What the World Needs Now - Radical Mercy-Givers, Part 1

We are living in a day when injustice of every kind is being called out. It's wrong. It's not fair. Something has to change and it has to change now.

Something inside us demands justice. Today, Jesus will tackle this one head on. Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are a discipleship-driven ministry on a mission to encourage Christians everywhere to live like Christians.

And we're nearing the end of our series, What the World Needs Now. So far we've learned the value of being an authentic difference maker and why followers of Jesus are called to be humble bridge builders. If you missed those messages, go back and check them out through the Chip Ingram app. But for these last two programs, Chip's going to challenge us to join a radical movement. Now, as we all know, there are tons of great causes and groups to support. But today we're going to learn about the agenda Jesus championed.

That's way more significant than anything else. To find out what that is, go in your Bible to Matthew chapter five as we join Chip for today's talk. I would like you, if you would, to pull out your phone.

Please don't use it, but pull it out. And I would like you to imagine that just hypothetically at this very moment, maybe in ten, nine, eight, seven, six bang. Every phone was flashing, every pad, every news station, every satellite all over the world and was flashing and the God of the universe said, I have a message and in the next hour I will be giving a message to the entire world. He would speak it in a language that everyone of all humanity would understand exactly what he's saying.

It's going to come on your phone or come on your tablet. No communication of any kind could happen anywhere. God is going to speak to humanity. Here's my question. What do you think he'd say?

I mean, just all the people, China, South America, Antarctica, Australia, Europe. What would he say? Everybody gathered. Maybe zoom in the lens and since he's God, he could speak to all of us individually simultaneously at the same time. What do you think he would say to you?

Personally. He knows all your thoughts, all your fears, all your secrets. What do you think of the big issues he would address? Would he just look at racism and politics and corruption and just the unraveling and the evil in the world? What would he say? What would be the big issues? And then finally, what solution would he provide? Speak to all of us at the same time. This is how the world gets solved.

And then maybe more specifically, what do you think he would ask each one of us to do to be a part of the solution? Now, that's a pretty big hypothetical. And if you'd like to have a I think a lot of fun at a dinner party, you might raise those questions and say, what do you think? Well, what do you think? And I don't know. What do you think? I think the big issue would be this now would be this.

And that would be a lot of fun. But the fact is this is that you are not all knowing, all wise, all powerful. You can't see the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. Your thoughts and your ways compared to God are as far as the earth is from the heaven and the heaven is from the earth. And here's the amazing thing. This message that God would give this sermon to all humanity.

Are you ready for this? It's already been given. It was given by God, the son. It's commonly called the Sermon on the Mount.

It's found in Luke six and then in Matthew five, six and seven. But I have this I just it's somewhere between a fear, a burden and a concern that many of us who absolutely would say, I'm a follower of Jesus. We do not get the message. We don't really understand what God is saying. We've analyzed a few trees over here and a tree over here and has something to do with the Bible and something to do with prayer and something to do with the cross and something to do with forgiveness and something to do with being a good person.

And, you know, we get all these trees. But I believe that many, many, many, many very sincere Christians have completely missed the forest. And really do not know the singular most important sermon or message from God.

If you would pull out your notes, I'm going to give you the summary of that message and then we'll cover the very end, because here's what God would say, because this is what he did say. He would say the fundamental problem in the world is life isn't fair. Most of you experience that if you're older, you've experienced a lot. If you come from a different background or born into a situation, unlike a lot of people, you may have experienced it extremely.

In one word, the biggest problem in the world is injustice. Some people, no fault of their own, they're born blind. They can't see. Some people are lame. Some people are born in abject poverty. Some people were beaten before they were very old. Some people have been abandoned, abused. Some people have lost their jobs. There's been greed, corruption.

There's been coups in countries that have killed millions of people. When God looks on the earth that he made that he loves, what we see today is not what he wanted nor created. Sin occurred.

And what you're going to see is in his sermon, everything he says in those beatitudes are about bringing about justice first in incremental ways now and then forever and ever and ever. That's the corporate issue. The private issue gets a little more personal. The fundamental problem in my life and in your life is we don't measure up.

You don't, okay? And by the way, don't get over it. You're not the father you want to be. You're not the man you want to be. You're not the student you want to be. You're not the woman you want to be. You're not the daughter you want to be.

You're not always kind, always loving. You have private thoughts. You have lusts.

You have little lies and big lies. You have stolen. You've stolen people's ideas. You've marred their reputation.

You've assassinated them with your lips. What I'm describing is humanity. In one word, it's unrighteousness. And what the Sermon on the Mount does, and this is what I think we miss, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount introduces a kingdom. That's an odd word for Americans.

