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Lesson 3 - The Sermon of Jesus on the Mountain (2nd Qtr 2016)

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    ♪ theme music ♪
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    (Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
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    an in-depth, interactive study
    of the Word of God.
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    I'm glad you joined us today
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    as we continue a series of studies
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    on the Gospel of Matthew.
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    Our topic today: The Sermon
    of Jesus on the Mount.
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    It's going to be a great blessing,
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    and we're especially happy
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    that one of our team, Stephanie,
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    is going to be teaching today.
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    Stephanie, we are looking forward
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    to a great study.
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    (Stephanie) Amen.
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    (Derek) And we're glad that each one of you
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    has joined us for our study today.
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    It's been a great series, hasn't it?
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    I notice people ask, "It's not
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    the same people every time?"
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    No, but we're all studying, and this
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    Gospel of Matthew, I think
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    the biggest challenge is we could take
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    a whole series of studies
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    on just one section,
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    like the Sermon on the Mount,
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    but we have to look at the big picture
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    and the message that Jesus is giving us
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    through His sermon in Matthew.
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    So, we want to pray that God would bless.
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    Before I do, though, I want to welcome
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    our Hope Sabbath School members
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    around the world.
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    Thank you for writing to us.
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    You can write to us at sshope@hopetv.org,
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    and we're always happy to know
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    how God is blessing your lives.
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    Gerald writes from the Cameroon.
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    He says, "Hi, Hope Sabbath School team.
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    I'm a church member in the Cameroon.
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    I like to spend my time studying
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    with Hope Sabbath School,
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    and I now have an iPhone, and I'm ready
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    to get the Hope Sabbath School app."
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    (Team) Amen.
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    (Derek) Well, I think we have the iPhone
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    Hope Sabbath School app in 137 countries,
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    and we have the Android app,
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    which is only more recent;
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    that's, I think, in 150 countries.
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    So, we're glad, Gerald, that you're
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    going to get the Hope Sabbath School app
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    for your iPhone, and it's great
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    because you click, and the most
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    recent program opens up.
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    He concludes by saying,
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    "Hope Sabbath School is like
    a river of blessing for me,"
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    (Team) Amen.
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    (Derek) "...and I'm learning more
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    about the Word of God.
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    My dream is to be with you one day live
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    in this amazing Bible study."
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    Well, you know if you come over here
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    when we're filming, Gerald,
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    we would love to have you
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    on our team, but you're just as much
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    a part of Hope Sabbath School
    right there in the Cameroon.
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    And I want to invite you
    and everyone else watching
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    to think about gathering a group together.
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    You can download the outline,
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    the same outline that Stephanie
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    will be using today in our study,
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    from our website, hopetv.org/hopess.
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    You can download the outline,
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    or you can watch the program with a group
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    of friends; hold up your iPHone for them,
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    Gerald, but get a group of people watching.
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    We can share what we've learned together.
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    Here's a note from Pavel.
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    Anybody want to guess where Pavel is from?
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    (Team) Russia.
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    (Derek) He's from Russia, that's right.
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    How did you know?
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    He says, "Greetings, Hope Sabbath
    School, from Russia.
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    We always watch the
    Sabbath School discussion
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    and truly enjoy it.
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    Our younger daughter, Veronica,
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    Consistently asks me to send you a message,
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    so, here it is."
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    Here comes the message from Veronica:
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    "I was sitting in the kitchen
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    and enjoying your songs; I like you.
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    My name is Veronica, and I'm 5 years old."
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    Well, it's good to know
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    we have Hope Sabbath School members
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    who are 5 years old, right?
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    (Team) Amen.
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    (Derek) Thank you, Veronica,
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    for your message,
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    and we hope you will sing our new
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    Scripture song, "Praise Him
    in the Heights."
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    You can download that
    from our website, too.
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    "I'm watching you every week,"
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    continues Veronica, "with my mom and dad.
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    Thank you for the songs.
    I love them and I love all of you."
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    Well, thank you so much, Veronica!
    We love you, too.
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    And your mommy and daddy, thank you
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    for being part of our Hope Sabbath
    School there in Russia.
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    It's amazing what a variety of people
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    we have watching, isn't it?
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    Grace writes to us from China,
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    and she says, "I often translate
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    Hope Sabbath School for my mother
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    who teaches a Sabbath School
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    in a small church in Beijing.
