♪ theme music ♪

(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study 
of the Word of God.

I'm glad you joined us today

as we continue a series of studies

on the Gospel of Matthew.

Our topic today: The Sermon 
of Jesus on the Mount.

It's going to be a great blessing,

and we're especially happy

that one of our team, Stephanie,

is going to be teaching today.

Stephanie, we are looking forward

to a great study.

(Stephanie) Amen.

(Derek) And we're glad that each one of you

has joined us for our study today.

It's been a great series, hasn't it?

I notice people ask, "It's not

the same people every time?"

No, but we're all studying, and this

Gospel of Matthew, I think

the biggest challenge is we could take

a whole series of studies

on just one section,

like the Sermon on the Mount,

but we have to look at the big picture

and the message that Jesus is giving us

through His sermon in Matthew.

So, we want to pray that God would bless.

Before I do, though, I want to welcome

our Hope Sabbath School members

around the world.

Thank you for writing to us.

You can write to us at sshope@hopetv.org,

and we're always happy to know

how God is blessing your lives.

Gerald writes from the Cameroon.

He says, "Hi, Hope Sabbath School team.

I'm a church member in the Cameroon.

I like to spend my time studying

with Hope Sabbath School,

and I now have an iPhone, and I'm ready

to get the Hope Sabbath School app."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Well, I think we have the iPhone

Hope Sabbath School app in 137 countries,

and we have the Android app,

which is only more recent;

that's, I think, in 150 countries.

So, we're glad, Gerald, that you're

going to get the Hope Sabbath School app

for your iPhone, and it's great

because you click, and the most

recent program opens up.

He concludes by saying,

"Hope Sabbath School is like
a river of blessing for me,"

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) "...and I'm learning more

about the Word of God.

My dream is to be with you one day live

in this amazing Bible study."

Well, you know if you come over here

when we're filming, Gerald,

we would love to have you

on our team, but you're just as much

a part of Hope Sabbath School
right there in the Cameroon.

And I want to invite you 
and everyone else watching

to think about gathering a group together.

You can download the outline,

the same outline that Stephanie

will be using today in our study,

from our website, hopetv.org/hopess.

You can download the outline,

or you can watch the program with a group

of friends; hold up your iPHone for them,

Gerald, but get a group of people watching.

We can share what we've learned together.

Here's a note from Pavel.

Anybody want to guess where Pavel is from?

(Team) Russia.

(Derek) He's from Russia, that's right.

How did you know?

He says, "Greetings, Hope Sabbath
School, from Russia.

We always watch the 
Sabbath School discussion

and truly enjoy it.

Our younger daughter, Veronica,

Consistently asks me to send you a message,

so, here it is."

Here comes the message from Veronica:

"I was sitting in the kitchen

and enjoying your songs; I like you.

My name is Veronica, and I'm 5 years old."

Well, it's good to know

we have Hope Sabbath School members

who are 5 years old, right?

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Thank you, Veronica,

for your message,

and we hope you will sing our new

Scripture song, "Praise Him
in the Heights."

You can download that
from our website, too.

"I'm watching you every week,"

continues Veronica, "with my mom and dad.

Thank you for the songs. 
I love them and I love all of you."

Well, thank you so much, Veronica!
We love you, too.

And your mommy and daddy, thank you

for being part of our Hope Sabbath 
School there in Russia.

It's amazing what a variety of people

we have watching, isn't it?

Grace writes to us from China,

and she says, "I often translate

Hope Sabbath School for my mother

who teaches a Sabbath School

in a small church in Beijing.

So, this is what we are talking about,

making Hope Sabbath School available

in other languages.

It's already happening by individuals.

Remember a recent email from someone

in Russia. Her husband was 
translating for her.

"Please pray for my family so that we

can all love and reverence God."

Wow.

"These days there are many temptations

for people of all ages, 
especially young people.

Pray for us so that we can have
the wisdom to follow God.

God bless you."

Well, we'll do that, Grace.

God bless you there in 
the great country of China.

May God bless your witness
to those around you.

Here's one last really encouraging
email from Christian.

Now, that name has special significance,

as you'll discover in a minute.

Christian is from Malawi, and Malawi

is right there in the heart
of Africa, right?

"Dear Saints," that's an encouraging title.

"Dear Saints, I'm happy to God

for using Hope Sabbath School
to bring a change to my life.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) This is wonderful.

"It has really made an impact on my life

since I grew up a Muslim, and I never

found the truth as I found it now.

Now I have decided to follow 
Jesus and be baptized.

(Team) Amen! Praise God.

(Derek) Wow.

"As I am speaking, I am now

a true believer in Bible truth.

Thank you for the mission you're doing

in cooperating with Jesus Christ

in saving lost sinners like me."

Is that powerful?

(Team) Amen. Praise God.

(Derek) "May the Good Lord bless us all,

and now you understand."

He has another name, but he's 
been given a new name.

His name is Christian.

Thanks for writing to us, Christian,

from Malawi, and we just want

to praise God for the way 
He's leading you,

not only for your salvation but to be

a blessing to those around you.

Right now we want to sing
our Scripture song.

It's word for word from Psalm 148.

So, it's 3,000 years old, but it's got

a new tune; I hope you'll enjoy it.

"Praise Him in the Heights."

Let's sing it together.

♪ music ♪

(Derek) And, for those of you
who don't know,

in Hebrew "Praise the Lord"
is "Hallelujah!"

So, what a beautiful, ancient,

Scripture song with a message
with a message for us today.

And, Stephanie, as you lead us

in this important study, "The Sermon

of Jesus on the Mount," I know in the end

we are going to say, "Praise the Lord!"

because it's really encouraging news.

So, why don't you lead us in prayer
as we begin our study.

((Stephanie) Let's bow our heads.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much

for giving us this opportunity 
to study Your Word.

We just ask that, as we study Your Word,

You would send Your Holy Spirit

to guide us and to direct us,

that at the end of the study, Lord,

our lives would be changed, and we

would have something to share

with those around us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Stephanie) So, our study today

is on the Sermon on the Mount

according to Matthew, but we also know

that Luke records this Sermon on the Mount

as well, and there are some 
differences that we see.

Before we go looking into looking

at some verses, we do some differences

between the account of Matthew
and that of Luke.

What can we learn from the differences

that we see?

Notice that Matthew is how 
many chapters it spans over?

(Derek) Three whole chapters.

(Stephanie) Three whole chapters,

and that's over 100 verses.

And Luke spans over how many verses?

(Derek) I think there's 30.

(Stephanie) Just around 30.

So, what can we learn from the differences

that we see there, anyone?

(Derek) You know, Stephanie,

it's interesting that even in the 30 verses

of Luke some things are new.

So, that tells me that probably

neither of them has everything.

If Jesus taught all day on the mount,

that the Spirit's guiding 
them to share some insights.

(Stephanie) Yes.

(Derek) It's not a video.

(Stephanie) That's right.

(Derek) Guided by the Holy Spirit,

which is interesting because then

we ask, "Why did the Holy Spirit

inspire Matthew to include what he did?"

but there's probably much more.

(Stephanie) So, we've learned that

it's thought-inspired right?

It's not exact word-by-word inspired.

Was there someone else?
Go ahead.

(Kyle) It's like the four Gospels

are all a little different because each one

has a different perspective.

God uses each personality 
to bring a new insight,

and He puts it all together 
for a more complete picture.

(Derek) And, Stephanie, I just want

to catch you because I understand

what you are saying about inspired
versus word-for-word.

I think Matthew and Luke are writing
down the words Jesus said.

(Stephanie) Yes.

(Derek) So, it's a little different

from the prophet being given a vision

like Daniel, and he writes it

in his own words, rather than
being dictated.

I think here Jesus may have said

different things in different ways

during the day, and for some reason,

which maybe we'll discover in our study,

Matthew decides, "I'm going 
to record some of these."

By the way, he was there, right?

He was an eye witness, Matthew.

(Team) He was.

(Derek) Luke has to talk to eye witnesses,

and so he, guided by the Spirit, too,

gets some other insights,

but I think the Holy Spirit's definitely

giving us a reliable account 
of what Jesus said.

(Stephanie) Amen.

Is there a difference in the audience

that Matthew and Luke are speaking to?
Yes, Olric.

(Olric) Matthew's Gospel, 
from our research,

is more targeted to a Jewish audience,

so in his Gospel he tends to play up

more Jesus' kingship, and in his rendering

of the Sermon on the Mount it is

a little longer than Luke's version

because we know in those days

a king is the person invested

with the authority to enforce the law,

keep the law in the land like the lawgiver.