It really works everywhere else in the world. Most people for all time is used to having a king or a dictator or someone that you realize what they say is this is the way of life. But Jesus' kingdom or way of life promises justice and he redefines righteousness. And he introduces this concept of his way or his kingdom with him being the king and calling and asking us to follow. And all of his sermons were about the kingdom of God. In Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12, he sets forth the prerequisites to enter the kingdom and to experience and to expand it now and forever. And so, contrary to be a good person, make the world a better place, here's five lessons on morality. Just try and figure out in your mind what would Jesus do and try really hard to do what he would do. He says all of that is completely the opposite of what I want.

He's not looking for little moral robots. He's saying you need to see how desperate you are, poor in spirit. You're spiritually bankrupt. Your good deeds and my good deeds and the best of humanity is like a dirty, righteous, filthy rag compared to the supreme, pristine, unapproachable light of God's holiness. And those that see that and get that and realize their need, they mourn and therefore God comforts them. He says when you begin to thirst, not for fame and wealth and significance and power, but for righteousness, you'll be satisfied. He says those people that are gentle, that are willing to let go of their rights and serve other people, you actually one day justice, you're going to inherit the earth. Each one of these beatitudes is not like a new moral code.

Here's what he's saying. These are the heart conditions and the kind of people that represent my values. And then notice, not only does it tell us these are the prerequisites to both enter and expand his kingdom, but then in Matthew chapter 5, 13 through 16, he says there's the purpose for this now and later. Remember, you're the light of the world.

You're the salt of the earth. In other words, the kind of life that follows Jesus by his power and his life exposes darkness. The kind of life that is other centered and kind and overcomes evil with good and works in these counter-cultural ways as a follower of Jesus, you preserve righteousness.

You begin to give people a taste of what heaven in real life is like. And then, in Matthew 5, 17 through 48, you can turn the page if you're not there, he sets forth the king's way by contrasting it with the current interpretation of the law. Now, we have different laws at different times and he takes all of the Old Testament and he's speaking to the scribes, the Pharisees, they'll hear all this and there's this multitude of people. And he goes down through and he looks at the law of murder and it was just about the physical act and he said, no, life is sacred.

That's the kingdom value. There was the law of reconciliation. He said, relationships matter more than fulfilling religious requirements. He said, when it comes to adultery, it's not just the physical act, it's fidelity, it's a heart of purity, a mind and a heart that's sexually pure and longs to be pleasing to your Heavenly Father.

He looked at the law of divorce and he says, I created a man and a woman to come together forever and the covenant that you make matters and it's holy. And apart from unique, unique circumstances, it should never, ever be broken. It's the law of oaths. In this time, everyone knew and there's some cultures where lying is okay, literally. I've been in cultures where lying is morally okay as long as you don't get caught. By this time in Judaism, everyone knew that unless you said, I swear by the temple or I swear by God, then you have to tell the truth. Any other time, lying would be okay.

And he says, I don't want to hear none of that. Your yes is yes, your no is no. What he's really saying is the kingdom value is where men and women have integrity. We'll look at the law of retribution, you know, paying back when you incur injustice, and we'll look at the law of love.

But what I want you to see, look at the bullet point underneath. In each case, Jesus sets forth what the exceeding righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees look like for his kingdom followers. Remember, verse 20 is the key to this whole sermon. He says to them, he says to us, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees who fast twice a week, who tithe, I mean, everything from their money down to their herbs and spices, who are squeaky clean externally and morally. He says, unless your righteousness is above theirs, you can't even enter the kingdom because theirs was external and it was hypocritical.

And then these are the points. What he does after chapter five, he says, then here's how the practices look, because giving is important because you can't ever win over greed unless you become generous. Praying is important because you'll never overcome pride unless you're dependent in prayer. And fasting is critical because we all have things that get a hold of our life and we need to break free from them.

But you do it for the right reason with the right motive. And then the word father, it's about relationship. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll return you to today's message in just a second. But let me quickly ask you, do you often find it difficult to read and understand God's word? If so, join us at the end of today's program as Chip talks about our useful resource, Daily Discipleship with Chip. This tool has helped tens of thousands of people study the Bible and develop a deeper connection to God.

Stick around to learn how to sign up. Well, with that, let's rejoin Chip for the remainder of his message. Then in chapter seven, it's filled with warnings. Jesus makes clear that living out his kingdom values requires a new heart. Jeremiah 31 said there would be a new covenant. Someday, someway, there'd be a new day. There'd be a savior. There'd be a Messiah. And what he's going to do, he'll take the heart of stone inside of human beings and he'd make it a heart of flesh and people would want to obey from the inside out. And Jesus has made this impossible standard to help us see we need a new heart and we need new power that only he can provide. But look at chapter seven, verse 13.

