Matthew chapter five, we began preaching on Wednesday night. This was something that we preached in New Zealand for their missions conference. Their theme for their missions conference was taking a second mile. And so we were asked to preach that missions conference. And it's been the first time of my life that I've ever developed a sermon on Christians that would go the second mile. We're going to consider that subject again this morning, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 38. We'll begin reading in verse 38 through 48. You've heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him thy other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, Go with Him twain. Let's bow for prayer as we consider second-mile Christianity. Father in Heaven, we pray that You'd help me today and bless the service, bless all the activities that take place afterwards. Most of all, Lord, I pray that You'd work in the hearts of mankind and those who've come to the church house today. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. When I heard of the theme for this year's conference, this conference in New Zealand, I was intrigued by it because I didn't think there was very many times in the Bible where the Bible specifically said to go a second mile. In fact, that was the truth. Specifically, contextually, this is the only place in the Bible where this issue is discussed. Now there are other biblical examples of those who would go a second mile, and we'll discuss some of them today. But this sermon, where Jesus said this, was called the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 6, and Matthew chapter 7 were actually parts of the sermon, all of that is the Sermon on the Mount. Now that spans several pages in my Bible. And some of you complain about how long I preach. Jesus preached three chapters in one sermon. Now if you say amen more this morning, we'll get through the service much quicker. Praise the Lord. This church is always a blessing to me. The Sermon on the Mount includes the Beatitudes, instructions to Christian on being salt and light in chapter five. You know, Jesus didn't come to do away with the law. The law of God was good. You know, the Ten Commandments were good. They've just, here in the state of Texas, they're gonna put the Ten Commandments back in public school classrooms. You know, I'm in favor of this. It's not a matter of separation between church and state, which is completely taken out of context in our day. But I mean, there's nothing wrong with our young people learning the Ten Commandments. It's actually quite good. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt have no other gods before me. remember the Sabbath day, or not taking the Lord's name in vain. All these things are good things for our kids to learn. It's good things for people in our country to learn. There's these lies that are being proponed these days, and this has nothing to do with the message. There are lies being proponed that our country was not founded upon Christian principles, and that you do not find God in the Constitution. And all I want to say to you is, would you please read the Constitution? If you read the Constitution, you'll find God and references to God four times. In every one of our state's constitutions, those original colonies, they had God in a profession of faith within their original constitutions, that this country has been so blessed because of God's grace. You know, God shed his grace on the United States of America. And may he continue to do that. But Jesus didn't come to do away with the law, he came to fulfill it. He talked about many things in the Sermon on the Mount. But in this particular sentence in Matthew 5 and verse number 41, it was a reference to a Roman soldier who could compel someone to walk a mile with him and to carry his gear. Now back in Bible times, Romans were not looked on positively by the Jews. They were an occupying force. A typical Jewish person would really hold a Roman soldier in a state of disrepute. They did not like them. Soldiers from Rome didn't get along with Jews. In fact, you remember when Jesus was crucified, they put over him an insignia, a sign that this was the king of the Jews. What were they doing? They crucified him to humiliate him. For anybody to be crucified, it was a humiliating thing. You were basically hung up with your underwear nailed to a cross, and it would take you days to die. The Romans did not get along with the Jews, and the Jews did not get along with the Romans. So when a Roman soldier would see a Jew, any Jew, and say, I'm compelling you to walk a mile with me, this would have caused, in a Jewish mind, a lot of what you would call maybe an attitude. Maybe you're disrupting my day. Every step a Jewish person, a normal Jewish person, would take carrying that man's load would have been something that they loathed to do. They didn't want to have to carry that. They had their own business to do. But Jesus here in this passage said, listen, if somebody compels you to go a mile, go that second mile. That second mile person, that second mile Jew at that time, would have been a very unique individual. Soldiers didn't meet people like a second-mile Jew very often because they would have an attitude towards them. You know, if you came home after somebody disrupted your day, and some people are very good at complaining. How many people are really good at complaining in this room? Can I see your hand? All right, there's only a few of you that are honest. The rest of you are liars, and you need to come to the altar today. But sometimes somebody irritates you. Maybe it's a doctor in a doctor's office. Maybe they mistreated you. Maybe your waiter or waitress never came back to refill your drink. Maybe you got out on the road today and somebody cut you off and it stole the victory right off of you. And you wanted to say something back to them. You know? You ever met somebody on the road like that? Here in Dallas and the Fort Worth area, people are very aggressive with their driving. You know, when I first moved here, I was out here on Boat Club Road passing by the Walmart and somebody thought I did something wrong and he threw a drink over the top of my car. That was my welcome to Texas moment. Since I've moved to Texas, I've been diagnosed with cancer. I've been bit by a brown recluse spider. I've been attacked by angry women in this church. I've had the house broken into that I was living in over here before I got a house. And the list goes on and on. Now I'm sick because of all of you. I'm trying to go the second mile. But if you want to look for things to complain about, it won't take long. A Jewish person who was asked to do this, somebody who would go the second mile would be one who is probably taking interest in that soldier's life. And that soldier would probably never forget that time. when somebody walked the second mile with them. Now, in the scripture, this is the only time this is specifically given in Matthew chapter number five. But the principle of the second mile, not only is it a command here in Matthew number five, but there are other examples in scripture where somebody went the extra mile and they were rewarded by God. Now, if you would turn your Bible back to Genesis chapter number 24, Genesis 24. Now, this isn't an American concept, and I don't propound this way of thinking, or this kind of lifestyle, but in other areas of the world, they have, when people get married, it is an arranged marriage. You say, well, I don't want anybody else arranging for me to be married to somebody. That's fine, that this is a cultural thing. I've known many people in India who are arranged to be married by their families. And I didn't even realize that was a thing. I was here in the hospital getting part of my kidney removed, and the Indian lady, she was a nurse. I said, hey, did your parents arrange for your marriage? She said, yeah, that's the way everybody gets married in India. I said, well, it's a novel thing. I said, how did it work out for you? She said, just fine. Now, I met a man, and I won't tell you exactly where this was, but he told me, he said, brother, he said, I don't believe in arranged marriages, but given the choice of spouses that my daughters have made, I couldn't have done much worse. Now, there are some things that are worse than being single. And being married to somebody who you shouldn't be married to is one of them. Now, if you are married to somebody and you have moments of intense fellowship, like me and my wife had, and one of the reasons my voice is gone. Again, that's a joke. You could pray and ask God to give you harmony in your home. God is not honored by homes where husbands and wives are not getting along. But you young people need to be careful with your choice of a spouse. I believe this, as far as life goes, even Solomon himself, The smartest man, the wisest man who ever lived said there was nothing that he enjoyed more in life than being married and rejoicing with the wife of his youth. He said there's nothing better in life than that. You can try everything and commit your heart to everything under the sun. But there is nothing more enjoyable than having a happy home and a happy marriage. And in my life, there's been nothing more fulfilling than being married and raising a family. I thank the Lord for that. It is a blessing. Now, am I the only man in this room who think that's a blessing? Apparently so. In Genesis chapter number 24, Abraham's getting old. And some of you are getting old. You're just like Abraham. Amen? You guys are giving it to me and I'm trying to give it back to you. He's getting old and well stricken in years, verse number one, but the Bible says that Abraham was blessed in all things. And Abraham, verse two, said to the eldest servant in his house that ruled over all that he had, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell, but thou shalt go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham was very clear in verse six, beware that thou bring not my son thither again. Now one of the ways that Abraham was able to get the woman to follow him was he brought a lot of gold and silver and gifts. women like jewelry. You guys think I'm joking. No, this is true. He brought a lot of wealth with him when he went to that land. And for those of you who don't know the story, the guy's name was Eliezer. He ends up getting back to where Abraham was from and he's by a well of water. And he starts to pray. He says, Lord, Let it be that the woman who I asked to bring water to me, and she says, I'll give you water, and I'll also give your camels water. Let that be the girl that you've chosen for Isaac. And while he was speaking, there was a beautiful woman who came walking up to the well. Her name was Rebecca. The Bible declares that she was a pure girl, she'd never been with any man. It declares that she was a beautiful girl. And he comes up to her and says, can you give me something to drink? And the Bible says that Rebecca said, not only will I give you to drink, but I'll give your camels water to drink as well. And she was lowering that bucket down and getting that water and raising it up. She lifted it down on her hand and gave to him and started running back and forth between the camels. Now, a camel, I don't have much experience with camels. How many of you have had any experience with camels? Brother Michael has some. I've seen them. But you know, a camel can drink between three and 10 buckets of water. And they can take very lengthy journeys. Camels were like having a fleet of trucks back in the Old Testament. Having camels meant that you had wealth. So I believe he had 10 camels with him. The Bible says this woman is running back and forth to water the camels. And you know, she became a wife of one of the patriarchs. God blessed her life because of this. I would call this a second-mile person. You know, if you want to get something in this life, a lot of times you're going to need to go the second mile. We have people in this room who have gotten a degree, or maybe their master's degree. The only way that you do that is if you go the second mile. There are people today who have been advanced in their company, and they're trusted with things. You know, one of the greatest things that you can do as an employee is do your best to go the second mile, and that way you can move up in your company. How many of you have experienced that, where you've done something well, and you've earned someone's respect because you went the second mile? Churches are built by second mile Christians. You know, when you go outside today, you're gonna see a lot of decorations. You're gonna see tables that are out. You're gonna see food that's been prepared. And a lot of people are gonna enjoy a meal that has been prepared by second mile Christians. May God give us more second mile Christians. And in the area of missions, may God give us second mile people. You know, here recently in our own culture, we've seen people who have been willing to go the second mile. Charlie Kirk's wife gave that eulogy to him at his funeral. This is the kind of man that was just taken from this planet. She said during her eulogy that her husband used to write her love notes every Saturday. And every Saturday, closing out his love note to her, he would ask this question, is there any way that I can serve you better as your husband? of all the men to take off this planet, he was not the one to take. But he was taken because people hated him for his words. Very similar to that was Joseph, where the Bible says in Genesis 37 that his brothers hated him for his words. He told them his dreams and they hated him. In Genesis 37 and five, it said they hated him for his dreams. And in verse number eight, it said they hated him more for his words. But years later, in his late 30s, Joseph was reunited with his brothers. And Joseph did something very powerful with his brothers. They had stripped him of his coat. They had sold him as a slave. And Joseph chose to forgive them. That's what we would call a second mile Christian. Now something happened to me and my family back in the late 90s. A family member of mine had caused great pain to me, and I didn't even realize how that in my own life, I was being unforgiving to that family member. Now listen, forgiving a family member does not mean that you put somebody back at your table or that you make them your best friend. That's not what forgiveness is about. Forgiveness is a matter of the heart, where you're letting somebody go. Where when you think of that person, you can actually pray for them and not think ill towards them. During her eulogy, Erica Kirk said, I forgive the man that killed my husband. She said that within 10 days. of her husband being killed. It took me three years to forgive one of my family members. What I'm saying today is there's a challenge to all of us to be that second mile Christian. There could be somebody in this room today and you've got somebody to forgive in your heart. You've got somebody in the jail cell of your heart that you have not let go because they hurt you. I want to encourage you to be like Joseph and to be like that second mile Christian who's willing to forgive. As a result of what Erica Kirk did, a famous actor by the name of Tim Allen, You all know Tim Allen. He played in the Santa Claus. Played in some movies on one of that Tool Time or whatever that show was. It was kind of a sitcom in my youth. But Tim Allen got online after hearing what Erica Kirk said. And he said, I want to make this public. I'm going to forgive the man who killed my dad. When Tim Allen was 11 years old, a drunk driver, ran into his father and killed him, took his dad away from him at the age of 11. And for all these years, he's harbored bitterness towards that man. And as a result of what Erica Kirk said, Tim Allen said, today, I'm forgiving the man who killed my dad. You know, forgiveness is powerful. Forgiveness sometimes can be contagious. But it's something that's freely offered. There are people that carry around bitterness and unforgiveness in this world. I want to challenge you to be a second mile Christians. You know, Jesus, when he was on the earth, he took off his outer garment and even washed the feet of his disciples in John chapter 13. And while he was being crucified, he prayed these words, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. In Acts chapter 7, that New Testament preacher by the name of Stephen was being stoned to death because people didn't like what he said with his mouth. He was being killed for his words. And his words as he was going up into heaven were these, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. That's the kind of forgiveness that can be offered by those who live the second-mile Christian type of life. Hall himself said that he became a servant, that he could win people to the Lord. And if there was any Christian outside of Jesus Christ in the Bible who went the second mile, it was the Apostle Paul. He traveled many, many thousands of miles preaching the gospel everywhere he went so that souls could be saved and churches could be started. Now, one of the ways that we could practice second mile Christian living is, first of all, in love. In Romans chapter number 12, if you have your Bibles, you might turn there. Romans chapter number 12. The scripture says this. In verses 20 and 21. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If your enemy hungers, Sometimes when somebody has an enemy and they see them going hungry, they rejoice. This is New Testament teaching. If your enemy hungers, feed him. And if he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Verse 21, this is Christianity in this day and age. When we disagree with people, we don't hate them. We don't hurt them. We try to do good. The Bible says, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Some people have this idea of hit me and I'll hit you back. This is not a scriptural philosophy. A scriptural philosophy is if your enemy hungers, feed him. And overcoming evil with good. We should serve other people. The Bible says in the book of Philippians that we're supposed to look at the needs of others. We should be humble and esteem others better than ourselves. And for those of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we should be witnessing to others about their being a savior. If you're not saved today, if you don't know Christ as your savior, can I tell you today, Jesus loves you. Jesus died for every sin that's ever been committed, including every sin that's been committed by people who are in this room. You say, Pastor, you don't know how bad I've been. I may not, but God knows. The Bible says this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners. Jesus came to save you. And if there's somebody here that's lost, you don't have to be lost. You don't have to stay lost. You say, Pastor, I don't understand this jargon. I'm not lost. If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, the Bible says you're lost. and that you need to be saved. Salvation is when we come to a point in our lives when we acknowledge that we are a sinner. Which of us could say that we've never done anything wrong? I've only met one woman who ever said that to me. That was a joke, people. I've really never met anybody who's told me that they were sinless. Everybody has fallen short of God's glory Which of us could say we've never thought a dirty thought or something. We shouldn't have said or done Sometimes even when we meant well, we've made a mess of things Jesus died for every time we've ever fallen fell short of his glory and if we receive Jesus as our Savior he promises to forgive us of our sins and that's a major issue because you need to be forgiven of your sins before you leave this life and The second mile shows the Spirit of Christ in us. It overcomes evil with good. It turns burdens into blessings. It reflects of the cross. Who would not be able to see that Jesus went a second mile for us? You know where Jesus left in order to come to this wicked place? He left the portals of glory. Jesus was existent at the very beginning. The Bible calls him the creator of all things. In John chapter one and verse number three, it says, all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. Yet He chose to come to this earth and die that death for us. When the Bible says He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and He was praying as I believe our sins were being laid on His back. The Bible says that he was pressed above measure and that he was sweating, as it were, great sweat drops of blood. But one of the things that the Scripture declares was when he left Peter, James, and John in the Garden of Gethsemane, he went a little further. Jesus went a little further for you, friend. He went all the way to Calvary. He didn't stop. Could he have stopped? As a sinless man and a person who knew what was going to take place and the plan of God, he submitted his heart and his life fully to the plan of God to be crucified for the sins of man. Jesus went further for you. No one ever loved you the way the Lord Jesus Christ loved you. He knew no sin, He became sin for you, and He allowed Himself to be crucified for our sins. But that's not the end of it. He was buried and He rose again the third day, so that if you put your faith and trust in Him, He saves you from your sin, and He takes you to heaven when you die. Praise the Lord for the gift of salvation. In the book of Philippians, you find that guy named Epaphroditus who was sent by the church at Philippi to take his offering. The offering the church took up, he traveled some 800 miles to deliver that offering to the apostle Paul as he was in prison. He went the second mile. Our Jesus left a throne in heaven to come to Bethlehem. All of us should never forget how far Jesus came and how far he went for us. Now, perhaps I've said something here today, and it's the first time you've heard the gospel, or you just haven't understood the issues of salvation. One of the greatest things you could ever consider when you come to church is what happens after you leave this life. Sometimes people die very suddenly. And sometimes it is no warning. I had a friend up North just this last week. He was a bit overweight, but he was my friend. Went to the doctor, they took out an ingrown toenail, and he developed an infection. Infection went through his body and killed him. Went on from an ingrown toenail to eternity. Some people in our church have been hearing some words like cancer or Alzheimer's or ALS. Anything can happen in this life. The Bible says this, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, could I invite you today as a preacher of the gospel to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? He wants to save anyone who will come to Him. He offers full forgiveness and free forgiveness to anyone who will come and say, Lord, I am a sinner and I'm coming to you for forgiveness. Salvation is a matter of the heart. When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to do for you what he promised to do. Jesus said, come unto me, all ye that are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And he promises not to cast away anyone who comes to him. So if there's anyone in this church house today and you don't know Christ as your Savior, make today that day where you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you receive his free gift of salvation. Let's stand together with our heads bowed, our eyes are closed. Thank you for being so attentive. Now there could be somebody in the church today and you don't know Christ, then I encourage you to be saved today. We're gonna have an invitation in just a moment and people come down, they'll pray. And some are gonna be praying for their family members to be saved. And others, there may be something else in the message worked on their hearts. This wasn't just a salvation message, but it was for Christians as well. Wouldn't there be a Christian today that say, you know what? I need to become one of these second mile Christians. I need to go beyond what's just expected and do more. And I don't know how the Lord has worked in your heart today, but I want to invite you to come during this invitation time as we sing verse number one. Won't you come today, let God have His way in your heart. No light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Savior. And life more abundant and free. His eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face. Won't you come today? and he followed Him there. For us sin no more hath dominion, for more than conquers we are. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. His word shall not fail you, He promised. Believe Him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is thine, His perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look forth in His wonderful face, and the things of earth Where brook streams begin In the light of His glory and grace Oh, so are you weary and troubled The light in the darkness you see There's life for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Amen, and all of God's people said, Amen. Thank you for being so attentive today and putting up with my raspy voice. I do want to say to our church, thank you so much for those that have been taking time to go out and visit here recently. There's no way for me to visit every single person that's either shut in or cannot be in church, and I do appreciate those who've taken time to go out and visit our shut-ins. I do want to say that Miss Doris Davison is in a rehab facility here in Fort Worth. And you might, if you're gonna visit with Ms. Doris, she really is struggling with her lungs and her wind. You try to keep your visits as brief as you can when you go and see her. You know, a common visit to a hospital is probably 15 to 20 minutes. You pray, you let them express themselves. But some people really struggle with their health for lengthier times. And so please keep that in mind when you visit. Brother Bill just has come down and his cancer doctor is basically giving him the option to continue with the treatment or not. They're not finding that the treatment is accomplishing very much. And I want to ask the church to pray for our brother. He's been battling this for some time. And we know that God has grace no matter what the answer is going to be. God has grace for our souls and for us when we go through times of difficulty and times of sickness. And so may God bless him. And if you are visiting with us today and you filled out that visitor card, I'll be in the back for a few moments after service if you just hand that to me and we're about to go out and enjoy our fall fun day. There's bounce houses and things. If you're a kid and. If you're a parent, we would ask for you to fill out a waiver declaring that you will not sue the church if your children get hurt. You shouldn't sue the church anyway. Amen. But if you are a parent and your child is going to go on any of these bounce houses or anything, they're not going to be allowed to go on the bounce houses unless they have a wristband. The only way they're getting a wristband is if you sign these waivers that, you know, basically saying I'm giving my permission for my child to have fun. And, you know, play on these things. Also, there's food that's been prepared. I don't know if the food is ready or not. For those of you who are volcanic food gatherers, you know, you take a plate to a potluck and you load it up like a volcano and it falls off the side of the plate. Could you please, you know, show respect to everybody who has not eaten yet? and not get the quadruple cheeseburger and let people all get through the line. Can I get an amen and thank you? Let's let everybody get something to eat before you start pulling the volcano potluck plate. And every time we do one of these things, there will be people who disobey that because basically my words mean absolutely nothing when it comes to food and some people. But I will show grace, but I promise you I will point it out to you if you didn't listen to that. I just want to have a good time today. I wish I sounded better, because I am excited to see everybody here today. And if you've come and you've visited with us, I cannot tell you how much our heart is thankful that you've chosen to come to this church. And some of you have come for the very first time And my wife and I have gone to churches for the very first time, and it can be an intimidating thing to go to a new place, a new place of worship. But I hope that our church has made you feel welcome. This is a really good church with some loving people. And if God would lead you to this church, we want to be that kind of church that you could say, hey, I want to join there, and this is where I want to worship the Lord. And so if God's leading you to do that, please see me as well. All right, I'm going to ask Brother Tim, our song director, who stepped in for me today. I was due to sing today. And I was thinking about pulling a Milli Vanilli on this church. But there was absolutely no way with my voice sounding like this that anyone would believe it. So I chose to have Brother Tim sing that beautiful song. Thank you for that, Brother Tim. Would you close the service and prayer please? Yes. What's that? Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for allowing us to be in your house today. Lord, we thank you for each member that's here. But most importantly, Lord, we thank you for visitors that you've brought our way. Lord, we thank you for allowing them to be here. And Lord, I pray that you were able to touch each heart that was here today. And Lord, if they don't know you as their Savior, Lord, that they'll make that decision before it's eternally too late. Lord, we lift up each and every one of us, our church members, our loved ones that are sick or ill. Lord, you know each need. Lord, I pray that you would bless in each life in a special way. Lord, just touch them and allow them to feel your presence. Lord, we pray that you'll bless this time together as we have this fall fellowship. Lord, we pray that each one will have a good time, and Lord, we pray that everyone will be safe and no injuries. But Lord, bless this time. Again, thank you for being our Savior. Thank you for dying on a cross for us. Lord, bless each one that's here. In Jesus' name, amen.