Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

God always knows the perfect gift to give to those who petition HIM for their needs. The gift of salvation awaits all who ask, seek, and knock. In order to know the sin, one must be convicted and made aware. In order to ask for forgiveness, there must be a seeking for that forgiveness. In order to ask, one must seek the proper door to knock upon in order to ask for help. God is always good and He...

Jesus teaches us in this passage of the Sermon on the Mount not to avoid judging other, but rather how to judge. Let us judge the events of 2021 not by our personal standards but by God's standard. "For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us -- " [ ISAIAH 33:22 ]

"No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground, ... " The birth of Jesus as the Salvation of the world put an end to the curse of sin upon God's creation. Let us not forget the significance of this special and Holy Night ... the night that Christ was born!

This section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount addresses a far too common problem among the citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. Not only do the lost and sinful suffer anxiety and worry about their lives, Christians too fall into the common problem of worry and anxiety. The words of Jesus make it clear that the control of anxiety and worry is the problem of a lack of faith. Anxiety often feels like a ch...

The idea of the eye being a light for the body is the image of the Spirit of Christ in one's heart pointing the way in which to go. When Jesus calls the eye the light of the body, he charges that it is not the hands, or the feet, or the belly which directs the body to walk. Instead it is the mind or the soul that inspires action. No part of the human body can operate without that the mind acted fi...

Jesus makes a very strong, but important, point in this text. Those whose hearts are focused on submission to God's rule will gain riches in heave, the riches of HIS kingdom. Those whose hearts are focus on their own wealth, status, and possessions will gain the failed treasure of this world ... and nothing more. One's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Jesus focuses now on the gift of fasting, a spiritual discipline, that God gives to his people. The model prayer that Jesus instructs is accompanied by the act of fasting. Not all prayers must include fasting, but the biblical mandate of fasting will always be accompanied by prayer. As the hypocritical Pharisees and religious elite fake devotion to the Lord, Jesus continues his theme of genuine de...

Trials and temptations are tests of our character, tests of our faith, tests of our worthiness. Our faith in Christ's atonement for sin is either matured because of the trial or we fall because of our failure in succumbing to temptation. In this last of the six petitions that make up the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches a very real aspect of the life of the redeemed. Although salvation is assured for...

The bible is clear that when we pray God desires a genuine heart of dependence within the supplicant. Jesus teaches in this petition that forgiveness is granted through a prayer of a sincere heart with repentance and a faith that God will actually forgive. Without trust in God's grace and mercy one can speak the words asking for forgiveness, but without a genuine faith that God will forgive, the p...

Whatever the precise emphasis on the Lord's Prayer concerning daily bread, the petition is a powerful expression of trust and dependence. We are commanded to pray that God would give us what we need, not what we want, or even what we desire, but what God sees as our actual needs. The more material needs are in view, the clearer the implication that God is concerned for the provisions of these need...

The first three petitions of Jesus's model prayer call upon God's holy name to establish HIS kingdom as HIS heavenly will is done on earth. This petition of the Lord's Prayer is actually a prayer of evangelism. God's kingdom is not a political overthrow of opposition parties in the government. Instead God's kingdom is established in the hearts and lives of sinners. The prophecies of Jeremiah and o...

Jesus teaches that the model prayer should begin with a genuine faithful heart of reverence toward God [to whom we are praying]. This is in stark contrast to the methods of the hypocrites and the pagan idol worshipers who have no genuine reverence for their god to whom they pray. The genuine prayer of the faithful heart is one that acknowledges at the outset of the prayer who is being addressed. S...

Jesus' teaching in this section of the Sermon on the Mount repeatedly emphasizes that the depraved state of the human heart keeps us from coming into God's presence. Likewise, the same depraved nature keeps us from genuine prayer. The only path to genuine prayer is the same path to genuine salvation. It is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ himself that we can know how to pray. We are reminded...

The final words of Jesus in the fifth chapter of Matthew speak to an impossible standard for all Kingdom Citizens to meet. Jesus commands that all Kingdom citizens "must be perfect." This is of course impossible to do. So what does Jesus expect of His people? The wisdom of God in this call to perfection is similar to the command in Leviticus 19:2 for Israel to be holy as God alone is holy. In orde...

This final passage of the fifth chapter of Matthew's gospel concludes with the final teaching of how to love one's enemy as a neighbor. Why do the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven love this way? It is for the same reason that God loves his enemies ... and those enemies are every one of us. As we are all born under the sin of Adam, we begin our lives as sinful enemies of God; also known as the doc...

No one likes to be attacked. It is an evil that brings with it a justified response. Yet Jesus is teaching a radically approach to injustice. Jesus reminds his disciples that it is the governing authorities that have the responsibility and right to dole out justice and to protect the people. In no way does God permit His people to take God's law (Leviticus 24:17-20) into their own hands. Instead J...

Jesus saw a problem with the casual way in which grand promises were made that had no intention of being kept. He directly addressed the dramatic way that eloquent people would promise many grand things for the purpose of impressing or persuading people. The most dangerous aspect of this was that the oaths were simply foolish talk by foolish people out to be more important than they really were. J...

Jesus clearly sees divorce as a tragedy. Divorce is therefore a failure of divine purpose as the marriage covenant has a direct connection to God's covenant. So divorce is extremely difficult to advise or to condone for the Christian while Matthew's gospel does include what has been termed "the exception clause" (except on the ground of sexual immorality). Jesus addressed the extreme distortion of...

In this passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses a very common but very serious sin. Adultery is a sin of breaking the marriage covenant. Far too often men get away with the exploitation of women through lustful acts that are hidden. The abuse of the female body in this way is an abuse of the image of God. Likewise, the body and the spirit are not separate things at all. What damages...

Jesus explains very clearly that murder is the result of anger toward one another. While murder is unapologetically horrible, it is the anger within one's mind toward another that literally murders the image of God that is in all of humanity. The right way to obey the Law of God is to reconcile with someone whom we have anger toward. In doing so, we imitate Christ and imitate the true gospel. Just...

It is unfortunate that so many who come to Christ for salvation are misled by false teaching that claims that the Mosaic Law and the words of the Old Testament Prophets are worthless to the Christian. This false teaching leads to a heresy that teaches that the Christian is free from the obligations of obeying God's Law. Jesus addresses this false understanding of God's Word and the Gospel. In this...

A disciple of the kingdom of heaven who does not live like a citizen of the kingdom, is worth about as much as tasteless salt or invisible light.

As long as the world remains in its fallen state, there will be plenty of opportunity for the persecution of the Church. Furthermore, as long as the world is in its fallen state, there will be plenty of opportunity to proclaim the gospel despite persecution. Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes that one of the most difficult attributes of citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is that of persecution by t...

Jesus now explains brilliantly that acts of mercy are an essential aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven. Just as God pours out mercy upon all of sinful humanity - an act of kindness toward us in our dire circumstance - citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven likewise act mercifully toward others in their sinful circumstances. "And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire:...

Jesus masterfully uses figurative language to teach the vast truths of the spiritual desolation that all face outside of the Kingdom of Heaven. Just as food is necessary for physical life so is God's Righteousness necessary for spiritual life. Hunger is a great motivator that drives the sinner to the only satisfaction ... the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.