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    So, this is what we are talking about,
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    making Hope Sabbath School available
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    in other languages.
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    It's already happening by individuals.
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    Remember a recent email from someone
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    in Russia. Her husband was
    translating for her.
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    "Please pray for my family so that we
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    can all love and reverence God."
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    Wow.
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    "These days there are many temptations
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    for people of all ages,
    especially young people.
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    Pray for us so that we can have
    the wisdom to follow God.
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    God bless you."
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    Well, we'll do that, Grace.
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    God bless you there in
    the great country of China.
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    May God bless your witness
    to those around you.
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    Here's one last really encouraging
    email from Christian.
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    Now, that name has special significance,
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    as you'll discover in a minute.
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    Christian is from Malawi, and Malawi
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    is right there in the heart
    of Africa, right?
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    "Dear Saints," that's an encouraging title.
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    "Dear Saints, I'm happy to God
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    for using Hope Sabbath School
    to bring a change to my life.
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    (Team) Amen.
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    (Derek) This is wonderful.
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    "It has really made an impact on my life
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    since I grew up a Muslim, and I never
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    found the truth as I found it now.
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    Now I have decided to follow
    Jesus and be baptized.
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    (Team) Amen! Praise God.
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    (Derek) Wow.
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    "As I am speaking, I am now
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    a true believer in Bible truth.
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    Thank you for the mission you're doing
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    in cooperating with Jesus Christ
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    in saving lost sinners like me."
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    Is that powerful?
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    (Team) Amen. Praise God.
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    (Derek) "May the Good Lord bless us all,
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    and now you understand."
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    He has another name, but he's
    been given a new name.
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    His name is Christian.
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    Thanks for writing to us, Christian,
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    from Malawi, and we just want
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    to praise God for the way
    He's leading you,
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    not only for your salvation but to be
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    a blessing to those around you.
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    Right now we want to sing
    our Scripture song.
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    It's word for word from Psalm 148.
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    So, it's 3,000 years old, but it's got
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    a new tune; I hope you'll enjoy it.
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    "Praise Him in the Heights."
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    Let's sing it together.
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    ♪ music ♪
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    (Derek) And, for those of you
    who don't know,
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    in Hebrew "Praise the Lord"
    is "Hallelujah!"
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    So, what a beautiful, ancient,
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    Scripture song with a message
    with a message for us today.
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    And, Stephanie, as you lead us
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    in this important study, "The Sermon
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    of Jesus on the Mount," I know in the end
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    we are going to say, "Praise the Lord!"
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    because it's really encouraging news.
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    So, why don't you lead us in prayer
    as we begin our study.
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    ((Stephanie) Let's bow our heads.
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    Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much
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    for giving us this opportunity
    to study Your Word.
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    We just ask that, as we study Your Word,
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    You would send Your Holy Spirit
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    to guide us and to direct us,
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    that at the end of the study, Lord,
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    our lives would be changed, and we
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    would have something to share
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    with those around us.
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    In Jesus' name, amen.
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    (Team) Amen.
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    (Stephanie) So, our study today
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    is on the Sermon on the Mount
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    according to Matthew, but we also know
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    that Luke records this Sermon on the Mount
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    as well, and there are some
    differences that we see.
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    Before we go looking into looking
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    at some verses, we do some differences
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    between the account of Matthew
    and that of Luke.
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    What can we learn from the differences
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    that we see?
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    Notice that Matthew is how
    many chapters it spans over?
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    (Derek) Three whole chapters.
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    (Stephanie) Three whole chapters,
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    and that's over 100 verses.
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    And Luke spans over how many verses?
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    (Derek) I think there's 30.
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    (Stephanie) Just around 30.
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    So, what can we learn from the differences
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    that we see there, anyone?
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    (Derek) You know, Stephanie,
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    it's interesting that even in the 30 verses
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    of Luke some things are new.
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    So, that tells me that probably
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    neither of them has everything.
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    If Jesus taught all day on the mount,
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    that the Spirit's guiding
    them to share some insights.
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Derek) It's not a video.
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    (Stephanie) That's right.
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    (Derek) Guided by the Holy Spirit,
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    which is interesting because then
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    we ask, "Why did the Holy Spirit
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    inspire Matthew to include what he did?"
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    but there's probably much more.
