Mike Bickle emphasizes the liberating message of Jesus in Matthew 5:38-42, where He teaches about refusing retaliation and defensiveness. Bickle explains that Jesus' call to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile is not about passivity but about freeing our hearts from the spirit of revenge and defensiveness. He highlights that these teachings are meant to help us respond with grace to insults and inconveniences, ultimately leading to a deeper relationship with God and others. The sermon encourages believers to recognize and confront their natural tendencies to be offended and to act in the opposite spirit, fostering a life of love and freedom.

Thank you, John. They're low turn to Matthew chapter 5 Father we come before you in the name of Jesus and Lord. We ask you for living understanding Holy Spirit we we recognize you as the teacher. We ask you to teach us teach my heart Lord even as I speak your word We honor the authority of your word father. We submit to it We say yes to your leadership in Jesus name. Amen Well, we're going to continue in our series on the Sermon on the Mount and In this session, we're going to look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 38 to 42 Now this is a very challenging passage of Scripture five short verses but with a very challenging Searching dimension to it, but I want to mention this. It's also very liberating matter of fact everything that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount really is to liberate our heart He's not scolding us. He's telling us the way to freedom, you know, somebody was looking over the notes and they said oh boy This is gonna be a tough one Every single passage of the Sermon on the Mount is like a chisel on our heart just you know Knocking off the stony parts of our heart. There is no safe hiding place anywhere in the Sermon on the Mount every week I look at the next week in the next week. I go Lord. Is there any reprieve and Again the answer is the Lord's answers. This is to liberate you. This isn't to scold you This isn't to make like hot make life hard It's actually to make life easy because you're living in the unity with the Holy Spirit let's look at Roman numeral 2 and Let's read through the passage briefly make a few comments and then we'll look at some of the details Verse 38 Jesus starts out and he says you've heard it was said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth Now each of the six temptations that Jesus identifies in Matthew 5. There are six specific temptations That he says we must resist these six temptations. They're common to everyone He begins each of the six with the same idea You've heard that it was said he is Making a contrast between what the religious leaders of the day were saying about Bible verses and truths And then he was giving the real meaning that was in God's heart for that particular Bible truth and the Pharisees almost always Majored on a minor and then they missed the spirit the bigger reason for what God was For why God gave that particular Bible truth? So verse 38 you've heard it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth now that is one of the most well-known Biblical principles in the Old Testament And I've heard I a tooth for a tooth and it was a law that God gave Moses to be used in the court system It was a law that God gave to the judges so that people could not Overdo revenge when they wanted a payback. It was to limit revenge is what that law was given and For several other reasons as well that I have in the notes that I won't take time to develop But Jesus said let me tell you that the Pharisees have completely missed what this glorious Biblical principle is about and it is a biblical principle that still is in effect today He said let me tell you what was Fully in the heart of God when he gave this rule because the rule the biblical principle eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth was meant to help solve personal conflicts between people and Again in a way that would limit revenge But Jesus is saying there's more than limiting Revenge in its outward actions. God actually Intended you would be liberated from revenge even at the heart level. He has more for you than just merely Restraining your physical activity and not overdoing acts of revenge He actually wants you liberated at the heart level and that's what he begins to develop from verse 39 on to verse 42 Now the main he gives one main principle one primary exhortation Then he gives four specific illustrations of that one primary exhortation Here's the exhortation. I tell you Not to resist an evil person now that is probably the most controversial Sentence that Jesus gave in the whole New Testament. I'm talking about in terms of Debates through history. What does this mean? And what does it not mean? Do not resist evil some people have taken this to a non biblical illogical conclusion and a very Rigid mechanical way that all evil must be allowed and we can resist it under no circumstances That's not what Jesus is saying Now he gives four different Examples of how this principle is to be walked out According to what was on his mind when he gave this principle so we need to read the four illustrations in Context to this principle and we need to understand this principle. Do not resist an evil man Through the lens of these four different examples he gave of it So in other words, we can't separate the major exhortation from the examples, that's why the word but is there He says I tell you not to resist an evil person, but now he's connecting. He goes. Let me tell you What God is really after? whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other cheek also now this was not a Commandment to let somebody physically beat you up. This is not about physical violence a Slap on the cheek was an insult He's talking purely about Being abused verbally not physically right here. He said if somebody insults you an evil man And the idea of him being evil means his motives are not sincere He's not trying to be helpful. He's Purposefully malicious and he says insulting things to you Instead of insulting him back retaliating Rather just bear it with graciousness and let him assault you again and don't get stirred up by it Now that's a pretty big principle. That's a that's a pretty big order Now again, Jesus is not scolding them for answering back He's actually teaching them how their heart can be liberated from the spirit of revenge They have to operate in the opposite spirit. We'll get to that in a few moments So he goes, okay if somebody insults you Don't resist them. Don't insult them back. Don't retaliate Be gracious Continue to open your heart to them. I don't mean believe their insult, but don't shut them out, but actually turn the other cheek Then he goes on to the next example, which is a legal example Verse 40 he goes if somebody wants to sue you and take away your tunic Which is comparable to our shirt today a shirt Let him also have your