1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,160 My name's...I already said my name, Kyle Hernandez. 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,400 I serve in security and I'm gonna do the small groups. 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,200 And sometimes I'll barbecue at the park too. 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:12,800 That's kinda my favorite thing. 5 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,840 Today's scripture reading is from Matthew 5, 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:23,840 one versus one through four, page 55, one. 7 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,400 And the Bibles and back of the pews. 8 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,400 So they're right in front of you guys. 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:30,500 There's some Bibles. 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:32,440 All right. 11 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:34,360 Here we go. 12 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,480 When he saw all the crowds, he went on the mountain side. 13 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:41,120 And after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 14 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,480 Then he began to teach them saying, 15 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:48,040 "'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs, 16 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,480 "'for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 17 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,800 "'Blessed are those who mourn, for they would be comforted.'" 18 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:58,800 This is the word of God. 19 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:01,880 Well, as I said, we have quite a few people out, 20 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:03,440 so we're winging it today. 21 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,480 And it might feel that way, but we're making it work. 22 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,960 All right, we're getting back into Matthew chapter five 23 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:12,520 in our series, Kingdom Life. 24 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,720 And we're looking at the gospel according to Matthew 25 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,200 as he wrote down and recorded the life 26 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:19,820 and ministry of Jesus. 27 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,280 There's a quote that I came across from Oswald Chambers. 28 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:24,480 We'll have it up here on the board. 29 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:53,760 It says, 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,560 The Sermon on the Mount is a statement 31 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,400 of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit 32 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,720 is having his way with us. 33 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,320 I'll read that one part, the second half, one more time. 34 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:14,320 He came to make us what he teaches we should be. 35 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:17,240 The Sermon on the Mount is a statement 36 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,040 of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit 37 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,680 is having his way with us. 38 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:24,120 And that's from Oswald Chambers. 39 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,360 Our text today brings us to what is undoubtedly 40 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,280 the most well-known famous sermon of all time, 41 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:32,240 the Sermon on the Mount. 42 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,080 And that extends from chapter five through chapter seven. 43 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,600 And specifically, we'll be looking at the beginning portion 44 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:40,000 of that, which is the Beatitudes. 45 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,120 And if you do have your Bibles in front of you, 46 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,400 then you'll probably notice something about the Beatitudes 47 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,200 that's different than the text before it and after it. 48 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,760 And that is, it stands and is arranged as if it's a poem. 49 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,360 It looks like it's a poetic utterance. 50 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,040 And that's because it is written in that poetic style, 51 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,000 the style that we see in the Psalms or Ecclesiastes. 52 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,160 That particular section, those first few verses of chapter five 53 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,040 are written in such a way that we would call them 54 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:10,720 like wisdom literature. 55 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,880 And the thing about wisdom literature 56 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,880 is they're not promises as in, if you do this, you get this. 57 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,520 But they're statements about reality 58 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,680 to help us understand what is, not if you, 59 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,560 then this will come to be. 60 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:29,120 And that's an important distinction to make 61 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,480 and we'll look a little bit further into that 62 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:32,320 as we go forward. 63 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:34,480 But we're looking particularly at this, 64 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:36,880 and we're exploring what does it mean fundamentally 65 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,120 to live the kingdom life? 66 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,400 And it is here that we see Jesus's ministry 67 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:42,760 actually begin up till now. 68 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,160 We've been surveying Jesus's life as a young person, 69 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,440 as he being brought into the world. 70 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,720 And then in the last chapter, as he makes a move 71 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,680 from his hometown Nazareth to Capernaum 72 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,520 on the Sea of Galilee, and he launches his ministry there. 73 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,040 And chapter four concluded with him launching this ministry 74 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,160 and healing and delivering and proclaiming 75 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,040 the kingdom of God in the vein of John the Baptist. 76 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,440 And this gained him quite a big following. 77 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,880 He started to have people show up out of nowhere. 78 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,120 In fact, it's said at the end of chapter four 79 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,120 that a great crowds from Galilee and the Decapolis 80 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,200 and from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan 81 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,960 began to come to Jesus as they heard about these healings 82 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:32,760 and these miracles and this teacher, Jesus, 83 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,120 and what he was doing on the Sea of Galilee. 84 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,120 So before we work our way through this text in Matthew five, 85 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,360 there are a few things we need to talk about. 86 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,160 So much of this section of Matthew is influenced 87 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:51,160 by the prophecies of particularly one prophet, Isaiah. 88 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,120 Isaiah's prophecies speak heavily 89 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:55,640 into what we're about to read. 90 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,000 And in fact, we had just read Isaiah 61 91 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:00,240 at the beginning of the service 92 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,920 and Jesus had just read it in the narrative 93 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,560 at the synagogue about Isaiah 61. 94 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,680 And now we're going to see other prophecies in Isaiah 95 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,400 that Matthew is drawing on to complete this picture 96 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,080 of what Jesus is doing right here in this time. 97 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:17,520 We've already seen how Matthew, 98 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,240 he selects Old Testament prophecies as he's constructed. 