Hope Church LV Sermons
Warnings :: Part 5 Respond with Grace
[Music] This message is your warning. What you are about to hear is a passage of scripture from the most powerful sermon in history. The words we are about to read are from the heart and mouth of Jesus Christ himself. These teachings are radical and are to be taken seriously. This will serve as your warning that the sole purpose of this series is to examine six heart sayings of Jesus. We will examine each saying together as a church and then have a time of personal response. You are about to be challenged. Please open up your heart and mind to what is about to take place. Part 5, respond with grace. Jesus Christ is the greatest teacher in history. And as a community of faith we are studying through one of his sermons found in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. And we've entitled this portion of that sermon warnings because we said these are some difficult sayings, some difficult instructions from Jesus. And we've said every week that it's not necessarily what we want to hear but it is definitely what we need to hear as we yearn to be conformed more to the image of Christ. And we've been in this series for the past four weeks and in week one we talked specifically in the area of personal relationships. And here's the big idea we pulled out. We said that it's impossible for us to be right with God and not be pursuing rightness in our relationships with other people. It's impossible. We can't say I'm right with God and not be pursuing rightness in every relationship in our lives. And then week two and three we specifically talked about the marriage relationship. And here's the big idea that those two weeks we said that honoring our marriage, putting a priority on our marriage is worth whatever it takes. We are to be people who honor the marriage relationship. But then last week we talked about integrity. And here's what we said. We said that integrity is not a small thing. It's a big thing. And our integrity affects everything else in our lives. And this week we come to the fifth hard saying of Jesus in Matthew chapter five verses 38 through 42. So if you have your copy of God's Word would you turn there to the first book in the New Testament? And we're going to study God's Word this morning. Just to paint the picture for you as you turn there of kind of what's taken place, Jesus was instructing his disciples and he made his way up to the side of a hill. And he just began to teach his disciples. And because he was such a radical and gifted teacher crowds just began to get around them and listen to what Jesus had to say. And specifically in this piece of the sermon he's addressing some of the false teachings that were taking place by the Jewish leaders, describes in the Pharisees. You see this specific group of people wanted to be known as self-righteous. They wanted to be looked at and adored because of everything that they could do and how godly they were. In order to do that they had taken the law of God and they had tried to lower it down to a standard that they could reach. And they had taken the law of Moses and twisted it and added to it in order to get what they wanted. And specifically here we're examining some of those ways that Jesus is addressing the false teaching and bringing clarity to what they said. So verse 38 in Matthew chapter 5 he's going to do it again this week. Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." And then verse 42, "Give to him who asks of you and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." What in the world does that mean? Every week we've been following a very very simple outline. We've been asking three questions. First of all, what's the commandment? What's the commandment here? Jesus is addressing. Second question has been, how does Jesus explain it? How does Jesus unpack this commandment? Then the third question is simply, how does it apply to us? How does this make sense for us today in 2010? And we're going to follow that same outline this morning. But I just want to let you know up front, there are some aspects of this content that we're just not going to get to. And so if we come to the end this morning and you're like, but Pastor Travis, what about, or I wish you would have talked about, I know, our team has probably already wrestled with it. But we wanted to present the content we felt was most important and most appropriate for us this morning. So with that, here's our first question. What is the commandment? In verse 38, Jesus here actually does a direct quotation from the Mosaic Law in part. You see three different times in the Mosaic Law in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, this idea of I for an I, tooth for a tooth is communicated. But in all of those instances, it's taken even a step further because it adds a fracture for a fracture, a bruise for a bruise, and all the way to a point of saying a life for a life. And here's why Moses gave this command to the people of Israel. He gave it because they were in a very chaotic state where everyone was seeking to get revenge for what had been done to them. And so this law was given for a couple reasons. First of all, it was given to prevent future crimes. Moses wanted to communicate to the people of Israel, listen, you can't just sin against your neighbor and commit a crime against your neighbor and there be no consequences. So there's going to be consequences for your actions, but secondly, this law was