An Impossible Standard / The Sermon on the Mount

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

Turning the Other Cheek and Refusing Revenge

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. So what does Jesus say? An eye for an eye? No, he says turn the other cheek. Now if there's a teaching in Christianity that everybody knows, it's this one.

And if there's a teaching that half the people don't like, it's probably this one. Because in your flesh, and probably most of you don't get slapped very often, hopefully, but in your flesh, what do you want to do?

If somebody hits you, you want to hit them back. Here's the thing. When Jesus says, turn the other cheek, this, number one, this is not dealing with assault. Jesus is not commenting on crimes or assault.

This does not have any application to foreign policy. Jesus is not even teaching pacifism here. What he's doing, and he's not even saying you're not allowed to defend yourself. A slap, why? A slap is not an assault, is it?

A slap is not somebody trying to do physical harm to you. What's a slap? It's an insult. It's an offense. Even the idiom, slap in the face, that means somebody is trying to embarrass you. They are trying to offend you.

Jesus said, if somebody slaps you, what do you do? You want to slap them back, but what you do is you turn the other cheek. That is the best response, because they're trying to humiliate you, and by turning the other cheek, you what?

You're just, if anything, humiliating them. Of course, then if they slap you on the other side, then they look really bad. That's not the point, to make them look bad. But if you hit them back, it's going to escalate.

So this is all good advice to kind of diffuse a situation. Hey, as Christians, we should be the bigger person. You say, I don't want to be the bigger person. I want to hit them back. Well, being a follower of Christ, we want to do what Christ did.

I think of Proverbs 15, verse 1, which says,. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. So if somebody says something to you that's insulting, they're trying to get under your skin, you don't shoot right back at them.

You respond with a soft answer, because ultimately, our goal is to win people over. We don't want enemies. We want friends. We don't want to push people away from Christ. We want to bring people to Christ.

And if they see that we act just like everybody else acts, and we're willing to hurt somebody, or strike back, or insult them, we're going to be viewed as having no credibility as a Christian. So we do what Jesus did.

1 Peter 2, verse 23 says about Christ, When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. And when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. So if you have been wronged, the temptation is to get revenge.

But if we are wronged, what should we do? Hand it over to the Lord. Let God vindicate you. And I believe He will. Now, this part about being sued. It makes it sound like if somebody asks you for something, that you just have to give it to them.

If they sue you, hey, give them above and beyond. Well, the plain instruction is, if you can bear it, then bear it. If you can deal with it, then deal with it. Don't resist. It's better to allow the injury or offense.

Why is that? Because these are little things that Jesus is talking about. He's not saying if somebody asks you for your house, give it to them and give them your car also. No, that is not what Jesus is saying.

That wouldn't work. He's talking about little things. If somebody sues you for your coat, if somebody asks you to walk a mile with them, walk an extra mile, these are little things. So again, don't resist them.

Don't strike back. You don't want to escalate this into something bigger. Again, these are minor quarrels. You'd be better off not fighting about it. If you fight about it, if you resist, it's just going to make it worse.

Christians are called to peace. And if we do respond, it doesn't leave God any room to vindicate you. Let's just have an example here. Let's say it's the fall and you're next door neighbor. You know, the wind is blowing.

You have a tree on your property. The wind blows and blows all of the leaves off of your tree into your neighbor's lawn. Has that ever happened? Has that happened to you or happened to me one time? And then your neighbor says, hey, that's your tree.

It made a mess in my lawn. You should clean it up. That's an act of God. I'm not in control of this. You know, deal with it yourself. What have you done? You've just, you come off looking like a jerk.

And if he knows you're a church member, you're a Christian, well, that's the way Christians are. They probably think, well, that's what I would say. And, you know, they're no better than I am. But what does it do?

It closes the door to the Gospel. How, if you had an opportunity to witness to that person, how are you going to share Christ with them after you kind of tell them off or act in an uncharitable way? What kind of Christian testimony is that?

So, we would be better off, especially with these little things, to just suffer the offense. See, this is what people know about Jesus. He didn't revile in return. They crucified him. He did not fight back.

Now, again, I don't think Jesus taught pacifism, but that's kind of the idea some people have. The Christians shouldn't seek revenge. Yeah, we shouldn't. We should take the offense. That's calling us to a higher standard, isn't it?

