Sermon on the Mount – Pt 5

Jesus is laying a foundation for how the Kingdom of God operates.

Matthew 5:7-10 (NLT)

7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Matthew 5:38-42 (NLT)

38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

1. We are able to reveal the Heart of God to people around us.

Matthew 5:43-45 (NLT)

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

– It is not all about us.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NLT)

14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 (NLT)

16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

2. We must love our enemies because God has given us the task of reconciling people to Christ.

3. If we are truly followers of Jesus, we will truly want our enemies in the Kingdom of God.

Acts 7:52-60 (NLT)

52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

SMALL GROUP MEETING OUTLINE:

Where your faith intersects with real life!

Reconnect:

Each person shares a recent high and low from their life.

Explore:

Review the message notes.

Big Idea: We must love our enemies because God has given us the task of reconciling people to Christ.

Consider:

Choose one or two questions for your Group to discuss as time allows.

▶ Read Matthew 5:38-45.

– How do you react when people wrong you or treat you poorly? How does Jesus’s teaching change your instinctive reaction?

– Why do Jesus’s words on revenge and retaliation matter today?

– Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-20. Jesus’s work on the cross reconciled us to God. How does this message of reconciliation change your attitude toward your enemies?

Activate:

Spend a moment in silence to consider your response, then share your decision with the Group.

Who is someone you know that needs to be reconciled to God? Consider how you can pray for them and ask the Lord to give you compassion for them, that they would experience the saving power of Jesus and move from being an enemy of God to becoming a child of God.