given to prevent excessive punishment based on personal vengeance because here's what was happening. Someone would go to their neighbor and they would steal $10. And then the neighbor instead of saying, well, I want $10 back, they would say, I want $100 back. And out of a spirit of revenge, they would seek to get over and above what had been taken from them. And each time, all three times in the Old Testament, when this law is laid down, this is very important. It was always given in the context of a justice system, a civil justice system, where there was a judge appointed to lead the trial and make the sentence. There was no instance in the Old Testament law where this idea of eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, where the law was handed to the individual and said, you do what's best, that never took place in the Old Testament. But the Pharisees heard this law and they realized we can't measure up. There's no way we can meet that standard. So here's what they did. They lowered it. And they said that sentencing trials, those things should not be decided by a judge or an appointed group of people. That right belongs to the individual. So in essence, they taught the people that that individual, if a crime had been committed against them, that they were, in fact, the judge, the jury, and the executioner. John MacArthur in his commentary speaks to this and the real essence of what the Pharisees were trying to accomplish. He says, what God gave was a restriction on civil courts. Jewish tradition had turned it into a personal license for revenge. In still another way, the self-centered and self-asserted righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees had made a shambles of God's holy law. These Jewish leaders had created an avenue where people could get revenge on their neighbor and feel that there was no consequences needed. That's the law that's being referred to in verse 38. And that's how the Pharisees manipulated it and lowered the standard of what God's law was intended to accomplish. Second big question for us this morning. How does Jesus unpack this thing? How does Jesus unpack this statement as He's communicating with the disciples and all of the crowds who are around? Well, the big idea here in this text is Jesus showing how His followers are to respond to people who do ugly things to them. People who do evil things to them. In difficult circumstances, how are Christ followers to respond? But before we unpack verses 39 through 42, I need to give you two biblical principles that will affect the way that you process the text this morning. Because I believe before we can really get our hearts around how we're to respond to other people, we must first have an appropriate view of ourselves. So very quickly, two biblical principles and then we'll jump into verse 39. Here's the first one. My flesh and your flesh will never bring glory to God. My flesh and your flesh, ourself, will never bring glory to God. You see inside of every one of us, no matter what we say or do, is a rebellious, evil nature that is disconnected from the things of God. There's no redeeming it. There's no improving it. It is a carnal flesh and it's evil. And because of the fall of humanity, which is recorded in the book of Genesis, every person since then has been born under an evil nature. And when we depend on our flesh, no matter what we do or what we say, we will always break God's law and fall short of his standard. Miles J. Stanford describes the flesh this way. He says, "Self is the fleshly carnal life of nature, the life of the first Adam. Dead in trespasses and sins, thoroughly corrupt before God, the life in which there is no good thing in the sight of God." Our flesh is evil. And it's present in all of us. You see, the Pharisees thought the exact opposite. They thought that through their flesh, through their own self-actions, somehow they could offer up glory to God. But the Bible teaches something radically different. The Bible says, "No matter what I do on my own, because I have this self, this flesh, I will never be able to bring glory to God." So therefore, when we respond in our flesh to other people, we will always, always, always respond with sin. We can never respond in a way Christ wants us to, because our flesh will only produce sin and only produce evil. And God knew that. God knew that because of the fall of humanity, we could never offer him glory in and of ourselves. So he sends the person of Christ down to earth to die on a cross. And on the cross, Jesus ripped the power away from the sin nature. So that as humanity, we didn't just have to live in our carnal flesh anymore. We now had another way to experience real, true, eternal life. And Jesus says, "If you'll put your faith in me, if you'll surrender your life into my finished work on the cross and my resurrection on the third day, I'll not just give you a new start." Jesus says, "I'll give you my life, and I will live through you, because the only thing that the flesh will yield to is the cross," which brings us to the second biblical principle this morning. Not only, my flesh will never bring glory to God, but Christ in me will always bring glory to God. Very important for us to wrap our hearts around this morning. Christ in us will always in every moment bring glory to God. Later on in the chapter, Miles J. Stanford says this, "As we learn to stand on the finished work of Calvary, the cross, the Holy Spirit will begin to faithfully