He's told them about all these things. He told them about connecting with their Heavenly Father. And so he says in verse 12, So whatever you wish what others would do for you, do for them. For this is the law and the prophets. He's talking about this complete inside out, upside down, completely different way of thinking that goes against human nature. But notice he says, Enter the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

We do not take that seriously. You've grown up in an evangelical world where I prayed a prayer or I had a little spiritual moment. He's saying that to enter the kingdom, you need a new heart.

You don't need to be remodeled. You don't need to try harder. You need a completely new life and I need a new life. And then the warning goes on. He says beware of false prophets.

What are they? Those are people who tell you things that aren't true. They come to you in sheep's clothing and inwardly they're ravenous wolves. And then he gives this parallel. He says you'll recognize them by their fruits, their lifestyles, how they actually live.

And then he gives this example. Are grapes gathered from a thorn bush? Of course not. Or figs from thistles?

Of course not. So every healthy tree bears good fruit but a diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree can't bear bad fruit nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruit. It's not that they prayed a prayer.

They're life. This is a supernatural life of new power that brings transformation and new speech. And Luke takes the same passage and says the way you evidence this is that the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. He said if there hasn't been a change, if there's not a revolution, if Jesus isn't the focus of your life, be careful.

This isn't a try hard, be nice, be moral, come to church. This is a revolution that has to occur. So he warns us. Jesus also makes it clear that only those with an eternal perspective of his sovereign rulership, in other words final justice, can live this counter-cultural life. Again he gives it in verse 21 of chapter 7. He says not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me you workers of lawlessness. When you grasp this new life, the forest, not just some trees, not just some spiritual little cues here and there, unless you have an eternal perspective, when Jesus says give good for evil, when you're encountering justice, when Jesus says you're poor in spirit and you're thinking I got plenty of money, I got a great job, I'm pretty smart, I'm a person that makes it happen. When Jesus says to do the most counter-cultural things, to give, to love, to care, when it costs a lot, are you ready? Be willing to die.

I had a small group of people at my home last night and I shared an interview that I can't share publicly because of the danger to his life. It's an interview with a young pastor in Syria who every day lives in a world and the people with him to become a follower of Jesus. Yes, I'm receiving God's grace and yes, I'm signing up that I in all likelihood need to be prepared to die and probably will die.

Produces a little bit different kind of follower. Notice Jesus makes clear that only through death to our personal agendas and selfish ambition can the supernatural life that expands his kingdom be experienced. Notice what he says in this warning. He says, everyone, verse 24 of chapter 7, everyone who hears the words of mine and does them, doesn't agree with them, doesn't have them underlined in their Bible, doesn't have them on a plaque at home, doesn't have their kids learn them in a Christian school. Everyone who has these words of mine and does them will be wise like a man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and it beat on the house.

But it didn't fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the flood came and the winds blew and they beat against the house and it fell.

And great was the fall. And when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. For he was teaching as one who had great authority and not like their scribes. And under the bullet point where it says we need to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, I want you to write the words, the required response.

What's the required response of a follower of Jesus to be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees? And then under that, I've given you the bullet point. But under the bullet point that says Jesus made clear that this kingdom values require a new heart and new power, I want you to write the words new relationship. And under that write the word God as Father. That's what they missed.

They had religion, they had morality. All of chapter 6 was a practice to please one. When your father who sees in secret, he will reward you. So a new heart, a new life and then on your notes on the left side, write the word faith.

This is new to all of them. Yes, he's healed people, he's raised people from the dead, he's fed five thousands. He's now claiming to be the king and he's now set this king and there is his way which is called his kingdom. And if you want to follow me, you need to believe in me and believing in me, you have new relationship that requires a new heart and a born again experience and you'll be pleasing to your heavenly father.

You got it? The bullet point under that says Jesus makes it clear that only those with the eternal perspective of his sovereignty can live this counterculture life. Under that, I want you to write new allegiance. New allegiance. You see the Sermon on the Mount says there's a new relationship, God the Father through Jesus. Now there's a new allegiance and right under that, Jesus is Lord.

