It has been a month since we have been together in the Sermon on the Mount. The passage we begin studying today is extremely important because it is the climax of this entire section of the sermon. The section started with these words from Jesus, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” The call to surpassing or exceeding righteousness initially sounds like an impossible one, but rather than leaving us to define righteousness for ourselves Jesus defines it for us. He reveals that surpassing righteousness comes from the state of the heart and then flows through our actions, that it is not works based but instead it is found in the heart. As God famously told Samuel when he was sent to anoint the next king of Israel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Jesus then makes six statements that reveal the outward appearance of righteousness that the scribes and Pharisees had settled for and then the heart of righteousness that God desires and even requires of His children. Six times Jesus says “You have heard it was said . . . but I say to you . . .” He spoke of anger and murder, lust and adultery, divorce and marriage, vanity and truth, being offended and humility and finally, in our text today, in his last statement of this manner Jesus speaks of love and hate. I believe that what we will begin to see today is that Jesus reveals not only the way to surpassing righteousness but the heart and character of God the Father; that He doesn’t save the best for last but instead, in His last statement of contrast He reveals the key to all of the prior statements and then finally in verse 47 Jesus reveals the origin and the outcome of surpassing righteousness, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The Sermon on the Mount doesn’t merely reveal who God requires that we be; it reveals who God is and then promises that if we will follow Him He will make us like Him, dearly loved children, following the perfect example of their Father.