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    (Stephanie) So, we've learned that
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    it's thought-inspired right?
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    It's not exact word-by-word inspired.
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    Was there someone else?
    Go ahead.
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    (Kyle) It's like the four Gospels
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    are all a little different because each one
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    has a different perspective.
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    God uses each personality
    to bring a new insight,
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    and He puts it all together
    for a more complete picture.
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    (Derek) And, Stephanie, I just want
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    to catch you because I understand
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    what you are saying about inspired
    versus word-for-word.
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    I think Matthew and Luke are writing
    down the words Jesus said.
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Derek) So, it's a little different
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    from the prophet being given a vision
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    like Daniel, and he writes it
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    in his own words, rather than
    being dictated.
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    I think here Jesus may have said
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    different things in different ways
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    during the day, and for some reason,
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    which maybe we'll discover in our study,
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    Matthew decides, "I'm going
    to record some of these."
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    By the way, he was there, right?
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    He was an eye witness, Matthew.
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    (Team) He was.
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    (Derek) Luke has to talk to eye witnesses,
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    and so he, guided by the Spirit, too,
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    gets some other insights,
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    but I think the Holy Spirit's definitely
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    giving us a reliable account
    of what Jesus said.
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    (Stephanie) Amen.
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    Is there a difference in the audience
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    that Matthew and Luke are speaking to?
    Yes, Olric.
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    (Olric) Matthew's Gospel,
    from our research,
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    is more targeted to a Jewish audience,
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    so in his Gospel he tends to play up
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    more Jesus' kingship, and in his rendering
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    of the Sermon on the Mount it is
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    a little longer than Luke's version
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    because we know in those days
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    a king is the person invested
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    with the authority to enforce the law,
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    keep the law in the land like the lawgiver.
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    So he spends a little more time on that
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    as opposed to Luke, who was writing more
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    to Gentiles, but he wanted the Gentiles
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    to see the law in a way that was
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    more applicable to them.
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    So he did not include many of the things
    that Matthew was about.
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    (Stephanie) So, would you say that
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    in Matthew some of the very detailed
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    renditions that Matthew shares
    connects with the Jews?
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    (Olric) Yes.
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    (Stephanie) ...in a way that is powerful?
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    (Olric) Yes, indeed.
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    (Stephanie) All right.
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    Let's go ahead and jump into
    Matthew, chapter 5,
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    and we'll read verses 17 through 19.
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    And, Joshua, if you would be willing
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    to read for us those first three verses
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    in Matthew, chapter 5,
    verses 17 through 19?
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    (Joshua) Absolutely, and I'll be reading
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    from the New King James
    Version; the Bible says:
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    (Stephanie) So, what are we
    talking about here?
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    We're talking about the Law of God, right?
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    (Joshua) Yeah.
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    (Stephanie) This is the introduction
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    to the Law of God that Matthew
    is talking about.
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    Let's go and look at a few more verses,
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    and then we'll consider some questions
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    as they relate to the verses that we read.
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    In Matthew, chapter 5:21-22.
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    Olric, would you read that for us,
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    Matthew, chapter 5, verses 21 and 22.
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    And then we'll read verses 27 and 28.
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    (Olric) Reading from the New
    Living Translation:
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    (Stephanie) Wow, that's pretty strong.
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    (Olric) Verses 27 and 28?
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    (Stephanie) Yes, go ahead and continue on.
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    (Stephanie) So, do you see a pattern?
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    What is the pattern that you see
    in these verses?
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    Go ahead, Tricia Lee.
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    (Tricia Lee) Well, first if we
    were wondering, "Well, what law
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    is he talking about," it's clear
    as we kept reading
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    that he's talking about the
    Ten Commandments
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    that the people at the time believed...
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Tricia Lee) ...prided themselves in being
    able to keep, and you start to understand
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    more about what Jesus meant when He said,
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    "I've come to fulfill," to give
    a clearer understanding
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    of what it truly means to keep the Law.
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    And at the time, they were more concerned
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    about the outward physicality of behaviors
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    that proved that they
    were observing the laws,
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    but here Jesus starts to point
    to what's happening in our hearts,
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    in our minds, in our thoughts,
    and kind of showing that
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    breaking the Law or even sin
    doesn't just occur in an action,
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    it kind of starts in our hearts
    and our minds.
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    So, again, in fulfilling that Law,
    He's really kind of peeling back
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    what they thought was the reality
    in showing that it's much deeper
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    than they thought in just the behavior.
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    There's something that's happening
    in the heart that only He can come
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    and help them fix or
    help them actually be.
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    (Stephanie, Team) Yes.
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    (Stephanie) Did you have a comment, Jason?
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    Go ahead.
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    (Jason) Yes, I'm looking at this here,
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    and it talks about how He didn't come
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    to destroy but to fulfill,
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    because Jesus could be accused
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    of these new teachings
    as destroying the law,
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    but what He's saying is,
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    "Look, I'm not destroying the Law;
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    I'm showing you what it really means."
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    So, He's not saying what
    was said of old is untrue;
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    He's saying what was said of old,
    it is true, but also this.
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    So, you have a very limited picture
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    of what the Law is, but this is
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    a greater understanding,
    a greater fulfillment
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    of what the Law truly is.
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    And that is what He is doing
    here in the sermon.
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    (Stephanie) He's expounding on that.
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    Yes, Missy.
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    (Missy) From the fall of humanity,
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    you know, they had perfection in Eden.
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    Then came the fall.
    They fell so far.
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    Humanity just, fell, fell, fell,
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    and so, step by step, through Scripture
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    you see how God is taking them
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    step by step back to His ideal
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    until you could see the fulfillment
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    of the Law in Christ when
    He came to humanity.
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    And it was supposed to be a revelation
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    of who God really was.
    You know, opening our minds
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    to what the Law really meant.
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    (Stephanie) Yes. Nathan.
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    (Nathan) Keep in mind that Matthew
    is writing to Jews...
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Nathan) ...and Moses was
    the great hero as the lawgiver.
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    Moses went up on the Mount Sinai
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    to receive the Law from God,
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    and then he gave it to the people,
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    and the people did their best
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    to keep the law, but Moses was the one
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    who lead them out of slavery
    and into the Promised Land, right?
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    So, the "deliverer."
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    ((Stephanie) Right.
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    (Nathan) Now Matthew is showing
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    Jesus is the One who went
    up on the mountain
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    and now expounds upon the Law.
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    He's the new Moses, showing them,
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    "Okay, you received the Law
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    on the mountain from God
    through Moses,
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    now up on this mountain Jesus
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    is saying, 'Let me show you what
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    this Law really means and how
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    it applies deeply inwardly,
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    and then you're going to be free,
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    not just from Egypt
    but from the slavery of sin...'
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    (Stephanie, Team) Amen. Wow.
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    (Nathan) '...when we get to the depths
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    of what the Law means deep in the heart.'"
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    (Stephanie) And I want to go
    to another passage
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    before we leave the teaching
    of Jesus about the Law of God.
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    We'll move to Matthew 5:43-48,
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    and, Kyle, would you be willing
    to read that for us?
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    Matthew 5:43-48.
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    (Kyle) I'll be reading from
    the New King James Version.
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    The Bible says:
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    (Stephanie) Wow.
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    There's a lot in that verse.
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    What do you pull out from those verses?
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    Go ahead, Joshua.
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    (Joshua) I will say that it's this aspect
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    of Christianity that's the most difficult.
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    You know, if you compare this
    sort of command from Jesus
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    in comparison to the Ten Commandments,
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    the Ten Commandments
    actually look pretty easy.
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    You know, if you tell me I'm supposed
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    to love my enemies, do good to those
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    who are persecuting me, it's like,
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    "Are you serious?"
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    But at the same time we have to think
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    about the fact that people
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    outside of Christianity judge us
    based on this sort of thing,
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    not simply how many times do you
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    go to church in a week or how many
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    Bible verses do you know,
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    but it's in our character and in the way
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    that we treat others.
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    (Stephanie) Wow, yes.
    Go ahead, Juliana.
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    (Juliana) Actually this summer I was
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    traveling around in Europe and happened
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    to interact with an individual on a train.
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    And, somehow we got to talking
    about this kind of stuff,
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    and he told me, "You know, Christianity
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    is supposed to be so much more
    radical than it is.
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    So many people, they focus just
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    on the Ten Commandments,
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    but what about the Sermon on the Mount?"
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    And it kind of goes along with what
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    you are saying, like, people
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    from the outside are looking
    at us, and, it's like, wow!