cloak which would be comparable to a coat So he goes if somebody wants to sue you for your shirt give him your coat now the shirt Is about a $50 item the coat is a hundred dollar item He's not talking about a major lawsuit to take over somebody's entire company It's a small claims court kind of situation. He's saying if somebody wants to sue you for $50 Which nobody does? Give him a hundred give him 150 give him twice what they ask Now the the thing that you must understand here in order to interpret this passage in the right way is the smallness of the offenses The insult is a small offense. It didn't hurt you it it bothered you it stirred our pride up It maybe hurt our feelings, but it didn't hurt us in any practical way. It's a very small thing in reality and This lawsuit is a very small lawsuit, but it is actually a legal action And so he said if somebody wants in a petty sense To take you to court for $100. Give him 200 Don't resist them and stand up and say what's the principle of the matter? No one's gonna do this to me. Give him double what they ask for we're talking about. It's a petty situation here Now if you take this out of the context of what Jesus is saying and you have a million dollar corporation I mean a billion dollar corporations. He's not saying let every evil man who wants to just have your corporation That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about a Shirt and a coat the smallness is the point in which this lens I mean is the lens we look through in order to interpret this entire passage It goes to verse 41. It's also a legal situation Verse 40 and 41 are both legal processes It says that whoever compels you to walk one mile go to Now the most translations use the word whoever forces you to walk one mile go to now. It's common knowledge in that day That the Roman army That was occupying Israel one of their laws Stated that any time a Roman soldier wanted somebody To carry their luggage their military luggage their baggage so to speak their gear one mile they had to do it They couldn't you know Call somebody out and to get a day's labor out of them just at the moment's notice, but they could get Any citizen they wondered any person in the land? Interrupt them and have them carry their luggage for one mile. It was actually a law. This was a legal process That Jesus is referring to that everybody understood Now remember this It only takes 15 minutes to walk a mile He's not talking about give them a day give them 15 minutes It's 15 minutes, it's all that it is he goes and if they make you do it because they have the position of authority Give them 30 minutes Go beyond this is not an unqualified Statement that you do double for anybody who asked you in every circumstance That's not what it's talking about of course nobody would do that nobody could do that You'd never ever be able to fill fulfill your assignment in God if you were at the mercy of everyone who asked you To give them a day of your time It was a legal rule. It was a 15 minute investment But it he said give them 30 minutes It's not gonna cost you much it might injure your pride it might frustrate you the inconvenience May really annoy you That's actually what Jesus is identifying and we'll look at that in just a moment Now the guy might complain and say 15 minutes. Are you kidding? It's 15 minutes each way I Gotta walk 15 minutes, and then walk back for it's 30 minutes, and Jesus say okay, you're right I Was in the middle of it important conversation and this Roman soldier just interrupted it I was deeply engaged in something important, and I had to take 15 minutes out I don't like this. It's a major inconvenience and the soldier was smirking about it all the time He would did have my interest in mind his motives were not good He just wanted me to carry his heavy luggage on a hot day, so he could just kind of breeze along Jesus said do it. It's a small thing. It doesn't really cost you much But if you don't do it it will cost you much not I mean it would legally the soldier would get really mad But that's not the point Jesus is talking about the Internal dynamics that will happen inside of them if they allow aren't this natural tendency to be bothered If it is allowed to grow and it's not identified and dealt with Jesus says you'll never be free. That's what he's talking about at the end of the day He's talking about operating in the opposite spirit of our natural tendency to be annoyed offended to Retaliate to say no How dare you bother me with that request a hundred dollar lawsuit. Are you kidding? No one will do this to me You wait and see Jesus said no, that's the wrong storyline for your life Your main storyline isn't nobody does this to me you wait and see your main storyline is you love God God loves you. You are his servant. You're in the kingdom. That's your storyline Not how tough you are to put off a hundred dollar lawsuit he goes and if You don't recognize this natural tendency. This is the premise of what he's talking about here Every one of us by our fallenness We inherited it from great-grandpa Adam We have a natural tendency by our fallenness to be bothered easily and to be bothered Regularly, I mean day after day by small truly insignificant issues that trouble us and Jesus is identifying this and he goes if you don't address that It will grow and it will cut off so much good in your life So this is this thing that we've all inherited it's called a it's negative emotions and you you can put a lot of different Terms to describe these negative emotions, but let's go on to the last one verse 42 He said now to him who asked you now in the context The him is still that same evil man from verse 39 I Mean first he insulted you Then he sued you for $100. Then he made you walk 15 minutes I mean this guy's bugging you now, he knocks on your door and asked to borrow your stuff Knock knock knock. Yes. Hey, it's me again. Oh, no. What are you doing here? Hey, could I borrow your stuff because it would really be helpful to me I'd like you to help me and I need some of your stuff to do it. Jesus said do it Well Lord this guy Jesus says do it operate in the kingdom spirit Get the big picture of what's going on and you can live liberated from this spirit of retaliation Which is connected to this law eye for an eye tooth or tooth Now what Jesus is really doing here is That he's exhorting them not to retaliate to insults. That's number one thing That's verse 39 then verse 40 41 and 42 three verses in a row three examples He's exhorting them to cooperate. Now. Here's the keyword with small Demands now these were real demands that people on two occasions. They had the legal right to demand this It was somebody that had authority to demand this inconvenience in their life And Jesus is saying cooperate Don't resist Don't pay back Don't prove that you won't be moved wrong idea. And here's again the overall premise Each of us by our fallenness. We have a natural tendency to resist anything that inconveniences us anything that You know just intrudes upon our way our life and and and we don't like that kind of thing and it's this Negative emotion that again could have many different Different words to describe it has many facets and what I'm calling this negative emotion is Defensiveness now that may not be the best term. But what I mean by that by defensiveness It's this idea that says they are wrong What they're asking me to do and they're wrong what they're saying and I'm right they're wrong. I'm right I'm not moving. That's what I mean by defensiveness Now defensiveness we all come by very honestly, and we're all very good at it Something comes our way Insults us they're wrong. I'm right. I don't have to bless them. I don't have to be nice to them I can insult them back. I am right. They're wrong. I'm right. They're wrong It's a posture of heart and Jesus is saying this if that it's more than defensiveness That's I don't have one word that can capture this whole naked ball of a negative emotions that we all have Jesus is saying if this emotion in you goes undealt with Undetected you don't ever identify it as perilous You see it as a weakness and you don't really like it. You think well, you know, I get bothered pretty easy I get pretty easy distracted Jesus is saying no, it's more serious than that far more serious. It's perilous It will over time Cause you to miss out on so much good in your life This will minimize You're a bit the quality of your life in a way. You don't grasp it won't go away by itself if it is not identified and then repented of So we identified I have this defensiveness or whatever emotion you want to call it then repent of it I declare war on it, but that's not enough. We act in the opposite spirit of it It's not enough to identify it and say it's bad and repent of it We have to act in the opposite spirit of it The guy wants to make you do a 15-minute inconvenience Give him 30 and do it with a happy spirit. Your heart will get liberated That's what Jesus is saying the man with the evil heart the wrong motives. He won't be helped by it He might you carry this stuff for 15 minutes, but you'll get liberated now the What do you think of a 70-year life You know many people this isn't an actual scientific number But many people have two or three big setbacks in a 70-year period, you know, I don't know what exactly you know What that might mean in all the categories, but two or three negative setbacks some more some less. I mean big ones Maybe you won't But here's the point Those negative setbacks those two or three in a lifetime won't hurt you nearly so bad as 10,000 negative bothered Emotions that we just ignore and allow to grow that will actually destroy the quality of our life far more than even a couple of big setbacks will Now most people aren't even aware. This is a perilous thing in them And so therefore they would look at verses like this. They go. Wow. Those are pretty neat. I Mean, this is intense stuff. Now. Here's the I think in my opinion The wrong approach to to these five verses is to make them such high and lofty You know verse 39 don't resist anybody Give everybody everything if they sue you It's so high and lofty no one actually ever does it I mean who could let an evil person Assault their life in any way they want physically economically spiritually emotionally with never ever resisting it in any way But that's what many people think this mean But what it boils down to is this these five verses don't really mean anything to them in their practical life. I Practical principles principle what Jesus is saying in verse 39 gives four illustrations and It's within the reach of everybody because he's talking about small disturbances He's talking about inconveniences he's talking about insults petty things compared to the big issues of life and Jesus is saying those little things Not detected and dealt with by repenting and acting in the opposite spirit again Not enough to say it's wrong and declare war on it You have to actually work your muscle and work in the other way Jesus is saying this will destroy Dimensions of the potential quality of your spiritual life and of your relationship with other people I mean you can still be saved you can still be married and Enjoy your spouse or your children But you're bugged all the time and your capacity to engage in love in a deep way is significantly minimized People that are bothered throughout the day day after day Can't engage in love from the heart level nearly so well They can still be saved but they miss out so much so I submit to you that Jesus is talking about small things That are doable again if you exaggerate what he's saying here it will just be a poem that won't have any real meaning in your everyday life and In context to what Jesus is saying in Matthew chapter 5. I am convinced. He's talking about our attitude towards people who bother us that impose upon us and they even have on two occasions verse 40 41 they even have a Legal right to do it. I mean they're using legal processes Now there's many applications of this let's look at paragraph B Now Jesus gave only four illustrations of this kingdom principle He only gave four illustrations He could have given a hundred illustrations. He only gave four he took practical issues of everyday life he said let me give you a Snapshot of how this principle operates Verbally if they insult you don't insult them back economically if they want to see you for $100 give them to small thing Inconvenience if somebody over you makes you spend 15 minutes. You have to fill out the paperwork You have to go two extra steps. Don't resist them. Just do it. Have a Spirit of cooperation your heart will get set free. It really will now that guy wants to borrow your stuff and want you to help him help him Surprising what it will do in you if you will just do what I tell you is what Jesus could have said Now some people have read the Sermon on the Mount in a wrong way Meaning they read this as precise rules and what with a complete list of How we are to behave know this these are not precise rules with the complete list The complete list would need at least a hundred different examples Now He's giving us Examples of a principle so when we understand the principle in these four life situations By the Holy Spirit we can say how does this principle to liberate our heart from vengeance? How can this liberating principle be applied in these other many other areas in life? I? Mean there's so many times just where the authority figure over you Whether it's in the workplace your boss They'll make you do a simple thing the long way. It doesn't take you a year. It takes you a half hour longer and You could get so bothered by that that you could spend a day bothered. You could spend a whole 24 hours bothered because you lost 30 minutes Jesus is saying don't do that Or maybe you're on the worship team and your worship leader wants you to do it a certain way Or maybe it's the accounting office they want you to fill out more forms I Don't need to fill these forms. I already told you my information or maybe you're involved in the in a neighborhood Situation with a neighborhood group, and there's rules and leaders or maybe the police want something from you And it's like this is technical this why are you bothering me with this? He says just do it Do it and be done with it, but not just do it in the sense of outwardly do it and have a grudge He's a no See the big picture Be liberated at the heart level and you can live with a happy spirit You can actually live with a cheerful spirit because you see the big picture of who you are to God and who God is to You and what he's given you I mean think about this for a moment. I Verse 21 That's the passage Paul uses 1st Corinthians 321 when he's talking about overcoming petty strife within different relationships in the body of Christ 1st Corinthians 3 the first three verses he says don't have envy and strife quit bugging each other so much That's really what it comes to You know you're making this guy do this and he doesn't like your way And he's whispering about it And then you whisper around him and you're resisting each other and you're sitting in the room and the age having a prayer time together And you're both folding your arms kind of you know Grimacing at each other and he says don't do that. That's it's petty That's what he tells him in chapter 3 verse 1 to 3 don't live in that conflict with one another the way above the conflict He says in verse 21 He says don't you realize God gave you everything Everything is yours. Everything is yours You're gonna have a resurrected body. You're gonna rain on the earth You're gonna live in the New Jerusalem God loves you the uncreated God loves you once you and his family What's his son? To be your husband you will be as eternal companion forever you're forgiven of everything before you're saved and thousands of things after you're saved And he covers you I mean They don't know even a percent of all that God could expose about any of us He goes he's been so nice to us. So here's what we have. We have the indwelling spirit guaranteed resurrection body New Jerusalem right on the earth a deep connection with God forever and not only that our work in this age our small weak work are The task we do that nobody pays attention to often it will be rewarded in eternity forever That means our work every day of our life is meaningful Others don't think what you're doing is meaningful But if you're obeying God when you're doing it, though, nobody else cares that you're doing it. It will be rewarded forever It makes every hour of your life meaningful. I mean, what a way to live So Paul is telling them he goes get the big picture Don't if you lose sight of the big picture Then you won't have gratitude In your interpersonal relationships with other people and you'll get easily tripped up by things that bug you Stay connected to the big picture. This is a little thing Fill out the paperwork do it the way they want If your boss wants it this way or the government wants it that way or the IRS wants it this way Just do it. It's not a big deal now paragraph C Jesus is correcting two errors the Pharisees had when they quoted this passage and I for an eye tooth for tooth the first thing the Pharisees thought was That the eye for an eye and tooth for tooth was a command for vengeance That the guy would say to his friend, you know You Broke something of mine and if it was up to me, I'd let you off the hook But the Bible commands me to make you pay exactly what you broke. I for an eye tooth for tooth Sorry, bro. You know if Moses wouldn't have commanded it I would have forgotten it Jesus saying no God is not commanding you to demand just Retribution he's Limiting the measure of your vengeance. That's what that law is. He's not making you have Revenge, but he's limiting it And he's using the legal system the next error they made is that the Pharisees told the people They could take this eye for an eye, which is a which is a just principle by the way It's a godly principle They took it out of the court system and they wanted to take the law into their own hands and they wanted to exact this justice on their own Separated from the law system the legal system now when God gave the eye for the eye tooth or tooth law It was given to the judges It was it wasn't given for one neighbor given to one neighbor when nobody was looking to go In act the vengeance on his other neighbor when nobody watched it and that's what the Pharisees were saying You have to have vengeance and you get to do it. Just don't get caught You know, I mean if you get caught, you know be careful because they're gonna come back with vengeance Jesus said you got the whole thing wrong What God wanted was us to live free from the spirit of revenge and he put that law in the legal system But he wants much more than just physical behavioral Adherence to that law. He wants your heart liberated, too That's what he's after Okay Paragraph II Here's what the Old Testament law really said. I mean, this is the fuller story Leviticus 19 verse 18 you shall not take vengeance There shall not be retribution in your spirit the spirit of revenge is what he's talking about God wants you free from the spirit of revenge You know, it's if the eye for the eye and the tooth for the tooth principle, which is a just principle But it mostly did not happen between people I mean it did happen between people but I don't mean that one guy put another guy's eye out and So then the guy with one eye says I want your eye so he that he mutilates the guy who put his eye out There's no record of that ever happening It wasn't about gouge out an eye if your eye was gouged what they did in the Old Testament they had a monetary compensation But where it it where it was even more practical was not so much physical injury that happens sometimes in a conflict But it was more in the animal. I mean in the in the realm of their animals their livestock You know, I would borrow your horse or rent your horse So your horse is now on my property for the day the horse breaks the leg now I Give the horse back to you with a broken leg You don't come break a leg of my horse. That's not the point But I need to pay you money that with a monetary compensation for that broken leg. That's what this principle meant Just so that you understand and it's a good principle. It's not a principle. That was Old Testament and now it's not in fact Now I mean intact in the new no, this is a principle of just Retribution that should be in the legal system and a nation that does this will have justice in their society But notice again Leviticus 19 don't have a spirit of revenge, but it goes more than that It's more than just acts of vengeance. He says don't even have the grudge don't have that defensive spirit that Grouchy angry spirit in your heart about it, but rather love one another He actually says the whole verse love your one another love your neighbor as you love yourself That's an Old Testament verse now. Some people have the entirely wrong idea that God in the Old Testament was wrathful and the God of the new is loving and So what it boils down to just to kind of make it real over simplified God in the Old Testament is mean and the people of God could be mean God in the New Testament is loving So now we have to be loving that's a completely wrong approach to understanding the Old Testament God in the Old Testament was loving and he had wrath just like the new and The people of God in the Old Testament were to be free at the heart level From grudges and vengeance and they were to operate in love. The problem is in the Old Testament The people did not have the indwelling spirit like we do in the new so Jesus is not adding to the law He's actually Elaborating on the spirit and the original intention of it Some people read the Sermon on the Mount and they go Jesus brought it up or not No, he pulled the veil back and said this is what I always meant when I gave this to Moses So that just kind of gives you a little bit of insight as to what that passage is about. Let's look at top of page 2 the word resist Now Again, this is the big controversy What does it mean do not resist an evil man to resist means to oppose to withstand to fight back? Jesus is talking in this cut then for examples Tell us what he means by this statement because the four examples frame out the context of which we can interpret this massive primary exhortation he's giving It's related to our personal rights our inconveniences the bearing inconveniences a guy over you whether in the government or area just at workplace or They're over your soccer team or whatever. Just the leader of the group Uses their place of authority to make a policy that you don't like and you go. That's a dumb policy Jesus said wrong response wrong response You can appeal and you can offer your advice, but you have to with enthusiasm Cooperate with them because your heart will get liberated if you do and if you don't decade after decade will go by and that Bothersomeness in your heart that we all have by nature will grow and grow and grow and you'll never be free Okay, let's look at Let's go all the way to paragraph L Now Jesus is identifying This problem in Martha now, this is a I think a brilliant example in the Bible of what Jesus is talking about Martha You know the story of Mary and Martha Martha's the older sister Mary's the younger sister They are very close friends with Jesus both of them and the scripture says Jesus loved Martha I mean he loved Mary and Lazarus that the three of them two sisters and the brother Jesus was very close to them even socially Martha's the older sister so Jesus is at her house and Martha is distracted now Martha's not just distracted that afternoon. She lives distracted and Again, I think by nature Most of us by nature if not every single person. I mean there might be some rare example I don't know who it is. We are prone by nature and our fallenness to distraction. So don't think that you have the one Problem that nobody else has the human race has this But some people address it and they deal with it and other people They just kind of put up with it as a human weakness. They don't think of it as perilous They think of it as a weakness not something that's damaging to them and when that shifts in your mind This is damaging to you. Not just a weakness. Then you approach it in a very different way So she's bothered and She complains to the Lord Don't you care that my little sister Mary has left me in the kitchen to serve alone. Tell her to help me She's complaining to Jesus about Mary because Mary's sitting at the feet of Jesus And Jesus looks at her and gives her the shock of her life But was very actually is very tender what he did. He's not scolding her at all He's enlightening her if she has ears to hear He says Martha Martha he goes, let me tell you about your emotional makeup, but I think the whole human race is this way and Some people grow out of it and some people grow more into it It says you're you're bothered by so many things. You're just bothered All the not by a couple things many things throughout the day Mary bothers you Your little brother Lazarus bothers you the truth is met Martha you bother you the neighbors bother you The way that people run things bother you you're just bothered all the time and it's not going to go away by itself Beloved that's the revelation. It won't go away by itself and it's a perilous problem Not just a personality weakness and we all deal with it Now I don't want to spend time on Luke 10 here too much just a moment Jesus is not putting in contrast the lady who serves Martha and the lady who prays praise Mary It's not a contrast about a prayer life in a life of service. No, not at all Jesus is not correcting her because she's serving he's correcting her because she's serving with the wrong spirit He dignified serving and the servant spirit is the highest virtue of the kingdom. He's not putting down serving and The big picture of what's going on here. This is how blinded Martha was to this think about what's happening the uncreated God Became human. I mean the God of Genesis 1 that created the heavens there is human Okay, that's pretty intense He's in your living room He's only been there a time or two He doesn't hang out here all the time. You read the gospel. It's only been there a time or two We only have one maybe two examples Martha What are you doing in the kitchen? cutting sandwiches God is in your living room. I Know but I gotta make sure the tea's hot and the napkins are right like Martha Stop Go sit down Listen, he's there. He wants to talk to you. That's what he's correcting I'm not correcting a servant spirit and it's not You know, I'm really into prayer. I don't serve or I really serve. I don't pray totally a wrong concept Everyone that prays must have a servant spirit of their prayer life will be diminished and quenched And everybody with a servant spirit to stay out of a wrong spirit. They better develop a prayer life communion with God Anyway, I spent too much time on that, but that was fun. Now what happens here? Here's what's happening Martha thinks Mary's the problem in her life Mary's not helping Jesus turns the focus. This is critical. He says Martha We could talk about what Mary's doing and not doing another day because what people do or don't do is an issue But it's the secondary issue. He goes the primary Problem in your life is not what your sister does or does not do It's what your emotions do and how you allow it to continue. That is your biggest problem now these four examples of how we are to walk out this principle of not resisting not having a retaliatory spirit towards people or a Uncooperative spirit towards people he gives four examples. What Jesus is really saying is these four examples They will all touch you or life at various times in various ways throughout your life what they are doing when they touch your life They're exposing to you how bothered you are That negative emotion comes to the surface That guy wants me to walk 15 minutes. I'm gonna walk 15 minutes. He doesn't know who I am And who is he to tell me is it there? Yeah, you got it. You got it now freeze that That's the emotion hindering your life Now that evil motivated person Actually gave you a blessing by isolating that for you now Repent of it and that declare war on it say it's wrong Don't worry so much about the the insult Concern yourself with the fact you're so bothered by the insult Martha think about your emotions. Don't think about what Mary's doing. Don't think about how bad the insult was think about how Vulnerable and easily you are insulted Now stare at it. Jesus saying here it is Now operate in the opposite spirit bless that guy and your spirit get free. He's not scolding them He's liberating them. You know, I gave you four examples There's a hundred examples all through life You know the university student goes and signs up for classes and they will go to here and sign up now go over there and sign Up go to the accounting go go get your pass come back here and the guys walk around said this is ridiculous What is going on wrong attitude that? Freeze it stare at it and the Lord says now I've shown you the state of your inner man You get free from that emotion if you use this opportunity Bless them and whatever they ask you to do do it with a happy spirit because you get the big picture You're a person of the kingdom Your life doesn't consist of that 30-minute inconvenience or that $100 lawsuit or that insult your life consists of God loves you. You love God You'll have a resurrected body forever. Everything belongs to you already get the big picture And you'll have gratitude You'll have so much Gratitude for who you are to God that the little thing doesn't seem like a big deal And then when you operate in the opposite spirit your heart gets freed and so you feel on the inside More in line with who you are before God a child of God Now many people these negative emotions they rise up in their 20s. They don't deal with it. Well, you know, I'm a little bothered distracted Jesus is saying that ought to be alarm alarm alarm Well, you know, I just a little pro to that. I guess that's how I am Every human being is like this it is called our fallenness working in us They don't really do nothing about it because they don't think of it as a problem. They don't do these four examples They don't operate in the opposite spirit They haven't learned them so they don't apply them to the other hundred examples. So that negativity in their 30s is worse Now in their 40s, it's even worse in their 50s. It's worse than the 40s because it grows By the time they're 60. Oh my goodness. Never mind top of page 3 Now let's I'm gonna do this very brief because I've already done it Let's just go through them. Just take a minute or two for each one of them top of page 3 again I've already covered it and so I'll just mention them again. Just kind of run your heart over one more time Somebody slaps you on the right cheek Don't that's an insult. That's not physical violence. Don't insult them back Don't go tell people about the insult. Can you believe that guy? The negative feeling that you feel in that insult isolate it identify it Stare at it and go. I got you. You're in there. I knew you were in there because I felt you an hour ago And you showed up again Repent of it and go bless the guy Work that thing out by the Spirit. Oh boy now The negative thing. I mean what Jesus taught about an evil person insults you mean their motives are bad They mean to insult you But most the time we are insulted by people who don't even mean to insult us They're in our we're married to them They're in our family There are parents our siblings our children. They're in our neighborhood. They're on the team. We work with them We like them they like us in the general sense. I Mean, it's just people out there in the workplace. Yeah, I like that guy He gives you some nice helpful advice and you go how condescending and insulting was that I Should be helpful Or maybe they just whispered a thing. I didn't really like that thing life. You didn't like it Well, what's wrong with your insight? Well, what's we didn't like it? What was there not to like? You can tell I'm good at this. I Didn't learn this in a book and so we have many relationships. We're getting insulted Jesus said if you live easily insulted you'll never enter into the quality of your walk with God your relationship with God or With the people you love you're done. You're a capacity to love will be diminished The love will be real but it will always be diminished. You won't experience it near like you could So, I mean so when somebody identifies I mean insults you they've just brought to the surface and given you a chance to isolate it Don't do what Martha did don't say Lord. He insulted me Say Lord, I'm easily insulted. Why don't I live by your opinion? Now? Here's what first Peter chapter 2 says When Jesus first Peter Peter 2 verse 23 when Jesus was reviled are insulted put the word insulted He didn't insult back. But look what he did. He committed himself to God He entrusted himself to God when translation says he said God you Answered them your time in your way, and I trust you That's what that means when it says he committed himself to God. He says they've insulted me You vindicate me and you answer it in your timing in your way. I am done with it I have I'm grateful that you've given me mercy we say and I have confidence You will vindicate me in your time may not be till the resurrection, but you will be vindicated So we go. Okay. I'm grateful for the mercy. You've covered me on everything all my sin You've been so nice to me and I have confidence in your intervention and vindication So on the basis of those two things I can release it and then an hour later somebody insults you again accidentally there rises up So I'm gonna bless them because I'm gonna work that muscle again and again and again I'm gonna live free from this thing. That's our goal Okay, number four being sued Now again, the tunic is assured. It's $100 lawsuit paragraph see This is not talking about a lawsuit to take over your billion-dollar business You know that if that's what Jesus was talking about But that means he just changed the entire context of what he was talking about here He's not talking about how to endure a financial collapse. That's not what he's talking about He's talking about how to come overcome a spirit of revenge in everyday life in conflicts So if you get sued you have a billion-dollar company Not only have you jeopardized your ability to provide for your family the thousand employees that work for you They all lose their job too and their ability to provide for their family and you can be sure an evil guy would figure out that you had to give him the company because of this verse if they Knew you were really devoted to the Lord Lord says I'm not talking about that. That's not even what I'm talking about Not talking about that at all I'm talking about a small claims sort of thing that hurts your pride not your ability to provide for your family That's what it inconveniences you and creates a how dare you in your spirit to that guy? That's what I don't want you to have let's go to top of page four Now it's the soldier It's a it's legal we got remember this is a legal authority and it's not just the government That's what's highlighted here because the Romans had the governmental authority, but it's anyone in authority over you I'm talking about in a small way at the office place and again on the team the people in the worship team the worship leaders The leader they have some policies The guy goes I don't want to do the policies Jesus says wrong spirit Yeah, but it's a waste of time Well, it will waste you 20 minutes Well, it's the principle Jesus would say yeah, that's the right. It is the principle. It's the kingdom principle It's not the principle of yours of your just natural resistance that we all have Let's look at The final one the Roman numeral six I was looking at some examples. I might have given but I got lots of examples of being forced to go one mile 15-minute thing. I'll just give you one or two or three You go to the airport. I got this bag I've used this bag for years. It always fits and The what you call that thing up there The overhead. Thank you always I get this new lady My bag fits there perfectly she comes and announces it's too big. I go it fit. She goes. No, it's too big We're gonna check it in she's the boss in that setting Well, you know I got somebody Picking me up in that 30 minutes at the bag claim. I really got to get to a meeting right We're checking it in mister. What is it that you don't understand about checking it in? Oh, I won't finish the story, but I had bomb bug And I checked it in I didn't say it to her If I would have I would have needed to repent to her. I just had to repent to God is a Jesus say why did you do that? It's 30 minutes. You lost an hour there Just being bugged you lost you wasted more time being bugged than you would have been just doing it and tell the lady Thank you. Give her tip And a happy spirit about it I Go to the swimming pool the public swimming pool a year ago with my last summer with my granddaughters Not very many people in the pool about four feet of water She's on my back the little 16 year old boy had the job for one week blows whistle You yes Can't have anybody on your back Okay Okay Okay, nobody's around us and I am assuming it's a safety rule. Okay, I don't get it but that they gotta you know, do things, right? So my little granddaughter didn't like this. I want to ride on your back now I said no, so I hold her my arms, you know, I'm just pushing the water you Can't hold her in your arms Okay She's going grandpa. You can I go? No. No, he said no. I go. Is there can I understand it? He goes safety rules. I Over a week I can tell I can tell I didn't say that I'm just throwing that part in So he goes away my granddaughter goes he's not looking let me jump on your back I go. No, no, we can't do this, but I was really annoyed with that guy You know you little whippersnapper. That's not exactly the words. I was I was thinking My granddaughter said tell him who you are that you're the boss of IHOP. I go. No, no, no, no No, we're not bringing I hop into it She said tell him you're the boss of I hop No That would might get me in bigger trouble with it, but no power play is no. No, we're not doing that Jesus just do what they said release it not if you don't get caught don't beat the system Don't look for loophole do it Just do it now we do this in our marriages we do in our families We do it with the IRS we do with the post office. You go to the post office Go in there and the guy says okay move your box over here and go buy this and you can't park there and stand in That line you go. You know what? I'm done with this post office. Forget this post office Again I heard of a guy that that happened to About nine months ago, and I was so annoyed. I had that line couldn't park here stood there. I Just want a couple stamps on this box Hear a lot of guilty laughter It goes on and on whether it's the airport whether it's the restaurant whether it's the place you work whether it's the accounting office whether It's the neighborhood association with a soccer team. It's all the same. There's a Thousand places where this works Don't look for loopholes Jesus said if they asked for 15 minutes give them 30 and do with a happy spirit get the big picture I will vindicate you in my time and you should have enough gratitude for how kind I am to you to do a kingdom Principle right here. It will liberate you and it will actually impact some of the people you do it in front of Final one let the person who let people borrow for you, okay? Give to him who asked and from him who wants to borrow don't turn him away now This isn't only about money. Some people reduce this only to money. It is about money, but it's more than that so the guy Who insults you? Then he sues you for $100 and just makes you go through paperwork Then he makes you walk 15 minutes for no reason Now he knocks on your door and asked to borrow your stuff and would you help him? The context is still that evil man now, it's not limited to that context, but that's what Jesus is talking about This is not an unqualified Command to do everything everybody says to you you'd never obey your assignment in God and the way that you Understand these commands that they must Uphold what other scriptures say when you compare scripture with scripture the way you interpret those four illustrations Cannot deny another part of scripture, and that's where a lot of people go wrong. They take the four they isolate them There's plenty of other scriptures that would say opposite than how they interpret the four But they try to obey the four they come far short of the absoluteness of them And Jesus didn't mean the absoluteness of them He meant the smallness of them because he was aiming at the spirit of vengeance in your heart and the grudge and the retaliation Which is the whole point of the eye for an eye and tooth for tooth law. That's the context. He's talking in paragraph C For instance the scripture commands us if a man won't work. He doesn't eat if a man's lazy Don't give him money for food That's a command. It's a biblical command now Paul wasn't denying what Jesus said Jesus didn't mean to give The lazy man food because he asked for money. Well. He asked what am I supposed to do that one verse? I got to answer it. No, that's not what it's talking about It's talking about a dealing with a wrong spirit not funding lazy people. That's not what it's talking about Now there's a difference between I won't work, and I can't work those are two different situations This is talking about the man who won't work and the reason Jesus said don't give him any money Because his hunger will discipline him and drive him his hungers That makes him get up and go get a job, and it's not just that he needs to earn his food There's more than that when he works other emotional dynamics happen in his soul that are critical for him to be a healthy person So good. Oh you comes along Gives him money He stays lazy those other dynamics that come to That operated him when he works never happened because good old you don't understand the Bible is what it comes down to There's really good old me nice to give people money anyone who asked any time, and it's not an indiscriminate Command because it has to be backed up by the other commands of Scripture I'd give to you know any drug addict on the street walk by any alcoholic. You know give me a few dollars well that one verse it doesn't seem right, but So I'm funding Alcoholics and drug addicts with lazy lifestyles in the name of obeying God like this doesn't make sense And the scripture would say it's not discernment. That's not what I was talking about I was talking about overcoming the spirit of revenge and retaliation Related to the the eye for the eye and tooth for tooth. That's the controlling principle to interpret these four examples So the guy wants help from you, I'll just end with this story There was a guy who was Really attacking me in a major way and don't try to figure out who it is because there's about ten of them, so I Mean really attack publicly and privately for several years again. There are there are about five or ten of them So don't try to figure out who it is so this guy Calls me. It's kind of okay surprise a Surprised encounter with him. He asked me to come to his office. It's been a couple years. I mean violent attacks It's his real bad stuff real false stuff I'm in his office. You know a little bit uncertain a little apprehensive like what's going on. I Couldn't believe what he said to me He wanted to borrow something is what this is happening It's this verse. He said I need your help That's the same thing as borrow lend it to him. I need your help because I'm in a big situation And you can help me Now I'm thinking I've never met anybody with amnesia, but maybe this is my first example Because he says this you know here's we've always been good friends I Am in a kind of a warp zone, you know He means that he's very very sincere He goes could you help me Mike we've been friends for years. I need your help. I don't think I Hear myself. I don't think I would have said it if I'd have thought I heard myself go sure I will do anything to help you. I kind of I Heard myself say it like Where'd that come from? And he said I knew you would So yeah, and I helped it now my friends they heard about this meeting they're saying what happened what happened We're not gonna believe it. You want me to help it what? Well, what happened? I said, yes Why'd you say yes, I didn't even mean to it just came out. Yes But here's what happened There's something when you operate in the opposite spirit that I don't take credit for that one. That was an accidental good response I mean it literally bypassed my brain and I heard myself say it And but something happened and this first this touched me this principle something powerful happened in my heart a liberty in a joy And I thought Lord you're really a master psychologist. You get how the human heart works And the Lord's answer is yes I want you to be a witness through these four principles and a hundred other examples, but I want to liberate you This is your freedom Amen, and amen, let's stand so Let's respond worship team will come up for just a few moments, but let's individually respond to the Lord Let's go through all four of them. I want you just to close your eyes for a moment. So you're not distracted Let's go through all four of these Someone's insulted you We're saying Lord, I'm easily insulted. Thank you. Thank you. That's what I'm focusing on. I'm gonna bless them Tell the Lord a second or two. I'm gonna bless them. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna let go of it I'm gonna let go of it and I'm a blessing from now on Okay, uh Well, they were not sincere. Yeah, Jesus said if an evil man does it. Oh Okay Lord, I see my tendency to be insulted. I'm gonna walk into that help me the next one anybody's Had a hundred dollar issue where they're taking you to task for a hundred dollars. That's what it really means We're here. It's a lawsuit, but it's anything They're taking you there. They're demanding it of you. Okay, I'll give him 200. I'll just give him 200. That's all there's to it Just tell the Lord right now. Yeah, I'll call him up. I'll give him 200 I'm talking about a million. It's about a hundred. It doesn't jeopardize anything in your life is what we're talking about Next one someone makes you walk about 15 minutes. They're making you do these weird Requirements that don't make any sense take a half hour. I'll do it. I'll just do it. You know what I'll do it Maybe it's your spouse Why does he or she always want me to just do it It's easy cost you more not to do it Or somebody wants to borrow they want your help. Oh That guy why why should I help him? No, I don't even want to meet with him I'm not even gonna meet with him. The Lord says help the guy meet with him and help him Just you got two or three names in your in your mind now Beloved this can change our heart Change our life. I mean if we stay with this for years it changed our life. Holy Spirit. We say yes to you. We say yes to you I'm gonna invite anybody to come forward that says I Just might I know this is right, but my heart I feel pain I feel confusion I feel stuck any of those emotions on these some one of these points Mike. I feel pain. I feel a little confused I mean, I know it's right, but I can't see it clear Maybe you feel stuck somehow on these points. You said I'd like just someone to take three minutes to pray with me I want another believer standing with me. I want you to come up to these lines if you'd like Just go ahead and stand on these lines Oh, we love your leadership Jesus, we love your ways Tell him that you love his leadership only Jesus would make these kind of rules Oh, I love your leadership Jesus who is like you Oh If you would like prayer free physical healing go ahead and come on up we have room Or you have another need you just want another person to pray with you for a few minutes I I'm gonna ask about 50 of you to come up just pray for two people Take one minute for two different people just take two minutes As the Lord God gives more when the church prays for the church Oh Lord we love your ways. We love your leadership You know Lord you know the way to liberate me, you know my heart Oh Oh Trust you Jesus trust you Lord release your glory even now I ask Won't be led by you. I want to be like won't be led by you Won't be led by Jesus