Bulletins - First Baptist Church, Ira TX

- - Luke 10:25–37CSB
10,000 Reasons
Blessed Be Your Name
Great Are You Lord
Introduction
Gnome-o and Juliet,
The best retelling of Romeo and Juliet, with a happier ending! Pranks done one after another, and escalate until finally real problems are caused. It is ultimately resolved because of a forbidden love, the Red and Blue’s end up putting their differences aside because of a Flamingo, and then the owners of the house end up getting marriage and they all live in the backyard together.

Matthew 5:38–42 CSB
“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
PRAY

Justice
Matthew 5:38 CSB
“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Jesus now takes another passage from the old Testament and unpacks it. It’s a direct quote from three different Old Testament Passages.
Exodus 21:23–25 CSB
If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

Leviticus 24:17–20 CSB
“If a man kills anyone, he must be put to death. Whoever kills an animal is to make restitution for it, life for life. If any man inflicts a permanent injury on his neighbor, whatever he has done is to be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever injury he inflicted on the person, the same is to be inflicted on him.

Deuteronomy 19:21 CSB
Do not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

All three of those passages are making a point that is briliant in God’s law. It protects from two different grieves, not enough punishment and to much punishment. So God’s law was really pretty simply, whatever the violation that is the punishment.
This is justice.
You get what you deserve.
Justice is a good God given thing. In the core of our hearts we are created to long for justice. We want justice, especially if we or a loved one has been wronged. We have the person who wronged us to get what they deserve, and if we are honest we probably want them to get more than they deserve to make sure they know not to do it again.
Maybe you have been around family during the holidays and a something like the phrase “I don’t get even I get ahead” was thrown around after a board game gone wrong?
This is what makes the Gospel so incredible.
God does not sacrifice His justice, to show you and I mercy. Instead God’s justice is kept, by pouring out God’s wrath on Jesus instead of Christians.
This is why we say Jesus died on the cross for our sins. God punishes sin, ALL sin including the Sin of believers who have repented of their sin and turned to faith in Jesus Christ. God does not simply sweep our sin under the rug and pretend like they did not happen. Our sin is real. And God by His nature is completely just and completely righteous. So by God’s own rule and nature He cannot forgive sin and not punish sin, so Jesus step into History and is the only person to ever live who did not deserve death, (the cost of Sin), yet He dies. This is not an eye for eye and tooth for tooth situation. This is the righteous God, Jesus in the flesh, dies the death that the unrighteous sinners you and I deserve, in order to appease the wrath of God and have sin be punished. So on the cross, God fully displays His wrath AND His mercy!
God is just and His law reflects His Justice.

Mercy
Matthew 5:39a CSB
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Notice what Jesus does here, and in all the other places too, He takes the Law and opens it to rid it of the legalistic nonsense that had encased it, and reveals it for what it is.
Pharisees and Scribes had taken these laws and misused them for their own benefit.
These laws were given to be applied civilly. A judge was to make the decision, a whole process was to be followed. The the Pharisees and Scribes decided to take these laws and apply them individually as they saw fit. There is no indication in the Scriptures that the Old Testament law was ever intended to be taken this way by God’s people. It’s taking God’s law, God’s word and then having the freedom to interpret it however you desire to fit your needs. It’s reading into God’s law, instead of recognizing the heart of God’s law and adjusting your life accordingly.
But notice what Jesus says, “You have heard it said, Eye for eye and tooth for tooth” Justice, “But I tell you do not resits an evildoer”
Wait, what? He isn’t saying this is what justice really is, or this is what mercy really is like he does with murder and adultery earlier. He isn’t dealing with making sure your character matches the law, be honest tell the truth, keep your oaths.
Here Jesus is saying God is just, and how you live that out is… do not resist the evildoer?
God and just and we should be just as well… but Jesus is making a different point, it’s less about the letter of the Law and the written of the Law.
God is just and God will get His justice… so our response to God’s justice is twofold, seek justice and trust God with Justice.

This cannot mean simply always resist the evildoer because other places in Scripture that is not the case.
Jesus resists Satan (Temptation)
Peter commands Christians to resist the devil 1 Peter 5:9
1 Peter 5:9 CSB
Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

James commands the same James 4:7
James 4:7 CSB
Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Paul resists, Acts 13:8-12
Acts 13:8–12 CSB
But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Galatians 2:11 CSB
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.

In Jesus’ life remember what he did at the crucifixion:
Falsely accused, He is silent Mt 26:63
Matthew 26:63 CSB
But Jesus kept silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
John 19:9–11 CSB
He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

When he was insulted and beaten, He did not retaliate. Mt 26:67
Matthew 26:67 CSB
Then they spat in his face and beat him; others slapped him
Matthew 27:30 CSB
Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head.
1 Peter 2:23 CSB
when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

So there are times in the Christian life when we resist and speak out and there are times when we do not, so… how are we supposed to know when is it time to resist and when is it time to stand and take it?
Jesus gives us four examples to guide our understanding.
Slap
Matthew 5:39b CSB
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
A slap in this time was not only a physical assault, but would also be a shame inducing act.
This is where Jesus is teaching us something important about Mercy! Justice is getting what you deserve, Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
According to the Law, if you are slapped on the right cheek, the person who slapped you deserves to be slapped on the right cheek as well.
Jesus says, the heart of the Law is to reveal God’s justice, and one of the ways you can reveal God’s justice is not seeking vengeance when it is do to you!
Instead, offer the other cheek as well.
What Jesus is saying, is there are times when you are physically wounded, and shamed by other people and the most godly Christian thing you can do is what no one expects, and offer the other cheek.
This isn’t saying I forgive you, this isn’t even necessarily offering mercy. Mercy would be I am not going to retaliate, this is more than that this is right hand to right hand shame, but left hand to left cheek stand would be even more offensive and shameful!
Does Jesus indicate whether the slap was earned or not? No.
There is no well they did this so I did that… that’s playground justice… not biblical justice.
Jesus does not say well if you deserve the slap take it, but if you do not deserve the slap then give the other cheek, He simply says offer the other cheek as well!
So when do we resist and when do we not resist?
If it’s personal shame, personal wounds… Jesus indicates we should offer mercy in the form of allowing the other to more than they initially do? Why?
If someone, wether you earned it or not, whether they are acting right or not, slaps you in this way, it seems like Jesus is teaching us to display the Gospel by displaying how Jesus took your shame and whatever shame they try to heap upon you, simply does not stick.

Sue
Matthew 5:40 CSB
As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
Jesus gives a different example now, if someone is suing you the assumption is you are guilty. The coat and shirt language is odd for us because our culture is different than theirs. The shirt is an under shirt that someone would wear under a coat. Nobody had closets full of clothes, you would have 2-3 shirts. Often times in legal situation clothes were accepted for those who did not have the funds to pay money. But the law required that ONLY the under shirt would be taken, the coat was not allowed because it acted as a blanket at night time, and protected people from the elements.
So eye for eye would be, give your coat up willingly without going to court! Look what Paul says about this…
1 Corinthians 6:6–7 CSB
Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers! As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

Paul argues that Christians should be very reluctant to sue each other because of what it displays to the watching world! Listen to how Paul finishes off this section…
1 Corinthians 6:8–11 CSB
Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters! Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

This section by Paul is talking about handling church matters in the church, and if the gospel really has reached into the depths of who you are at your core, then the need for vengeance especially against fellow Christians and church members is not as important as displaying the Gospel for the lost and helping the found be disicpled. If someone is continually sinning against the church, in the same letter Paul would tell them to do church discipline against them in hopes that they would repent.
But Jesus is teaching you are the one in the wrong… you have sinned against someone… they have sued you. They won and they get your shirt… Jesus says give them your coat too. The object more valuable. Why? It shows a recognition of your sin and and offering to make it up more than required. So if an unbeliever is who sued you, they should recognize your repentance and effort to make it right, and if an unbeliever imagine the questions that this would provoke?
Why would you give me more than you are required to??? Because Jesus have given me far more than I could ever have given to Him.

Force
Matthew 5:41 CSB
And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
This also has some cultural context that helps to clarify. At this time if a Roman Soldier could require you to carry their gear for about a mile. This was meant to be a reprieve for the Roman Soldiers, who had heavy gear. But imagine with me your country gets taken over, you now live under a different countries government and rule. Now the very military that over took you is now requiring you help them by carrying their equipment for a mile… you can see the pain and the insult that would cause. Eye for an eye here would be I carried your stuff a mile, you carry my stuff a mile, but Jesus flips it… take it an extra mile. Double what you are supposed to do.
Jesus is pressing the mercy law… the government, whether we like it or not, is an authority over us that God has allowed to be over us. Christians ought to be the best citizens of a nation because as long as we are not asked to do something unbiblical, we ought to obey the law. Think about the implications of carrying a soldiers stuff an extra mile what are you doing?
Well you are saving someone else from having to carry a soldiers stuff, because once you go one mile and then put the stuff down either the soldier or someone else would have to pick it up and carry it, so you are freeing someone else from this burden.
You are representing Christians as kind caring people who are able to love their enemies, this is the point Jesus makes next so I won’t press it here. Suffice it to say, since Christians have eternal life, we are able to sacrifice in this life, knowing that in the end God is Just and whatever mercy we show others is an overflow of what Christ has shown us, and thus opens the door for the Gospel to impact the hearts of the lost.
In the Rabbit Trails class this past semester one of the points of conversation we have was over the role of a Pastor as being someone who has a good reputation among outsiders, what does this mean? Because there are times, and it seems to be frequent times when a pastor (this applies to all Christians really) are required to say things that will not be recieved well by those not of the faith. Marriage is between one man and one woman for life, life begins at conception, there is a moral standard and it is God’s word not our collective ideas. Things like that.
This seems to me to be a helpful place in understanding what it means to have a good reputation among outsiders. Yes we have hard truths that we must hold to, and we do not need to apologize for. Why would we apologize for God’s word? But HOW we live out those truths matter, if we are walking for a mile carrying a soldiers gear he is not likely going to listen to us much, but as soon as we get to the mile marker and he expects us to put the stuff down and head back home, but we say it’s all good I can go another mile he will be surprised to say the least. He knows that that he believers is counter to what you believe, but if your belief is showing itself in how you are treating those who oppress you, then how much more do you think they will listen to your belief? They may not like what you say, but they will think highly of you.
We do not have military people demanding this of us today, so what does this look like?
I think there are many ways this is applicable, but maybe the most straight forward is have a good reputation among outsiders by making their job easier. Be respectful to all people, whether you agree with them or not. All human beings a re made in the image of God, and thus are worthy of dignity. Treat them like human beings created by God, and that God has put in your path for a purpose and a reason. God is placing you in the path of people to point them to the Gospel! Either for salvation or sanctification.
Go the extra mile to show them the love of God.

Give
Matthew 5:42 CSB
Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Eye for an eye would be i gave you this, so you need to repay me for it in equal value…
But Jesus doesn’t hint at that… remember this is an example of not resisting an evildoer, so the idea is more than so and so needs some help here. This is likely someone who you know will squander whatever is given to them. Or will promise to repay what is given only for you to know that you will never receive back what they “borrowed”.
This is certainly not Jesus saying sacrifice your stewardship of what God has given you to help those who are going to take advantage of you. Jesus is going to teach on giving in the coming verses, so I won’t press here but suffice it to say the biblical view of giving is stewardship. You and I do not actually own anything, everything that we have is given to us by the Lord and our job is to steward what we have been given. House, Cars, Kids, etc. With that as the backbone of biblical giving, there are principles at play to help us steward well, when we give to someone we ought to be more invested in their lives than simply throwing funds at them, we want to see them grow in the Lord more than their financial status improve. We need to think very carefully about debt, if acquiring debt causes us strain and the inability to steward our resources well then we ought to not take that debt on.
We ought to set our lives up in such a way that we can help those who are in need of help especially if they are Christians. If this gets abused Church discipline is the process of outlined by Jesus later in the Gospel of Matthew to deal with it. But Jesus is talking here about giving and it’s not about being repaid, it’s about showing mercy to those who deserve justice.
The prodigal son is such a powerful parable because the son squanders all his wealth and comes back and the Father is looking for him and meets him and embraces his when he returns, but we must be careful because there is another brother in the story who is also in sin. The younger brother recognizes his sin and repents and comes home. The Older brother is upset because he never left! and the party being thrown for the younger brother is coming out of his inheritance, the younger brother already spent his. There begins to build up in the old brothers heart a hatred and disdain for the younger brother.
He wants justice not mercy, and God gives the younger brother mercy not justice. The older brother is angry over mercy being shown.
This seems to me to be the key to this passage Jesus is teaching.
Romans 12:17–19 CSB
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.
God is in-charge of justice, not us.
We do not have to run around making sure that God does not miss upholding His justice, God does not miss anything.
Instead, we must desire for others to receive mercy!
We must pray for others to receive mercy.
We must long for mercy, because this is what we have received from God.
Conclusion
Romans 12:17 CSB
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.

1 Peter 3:9 CSB
not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.

This is difficult because there are times when we need to call for justice and plead for people to repent! Abortion is a great example of this, untold thousands of lives are lost by murdering babies in the womb, that does not seem to be a place where we ought to sit back and be silent. We speak up and fight for those who cannot speak up and fight for themselves.
But if it is about personal “rights”, we ought to be more willing to give those up for the sake of the gospel.
You and I will be wronged in this life, you and I already have been.
But many a life has been floundered frustrated and worried about making sure justice is served, instead of trusting the Lord.
Paul was imprisoned and led guards to Christ, not every “bad” thing that happens to you is “bad”.
Long for justice, rejoice at mercy!

What matters in 10,000 years?

Abraham gave the best to Lot.
Joseph embraced and took care of his brothers who sold him into slavery
David spared Saul’s life while Saul was trying to hunt him down and kill him.
Stephen prayed for those who were throwing stones that ultimately killed him.
You and I have the opportunties to do the same, long for Justice, show mercy because we have received Mercy ourselves.
- - Matthew 5:43–48CSB
- - Matthew 5:17–20CSB
- - Matthew 5:43CSB
- - Leviticus 19:18CSB
- - Matthew 5:44CSB
- - 1 John 4:7–11CSB
- - Luke 23:34CSB
- - Matthew 5:45CSB
- - Matthew 5:46CSB
- - Matthew 5:47CSB
- - Matthew 5:48CSB
- - Leviticus 19:1–2CSB
Amazing Love

Luke 10:25–37CSB

Introduction

Justice

Mercy

Slap

Sue

Force

Give

Conclusion

Matthew 5:43–48CSB

Matthew 5:17–20CSB

Matthew 5:43CSB

Leviticus 19:18CSB

Matthew 5:44CSB

1 John 4:7–11CSB

Luke 23:34CSB

Matthew 5:45CSB

Matthew 5:46CSB

Matthew 5:47CSB

Matthew 5:48CSB

Leviticus 19:1–2CSB