Is that what you want to do? Probably not. But as we grow in Christ, we're okay with that. We become okay with it because we know that it's not all about this life. It's not all about what I can get here and now.

And I have to right every wrong because God, in the end, will reward me. God will vindicate me. So, all of this is really just good advice for real life. If we listen to the teachings of Jesus, someone, hopefully a lot of people, will recognize something different about us.

But if we react in the predictable ways, other people will think Christians just like everybody else. This goes back to the message from a month ago about the salt. If the salt loses its flavor, remember that?

If there's no discernible difference between church members and the people of this world, we lack credibility. We won't be able to be used by God. We become good for nothing. If the salt loses its flavor, becomes good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

That's why a lot of people have contempt for Christians because, yeah, we just do what everybody else is doing. And they see that for what it is. It's hypocrisy. So, we're called to something higher. If we profess to be Christians, and we do, we need to put the teachings of Christ into practice.

As the scripture says, we are to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Alright, let's finish up this last passage.

Almost done.

Loving Your Enemies

Verses 43 -48, this is titled, Love Your Enemies. Verse 43, Jesus says, So, isn't this the way people are? This is the way the world is? I'm nice to the people that are nice to me. I love the people that love me.

I will do things for people who can do something in return. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. It's a good relationship. We do things for people that we like. Is that a high standard? No, that's the way everyone is.

Everybody does that.

Now, the command, and this is in the Old Testament, you shall love your neighbor. Okay, that comes from the book of Leviticus. That's true. But that part about hating your enemy, is that really what God?

But that's what the rabbis were teaching, sort of like in churches. You know, there's a lot of pastors teaching a lot of things that are not biblical. And the rabbis were teaching this, and it's not right.

Love your neighbor, but you can hate your enemy. Love the people that you love, but the people you don't like, it's okay to hate them. What kind of teaching is that? What kind of religious teaching is that?

And yet, it's very common. Now, how do we know that's not the commandment? Well, I think the main reason is because the commandments are a reflection of God's character. And that is not how God has dealt with us.

God makes the rain fall upon the just and the unjust. Do you realize that God is kind to everybody? God is benevolent towards everyone, even going as far as loving His enemies. God has loved His enemies.

Therefore, He calls us to love our enemies. You say, where's the proof? Romans chapter 5, verse 10 says, For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Every human being is living life on their terms, ignoring God, disobeying God. Many people are the enemy of God. And even me, in my lost condition, I didn't want God telling me what to do. And yet, what did the Lord do?

He sent His only begotten Son to die for those who are His enemy. When Jesus hung on the cross, what did He say? Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. So, why should we love our enemies? Because God loved His enemies.

And He turned, by doing that, He turned many of His enemies into His friends. Indeed, into His children. We'll close with verse 48. This is all, again, an impossible standard. You say, I can't live up to this.

And even if I do it most of the time, there's still times where I'm going to fall short.

Right.

This is an impossible standard. And once we realize that, then we look to Christ for forgiveness. But look at verse 48. If you haven't believed that it's an impossible standard by now, you'll believe it with this verse.

Therefore, Jesus says, you shall be what? Perfect. Just as your Father in heaven is perfect. How are we doing with that? Be perfect. Oh, is that all?

Okay.

But in this, Christ reveals what the Sermon on the Mount is all about. A true understanding of God's law in establishing an impossible standard. That we, in this life, we have failed to live up to the commandments.

That's the bad news. That's the bad news. But the glorious good news of the gospel is that Christ has lived up to the standard for us. Let's turn to the Lord. Father, I just thank you for this passage of scripture, which is so challenging.

It's not what we would be inclined to do. It's hard to love our enemies. It's hard not to strike back. But, Lord, you have showed us a better way. So, Father, I just ask, if there's someone here who has never placed their faith in Jesus, I believe anyone who reads this, they have to recognize that this is a higher calling.

This is a better way. But it's just a matter of us submitting to you and trusting in you. So, Lord, if there's someone who has never made that commitment, set in their heart, Lord, I know I have sinned.

Lord, I know I have fallen short. Please forgive me. I believe that you've died on the cross for my sin. I believe that you rose from the dead the third day. As the scripture says, if we would confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, we would be saved.

So, Lord, if there's someone who has never done that, I pray they would make that decision today and start following Christ. We pray all this in his name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.