WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.769 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:18.730 here. Welcome, everybody. You know, it's Super 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:22.109 Bowl Sunday, and as we can even see in the room 00:00:22.109 --> 00:00:25.609 here, this is typical for Super Bowl Sunday. 00:00:25.670 --> 00:00:29.289 Super Bowl Sunday is the least attended service 00:00:29.289 --> 00:00:33.210 of the year. for all churches. Can you believe 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:36.390 that? Yeah, tell me there's not some idol tree 00:00:36.390 --> 00:00:38.969 in the world. So I, you know, those of you, you 00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:40.850 know, who are here and those of you who are tuning 00:00:40.850 --> 00:00:43.890 in, I truly appreciate you. Thank you. The Lord 00:00:43.890 --> 00:00:48.009 sees you. We know what you're doing. So thank 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:51.689 you for that. On that note, let us pray. Lord, 00:00:51.909 --> 00:00:55.109 we thank you for bringing us together as your 00:00:55.109 --> 00:00:58.590 family. to seeing to our day -to -day lives and 00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:00.770 guiding us and helping us with the many stresses 00:01:00.770 --> 00:01:02.710 that we have in our lives. We know we have a 00:01:02.710 --> 00:01:04.530 lot of stresses and a lot of ailments as well. 00:01:05.969 --> 00:01:08.790 So, you know, we ask that you open the eyes of 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:11.150 our hearts and our minds to what you had to teach 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:13.890 to us today and teach us how to apply it to our 00:01:13.890 --> 00:01:16.069 lives as we walk out the door and leave here 00:01:16.069 --> 00:01:22.010 today in your name. Amen. All right. So this 00:01:22.010 --> 00:01:27.189 week we are. I'm going to go just a little bit 00:01:27.189 --> 00:01:29.390 longer than normal. That's your warning right 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:33.930 now. Because today is the last of our series 00:01:33.930 --> 00:01:37.370 on the Beatitudes. Okay? That's why. Don't worry. 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:39.950 We won't go a whole lot longer. I promise. Just 00:01:39.950 --> 00:01:42.349 a little. My wife's already over there getting 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:47.409 her timer going. She's going to flash me aside. 00:01:47.549 --> 00:01:53.799 45 minutes. No, we're going to conclude it today. 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.180 It's actually really easy to go through these 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:59.480 last. few parts. So just a reminder, you know, 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:01.500 as we go through it, the Beatitudes, they show 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:03.680 us that we don't live in the right side up, right? 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:06.519 We're not in the heavenly kingdom. We're not 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:08.520 in God's kingdom yet. We're still in the upside 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:10.979 down kingdom. We're in the world, right? Things 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:13.099 aren't exactly as they should be. We don't view 00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:15.280 things the way that we should. We don't react 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.680 to things the way we should. And the Beatitudes 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.340 was the opener for the Sermon on the Mount, of 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:22.800 course. You know, this is that moment of shock 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.080 and awe where Jesus was grabbing people's attention. 00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:27.620 They're like, what? You know, kind of dating 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:29.060 myself a little bit. What you talking about, 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:33.599 Willis? Right? So that's what he was doing because 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:37.099 he was challenging not just his disciples, but 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:39.479 everybody who was there. And for all of his followers 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.379 and everyone since, you know, to open their eyes 00:02:42.379 --> 00:02:44.659 to what the world actually is and how we should 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:46.620 be thinking about it and how we should be reacting 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.879 to it. And it really is a challenge because what 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:53.400 he proposed goes against those norms that we 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.139 feel come to us naturally, the things that we've 00:02:55.139 --> 00:03:00.669 been taught. Right? So it's a big thing. It's 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:04.169 very, it's unconventional. It's unconventional. 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:07.069 Because everything in this world is designed 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:12.889 by Satan to go against the kingdom of God. And 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:14.750 that's what we're surrounded by day in and day 00:03:14.750 --> 00:03:18.110 out. So we're going to go ahead and we're going 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:19.990 to pick up where we left off. So let's go ahead 00:03:19.990 --> 00:03:22.349 and open up our Bibles, our Bible apps to Matthew 00:03:22.349 --> 00:03:24.830 chapter 5. We're right there at the beginning. 00:03:25.640 --> 00:03:28.340 And we're actually going to start, we're going 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:29.979 to skip over the verses that we've already done. 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:31.939 I think I've done enough of a recap. So we're 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:33.900 just going to pick right up at verse 7. We're 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:36.599 going to read through Matthew chapter 5, verse 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:42.780 7 through 12. So Matthew 5, verse 7 through 12, 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:47.259 the word says, Blessed are the merciful, for 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.889 they shall attain mercy. Blessed are the pure 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:54.569 in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:57.349 the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons 00:03:57.349 --> 00:04:01.289 of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:04.870 for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:09.509 of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:12.770 persecute you and say all kinds of evil against 00:04:12.770 --> 00:04:19.160 you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:23.079 glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:25.720 so they persecuted the prophets who were before 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:31.540 you. It's a lot, right? And really this last 00:04:31.540 --> 00:04:33.600 section in itself, I could probably talk for 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:37.180 on a month. I won't. So if there's something 00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:38.860 you feel like I'm skipping over, there's a reason 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:46.939 for that. mind that time and, you know, get you 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:48.500 out of here in time to actually go and eat and 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:50.819 not hold you hostage. Nobody likes a hostage 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:54.120 situation, right? Okay, except for Brian. I'll 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.720 hold him hostage. I'll find a, maybe we could 00:04:57.720 --> 00:04:58.939 put him in the storage shed for the weekend. 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:04.500 I don't know. I'm just kidding. But it's a lot. 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:06.980 One of the hardest things that we've been asked 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:10.139 to do as followers of Christ is to get along 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.779 with people who have wronged us. To get along 00:05:12.779 --> 00:05:16.379 with people who we feel have offended us in some 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:20.800 way, right? It's very easy for us to go on the 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.439 attack. Matter of fact, we see how easy that 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:25.759 is because it's in the news day in and day out. 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.040 It's easy to talk trash. It's easy to slander 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:31.839 people and put people down, right? It's easy 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:36.379 to yell and scream and destroy things. It is 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:42.850 hard. It is really hard to follow Jesus. It is 00:05:42.850 --> 00:05:45.529 really hard to do the things that God has asked 00:05:45.529 --> 00:05:51.129 us to do. It's hard to be merciful. It's hard 00:05:51.129 --> 00:05:55.649 to show love. It doesn't say you have to like 00:05:55.649 --> 00:05:58.189 people. The word says you have to love people. 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:02.610 There's a distinct difference. That's what we 00:06:02.610 --> 00:06:04.329 are called to do. Matter of fact, if we look 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:08.970 here at verse 7, Blessed are the merciful, for 00:06:08.970 --> 00:06:13.660 they shall obtain mercy. When we hear this, we 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:17.980 should be thinking of Luke 6, verse 31. This 00:06:17.980 --> 00:06:20.800 is the basis for the golden rule, right? So Luke 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.600 6, verse 31, the word says, and just as you want 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.500 men to do to you, you also do to them likewise, 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.920 right? Treat others as you want to be treated, 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:36.579 in other words, right? That's the way we present 00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:42.470 it usually. Do unto others before they do unto 00:06:42.470 --> 00:06:46.149 you. Not an eye for an eye, a tooth for the truth. 