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    This is what Christianity
    is supposed to be.
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    And I think that he was completely right,
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    that we should be looking a lot more
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    at the Sermon on the Mount for many
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    of the things of how we should
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    interact with other people.
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    (Stephanie) So isn't it interesting;
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    I think Jesus was trying to move us away
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    from just a head knowledge
    to a heart knowledge, right?
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    (Team) Yes. Amen.
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    (Stephanie) A heart experience.
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    (Derek) You know, I think, Stephanie,
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    something Jason said earlier is
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    really important because some Christians
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    get confused and say the Ten Commandments
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    doesn't matter; we just need
    to love, but that's absurd.
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    That's like saying, "Don't hate people,
    but you can kill them."
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    "Don't lust after someone, but you
    can commit adultery with him or her."
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    It's not that.
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    The Commandments stand.
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    But, as Tricia Lee was pointing out,
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    God is calling us to a much
    higher standard.
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    In fact, to be honest, it's
    an impossible standard
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    if we're going to do it
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    in our own strength because we know
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    how feeble we are.
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    (Stephanie, Team) Yes.
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    (Derek) It's going to take a miracle...
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    (Stephanie) Exactly.
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    (Derek) ...so that, as Joshua pointed out,
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    people will look, and they'll actually see
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    Jesus reflected, right?
    Instead of us.
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    (Stephanie) And that happens as a result
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    of the head knowledge going
    to our hearts, right?
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    And that's the next section that we
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    want to move into, this outward conformity
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    versus an inward conversion.
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    And, I'd like us to move
    to Matthew, chapter 5, verse 20.
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    Go back to Matthew, chapter 5, verse 20,
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    and, Missy, would you read that for us?
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    (Missy) I am reading from
    the New Living Translation:
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    (Stephanie) So, I think this is coming back
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    to what Juliana was saying.
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    People expect something more than
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    just a check off, right?
    they want something real.
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    (Olric) But it's not just the realness.
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    Notice here he says,
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    "Unless your righteousness
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    exceeds their righteousness, what was
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    their righteousness that was
    not sufficient for God?
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    Their righteousness...mind you,
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    righteousness means "right doing."
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    So, they had the outward expression
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    of doing right, but at the same time
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    the inward conversion was not there.
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    What they were doing was not from a heart
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    that genuinely loved God and loved people.
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    So you find that a lot
    of what was being done
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    looked right to the folks on the outside,
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    but God knew that the heart
    was not transformed.
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    So, Jesus is saying,"It's not just
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    to do right on the outside; I want
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    your heart to be in
    the right condition also."
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    That means that your actions
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    will be inspired and motivated
    by the right desires.
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    (Stephanie) So, it starts in the heart,
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    it starts in the mind, and then
    our actions follow.
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    Go ahead.
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    (Kyle) I'm just going to add
    onto what he said
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    because the Pharisees, they had
    a scale of how...
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    They said, "Okay, this is a sin and this
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    is worse and worse and worse,
    and this is a good deed,
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    and this one's really good,
    and this one's really, really good."
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    And they almost would balance and say,
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    "If your good deeds outweigh
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    your bad deeds, then you earned
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    righteousness in God's sight."
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    So, it was this whole outward way
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    of building up themselves, basically,
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    to feel like they were good
    and accepted by God.
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    But Jesus comes, and He says,
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    "That's not what it's about.
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    Every amount of human
    righteousness is inadequate."
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    The only thing is the
    true heart righteousness
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    that you were talking about, Pastor Derek.
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    That is only from the Holy Spirit.
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    And that's a total transformation
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    of character; true perfection
    in God's eyes.
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    (Stephanie) By the way, those who
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    were listening, because we look at it,
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    and we say, "Oh, it has to exceed
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    the righteousness of the Pharisees."
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    Well, we know what the righteousness
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    of the Pharisees looked like,
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    but for those who were listening,
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    the Pharisees were on a high level.
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    (Team) Right.
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    (Stephanie) So, for them, they were
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    thinking, "Whoa!
    For us to exceed that --
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    we can't even match them --
    how do we exceed that?"
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    So, what is Jesus trying to teach?
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    And, also another question that I
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    would have, too, is that,
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    have you ever tried to earn
    the favor of Christ, of God?
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    I mean, let's be real.
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    Have you ever been in that situation?
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    Please be willing to share, I hope,
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    a time when you've tried to do that.
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    What was that like?
    Go ahead, Tricia Lee.
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    (Tricia Lee) Your first question
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    about how could they exceed the
    righteousness of the Pharisees.
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    The Pharisees, you're right.
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    They were very good at doing
    what the law required,
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    and the different requirements
    that they made,
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    but they did not love God,
    and they did not love other people
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    other than themselves.
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    And we find that that was what God
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    was trying to teach them was that,
    at the heart of the commandments,
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    loving the Lord more than anything else
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    and loving your neighbor as yourself,
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    and they completely missed all of that.
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    So, the "checking of the boxes" meant
    nothing because they didn't love God.
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    They crucified Him, tried to kill Him
    at every chance they could.
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    They did not love their neighbors;
    they were the ones walking past
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    the Samaritan on the road
    and these people.
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    I think that it's hard because, as humans
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    and even as you grew up as a child,
    you learned that if you study hard
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    and you get a good grade,
    or if you do this then you get a reward.
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    So, it goes against the way even society
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    runs and functions, that,
    if you do something then
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    you get something.
    An action has an equal reaction.
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    But here God is showing us that
    it really doesn't depend upon you
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    or me or us, it all has to depend
    upon Christ, and that's where
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    the faith comes in.
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    So, it's the faith, it'is the obedience,
    it's all depending upon Christ.
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    It's really His righteousness
    that's working in us.
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    And I think what happens,
    at least for me, is that...
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    and I'm sorry...it's just that
    once you are honest with yourself,
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    and when you realize, "I keep
    trying, and I keep failing,
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    and that's not good enough,"
    at some point you just have
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    to get tired of trying and failing,
    and you realize it can't depend
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    upon me anymore. I have to reach out
    to somebody who I know
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    was successful in this life,
    and it was Christ.
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    (Stephanie) And who has
    the power to do it.
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    (Tricia Lee) Exactly.
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    (Stephanie) To get us out of the mess.
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    And I think we've all
    been there, haven't we?
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    (Team Member) Yeah!
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    (Stephanie) We realize that we need Jesus.
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    Andrea, you wanted to share?
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    (Andrea) I only wanted to reflect
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    a little bit on your question, which was
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    how would we express if we have been
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    in a similar situation, and where we felt
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    we needed to do something in order
    to earn God's favor.
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    And I recall I was a teenager and have sat
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    in church many times listening
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    to baptismal appeals and calls
    to give our lives to Jesus.
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    And, as the pastor's daughter,
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    it was something I would
    listen to very frequently.
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    However, I had the feeling or a tendency
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    of thinking that I have to be
    very prepared to make that step.
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    So, for years I have resisted the call,
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    and I have considered that
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    I'm not ready yet, or
    I'm not good enough...
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    (Stephanie) Wow.
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    (Andrea) ...until I was 17 when I started
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    to meditate more upon this decision,
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    and decided I have to make this step
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    even if I'm not feeling quite ready,
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    and the Lord will take care of the rest.
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    (Stephanie) Amen.
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    (Andrea) I cannot tell you how blessed
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    I felt afterwards.
    It was the best decision of my life.
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    (Stephanie, Team) Amen.
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    (Derek) You know what Jesus said,
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    Stephanie, in the Sermon
    on the Mount just a little later.
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    He said, "Seek first the Kingdom
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    and His righteousness."
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Derek) And really what Tricia Lee
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    is saying is righteousness is a gift,
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    back to that miracle of new creation
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    that we talked about in a previous study.
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    God is going to change us from the inside
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    so that we are motivated by love,
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    even in the keeping of the Commandments.
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    Love to God and love to those around us.
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    And that's a miracle of the new creation.
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    (Stephanie) And I believe John,
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    chapter 14:15 tells us
    a little bit about that.
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    John, chapter 14, verse 15.
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    And, Nathan, would you be willing
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    to read that for us?
    John, chapter 14, verse 15.
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    (Nathan) Right. I'm reading
    from the New King James Version.
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    John 14 and verse 15:
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    (Stephanie) Wow.
    Very simple, right?
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    (Team Member) Very plain.
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    (Stephanie) So, how does your attitude
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    towards God's law change when you have
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    this trusting, loving relationship
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    with Jesus as your Savior and your Lord?
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    How does that change?
    Olric?
