Theme: 12 in 2012 - the second challenge for the year.
Illustration: Have another rock placed next to the spiritual mile marker rock on stage as our second visual spiritual mile marker for the year. Point out the rock by the tree.
Our next spiritual mile marker we are challenging you with this year is to spend 12 minutes a day reading the Bible. If you do then over a year’s time frame you will be able to read the Bible thru in a year according to my Bible reading plan in Glo Bible.
Highlight the reading plans that are electronic and free:
• Glo-Bible
• U-version
• E-sword
Series: Cliff Hangers
Jesus teaching from the Sermon on the Mount:
These teachings were risky, some would even say very dangerous, they would be teachings that would be opposite of what the religious leaders of the day were teaching, and they would become points of dissension and points of exhilaration. Some people would rejoice and others sigh. Some would be happy and others angry.
What Jesus was teaching them put them all on the edge of their seats. His teachings made people nervous and yet it changed the way people of His day thought or perceived what the Kingdom of Heaven was. Jesus’ teaching along with their acceptance by the crowd would change the course of history between God and mankind. The people would be blown away by what Jesus taught and the religious leaders would pick up a Spirit of offense against Jesus and seek His life for these teachings.
Summary of first three sermons from series:
Matthew 5:1-12 – “Who does God Bless?” In our text according to Jesus it’s those who follow the 8 be-attitudes of verses 3-11. These are the types of people God blesses and these are the kind of people who are part of the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore will receive the accompanying promises.
Matthew 5:13-16 – “Salt and Light” Jesus tells the crowd that because His Kingdom lives by the beatitudes then they will become a preserving force in their villages, families and cities just like salt preserves food from spoiling. He lets them know that the people who are part of the Kingdom of Heaven will keep this society from totally rotting away. He then switches gears from talking about something that is done behind the scenes like the way salt works to something that everyone sees “Light.” He tells this crowd that those who follow His teaching will also be a light in the midst of the darkness of this world. These light bearers will help lead people out of the darkness of sin into the light of God’s love and into His divine light.
Last week - Dave’s message “Old vs. New” from last week
Matthew 5:17-20 - The Fulfillment of the Law
17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Last week Dave shared with us that Jesus makes it clear in this passage that His teaching – His new spiritual insights will be given not to do away with the Law but to fulfill the Law and the teachings of the Prophets. If you study the books of the Old Testament you discover that each book points to Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of the Jewish nation and of the world. Jesus tells the crowd how important, how essential it is for them to follow the teachings of the Law, the 10 Commandments and also His authoritative teachings from this very message. He tells them that if they follow the beatitudes, the charge to be salt and light and abide by His spiritual truths then they will be called “Great” in the Kingdom of Heaven. But He makes it real clear that if their righteousness does not surpass that of the religious leaders then they will not be able to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus throws a grenade into the audience right here and says, “The religious leaders of Israel are lost and unrighteous and they are not going to make it into the Kingdom of Heaven!” Now that ruffled a few feathers in the crowd. This reference tells us and the crowd that day that we can never earn our way into Heaven – we can never make ourselves righteous enough for God – we have to embrace and accept Jesus and His righteousness to get into Heaven.
T.S. - Jesus then progresses forward in his teaching clarifying to the crowd how God rates sin. He does this teaching to counter act the religious leader’s sin rating scales.
Sermon: Really Bad Sin! (What does it look like?)
Scripture Text: Matthew 5:21-26:
21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ’You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ’Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ’You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Thesis: Be careful how you rate sin because Jesus has a different scale than you do. Make sure to follow His scale and not yours!
Introduction:
Jesus is on the Mountain side telling the crowd that murder and hatred or an offense with your brother or sister in Christ is on the same sin level. Both sins deserve the same judgment! There is no greater or lesser sin on His scale.
Jesus will re-emphasize this thought again in another teaching from this series of sermons. Please flip over to Matthew 6:
Matthew 6: 14, 15: 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
The warning is repeated again and again to this crowd on the edge of their seats. If you choose to not resolve conflict and walk around with a Spirit of Offense toward others then you are not part of the Kingdom of Heaven because you have thrown away your gift of forgiveness from God.