00:06:46.790 --> 00:06:51.310 Right? That's the way people want to react. That's 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:52.889 the way the world wants us to react, but it's 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:56.870 not what we're called to do. It's not be kind 00:06:56.870 --> 00:07:03.269 unless. Be kind except. Don't worry about it 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:08.709 in this instant because. No. Treat people the 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:11.449 way you want to be treated. Period. It does not 00:07:11.449 --> 00:07:14.129 matter if they reciprocate that. It does not 00:07:14.129 --> 00:07:17.350 matter if they like you, if they love you. They 00:07:17.350 --> 00:07:19.790 can downright hate you. Show love, show mercy, 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:24.930 show compassion. Right? There's no ifs, ands, 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:29.889 or buts about it. It says, just as you want men 00:07:29.889 --> 00:07:36.129 to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Period. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.500 It's a big problem today, though, isn't it? It 00:07:41.500 --> 00:07:46.040 didn't seem to be this big years ago. It really 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:49.000 didn't, but it probably was, right? Hindsight, 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:52.019 it probably was. These days, everybody feels 00:07:52.019 --> 00:07:56.000 entitled to be offended. Everybody's quick to 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.420 be offended, right? They don't want to consider. 00:08:02.389 --> 00:08:04.509 whether or not they may even be wrong. It's just 00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:06.529 the fact that somebody says something that they 00:08:06.529 --> 00:08:08.050 don't like or they just don't like the person 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:09.670 in general, so they're not going to listen to 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:11.490 them. It's just automatically offensive. It's 00:08:11.490 --> 00:08:12.870 like, what, political party do you belong to? 00:08:12.930 --> 00:08:17.430 Oh, no, right? Everything has to be political 00:08:17.430 --> 00:08:21.110 these days. It shouldn't be, right? It's like, 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:24.350 oh, you belong to what group? Oh, no. Oh, you 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:27.230 ride a motorcycle? Oh, you're just a bunch of 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:30.569 thugs, right? Might as well be a gangbanger. 00:08:30.670 --> 00:08:34.309 It's not the case, though, is it? You laugh. 00:08:34.970 --> 00:08:42.070 I've been accused. You know, I mean, yeah. Right? 00:08:42.769 --> 00:08:48.789 Yep. You know, it happens. It happens a lot. 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:53.139 People automatically want to paint you as the 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:56.039 bad guy. They want you to apologize. Whether 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:57.639 you're wrong or right doesn't matter because 00:08:57.639 --> 00:08:59.559 as far as they're concerned, you're wrong. So 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:01.159 you need to apologize. You need to tell them 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:02.860 that they're right. You need to bend the knee 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:06.600 to them, right? That's what people want because 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:09.620 that's the way the world has told them. Hey, 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:11.240 it's yours. Go get what's yours. Don't put up 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.919 with nothing. Don't listen to them. You know 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.779 you're right, right? It's the mentality that's 00:09:16.779 --> 00:09:22.129 out there. And not only that, people want you 00:09:22.129 --> 00:09:25.190 to be the bad guy. Why do people want you to 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:29.549 be the bad guy? Two words, victim mentality. 00:09:31.090 --> 00:09:34.649 People love to be the victim now. People want 00:09:34.649 --> 00:09:36.730 everybody to think that they've been victimized 00:09:36.730 --> 00:09:39.370 because they want the sympathy. They want the 00:09:39.370 --> 00:09:42.429 empathy. They want that attention. They crave 00:09:42.429 --> 00:09:45.289 the attention, right? It doesn't matter if it's 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:46.789 good attention or bad attention. It's attention. 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:50.740 Now the limelight's on them. They're the star 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:57.600 of the story, right? Pride. Ego. There's a lot 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:01.279 of sin there. And that's what drives people towards 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.000 it. They're listening to that little whisper 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:12.220 in the back of their ear. Tickling them. You 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:14.919 know, selective outrage goes with it. Oh boy, 00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:18.210 do we see a lot of that. A lot of selective outrage. 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:19.990 And I'm not going to say it's on one side because 00:10:19.990 --> 00:10:24.190 it's all sides. Everybody's doing it. The left's 00:10:24.190 --> 00:10:29.370 doing it. The right's doing it. Everybody. It's 00:10:29.370 --> 00:10:32.149 a lot of selective outrage. Oh, you woke the 00:10:32.149 --> 00:10:35.409 beast. Just you wait and see. Really? Still waiting 00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:38.070 every time you say it. Every time you say it. 00:10:38.070 --> 00:10:39.990 We're still waiting. It's been years. People 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:41.389 have been saying that since before I was born. 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:45.389 People have been saying that since before any 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:47.909 of us were born. Right? It's one way, shape, 00:10:47.950 --> 00:10:57.230 or fashion. But guess what? Going back to verse 00:10:57.230 --> 00:11:00.169 7 there. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 00:11:00.169 --> 00:11:06.230 obtain mercy. Jesus is telling us all. He's telling 00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:09.529 you, he's telling me. If you want people to be 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:13.570 merciful to you when you've made a mistake, when 00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:17.179 you're in error, You had better be showing mercy 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:22.120 as well. You had better err on the side of caution 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:27.259 because we all make mistakes. And when you know 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:28.879 for a fact that that person has made a mistake, 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:33.620 guess what? Be loving. Be gentle. Don't just 00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:35.340 start barking at them. Hey, aren't you afraid 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:38.159 you're going to go to hell? As Christians, we 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:43.059 do that, don't we? We hear that in this room 00:11:43.059 --> 00:11:45.679 sometimes. Some people get so heated, so passionate 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:49.860 about something, right? They're just evil people. 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:53.179 Are they or are they just uneducated? I don't 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:59.340 know Jesus. Where's the love? I was having a 00:11:59.340 --> 00:12:01.000 conversation just the other day with Marvin. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:04.980 I used to have this mindset, especially when 00:12:04.980 --> 00:12:07.139 I was in the military. When I came home from 00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:08.740 the military, I still had it for a really long 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:11.019 time. A lot of us have all heard this, right? 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.039 Especially talking about the Middle East. You 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:14.940 know what? Nuke them. Let them glow in the dark. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:16.840 Turn the place into a glass parking lot. Let 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:20.940 God sort them out. Right? They're all evil. Is 00:12:20.940 --> 00:12:26.000 that true? It's not. When that was mindset, I 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.259 was wrong. Now, granted, nobody was going to 00:12:29.259 --> 00:12:30.759 tell me I was wrong. I wasn't going to listen. 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:33.860 I wasn't ready to listen. God had to soften my 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.220 heart. And most people think that way about whatever 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:38.950 it is that they think about. And they're not 00:12:38.950 --> 00:12:43.250 ready to listen either. Are they wrong? Yes. 00:12:43.610 --> 00:12:48.889 Should we be merciful? Yes. The truth is, when 00:12:48.889 --> 00:12:51.129 I had that mindset, I wasn't thinking of the 00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:53.870 fact that, yes, while these people are bad people, 00:12:54.090 --> 00:12:57.409 they're also surrounded by a whole lot of innocent 00:12:57.409 --> 00:13:00.710 people. They're surrounded by a whole lot of 00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:07.409 people who are waiting to hear about Jesus. But 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:10.909 I never took that into account. And I know I'm 00:13:10.909 --> 00:13:15.830 not the only one. We're all guilty of that, aren't 00:13:15.830 --> 00:13:20.610 we? Like, you know what? Take that group. We 00:13:20.610 --> 00:13:23.009 think of people that are in jail. Let them rot. 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:28.309 How about those people who have truly come to 00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:30.110 Jesus while they're there? Do they deserve to 00:13:30.110 --> 00:13:33.850 continue to rot? Do they deserve mercy and love? 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:36.899 How about those people who are wrongly convicted 00:13:36.899 --> 00:13:40.700 and are still there? Maybe they will get out. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.299 Maybe the only way out for them is being called 00:13:44.299 --> 00:13:47.519 home. But we don't consider those people either, 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:54.320 do we? We think of the homeless. Some people 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:58.720 are there by their own devices. Some people are 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:04.600 there by other things. How many people in this 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:06.379 world have been displaced because their home 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:11.720 caught fire? Homes are not easy to find, let 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:15.360 alone to afford. And unfortunately, insurance 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:17.759 only covers so much, and when you're left putting 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:21.000 a bill, nobody wants to help you. The banks won't 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:23.240 touch you. The mortgage companies won't touch 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:26.659 you. Where do these people have to go at that 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:31.659 point? Places in the city fill up fast. Not everybody 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:38.279 has a car. You go into work, some places will 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.259 say, get out of here because you smell bad. Really? 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:44.940 Where are they going to shower? They end up losing 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:48.919 their jobs on top of it. Where's our mercy? Where's 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:51.820 our grace? Where's our love? It goes out the 00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:55.240 window. We need to be treating people with kindness, 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:57.259 the same kindness that we would want to be treated 00:14:57.259 --> 00:15:02.059 with. We were in their shoes. Regardless of what 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:04.769 their circumstances, regardless of whether they 00:15:04.769 --> 00:15:09.870 know Jesus or not. It's not on us to condemn 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:16.009 them for their belief. It is on us to introduce 00:15:16.009 --> 00:15:18.950 them to Jesus Christ and facilitate the handshake. 00:15:20.250 --> 00:15:26.649 Let the Holy Spirit take over from there. Think 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:29.570 of it this way. Think all of us in here are probably 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:33.350 old enough to remember video rentals? Be kind, 00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:38.649 please rewind. I know all of us at least one 00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:41.129 time in our lives open up that cassette and we're 00:15:41.129 --> 00:15:42.830 a little upset to find out, oh man, I gotta rewind 00:15:42.830 --> 00:15:44.850 this thing before I can even watch it? Come on. 00:15:46.110 --> 00:15:51.009 Right? Treat people the same way. I know it's 00:15:51.009 --> 00:15:54.669 silly, but it's easy to remember. And here's 00:15:54.669 --> 00:15:59.539 the thing. We're not called to like everybody, 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:01.399 like I said before, but we're called to love 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:04.519 them regardless. If you can't show others mercy, 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:08.879 do not expect them to show you mercy. Period. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:11.419 If there's one person out there that you cannot 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:13.299 forgive, there's one person out there that you 00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:16.419 cannot show mercy to, do not expect anyone to 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:28.730 show you love or mercy. You think God hates the 00:16:28.730 --> 00:16:34.870 devil? It's a hard one to think of, huh? Well, 00:16:34.889 --> 00:16:37.509 let's put it this way. Did Jesus hate Judas? 00:16:40.929 --> 00:16:44.470 No. Even though he knew what would happen, he 00:16:44.470 --> 00:16:48.990 knew what the plan was, he loved Judas just the 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:53.370 same. God created Satan. He knew what the outcome 00:16:53.370 --> 00:16:58.129 was going to be. You ever made something and 00:16:58.129 --> 00:17:01.870 just absolutely hated it? No. And I might have 00:17:01.870 --> 00:17:07.890 been a little upset with the flaw. But it's just 00:17:07.890 --> 00:17:17.150 a flaw, right? Show love. Show mercy. It's not 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:20.390 a give and take. It's a give, regardless of whether 00:17:20.390 --> 00:17:23.769 you get something back or not. And just because 00:17:23.769 --> 00:17:25.289 you're out in the world and people are being 00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:27.809 mean, you have trouble finding someone nice. 00:17:28.710 --> 00:17:33.309 You know what? You be the nice person. When you 00:17:33.309 --> 00:17:36.109 can't find it, you give it. When you can find 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:39.990 it, you give it. Because the more that's out 00:17:39.990 --> 00:17:45.470 there, the better, right? Be the one. Moving 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:51.109 along into verse 8. Let's flip back here so you 00:17:51.109 --> 00:17:52.809 can all see it. Verse 8, blessed are the pure 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:56.789 in heart for they shall see God. Ooh, that's 00:17:56.789 --> 00:18:02.170 a good one. Speaking of purity of heart, don't 00:18:02.170 --> 00:18:05.390 get me wrong, nobody's perfect. The only perfect 00:18:05.390 --> 00:18:07.609 person that ever walked this world got nailed 00:18:07.609 --> 00:18:13.730 to a cross for us as Jesus. Nobody before him 00:18:13.730 --> 00:18:18.970 and nobody since him is perfect. Not going to 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:22.750 be. We can't be while we live in this world, 00:18:22.809 --> 00:18:29.150 plain and simple. But you know what you can be? 00:18:31.289 --> 00:18:34.970 Better today than you were yesterday. You can 00:18:34.970 --> 00:18:39.849 be better tomorrow than you were today. Now that, 00:18:39.849 --> 00:18:43.529 that is something to aspire to. That is a worthy 00:18:43.529 --> 00:18:47.369 goal, is it not? Because all of us, no matter 00:18:47.369 --> 00:18:52.460 how good of a day we have, We can all find something 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:55.420 to improve on. In the Marine Corps, we have these 00:18:55.420 --> 00:18:56.519 things that are called leadership principles. 00:18:56.700 --> 00:18:58.400 You've probably heard me say this before. You'll 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.519 probably hear me say it again because it's one 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:02.819 of the greatest principles, in my opinion, is 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:05.539 know yourself and seek self -improvement because 00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:07.539 there's always something that can be improved. 00:19:08.539 --> 00:19:11.599 Why? Because we're not perfect. We're not going 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:13.740 to be perfect. That means there's a whole lot 00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:19.279 of error. We just have to seek it out. Best way 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:21.539 to do that is with the Holy Spirit. Pray and 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:25.980 ask for that guidance. Right? As the psalm says, 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:31.140 you're a light to my pathway, right? We can always 00:19:31.140 --> 00:19:33.700 improve. There's always something in all of us. 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:36.339 Now, if you have a really bad day, it's real 00:19:36.339 --> 00:19:38.460 easy to improve from there, right? If you go 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:40.180 out and you treat someone like dirt, you're just 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:41.759 in a foul mood and you're just a grumposaurus 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.039 rex, it's real easy to improve the next day, 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:47.750 isn't it? Heck. Let's be honest. It's real easy 00:19:47.750 --> 00:19:52.250 to improve that day. Especially if you could 00:19:52.250 --> 00:19:54.230 take a moment to realize, hey, I done wrong. 00:19:54.490 --> 00:19:56.970 I offended somebody. And you could go and talk 00:19:56.970 --> 00:19:59.329 to them and be like, you know what? I was wrong. 00:19:59.609 --> 00:20:01.970 I shouldn't have talked to you that way. I shouldn't 00:20:01.970 --> 00:20:03.250 have said what I did. I should not have done 00:20:03.250 --> 00:20:13.589 what I did. I'm wrong. I apologize. Pray with 00:20:13.589 --> 00:20:18.720 me, right? There's a big one. Very, very rarely 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:23.660 will anybody ever say no to prayer. So that's 00:20:23.660 --> 00:20:28.480 a good goal, to live a pure life every day. Now, 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:30.900 it's not always easy. This is one of those things 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:35.140 in life that's honestly quite easier said than 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:40.359 done. Close my notes. I had to open them back 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:45.400 up here. Right? It's a lot easier said than done. 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:50.180 If I could find where I was at here now. I've 00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:58.099 got to scroll back down. Sorry. There we go. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.819 Sorry about that. It took me a second. Each of 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:06.940 us should strive to live better, though. We're 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:09.019 going to have tough days. Tough days are ahead. 00:21:09.380 --> 00:21:12.359 We're going to have speed bumps. In the words 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:14.180 of the great Chester Cheetah, it's not always 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:17.440 easy being cheesy. I like my cheesy jokes, yes. 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:23.599 Ain't easy being cheesy. Let's go to Psalm 119, 00:21:23.700 --> 00:21:26.539 verse 9, though. For time's sake, I'll just go 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:28.460 ahead and read it for you. Psalm 119, verse 9. 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:32.740 How can a young man cleanse his way by taking 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:34.799 heed according to your word? So there's a question 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.799 and there's an answer, right? How can you live 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:43.299 a better life, is what it's saying, by being 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:49.960 in God's word? Every single day, we should be 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:53.339 in God's word. We should be reading our Bibles. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:57.579 You know, if reading is hard, listening to our 00:21:57.579 --> 00:21:59.680 Bibles. We have all sorts of tools out there 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:01.640 that allow us to listen to it. In the Bible app, 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:03.299 there's a little thing in there. Typically, you 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:04.519 go in there, you click on it, you can listen 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.680 to the Bible. There's websites galore, Bible 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.680 on tape, Bible on stick, Bible on USB stick. 00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:13.220 There's all sorts of ways, but we should be engaged 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:20.440 in the word every single day. Reading it, listening 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:25.359 to it, praying. There's a big one. Praying. We 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:31.400 should be praying every single day. And a nice 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:35.659 thing is we should be starting the day just like 00:22:35.659 --> 00:22:41.759 that. In fact, now that I said that, I can't 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.440 think of the verse. It's okay, we can all look 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:47.819 it up, right? Be still and know that I am God. 00:22:50.579 --> 00:22:54.500 That pertains. Why? Yes, we should be reading, 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:57.039 we should be hearing the word of God, we should 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.819 be praying, but just as importantly is we should 00:22:59.819 --> 00:23:06.380 be quiet and listening for God. listening to 00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:09.220 what he has to tell us, listening to him to answer 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:15.180 our prayers. Like Haggai in the ramparts, he 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:19.700 prayed, and he took his post, he sat, watched 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:22.779 out, and closed his mouth. It's kind of hard 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:24.319 for some of us though, right? We like to talk. 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:30.819 We love to talk. But the more time that you spend 00:23:33.110 --> 00:23:35.309 Let me back up here. And I say this, it's a great 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:36.650 way to start the day because then we can listen, 00:23:36.730 --> 00:23:38.789 right? We start the day in prayer. We start the 00:23:38.789 --> 00:23:41.869 day in the word, right? And then as we go through 00:23:41.869 --> 00:23:46.009 the day and we be still, right? It makes it that 00:23:46.009 --> 00:23:49.710 much easier for us to listen to God, to give 00:23:49.710 --> 00:23:51.430 him a chance to actually guide us and to guide 00:23:51.430 --> 00:23:56.210 our steps. And if we're not hearing him or we're 00:23:56.210 --> 00:23:58.049 not sure what we're hearing, then guess what? 00:23:58.089 --> 00:24:00.269 We can pray some more or we can go back to his 00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:07.220 word. Pray without ceasing, right? Psalms 46 00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:09.759 .10. Thank you. There you go. Psalms 46 .10. 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:13.579 There you go, folks. Thank you, Albert. Great 00:24:13.579 --> 00:24:16.019 way to start the day, though. Not only that, 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:20.279 but the more that we live in his word, the more 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:24.619 God, through the Holy Spirit, cleanses our heart. 00:24:24.779 --> 00:24:29.720 The more he pushes out the world and puts the 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:35.380 stuff of the heavenly kingdom inside us. the 00:24:35.380 --> 00:24:38.559 more we understand the upside -down kingdom that 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:41.700 we're living in, and the more we understand and 00:24:41.700 --> 00:24:49.380 look forward to being in the right side up. So 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:51.680 every day, study your Bible. Every day, pray. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.079 Pray without ceasing, every day, all the time. 00:24:55.859 --> 00:24:58.869 And listen. Because the more you learn, the more 00:24:58.869 --> 00:25:00.869 you can apply to your life. And the more you 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:03.430 apply to your life, the better it will become 00:25:03.430 --> 00:25:09.910 because of He who is in you. And it happens because 00:25:09.910 --> 00:25:12.009 we're more in tune with Him. We're more in tune 00:25:12.009 --> 00:25:14.630 with what He has to say. We're more in tune with 00:25:14.630 --> 00:25:18.309 His will and what He wants for us and our lives 00:25:18.309 --> 00:25:21.150 and what He can do with it to further the kingdom. 00:25:24.450 --> 00:25:27.529 It's a big one. So if you want any of your life 00:25:27.529 --> 00:25:29.809 to improve, and don't get me wrong, there are 00:25:29.809 --> 00:25:31.269 some things that are just out of control because 00:25:31.269 --> 00:25:34.750 sometimes it's just that spiritual war. It really 00:25:34.750 --> 00:25:40.029 is. But we have God at our back. He has our back. 00:25:40.769 --> 00:25:43.269 So if you want things to improve, get in the 00:25:43.269 --> 00:25:47.809 Word, pray, become active in Scripture. Things 00:25:47.809 --> 00:25:53.190 are not going to just come to you. You are also 00:25:53.190 --> 00:25:55.150 called to be good stewards of what you have. 00:25:56.350 --> 00:25:58.329 We are all called to be good stewards of what 00:25:58.329 --> 00:26:04.109 we have. And part of that is learning about it. 00:26:05.109 --> 00:26:07.990 Let me put it this way. The same thing applies 00:26:07.990 --> 00:26:10.609 to the word that I just talked about. If you 00:26:10.609 --> 00:26:12.130 want to learn about something, if you want to 00:26:12.130 --> 00:26:14.789 become proficient in something, what do you do? 00:26:15.069 --> 00:26:17.970 You learn, right? You get a book. You get an 00:26:17.970 --> 00:26:22.490 app. You go to a teacher of some sort. And you 00:26:22.490 --> 00:26:25.789 read and you listen and you practice and you 00:26:25.789 --> 00:26:28.150 put it into work, right? It doesn't matter. It 00:26:28.150 --> 00:26:30.849 could be working on a car, right? Nobody becomes 00:26:30.849 --> 00:26:33.990 a mechanic overnight, a musician. Nobody becomes 00:26:33.990 --> 00:26:36.269 a musician instantly as soon as they pick up 00:26:36.269 --> 00:26:40.650 an instrument, right? Doctors, nurses, accountants, 00:26:40.650 --> 00:26:45.930 teachers, right? Truck drivers, absolutely. You 00:26:45.930 --> 00:26:48.309 know, whatever it is that's out there, none of 00:26:48.309 --> 00:26:51.470 us with our professions just became that overnight. 00:26:51.650 --> 00:26:55.309 And none of us mastered it overnight. We went 00:26:55.309 --> 00:26:58.109 and we learned and we grew and we learned some 00:26:58.109 --> 00:27:02.289 more. And the word is no different. Just like 00:27:02.289 --> 00:27:04.029 a sport. If you want to become good at something, 00:27:04.190 --> 00:27:07.930 you practice it over and over and over again. 00:27:08.490 --> 00:27:10.690 You know what? We don't always like the situations 00:27:10.690 --> 00:27:13.289 that we're in. But God, since we know that God 00:27:13.289 --> 00:27:16.059 has our back, You know, we could be just like 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:20.839 Daniel and we just go into it, right? And Daniel 00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:23.579 went to a fire, did he not? He knew God had his 00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:28.460 back. How about Joseph? Here he is, he has a 00:27:28.460 --> 00:27:30.759 dream. He tells his brothers, hey, I'm going 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:34.640 to rule over you. And then what happened? He 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:38.500 got rock bottom, didn't he? He got beaten and 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:40.359 thrown in a ditch by his brothers, sold into 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:42.299 slavery, went down to the top. As soon as he 00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:43.759 started to raise in position, what happened? 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:47.299 He got smacked down again and put in jail. But 00:27:47.299 --> 00:27:50.000 eventually what happened? Because he stood with 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.859 Jesus. He did what he was told to do, right? 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.420 He stood with God, I should say. And he did what 00:27:55.420 --> 00:27:57.579 he was supposed to do. And he was faithful. And 00:27:57.579 --> 00:27:59.599 he spent his time in the scripture. And he spent 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:02.980 his time in prayer. And what happened? He rose 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:04.960 up in the land to be second only to Pharaoh, 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:06.539 and that's because Pharaoh couldn't name him 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:11.579 to be higher than himself even. So the situation 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:13.640 that we find ourselves in, sometimes it just 00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:16.940 plain sucks, right? We've all had a job that 00:28:16.940 --> 00:28:19.450 we're just like, ah. But you know what? We need 00:28:19.450 --> 00:28:21.430 to be like Joseph. Like, you know what? I'm here. 00:28:21.730 --> 00:28:23.509 We need to change our mindset. We need to get 00:28:23.509 --> 00:28:24.890 out of the stinking thinking. Be like, you know 00:28:24.890 --> 00:28:27.250 what? I'm here. I don't like it. Something's 00:28:27.250 --> 00:28:29.269 got to give. But since I am here, I'm going to 00:28:29.269 --> 00:28:30.950 do it to the best of my ability because I'm doing 00:28:30.950 --> 00:28:35.170 it for the Lord, not for them. Period. That is 00:28:35.170 --> 00:28:38.210 the way it should be. That's the bottom line. 00:28:41.470 --> 00:28:43.990 You know, if you want something bad enough, you're 00:28:43.990 --> 00:28:47.390 going to do something for it. Right? I got to 00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:50.690 a point with my weight. I wanted to drop that 00:28:50.690 --> 00:28:52.789 weight. I wanted to get back in shape. I'm down 00:28:52.789 --> 00:28:55.210 over 40 pounds now. You know what? I had to make 00:28:55.210 --> 00:28:58.250 some drastic changes. I had to stop eating the 00:28:58.250 --> 00:29:00.250 way I was eating. I had to start exercising more. 00:29:01.750 --> 00:29:04.109 I'll tell you what. It's really, really hard 00:29:04.109 --> 00:29:08.630 sometimes. It is really hard. We had pizza last 00:29:08.630 --> 00:29:13.069 night. I limited myself to a couple slices. I 00:29:13.069 --> 00:29:17.519 wanted to eat the whole stinking pizza. I really, 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:20.640 really did. I wanted to bust into a little Ninja 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:23.740 Turtle thing and just go to it. Cowabunga, baby. 00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:29.759 Right? But I didn't. Discipline. Why? Discipline's 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:33.599 important. I have a goal for myself. I pray on 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:35.619 it. You know what? My strength didn't come from 00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:38.000 me. My strength came from the Holy Spirit. He 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:39.079 guided me through that. He's like, you know what? 00:29:39.180 --> 00:29:40.440 You only want a couple slices. You're only going 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.980 to have a couple slices. We'll help you feel 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:44.299 a little fuller. I'll put some manna in your 00:29:44.299 --> 00:29:48.299 belly. Right? Something. Because that craving 00:29:48.299 --> 00:29:51.500 eventually subsided. I was able to go out there 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:53.059 and I just ignored the pizza. I didn't even look 00:29:53.059 --> 00:29:55.799 at it. It wasn't even on my radar. It was gone. 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:00.480 That wasn't me. That was the Holy Spirit. And 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.960 that is how it is for anything in our lives. 00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:05.440 If you want something and you want something 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.160 bad enough, what are you willing to do for it? 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:17.680 Period. Scripture is no different. Our relationship 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:19.740 with Jesus is no different. You want to know 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:21.579 God? You want to know that God has your back? 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:25.660 Spend time in the Word. Spend time in prayer. 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.940 Get to know Jesus. Have a relationship with Him, 00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:34.980 and He will show you the way. And that, ladies 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:36.740 and gentlemen, in church and ease, is what we 00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:40.940 call fruit or fruition. The end point, when things 00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:43.809 come about, fruition. I say church knees because 00:30:43.809 --> 00:30:45.049 that's one of those words that gets thrown out 00:30:45.049 --> 00:30:46.890 in church a lot. Oh, it's good. Bring it into 00:30:46.890 --> 00:30:50.130 fruition. Right? You get someone who's new in 00:30:50.130 --> 00:30:51.569 their walk. They don't know what that word is. 00:30:51.609 --> 00:30:55.990 Like, oh, yeah, sure, sure. What does that mean? 00:30:56.829 --> 00:30:59.309 Right? Imagine their buddy next to them. Like, 00:30:59.309 --> 00:31:02.029 I don't know. It's church knees. Just go with 00:31:02.029 --> 00:31:09.750 it. Sounds important. Right? That's the way it 00:31:09.750 --> 00:31:13.099 works, though. Going back to the Beatitudes, 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:17.900 though, we're going to focus on verses 9 through 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:21.119 12 now, those last few verses. Let me scroll 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:22.920 back here and pull them back up for you. I should 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:24.240 have just made different slides for each of these. 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:29.079 I apologize. Verses 9 through 12. Now, these 00:31:29.079 --> 00:31:30.319 are all grouped together, and they're grouped 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:32.500 together for good reason, because if you notice, 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:35.460 the tone changes a little bit. Because blessed 00:31:35.460 --> 00:31:37.299 are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, 00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:39.519 blessed are the peacemakers, right? And the first 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:42.859 six verses, when they went through, blessed are, 00:31:42.940 --> 00:31:47.000 blessed are, blessed are. And it's because of 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.460 your actions, right? Those guiding steps and 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:51.759 how you should be thinking and how you should 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.819 be reacting. These last ones are grouped together 00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:57.859 slightly. If you notice, the tone is slightly 00:31:57.859 --> 00:32:02.500 different. Blessed are the peacemakers. For they 00:32:02.500 --> 00:32:03.920 shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:06.299 those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, 00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:08.039 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed 00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:12.119 are you when they revile and persecute you and 00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:14.619 say all kinds of evil against you falsely for 00:32:14.619 --> 00:32:18.220 my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for 00:32:18.220 --> 00:32:22.539 great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:26.640 the prophets who were before you. So it's changed 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:31.519 its tone a little bit. I group these together 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:38.599 because sometimes life is hard. And when we look 00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:42.059 at this, it recommends to us to behave in a way 00:32:42.059 --> 00:32:45.240 that's counterintuitive to the way that we want 00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:48.900 to respond, to the way we want to behave. Last 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:50.900 week we were talking about being hangry, right? 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:53.039 You're not yourself when you're hungry, as the 00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:58.660 candy bar ad says. Right? We lose our tempers. 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:01.680 Not just when we're angry. But this time about 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:03.359 those times when it's really easy to lose your 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:07.059 temper. We fly off the handle. We stop acting 00:33:07.059 --> 00:33:09.079 like Christians. We stop acting the way we're 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:12.200 supposed to. We stop showing the light of Christ. 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:16.839 And we start acting the way the enemy wants us 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:21.059 to act. We start behaving in a worldly way. And 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:25.380 we lash out with hate. and discontent instead 00:33:25.380 --> 00:33:30.920 of love and mercy. And sadly, we see people confuse 00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:34.160 the issue here as well. See, the world's twisted 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:37.059 up the lines so much that they started to kind 00:33:37.059 --> 00:33:39.599 of blur together. We see that blending of lines 00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:45.599 and places where we shouldn't be. People see 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:48.859 the differences of opinions as a personal attack. 00:33:50.159 --> 00:33:52.559 Sometimes it's real hard to have a conversation 00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:56.099 with somebody who has a differing opinion. And 00:33:56.099 --> 00:33:57.660 it's because as soon as they open their mouth, 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:00.359 we see it as a personal attack. We shouldn't. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:03.319 You know, I miss those days when you could sit 00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:05.539 down with somebody who has a completely different 00:34:05.539 --> 00:34:07.539 opinion than yours and you could have a conversation 00:34:07.539 --> 00:34:11.260 about it. And maybe nothing comes from it. You 00:34:11.260 --> 00:34:13.159 both part ways or maybe one of you wins the other 00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:16.210 one over. Who knows? But you know what? It's 00:34:16.210 --> 00:34:18.210 one of those times in life where we used to be 00:34:18.210 --> 00:34:19.949 able to say, you know what? We can agree to disagree 00:34:19.949 --> 00:34:26.289 and we can still be friends. And all of us have 00:34:26.289 --> 00:34:29.769 relationships, right? My wife and I, we don't 00:34:29.769 --> 00:34:32.909 always agree on certain things. You know what? 00:34:32.989 --> 00:34:36.530 We're not going to. My brother and I certainly 00:34:36.530 --> 00:34:39.969 don't agree on certain things. You know, my mom 00:34:39.969 --> 00:34:41.610 and I don't see eye to eye on everything. Albert 00:34:41.610 --> 00:34:44.869 and I don't see eye to eye on everything. Brian 00:34:44.869 --> 00:34:46.349 and I don't always see eye to eye on everything. 00:34:46.809 --> 00:34:49.909 I'm certain that there's times that I've said 00:34:49.909 --> 00:34:51.989 something in here that everybody in here has 00:34:51.989 --> 00:34:53.989 not necessarily agreed with me on. You know what? 00:34:54.010 --> 00:34:59.530 That's okay. That is okay. That is life. We should 00:34:59.530 --> 00:35:01.130 still be able to say, hey, you know what? Let's 00:35:01.130 --> 00:35:03.250 agree to disagree. Or hey, let's talk about that 00:35:03.250 --> 00:35:06.690 some more. But more and more so these days, we 00:35:06.690 --> 00:35:10.000 don't see that anymore. People see it as a personal 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:17.099 attack, and they respond ignorantly, arrogantly, 00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:20.980 haughtily, because they see it as a personal 00:35:20.980 --> 00:35:23.539 attack on them, so they want to go on the attack, 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:26.679 and somehow it has become justified to attack 00:35:26.679 --> 00:35:31.460 somebody with violence. Boy, do we see that in 00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:34.420 the news now, especially where law enforcement 00:35:34.420 --> 00:35:36.260 is concerned, and I don't care what level of 00:35:36.260 --> 00:35:39.460 law enforcement. Right? It's like here, we just 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:41.159 had this whole thing up in Minnesota. It wasn't 00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:43.079 that long ago. I think it was right after the 00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:46.340 George Floyd shooting, or not shooting, murder 00:35:46.340 --> 00:35:48.860 when they had him in custody, right? And he died. 00:35:48.920 --> 00:35:50.940 What happened? Exact same thing. Just this week, 00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.280 I was reading a news article. Guess what? They're 00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:56.699 putting up barriers in this neighborhood to keep 00:35:56.699 --> 00:36:02.940 out ICE. They're doing background checks on people. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:05.920 Based off of their vehicles and their license 00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:07.300 plates to make sure that they actually belong 00:36:07.300 --> 00:36:09.440 and their licenses and all that. Guess what? 00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:11.599 They're doing the exact same stuff that law enforcement 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:17.719 is supposed to be doing. These guys become vigilantes 00:36:17.719 --> 00:36:20.300 in and of themselves. And they're self -appointed 00:36:20.300 --> 00:36:24.099 cops with no real authority. But it's just because 00:36:24.099 --> 00:36:25.900 they don't agree with this one group right now. 00:36:26.519 --> 00:36:31.010 Right? Wasn't that long ago, like I said, it 00:36:31.010 --> 00:36:34.769 was right after the George Floyd outcome. They 00:36:34.769 --> 00:36:36.690 did this, I forget where it was, I want to say 00:36:36.690 --> 00:36:39.750 it was in Portland or something. Yeah? They did 00:36:39.750 --> 00:36:42.389 the same thing. They barricaded this neighborhood 00:36:42.389 --> 00:36:45.530 to keep law enforcement out. They were okay if 00:36:45.530 --> 00:36:47.849 an ambulance came in or a fire truck, but they 00:36:47.849 --> 00:36:49.429 didn't want law enforcement of any kind. They 00:36:49.429 --> 00:36:52.730 did the exact same stuff. How insane is this? 00:36:55.010 --> 00:36:56.730 Like, you come in here, I'm going to shoot you. 00:36:58.190 --> 00:37:05.869 Really? That's not okay. You know, even when 00:37:05.869 --> 00:37:08.690 this stuff isn't happening, it's not like we 00:37:08.690 --> 00:37:10.829 go that long in the news where somebody got killed 00:37:10.829 --> 00:37:12.909 because they had a different opinion than somebody 00:37:12.909 --> 00:37:18.869 else. Wow. Nothing right about that, is there? 00:37:21.190 --> 00:37:26.110 Stabbing, shooting, whatever. You know what? 00:37:26.130 --> 00:37:27.869 There's a lot of people out there that they want 00:37:27.869 --> 00:37:30.630 to react to violence. They're so caught up in 00:37:30.630 --> 00:37:32.630 the world. They've bought into this rhetoric, 00:37:32.730 --> 00:37:34.670 hook, line, and sinker. And they're like, you 00:37:34.670 --> 00:37:36.690 know what? They're out to get me. They're going 00:37:36.690 --> 00:37:38.230 to kill me. So you know what? I'm going to shoot 00:37:38.230 --> 00:37:43.190 them first. Right? The golden rule has changed. 00:37:43.730 --> 00:37:45.409 It's not treat others as you want to be treated. 00:37:45.469 --> 00:37:47.510 It's do unto others before they do unto you. 00:37:47.630 --> 00:37:49.789 That's the mentality that's been taken on. It's 00:37:49.789 --> 00:37:52.829 not right. It's not the one that people should 00:37:52.829 --> 00:37:56.949 have. Unfortunately, these lines that have been 00:37:56.949 --> 00:37:58.750 blurred together are the difference between harassment, 00:37:59.070 --> 00:38:03.090 or perceived harassment, I should say, and persecution. 00:38:04.869 --> 00:38:07.389 Harassment and persecution are two different 00:38:07.389 --> 00:38:10.489 things, completely. Cambridge Dictionary defines 00:38:10.489 --> 00:38:13.829 harassment as behavior that annoys or upsets 00:38:13.829 --> 00:38:16.719 somebody. And they also define persecution as 00:38:16.719 --> 00:38:19.579 unfair or cruel treatment over a long period 00:38:19.579 --> 00:38:22.760 of time because of race, religion, or political 00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:26.719 beliefs. So let's break it down real simple. 00:38:26.820 --> 00:38:27.940 I'm not even going to look at my notes here on 00:38:27.940 --> 00:38:30.820 this one. Harassment. Who in here has a sibling? 00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:36.920 Right? Or a cousin. Okay. You get that sibling. 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:38.719 They come up. They grab your hands. Why do you 00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:40.159 hate yourself? Why do you hate yourself? Why 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:41.800 do you hate yourself? There's harassment. You're 00:38:41.800 --> 00:38:45.019 like, stop! Dad's up in the front seat. Don't 00:38:45.019 --> 00:38:47.780 make me turn this car around. I'll tear on both 00:38:47.780 --> 00:38:53.300 your hides. Right? There's harassment. Picking 00:38:53.300 --> 00:38:57.039 on people. Harassment. Doing things that you 00:38:57.039 --> 00:38:58.820 know are going to get under people's skin. Harassment. 00:38:58.860 --> 00:39:02.920 Not the end of the world. Stop being a jerk. 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:10.880 Right? Persecution. KKK. Burning crosses in people's 00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:12.840 yards, trashing people's property, destroying 00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:14.739 people's property, stealing people's property, 00:39:14.860 --> 00:39:18.800 beating somebody up because they're Jewish, right? 00:39:22.139 --> 00:39:23.940 You don't agree with somebody, they're a Christian, 00:39:24.019 --> 00:39:27.480 so you want to behead them, you know, or they're 00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:31.889 female, so you want to rape them. You don't agree 00:39:31.889 --> 00:39:33.369 with somebody's race. You can't get rid of the 00:39:33.369 --> 00:39:34.650 race. So you have the mentality that's like, 00:39:34.690 --> 00:39:36.349 well, if we can't kill them all, we'll just breed 00:39:36.349 --> 00:39:38.110 them out. So you rape them and make sure they're 00:39:38.110 --> 00:39:40.130 pregnant and think, okay, we'll just keep going 00:39:40.130 --> 00:39:42.869 and going. These are things of persecution. In 00:39:42.869 --> 00:39:45.730 a religious context, people are out to kill you 00:39:45.730 --> 00:39:48.110 or do away with you because of your faith in 00:39:48.110 --> 00:39:52.730 Jesus. That is the difference. But people see 00:39:52.730 --> 00:39:55.329 them as being the same thing. There's a long, 00:39:55.349 --> 00:39:59.559 long... long line. There's a mile between your 00:39:59.559 --> 00:40:01.960 sibling slapping you with your hands while you're 00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:05.119 beating yourself up and then putting a loaded 00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:10.239 gun to your head. That is a difference. But the 00:40:10.239 --> 00:40:13.059 world has confused these two. As the word likes 00:40:13.059 --> 00:40:15.599 to say, people will call good evil and evil good. 00:40:15.940 --> 00:40:20.840 Right? That's what we're seeing. Law enforcement's 00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:21.940 out there and they're telling you to stop. Don't 00:40:21.940 --> 00:40:24.099 stop. Just stop. They're not going to shoot you 00:40:24.099 --> 00:40:30.769 if you stop. Don't be stupid. Right? You go into 00:40:30.769 --> 00:40:32.750 an emergency room, doctor tells you, hey, stop 00:40:32.750 --> 00:40:36.809 doing that. You're going to stop. Why? Do something 00:40:36.809 --> 00:40:38.929 stupid, it's going to get worse. Right? That's 00:40:38.929 --> 00:40:41.690 life. I know that's not a good word. People don't 00:40:41.690 --> 00:40:45.570 like to hear that. Right? That's a mean word. 00:40:46.369 --> 00:40:49.250 But we all do things. I've done my fair share 00:40:49.250 --> 00:40:51.570 of stupid stuff. I've had stitches and broken 00:40:51.570 --> 00:40:55.659 bones to prove it. None of this should be accepted, 00:40:55.739 --> 00:40:58.219 though. Harassment, persecution, being bullied. 00:40:59.079 --> 00:41:00.760 See, there it is. I told you my wife is going 00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:05.800 to be watching time. I love you. We're getting 00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:10.840 there, I promise. But harassment, persecution, 00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:12.719 bullying, which is a form of harassment, none 00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:14.079 of this stuff should be accepted. None of it 00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:17.440 should be tolerated, right? None of it should. 00:41:18.579 --> 00:41:20.619 However, unfortunately, there's not a way for 00:41:20.619 --> 00:41:22.460 us to get rid of it because these are the ways 00:41:22.460 --> 00:41:27.210 of... the world. Which is why Jesus brought this 00:41:27.210 --> 00:41:37.590 up in the Beatitudes. He's given us tools that 00:41:37.590 --> 00:41:40.349 have taught us how to react to it. Blessed are 00:41:40.349 --> 00:41:45.909 the peacemakers, right? Not even here, but we're 00:41:45.909 --> 00:41:49.409 going to skip a few chapters ahead. he's given 00:41:49.409 --> 00:41:51.150 us an even better outline. Here, he just kind 00:41:51.150 --> 00:41:54.489 of introduces it. Blessed are. If we go to Matthew 00:41:54.489 --> 00:42:01.489 18, verses 15 through 17, Jesus gives us a whole 00:42:01.489 --> 00:42:06.449 thing, a whole outline on how to deal with these 00:42:06.449 --> 00:42:08.230 situations. And I'm going to give you the cliff 00:42:08.230 --> 00:42:10.769 notes on this. All right? So it's up here. You 00:42:10.769 --> 00:42:13.230 can read it. You can make a note of it. But step 00:42:13.230 --> 00:42:15.190 one, go to the person directly. Tell them they 00:42:15.190 --> 00:42:18.150 offended you. Step two, if that doesn't work, 00:42:18.699 --> 00:42:21.940 Take a witness and try it again. If that doesn't 00:42:21.940 --> 00:42:24.139 work, go on to step three. If they still don't 00:42:24.139 --> 00:42:26.619 listen, go to a higher authority. Go to their 00:42:26.619 --> 00:42:29.280 boss, right? Go to their parent, whatever. If 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:30.780 there's a higher authority to go to, go to that 00:42:30.780 --> 00:42:35.619 higher authority. And then number four, if all 00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:38.340 attempts to reconcile and deal with the issue 00:42:38.340 --> 00:42:44.119 have failed, cut ties off with them in an effort 00:42:44.119 --> 00:42:49.000 to set a boundary and hope. That they'll find 00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:52.599 repentance. And that maybe this relationship 00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:56.260 can be restored at a later time. That's mercy. 00:42:57.860 --> 00:43:00.699 That's mercy right there. And I will tell you, 00:43:00.739 --> 00:43:03.099 it does not matter if this is a friend, if this 00:43:03.099 --> 00:43:09.719 is a co -worker, or family. Family is hard. Nobody 00:43:09.719 --> 00:43:13.139 wants to go to step four with family. It could 00:43:13.139 --> 00:43:17.969 be a friend that you've had for decades. And 00:43:17.969 --> 00:43:21.530 you have to cut them off. Always leave a landline 00:43:21.530 --> 00:43:25.570 open for them to be able to reach back out. Because 00:43:25.570 --> 00:43:29.289 if they repent and they come to Jesus, they're 00:43:29.289 --> 00:43:31.429 going to need to reach back out to you, right? 00:43:32.349 --> 00:43:34.690 Always leave a way for them to get back in touch 00:43:34.690 --> 00:43:37.610 with you to mend that bridge and reconcile things. 00:43:40.329 --> 00:43:41.949 But while they're still living the way that they 00:43:41.949 --> 00:43:45.530 are, cut them off. Prime example, my little brother's 00:43:45.530 --> 00:43:51.090 a drunk. He has learned. If he's been drinking, 00:43:51.230 --> 00:43:55.230 don't call me. As soon as I pick that phone up 00:43:55.230 --> 00:43:57.070 and I hear his voice and I know he's been drinking, 00:43:57.130 --> 00:44:02.050 guess what happens? Click. All these days, it's 00:44:02.050 --> 00:44:07.969 bloop. Right? I don't want to, but I have to. 00:44:11.389 --> 00:44:13.349 Do I hope that he's able to repent of that and 00:44:13.349 --> 00:44:15.800 come clean of it one day? Absolutely. But as 00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:17.420 long as he's doing it, I won't be around him. 00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:22.400 Jesus has given us another tool in the matter. 00:44:22.460 --> 00:44:25.579 Just a few verses later, if we skip forward to 00:44:25.579 --> 00:44:28.960 verses 21 through 22, Peter came to him and said, 00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:31.579 Lord, how often shall my brother sin against 00:44:31.579 --> 00:44:34.500 me and I forgive him up to seven times? And Jesus 00:44:34.500 --> 00:44:36.760 said to him, I do not say to you up to seven 00:44:36.760 --> 00:44:39.880 times, but 70 times seven. How are you going 00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:41.719 to keep counting somebody doing you wrong like 00:44:41.719 --> 00:44:44.619 that? You can't even get through that many days 00:44:44.619 --> 00:44:47.699 with keep account, which is the whole point. 00:44:48.139 --> 00:44:51.320 The world isn't fair. Life is not fair. It's 00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:55.300 not going to be fair. Stop playing the victim. 00:44:57.219 --> 00:45:00.659 Period. Get up. Keep pushing forward. The world 00:45:00.659 --> 00:45:03.760 doesn't owe you a thing. Life does not owe you 00:45:03.760 --> 00:45:06.739 a thing. Stop thinking that it does. This is 00:45:06.739 --> 00:45:08.539 one of those things that I hate amongst veterans, 00:45:08.780 --> 00:45:12.659 right? My demographic. You have all these people 00:45:12.659 --> 00:45:14.559 going out and they're putting in false claims 00:45:14.559 --> 00:45:17.920 trying to get their VA disability bumped up, 00:45:18.039 --> 00:45:20.400 right? Oh, I deserve 100%. And the deal was when 00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:22.219 I enlisted was I was going to go in and I was 00:45:22.219 --> 00:45:23.780 going to take care of Uncle Sam. And when I came 00:45:23.780 --> 00:45:25.239 back, Uncle Sam was going to take care of me. 00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:28.340 No, he did not. That was not in anyone's contract 00:45:28.340 --> 00:45:33.340 ever. Nobody signed that contract. Nobody raised 00:45:33.340 --> 00:45:35.539 their right hand believing that that was what 00:45:35.539 --> 00:45:37.380 was going to come back to them. They don't owe 00:45:37.380 --> 00:45:39.539 you a thing. What they owed you was while you 00:45:39.539 --> 00:45:43.769 were serving was a... A cot and a cot. They would 00:45:43.769 --> 00:45:45.510 take care of your uniforms. They would take care 00:45:45.510 --> 00:45:47.010 of your training. They would take care of your 00:45:47.010 --> 00:45:48.590 transportation to get you where you needed to 00:45:48.590 --> 00:45:52.530 be. They would take care of a shelter for you, 00:45:52.590 --> 00:45:54.449 whether it was being in the barracks or a tent 00:45:54.449 --> 00:45:58.590 while you were deployed. They would take care 00:45:58.590 --> 00:46:00.050 of your health care, your dental, your vision 00:46:00.050 --> 00:46:02.650 while you were there. Right? Not that different 00:46:02.650 --> 00:46:06.070 from most employers. A little bit, but not a 00:46:06.070 --> 00:46:09.659 lot. Right? I'd say in the military, we were 00:46:09.659 --> 00:46:11.460 probably given more than the average employer 00:46:11.460 --> 00:46:14.340 gives to anybody. That's not even so much that 00:46:14.340 --> 00:46:16.119 you're given, that's what you earned. But nothing 00:46:16.119 --> 00:46:17.760 was promised when you got out, hey, we're going 00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:19.320 to give you this, and you're going to get that, 00:46:19.340 --> 00:46:21.860 and I hate that mentality. Because all of a sudden, 00:46:21.900 --> 00:46:24.780 you're the victim. And you're pointing the finger 00:46:24.780 --> 00:46:28.679 saying, you did this, fix it. Take care of me 00:46:28.679 --> 00:46:33.699 for the rest of my life. Nope. It's not the way 00:46:33.699 --> 00:46:36.159 it works. That is the world, and that is the 00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:42.130 mentality of the world. All of us, as followers, 00:46:42.369 --> 00:46:45.690 are now soldiers in Christ's army, though. So 00:46:45.690 --> 00:46:47.550 lace up your boots and keep pushing forward in 00:46:47.550 --> 00:46:53.150 a dark world. God has your back. He is there 00:46:53.150 --> 00:46:56.190 with you. It is time for you to act like a soldier 00:46:56.190 --> 00:46:58.670 in Christ's army. It is time for you to act like 00:46:58.670 --> 00:47:01.630 a Christian, like a follower of Christ. You know 00:47:01.630 --> 00:47:04.750 what? Sometimes we hurt. It's going to happen. 00:47:04.809 --> 00:47:07.070 You know what? That's why we have this family. 00:47:07.230 --> 00:47:09.710 We have someone to go to. We have someone to 00:47:09.710 --> 00:47:12.969 pray with. We have someone to lean on, to borrow 00:47:12.969 --> 00:47:19.550 a shoulder, to hug. It's beautiful. And when 00:47:19.550 --> 00:47:21.110 we go to the right side up and we go to God's 00:47:21.110 --> 00:47:27.809 kingdom, we'll have even more. Becoming a Christian 00:47:27.809 --> 00:47:29.989 is the only place where we have a promise of 00:47:29.989 --> 00:47:34.519 what's going to happen afterwards. And it's not 00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:37.980 so much after being a Christian. It's like, you 00:47:37.980 --> 00:47:39.360 know what? You're going to have this. You had 00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:41.579 this life right now. This is just scratching 00:47:41.579 --> 00:47:44.000 the surface. Something greater for you is waiting. 00:47:47.500 --> 00:47:49.539 The world is not going to read a Bible. They're 00:47:49.539 --> 00:47:51.239 going to read you and they're going to judge 00:47:51.239 --> 00:47:56.420 you. So show Christ. Show the light of Christ. 00:47:56.519 --> 00:47:59.980 Be merciful. Show love. Keep forgiving them just 00:47:59.980 --> 00:48:03.260 as Jesus forgave you. Keep repenting. Every time 00:48:03.260 --> 00:48:05.880 you have a misstep, repent of it. Sorry, Lord, 00:48:06.039 --> 00:48:09.480 forgive me. Lord, guide me. If you're able to 00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:11.260 go to that person and apologize to them, some 00:48:11.260 --> 00:48:13.340 people just won't listen. Sometimes trying to 00:48:13.340 --> 00:48:15.099 go to them to apologize does more bad than it 00:48:15.099 --> 00:48:18.420 does good. So you don't do it, right? So you 00:48:18.420 --> 00:48:20.059 apologize to the Lord and you put it in his hands. 00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:27.340 But you keep forgiving others. And then you put 00:48:27.340 --> 00:48:29.079 it in the hands of Christ and you walk away. 00:48:29.179 --> 00:48:32.929 Because now, Jesus has a hold of them. And they're 00:48:32.929 --> 00:48:35.690 no longer your enemy, but a brother in Christ. 00:48:38.530 --> 00:48:40.750 That's where we go wrong. We just think with 00:48:40.750 --> 00:48:45.730 hate and discontent. When someone does you wrong, 00:48:45.869 --> 00:48:48.530 you show mercy, you show grace, you forgive them, 00:48:48.610 --> 00:48:51.289 you pray for them. The Bible tells us to pray 00:48:51.289 --> 00:48:56.349 for our enemies. So you pray for them. Once they 00:48:56.349 --> 00:48:58.900 repent, and they come to Jesus, they're no longer 00:48:58.900 --> 00:49:03.340 an enemy. That's a hard one to remember. As we 00:49:03.340 --> 00:49:04.699 start to come to, or I shouldn't say as we start, 00:49:04.719 --> 00:49:05.940 as we come to a close, I'm going to share with 00:49:05.940 --> 00:49:09.400 you a story here. Colonel Jack Tuller, World 00:49:09.400 --> 00:49:14.519 War II. So Colonel Jack Tuller became an orphan 00:49:14.519 --> 00:49:16.300 as a small child. I believe he was like five 00:49:16.300 --> 00:49:20.440 or six years old. He was orphaned. But that didn't 00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:22.679 stop him. He kept marching forward. He picked 00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:24.280 up the trumpet. He learned how to play. He learned 00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.099 how to play it well. He became first chair in 00:49:29.099 --> 00:49:32.739 the BYU orchestra. Especially in those days, 00:49:32.780 --> 00:49:36.059 that was a big deal. Anyone who's been in band 00:49:36.059 --> 00:49:37.760 in any way, shape, or form knows making first 00:49:37.760 --> 00:49:39.960 chair is not easy. It's a big accomplishment. 00:49:41.039 --> 00:49:42.960 I mean, high school, and it's still a big accomplishment. 00:49:44.280 --> 00:49:46.699 Remember the first time I did it, and then the 00:49:46.699 --> 00:49:48.260 first time I lost it, I was heartbroken. I got 00:49:48.260 --> 00:49:50.760 it again. It's like, ooh, rabbit trail. But anyhow, 00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:56.099 World War II breaks out. Jack Tuller at this 00:49:56.099 --> 00:49:57.719 time, of course, he wasn't a colonel yet. The 00:49:57.719 --> 00:50:01.500 colonel is what he retired as. But Jack, he went 00:50:01.500 --> 00:50:04.280 into the U .S. Army Air Corps. So we know it 00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:07.679 today as the United States Air Force. He became 00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:13.940 a pilot, a fighter pilot. And he deployed to 00:50:13.940 --> 00:50:17.599 Europe. Every time he went up, he took his beloved 00:50:17.599 --> 00:50:20.909 trumpet with him. When asked why, he said, because 00:50:20.909 --> 00:50:23.070 if I ever get shot down and I end up in a POW 00:50:23.070 --> 00:50:25.190 camp, I want to be able to play music for the 00:50:25.190 --> 00:50:29.090 other POWs and everybody in the camp. It's a 00:50:29.090 --> 00:50:32.489 pretty noble thought, right? One day he gets 00:50:32.489 --> 00:50:34.489 done with his mission. He and his crew, they 00:50:34.489 --> 00:50:36.829 come back down. They're grounded for the night. 00:50:37.030 --> 00:50:39.650 Most of the area has been cleared of enemy snipers 00:50:39.650 --> 00:50:43.769 except for one. They have one nuisance sniper 00:50:43.769 --> 00:50:46.309 out there and he's just taking people out every 00:50:46.309 --> 00:50:52.150 chance he gets. Pow! They cannot find him. They 00:50:52.150 --> 00:50:53.889 know he's in this general area over here, but 00:50:53.889 --> 00:50:59.070 they just can't find him. So Jack decides, hey, 00:50:59.170 --> 00:51:02.789 it's nighttime. We're hunkering down. I'm stressed. 00:51:03.070 --> 00:51:05.510 And he pulls out his trumpet. His commanding 00:51:05.510 --> 00:51:09.349 officer says, don't do it. He says, why? I need 00:51:09.349 --> 00:51:14.769 to decompress. This soothes me. He says, don't 00:51:14.769 --> 00:51:17.730 do it because the sniper doesn't need to see 00:51:17.730 --> 00:51:22.719 you. He has sound aim, meaning all he has to 00:51:22.719 --> 00:51:25.480 do is hear where his enemy is and he can take 00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:30.639 them out. That's how good he was. Jack tells 00:51:30.639 --> 00:51:34.159 the CO, I have to do it. CO says, okay, fine, 00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:38.920 do it. It's your funeral. So Jack starts thinking 00:51:38.920 --> 00:51:41.380 about it for a second and says, hey, I've got 00:51:41.380 --> 00:51:44.820 just the song. I'm here. That's a German sniper 00:51:44.820 --> 00:51:47.159 out there. We're fighting the Germans. I'm going 00:51:47.159 --> 00:51:50.920 to play a German love song. So he pulls that 00:51:50.920 --> 00:51:56.519 trumpet up and he plays Lily Marlene beginning 00:51:56.519 --> 00:52:00.179 to end all the way through perfectly. Not a single 00:52:00.179 --> 00:52:04.420 shot was fired. Not one. They go through the 00:52:04.420 --> 00:52:07.380 rest of the night. Not a single shot is fired. 00:52:08.579 --> 00:52:10.820 Everybody knows the enemy is still out there. 00:52:11.849 --> 00:52:14.889 The next morning, the sun's up. People are starting 00:52:14.889 --> 00:52:18.550 to move through. Here come some MPs, and they're 00:52:18.550 --> 00:52:23.929 escorting captured German Wehrmacht, German soldiers, 00:52:24.170 --> 00:52:28.369 right? And they stop. At this time, there's Captain 00:52:28.369 --> 00:52:30.889 Jack Tuller, and the MPs call him over like, 00:52:30.989 --> 00:52:34.210 hey, we got one of these soldiers last night. 00:52:34.750 --> 00:52:39.329 He came up to us, turned himself in, and he's 00:52:39.329 --> 00:52:41.659 been asking, he's been pleading. who was playing 00:52:41.659 --> 00:52:46.940 that trumpet last night. They knew it was Captain 00:52:46.940 --> 00:52:50.820 Jack. That's why they went to him. So Jack says, 00:52:50.940 --> 00:52:53.260 okay, what's up? So he goes and he talks to this 00:52:53.260 --> 00:52:57.699 German soldier in broken English. 19 -year -old 00:52:57.699 --> 00:53:02.320 German. Barely a man, right? Typically when we 00:53:02.320 --> 00:53:04.340 say 19, we refer to him as a boy these days. 00:53:05.079 --> 00:53:09.030 And really he was. 19 -year -old boy in broken 00:53:09.030 --> 00:53:12.349 English is telling Captain Jack, the song was 00:53:12.349 --> 00:53:15.329 lovely. Matter of fact, it wasn't just lovely. 00:53:15.449 --> 00:53:18.429 It is a favorite song of mine and my fiance's. 00:53:18.849 --> 00:53:21.210 We would sing it together all the time, and all 00:53:21.210 --> 00:53:23.949 night it had me thinking of her and my family. 00:53:24.449 --> 00:53:27.170 And because of that, I could not bring myself 00:53:27.170 --> 00:53:31.010 to pull that trigger again. He turned himself 00:53:31.010 --> 00:53:37.050 in. And on that note, The German stuck his hand 00:53:37.050 --> 00:53:42.909 out to shake his hand. And Captain Jack put his 00:53:42.909 --> 00:53:47.329 hand out and shook his hand in return. Looking 00:53:47.329 --> 00:53:50.250 back years later, as Colonel Jack Tuller now 00:53:50.250 --> 00:53:58.329 retired, Colonel said, he was no enemy. He was 00:53:58.329 --> 00:54:01.210 a scared kid like me. We were both doing what 00:54:01.210 --> 00:54:03.289 we were told to do. I had no hatred for him. 00:54:05.860 --> 00:54:11.559 Forgiven in an instant. In a brutal, ugly war. 00:54:13.460 --> 00:54:15.699 Snipers, even today, are still one of the most 00:54:15.699 --> 00:54:21.099 feared of all military troops out there, regardless 00:54:21.099 --> 00:54:24.480 of where they're from. Snipers are good. They 00:54:24.480 --> 00:54:26.780 are something. They've earned that respect, that 00:54:26.780 --> 00:54:32.619 fear. And just like that, shook hands and parted 00:54:32.619 --> 00:54:39.699 ways. We shouldn't be seeing people as enemies. 00:54:40.420 --> 00:54:45.039 We should be seeing them as a scared kid, doing 00:54:45.039 --> 00:54:47.280 what the world has told them to do because they 00:54:47.280 --> 00:54:52.539 don't know better. They don't know Jesus. Forgiving, 00:54:52.619 --> 00:54:54.380 especially when you cannot forget something, 00:54:54.519 --> 00:54:57.619 is hard. When you've been wronged, and the uglier 00:54:57.619 --> 00:55:00.400 it is, and the worse, you know, the nastier it 00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:02.340 is, the harder it is to forget. But we still 00:55:02.340 --> 00:55:04.860 have to forgive. We still have to show mercy. 00:55:07.280 --> 00:55:09.840 As a citizen of the kingdom of God, this is required. 00:55:11.619 --> 00:55:15.219 However, we don't do it alone. We do it through 00:55:15.219 --> 00:55:17.639 the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in us. He empowers 00:55:17.639 --> 00:55:21.559 us to be able to do just that, to let go and 00:55:21.559 --> 00:55:25.639 to forgive, not just for their sake, not just 00:55:25.639 --> 00:55:30.260 for your sake, but for God's. He forgave you 00:55:30.260 --> 00:55:34.179 so you could forgive others. People can mock 00:55:34.179 --> 00:55:36.860 you. People can joke about you. People can treat 00:55:36.860 --> 00:55:41.360 you like dirt, disrespect you. But in the end, 00:55:41.380 --> 00:55:48.079 Jesus has the last word. Leave it to Jesus. Let 00:55:48.079 --> 00:55:51.199 us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this 00:55:51.199 --> 00:55:53.800 day. We thank you for this lesson. Help us to 00:55:53.800 --> 00:55:56.800 remember that we need to put Jesus first in all 00:55:56.800 --> 00:55:58.960 that we do, that we need to go to him and we 00:55:58.960 --> 00:56:01.820 need to ask how we need to react. when we feel 00:56:01.820 --> 00:56:03.820 wrong, when we feel abused, when we feel offended, 00:56:03.900 --> 00:56:08.639 when we are angry and hurt and confused. Help 00:56:08.639 --> 00:56:11.260 us to respond to the world and everything that 00:56:11.260 --> 00:56:13.260 comes in front of us in Christ -like fashion 00:56:13.260 --> 00:56:16.219 and not as the world would have us do or even 00:56:16.219 --> 00:56:20.900 encourage us to do. Guide us to learning more. 00:56:22.880 --> 00:56:25.820 Guide us to mastering more and growing with you 00:56:25.820 --> 00:56:30.010 and being molded by you. To do that which is 00:56:30.010 --> 00:56:34.730 of the greatest good. Guide us to showing the 00:56:34.730 --> 00:56:41.010 world who is in us. In our words and in deeds. 00:56:41.750 --> 00:56:44.250 We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for 00:56:44.250 --> 00:56:46.210 your love. And we thank you for your forgiveness. 00:56:46.389 --> 00:56:49.789 And all of his people said, amen and amen. Remember, 00:56:49.929 --> 00:56:51.969 as you leave here today, you are loved and you 00:56:51.969 --> 00:57:17.920 are blessed. So go and be the church. Until next 00:57:17.920 --> 00:57:20.300 time, take care and God bless.