I pray the Lord will bless us
this morning. Matthew 8 verse 1 says, When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. Our Lord came down from
the mountain where he had just finished preaching the greatest
message ever delivered. the greatest. Would you not agree
with me that the message that God Himself
preached had to be the greatest message ever delivered. I would
have loved to have seen His face, the countenance on His face.
I would have loved to have heard the tone of His voice and the
emphasis Every time God preached, it was
the greatest message ever delivered. Every single time. The particular
message that we're going to look at is three chapters long. Chapters 5, 6, and 7. But our Lord preached a message
over in Luke 4 that's only two verses long. And both of them
are equally the greatest messages ever delivered. This message here, beginning
in chapter 5, go back over to Matthew chapter 5. This particular one is what the
translators have called the Sermon on the Mount. I've got a heading
at the top of my page, and it says, Christ beginneth His Sermon
on the Mount. But let's realize that the word
sermon is not in the Bible. Not one time. That's a man-made
word. Message is. John wrote, this
then is the message. Right? And our Lord here, He
was delivering a message. A message. This is not on. He was delivering a message.
We're going to look at a few of the things that he said in
it. Chapter 5, verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he
went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples
came unto him. His disciples came along with
the multitudes. There was a great crowd of people
there because we just read in chapter 8 verse 1 it said, when
he was come down from the mountain great multitudes followed him.
So there was a great crowd of people there. Chapter 5 verse
2 says, and he opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The
humble the low, the opposite of proud, that's who's going
to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Verse 4 says, blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted day the prophets
which were before you. He began the greatest message
ever preached with the blessings that are going to be given to
some. And he tells in his message who
they are that's going to receive these blessings. He said the
poor in spirit are going to. The mourners are going to. The
meek. Those that hunger and thirst
for righteousness. And then he said in verse 17.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am
not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments," now he's about
to give some commandments, okay? Three chapters long. And he says, Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, You shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. Now here's what he just told
them. The scribes and the Pharisees are not going to enter into the
kingdom of heaven. They are going to hell. Isn't that shocking? He kept
calling them, what one do you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites?
The scribes were the one that made new copies of the scripture,
of the Bible. They had these parchments, just
like we have paper, and they would wear out, and they didn't
have printing presses. So they had men called scribes
who would all day long, word for word, rewrite the Bible. That's all they did. And the
Pharisees were the religious leaders. It was their preachers,
their religious counsel that they would go before for wisdom.
And he said, they're going to hell. So if you want to enter into
the kingdom of heaven, you've got to exceed the perfectness
of them, the ones that spent all day writing the Bible and
discussing it. Verse 20 says, I say unto you
that except your righteousness, now he said in another scripture,
every man's righteousness, all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags, every man. Okay, so he says, except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. If you don't go to heaven, where do you go? Right? Verse 21, he said, You have heard that it was said
by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. And that makes sense. I know a lot of murderers on
death row, and I think, well, they deserve to be there. All
right, but look at verse 22. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
the judgment. You know what the judgment is? What he's saying is God looks
on the heart. And to God, anger, which is the
motive of murder, right? Anger starts with anger. To God,
it's the same thing as murder, whether you carried it out or
not, you wanted to. So if you've ever gotten angry
with anybody, you're going to hell. This is what Jesus Christ
stood up in front of these multitudes and preached. And remember, this
is His message, right? This is my message today, but
my message is His message. We're just overviewing. We're
going to look at chapter 8, verses 1-4. We're just going to overview
his message for a second. The greatest message ever preached.
Alright, the end of verse 22, it says, the middle of it says,
And whosoever shall say to his brother Rekha, that means vain
fellow, shall be in danger of the council, But whosoever shall
say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. What he's saying
is whoever judges another person. Whoever says that person is a
fool. He's a fool. She's a fool. He
ought to be doing this. And he shouldn't be doing that.
Let me tell you something right now. She shouldn't be doing that. Whoever says that, our Lord just
said, is going to hell. Danger of hell fire. And he reiterates
that at the end of the message. Look at chapter 7, verse 1. It says, Judge not that you be
not judged. If you don't want to be judged
by God Almighty, judge not. He says in verse 2, For with
what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what
measure you meet, whatever you dish out, it shall be measured
to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote,
that's a splinter, that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that's in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say
to thy brother, let me pull out that little splinter out of thine
eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite!