Kingdom people are people who choose to be willing and living sacrifices for God. The greatest gift you can give God is a life which follows His beatitudes and rules. A life which chooses to forgive others – a life which walks in love with others.
Romans 12:1-2: 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
What does Paul mean to not conform to the pattern of this world? What is the world’s pattern? Hatred, un-forgiveness, sin, justification of sin, rejection of God’s teachings and way, and placed governed by survival of the fittest and not on love. This world is a place filled with revenge and getting even with others. This is not the way of the Kingdom of Heaven.
T.S. - How do you change this innate mindset in us – you have to renew your mind with God’s Word – God’s teachings –God’s presence.
I. Jesus sin scale and our sin scales
a. Murder and Spirit of Offense – same judgment
i. Jesus scale:
1. Sin = The Judgment of God = Hell
2. See Revelation 21:8: 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
ii. Jesus sin scale is so much different than ours!
b. The scale of sin:
i. From http://pkincaid.com/downloads/food/List%20of%20Sins%20-%20on%20a%20Scale%20From%20One%20to%20Ten.pdf
1. Paulette Kincaid notes: But seriously… we all really do have a list don’t we? I doubt most of us put our lists on paper, but we all have one in our heads. Occasionally we’ll share one or two of them with someone we know will agree with our list, or debate it with someone whose list is different, and quite often we’re fixated on our #1, but believe me, we all have a list. Everyone’s list probably changes over their lifetime, sometimes depending upon what they are guilty of lately, but mine would probably be something like this…
a. Murder
b. Abortion
c. Rape
d. Child Abuse
e. Adultery
f. Witchcraft
g. Stealing/Cheating
h. Hatred
i. Blaspheming God
j. Lying
ii. Here is another scale of sin:
1. Murder
2. Abortion
3. Child Abuse
4. Witchcraft
5. Homosexuality
6. Rape
7. Using God’s name in Vain
8. Stealing
9. Hatred
10. Lying
iii. Patricia notes, “But my point is…does it really matter? If you aren’t currently a Christian, only four on my list would even be considered wrong or punishable by law. Or is it just a “ten commandments” list we should be worried about? Since we know we can’t be perfect, surely at least some sins are more acceptable than others? How about if we refuse to do the first six? Or at least the first four? Or rearrange them into a more palatable order? Except there’s always an elephant in the room, that most people want to ignore. Because the bottom line is that God’s numbering system never matches ours. In fact, He’s told us that just thinking about some things make us just as guilty as if we’d actually gone out and done them.”
c. Jesus spiritual life lesson: We need to have less numbering and more repenting in our life!
T.S. – Jesus scale is more simplistic than ours - sin = God’s Judgment plain and simple – remember the religious leaders of the day liked to design sin scales for people but Jesus tossed them all into the fiery abyss of Hell. He was teaching the crowd that sin is sin and you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven if you have it in your life. Calling someone “RACA” can get you into Hell just like murder can!
II. Calling someone “Raca!”
a. Means to spit on them.
b. Means to tell someone they are worthless.
c. Means to tell someone they are stupid.
i. Meaning of “RACA”-Easton’s Bible Dictionary: VAIN, EMPTY, WORTHLESS, ONLY FOUND IN Matt. 5:22. The Jews used it as a word of contempt. It is derived from a root meaning “to spit.”
d. Warning from Jesus: Calling a person in your spiritual family a fool, or worthless, or vain, or stupid, and telling them that they have no value is in Jesus eyes on the same level of sin as murder.
i. Your judgment is Hell! So you better make things right with all people in the Kingdom of Heaven.
e. We are to treat each other with Love –just like 1 Corinthians 13 tells us too.
i. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5It is not rude, it is not self–seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
f. The Word says in the last days many will "have a form of godliness but deny its power. Have nothing to do with them." (2 Timothy 3:5)
i. How can you do that?
1. One way: By refusing to unleash forgiveness, mercy, and grace on others!
2. This denies the power of godliness.
T.S. – God will judge those who spit on others and put others down. They will be dealt with in the same way he deals with a murderer so be careful how you treat others.
III. The conviction of the Holy Spirit at the altar over offense
a. Jesus also makes it very clear that if the Holy Spirit reminds you of an offense –especially when you are giving a gift or sacrifice to God then go and reconcile with that person before you offer the gift to God.
i. Why, because God will not accept your gift unless your heart is in the right place. Having un-forgiveness, bitterness or hatred toward another brother or sister in Christ is sin and God will not accept anything you have to offer him until you get rid of the sin - in other words let go of the sin you are holding on to.
b. Illustration: Have a gift bag to offer to God that looks awesome then in your back pocket a wanted poster of Kathy! Do a role play with God about how I need to reconcile with her before He wants any gifts from me. Then take the gift for God and give it to Kathy!
c. Spiritual Application Point: God would rather you be reconciled with others and at peace with all others in the Body of Christ than get a gift or offering from you.
i. God rates offense with others, name calling, insults as on the same sin level as murder - in a sense your spirit of offense murders your brother or sister in your heart and life. Carrying and offense against another brother or sister in Christ carries a huge judgment from God.
ii. Jesus places a strong emphasis on this in his teaching here. Remember Jesus teachings were nothing like the religious leaders, his teaching came forth with authority and power.
iii. Jesus is going for the root of sin and it all starts in the heart and the head. He also is telling the crowd that to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven requires you to live and act differently. You cannot harbor a spirit of offense against another person in the Kingdom and think your offering will be acceptable to God.
d. So - If you are at the altar offering a gift to God and someone you have an offense toward comes to mind. Put down the gift and go make it right with that person.
i. In other words when the Holy Spirit brings an offense toward God to your mind at the altar then go deal with it. Take the initiative and make the situation right in the eyes of God.
ii. If you don’t your gift is worthless to God.
iii. God does not want your gifts - He wants you to forgive others and have right relations with others because this is the greatest gift you can give to God.
e. Jesus tells the crowd - settle matters of offense quickly – because our souls are at stake-our membership in the Kingdom of Heaven is at stake.
i. Ephesians 4:26: “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”
f. The truth is if we have issues with others we need to resolve them before we suffer the consequence of the Judge!
i. The sooner the better!
ii. Today not tomorrow!
iii. Take the higher road of forgiveness than the road which leads to God’s Judgment and misery.
1. THE DEBBIE HATERS’ CLUB:
a. Bill White, of Paramount, California, talks about his friend, Greg, who recently put together a mini high school reunion when he went back home to Indiana to visit his parents. He hadn’t seen many of his classmates in over 17 years; but when they got together, they had a riot reliving their glory days and finding out what was currently going on in everyone’s life. As the night was winding down, Greg noticed that his friend Debbie was getting teary-eyed, and he couldn’t help but ask what was going on. Through tears she said, "It’s sad that there are some things you just can’t forget." Certain that something spiritual was going on, Greg pressed Debbie about what she meant. Finally she told him. In the second grade -- 27 years previously! -- a girl named Karen had started the "Debbie Haters’ Club." Debbie had never gotten over the pain of that, and she had never forgiven Karen. Knowing that Karen was at the reunion that night, Greg told Debbie she should talk to her. Debbie refused, but Greg insisted. In fact, Greg ended up orchestrating the effort toward reconciliation! When Karen was collecting her coat to leave the party, Greg pulled her aside into a separate room, and asked her to wait for him to return. Then Greg went to get Debbie. When both women were together in the room, Greg stepped out of the room and stood guard outside the door. Greg couldn’t hear a word that passed between them, but he didn’t need to. As they both left, he could see the freedom on their faces -- a freedom that only comes with reconciliation. (Bill White, Paramount, California. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, The Face of God, 3/9/2011)
Video illustration - Blue fish clip signs of forgiveness.
Conclusion:
Really bad sin to the Lord is all sin – this includes gossip, un-forgiveness, having a spirit of offense toward another brother or sister in Christ, and being angry and bitter toward others!
Jesus taught – All sin is on the same judgment level as murder! There is no lesser or greater sin.
So if you find yourself at the altar offering God a gift and someone comes to mind that you have an offense with – Go to that person before offering the gift.
Go
Repent!
Forgive!
Reconcile!
And then go back to God who will gladly accept your gift to Him!
Let’s Pray!
Let’s Act!
Let’s Reconcile!
Let’s Live like Kingdom of Heaven Saints!