So he spends a little more time on that

as opposed to Luke, who was writing more

to Gentiles, but he wanted the Gentiles

to see the law in a way that was

more applicable to them.

So he did not include many of the things
that Matthew was about.

(Stephanie) So, would you say that

in Matthew some of the very detailed

renditions that Matthew shares
connects with the Jews?

(Olric) Yes.

(Stephanie) ...in a way that is powerful?

(Olric) Yes, indeed.

(Stephanie) All right.

Let's go ahead and jump into
Matthew, chapter 5,

and we'll read verses 17 through 19.

And, Joshua, if you would be willing

to read for us those first three verses

in Matthew, chapter 5, 
verses 17 through 19?

(Joshua) Absolutely, and I'll be reading

from the New King James 
Version; the Bible says:

(Stephanie) So, what are we 
talking about here?

We're talking about the Law of God, right?

(Joshua) Yeah.

(Stephanie) This is the introduction

to the Law of God that Matthew 
is talking about.

Let's go and look at a few more verses,

and then we'll consider some questions

as they relate to the verses that we read.

In Matthew, chapter 5:21-22.

Olric, would you read that for us,

Matthew, chapter 5, verses 21 and 22.

And then we'll read verses 27 and 28.

(Olric) Reading from the New 
Living Translation:

(Stephanie) Wow, that's pretty strong.

(Olric) Verses 27 and 28?

(Stephanie) Yes, go ahead and continue on.

(Stephanie) So, do you see a pattern?

What is the pattern that you see
in these verses?

Go ahead, Tricia Lee.

(Tricia Lee) Well, first if we
were wondering, "Well, what law

is he talking about," it's clear
as we kept reading

that he's talking about the 
Ten Commandments

that the people at the time believed...

(Stephanie) Yes.

(Tricia Lee) ...prided themselves in being
able to keep, and you start to understand

more about what Jesus meant when He said,

"I've come to fulfill," to give 
a clearer understanding

of what it truly means to keep the Law.

And at the time, they were more concerned

about the outward physicality of behaviors

that proved that they 
were observing the laws,

but here Jesus starts to point 
to what's happening in our hearts,

in our minds, in our thoughts,
and kind of showing that

breaking the Law or even sin 
doesn't just occur in an action,

it kind of starts in our hearts
and our minds.

So, again, in fulfilling that Law,
He's really kind of peeling back

what they thought was the reality
in showing that it's much deeper

than they thought in just the behavior.

There's something that's happening
in the heart that only He can come

and help them fix or 
help them actually be.

(Stephanie, Team) Yes.

(Stephanie) Did you have a comment, Jason?

Go ahead.

(Jason) Yes, I'm looking at this here,

and it talks about how He didn't come

to destroy but to fulfill,

because Jesus could be accused

of these new teachings 
as destroying the law,

but what He's saying is,

"Look, I'm not destroying the Law;

I'm showing you what it really means."

So, He's not saying what 
was said of old is untrue;

He's saying what was said of old,
it is true, but also this.

So, you have a very limited picture

of what the Law is, but this is

a greater understanding,
a greater fulfillment

of what the Law truly is.

And that is what He is doing 
here in the sermon.

(Stephanie) He's expounding on that.

Yes, Missy.

(Missy) From the fall of humanity,

you know, they had perfection in Eden.

Then came the fall.
They fell so far.

Humanity just, fell, fell, fell,

and so, step by step, through Scripture

you see how God is taking them

step by step back to His ideal

until you could see the fulfillment

of the Law in Christ when 
He came to humanity.

And it was supposed to be a revelation

of who God really was.
You know, opening our minds

to what the Law really meant.

(Stephanie) Yes. Nathan.

(Nathan) Keep in mind that Matthew
is writing to Jews...

(Stephanie) Yes.

(Nathan) ...and Moses was 
the great hero as the lawgiver.

Moses went up on the Mount Sinai

to receive the Law from God,

and then he gave it to the people,

and the people did their best

to keep the law, but Moses was the one

who lead them out of slavery 
and into the Promised Land, right?

So, the "deliverer."

((Stephanie) Right.