and effectively apply that finished work of the cross to the self-life, thereby holding it in the place of death, inactive, resulting in the not I but Christ life." And I want to be very clear this morning. This is a supernatural work of God. For Christ to be in me and press his life out through me is a supernatural work of God. Colossians chapter 1 says, "Christ in me is the only hope of glory." The only chance I have to offer up glory to God, to be a worshipper of God, is by Christ in me, making me in right standing with God. The scripture we talk about a lot here at Hope is John, chapter 15. And in John, chapter 15, Jesus is taking some very basic things that people see every day. And he's teaching a biblical principle. And in John 15, he's specifically talking about a vine and some branches. And here's what he says. He says, "I, I'm the vine, and you as my followers, you're the branches. And here's your role as my followers, abide in the vine. Cling to the vine. Hold on to the vine. And as you do that, I will produce fruit through your life." That's the only instruction he gives in that chapter. Not for us to work hard, not for us to figure stuff out, not for us to put together our best plan. He says, "You cling to the vine, and I'll produce fruit through your life. And Christ in us will then, in fact, offer up glory to God." That is a supernatural work. And true of us in the room this morning who have embraced the person of Christ, those two principles are very important. And there is nothing that we're going to talk about in the next few minutes as we walk through this text that will happen in the slightest way unless we first embrace the reality that God has not called us to do some great work for him. He has, in fact, invited us to embrace his life, and he says he will do accomplish everything through us in a supernatural work. And that's very important. I think it would stun all of us if we could really see how many things we do on a weekly basis that is driven from our flesh. The way we try to love our family, the way we try to live for God, the way we try to be nice to people is all from a fleshly standpoint and is in no way bringing glory to God. But when we choose to deny ourselves, deny our flesh, let it be put to death inactive, and we press into the person of Christ. He promises us he will then produce fruit that will offer up glory to God. So all that being said, let's look at verse 39. Jesus comes back here with a few words to kind of set up what he's going to lay out in the rest of the text. He says, "Here's what you've heard said. Here's what I say. Do not resist an evil person." Now understanding this phrase is all dependent on us understanding the word resist. Here's what the word resist communicates. It means to stand against or to oppose. It means to look at somebody and say, "I'm going to come after you. I'm going to oppose you." So you put the thought together. We are not to stand up against, to take revenge on an evil person. And he's telling us this because he knows we're going to want to. And people are going to commit evil acts against us. And the immediate response we're going to have from our flesh is to raise up, to stand opposed and go back after them. He says, "Don't do that." Here's the picture of what we're supposed to do. He says, "In that moment, when your flesh is screaming, give it back to him. Do what's coming to him." He says, "In that moment, here's what I want you to do. I want you to empty out the rites that you may have in that moment. And I want you to do something radical. Don't stand up and raise against him for the sake of the kingdom of God. In that moment, when you're so frustrated, take on the lowly form of a servant in that moment." Sinclair Ferguson speaks to this in his commentary. And here's what he says. He says, "Behind this idea lies the principle by which every Christian must live. Do not make your rights the basis of your relationships with others. Be prepared to take a lowly position as a humble servant. Be prepared to pay the price of imitating the example of Jesus." Now, the Pharisees here are saying the exact opposite. They're saying, "If someone does something to you, if someone rises up against you, you go right back at them." But Jesus says, "That's not my followers. That's not the life I've called you to. I've called you to imitate me. And in my time on earth, when you saw a physical example, I didn't do that. I want to read. You don't have to turn there. I want to read for us this morning from Philippians chapter two, just three simple verses that paint the picture of Jesus resisting evil. Verse five of Philippians chapter two, "Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, he had all the rights of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of a man." He said, "In that moment, when someone raises up against you, rises up against you and commits an evil act, even though your flesh is screaming, revenge, go back at them, give them what's coming to them. Don't do that. In that moment, empty out your rights and do something radical for the kingdom of God. Become a servant." That's the response of Christ in us when we stand face to face with an evil act. And then Jesus here in the text gives four examples of what that looks like, four examples that in a moment of frustration, in a moment of, I don't know what to do and our flesh is screaming one thing, but we know Jesus calling us as something else. What do we do? What does it look like in that moment? He gives four examples and here's the first one. The first example is a right response to being insulted. Jesus gives an example of a right response to being insulted. Look at verse 40, the end of verse 39, "But whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other to him also." You know, as image bearers of God, we have just a natural desire to be respected for people to respect us. And the same thing was true in this context, but as we all know, sometimes that doesn't happen and people insult us. And in this culture, one of the major ways you could insult another person was to smack them. It was an attack on their respect. It was an attack on their honor and the ultimate form of humiliation was for someone to smack you specifically on the right side of your face. So Jesus gives a scenario. What's the most humiliating thing you can think of that could happen to you? What is it that you really feel like would humiliate you the most? That's the scenario in the second half of verse 39. Now here's what our flesh says. I'm going to smack you back. If you come at me, I'm going to come back at you. That's the natural retaliatory nature of our flesh, of ourself. Jesus says not my followers. Because if I'm living my life in you, what happens is different. He says if they smack you, the way I would respond, the way my life in you will respond is to turn the other cheek. Also, it's challenging because none of us like to face a moment of insult. None of us like to face a moment of humiliation, but that's exactly the example that Jesus is giving us here. He says if you're going to follow my example and my life is going to be pressed out in you, then you're to display humility and gentleness. And we see this true in the life of Jesus in 1 Peter chapter 2. Peter says for you have been called disciples of Christ have been called for this purpose. Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. Let me tell you something that's been very challenging for me. To realize as I've just kind of been living in this text this week, there is nothing that a person can do to me or can do to you that was not done to Jesus. Let me take that a step further. There is nothing that a person can do to me or do to you by way of insult and by way of humiliation that you and I haven't done a hundred times to Jesus. That changes the perspective. So here's the takeaway from this example. Here's how we can take it and it makes sense for us. As Christ followers, I am willingly to offer forgiveness not to seek revenge. I am to willingly offer forgiveness not to seek revenge. There is nothing that reflects the life of Christ more than grace and humility. And we have to come to a place where we just let it go. Maybe somebody's insulted you or humiliated you. They may not even realize it, but you're living with it. And as his followers, we need to come to a place where we just let it go. And we display a radically different way of life because everyone else, everyone else who's living through the flesh is going for revenge. And Jesus says, "For the sake of the kingdom of God, I want you to do something radically different. I want you in that moment to become a servant." We saw this in the life of Christ. He's on the cross. He's been beaten. He's been mocked. He's nailed to a cross. But what does he say? Father, forgive them. They don't even know what they're doing. Later on in the book of Acts, in the first martyr, after Jesus, we see it in Stephen. He had been drug out of the village and they are stoning him. That's not just semantics. They are throwing rocks at his head to kill him. Before he dies, he says, "God, don't hold this sin against them. I willingly offer forgiveness for those who are murdering me." And if that's what Jesus' life looked like on earth, that's what it looked like pressed out through Stephen. That is exactly what it's going to look like when it's pressed out through us. I don't know what your circumstances are, but as Jesus followers, we are willingly to offer forgiveness, not to seek revenge. Here's the second example that Jesus gives. Jesus gives a right response to being mistreated, a right response to being mistreated. Look at verse 40, "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also." There are two pieces of clothing that are mentioned in this verse. The first one is a shirt. That was an undergarment, and most people had between two to three shirts. The second article of clothing mentioned is a coat, and that was an outer garment by day, and it was used as a blanket by night. And most people only had one coat. In a situation where someone was suing another person, and let's say that person didn't have any money, they could give away, they could pay with their clothing. But the one article that the judge could not demand that a person give up was his coat. So the scenario here is when someone comes at you and you've offended them and they're in the right and they demand something of you, go over and above whatever it is that they request to make the relationship right. That's the essence of what he's teaching. He's not speaking specifically about what to do in court or any of those kind of pieces. The big idea here is we are to value making relationships right and being at peace with those who are around us. He says whatever it looks like, whatever they request, you go over and above to do what's right. And our flesh doesn't say that. Our flesh says in the middle of a dispute, I want to do whatever I need to do to be seen as right. I want to do whatever I need to do to be the winner. That's what success looks like to my flesh. But Jesus says, not my followers. And when I'm responding through you, you're going to want to go above the norm. Whatever needs to happen for you to bring peace to the relationship, that's what you need to do. Here's the takeaway. As Jesus followers, I am to desire peace in my relationships not to live with unresolved conflict. As Jesus followers, we are to desire above everything else, peace in our relationships, not to live with conflict in some situation that's been unresolved. And only you know what this looks like in your life. Maybe there's some people when you did what was expected, you did what was normal. Jesus says that we're to go over and above what's normal, to make sure, to clearly communicate that we want to resolve whatever conflict has taken place. John MacArthur says it this way. If a legal judgment is fairly made against us for a certain amount, we should be willing to offer even more in order to show our regret for any wrong we did and to show that we are not bitter or resentful against the one who has sued us. He says there's a greater goal than just being declared the winner and the goal is peace in all relationships. And that's tough because naturally we walk with this resentful spirit that doesn't want to come to them in the form of a servant and say what can I do to make this right? If I've offended you, if I've done wrong to you, we may not be best friends but I want this relationship to be at peace, what do I need to do? That's what Jesus calls to in this example when you and I are mistreated. Here's the third example that Jesus gives. He gives a right response to being interrupted, a right response to being interrupted. Look at verse 41. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him too. Roman law in this day permitted that any Roman soldier at any point could find a civilian and force that civilian to carry their equipment a maximum of one mile. So if a Roman soldier is just walking around town and they're kind of tired of carrying their bag, they could say excuse me sir I want you to carry this bag and the civilian was obligated by law to carry that equipment at least one mile. Now this was a huge relief for the soldiers but very frustrating for the civilians. So here's the scenario. Jesus says you're just living your life doing your thing and somebody steps in and forces you to do something. What's your response? I've got to be honest with you my fillet says my time's precious and who are you to think you can interrupt my day? Believe me there's nobody who's more up on routine and organization than me. If it's what I eat for breakfast when I eat breakfast all those different pieces I love my day all in sync and I don't like change. So to think about someone coming in and requesting something of me and interrupting my schedule my flesh just rises up real quick but Jesus says that's not my life in you because my life in you says when someone comes and needs something you stop what you're doing and you don't see it as an interruption. You see it as God inviting himself into your day because he wants you to join him in what he's already doing. Big difference, big difference. Now I'm not saying here that it's okay to just live an unorganized life and walk down the street and wait for God to bring somebody across your path and I'm also not saying that if someone barges in your home or barges in your office you just do whatever they say because more than likely if this is going to prove true in your life it's going to happen when you're just in transition. When you're walking at the mall or you're driving down the street or you're moving from point A to point B the Holy Spirit is going to raise something to your attention and you have a choice to respond and to see it as I don't want to interrupt my day I don't want to mess up my schedule or to press into Christ in that moment and do something radical for the kingdom of God and take on the form of a servant and say God whatever I need to do in this situation I'm going to go over and above to serve this person and be a blessing in this community. That's tough and it changes our perspective and you can think about moments and I can think about moments when something happened and I look back on and see that was God trying to get my attention to join him in something he was already doing but I was too busy being frustrated that it was interrupting my schedule and I missed it completely. Had a couple last night come up and say Travis our lives are about to be interrupted and it's been eating us alive for weeks but I now realize it's simply God's activity giving us an opportunity to make an investment into another person's life for the glory of God. So here's the takeaway from this example I am to live with a sensitivity to God's activity around me. As Christ followers we are to live our lives with a very keen sensitivity to what God is doing all around us and that means we have to walk stride for stride with the Holy Spirit of God so that he can awaken our thoughts and awaken our heart to maybe what God may be presenting us to be a part of. It's not an interruption it's God's invitation to be a part of his activity and we've all had those moments when we're just living our life and you feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do a certain thing or say a certain thing or approach