Not religion and for us not money, not success, not education, not what people think, not how your body looks. Jesus is Lord. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and you've been listening to part one of Chip's message, Radical Mercy Givers, from our series, What the World Needs Now. Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. Turmoil, division, political corruption, prejudice, these are just a few of the serious issues we're dealing with in today's society. But did you know Jesus' disciples faced even worse problems? In this six-part series, Chip highlights the wisdom Jesus passed on to his followers over 2,000 years ago and how his words still guide us today. Don't miss the ways to build healthy relationships, handle injustice, and live God-honoring lives. Let me encourage you to stick around for each message.

But if you do miss any part, catch up through the Chip Ingram app. Well, Chip's joined me in studio, and Chip, before we go on, I'd like you to take a minute and talk to a specific group of people out there. They're really motivated by what you taught and want to take their relationship with God to the next level but are struggling to get started and develop a rhythm.

What would you say to them? Well, what I would say is you're not alone. Of all the things in my early Christian life, I so struggled to be able to meet with God daily. I intended to, I wanted to, I would set my alarm back, and then I would go back to bed. But here's what I can tell you.

We're in a very busy, busy world with a go-go mentality and invisible pressure that I think we put on ourselves. And what I learned is if you can literally start the habit of meeting with God first and do it on a daily basis, yes, it begins with duty, but please hear me, it will end in delight. What helped me the most was someone doing it with me, having that accountability. And he didn't say, this is what it says, he showed me how to read the Bible, how to study the Bible, how to hear God's voice.

And that's what I want to do for you. One of the greatest things that came out of the pandemic was this idea of daily discipleship, of literally meeting with people one-on-one. It's called daily discipleship with Chip, and all I can tell you, the response has been beyond anything I ever imagined. It's not people telling me, oh, Chip, you're a good teacher, or now I just understand the passage. I'm hearing people say, I know how to study the Bible, I'm hearing God's voice, God's changing my life. So let me tell you how this works. For each series, I begin with a short teaching video, no longer the 10 minutes, and then there's a little assignment that I'm going to ask you to take 10 minutes on your own and do some study.

And here's what I know. People that have done this with me, who make it a habit just to spend 20 minutes with me, day after day, for somewhere between 10 days to a couple weeks, they learn to hear God's voice. They learn to discern the Spirit. God begins to change them from the inside out.

This is a habit that you cannot afford not to develop. Thanks, Chip. So if you're looking for a practical way to deepen your faith, let me encourage you to sign up for daily discipleship with Chip. This free video resource will help you learn more about God and His Word. To sign up for any of our daily discipleship series, visit LivingOnTheEdge.org.

That's LivingOnTheEdge.org. App listeners, tap Discipleship. Well, with that, Chip, let's get to that application we promised. As we wrap up today's program, I hope you picked up on the idea of a new allegiance. You know, in Jesus' day, the Jews had this unbelievable allegiance to the Law, to the Torah, and they were to follow it as closely as possible to show God how much they loved Him. One of the most radical and provocative things Jesus told them was, I didn't come to abolish the Law.

I came to fulfill it. But what He wanted them to see was they needed to change their allegiance. They had fallen into an allegiance to religiosity. They had fallen into allegiance to a secondary cause instead of the number one cause, God Himself. And I got thinking about that today and, you know, Christians that I know and love, and sometimes I hear us talking, and there's some secondary allegiances, and they're important. You know, there's movements, and there's causes, and there's the sex trade, and there's abortion, and there's racism, and there's some agendas that are very, very important.

And if you're not careful, here's what you need to understand. Secondary allegiances can be lethal. Lethal to your spiritual health and lethal to what God wants to do. In other words, when anything or anyone, no matter how important the cause, becomes the number one thing, then something really tragic has happened.

And when it's the number one thing, then we tend in ourselves to try and pull it off our way. And I just want to ask you right now, above your political persuasion, any social justice issue or any recommendation that you think has to happen in the future of our country, I just want to ask you, is your number one allegiance first and foremost the Lord Jesus? And is that being played out in your private time with Him, in your relationships with other Christians, and in how you treat your enemies?

You see, Jesus was very, very clear. When your allegiance is to Him, we pray for those who persecute us. We love our enemies. We bless those who curse us.

And we are the kind of people that are great mercy givers, even as we fight for the things that are right. Now let's go do that. Great challenge, Chip. Thanks. As we close, I want to thank each of you who makes this program possible through your generous giving. One hundred percent of your gifts go directly to the ministry to help Christians live like Christians. Now if you found this teaching helpful but aren't yet on the team, consider doing that today.

Sending a gift is easy. Go to LivingOnTheEdge.org or call 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or visit LivingOnTheEdge.org. App listeners, tap donate. And let me thank you in advance for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. We'll listen in next time as Chip wraps up his series, What the World Needs Now. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge.