Matthew 5:39 (8/28/24)

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Matthew 5:39 (8/28/24)

Turn The Other Cheek

August 28, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 5:39

* If someone physically hits on you on the cheek, what are you supposed to do?

* If they jack you right in the face, how should you respond?

* You tackle them and go to town! ha ha ha

* But wait a second - didn’t Jesus say, “turn the other cheek?”

* vs 38-39 - “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

* Key - if they slap you on the “right cheek.”

* This isn’t about a physical attack - it’s about personal offense or being persecuted for your faith.

* When someone wants to get ugly and attack you personally because of your faith, then you are not to get into a verbal or physical sparring match with them.

* You are to turn the other cheek.

* If someone walks up to me and tries to steal my wallet and thumps me in the face, I'm going to hit back as hard as humanly possible.

* This has nothing to do with my faith.

* This has everything to do with defending myself.

* If you wait for the second hit, it may be too late!

* But in matters of your faith, don't ever swing back.

* God will handle that.

* So what do you do?

* You don’t punch back; you pray back.

* When someone personally offends you, pray for them.

* When someone persecutes you, pray for them.

* Persecution is the queue for prayer!

* Matthew 5:44 - “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

* EX: Bill Maher

Mark 7:14-23 (10/2/24)

October 2, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Mark 7:14

* If we’re going to overcome sin, we need to understand it’s nature. * Jesus talked about this a lot. * He taught that sin grows from the inside-out, not the outside-in. * It’s more like a cancer than a germ. * In Bible times, they didn’t have science like we have it today. * We understand the difference between a germ and cancer. * A germ is contagious - it comes from the outside and infects you on the inside. * Cancer grows from the inside out and is not contagious. * Jesus challenged the religion of the Pharisees. * They did the right stuff on the outside, but inwardly, they were rotten. * They made a big deal out of rituals and outward observations, but not inward purity. * In their eyes, sin was more like a germ than cancer. * So Jesus broke up their paradigm. * He and His disciples ate food with dirty hands. * This broke the tradition of cleansing before you ate. * By doing this, Jesus showed that sin was a cancer, not a germ. * And that these Pharisees were cancerous. * vs 14-23 - What happens on the inside of your heart is what defiles you, not what you do on the outside. * You can play the part outwardly, but God sees what’s happening inwardly. * Character is doing what’s right as God defines right even if nobody knows it. * CAVAET - The only way something on the outside can defile you is if you don’t have the Holy Spirit flowing through you. * EX: Water hose in a muddy hole. * Be the same person in private that you are in public. * Just like David before he fought Goliath - he was faithful in the lion and bear stories. * Sin is a cancer, not a germ - make sure you stay pure privately.

Mark 8:14-21 (10/2/24)

October 2, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Mark 8:14–21

* God wants us to have “eyes that see.” * He wants us to see the spiritual through the physical. * Site is looking at the physical. * Insight is seeing the deeper meaning behind what you see. * God can give you insight if you open your eyes to the spiritual. * Jesus had just fed the 5k and the 4k and the disciples picked up lots of leftovers. * Then they left for another place to minister, but the disciples forgot to bring any of the bread. * Once they arrived the Pharisees came up to Jesus asking for a sign. * They didn’t operate by faith - they operated by logic. * Their theology was “seeing is believing.” * For a true believer, our theology is “believing is seeing!” * When it comes to true saving faith, belief always comes first, sight comes second. * So Jesus turns to His disciples and says: * vs 15 - “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod and the Herodians.” * He used a physical analogy to make a spiritual point. * Leaven as a noun is “a pervasive influence that modifies something or transforms it.” * As a verb, to leaven something is to “permeate, modify, or transform something.” * A leavening agent is “a substance that lightens and softens the mixture.” * Jesus didn’t want the thought patterns of the Pharisees and Herodians to penetrate the disciples’ minds, leaving them puffed up and soft in their faith. * Look at the two different mindsets: * The Pharisees were hypocrites - they said one thing and did another. * “The leaven of Herod wants self-realization rather than repentance; it looks for ways of self-affirmation rather than self-denial. Herod wanted to know Jesus, but on his own terms and without turning to Him as the definitive source. Herod wanted to listen to John, but on his own terms and without repenting.” -Ligoneer Ministries * Jesus knew these two mindsets would destroy the influence of a kingdom mindset in their culture, so He warned them against them. * Look how the disciples responded: * vs 16 - “They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.” * They were looking through their physical eyes. * Look how Jesus responded: * vs 17-21 - When He discerned they were still looking through physical eyes He reminded them of the leftovers. * It was as if Jesus was saying, “Do you remember what you got when you served the people first? Do you remember the amount of food you ended up with when you focused on doing My thing over your thing? You each ended up with way more than you could eat.” * The principle - if you look for and seek the spiritual God will always take care of the physical. * You’ll never have to worry about physical things again - let the Pharisees and Herodians do that. * Jesus will take care of those things for you. * Just keep your eyes focused on the spiritual. * Anytime you go through anything, always search for the spiritual principle first. * Ask what God is saying. * When you do this you will always find that the physical will take care of itself. * But if you only look at the physical you’ll miss the spiritual. * EX: I had a massive retaining wall fall at a commercial building we built years ago. My first reaction was the figure out a way to fix the wall, but God prompted me to look at what He was saying spiritually. * I did that and learned 12 things He was trying to say to me. * I also fixed the wall physically, but I came out on the other side a completely different man because I saw the spiritual.

Proverbs 31:8 (9/25/24)

September 25, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Proverbs 31:8

- Our job as believers is to mature in our faith - to grow spiritually strong. - Hebrews 5 - A buddy of mine is the CEO of Iron Sharpens Iron men’s ministry. - They teach that a real man is a real man is. - They use Prov 31:8-9 as the foundation. - vs 8-9 - “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” - What makes a R.E.A.L. man: - REJECTS PASSIVITY - he doesn’t sit idly by while bad things happen. - EX: Adam stood by while Eve conversed w/the serpant. - Deitrich Bonhoeffer - “It’s not enough to help hurting people. You have to stop the things that hurt them.” - John Stuart Mill in 1867 - “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.” - A real man doesn’t wait for others to do what he knows he should do. - He operates by faith, not fear. - ENGAGES GOD DAILY - he has a vibrant personal relationship with the Lord. - Strength and Pursuit are linked - the more you pursue God the more you have His presence. - And when you have His presence you get His power. - A real man uses discipline to strengthen his relationship to God. - He goes to God before he goes to others. - ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY - Authority and Responsibility are linked. - If you want to keep your authority, stay in the place of your responsibility. - He understands his priorities and assumes ownership of them. - Modern Psychiatry calls a person who cannot take responsibility as someone suffering from a “character disorder.” - LEADS COURAGEOUSLY - he acts like a father. - 1 Corinthians 4:15 - “You have many teachers but few fathers.” - A father is willing to fight the wolves - he doesn’t run from them. - A real man is like David - he saw a giant too big to miss while everyone else saw a giant too big to fight. - A real man has a warrior spirit. - He stands for truth and doesn’t back down.