a certain person or to call a certain person or to help a certain person and many many times I'll just be honest with you. I have ignored it because I was responding in my flesh but the response from Christ in us is to do whatever we can to serve and whatever we can to be a blessing and if you're here today and you would say Travis that's great I agree with it but I'm way too busy to even think about that. I've got this and this and this and this and this and it just don't work for me listen you are doing more than God wants you to do. He calls his followers to live our lives with a willingness to be interrupted with a willingness to say God if you want to invite yourself into my life in some way should perform then I'm ready for it God because all I really want to do is be inside of your will and share your activity. We are to live with a sensitivity to the activity of God that's all around us. Here's the fourth example and Jesus gives here. He gives an example a right response to being asked to meet a need. What is the right response when someone makes a request of us when we see a need and someone says do you want to help do you want to invest do you want to give what's our response? Verse 42 says give to him who asks of you and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Now in this culture that looked very different it happened in a lot of different ways in our culture it happens in a lot of different ways and I'll just be honest with you for me when I responded my flesh here's what I say and probably what you say. That's my stuff. I earned that. I worked hard for that. I didn't spend 70, 80 hours working this past week just so I could give the fruit of my labor to you. That's my flesh as honest as I can be. It's probably your flesh too. But Christ says not my followers. My followers have a different perspective and it's this what I have in my hands it's not my stuff anyway. It's God's and he has entrusted it to me as a steward and I'm to do with what he's put in my hands in a such a way that honors him that brings him glory. So if I see a need and the Holy Spirit prompts this on my heart to invest I'm to give and leave it up to God to decide what happens. I'm to be ready and willing with my possessions to distribute them to invest them to give them for the glory of God at all times. Not the attitude that says well that's my stuff. You don't touch my stuff. You don't deserve my stuff. No it's not my stuff. It's his. So here's the takeaway. I am to use everything God has given me for his glory. I am to use every single thing that God has given me for his glory. And one note that's pretty important here. I believe that Jesus is referencing legitimate needs. We all know that there are people we can give to who are in need or who ask us for money or help or whatever and it's just not legitimate. If we give to them they're going to go and do something evil with it. I don't think that's the type of thing Jesus is speaking here. And I know for all of us there are those moments when we're kind of confused about what to do several months ago me and my wife and Pastor Vance and his wife were in San Francisco for a trip and we were walking around Pier 39 and there was just a lot of homeless people who came to us and said hey can I have some money? Can I have this? They were doing what the Scripture they were asking to borrow something and there's kind of that tension in your heart. What do I do? Are they going to take it and buy something evil or do something evil? So here's what we did. Instead of giving the money we went and got them food and we met the need. So it wasn't just oh you're evil you're no good I'm not going to give to you no. We just gave to them in a form that we knew would benefit their life and they couldn't use for anything evil. And it's really important as we walk through those moments when we're asked to do something. We see how God is leading us in that moment. We are to use everything that's in our lives for the glory of God. That's how Jesus unpacks this commandment. Here's the third big question and then we're finished. How does this apply to our lives? I mean Jesus just ran through a lot of different scenarios, a lot of different ideas. He just laid out a lot of truth some of which we can't even deal with this morning for the sake of time. So how does this apply to us? I want to give you one more principle in just a moment before I do that I want to tell you a story of how this was made real to me. Several years ago I was given a book called Passion and Purity. It was written by a lady named Elizabeth Elliot. She's a very famous author. And as I begin to dig into the book I begin to hear her story. Her husband's name was Jim Elliot. We've quoted him here several times at Hope. And Jim was one of five guys who said God's put on our heart to go and penetrate a group of people in Ecuador who've never heard the gospel. They have no Bible. They have no missionary. There is no one among this people who has a relationship with God. And Jim said God's calling our families to go and do it. And so they did all the right steps. They did all the right thing. They had people praying. They put together a strategy. They did everything they needed to even make contact with these people because the place was just so, so remote. And finally after learning languages and doing different things they made contact with this group of people in Ecuador. And it wasn't long as those five guys were on the island that the natives there murdered all five men. And as you can imagine that left five wives and children not really knowing what to do. How do you respond to that? I mean your flesh says let's go get revenge. Let's give them what's coming to them. Let's take it to them. What does it need to look like for us to get revenge in this situation? But the wives took time to process and came to a place where they said you know what? God didn't just call our husbands to go and minister to these people. God called our family. So the wives went back. They went back to this place, to this village, to this island trying to communicate the life-changing message of Jesus with these people. To make a long story short, one by one those people in Ecuador began putting their faith in the person of Jesus Christ. To a point that today there are many, many, many worshipers there because of the radical response of those wives. And several years ago I was at a Christian concert and the band kind of stepped off the platform and two men walked up on the stage and we have a picture of them. The tall American here, his name is Steve St. And the other shorter man there, his name is Mincayé. And Steve St is actually the son of one of those five missionaries that was killed when Jim Elliot was killed. And he walks out on stage and he said, "This is Mincayé." And he's one of my best friends. And he's the man who killed my father. And Steve said, "It took a lot of pressing into Christ for the frustration to go away, for the hurt to go away, for the confusion to go away. But I stand here to tell you that I love this man. My children love this man. And I cannot imagine my life without him being a close part of my family." And I saw that night sitting in that arena a radical response to a difficult situation. And I'll be honest with you, I'm not there yet. I don't know that that could be the case for me. But here's what I do know. And here's the life application for us this morning. Christ wants to produce radical fruit through your life. He does. As much as we would look at this situation and say, "Man, that is radical. That is emptying out all the rights that those families had to go back at those people in Ecuador. That is doing something radical for the sake of the kingdom of God and taking on the form of the servant." That's unbelievable to me. Listen, the same Christ who responded through Steve St. wants to respond through us in all of our difficult situations. And as we press into him, he will. I'll read one more verse for you. Galatians chapter 5 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things, there is no law." That is a nine-dimensional description of the person of Jesus Christ. And as you and I as his followers choose not to depend on our flesh because our flesh will never bring glory to God. But as we press into Christ, Christ in us will produce those same characteristics, that same fruit that will in fact offer up glory to God. I don't know what you're walking in. I don't know if you've already made some mistakes. And man, you've been responding in your flesh in this morning. God is breaking your heart to realize that ain't it. Because that response will never bring glory to God. But Christ in us, through the supernatural work of God, he will respond through us, live through us, love through us, offer glory to God through us as his people. It's radical. It's challenging. It's not what we want to hear, but it is definitely as we work through these difficult situations in our lives. It's what we need to hear. Let's pray this morning. Our praise team is going to come and we're going to have some moments to just respond. Because for every person in this room, this looks different for you. I don't know the extremity of kind of what you're walking in, what that person did to you, how you've been mistreated, how you feel like your life's just been interrupted, what's being requested of you right now. I have no idea. But I assure you in this moment, God wants to speak into your heart and bring clarity to you of what his response is to be through your life. So we're going to have a time of response where we just kind of listen. In the moment we're going to stand and sing a song just to process. You may not want to stand. You may just want to sit and think and just process thinking about your life. How are you depending on your flesh? How are you letting Christ press his life out through you? What's your response when you're insulted, mistreated, interrupted or somebody asks you to do something? What does that look like? If you hear this morning and you don't have a relationship with God, I want you to know God loves you. In this radical way of life, he has invited you into it. We've got some prayer volunteers and pastors around the room and they're there because they'd love to talk to you about you can embrace the person of Christ and have a new way of living that is not just dependent on yourself, it's dependent on Christ's life in you and your life. When that happens, can offer up glory to God. So Lord, we are listening to you. Lord, this is so challenging. God, it forces us to examine our own hearts, our own motives, our own way of living. And I pray as we just kind of have some moments to respond before we start the day and stuff gets crazy. God, may we just have these moments to listen to how you want to conform us. God, thank you for the radical life you've called us to. We're listening to you right now, God. Your name I pray.