99 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,480 So you imagine, I don't know how you grew up 100 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,160 or how you imagined the Bible being written, 101 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,280 but when I was younger, I imagined someone walking along 102 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:32,440 with Jesus and writing Matthew down 103 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:33,800 as he's walking with Jesus. 104 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,800 And by the time Jesus dies, Matthew's written. 105 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,160 And that's not the case at all. 106 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,440 These books were written many, many years later. 107 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,120 And some people see that as a problem 108 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,720 because, well, testimony over time. 109 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,600 But we have to think of that particular day and time 110 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,680 in the first century, these written down testimonies, 111 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,320 first of all, were very expensive to write. 112 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,200 They required scrolls and they required scribes to do it. 113 00:05:58,200 --> 00:05:59,920 And it was a very expensive undertaking 114 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:02,160 to have anything like this done. 115 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,120 And so you wouldn't do it just haphazardly. 116 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:06,760 It wasn't until later in their life 117 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,240 when witnesses began to get old and they realized 118 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:11,720 that these people were going to die 119 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:13,120 who witnessed this firsthand, 120 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,520 we need to get them on record. 121 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:16,640 We need to get them on record 122 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,840 that they began to write the gospels. 123 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,160 And so Matthew, later as he's writing the gospel, 124 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,160 he gets some freedom inspired by the Holy Spirit 125 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:27,600 to look at it and go, 126 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,880 what is the Holy Spirit through me writing about Jesus? 127 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,600 And the reason we have four gospels is each one of them 128 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,920 were moved by the Holy Spirit to write 129 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,040 and highlight particular areas of Jesus' life 130 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:41,680 in connection to other things. 131 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:46,160 And Matthew specifically writes about Jesus 132 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,400 who is the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament. 133 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,440 And this is why we see the repetition of, 134 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,080 and so it was done to fulfill the prophecy 135 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,800 that was spoken through so and so 136 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,720 because Matthew's purpose is to show the connection 137 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,080 between the prophecies of the Old Testament, 138 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:05,720 the utterances of the Old Testament, 139 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:07,040 the writings of the Old Testament 140 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,840 and how they directly connect to this man, this God man, 141 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,880 Jesus Christ, he is the Messiah that was spoken about. 142 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,040 He is the coming Messiah 143 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:17,760 and he shows how Jesus fulfills that. 144 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:19,680 In Isaiah chapter two, 145 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,960 speaking of the messianic age, 146 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,800 as Isaiah receives a vision from the Lord 147 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:30,800 of nations and peoples streaming into the land 148 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,960 and streaming to the mountain of the Lord 149 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:35,640 to receive God's teaching. 150 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:37,160 Isaiah chapter two says, 151 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,640 come, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, 152 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,160 to the house of the God of Jacob. 153 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,320 He will teach us about his ways 154 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,960 so that we may walk in his paths. 155 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:51,800 Or Isaiah chapter 40 says, 156 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,520 Zion, herald of good news, 157 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,520 go up on a high mountain. 158 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:58,920 Jerusalem, herald of good news, 159 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,000 raise your voice loudly. 160 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,080 Raise it, do not be afraid. 161 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,560 Say to the cities of Judah, 162 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,720 here is your God. 163 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,960 If you really want a deeper, more robust understanding 164 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:14,840 of what Matthew's talking about, 165 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,880 then an exploration of the book of Isaiah 166 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:18,720 is very, very helpful. 167 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,360 And in fact, if you're not already, 168 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,360 just hop onto our Bible reading plan. 169 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,080 We have some of the notes out there 170 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,360 in the lobby at the welcome center 171 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,400 because it just so happens in a couple of days 172 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,480 we're gonna be in Isaiah. 173 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,400 And it'd be a great time for you to track along 174 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,080 through Isaiah and begin to make 175 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,280 some of those hyperlinks yourself. 176 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,520 It's a great companion read. 177 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,240 So last week we witnessed that the Messiah, King Jesus, 178 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:43,560 he called his first disciples. 179 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:44,680 You guys remember that? 180 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:47,080 We had Peter and Andrew, 181 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,280 and we had James and John who were called to follow Jesus. 182 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,600 And it wasn't so much an invitation as it was a command. 183 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,160 Come follow me. 184 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,160 And I'm going to do this in your life. 185 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,400 Well, Isaiah tells us that the Messiah who will come, 186 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:02,520 and remember Isaiah, 187 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,440 when we talk about the prophecies of Isaiah, 188 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,640 Isaiah has written 700 years before Jesus. 189 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,880 So the Isaiah prophecies tell of this Messiah who will come 190 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,040 and this Messiah will have a teaching 191 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,240 and a proclamation ministry. 192 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,360 His ministry will be one of teaching. 193 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,920 He will teach us his ways, it said. 194 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,560 Go to the mountain, he will teach us his way 195 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:27,360 so that we may walk in his path. 196 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,320 Messiah will be a teacher. 197 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,000 And what Jesus is about to begin to do is just that. 198 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,800 He's going to lay out for us 199 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,840 God's ideal design for humanity. 200 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,160 God's ideal design for humanity. 201 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,840 And whereas humanity did what was right 202 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:48,920 in their own eyes in the Garden of Eden, 203 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,480 and as a result of our suffering under this constant weight 204 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,200 of the destructive power of sin, 205 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,320 Jesus will show us what is good 206 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,920 and what is right in the eye of God. 207 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:02,600 And we need that. 208 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,160 We have so many competing messages 209 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,160 telling us what is good and right for us. 210 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,520 We need someone to set for us the stage. 211 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:15,520 What does it mean to be a citizen of the kingdom? 212 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,640 Part of Matthew's approach too is to draw these parallels 213 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:25,000 between Jesus and the prophet who came before named Moses. 214 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,240 And Moses, you know much of his story about the Red Sea 215 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,120 and the deliverance of the people of God, 216 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,000 and after that as they came in, 217 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,840 they came to the Mount Sinai and what did Moses do? 218 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:36,440 He went up on the hill, right? 219 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,520 He went up the hill and he received what? 220 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,000 The Ten Commandments and the law, right? 221 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,800 He received the law from God. 222 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,560 He received God's utterance. 223 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:50,120 Another way of putting it, he received God's way. 224 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,600 And then he came to bring it to the people. 225 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,880 Well, like Moses who ascended a mountain 226 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,160 to receive the word of God for the people of Israel, 227 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,720 so Jesus is taking his place of top of Mount Sinai 228 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:03,360 to the top of mountain to deliver a word. 229 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,280 But unlike Moses who was acting as a human mediator 230 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,720 between God and man, Jesus is the God-man. 231 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,840 The eternally existent second person in the Trinity, 232 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,160 God himself in the flesh, 233 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,880 and he is now going to declare what it means 234 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:23,640 to be his people. 235 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:28,480 I think it's a message we ought to listen to. 236 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,560 So when he saw the crowds, the crowds had heard his ministry, 237 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:37,360 they heard of all the miracles and signs and wonders. 238 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,480 And when he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain 239 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,960 and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 240 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,840 You can imagine on the rising hills to the west 241 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,640 of the Sea of Galilee that began to make their way 242 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,240 up toward Jerusalem down in the south. 243 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:57,800 On those rising hills, Jesus sits down 244 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,400 and his disciples gather around him. 245 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:03,520 And to sit down for a teacher of his time 246 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:05,360 was actually the assumed position 247 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:06,560 of an authoritative teacher. 248 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:08,600 We don't do that so much now. 249 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,800 Typically we stand higher than everyone as I am right now. 250 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:14,960 But authoritative teachers in that time would sit down 251 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,160 and people would gather around them 252 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,080 to receive the word from the teacher. 253 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,880 And so Jesus sits down. 254 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,080 And the good news of the kingdom of God 255 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,600 is always spread through a message. 256 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:30,960 It's always spread through a message. 257 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:35,960 Still today, the good news, the gospel is a message. 258 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,480 It's an announcement, it's a story. 259 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,160 It's one of those reasons why you and I as believers, 260 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:43,680 if you have put your hope and faith in Christ 261 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:46,440 and you've received the commission to come and follow him, 262 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,800 we cannot, we cannot get away from the reality 263 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,360 that the gospel is not me living a good life 264 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,000 so everyone sees it. 265 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,800 It's not, that's incomplete. 266 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,400 That's good, that's incomplete. 267 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,560 The gospel is a message, always. 268 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,400 The gospel is an announcement of the king, always. 269 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,560 The gospel is a proclamation of this story. 270 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:12,720 And if you can hear the word story without thinking fiction, 271 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:14,280 it's this proclamation of a story 272 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,560 of how God entered the world and changed things forever 273 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:21,160 and began to reveal and announce a new kingdom 274 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,640 and a new humanity that we all get to participate in. 275 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,000 That's what it means to share the gospel. 276 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,400 It's not simply about I do good things, 277 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,400 people see those good things and they're really happy for me. 278 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,160 Having settled in, the disciples around him 279 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,480 and the crowds just beyond the disciples, 280 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,520 Jesus speaks again. 281 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:47,520 The most powerful and potent message ever spoken 282 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,360 and he begins with, blessed are the poor in spirit 283 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,080 for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 284 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,440 Blessed are the poor in spirit 285 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,240 for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 286 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:07,680 I'll just take a little sidebar here 287 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:10,480 just for a moment if I could have it. 288 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:15,480 Sidebar, if you hear those words and you go, okay. 289 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,960 And remember, Jesus on a hilltop, 290 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:27,240 the most earth-shattering profound message ever preached 291 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,400 begins with blessed are the poor in spirit 292 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,480 for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 293 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:36,600 Let that sink in for a moment. 294 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:39,200 Let even your apathy to it. 295 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,040 If you're indifferent to something like that, 296 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:46,040 if that doesn't cause you to go either, huh, or yes. 297 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:49,640 Sit in that for a moment and go, why? 298 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,160 It's powerful statements. 299 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,200 It's upside down. 300 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,240 It's backward, it doesn't make sense. 301 00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,520 If you've lived in this world for any amount of time 302 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,280 and you've been swayed by this world, 303 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,880 the way of this world, that doesn't make sense. 304 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,880 That's not blessed. And this section that we're entering 305 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:12,600 into is called the Beatitudes. 306 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,680 And it's not just a fun way, I don't know, 307 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,360 maybe you've heard a preacher do this before, 308 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,320 apologies to that preacher. 309 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:19,880 But it's not just a fun way of saying, 310 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,360 these are the attitudes you should be, be attitudes. 311 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,040 No, no, no, Beatitudes is from the Latin 312 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,520 and it basically just means blessed. 313 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:30,840 The attitude means blessed. 314 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,720 And these are the blessed or the blessed statements. 315 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,960 If you look at Matthew 5, chapter 5, verse 3 through 11, 316 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,960 you will see nine of these blessed statements, blessed R. 317 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:45,480 And there's a technical term for them, 318 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:46,920 they're called macarisms. 319 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,960 Macarisms are this blessed R, da, da, da, 320 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,400 four, da, da, da, whatever that is, is a macarism. 321 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,280 And you'll see some of those in the Psalms, 322 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,080 Ecclesiastes and elsewhere. 323 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,720 There are nine of them here in chapter five. 324 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,480 And this word blessed or blessed, this is a loaded word. 325 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,640 It's a loaded word for us because there are really two 326 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,240 dangers that we might have when we hear the word blessed. 327 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:12,760 The first one is when we hear it, 328 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,120 in the context of this scripture, for instance, 329 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,600 we're tempted to hear it as a sort of description 330 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,640 of God bestowing some special extraordinary favor on us. 331 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:28,480 Blessed, like a, wow, God blessed you really good there, man. 332 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,280 Or like, wow, God gave you something really special 333 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,480 or treated you with favor there. 334 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,280 Man, man, I'm blessed because I had parking favor. 335 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,840 I got the front parking spot, you know, at big lots. 336 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:43,160 Does anyone shop at big lots? 337 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,840 Man, I'm blessed because God gave me that money 338 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:49,720 to pay that bill, I'm blessed. 339 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,160 And God does show favor. 340 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,040 God does bestow provision. 341 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,360 Me and Adrian can tell you countless testimonies 342 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,440 over the time that God provided when we were in desperate need. 343 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,840 God provides grace at times. 344 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,720 The Bible says so, but that's not particularly 345 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,600 what this word means, blessed or blessed, 346 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,120 at least not in this particular context. 347 00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:15,240 And the second danger flows out of that first one, 348 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,280 and namely that we're in danger if we read the beatitudes 349 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,520 as a sort of new law for us to obey. 350 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,240 We get beatitudes as some sort of tit for tat 351 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:25,760 kind of arrangement. 352 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:27,320 And what do I mean? 353 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,360 Oh, I'll receive God's blessing 354 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,880 if I make myself poor in spirit. 355 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,920 I just gotta really try to be poor in spirit. 356 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,440 Or, oh, I'll receive God's blessing, you know, 357 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:42,800 if I'm a peacemaker, so I'm gonna go make peace 358 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,840 because I wanna receive God's blessing. 359 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,440 Or if I'm pure and hard or if I hunger and thirst or, 360 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,440 or, you know, I want God's blessing so bad 361 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,680 so I have to, you know, I need to mourn. 362 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,080 I need to mourn. 363 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,520 Do something bad to me so I can mourn. 364 00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:59,040 Hit me in the face with a two by four. 365 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:00,120 I need to mourn. 366 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:05,280 You know, I'd say if you do these things, 367 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,560 then God will bless you. 368 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:10,560 And actually that's not what's happening here 369 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:11,960 in the beatitudes at all. 370 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,680 And that's because blessed, or to be the blessed ones, 371 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:23,680 or blessed are, is the state of inner satisfaction, 372 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:28,680 joy and peace that is only the result 373 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,040 of a covenantal relationship with God. 374 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,720 To be blessed is the inner satisfaction, joy and peace 375 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,220 that is the result of a covenantal relationship with God. 376 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,880 It cannot be experienced apart from relationship 377 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:46,880 with Creator God. 378 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,240 It is not in the money you have received 379 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:53,720 or the parking favor bestowed on you. 380 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,840 It is in the relationship, the covenantal relationship 381 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:58,920 you have with your Creator. 382 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,920 And blessed is about human flourishing, human flourishing. 383 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,000 It's life according to God's perfect design. 384 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,840 What does life according to God's perfect design look like? 385 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,640 Humanity is supposed to have the life-giving, 386 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,520 life-sustaining, flourishing connection 387 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:21,880 with their good Creator. 388 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,820 We're all supposed to have that. 389 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,480 And we know that when you're in Christ, 390 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:31,160 that connection is made through Christ to our Creator, 391 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,600 God, in Christ. 392 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:35,800 And when you're outside of that, 393 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,800 you're distant or separated from that good, 394 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,520 life-sustaining, life-giving, flourishing connection 395 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:47,280 with your good Creator. 396 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:49,520 Blessed does not have anything to do 397 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,360 with your external circumstances whatsoever. 398 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:53,880 You can be blessed 399 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,520 and have terrible external circumstances. 400 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,320 Blessed, are you wealthy? 401 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:01,840 Are you poor? 402 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:02,680 Doesn't matter. 403 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,040 It's immaterial to blessed. 404 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,200 Are you in a world of pain and suffering 405 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,240 because life has come down on you so hard? 406 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,600 Or are you living on top of the world? 407 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:16,960 Doesn't matter. 408 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:18,760 That has nothing to do with blessed. 409 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,200 Or are you popular? 410 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,640 Lots of accolades, people look to you. 411 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:25,920 Or are you invisible? 412 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:27,840 Doesn't matter. 413 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,160 See, we tend to think of these things, 414 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,560 we tend to think that these things, 415 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:35,920 whether it's popularity or money 416 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,880 or being free from pain and suffering, 417 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,360 those things are what matter. 418 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,040 And if we get the formula just right, 419 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,680 if we tweak it just right in our lives, 420 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,800 we can get it so we can have the right amount of money we want, 421 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,480 we can mitigate the suffering in our life, 422 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,480 and we can have just the amount of popularity 423 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:56,840 and being liked that we like. 424 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,360 And if I achieve those things, I'm blessed. 425 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:03,800 And that has nothing to do 426 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,760 with what the Bible's talking about, nothing at all. 427 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,480 There is a difference between what is descriptive 428 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,120 and what is prescriptive in the Bible. 429 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,480 The Bible sometimes will describe what is. 430 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,680 And sometimes it'll prescribe what to do. 431 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,800 The Beatitudes are descriptive. 432 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,200 They're telling us what is. 433 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,120 And you may work your life away. 434 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,200 You may work every day, you may wake up 435 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:35,440 with all of that motivation. 436 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,880 Look at all the TikToks or the Instagrams 437 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:40,880 or the Facebook stories you can 438 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,720 to get your daily motivation so you can get out there 439 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:45,800 and kick some butt and earn the amount of money you want 440 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:47,440 so you can have the happy life. 441 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,200 You can do all of those things and try your hardest 442 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,720 to change your status from poor to rich 443 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,160 and yet die not in a bit blessed state, 444 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,920 but maybe in a far worse state than you ever have been. 445 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,600 Blessed is a new way to be human. 446 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,160 What Jesus is doing in his teaching here 447 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,880 is not giving us a list of spiritual giants 448 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,080 or heroes of the faith that we're supposed to imitate 449 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,480 or just another list of moral behaviors 450 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,000 that describe what true piety looks like 451 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,280 and how we can obey him and get what we want 452 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:24,520 out of this situation. 453 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,560 But what Jesus is doing in the Beatitudes 454 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,040 is he's redefining who the people of God are. 455 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,560 He's drawing a box and he's saying, 456 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,720 this is who the people of God are. 457 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:42,640 They are ones whose lives look like this way of being. 458 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:47,640 God's people are ones whose lives look like this way of being. 459 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,960 And so the Beatitudes, we have to approach them 460 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,600 not as an entrance exam to the kingdom. 461 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,520 I've heard it preached before where the Beatitudes 462 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,760 are like your citizenship exam. 463 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:01,880 Am I poor in spirit? 464 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:03,720 Yeah, am I mourning? 465 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,040 Yeah, am I pure in heart? 466 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:07,080 Not yet. 467 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,080 Gotta go work on that before I can get my citizenship. 468 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:11,360 It's not what it is. 469 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:16,360 It is an announcement of citizenship. 470 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,240 This is what it is. 471 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,080 It's descriptive and that's key. 472 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,480 To be blessed is not about getting the good stuff. 473 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,600 It's about having the good one. 474 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,800 It is not about getting the good stuff. 475 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,960 It's about having the good one 476 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,480 and truly needing nothing else. 477 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:40,360 One of the features of the attitude 478 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:44,320 is how upside down they are to the way of living 479 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:45,760 that accords with this way of this world. 480 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:47,720 Blessed are the poor in spirit, 481 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,480 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 482 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,320 The kingdom of heaven is theirs. 483 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,080 And that does not sound blessed, 484 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,640 not to our earthly ears. 485 00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:59,800 So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? 486 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,520 Jesus begins his sermon with this 487 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,600 and again, it doesn't mean to be materially poor. 488 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,160 It doesn't mean divest yourself of all your possessions 489 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:10,040 so that you can be poor. 490 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:14,040 And suddenly that being poor is a virtue in and of itself. 491 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:15,440 Some people get that wrong as well. 492 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,040 They act as if material poverty alone 493 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,280 puts you into this special class of people 494 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,520 that God is all about you because you're materially poor 495 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,320 no matter how you live or who you are or what you believe. 496 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,600 And that's at least not what's being said here. 497 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,480 Poor in spirit means this. 498 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:40,480 It means that you recognize you are spiritually bankrupt. 499 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,200 You are spiritually bankrupt. 500 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,040 Poor in spirit means that your debt of sin, 501 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,560 your self-righteousness and your rebellion against God 502 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:56,040 is so enormous that you could never satisfy that debt. 503 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,840 Ever, never ever. 504 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,920 It is recognizing that your good works, 505 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,920 even your good works and your goodness is worthless 506 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,640 to paying back the debt of that sin. 507 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:15,440 Worthless. 508 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,760 In view of Isaiah 64-6, again, 509 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,800 drawing in these themes from Isaiah, 510 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:26,000 all of us have become like something unclean 511 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:31,000 and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment. 512 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,960 All of our righteous, polluted garment, by the way, 513 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,120 that's a super nice way of putting it. 514 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:40,120 The real word is gross and we're not gonna talk about it. 515 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:42,240 It's bad. 516 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:44,240 It's polluted. 517 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:45,080 It's disgusting. 518 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,080 It's unclean. 519 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:48,720 Unclean. 520 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:53,720 All your righteous acts are like a polluted garment 521 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,040 because of sin. 522 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,200 Being poor in spirit means because of sin, 523 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,480 you are spiritually destitute and can do nothing, 524 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,520 absolutely nothing to save yourself. 525 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,800 Before a perfect and holy and righteous God, 526 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,320 your sinful heart and all the sins you have done 527 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,960 have made you utterly unacceptable. 528 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,960 He is pure, you are unclean. 529 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,960 You are dirty, wretched, poor, blind. 530 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,800 That's what poor in spirit means. 531 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,760 Spiritually bankrupt. 532 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:34,560 But it's more than just seeing that. 533 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,360 It's more than just acknowledging that 534 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,720 because it is accompanied with that knowledge 535 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,240 front and center, my spiritual bankrupt, 536 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:50,240 see, it also is accompanied with an end of the line trust 537 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:55,040 that God is the only one who is able to save you 538 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,840 from this miserable sin condition. 539 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,280 I know who I am in and of myself, 540 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,000 wretched, poor, blind, in debt over my head, 541 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,000 spiritually bankrupt, unable to save myself. 542 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,280 My righteous acts are as if dirty and evil 543 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,560 and righteous acts are as if dirty, unclean garments. 544 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,600 My goodness, my inherent goodness. 545 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,000 Most people are good, most people are good. 546 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,080 Most people are inherently good. 547 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,240 That's not biblical, period. 548 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,800 If you believe that, that's not biblical. 549 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,520 We can sit down, we can have a couple counseling sessions. 550 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,040 That's not biblical at all. 551 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:45,680 Most people are not inherently good. We need to see our condition. 552 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,520 As it is, but in light of the fact 553 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,680 that God is the only one who can save us. 554 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,360 And in acknowledging the bad news, 555 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:00,400 we acknowledge the bad news 556 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,560 and then we believe what Isaiah chapter 57, 15 says. 557 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:07,200 The good news. 558 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,920 For the high and exalted one who lives forever, 559 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:17,520 whose name as holy says this, 560 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,000 I live in a high and holy place 561 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,760 and I live with the oppressed and the lowly in spirit. 562 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,480 And with the oppressed and the lowly in spirit, 563 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,080 I will revive the spirit of the lowly 564 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,840 and I will revive the heart of the oppressed. 565 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,320 God is your only hope. 566 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,480 And he lives with the lowly in spirit. 567 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,480 Jesus says the flourishing way to live, 568 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,160 the flourishing way of living 569 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,520 is whoever has that understanding, 570 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,560 the one who has come to see 571 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,360 that they are living the good life in the kingdom of God 572 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,360 because they know who they are and they know who their God is. 573 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,040 The good news of the kingdom begins here. 574 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,640 And you don't have a gospel if you don't see this. 575 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:11,160 You don't have a gospel. 576 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,160 If you believe anything other than that, 577 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,080 you don't believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. 578 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,360 And it is gospel, it's good news. That's good news. 579 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:24,360 That's good news. It is no gospel at all. 580 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,120 If the good news that you preach to yourself 581 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,200 on a daily basis is that you're an inherently good person. 582 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,600 And that you simply make mistakes and oopsie daisy, 583 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,240 I just hope everyone can get along with me throughout life. 584 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,240 You know, I'm sorry, I just make lots of mistakes. 585 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,240 I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'm good. 586 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,560 That's not gospel. 587 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:46,160 The gospel is knowing who you are 588 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,440 and knowing how everyone else sees you. 589 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,800 And more than that, knowing how you were in view of God, 590 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,320 the Holy Perfect One, who you are. 591 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,360 And then saying, but I trust him, 592 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,920 he's the only one who could save me. 593 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,960 There's no other gospel. There's no other one. 594 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,120 The good news of the kingdom of God 595 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,760 is that you are not good enough, 596 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,160 but that God makes his dwelling. 597 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,720 God makes his home with the lowly in spirit. 598 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,520 The citizens of the kingdom, 599 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,360 the citizens of the kingdom of God, 600 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,880 they have this totally unworldly view. 601 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:27,160 Because sometimes people accuse you, 602 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,000 you have a worldly view, you have a worldly life. 603 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,400 Citizens, they have an unworldly view 604 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,000 and they have an unworldly hope. 605 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,280 Each of the Beatitudes states or begins with a state, 606 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:40,640 blessed are the poor in spirit 607 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,960 and ends with a reason for their blessedness. 608 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,000 What is the reason for the blessedness of the poor in spirit? 609 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,920 Because they receive the king and the kingdom. 610 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:53,520 And that's why they're blessed. 611 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:54,800 Not because they have riches, 612 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,000 not because their life goes well 613 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,280 and they have no suffering, they have no sickness, 614 00:30:58,280 --> 00:30:59,480 they have no troubles in this world. 615 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:00,960 That's not the reason they're blessed. 616 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,600 They're blessed because they receive the king 617 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,000 and they receive the kingdom. 618 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,360 There's is the riches, there's is the glory, 619 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,040 there's is the hope, there's is the life. 620 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:16,120 Rich is that never rust, glory that never fades, 621 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,360 hope that never disappoints and life that never ends. 622 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,680 Another way that you could say this 623 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,640 is that the kingdom of heaven consists 624 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,400 of those blessed, poor in spirit 625 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:35,080 and that all of the kingdom's benefits are theirs. 626 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:39,480 And if you notice in that scripture, 627 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,600 it's all present tense. 628 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,640 The kingdom of heaven is theirs. 629 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:47,760 It's theirs now. 630 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:50,400 We hear kingdom of heaven and some of us 631 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,720 will probably immediately think of our forever cloud home 632 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,920 in the future where we get to float around 633 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,480 and do weird things, I don't know. 634 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,720 Like in Christ, we've received that deposit 635 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,160 already here now. 636 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,280 We already have access to all those benefits. 637 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:05,720 Ephesians says so, it says, 638 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,560 blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 639 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:09,800 Blessed again, that same word, 640 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,520 blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 641 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,720 who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing 642 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:17,840 in the heavens in Christ. 643 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:19,600 There are ours right now. 644 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,560 All of them are ours. 645 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,760 You're blessed if you are poor in spirit. 646 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:28,720 The kingdom and the kingdom resources are yours. 647 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,800 And that leads us to blessed are those who mourn 648 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:34,640 for they will be comforted. 649 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,320 Next Jesus says that the flourishing citizens 650 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,120 of the kingdom are ones who mourn. 651 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,320 And again, we have a paradox here. 652 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,920 It's almost like someone is saying, 653 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,680 happy are the unhappy ones. 654 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,240 And that doesn't sound right. 655 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:54,520 Christians, citizens of the kingdom though, 656 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:59,520 we are told live with a mournfulness to their life. 657 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,720 And I'm sure some of you who've been in the faith 658 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:03,840 for many years, 659 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:08,840 know this, you live with a mournfulness in this life. 660 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,240 Christians are not utopians 661 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,680 to see reality through some rose colored glasses. 662 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,640 This mournfulness begins with our own sin in view. 663 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,520 The presence of sins, destructive power 664 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,680 at work within our own hearts 665 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,240 brings us to contrition as disciples of Jesus Christ. 666 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,240 Especially mournful over the part we play in this sin mess 667 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,200 and the part that we perpetuate in society. 668 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,760 And it was the people around us, the ones we love most. 669 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,600 We mourn over the fact that we hurt people out of our sin. 670 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:49,320 We mourn. 671 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,000 Disciples of Jesus see that this world is in a fallen state. 672 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,040 They see the destruction that humans inflict on one another. 673 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,920 They see the news and they're mournful over the endless trail 674 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,680 of senseless death, senseless oppression 675 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,480 and hostility in this world. 676 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,520 They experience this world not as a happy go lucky 677 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:13,160 perverted ignorance, 678 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:17,160 but with a brokenness over the brokenness of all things. 679 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,480 They mourn for the brokenness as sickness tears them 680 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:26,480 or the loved one apart as cancer slowly wins in their body. 681 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:31,480 As miscarriage sucks the air of joyful expectancy out of life. 682 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:36,440 As their marriage grows colder and colder and colder 683 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,040 and they begin to feel the numbing effect on their own heart. 684 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:45,120 They mourn over the immigrant who has no place to call home, 685 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,200 who is wandering the streets of a foreign land 686 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,120 and is looked by fellow human beings 687 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,480 as if they're a disease and a parasite. 688 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:55,640 They mourn as everything around them changes. 689 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:57,960 Why does everything have to change? 690 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:00,600 They mourn. 691 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:03,280 They mourn. 692 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:06,600 But they also wait. 693 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,720 They mourn, but they wait. 694 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:13,720 For what? 695 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,000 For a kingdom. 696 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:19,320 For a kingdom. 697 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:24,320 For a kingdom and for a city whose foundations are 698 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,840 the unchanging immutable God. 699 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:31,520 We're told that in Hebrews. 700 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:35,280 We wait for a city whose very foundations are God. 701 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:38,040 Won't change. 702 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,160 All of those tragedies, all of those suffering, 703 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,880 all of that is change. 704 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,120 We want a city that won't change. 705 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:51,640 They wait with hope for a coming king 706 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:55,360 who will finally once for all bring justice to this world. 707 00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:00,800 A coming king where every justice will be reversed 708 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,600 and every untrue word ever spoken about you 709 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,880 will be demolished and every tear that was cried 710 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:08,480 over the brokenness of this world 711 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,720 or the pain in your heart or the pain of your family 712 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:13,400 or your children or your children's children. 713 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,680 Every tear cried in this broken world will be vindicated. 714 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,880 They live in the tension of the in between, 715 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:28,400 the median between what is and what will be. 716 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,280 And they do something that everything in this world 717 00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:32,320 screams against. 718 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,240 Everything in this world says that does not make sense 719 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:37,240 to do in your state. 720 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,440 A believer, the Christian, the disciple, 721 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,160 they wait on the Lord. 722 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:47,840 They wait. 723 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:50,920 They hope. 724 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:56,280 They mourn and they wait and they trust. 725 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:02,280 They mourn and they wait and they trust. 726 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:07,320 We mourn, we wait and we trust 727 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:12,320 and we will be comforted. 728 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:15,440 We will be comforted. 729 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,640 Blessed are the poor in spirit, 730 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,600 for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 731 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,440 Blessed are those who mourn, 732 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:27,840 as my brother Brad told me yesterday, 733 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,040 we do all our mourning here. 734 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,160 We do all of our mourning here. 735 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,160 And we leave an eternity with none. 736 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:40,560 So get it in. 737 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,280 There's plenty to go around, we do it all here. 738 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,280 But a day is coming, where it'll be gone. 739 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:50,280 Nothing in this sermon, amen, amen. 740 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,720 Nothing in this sermon is about how we become a Christian. 741 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:54,240 This is important to hear as we close up. 742 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,560 Nothing in this sermon is about how you become a Christian. 743 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:01,480 This sermon is about the faith and the works and the fruits 744 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:04,480 that no one can have or do 745 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:06,960 unless they already are a Christian. 746 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,960 But hearing the blessed state of what it means 747 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:16,200 to be a child of God, to believe, I call to you, 748 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:18,480 if you have never before put your trust or hope 749 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,600 in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, now. 750 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:24,560 Now is the time. 751 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:27,720 Today is the day. 752 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:29,720 Today is the day. 753 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:32,640 And I say to you, if you are mourning, 754 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,720 but you are mourning with hope today, 755 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:39,320 remember this about the kingdom of God, 756 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:41,800 that day is coming. 757 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,080 That day is coming, it is nearer today than yesterday. 758 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:51,440 And what day is that? 759 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,240 What day do we hope for? 760 00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:58,240 The child of God, yours is the kingdom, 761 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:03,840 both now and forevermore. 762 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:11,120 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. 763 00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:18,640 For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away 764 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,360 and the sea was no more. 765 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:25,360 And I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, 766 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:29,560 coming down out of heaven from God, 767 00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:32,760 prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 768 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:39,000 And then I heard a loud voice from the throne, 769 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:44,000 look, God's dwelling is with humanity, 770 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:47,040 and he will live with them, 771 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:49,640 and they will be his people, 772 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,040 and God himself will be with them, 773 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:53,800 and will be their God, 774 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:58,800 and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 775 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,040 Death will be no more. 776 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,880 Grief, crying, and pain will be no more, 777 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:15,880 because the previous things, the former things have passed away. 778 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:23,720 And then one seated on a throne said, look, 779 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:31,960 the word look is behold, behold, 780 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:37,960 I am making everything new. 781 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,920 And he also said, write, write this down, 782 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,320 because these words are faithful and true. 783 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:49,480 Then he said to me, it is done. 784 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:52,800 I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. 785 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,960 I will freely give to the thirsty 786 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:57,520 from the spring of the waters of life, 787 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,520 the one who conquers will inherit all of these things, 788 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,560 and I will be his God, 789 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,960 and he will be my son and my daughter. 790 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,280 We mourn and we wait. 791 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,160 We mourn and we wait, 792 00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:21,080 and one day our waiting will be joy. 793 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,000 We look into the eyes of the suffering, 794 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,880 we watch as bodies waste away, 795 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:28,120 we see the pain as families go through turmoil 796 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,840 and trouble and we weep and we mourn, 797 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,000 and we see as our marriages fall apart, 798 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:34,280 and we weep and we mourn, 799 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:37,760 and we pray out for God for a time in the kingdom, 800 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,000 and a place where all will be made right. 801 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:48,400 And we believe with faith this will be, it is coming, 802 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:51,800 and it is closer than ever before. 803 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:56,800 And we say, whole Lord, haste the day.