Book of Luke - Ch. 6, Vs. 20-49 (03/08/2020)

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on the Mount, or as Dr. John MacArthur calls it, the

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Sermon on the Plateau. That was always a problem for me back in the day when

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I was new. I grew up in western

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North Carolina in the folded hills and when you were on a mountain, you were lucky to find an acre of flat land.

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I wasn't familiar with the real west. When you go up to the top of a mountain and it opens up and there is a plateau up there that's hundreds of, well

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I won't say hundreds of square miles, but several square miles in size. So you can be on a mountain and still be on a plain.

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And that's the case in Israel as well, in Galilee. The place we're talking about is really on a mountain, but it's on a plain on top of a mountain which has another mountain higher than it behind it.

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And He, this is Jesus, lifted up His eyes on His disciples and said,

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Blessed be you poor for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled.

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Blessed are ye that weep now for you shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the

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Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

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But woe unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation.

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Woe unto you that are full for ye shall be hungry. Woe unto you that laugh now for you shall mourn and weep.

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Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

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But I say unto you each year, love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

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And to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other.

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And him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not that he take thy coat also.

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Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.

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And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise.

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For if you love them which love you, what thank have you? For the sinners also love those that love them.

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But if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you? For sinners also do even the same.

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And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you?

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For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.

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And your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest. For he is kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil.

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Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not and you shall not be judged.

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Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you shall be forgiven.

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Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure. Press down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom.

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For with the same measure that you meet with all, it shall be measured to you again.

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And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?

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The disciple is not above his master, but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

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And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceiveth not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eyes, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

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For the good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bringeth forth good fruit.

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For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

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A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good.

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And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil.

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For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me

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Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them,

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I will show you, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man that buildeth a house, and diggeth deep, and lay a foundation on a rock.

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And when the flood arose, and the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock.

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But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth.

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Against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of the house was great."

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Let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this place and this time where we might come together and study your

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Holy Scripture. Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to point us to your

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Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life to redeem us and to ransom us from our sins.

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Protect us and go forth today into the other messages and have us to understand the message that you have in store for each one of us today.

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Okay, we're going to go back at verse 20 and look at it line by line.

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But before we do, well I'm going to do one thing first. And He lifted up His eyes upon His disciple and said,

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Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Now John Carpiac, I'm sorry,

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John MacArthur. I had my Johns mixed up.

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There's too many of them today. John MacArthur called this sermon the

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Sermon on the Plateau. And this is what he says about the Sermon on the

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Plateau. The similarity to the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew 5 1 through 729, is remarkable.

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He says it's possible, of course, that Jesus simply preached the same sermon on more than one occasion.

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There are instances of Him doing that. But he goes on to say, It appears more likely, however, that these are variant accounts of the same event.

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Luke's version is abbreviated. He says somewhat. I say severely abbreviated.

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Because he omits sections from the sermon that are uniquely

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Jewish. In particular, he omits Christ's exposition of the

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Law. Aside from that, the two sermons follow exactly the same flow of thought, beginning with Beatitudes and ending with the parable of building upon a rock.

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There are differences in wording between the two accounts, undoubtedly owing to the fact that the sermon was delivered originally in Aramaic.

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Luke and Matthew translates into the Greek with slight variations. Of course, both versions, both translations, are equally inspired and authoritative.

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Now, I said this last week at the end of the preamble to this whole sermon, that at this point

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I wanted to add a comment of my own. Brother David has, over the past couple of months, been dealing with Romans.

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And as he goes through, he has advised us many times that John 3 .16 is the most understood verse in the

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Bible. And one of the reasons for that, or the primary reason for that is, it's taken out of context, often in an attempt to force it to support the claim that Jesus died for every man, woman, and child that ever lived.

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Now, were that the case, every man, woman, and child that ever lived would be saved.

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But we know from Matthew's account of this very sermon in Matthew 7 .13,

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here's what Matthew says. Matthew 7 .13, and we're going to bounce around between Matthew and Luke in this lesson.

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Matthew 7 .13, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.

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And many there be which go in thereat, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

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Now, what's that trying to tell us? Or what is that telling us? Is that telling us that every man, woman, and child that ever lived will be saved?

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What is it telling us? That most every man, woman, and child that ever lived, at least many of them, will be lost and will be entering the wide gate, the broad way that leadeth to destruction.

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Now, I'm certainly in agreement with Brother David that John 3 .16

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might very well be the most misunderstood verse in the

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Bible. But I would like to propose a candidate for the most misunderstood passage in the

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Bible. And that would be the Sermon on the Mount, or as John MacArthur calls it, the

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Sermon on the Plateau. Before we begin our exposition of what this passage is teaching, let's consider a few things that it's not teaching.

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It's not teaching that being poor is good. It's not teaching that being rich is bad.

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It's not teaching that being hungry is good. It's not teaching that not being hungry is bad.

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It's not teaching that crying is good. It's not teaching that laughing is bad.

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It's not teaching that ignoring Judging evil is good and that it's not teaching that judging evil is bad.

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So here we go. Luke 6 .20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said,

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Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Now that sounds like it might be better to be poor than to be rich.

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Doesn't it sound like that? Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

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Especially if you link that to one of the woes which we're going to get later when it says woe unto you if you're rich.

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Sounds like it might be better to be poor than to be rich. But when you look at the account in Matthew, all of that is put to rest.

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Matthew's account of the same event. Matthew 5 .2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Neither verse, neither the one in Luke nor the one in Matthew is talking about money.

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Matthew makes it abundantly clear. Poor in spirit, not poor in financial concerns.

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It means humble, not prideful. Not poor with regard to financial matters.

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After all, being wealthy can be good or it can be bad. It depends upon what you do with what you have.

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Paul tells us in Philippians 4, verse 11. This is also another misquoted verse, a misapplied verse.

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Matthew 4 .11 Not that I speak with respect to want, for I have learned in whatsoever state

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I am therewith to be content. Somebody told me once that Jesus obviously was not a

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Texan. Or Paul was obviously not a Texan. Because if you were from Texas, you couldn't be content with the state that you were in.

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But that's not of any importance. I know both how to be abased.

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I know how to abound. How or why did Paul know how to be abased and how to abound?

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He had been without money and he had been with money and who put him without money? Who put him in the condition that he was without money?

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Jesus, God, put him in that position. Who put him in the position that he abounded, that he had money, that he had wealth?

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God put him there. He has learned in whatsoever state he is in to be content.

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He knows that he is in the state that he is in because God put him in that state. When he was wealthy, he was wealthy.

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He knows who's in control. And if you know who's in control, you will learn to be content.

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Oh, I'm sorry. I know both how to be abased and how to abound.

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Everywhere in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

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Instructed by whom? Instructed by God. God told him to abound and he abounded.

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God told him to suffer and he suffered. God told him to be hungry and he was hungry.

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God told him to be filled and he was full. And then it says, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

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People think that that means if you just pray to the Lord, you can do anything you want to do. You may pray to the

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Lord and he may still put you in a position where you are hungry or where you are poor.

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Where you abound or where you fail to abound.

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Yes, sir. That's right.

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And whatever condition you're in, you need to learn to be content with that condition. That's what he's talking about.

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I can do all things. I can be content with the state that I'm in because I know that God put me in that state.

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If all things line up with the providence of God. And by the way, we know they always do.

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We know that all things always align themselves with the providence of God. But we are not always aligned with them.

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And Paul has learned to align himself with those things. So this is another verse that's misused.

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Back to Luke and back to verse 21. Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be full.

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Matthew again clarifies. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

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I'm going to read that again and stress the last phrase. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

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Again, this sermon is dealing with spiritual things, not with physical things.

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Yes. I think you're right.

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Our hunger and our thirst for food and water are triggered by our need for food and water.

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We have a desire for the water and for the food. Our hunger and thirst after righteousness is also triggered by our need for righteousness.

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And not everybody has that need for righteousness. So not everyone hungers and thirsts after righteousness.

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And so it's clear that if you're hungering and thirsting after righteousness, you have a desire for it.

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You have a desire for it because God put that desire in you. Yes, sir.

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So you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you. But it's not saying that if I wish to be a millionaire,

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I can pray for it and God will deliver it. Because He may want me to be in the state of need, not in the state of not having need.

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Blessed are ye, this is back to Luke. Blessed are ye that weep now, for you shall laugh.

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Matthew says, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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With sadness, God always provides comfort. At least

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He always provides to His comfort. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, and I highlighted the next phrase, for the son of man's sake.

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Matthew says it this way, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manners of evil against you.

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He adds a word, falsely, for my sake.

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Not that they're just speaking evil of you, but they're speaking evil of you untruthfully, falsely, and not just because they don't like you.

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They don't like the God that you worship and serve. For my sake.

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Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake.

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You're not blessed because people hate you, but you are blessed when they hate you because of what you say or do that is in support of Christ and His kingdom.

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Back to Luke, verse 23. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy.

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For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

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Matthew says the same thing this way. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.

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For great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

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And then Luke goes on to give us four woes. He contrasts the good things that you're going to be blessed for with some bad things.

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But woe unto you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.

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Woe unto you that are full, for you shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

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Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you. For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

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Is it bad when people speak well of you? It depends on the people?

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Okay, I guess you're right at that. I was going to say, there's nothing wrong with people speaking good of you.

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In fact, we want people to speak good of us. They're speaking good of me.

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I'm standing up for what's right, so they hate me. That's true, and of course, when they said all these good things about you, you did receive your reward right then from the men that gave it to you.

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But while that's happening, the Lord is saying, woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.

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For so did their fathers to the false prophets. It's not a new thing.

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If we don't offend some people, we're offending God, I'm pretty sure.

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I'm pretty sure if we're not offending some people, sometimes we're offending God all the time.

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That may be too strong, but I believe that. Luke speaks of the four woes to contrast with the four blessings he's addressed so far.

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Matthew adds nothing to that, so I don't have a passage in Matthew to balance out the woes with.

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We can kind of gather that in the midst of it all. I don't think so.

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I think it's still... Well, okay, let me say I do agree with you. I'm asking a question.

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No, no, no. I do agree with you. When he's talking about woe unto you that are rich, it's not rich in spirit.

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It's not being spirit -filled. It's certainly not that. There would never be a woe to you for that.

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But it is a woe to you if what you're seeking is physical, and you're getting that, and you're being prideful and not humble while you're getting it.

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So I believe you're right. I believe that he has kind of switched in the woes from the spiritual world, from spiritual things to physical things.

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I believe that would probably be fair to say. Okay, back to verse 27 in Luke.

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But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies. Do good to them which hate you.

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Bless them that curse you. Pray for them which despitefully use you.

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Now that might be the hardest of the commandments in this sermon for me personally.

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Matthew does add to that. Matthew in verse 43, chapter 5, verse 43, says this,

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You have heard it said, Thou shall love thine enemy and hate thine neighbor.

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I'm sorry, I read that totally backward. You have heard it said, You have heard that it had been said,

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Thou shall love thine neighbor and hate thine enemy. That's kind of what

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I want to do. Love my neighbor and hate my enemy. But I say unto you,

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Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you.

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And pray for them which despitefully use you. And persecute you.

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That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. For he maketh his

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Son, S -U -N, to rise on the evil and on the good.

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And sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. Well, I do, of course, recognize the validity of this command.

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I simply find it hard to do. I find it impossible to do when

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I'm not walking hand in hand with Christ. When I let go of Christ's hand,

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I cannot love my enemy. It's hard enough for me to love my friends when

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I'm not walking hand in hand with Christ. And it's impossible for me to love my enemies when

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I'm not walking hand in hand with Christ. Paul tells us in Colossians something.

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You don't need to go here. It's a quick verse. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without.

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Who's he talking about? Them that are without. Without what? Without being in the kingdom of God.

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The outsiders, your enemies. Walk in wisdom toward them that are your enemies, redeeming the time.

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Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye might know how ye ought to answer every man.

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You'll come in contact with people that are both your friends and enemies.

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People that are brothers in Christ and people that are enemies of Christ. And Paul is saying, walk in wisdom toward those that are enemies of Christ.

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Redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt.

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That doesn't mean that you're not supposed not to correct them. Seasoned with salt says, correct them.

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Speak to them, but be wise. And always your word filled with grace.

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Seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. It'll come a time when you have to respond to every man for what you believe and compare it to what they believe.

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Verse 29, back in Luke. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other.

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And him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid him not to take thy coat also.

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Give to every man that ask of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.

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Matthew said this, You have heard that it had been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

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But I say unto you, that ye is not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

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And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

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And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

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Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.

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Verse 31, Luke. And as ye would that men should do to you, ye also to them likewise.

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For if you love them that love you, what thank have you? For sinners also love those that love them.

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And if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you? For sinners also do even the same.

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And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again.

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Verse 35. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing.

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And your reward shall be great, and ye shall be children of the

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Most High. For He is kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil.

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Be thou therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.

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Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive, and it shall be forgiven.

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Matthew says it this way in Matthew 7 .1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.

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For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again.

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And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considereth not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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So judge not, lest ye not be judged. We want to address that a little bit more in a minute. Verse 38,

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Luke. Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure. Press down.

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Shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye meet with all, it shall be measured to you again.

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And he spake a parable unto them. Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?

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The disciple is not above his master, but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master.

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Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and perceiveth not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote that is in your eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt be clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

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Probably I need to add the difference between a beam and a mote. A beam is a beam.

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It needs no clarification. It's big. A mote is a tiny speck. How can you see the tiny speck in your brother's eye if you don't even perceive that you have a beam in your own?

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Matthew 7 .3 says, And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considereth not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold the beam is in thine own eye?

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Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

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So should you help your brother with his problems? Yes, but take care of your own too.

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In fact, take care of your own first. Verse 43, For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

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For every tree is known by his fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

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A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good.

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And an evil man out of the evil treasure in his heart bringeth forth that which is evil.

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For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. It does.

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What you speak comes from your heart. If your heart is evil, bad things will come out.

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If it's good, good things will come out. The only issue that I would have with that, John, is sometimes bad things come out of my heart because at that point my heart is acting as if it were evil because I am not in fellowship with Christ at that point.

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So bad things can come out of good people's mouths. We are still evil, we're just forgiven.

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That's right. Matthew 7 .15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

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You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?

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Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

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And if you had not had Christ to intervene for you, everything you did would be evil.

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Okay, I'll take it that way.

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Whether you think it's good or whether you think it's evil, it's evil if it doesn't come from Him.

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And that's how yours and Marianne's version totally overlap.

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A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

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Every tree that bringeth forth not good fruit is shewn down and cast into the fire, whereby by their fruits shall ye know them.

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The only way we can know is by the fruits that the people do.

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Verse 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which

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I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them,

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I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock.

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And when the flood arose, and the stream beat vehemently upon the house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock.

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But he that heareth and doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

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Matthew 7 .21 says it this way, Not everyone that saith unto me,

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Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my

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Father which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?

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And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works.

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And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

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The casting out of demons, the wonderful works that they thought they did, they were works of iniquity.

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Therefore, whosoever heareth these works of mine, these sayings of mine, and doeth them,

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I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock.

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And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

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And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.

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And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

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That concludes the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the

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Plateau. Any comments or questions? Clearly, we are to judge.

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But how are we to judge? We're to judge by the fruits that they produce.

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And we've got to know what fruit is. We have to have knowledge of the

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Scripture. That was the big thrust of last week's lesson. That Jesus condemned the

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Pharisees for not having knowledge of the Scripture. And basically, one of the commentators that I read said this.

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You can memorize the entire Bible. You can read it cover to cover.

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You can be able to recite every verse and every stanza and still have no understanding of the truth of the

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Bible. And the only way you get that understanding is by studying the

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Word of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit who will guide you to the truth. Because if you don't have the

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Holy Spirit there with you guiding you, you will not be led to the truth. That was kind of last week's message.

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Anything else? And that's what

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Paul was telling us when he says, I have learned to be content with whatever state that I'm in.

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Because he knows that he's in the state he's in because that's the state God put him in. God is sovereign.

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God is good. God put him in the proper place for him right now. And that may change tomorrow.

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And it may not. You just have to be content with the state that you're in. And that gives me strength.

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It gives me strength to know that whatever condition I'm in, that I should pray about being content with it.

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And one other thing, when you've got a decision to be made, there's one thing you've got to do.

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We talked about this last week too. When Jesus chose His disciples, no, when

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Jesus chose His apostles, the twelve apostles, the night before He chooses the apostles and names them,

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He goes up to the mountain and He prays all night. And when He came back,

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He named twelve. And the last of the twelve that He named was Judas Iscariot, the traitor.

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Do you think Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot was going to be the traitor when

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He selected him to be an apostle? No doubt He did. He knew.

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That's probably the reason He prayed all night about it. Because He knew that His decision was going to have long -term consequences, not just the three years from the time

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He named him until the time Judas betrayed Him, but the two thousand years from then till now and beyond.

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So, long -term consequences. So what should we do when a decision is in front of us?

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We should go to the Lord and pray about it. And He will give you strength. And that's the same we could say to Brendan.

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Pray. And it's easier to say than it is to do. Anything else?

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Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for this day and thank You for all our many blessings. Go through the rest of the services today.

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Give Brother Huber strength and wisdom to present the lesson that You want us to hear.

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And give us strength and wisdom to hear the message that You want us to hear. We know that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us.