First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt
thou seek clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's
eye." So he says back in chapter 5, whoever judges someone else
for a sin, when they are just as great a sinner. Let me tell
you something, Paul the Apostle, the man who wrote two-thirds
or three-quarters of the New Testament, said, I'm the greatest
sinner that has ever lived. And I'm telling you, I'm the
greatest center in this room. Whoever judges somebody else,
when that person is the greatest center, just as great or greater
because he's judging. Our Lord said that person is
going to go to hell. This is the greatest message
ever preached. OK, verse 27, back in in Matthew
5, back over in Matthew chapter 5, verse 27, he said. You have heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say
unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And
if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from
thee. For it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell." Alright, he's saying whoever
has lusted, if a man has lusted toward a woman, or if a woman
has lusted toward a man, whoever has lusted is going to go to
hell. And he's very serious about that
one. To the point that he says, if your eye keeps wondering. Men, if you see a woman walk
by, and it keeps wondering and causing
you to do that, he said, pluck it out. Get it out of your body.
It's better for you to be blind in one eye, than for your whole
body to be cast into hell. Isn't that what he just said? Verse 30. If thy right hand offend
thee, if you're doing things you know you shouldn't be doing,
cut it off. Cast it from thee, for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Verse 38, ìYou have heard that
it hath been said, ìAn eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.î
But I say unto you that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.î
Heís saying donít resist evil. If somebody comes on the attack
towards you and they smite you on the right cheek, give them
the left. Donít resist it. Donít defend
yourself. Verse 40, he said, And if any
man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him
have thy cloak also. If anybody sues you and takes
you to court, don't sue them back. Give them more than they
sued you for. Whoever doesn't do that, well... Verse 43, he says, You've heard
that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute
you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
For he maketh his Son to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." If you want
to be a child of your Father and be with Him in heaven, that's
what he just said. You need to think of the person you consider
to be your greatest enemy. And you need to love that enemy
as you love your own self. And if you don't, then you cannot
be a child of the Father and you won't be with Him in heaven. And there's only one alternative
for that. Chapter 6, verse 1 says, Take heed that
you do not your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise
you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Don't tell
a soul how much money you give. Not a soul. If you do, you cannot
go to heaven. To the point that verse 3 says,
When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right
hand doeth. If your right hand put the money
in the box, Don't let your brain tell your left hand what your
right hand did, because your left hand is going to be proud
of your right hand. Pride. Verse five, and when thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets that they may be seen of men. Verily I say
unto you, they have their reward. Don't run to stand up in church
and pray just to be seen of men. I asked Brother Dickey to pray
this morning on purpose. He did not come to me and ask
me if he could pray. I asked him. If we do that, there's no reward
of heaven in that. And the only other alternative
is, our Lord said, get in your closet
to pray, and then He told us how to pray in verse 9. He said,
after this manner, therefore pray, our Father which art in
heaven, holy is your name. I'm heartbroken for people I
hear if I'm perusing the radio there's a lot of religious stations
in this town. I hit seek and it stops on three or four of
them and I've never noticed that many on a dial before. We've
got a lot of them right here. But you hear men talking on the
radio and they come on there and they say, God we just, oh
man, you better come down a little bit. Our Father, which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name. Holy God that kills sinners and
puts men in hell, holy is your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,
Lord, we're beggars. We just need some crumbs from
the master's table today. And forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
father forgive your trespasses. If we don't forgive others, we
will not be forgiven. Verse 19. Chapter 6, verse 19, Lay not
up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Our
Lord keeps saying, Give, give, give. He said, if you give, it
will be given unto you, pressed down and shaken together. But
if you hoard it up, rust will corrupt it, thieves will steal
it. Verse 24, He said, No man can serve two masters, for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in money. You cannot do it. God said so. Is anybody else saying that? Look
at Matthew 19 with me. Matthew 19 verse 16 says, and
behold, One came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing
shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and
that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. He said unto him, Which? Jesus
said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery,
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor
thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. The young man saith unto him, all these things have
I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him,
if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast. Everything
you have. Now put yourself in this position,
okay? everything you have, everything
you've accumulated, everything that's dear to you, sentimental,
and the bank accounts, whatever's in them. Go and sell that thou
hast and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a
rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. It's hard
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again
I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed,
saying, Who then can be saved? He said, Take everything you
have and give it to the poor. If you don't, you cannot enter
into heaven. How distressing is all of this? Doesn't it bring you down? What
if I closed the book and walked out the front door and got in
my car and drove to 2456 Wildwood Drive right now? Would I have
told us the truth? Would I have told us the truth?
Absolutely. Doesn't this bring you down?
