Grace On The Mount – Part 5 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

  Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the broadcast. Today we’re gonna be teaching on Matthew chapter seven and talking about how a revelation of grace will affect your life. First of all, it will change your relationship with people. It’ll change how you pray, and then it’ll change how you live. And ultimately, you will become a doer of the word and be blessed. Stay tuned, you don’t wanna miss this broadcast, blessings. Friends, I’m so glad that you’re with us today and we’re teaching from Matthew chapter seven talking about grace revealed when Jesus was talking on the sermon on the mount. And so, Aaron, let’s just jump right into the word today.

 

  Yeah, here in Matthew seven, we really see something profound here. And I think it relates to Jesus trying to get people to shift their focus from religion, from a system of works to faith in him, to grace. And a revelation of grace will radically change your life.

 

  Amen.

 

  And I like something that you had mentioned a long time ago, but I think you were talking to Andrew Wommack about grace, and he said this understanding of grace, it only comes by revelation.

 

  Yeah, he told me, he said, I have taught grace all over the world. And he said, I am convinced that unless people have a revelation of grace, unless God gives it to ’em by revelation that they won’t get it. And I’ve seen that. And you know, it’s by the spirit, in fact, second Corinthians three talks about it. And it says, where the spirit of the Lord there is freedom. And we behold, with an open face when the veil has been removed to the word, when we’ve been born again, we behold as in am mirror, as in the word of God, the glory of the Lord, we’re beholding Jesus in the word we’re changed from one glory, the glory of the law to another glory, the glory of grace, even as by the spirit of the Lord. It takes the spirit of God to give you a revelation of grace.

 

  And I know, you know, I remember mom saying this about you, that when you wrote, really received that revelation of grace, I think you’d already been pastoring for a number of years, but once you received that, she noticed that it was reflected in how, you know, you were towards her, towards me and my brothers, towards your children, but also towards, you know, people at church that you’re administering to. But that revelation of grace, it’ll be evident, it’ll be reflected. And we see that here in Matthew seven. A revelation of grace. It’ll be reflected in your relationship with others. It’ll be reflected in your prayer life, how you come to God. And also it’ll reflected in your own walk in your actions.

 

  Amen, so let’s go ahead and talk about this in Matthew seven verse one. Jesus says, judge not that you be not judged for with the same judgment that you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure that you meet, it will be measured to you again. And why do you behold the splinter that is in your brother’s eye? But do not consider the log that is in your own. How will you say to your brother, let me pull out the splinter of your eye. When you have a log in your own eye, you hypocrite cast out the beam that is in your own eye, and you’ll see clearly to cast out the splinter of your brother’s eye.

 

  And a religious, a very judgmental attitude towards people. It actually cause you to lose vision, to lose insight, to lose spiritual revelation into situations. You know, I’ve known some people who very judgmental, they think they’re very spiritual, very prophetic, but the blinders are on. You know, that that judgmental, that hardheartedness it actually causes them to lose sight, lose sight of god’s heart, of the big picture. And even some things that they’re hoping for, believing for, it might be right in front of them. Maybe they’re praying for just a great move of God and it’s happening right in front of them, but they can’t even see it ’cause they’re just so judgmental, so harsh and just looking for the wrong wherever they go. And they’re finding it every time.

 

  Yeah.

 

  If you’re always looking for the wrong in other people in a church and like in your family members, you’re gonna find it every time.

 

  Amen, you know what, I try to look for the good. I try to build relationships with people based on their strengths. You know, two of my mentors, Lester Sumrall and Andrew Wommack, they’re both major mentors of my life. But I realize that both of these people build relationships with people based on their strengths and they don’t focus on their weaknesses.

 

  And a revelation of grace will definitely just radically change your relationship with others.

 

  Right, how you see other people, you know, we’re not the judge. I’ve had people say, unless you judge this person and do this publicly, I’m not, listen, I’m not the judge. I don’t even wanna be, and I’m not gonna be, and I’m not here to justify people and I’m not here to condemn people. That is God’s job, and I’m gonna keep my hands off of him. You know, he goes on, and Aaron, you have some great revelation here in verse six where Jesus says, give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cash or pearls before the swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.

 

  Yeah, well, he’s here. What I think Jesus saying here is that when you come to him, Jesus sees tremendous value in people.

 

  Right.

 

  You know, he called people, like people that, you know, society and religion had pushed out and made them very invaluable. He saw great value in them. Jesus sees great potential, great value people, and he turns people into pearls. He finds the diamonds in the rough. And he’s saying, if I’ve, you know, valued you, don’t just let other people trash you and don’t let other people determine your value.

 

  Right.

 

  And the setting, the environment that you’re in is very important. And you know, years back when I was studying classical music, I came across this article that someone had done in Washington DC, a reporter convinced one of the most famous violinists in the world to do an experiment for him. This violinist, his name is Joshua Bell, he makes $100,000 per concert. But this reporter convinced him to do an experiment where he would just wear a ball cap and a hoodie and play the violin in the subway. And Joshua Bell did that for two hours and after two hours of playing, and he was playing the same exact music he was gonna be playing later that night for a hundred thousand dollars in the subway system, you know, thousands of people walked by him. And in two hours he only made $50 and $25 of that was from someone that actually recognized him and really knew classical music and saw his face and knew who he was. So basically he made $25, he made like minimum wage in two hours, even though he would normally make a hundred thousand dollars for that amount of time. And nothing was different about the quality of his playing. He was still playing on his million dollar Stradivarius violin. He was still playing to the best of his ability. But you know that’s because the pearl was cast before the swine.

 

  Yeah.

 

  And you shouldn’t let the swine determine your value. You should let Jesus determine your value.

 

  Amen. Only God and only Jesus really know your true value. And so Lester Sumrall said, another person’s head is the wrong place to have your happiness. So number one, you need to value other people. But in order to do that, you’ve gotta value yourself and see yourself the way God sees you. You know, Jesus said, love your neighbor as yourself. And unless you understand how much God loves you, you’re not gonna be able to really love yourself. And if you don’t do that, then you’re not gonna be able to value people the way God says value them. Now, Jesus talks about, number one, a revelation of grace will change how you relate to other people. Secondly, he says, a revelation of grace, you brought this up, will change your prayer life. And he says in verse seven, ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be open unto you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks, finds unto him who knocks it shall be open. And when you understand what is literally be being said in the Greek is ask and receive and keep on asking, right? And seek and find and keep on seeking for more and knock. And the door will be open and keep on knocking because I’ve got more doors. In other words, this is a perpetual relationship with God. And when you understand the word “ask” in the Greek is the word “aiteo”. And it means make a demand based on a right. When you have a relationship with God through Jesus, it changes who you are. And you can go to God and you can see your prayers answered. You can know that he answers you. And then he begins to talk again about this relationship. And he says, what son of you… He says, what man is there who of his son will ask bread? Will he give him a stone? Aaron, if you ask me for good things, I’m gonna give you good things. And if I know as a father, know how to give good gifts to you, my child, God much more gives good gifts to those of us who ask him. So he says if he ask him of fish, will he give him a serpent? If he ask for a life, will he give him death? He said, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those that ask him. So when you understand really the grace of God, it changes how you pray and you quit praying like a beggar and you start praying like a son, and you start saying, thank you Jesus. Thank you Father. And you just start receiving what he has for you. He says, therefore all things whatsoever you would, that men do to you do to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

 

  I want to go back just a couple verses here and just talk about, you know how that revelation of grace really is reflected in your prayer life and you understand that when you ask for bread, god’s not gonna give you a stone. You know, so when I hear people say things like, well, I prayed for healing, but God gave me this sickness or allowed this sickness to remain. They don’t have a revelation of grace.

 

  And they don’t understand really who God is.

 

  They don’t understand who God is. And God is full of grace. He only has good things to give. And if you say sickness is a good thing, you’re an idiot.

 

  Yeah.

 

  It’s not a good thing, no one seeks to be sick.

 

  I’m your father and I would not put sickness on you or your brothers.

 

  Yeah, so if people kind of make these types of claims, they don’t really have a revelation of grace or really who God is. And it’s really important that we understand that he is our father and he gives good things to us.

 

  Amen.

 

  He only has good gifts, only perfect gifts to give us. Verse 12, it says, therefore whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them for this is the law and the prophet. So he’s kind of summing up the, what people call the golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

 

  Praise God.

 

  And he’s really saying to here, don’t look at people with a religious judgmental attitude.

 

  Amen.

 

  But when you treat other people, when you look at other people, we’re to do it through the law of liberty.

 

  Amen, through the law of love. And so you know what we need to show other people. And I believe when you get a revelation of grace, right? You can show other people the same kindness that you’ve received. Praise God, you’re not gonna be so judgmental. And he, you know, a lot of times, you know, we judge other people by, you know, their actions. We judge ourself by our intentions and we might ought to turn that around. And so if we really have a revelation of grace, it’s gonna change how we see other people. The second thing, it’s gonna change, it’s gonna change how we pray. And we’re gonna realize, you know, that God is our father and he only desires good for us, and he has good. And so we’re gonna keep going to him. We’re gonna keep receiving, we’re gonna keep seeking him, we’re gonna keep finding things. We’re gonna keep knocking on doors and doors are gonna keep being open to us, and we’re going to move into the greater things ultimately that God has for us. So we’re going to be back in just a little bit. We’re gonna continue to share from Matthew chapter seven about how a revelation of grace changes, number one, how we act, and number two, what we do. So stay tuned, we’ll be right back. Friends, we’ve been sharing from the Sermon on the Mount about Grace on the Mount, and you can get the fullness of this teaching absolutely free of charge on our website charischristiancenter.com, downloadable video, downloadable audio. And we’ve actually got hundreds of hours of teaching there for you free. Thanks so much and blessings. The world has tried to change the value of what is truth. So what is truth? Jesus is the embodiment of truth. Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me. Friends, I’m so glad you stayed with us. We talked in the first half of the broadcast how a revelation of grace will be reflected in your relationship with others. We taught also how it’s reflected in your prayer life. And you understand that you’re no longer a beggar, but you’re a child of God. And he has good things for us as his children. We’re gonna continue to teach from Matthew chapter seven, where Jesus talks about how a revelation of grace is reflected in our actions, our fruit, and ultimately in our relationship with his work.

 

  Awesome, so here in Matthew seven, verse 13, it says, entered by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are a few who find it. So he’s saying, when you really understand what God has done for you, you’re gonna want to to live according to his way.

 

  Amen.

 

  And God’s way, it’s the narrow way, the way the world is the broad way. And a lot of people take that path, but we’re called to take God’s path to live according to his word. And that his word, it is a word of God. That’s how we live our lives, it affects how we walk.

 

  Amen, now, Jesus goes on and says this in verse 15. He says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Peter says some things about false prophets that really fit with that, but he says, you will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? You know what, a thistle’s gonna grow a thistle. A fig’s gonna grow a fig, a thorn’s gonna grow a thorn and a grapes gonna grow a grape. And you can’t separate who you are from what you do, when who you are changes, what you do changes. It’s just part of it. So he says, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings forth not good fruit is thrown down and cast in the fire where for by their fruits you will know them. You know, if we’re not bringing forth good fruit, Jesus actually talks about this in John chapter 15 and said, those branches that don’t bring forth fruit are gonna be cast into the fire. And I don’t believe that’s talking about hell ultimately, but it’s saying, you know, men are gonna take you and throw you into the fire because you’re not bringing forth positive, healthy things in this life. You’re not really valuable. And I wanna be valuable to God, but I also wanna be valuable on the earth. He says, wherefore by their fruits you will know them. You know, we’re not the judge, but we are to tell the difference between, you know, what’s good and what’s evil, where to discern that and ultimately the fruit of something shows what it is. He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my father, which is in heaven. So you know what? When you have a relationship with God, and when you let God order your steps, you’re taking pleasure in him. He’s taking pleasure in you. And he says this in verse 22 to verse 23. He says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord have not, we prophesied in your name and in your name cast out devils and in your name done many wonderful works. But yet I will profess to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who work iniquity. I’ve actually seen this happen. I’ve actually seen where people were, you know, preaching the word of God, that there was a man that had a really brilliant mind and he would actually memorize Kenneth Hagin’s messages and preach them word for word. And there were people getting saved. There were people getting healed. There were people getting filled with the Holy Spirit. And yet this man was living a double life. And when this all would find out, his ministry just went down really quickly. But, you know, ultimately I believe that God was honoring his word. And it wasn’t because of this man. It wasn’t because he was a good man. It was because this man had a good mind and he preached the word of God and God honors his word. And so, Jesus actually says these people, you know, they prophesied, they cast out devils, they did all kinds of good works, but they didn’t know him. And ultimately, that’s the ultimate goal of the gospel, Aaron, is for people to know God. Paul says that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, in Philippians chapter three, verse 10 being made conformable to his death. When I identify with Jesus on the cross, amen, then I can receive his life and his life can be manifested in me. And we see this all over the scriptures, that ultimate goal for us as believers is to know God, is to know Christ. You know, Hebrews eight talks about it in the new covenant, you won’t have to have another man teacher, but you’ll do my will from your heart. For everyone will know me from the least of the greatest. And we can know God. That’s what the gospel is really about. It’s about knowing God through Jesus Christ.

 

  And really, when you delight yourself in the Lord, he’ll give you the desires of your heart.

 

  Amen.

 

  And when you delight in yourself, in him, that’s talking about relationship, your desires aren’t just gonna be your own selfish…

 

  Ways.

 

  It’s your desire. Like you’re gonna desire the things of God. Your motivation is gonna be tied to a relationship with God.

 

  Amen.

 

  So that’s really important to keep that in mind. Verse 24 here says, therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. So we talked about how the grace of revelation of grace that’s reflected in your relationships, your prayer life, but also your actions. You really see that here, you know the grace of God, it’s gonna cause you to act a certain way, cause you to take certain steps to go along that narrow path. I love something that Paul wrote to Titus talking about the grace of God in Titus 2:11. It says, the grace of God that brings salvation. I love that, God’s grace always brings salvation.

 

  Amen.

 

  It’s appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So the grace of God’s actually gonna teach you how to live in spite of the darkness that’s around you.

 

  Amen.

 

  Yeah, if someone says they’re teaching grace, but people are living like very ungodly lifestyles. That’s not the grace of God that brings salvation. That’s the grace of Pastor Wokey Artichokey. But the grace of God, it brings salvation, it’s gonna bring righteousness, it’s gonna bring forgiveness, it’s gonna bring eternal life. It’s gonna bring healing. It’s gonna bring trust and joy and peace that it’s the grace of the true grace of God.

 

  Amen, you know, in Romans 14:17, Paul said that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It’s not about, you know, our works, but it’s righteousness, peace and joy and the Holy Ghost. But when you have a right relationship with God and you live in peace, I don’t personally want to do anything that violates the peace that I have with Jesus. I wanna live out of a good conscience before God and man. And when you have righteousness on the inside, righteousness with God, that comes only by faith in Jesus and you’re justified by faith, you’re living, you’ll begin to live in peace. You let the peace of God lead you and the peace of God lead you and you’ll have joy, ultimate joy in your life comes from your relationship with God. And you know what, you’ll also be a doer of the word. And that’s what Jesus is talking about right here in Matthew chapter seven. You know where he says a relationship with God. You know, in verse 24 through verse 27, ultimately affects, makes you a doer. Having a revelation of grace will cause you to be a doer of the word. And the difference between this wise man and this foolish man is ultimately, not only that the wise man’s house sit stood strong in the storm, but the foolish man built his house on the sand and the, and you know what? But the difference between the two is the wise man heard the word of God and did it. And the foolish man just, he didn’t do anything with the word that he heard. So he’s building a big beautiful house. But when the storm came, it knocked it down. So we’ve gotta have our, you know, we gotta have a relationship with God and having a relationship with God, we have a relationship with the word, amen, and become doers of the word.

 

  Awesome, yeah, and I’ll just summary these last few verses here. Jesus said, therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on the house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on the house and it fell. And great was its fall.

 

  Yeah, so when you really have a relationship with God and when you get a revelation of grace, it’s not gonna cause you, like you said in Titus chapter two, verse 11 to go crazy, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Jesus, Jesus is the embodiment of grace, and he teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and live right in a wrong world. And it says it came to pass when Jesus ended these sayings. People were astonished at his doctrine because he taught them as one having authority and not as scribes. He said, listen, you’re gonna become a doer of the word. Now when we go back through Matthew chapter seven that we’ve been teaching on today, we said, number one, a relationship with God will affect your relationships with other people.

 

  A revelation of grace.

 

  A revelation of grace and a revelation of grace will be reflected in your prayer life. A revelation of grace will then be reflected in your actions and you’ll become doers of the word of God. And a revelation of grace is reflected in our relationship with God’s word. Ultimately, we need a relationship with Jesus who’s the living word, but also with the word of God. And we’ll become doers of the word of God and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves. You know, James talks about that in James chapter one, that when we’re born of the word we receive with meekness the engrafted word, we become doers of the word. And and when we continue to look into the mirror of the word, our life has changed in the image of Jesus and we’re blessed in our deed. Amen, you know what? I have never regretted, you know, when I really got to know Jesus and God in the word of God, I have never regretted, you know, letting the word of God become a major, major influence in my life. And really letting the word of God be first place, letting the word of God call the shots, praise God.

 

  And where great grace is preached, great power is released.

 

  Amen.

 

  You know, I believe this message that Jesus preached, I called it grace on the Mount because I believe he was pointing people you know away from legalism and into true relationship with God. You know, true understanding of grace.

 

  Amen.

 

  And when the the word of grace is preached, God’s power is released. And we see right after Jesus preaches this message as he is coming down the mountain, Matthew eight to it. So there’s a leper that came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus put out his hand and touched him, saying, I’m willing, be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. So we just see that that grace was preached, but it also was released in power.

 

  Praise the Lord, friends, I don’t wanna leave this broadcast without giving you the opportunity to receive Jesus as your Lord. Pray right now with me. Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your son. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. And right now I surrender my life to your Lordship. I surrender my life to you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen. Friends, our broadcast can now be seen by over two thirds of the world’s population and it’s our partners that have made this available. I wanna invite you today to become part of this blessing by becoming a partner of Charis Christian Center and “Grace For Today”. So we would love to hear from you. And thank you so much for prayerfully considering this today. Blessings.

 

  A revelation of grace will transform your life and enable you to see God for who he truly is. He is our heavenly Father and only has good things to give us. When you look upon the face of Jesus, you behold the grace of God. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of the teaching Grace on the Mount, a $30 value free of charge. Download it today charischristiancenter.com.

 

  Friends, the scripture says, if you will continue in the word of God, you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. The word of God has blessed me so much and I want to make this word that I’ve received available to you. If you go to our website charischristiancenter.com, you can get all of our materials there on the website as you watch ’em, as you listen absolutely free of charge. And we’ve done that just to be a blessing to you. I hope you’ve enjoyed the message today. Enjoyed the word of God and I believe that the word that has freed me we’ll free you, blessings.

 

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