Again, our team for this year is Heaven Rules, so let's not

stray away from that. Letters fully understand what Heaven rules really means when we

applied into our lives. Okay, everyone's stay with me. Stay with me.

I may speak quite fast, so I hope that I don't lose any

of you. But just realize this. This sermon is concerned with three relationships

that every one of us have to work out constantly, and I've broken down

the message into three parts. Firstly, it will look at our relationship with

ourselves. Okay, that's the first part. The second part is you will

look at our relationship with other people with one another. And then the third

and the final part, we will look at our relationship with God. Okay,

all right, let's read scripture. If you have your Bibles, you

can turn to look to six verses twelve to forty nine. But I'm going

to read verses twelve to nineteen, first time reading from the Annalty. So

stay with me. One day. Soon afterward, Jesus went up on a

mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak,

he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.

Here are their names. Simon, whom he named Peter, Andrew,

Peter's brother, James, John, Philip, Bartolomeo, Matthew, Thomas,

James son of Alpheus, Simon who was called the Zealand Judas son of James

Judas Iscarrott, who later betrayed him. When they came down from the mountain,

the disciples stood with Jesus on the large level area, surrounded by many

people, many of his followers and by their crowd. So this is where

he gets the name Sermon on the Plane, because he actually came down from

the mountain stood on a large flat land, flat level area. Okay.

There were people from all over Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from as

far north as the sea coast of Tire and Sedon. They had come to

hear him and to be healed of their disease, and those troubled by evil

spirits were healed. Everyone tried to touch him because healing power went out from

him, and he healed everyone. Okay, the first part. So before

you consider a sermon, look at the congregation to whom it was preached,

and you will realize why it was preached. Okay, So who or who

is in the congregation, Well, he had a big congregation. Jesus had

a big congregation on this occasion. On the one hand, that were his

disciples listening to him. And out of the large number of followers, he

already had chosen twelve after a night of laboring true in prayer. So it's

actually stated in the scripture that we just read, Jesus prayed the whole night

and then chose this twelve. And look at this manner, these twelve disciples,

they were ordinary. There was nothing special about them. Not a single

one of them is famous, none of them is rich. Not I don't

think there were any intellectuals amongst them as amongst them as well. No,

they were very mixed. Some of them were traitors to their nation, the

Zealot. Others were resistance fighters for their nation. Most of them were fishermen.

There were at least four sets of brothers amongst them. But if it's

anything that you can take none off. They were actually young men. And

it's not always realized that the Twelve Disciples or the twelve Apostles begin their ministry

somewhere in their late teens early twenties. So really Christianity begin as a young

people's movement. And this actually tells me the young people have such an important

role in kingdom building where Heaven rules, they do. So don't ever despise

your youth. Don't ever despise your age. Doesn't matter where you are in

life, especially the younger you are, you have a role, a very

important role to play as well. Okay, so that's the first group.

They other group there consistent of people who had wanted to come because they had

some need, and that's what we get it from scripture. Many of them

was sick, and of course in those days there was no health service per

se, and the thought of finding health anywhere must have been a real like

a divine privileged life. If someone hears their own there's this place that's providing

health or health care, I'm going to go there because if I ever need,

I want to be healed. And then of course there were those who

were demon possessed. They of course came to find freedom because they want to

be set free from demon possession. And so Jesus look at that congregation made

up of all those groups, and he spoke to them, all, okay,

let's let us have that picture in mind. This is what he told

them Versus twenty to twenty three. Of course, this is given the title

of the Beatitudes. This is the loop version of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes

in Matthew is a lot longer, but we're not going to go through that

because there's going to be a whole Bible study on its own. But let's

look at what Jesus says here, just in this three to four verses.

Then Jesus turned to his disciples and say, God blesses you who are poor,

for the Kingdom of God is yours. God blesses you who are hungry

now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now,

for in you time you will love what blessings await you. When people hate

you and exclude you, and mock you and curse you as evil because you

follow the son of men. When that happens, be happy, Yes,

leap for joy, for a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember

their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way. And so in the first

point, Jesus is actually telling us the secret of true happiness. So do

you want to know how to be happy or blessed and basically being harmony with

yourself? That's a question. No, you won't like the answer in all

honesty. But essentially Jesus taught this. How happy are you poor? How

happy are you hungry? How happy are you when you look? Said?

That is how Jesus looks at life. It says. No. He addressed

that part of the sermon to his own disciples, and they were an unhappy

lord. They were poor, they were unpopular, and he said to them,

oh, you are the ones, and you are the happy ones here

today. I wonder why he said that, But let's read on. And

then he goes on to warn from verses twenty four to twenty six. He

actually says this, but Woo to you who are rich, for you have

already received your comfort. Woo to you who are well fed now, for

you will go hungry. Woo to you who laugh, now for you will

mourn and weep. Woo to you when everyone speaks well of you, for

that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. So Jesus went on,

and then he turned towards the better dressed people in the congregation who were chatting

and laughing away at his message, and then he said this to them,

No, how terrible it is to be rich and to be well fed,

and to laugh all the time to be popular. It's amazing though, when

he says that, and I'm going to be honest with you that the entire

message is strong. It's strong, the words coming out of Jesus's mouth,

it's strong. But here, right at the beginning of this amazing sermon,

Jesus actually shows that his outlook is actually opposed to everything that we think the

world says, at all costs, avoid being poor and avoid being hungry.

Right, if you want to be happy, you will need to be popular.

If you want to be happy, you will need money. If you

want to be happy, then go watch a sitcom and laugh your hate silly.

That's what the world will actually tell you. If you want to be

happy, this is the way. None of that is what Jesus says.

You see, his disciples had already been following him for some months, and

a ready they were actually getting poorer, a ready. Their clothes were starting

to wear off, a ready, their sandals were starting to have holes in

them, a ready, they were beginning to be unpopular, and really they

were beginning to feel the burden that Jesus had for the world and to see

the world true. Jesus' eyes doesn't always make you full of joy. Do

you realize that? On the contrary, scripture actually says that he was a

man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. That is in Isaiah chapter fifty three.

Jesus actually thought, now, how happy you are if you are poor

because you have followed me? Is an amazing thought, and that is the

implication. No, he's not saying that everybody who is poor is going to

be rich, or everybody who is rich is going to be poor. He's

speaking to his disciples, and these things have come because they are his disciples.

So Jesus is saying, maybe you are poorer than you were before,

maybe you are hungrier, maybe you have burdens and have lost a lot of

your friends, But look at how happy you are. And this tells me

something very profound. That real happiness is not dependent on your present feelings.

Do you realize that real happiness is not related to the circumstances in which you

are placed at this very moment. Real happiness is dependent on your future,

not your present. It is one of the hardest things in life to grasp.

But and sometimes it does sound like a contradiction in terms. One in

the world is this, But Jesus knew what he was talking about. The

real reason for Christian happiness is not how we are placed in the present,

but how we are going to be in the future. Yes, Jesus promised

that we would be poorer in this life. He promises us loss in this

life. He promises us trouble. He promises us unpopularity for his sake.

No, there is this quote from an English author. His name is Chesterton,

and he actually said this. No, Jesus promises disciples three things that

they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. How

about that for a promise? Right? At least he was honest. In

constant trouble is the truth, I really believe it. Our call is a

call to a troubled life to a certain extent. But happiness is not a

feeling. Happiness is about being in a happy position. And every Christian,

no matter how low they get, no matter how they no matter how hungry

they may be, no matter how unpopular they may be. Sometimes men can

insult them, say all manners of things against them falsely. But yet they

can still say, I'm the happiest man alive because of my future. And

that is where we stand as believers. Amen. Of course, Jesus is

stating his own situation because this applied to him. This is how he was

even at that very point. He was not universally popular. We all know

that he wept time and time again. He didn't have a place to call

his own, He fasted, and he went hungry most times. He was

poor. In fact, when he die, he couldn't even leave his own

clothes to anybody else. They were actually taken from him. People draw lots

to take his clothes, and he had nothing to leave but his peace.

Think about it. These are truths that only believers in Jesus would accept.

A person who isn't a believer would laugh at such a suggestion. Or to

go to the world and say, do you want to know the secret of

happiness? Well, this is it. Follow Jesus until it hurts, and

oh how happy you will be. That is the extent of what Jesus is

actually teaching us. But that is the secret. Which would you rather have

go through a tough time in this life and look forward to the glory and

the wealth that awaits you everything that lies a hit where God loves you and

keeps you, or have a good time now and then do without God forever

thereafter. What would our choice be? So you need to be at peace

and in harmony with yourself first to be able to leave. According to Jesus's

sermon, the only way for us to be in peace and how many with

ourselves, is that we know what lies a hit for us as believers of

Jesus Christ. That is the confidence that we hope. You know, relationships

is all about this. It's about finding the peace. When you talk about

peace, you're talking about being in rhythm with God, being in rhythom with

yourself, being in rhedom with one another. No, we are all unique.

Sometimes we can play I'm not musically musically incline. I don't always know

how to explain this. But you can all be playing different things, different,

different notes or whatever you call it. But yet if you play it

together in sing you make music. You'll make a melody. If you don't

play in sync, don't play in edom. That's where you will get I

don't know, noise, resonance, or whatever you call it. So when

you are in rhedom with yourself, you are at peace. When you are

in riedom with one another, you are at peace. When you are in

edom with God, you are at peace. That is what these sermons are

actually talking about. Firstly, it says, let's be in harmony with yourself.

First, How do you be in harmony with yourself? Well, you

accept the fact that my future is secured in God's hands, and it doesn't

matter whether I'm called to live a life until he hurts for Jesus. Even

right now, I know that I can be happy where I am because happiness

is a position that I take. Amen. Now, let's look at the

second relationship, harmony with other people. There are two things that Jesus talks

about here. He talks about concern and he talks about criticism. And these

things will determine how you get on with other people. Okay, so we

move on from ourselves now to other people. Basically, the question is is

how deep is your concern for other people and how harsh is your criticism of

other people. Let's read the portion of Scriptures firstly, Verses twenty seven to

six. It says this, but to you who are listening, I say,

love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, Bless those

who curse you, Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you

on one cheek, turn to the turn to them the other. Also,

if someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give

to everyone who asks you. And if anyone takes what belongs to you,

do not demand it back due to others as you would have them do to

you. If you love those who love you, what credit is dead to

you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good

to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners do that. And if you learn to those who from whom you

expect repayment, what credit is dead to you. Even sinners learn to sinners

expecting to be repeat in full. But love your enemies, do good to

them, and lend to them without expecting to get everything back. Then your

reward will be great, and you will be children of the most High,

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as

your father is merciful. Wow. Strong is strong when we read it,

just like that, you are like wow. So first thing, it's a

matter of concern, and Jesus here is actually speaking of our concern for our

enemies, and he should knows how the set is standard. Right, It's

not those who you like, those who are friendly with you, those who

you know your chummy with. It's actually those who hate you and mistreat you

that he's asking you to apply these teachings. Your concern for them will decide

whether you have learned relationships with other people. Your concern for them them being

people who hate you. Because anybody can get along with any people who love

you is easier. Anybody can relate to nice people, and plenty of good

days actually done by people who are not believers as well. There's plenty of

love outside the church, not in families, among friends. We see all

of those things. But Jesus teaches us that the kind of love that is

the secret of real harmony amongst one another is the love that can be concerned

for those who would actually abuse you in return for our care. It's an

amazing thought, think about it. No, I know, it's quite disheartening

to discover what human nature is really like, but that's the reality of it.

What Jesus is teaching here is a love that expects nothing back whatsoever,

a love that will lend to people and not even expect to get it back.

A love that returns kindness for hate, a love that is patient and

kind, a love that returns good for evil. So what we call the

Golden rule actually comes in this point. And you read about the golden rule,

you just you can google it. Almost every religion teaches the golden rule.

And what is the golden rule? No, you ask somebody what the

golden rule is, and most of them will say, never do to anyone

else what you don't want them to do to you. But do you realize

that that's actually in the negative form, basically, don't do to others what

you don't want them to do to you. And most world religions teaches it

like this, and then along comes Jesus and he says something different. Actually,

he says this, do to others what you want them to do to

you. There is actually a difference, and there is just one of the

differences between between Jesus's teaching and the world's philosophy. You see, the world

says, I'm all right, I've never done anybody any harm, and that's

in the negative. But Jesus's philosophy is this, did you do them any

good? So the golden rule here is actually in the positive, due to

others as you would have them do to you whatever they do to you.

You see, love is not a matter of feelings here. Love is not

a matter of falling in love. Love is not something that happens to you.

Love is something that you decide to do. That's why the a gappy

love of God is not something that can be fully described. No words can

describe God's love for people, for his children, you know, in in

in the English translation, everything is all love for us. But actually they're

different. Uh. Words used in the Greek uh to describe God's love.

You know that's that's that's fileo. No, it's brotherly love. Uh.

There's there's eros kind of love which is a very uh erotic love actually.

And then there is this word called a gape. No one can fool explain

what a guppy love is. But the closest that I come to understand it

is actually love in action. That means it's an active love. It's a

love that will go the extra mount It's the love that would actually love someone

who would hate you back. That is God's love for us. That's why

I say it's something that you decide to do, because you make a commitment.

That's why at the wedding I never ask couples no to love one another.

Do you realize that when you exchange bounds, it's not about a no.

You love one another? Kay? No, it's in good times,

in bad times, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer,

until death doors part. And what is the response that we solicit from the

couples. It's an active decision because they will say I will. It's basically

your intent and your will. That is what love really is. You know,

there's a kind of love sometimes even between a man and a woman,

for example, or between close friends, which is reciprocal and responsive, and

which happens to all of us. No, we can fall in love like

that, and there is a two way communication. But when Jesus spoke of

love, he wasn't just thinking of that now. He was thinking of the

kind of love that goes on loving whatever is done to it. That's why

when we ask couples to exchange bows, whatever happens, you continue loving whether

the person, whether your spouse wrongs you, You continue loving your spouse,

whether your spouse make all the wrong choices, you continue living. Because that's

exactly what Jesus did for us. So that is the kind of love.

Nor continue loving no matter what is done, and not only when good is

done to us. Like I said, it's easy when good things are done

to you, you want to reciprocate. But when bad things are done to

you, that is a kind of love that you don't find naturally. It

doesn't occur in our flesh. It's not a thing that happens to us.

It's a thing that you either do or you don't do. Everyone still with

me. I know it's strong, but I'm not making it strong for the

sake of making is strong. This is Jesus's own words. So let us

move on now to the second point about our relationship with one another. So

the first one he's talking about concern for your enemies. The second thing he's

talking about is criticism of our friends. Let's read Versus the Decement of forty

two. He says this, do not judge, and you will not be

judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and

you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you a good

measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, we will be

poort into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be

measured to you. He also told them this parable. Can the blind lead

the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit. The student is

not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their

teacher. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye

and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you

say to your brother brother, let me take the spec out of your eye,

when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye, you

hypocrite. First take the plank out of your eye, and then you will

see clearly. To remove the spect from your brother's eye again strong. See.

The funny thing is this, no criticism works this way, that you

always criticize those who are nearest to you. Do you realize that you think

true who you have criticized this past week? And I don't think you criticize

someone in the far away places, poor chap in China or India somewhere.

No, no, no, no, it was probably someone close to you

that you act nicely. Okay. The reason why we do it to people

who are near to us is because because essentially it takes them down a few

levels and it actually raises us up a few levels. That's the ultimate truth.

I know it's strong, it's harsh, but it's the reality. When

we criticize other people, we are in essence elevating ourselves and devaluing someone else.

So you don't criticize criticize someone down the road in another church as much

as you criticize someone in your own Churchmen, if you're doing things naturally,

law and always are natural people, right right, I also do that?

Please reads like oh okay, it's ok it. No, if you're not

careful, you become more critical of your own church members then any other without

even realizing it, because it isn't your enemies you criticize. It is usually

your friend that you criticize. And this is why Jesus, speaking of our

concern for our enemy, now goes on to speak about earth criticizing our brothers.

You see, this again, is opposite of the world. The world

has got deep concern for friends, right, and then the world criticizes their

enemies. But Christians need to go much deeper, deep concern for your enemies

and don't criticize your friends. I know again it's not easy, but let's

see. No, Jesus actually talks about it, and he gives us a

couple of illustrations. The first one is this supposing you were out on the

street. You saw two people, each one with a stick. They were

trying to help each other across the road, and then both ended up in

a ditch. Okay, both ended up in a long tongue. That's quite

sad, right, But you know, when you try to help someone else,

you have got to watch carefully that you are not so blind that you

can't really see either yourself something that's very, very important, because your criticism

may just be like a blind man leading a blind man. That's what Jesus

was getting at, and you will both fall into the ditch together, it

is said. But a lot of our criticism actually comes under this category.

And we also blinded. We are leading the blind. We are nicely working

one another all the way into the ditch. That's what Jesus is saying.

The other illustrations is Jesus uses this illustration where he says, there's a man

walking on the road with a big balank okay, a big stick, a

big plank stuck in his eye. He stops a passer by and says,

no, excuse me, there's a little strand of hair in your eye,

sir. And then you realize that our Lord can use humor as well in

his teachings. But when you have laughed at the joker, you realize you're

actually laughing at yourself. And that's the truth, because in fact, you

can only really see the fault in your brother clearly if you have gotten rid

of your own fauts first. So basically, Jesus is showing us how desperately

deceitful our heart is hands. Jesus is teaching that we will learn about harmony

in relationships with one another when we are concerned for our enemies and when we

do not criticize our friends. That's what he's saying. Ultimately. Of course,

when he says judge, not that you be not judge, he does

not mean that you must renounce all forms of critical faculties and a science.

We are like orry men, not saying anything bad men. Not put me

through any examinations, because really we can't criticize one another. You may not

write references for people because sometimes in the reference you have to write an honest

reference, right, and honest reference. Sometimes it's not always all sing and

dance right. There can be different things in there as well. He's not

saying, don't you know, give up and renounce all form of critical faculties.

Actually, what he's talking about is condemning. He's saying, don't write

someone off. Don't say that this person is beyond redemption. No, you

go up to John and say, John, you're going to helm and you

can't be saved one because I know you since you were in your diapers,

and I know all the amount of nonsense you have been doing since then.

That is what condemnation is. Before you even give him a chance, you

are saying that he's a goney. That is what we are asked to be

careful of. Don't write someone else, don't don't go and tell someone that

you are completely hopeless and we can't do anything with him. Only God has

a right to be a judge like that. And one of the most frightening

things that Jesus ever say is actually right here that we what measure you judge,

you shall be judge. Think about it in other words, or in

other words, on a day of judgment, or when always meet our maker

Hello at the parley gates. I don't know if that whatever happened, but

that sounds like what's going to happen. You're you're before the Creator, and

all God has to do is play back a recording of the faults that you

have found in the people, and then he will examine your life based on

every single fault that you found in other people, how you have criticized others.

That is what he's saying. You know, if that really is the

case, I don't think any of us can stand before God. We have

gone case. Really, basically, if that's how he is to judge us

no fault. We know we have condemned in others what there is in our

own hearts, and all of us have done that before. That's why we

must learn the secret of harmony with one another is don't go around criticizing your

brothers in a manner that is unbecoming of a believer. And though and always

be concerned for your enemies. Amen. Finally, finally, there is this

whole secret of holiness before God, our relationship with God. And this is

again that is practical. And Jesus actually he spoke in pictures so that his

hearers could actually see the truth. As his hearers listen to him, they

could say, oh, now I see what he was trying to get.

That that was what the sermon was about, and that was what the sermon

hoped to achieve. So Versus forty three to forty five, it says this,

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good

fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick

figs from torn bushes or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things

out of the goods thought up in his heart, and an evil man brings

evil things out of the evils thought up in his heart. For the mouth

speaks what the heart is full of. You know, it is a law

of nature that a tree can only produce after its own kind. I mean,

you kind of have an apple tree producing durans. No, that's a

freak of nature. If that happens, probably in some yeah, nowadays,

probably possible. They are no mutant trees now, but okay, no nature.

A tree producers of his own kind. What the tree is that it

will produce is also the law of human nature. What is thought up in

your heart will come out of your mouth, Which is why Jesus saying on

another occasion that every man will be judged by the idle words that proceeded from

his mouth. What is so important about the mount? Well, Jesus teaches

every man and woman over the years, we actually build up a treasury in

our heart. Parts are staught in our hearts, Our experience in life are

all staught in our hearts. And when you open your mouth, the treasures

in your heart will come out, whether it's good treasure or they're not so

good treasure. That's the reality of it. The things that you have thought

will overflow out as a man thinks in his heart soul. Is he so,

Jesus is saying a bad tree can't produce good food, and a good

tree can't produce bad food. But then he gives us a further warning.

He says, the things that come out of the mouth can be unreal.

And this is a even bigger danger. You see in casual conversations. I

mean, I have a casual conversation with you, he ha ha. The

things that come out usually from your heart one because you're just speaking freely.

But informal official conversations sometimes what you say may not even be coming from your

heart. It's completely pretentious one. That is us humans. And that is

the big danger in religion, actually, that you say things that are not

from your heart. You know, you can have fixed prayers, no,

you can have perfunctory prayers. You just go on, but really it doesn't

come from anywhere. It can be completely meaningless. Is when you are not

consciously controlling your mouth, your heart is really revealed. Sometimes when you are

consciously controlling your mouth, it can actually very easily lead to hypocrisy. That

is what he was getting. I know he's strong's strong, but I got

to apply this in my own life, because that's the reality of it.

Sometimes we are up here, no in official capacity, you know, say

all the nice things. Is everything's going to be all right, brother,

you can do whatever you want in life. Ah, it's not the truth.

No, Now we've reached the climax. Okay, hey, no man,

I'm doing good for time. And the climax is this. No,

you'll never get fruit without roots. So going deep down to the invisible Jesus

now changes the picture from fruit to foundation. And he's not my fault that

it. Why got so many things on in one sermon? And this is

Jesus lie where his own words. I know there are a lot of things

for us to digest. But now, in short, he tells us the

secret of holiness before God. It's not the number of sermons you have listened

to. That's what he says. And I'll read and then you'll get why

I'm saying this versus forty six to forty nine. And this is the end

of it. Why do you call me lord lord? And do not do

what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words

and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.

They are like a man building a house who ducked down deep and laid the

foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house,

but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who

hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who

built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck

that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. And so everything rests

on what you do with the teaching. Jesus actually finishes this sermon with an

illustration from his days as a carpenter. We all know Jesus built houses,

He built things, okay, and he's teaching us that when you listen to

preaching, you're building something. As you listen, when you listen to his

sermon, you can be building something. If you enjoy that sermon, you

are moved by it. Then you go away and you do absolutely nothing about

it. You have built a house that looks all right, a life that

looks quite Christian. You may live in this house, and you may live

this life for quite some time. But when Christis comes, your Christian life

will collapse because it has no foundation. But if you listen to the sermon,

and you listen to the word of God, and you go away and

you do something about it, then you will know who God really is.

Then when a crisis come, your Christian life will stand. That is the

secret of holiness before God. Basically, it's this to listen to his word

and to do something about it. You see, one of the biggest misconceptions

that people have is that since we cannot do anything to deserve salvation, and

that's not wrong. That is the teaching. It does not matter whether we

act on God's word or not, because Jesus has done it all for us.

True, we cannot do anything to deserve salvation, but we must still

receive God's gift of grace. Sometimes we confuse what we deserve and we confuse

with what we are to receive. We confuse what we deserve with the reception.

You know, receiving is actually doing something. Some people were like,

no, no need to do anything, no need to do anything. You

can continue doing all the wrong things. No problem. I don't have to

apply God's teaching because if he says me, I don't have to do anything.

He did it for me. He did it for me. True,

he has done it for us, but now he wants to do it in

us. There's a whole big difference. What he has done for us only

he can do nothing that you can do to deserve salvation in your life.

But then you have to receive it. And it is true the reception of

God's grace. That's when it moves from him doing it for us to now

him doing it in us. It's a big difference. You know, it's

actually Pentecost Sunday today, and none of us can do anything by ourselves,

you know, if it's anything significant about Pentecost Sunday that was celebrated those many

years ago when the Holy Spirit came upon the people and then they were just

empowered, filled, filled to the brim. And when you are overflowing your

mouth speaketh, you will speak, you will pour out. That is what

we need. We can't do this on our own. Ultimately, we need

the Holy Spirit in our lives to even receive. That's why we receive the

Holy Spirit. You believe in Jesus, but ultimately you receive the Holy Spirit.