You know how I know it's the truth? I haven't made any of
it up. God said it. I feel sad right now, 22 minutes
already. There's no joy in my heart. You know why I feel that way?
It's because I have just heard God's law. We have just heard and understood. We read it and all I did was
say what it said. We have heard and understood
God's holy law. Now don't turn. I want you to
listen to this. This is Nehemiah chapter 8 and this is verses
8 and 9. So they read in the book in the
law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to
understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which is the Tershithah,
that means the governor, and Ezra, the priest, the scribe,
and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people,
This day is holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn not, nor weep,
for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. They opened this book, and they
read it, and they told everybody what the book actually says,
and everybody started crying. Why? Because it exposed their
sin. In just two short chapters, I
have convicted, Jesus Christ has convicted everyone in this
room. We've read something that everyone
has been like, oh, that one is me. They're all me. But God has
opened my eyes to Wait a minute. And he didn't
smooth it over. He didn't say, I'm going to love
you less. You won't get as many riches. You won't have that yacht. You know why that guy has that
yacht? It's because he didn't judge. No, no, no. He said, you're going to hell. The law has exposed our sin and
it crushes our hope We come here for hope and all we got to do
is read God's law word for word and we will go down in the dumps
and we will be a crushed and broken people. The first thing that our Lord
did in the greatest message ever delivered is He set forth distinctly
and clearly God's holy law. And He set forth distinctly and
clearly man's wickedness and sin against God's holy law. Galatians 4 says, You that desire
to be under the law, well don't you know what the Bible says?
You that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
And the answer is no. Preachers are standing up telling
people, you know, now you better, you got to love your neighbor
as yourself now. But they don't tell them, if you have ever gotten
just tiffed at somebody, God's going to put you in hell for
that. They won't go to the fullest. I don't even think they use their
fingernail. They just rub the surface. This law is crushing sinners.
Men are dying right now. Cars are wrecking. Heart attacks
are happening. Souls are going to meet God right
now while I'm saying these words. And this law is crushing sinners. It's killing sinners. And he's
saying in this message, Matthew 7. Look at it. Matthew 7 with
me. Verse 21. Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Men are going to meet him as
we speak, and he is saying, as I'm talking. Send him to hell. Send him to hell. I never knew
you. But I pastored that church for
57 years. Send him to hell. But I was on television. I was
a healer. Devils really were cast out. They said we cast out devils.
I believe some of that stuff. Send him to hell. This is crushing us. It's like
I'm up here telling everybody an outbreak has occurred, a disease
has hit us, we're dying. But do you know what else this
law is doing? It is pointing men and women
to Jesus Christ, sweetest name I know. Sweetest name I know. In all
that hardness, these two words, Jesus Christ. Oh. This law is setting forth distinctly
and clearly that there is one whose righteousness far exceeds
the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. One. There is one who has never sinned,
not in his heart, not in his thought, not in his deed. There is one who was smitten
and he didn't resist it. He gave him the other cheek.
He gave him his back. He gave him his hands. He gave
him his feet. He gave him his side. He gave
him his crown. He gave him his beard. There is one who loved his enemy. You know who his enemy was? Gabe
Stoniker. And there's one who loved his
enemy as he loves his own self. I'm going to conform you to my
image. I'm going to make you a joint
heir with me. Everything I get, you get. Not half of it, 50-50. I got
my half, you got your half. All of it. There is one who can forgive
all your trespasses. And there is one who has given
his all, and given, and he did not lay it all up for himself,
but he gave it all, and he gave it all, and he gave it all. Our
God told men and women the truth, and then he told them the gospel. Go with me. We're here in Matthew
7. All right? Matthew 7. Look at verse 7. We already read judge not and
all those things. Look at Matthew 7. It says, Ask and it shall be given you. What shall be given you? That
poor spirit he started out talking about. I believe I've got it
right now. to whatever degree he's given
it to me. That spirit that lacks, Lord, I don't have the righteousness
that's required to get into glory. I don't have the ability to stop
all my sinning. That poor spirit that is a needy
spirit, Lord, I need Jesus Christ. He said, Ask, and that righteousness
that he started out talking about, the one that fulfills God's law,
shall be given to you. He said, Ask, and that mercy
that he started out talking about, shall be given to you. And he
said right here in verse 7, Seek, and you shall find. Seek what? The Savior of sinners. Well, where is he? Where do I
look? He said over in John 10, I'm
the door. Look at verse seven. He said, knock and it shall be
opened unto you. Verse eight, he said, for every
one, that's the best news. Every one that asketh has a very
good chance of possibly getting it. No, he said, every one that asketh,
receiveth. And he that seeketh, Lord, I
don't know where you are, but I seek you, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened, every one. everyone. So he told them after
that in verse 13 John 7 verse 10 he said enter ye in at the
straight gate. That word straight means narrow.
For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. You know what destruction is?
The opposite of heaven. And many there be which go in
there at. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it. So is he saying many, many, many
people are going to go to heaven, and just a few are going to go
to hell? No, he's saying the opposite. Verse 15, he said,
Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they're ravening wolves. Who are the false prophets? Preachers. Who are the false
preachers? They are every preacher that will not tell you the truth
about what God said. That's who they are. Verse 24. Verse 24, he said,
Therefore, Whosoever heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them. What sayings? Do what? Whoever
asks for forgiveness. Whoever seeks mercy. Whoever
knocks on the one and only door of life, which is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Whosoever heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which
built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and
it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock." That rock is
Jesus Christ. And everyone that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And the rains
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
That means it didn't just fall to the ground. It fell all the
way into the depths of hell. Great was the fall of it. Verse
28, And it came to pass, When Jesus had ended these sayings,
the people were astonished at His doctrine. How about us? Are we astonished? Would you
have ever imagined that that's what God would have said in the
greatest message ever delivered? Astonished. Verse 28, it came
to pass, When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were
astonished at His doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority and not as the scribes. The truth was told. Now look at chapter 8, verse
1. When he was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a
leper and worshipped him. That great multitude followed
him. And that's all it says about
that multitude. But in that multitude, listening to that message, was
a leper who knew he was a leper. He knew that he was just as bad
as the Lord had just described him to be. And did you know that
lepers were not allowed to approach other people by law? He could
not walk up to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know that? The
shadow of a leper couldn't fall on another man. When he saw a
man coming, he had to get to the other side of the street
crying, unclean, unclean. But this leper heard him say,
Everyone, I believe Jesus Christ looked at that leper right in
the eye and pointed at him and said, everyone, everyone that asketh receiveth. And that leper heard the word
of God and he believed it. God, I know I'm a leper. I know
I'm unclean. I'm unclean. I know that I am
rotting. I know that I stink. Can you
imagine what that rotten flesh smells like? I know that I'm
vile and I know that I'm repulsive, but that's my only hope. And this leper represents every
sinner who knows he's a sinner. Who knows that he's everything
that God has just described him to be. As I read that to you,
God convicted my soul and I knew in my heart I'm everything God
has just said I was. I know I'm a sinner. And while
the multitudes were going to their Pharisees, And while the
multitudes were going to their altars, this leper came to Jesus
Christ and he worshipped him. Mark's account says he kneeled
down. Luke's account said he fell on his face. He just heard
the truth about God's holy law. And he believed in his soul,
this God is worthy to be worshipped. This God is holy. Verse 2 says,
And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
that means Jehovah. He believed, I'm coming to this
man who is God Almighty. I'm coming to God Almighty. He
said, Lord, if thou wilt. Lord, this is not my decision.
Lord, I know I'm unworthy and vile and according to the law,
I'm not allowed to walk up to you. But I'm going to approach
the throne of grace on your word. And I'm in your hands. It's not
my decision. And so I'm begging for mercy
and I'm seeking grace. Lord, salvation is of you. Lord,
if thou wilt, he said, thou canst. Lord, I
believe you're able. I'm not just asking, hoping that
maybe it's a possibility. Lord, I believe you're able.
I believe you're all sufficient. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean. Lord, you're able to restore
me. I've been cast down. You're able
to redeem me back to what I used to be. Lord, you can wash me
in your own blood, and that alone is going to make me whiter than
snow. Verse 3 says, And Jesus put forth his hand and touched
him. He touched him. You don't touch
a leper. If you touch a leper, you'll
get their leprosy. You know that? If you touch a leper, their leprosy
will be imparted to you. And Jesus put forth his hand,
knowing that, and touched him. And he looked that man straight
in the eye and he said, I will. You will? Yes, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately,
his leprosy was cleansed. It doesn't matter how great a
leper you are. It doesn't matter how great a
sinner you are. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Everyone that asketh, receiveth. Everyone. Verse 4 says, And Jesus
saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, show
thyself to the priest. and offer the gift that Moses
commanded for a testimony unto them. The Lord told him, go show
yourself to the law. He said, I will. Be thou clean. He said, now you go show yourself
to the law. See if they can find one spot on you. Can't be done. Whiter than snow. Come to the Lord Jesus.