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    (Olric) You want to keep it because,
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    when you have this love relationship
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    with God, I compare it to a marriage.
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    You know, for those who are
    married here on the set.
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    You know, you have your spouse,
    you exchange vows and so forth.
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    And, you know, some folks, they
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    may be married for 7 years, 4 years,
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    50 years, and sometimes we question
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    and we ask them, "How did you "guys"
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    maintain that relationship,
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    that connection, the
    obedience to the vows?"
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    And they just say to me,
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    "It's very simple:
    I love the other person.
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    That's why I do what I do."
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    So, when you are in that love relationship
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    with God, you want to do the things
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    that pleases Him the same way He likes
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    doing things that blesses you.
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    So, you are motivated by a love for God,
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    that is what really propels
    you to obedience.
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    (Stephanie) The heart's been changed.
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    (Olric) The heart's been changed.
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    (Stephanie) The heart's been changed.
    Missy and then Nathan.
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    (Missy) I see Scripture as God
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    in continual pursuit of humanity,
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    "Look at me; look at my face;
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    look at what I've done for you.
    Please, keep your attention on me.
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    Look at what I've said in My Word.
    Get to know me."
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Missy) When we are able
    to hone in on that,
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    the Law is a natural
    result of the relationship.
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    (Stephanie) Powerful.
    Nathan.
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    (Nathan) Well, I love this woman.
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    (Derek) You better tell the people
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    that that's your wife.
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    (Nathan) This is my wife, and, you know,
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    if I do something that
    hurts her, that hurts me.
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    To see my wife hurting
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    because of something I've done
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    would break my heart.
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    So, when we're in love with the Lord,
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    we realize that when we break
    His Law we're hurting Him.
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    He's given us His Law because
    He wants us to be happy.
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Nathan) And when I wander away
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    from that Law that He's given, which is
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    a Law of freedom, a Law of liberty,
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    and it's a Law that brings joy to my life,
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    I know that not only am I hurting myself,
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    but I'm hurting Him.
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Nathan) So, my love for Him just propels
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    me into naturally obeying the Law
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    because I don't want to break His heart;
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    I don't want to hurt Him, as well.
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    (Stephanie) Okay, Joshua, and then
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    we'll go to Tricia Lee, and then
    we have to move on.
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    (Joshua) I believe that we not only serve
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    a holy God but we serve a practical God.
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    So, when I look at His Commandments,
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    I see that even if I weren't a Christian
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    it would be in my best interest
    to still keep these Commandments.
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    (Stephanie) Amen.
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    (Joshua) So, if you think about what it
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    would be like to murder someone, and what
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    you would have to live with after that,
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    and if you know what it feels like
  • Not Synced
    to commit adultery and see the effects
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    of that trickling after, if you look
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    at each and every Law, you'll see,
  • Not Synced
    "Wait a minute.
    He's not telling me
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    to keep these Laws as
    hoops to jump through
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    in order to make it into Heaven,"
  • Not Synced
    but it's for our own good and for our
    best interest to keep these Laws.
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    (Stephanie) Yes.
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    (Tricia Lee) Something that Missy
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    and Joshua mentioned
    about getting to know God
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    and what's in our best interest,
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    I think that the Devil's deception is that
    we would think of God as someone
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    who is out to get us, someone
    that cannot be trusted.
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    And if He's a being that is not
    to be trusted or, you know,
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    wants to hurt us, then I don't care
    about what He's saying, I don't care
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    about His Laws, (that breaking them)
    is not good for me.
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    When we do exactly what Missy is saying,
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    try to get to know Him, allow Him
    to enter our lives, and we see who He is,
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    like, how Jesus came, the best example
    and revelation of the Father,
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    He lived a whole life, when
    we see the life of Christ,
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    how could we not want to be more like Him?
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    How could we not want to see
    truly who the Father is,
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    and then everything He's saying starts
    to make sense as things for our benefit,
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    as things that will help us be
    in a loving relationship with Him.
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    So, even Christ coming and expounding
    and fulfilling the Law
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    was us seeing the Father as who
    He really is, not the deception,
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    not the lies,
Title:
Lesson 3 - The Sermon of Jesus on the Mountain (2nd Qtr 2016)
Video Language:
English
Team:
Team Adventist
Project:
Hope Channel
Duration:
58:30

English subtitles

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