(Nathan) Now Matthew is showing

Jesus is the One who went 
up on the mountain

and now expounds upon the Law.

He's the new Moses, showing them,

"Okay, you received the Law

on the mountain from God
through Moses,

now up on this mountain Jesus

is saying, 'Let me show you what

this Law really means and how

it applies deeply inwardly,

and then you're going to be free,

not just from Egypt 
but from the slavery of sin...'

(Stephanie, Team) Amen. Wow.

(Nathan) '...when we get to the depths

of what the Law means deep in the heart.'"

(Stephanie) And I want to go 
to another passage

before we leave the teaching 
of Jesus about the Law of God.

We'll move to Matthew 5:43-48,

and, Kyle, would you be willing
to read that for us?

Matthew 5:43-48.

(Kyle) I'll be reading from
the New King James Version.

The Bible says:

(Stephanie) Wow.

There's a lot in that verse.

What do you pull out from those verses?

Go ahead, Joshua.

(Joshua) I will say that it's this aspect

of Christianity that's the most difficult.

You know, if you compare this
sort of command from Jesus

in comparison to the Ten Commandments,

the Ten Commandments 
actually look pretty easy.

You know, if you tell me I'm supposed

to love my enemies, do good to those

who are persecuting me, it's like,

"Are you serious?"

But at the same time we have to think

about the fact that people

outside of Christianity judge us 
based on this sort of thing,

not simply how many times do you

go to church in a week or how many

Bible verses do you know,

but it's in our character and in the way

that we treat others.

(Stephanie) Wow, yes.
Go ahead, Juliana.

(Juliana) Actually this summer I was

traveling around in Europe and happened

to interact with an individual on a train.

And, somehow we got to talking 
about this kind of stuff,

and he told me, "You know, Christianity

is supposed to be so much more
radical than it is.

So many people, they focus just

on the Ten Commandments,

but what about the Sermon on the Mount?"

And it kind of goes along with what

you are saying, like, people

from the outside are looking 
at us, and, it's like, wow!

This is what Christianity 
is supposed to be.

And I think that he was completely right,

that we should be looking a lot more

at the Sermon on the Mount for many

of the things of how we should

interact with other people.

(Stephanie) So isn't it interesting;

I think Jesus was trying to move us away

from just a head knowledge 
to a heart knowledge, right?

(Team) Yes. Amen.

(Stephanie) A heart experience.

(Derek) You know, I think, Stephanie,

something Jason said earlier is

really important because some Christians

get confused and say the Ten Commandments

doesn't matter; we just need 
to love, but that's absurd.

That's like saying, "Don't hate people,
but you can kill them."

"Don't lust after someone, but you 
can commit adultery with him or her."

It's not that.

The Commandments stand.

But, as Tricia Lee was pointing out,

God is calling us to a much 
higher standard.

In fact, to be honest, it's 
an impossible standard

if we're going to do it

in our own strength because we know

how feeble we are.

(Stephanie, Team) Yes.

(Derek) It's going to take a miracle...

(Stephanie) Exactly.

(Derek) ...so that, as Joshua pointed out,

people will look, and they'll actually see

Jesus reflected, right?
Instead of us.

(Stephanie) And that happens as a result

of the head knowledge going 
to our hearts, right?

And that's the next section that we

want to move into, this outward conformity

versus an inward conversion.

And, I'd like us to move 
to Matthew, chapter 5, verse 20.

Go back to Matthew, chapter 5, verse 20,

and, Missy, would you read that for us?

(Missy) I am reading from 
the New Living Translation:

(Stephanie) So, I think this is coming back

to what Juliana was saying.

People expect something more than

just a check off, right?
they want something real.

(Olric) But it's not just the realness.

Notice here he says,

"Unless your righteousness

exceeds their righteousness, what was

their righteousness that was
not sufficient for God?

Their righteousness...mind you,

righteousness means "right doing."

So, they had the outward expression

of doing right, but at the same time

the inward conversion was not there.

What they were doing was not from a heart

that genuinely loved God and loved people.

So you find that a lot 
of what was being done

looked right to the folks on the outside,

but God knew that the heart
was not transformed.

So, Jesus is saying,"It's not just

to do right on the outside; I want

your heart to be in 
the right condition also."

That means that your actions

will be inspired and motivated 
by the right desires.

