Transformative Obedience: Living the Sermon on the Mount

I challenge you to think about the vision that actually governs the local group and whether or not there is a vision that is anymore clear and focused than simply surviving and as an old man I used to listen to on the radio used to say he would ask people to send in their offerings that they might keep on keeping on. [00:02:11]

The engine that pulls the Train of Christians spiritual formation is obedience to Christ that's what it's all about and now we've talked a lot about how yeah to avoid legalism when you're going that direction that's absolutely crucial but you had to go in that direction and you go in that direction by not by aiming at doing the right thing. [00:03:28]

You aim at obedience to Christ by inward transformation you aim at inward transformation and obedience to Christ is the result and so we were able to talk a little bit last evening about how how we would aim at inward transformation as you recall that we we discussed this thing that Jesus says about not swearing and how we need to let our yes be a yes. [00:03:59]

The goal namely of ourselves and then leading others to change to the point that they become people who routinely do the things that Jesus said do not who do that as an exception but that's the rule of their life now we want to go back to the Sermon on the Mount and we want to we want to try to deal with this sermon more systematically. [00:06:27]

Mighty deeds do not necessarily have to do with character God performs mighty deeds through people in many cases because he has something he wants accomplished and he's prepared to use people to accomplish that you look at the book of 1st in spooks of first and second Corinthians and the opening of verses first Corinthians he says to the Corinthians now you do not come behind. [00:11:21]

You have to understand that these do not necessarily mean Christ's likeness and sometimes people who have gifts aren't even well-balanced and a gift sometimes he seems to require that you not be well-balanced to bear the gift so you have to understand that now look at what Jesus says there I will declare to them I never knew you and depart for me. [00:12:49]

Do you have the thought that we're supposed to do what Jesus said that impress you as being the situation and what what is he referring to is referring back to all the things he said in the sermon it starts out with blessed are the poor in spirit proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom moves on to anger and so on we're going to go back and spend most of our time. [00:14:00]

Do we really believe that what Jesus said is for us to do you believe we can do it believe we should do it well I mean I I collect sayings and things that people say about all of this and I think the overwhelming sense is that we don't need to do it and probably can't and so then the Sermon on the Mount sits there and at most makes people feel a little guilty. [00:19:20]

We want to do this morning is try to talk about the sermon in a way that it will become the substance of our teaching and of our lives and in such a way that each of us will say yes this is for me this is for me and each of us will set our course to live out the things that Jesus is talking about and we become the kind of person who would just do what he says. [00:20:24]

You can think of this whole sermon as expressing the kind of heart that Jesus gives to people and I like to I like to address the whole sermon under the heading of the heart that Jesus gives the heart that Jesus gives and then as you go through the sermon you see different aspects of that showing up we won't have time to do all of them but I do want to cover the main points. [00:22:19]

You're the light of the world where you are if you are not the light there isn't going to be any light that's your calling now one of the reasons why you have to understand the Beatitudes as taking a list of the humanly and blessed ball and announcing that they too can be blessed in the kingdom of God is because if you don't understand that then you won't know the connection. [00:31:36]

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and say you are really wonderful did I miss read did I miss read that verse you wonderful no no they know they're gonna see your father in heaven but they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven they're not going to see your good works if you say that all those words like business. [00:40:06]