You can you can't literally receive Jesus. Think about it, I mean

from a biblical perspective, because whereas Jesus he ascended. No, he sited

at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf. You can

you can't receive, He said, I have to go because there were some

things that I had limitations. I couldn't be with all of your at all

at all times. I have to go so that one will come after me

and that one will live in us. What is it that we can receive?

We can receive the Holy Spirit, and we need the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit always points us back to our belief in Jesus, and Jesus

always tells us about God the Father because he says that it's ultimately what the

foundation of our faith is. So I'm going to conclude the plain sermon that

Heaven rules is as plain as he gets, because I think Jesus didn't make

it so difficult at all. He spoke in parables and then we're like,

oh, what the world is he saying. No, he's actually just saying

it to your face, la, basically, because when I read it,

I'm like a hawker, very strong. But he says this. No.

Firstly, in your relationship with yourself, follow Christ until it hurts. Then

you will be happy in your secured future. You know a lot of times

we always like to compare where we are right now with the past. It

were so much better back then. Why is it like that now? No,

as believers, we got to change our perspective. I don't know how

many people I have encountered who have told me, know, what we're doing

right now is not what he used to be. I'm not saying that the

past we can completely distribute. No, I mean we learned from it.

We are grateful for the great things that God has done in the past.

But I tell you, what is it that as believers we need to do.

We need to look ahead. Our future is what's most important. And

how secured are you in your future? Because that will determine how happy you

are right now. Faith, hope, and love and I can keep you

not I even if I say this statement, the weakest of them all is

hope, because a lot of us don't have hope. We live in this

world where it's almost hopeless, and that's why you see a lot of people

giving up. That's why you see a lot of people in this place where

I've got no hope. But we have Christ and He is our hope.

In glory, faith, hope, and love. So first thing in your

relationship yourself is not a wishful thinking kind of hope. Now it's a hope

that you are absolutely certain of. I know what life is a hate in

the future, and I'm going to follow Jesus until it hurts because I know

I can be happy it's secured in the future that He has given me.

Amen. In your relationship with others, have a concern for your enemies and

refrain from criticizing your friends and your brothers. I think it's a great reminder.

And the secret of holiness with God is this is to bear the fruit

that comes from having roots and having a foundation in Christ Jesus, because he

is ultimately our rock of ages. You know, he has been saying that

when we read scriptures, it acts as a mirror to show the stains in

our life, the dirt in our life. There's a lot of truth to

it, and he leaves us in the dilemma because sometimes we're like we really

they were like, oh, my goodness, because when I read through the

life in the teaching of Christ, I know that it is right. How

many of your read Jesus to day and you're like no, no, no,

I can find faults in everything that he has thought. Non. We

know it is right, we know it is the truth, we know it

is the way, we know it is. It will lead us to life.

But somehow we just cannot do it. And that is why we need

a savior and a Lord. That is why people don't live out the sermon

on the mounth, not until they find Jesus Christ. Nobody does live like

this until Christ forgives their sin, begins his work in their heart, and

begins to live his life in them. That's the truth. For all the

good things we have read in this passage, all of them are perfectly true

of Jesus. You know. They spat on him, they whipped him,

they mocked him, they laughed at him, they nailed him to a block

of wood. And he said this. No, he said, Father,

forgive them, for they know not what they do. And we are like,

wow, it's amazing. Can anyone ever follow something like that? What

an example? Always will probably be like we are doomed because I think I

don't think we can follow this at all. But actually, not long after

that, one of the earliest Christians who was actually stoned to death showed that

he now could live out Jesus's sermon. You know who was the first martyr

recorded what's his name? His name was Stephen in next chapter seven. I

think because as he briefed his last he actually said this, and he's recorded

in scripture. Lord, do not hold this sin against them. He is

repeating what Jesus said. Actually, is it possible to live out Jesus' sermon?

Well, if it's by ourselves, it's not possible. And you can

only ever do it with Jesus in your life. And Jesus can be in

our life today when we receive where we believe in him, because that's where

the exchange takes place. He puts his righteousness upon us as we place our

iniquities on his body. And then when we receive the Holy Spirit in our

lives, that's where it completes the work of our initiation into this belief that

Jesus, you have started this work of salvation in each and every one of

us. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more information on

our church, please visit X Church the RG. We are also active on

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week ahead for you. God bless