(Stephanie) So, it starts in the heart,

it starts in the mind, and then
our actions follow.

Go ahead.

(Kyle) I'm just going to add
onto what he said

because the Pharisees, they had 
a scale of how...

They said, "Okay, this is a sin and this

is worse and worse and worse,
and this is a good deed,

and this one's really good,
and this one's really, really good."

And they almost would balance and say,

"If your good deeds outweigh

your bad deeds, then you earned

righteousness in God's sight."

So, it was this whole outward way

of building up themselves, basically,

to feel like they were good
and accepted by God.

But Jesus comes, and He says,

"That's not what it's about.

Every amount of human 
righteousness is inadequate."

The only thing is the 
true heart righteousness

that you were talking about, Pastor Derek.

That is only from the Holy Spirit.

And that's a total transformation

of character; true perfection
in God's eyes.

(Stephanie) By the way, those who

were listening, because we look at it,

and we say, "Oh, it has to exceed

the righteousness of the Pharisees."

Well, we know what the righteousness

of the Pharisees looked like,

but for those who were listening,

the Pharisees were on a high level.

(Team) Right.

(Stephanie) So, for them, they were

thinking, "Whoa! 
For us to exceed that --

we can't even match them -- 
how do we exceed that?"

So, what is Jesus trying to teach?

And, also another question that I

would have, too, is that,

have you ever tried to earn 
the favor of Christ, of God?

I mean, let's be real.

Have you ever been in that situation?

Please be willing to share, I hope,

a time when you've tried to do that.

What was that like?
Go ahead, Tricia Lee.

(Tricia Lee) Your first question

about how could they exceed the
righteousness of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, you're right.

They were very good at doing 
what the law required,

and the different requirements 
that they made,

but they did not love God, 
and they did not love other people

other than themselves.

And we find that that was what God

was trying to teach them was that,
at the heart of the commandments,

loving the Lord more than anything else

and loving your neighbor as yourself,

and they completely missed all of that.

So, the "checking of the boxes" meant
nothing because they didn't love God.

They crucified Him, tried to kill Him
at every chance they could.

They did not love their neighbors;
they were the ones walking past

the Samaritan on the road 
and these people.

I think that it's hard because, as humans

and even as you grew up as a child,
you learned that if you study hard

and you get a good grade, 
or if you do this then you get a reward.

So, it goes against the way even society

runs and functions, that, 
if you do something then

you get something.
An action has an equal reaction.

But here God is showing us that
it really doesn't depend upon you

or me or us, it all has to depend
upon Christ, and that's where

the faith comes in.

So, it's the faith, it'is the obedience, 
it's all depending upon Christ.

It's really His righteousness 
that's working in us.

And I think what happens, 
at least for me, is that...

and I'm sorry...it's just that
once you are honest with yourself,

and when you realize, "I keep 
trying, and I keep failing,

and that's not good enough,"
at some point you just have

to get tired of trying and failing,
and you realize it can't depend

upon me anymore. I have to reach out
to somebody who I know

was successful in this life, 
and it was Christ.

(Stephanie) And who has 
the power to do it.

(Tricia Lee) Exactly.

(Stephanie) To get us out of the mess.

And I think we've all 
been there, haven't we?

(Team Member) Yeah!

(Stephanie) We realize that we need Jesus.

Andrea, you wanted to share?

(Andrea) I only wanted to reflect

a little bit on your question, which was

how would we express if we have been

in a similar situation, and where we felt

we needed to do something in order 
to earn God's favor.

And I recall I was a teenager and have sat

in church many times listening

to baptismal appeals and calls
to give our lives to Jesus.

And, as the pastor's daughter,

it was something I would 
listen to very frequently.

However, I had the feeling or a tendency

of thinking that I have to be 
very prepared to make that step.

So, for years I have resisted the call,

and I have considered that

I'm not ready yet, or 
I'm not good enough...

(Stephanie) Wow.

(Andrea) ...until I was 17 when I started

to meditate more upon this decision,

and decided I have to make this step

even if I'm not feeling quite ready,

and the Lord will take care of the rest.

(Stephanie) Amen.

(Andrea) I cannot tell you how blessed

I felt afterwards.
It was the best decision of my life.

(Stephanie, Team) Amen.

(Derek) You know