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(10/27) We are continuing today in our message series, "The Way," looking at a passage of Scripture that has been a favorite of many throughout the generations. The Sermon on the Mount is just three chapters, but it speaks volumes as we come back to it again and again. In this text, beginning in Matthew chapter five, Jesus shows us not just the way to live, but he goes even deeper showing us the way to heaven.

We began looking at the Beatitudes which are the blessings of the kingdom available for all of us because Jesus came to make a way for all of us to be saved and to experience the blessings of God. And last week, we talked about being salt and light in the world, and our text ended with Jesus telling the crowd and by extension all who believe in him,

"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" (Matthew 5:20).

Now, at first glance, it sounds as if he is raising the bar really high, so as to exclude everyone except for the very holiest among us from entering the kingdom. But the truth is that he is speaking to the motives of the heart and so he is drawing our attention not just to our actions, but to the reason why we do what we do, so that we recognize the true motives of our hearts.

To some, the inconsistency or the difference between our actions and our motives and values may feel like hypocrisy. You know, the idea of saying one thing and then doing another. Is there anybody in here who knows what I’m talking about?

One moment you are singing worship songs, praising Jesus, and the very next moment you are yelling and screaming at the guy who cut you off at the intersection in front of church. The truth is that we are all hypocrites from time to time, there is a discrepancy between our faith and our deeds. And yet isn’t that where the grace of God comes into play in our lives? Isn’t that what it means to be living as a human in a fallen world where we are daily being sanctified and formed into the image of Jesus?

You see, Jesus shows us the way, because he knows that we will mess up, it’s going to happen, and for that reason he shows us how to live lives of repentance, seeking the forgiveness of God, as well as those others whom we have offended. It’s for that very reason that the apostle John trying to get down to the root of the issue tells us,

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives" (1 John 1:8-10).

And so, the invitation to every believing Christian is to be real, to regularly examine ourselves, so that we have a short leash between the discrepancies in our lives and the holiness that we have been called to.

That’s why the apostle Paul, writing to the church in his first letter to Corinth, addresses it to:

"Those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:2).

And so, here we are today, sitting on the mountainside with the crowd of believers, leaning in and trying to catch every word of Jesus, because we’ve been called to be holy, to be born again, and to be new creations. And we know that Jesus declared,

"My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).

And yet the path of being made holy, or you could say the path of sanctification, is a difficult one, because while we know that the one who is in us is greater than he who is in the world, the old self keeps rising back up. And so, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices again and again and again, but the old self dies a painfully slow death, in fact it keeps climbing down off the altar as we are being sanctified and conformed to the image of Christ.

We have been in this series entitled "The Way" and I believe this message is going to meet each one of us right where we live. And I believe that as followers of Jesus we have the potential for great relationships, every marriage doesn’t have to be a battlefield, every family doesn’t have to be dysfunctional, with parents hurt by their children, and children hurt by their parents. In fact, I believe Jesus offers us a better way, he gives us wisdom in the Scriptures, and he warns us that in this age,

"Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another… And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:10, 12-13, NKJV).

In fact, many of you know someone that is easily offended, and for others of you it is you, you are easily offended. And you may recognize it, like I do, because I still struggle with being offended, irritated by someone, but I’ve learned to recognize it and take it to Jesus. In fact, this week I was offended by the doctor office, irritated and frustrated, because they were holding my allergy prescriptions hostage, demanding that I come in for a visit and subjecting myself to whatever sickness I might encounter.

For some of you today, it could be in your home, among your classmates, or in your workplace. It could even be in your church, it’s just those little things, it’s not always a big thing, but when we hold onto offenses they begin to accumulate, and when we let offenses accumulate, they build up in our hearts and affect our attitudes. Friendships are broken, relationships are strained, and families are divided, because our hearts are closed to someone that we are called to love.

In Matthew chapter five, verse twenty-one, I want to share with you the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, because I believe that he is going to set some people free from offense today. In verse twenty-one, Jesus takes the Word of God, the Law given to Moses, and he reveals to us the spirit of the text. With perfect wisdom as the Word become flesh he says,

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment" (Matthew 5:21).

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell" (Matthew 5:22).

Now, when Jesus says, "You are in danger of the fire of hell" he’s not using symbolism, the actual word he used here is Gehenna. This was a deep, narrow glen to the south of Jerusalem where in the past idolatrous Jews had sacrificed their children in pagan rituals of worship to Molech. King Josiah put an end to that and now it was just a large garbage dump where all the trash and dead carcasses of both animals and criminals alike were cast to be consumed by the fire which was always burning.

It’s most likely that Jesus meant, if a man charges another with apostasy, rebellion against God, and his charge is unsubstantiated than he is subjected to that punishment which the other must have suffered. In other words, that offense or unresolved conflict in your heart, actually creates a smoldering, burning, living hell in your life and in your relationships. Because what starts in the heart, doesn’t stay in the heart, but it becomes a thought, which turns into a word, which once spoken creates an atmosphere or environment where you would rather not be, becoming a smoldering garbage dump of fire destroying the potential of that relationship.

You see, if it’s allowed to grow roots, we come into church smiling like everything is okay, and nobody sees what’s going on behind-the-scenes, but deep down in our hearts there is a fire smoldering. And so, that’s why Jesus says in verse twenty-three,

"If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24).

In other words, if you are worshiping and remember that someone was offended by you or that you have an offense against someone else, Jesus says go reconcile with that person before you start worshiping. Don’t start singing and praying ignoring the fact that your relationships are under attack because God sees what’s going on in your heart. It may have started out so small, just a little offense, simply calling someone a fool, and the next thing you know everybody is overreacting, tensions are high, and you are in danger of the smoldering fires of Gehenna.

And so, Jesus is warning us to learn to recognize offenses, to deal with the little things before they become big things. He says in verse twenty-five,

"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court" (Matthew 5:25).

Now, that can be a little confusing because in verse twenty-one we were talking about your brother, somebody that we are close to, and then in verse twenty-five Jesus begins talking about our adversary. And so, I wonder if these are two different people, if he is changing topics, or maybe if your brother in verse twenty-one, is the same person who will become your adversary in verse twenty-five because you didn’t learn how to deal with the offense?

In other words, Jesus says, "Deal with the offense, resolve your differences, settle matters quickly,"

"Settle matters quickly… Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny" (Matthew 5:25-26).

And so, it’s as we look at our hearts and consider the attitudes of our hearts that we find the answer to the offenses and disappointments of our lives.

Jesus says, if you don’t deal with it, settling your differences quickly, it could blow up out of proportion. It began as just a little thing, it all started with "Raca," a small offense, but if it’s not dealt with appropriately, it won’t end well for you.

And so, no matter whether you have caused the offense or if you are the one who is offended, either way Jesus warns,

"It is impossible that no offenses should come" (Luke 17:1, NKJV).

Which means that this is a very important teaching, we’ve got to get this right, because it’s not like we are purposefully trying to offend one another. But how many of you know that we say things unintentionally, we don’t realize the consequences of what we are saying, and other times it’s not even what we say, it’s what we didn’t do, it’s those unmet expectations.

You see, expectations whether they have been expressed or not are a breeding ground for offenses in relationships. And to you it may just be a little thing, but to them it is a big thing, and so we need to be aware of this, we need to work through this, because to live offended or to be offensive as a believer in Jesus Christ is a contradiction of what we believe.

In other words, to be offensive, and to stay that way, to worship that way, offering your gift at the altar without settling matters quickly, is a denial of the very nature of the salvation you have received. Or on the other hand, to live offended, allowing that root of bitterness to grow, struggling under the weight of offense is incapacitating, leaving you unable to fully carry out God’s calling in your life. And we all would agree that life is too short, as the Bible says,

"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14).

And so, my prayer is that we would have a spirit of repentance, settling matters quickly, resolving differences, and changing behaviors that would be offensive to others. We have come here today to worship, we have come to the altar, not just to sing a song, not just to hear a message, but to come into the presence of God so that we are transformed.

However, in verse twenty-seven, Jesus takes it up another level and says,

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).

"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell" (Matthew 5:29).

"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell" (Matthew 5:30).

And so, Jesus suggested a radical amputation of those things in our lives that would cause us to sin which means as followers of Jesus we must not allow ourselves to be deceived and desensitized by this increasing tide of tolerance towards immorality. Instead, we must embrace biblical standards for ourselves, for our children, and then boldly declare them before the world because Jesus has showed us the way.

In other words, we have the key to happiness, contentment, and purity in a culture where the consequences of immorality are well documented. Families are torn by divorce, young girls are brokenhearted, emotionally scarred, and countless children are born out of wedlock and without fathers; millions of people are dying from sexually-transmitted diseases, and millions more babies are aborted having been denied life for the sake of a moment of pleasure.

The blood cries out, the statistics don’t lie, sexual expression outside of God’s plan is a tragic mistake. The price is higher than we would have imagined, and no other area of sinfulness has brought such devastation and decay to our world. It’s in response to that choice, that irresponsible decision, that Jesus says,

"Gouge it out, cut it off, and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell" (Matthew 5:29, 30).

And so, as believers, we can’t be paralyzed, weakened, and undermined by the immoral relationships and twisted role models of our culture. Jesus calls us not only to be salt, flavoring and preserving our culture, but we must also be light, setting an example of God’s intended design for sexual intimacy.

It was the apostle Paul who coined the phrase, "Fight the good fight of faith," encouraging Christians to remain steadfast and strong in their faith in spite of resistance and persecution they may face. He says,

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses" (1 Timothy 6:12).

In other words, it’s a call to persevere in the faith and a reminder that the faith journey is not easy and requires effort and determination.

In our text from Matthew, we see that many of the problems that we face come from our heart, our mind, and our mouth. Anger or offense is often a heart issue. Adultery and lust have a lot to do with what we allowed to dwell in our minds. In other words, in this text, Jesus took the Law and explained it in light of the new life he offered. And so, he is taking us deeper, he is going beyond the letter of the Law, to the heart or the principle behind it. As the Lord said to Jeremiah,

"I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct..." (Jeremiah 17:10).

And that is what we want to learn today. We want to know what it means to "keep the way" of Christ so that his teaching may impact our lives today. And so, let’s keep going in verse thirty-one through verse thirty-seven.

"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery" (Matthew 5:31-32).

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne" (Matthew 5:33-34).

"Or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black" (Matthew 5:35-36).

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37).

In other words, what you say really matters, making oaths or promises is a risky business. In fact, the Bible says,

"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell" (James 3:6).

All that to say, if we are going to keep the way of Christ, if we are going to fight the good fight of faith, it’s not just a matter of following rules, but it is really about keeping a vigilant watch over our hearts, our minds, our mouths, and ultimately our motives. After all, what does it matter if your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees,

"On the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness" (Matthew 23:28).

And so, we’ve got to be willing to fight the good fight, to keep the way of Jesus, and press on through every trial, adversity, and form of persecution.

That is the heart of what Jesus is saying in this passage, it is so much more than making friends with enemies, resisting the temptation to express ourselves in anger, or even gouging out an eye, or letting your yes be yes, and your no be no.

I believe the intent behind Jesus’ teaching is to recognize that we do need a Savior, we need grace, we need redemption, and so we just really need Jesus.

The apostle Paul understanding this journey, wanting to know Jesus more intimately, cries out saying,

"I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Philippians 3:12).

And he continues in his pursuit of Jesus, through every trial and adversity, weathering the storms of life and telling us,

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

You see, it’s always been all about Jesus, because he is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the reason we press on, the reason we fight the good fight of faith, and the reason we keep watch over our hearts, minds, mouths, and motives. Jesus is the reason for all of it, and we want to keep the way, because he is worth it all.

Now, I want you to recognize that two thousand years ago when Jesus was declaring these truths his audience didn’t know exactly who Jesus was. There was a lot of speculation about this miracle working Rabbi from Nazareth, but his true identity had not yet been revealed. However, we know exactly who Jesus is. We know that he came to give his life as a ransom for ours. We know that he promised to always be with us to the very end of the age. We know that we can do everything through him and apart from him we can do nothing.

And so, it is because of him that we have the power to do these impossible things mentioned in this passage. We can keep the way of Jesus, not in our own power, but by his Spirit. He is the way, he provides the way, and he promises that,

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8).

In the mighty name of Jesus, we are called and empowered to live consistent lives of faith. We are called to press on, to fight the good fight, and to keep the way. And when the going gets tough, just remember, "in this world you will have troubles," but you have him. You have Jesus, and he said,

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

If you are hearing this today, if God is speaking to you, let me encourage you to "Keep the Way." Because your God is too good and your calling to great, you are here at this moment in history so that you can glorify him and keep the way. He called us to forgive in the same way that we have been forgiven, because when we do, it doesn’t change what happened in the past, but it changes what God can do in our future.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott