Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we are beginning a brand new
teaching series called Summer on the Mount and
we are going to spend the rest of the summer
looking at Jesus' sermon on the Mount, arguably
one of the most important teachings of Jesus
in the Bible. And this teaching begins with a
ladder. a ladder that shows us how we climb into
the kingdom of God and what the kingdom of God
is like as we are getting into it. So tune in
as Rob takes us through each of those steps and
we climb a little higher to investigate what
the kingdom of God is really like and why it
matters for us today. Today's reading is from
the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 verses 1 to 12.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on
a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came
to him and he began to teach them. He said, blessed
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they
will be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they
will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness for they
will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for
they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they will be called children
of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult
you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds
of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and
be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.
For in the same way, they persecuted the prophets
who were before you. The word of the Lord. Well,
listen, Martin Luther King had his I Have a Dream
speech. Abraham Lincoln had the Gettysburg address.
Winston Churchill had all those wartime speeches.
We will fight them on the beaches. We will do
this. We will do that. Several times throughout
history in the last centuries, these important
speeches have happened at momentous moments that
have really changed the world. But today, we
are going to look at. Well, not today. This summer,
we're going to look at the one speech, the one
delivery that changed the world. And the funny
thing was about this one we're looking at is
actually it happened on a very ordinary day in
an ordinary place in front of an ordinary group
of people without very much fanfare at all, it's
called The Sermon on the Mount. And this summer,
we're going to be looking at it. We're calling
this series The Summer on the Mount. And believe
me, thousands and thousands of books have been
written about The Sermon on the Mount. Millions
of sermons have surely been preached on The Sermon
on the Mount. Counting today, it's like a million
and one. And it's called The Sermon on the Mount,
right? But actually, it never calls itself The
Sermon on the Mount. I think John Mark Comer.
has a really good definition for what it is Jesus
does there. It's Jesus' manifesto for a whole
new way to be human. in the in -breaking reality
of the kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount,
you guys, is found in your Bibles. It's only
three chapters long, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. It's
only 100 verses long. And yet those 100 verses
have changed the world more than any of the other
speeches that were ever given. Today we're going
to just begin to look at that great speech, that
great sermon. But before we do it, we've got
to just set the scene. And we've got to say,
OK, where did this take place? Who was listening
to it? What was going on? And that's where Matthew
5, verses 1 and 2 begins. It says that when Jesus
saw the crowds, he went up onto a mountainside.
He sat down. And his disciples came to him and
began to teach them. By the way, the whole passage
we read this morning is on the back of the sermon
notes that you received this morning. But if
you look at this, there's four things I want
to point out to you right away. First of all,
the place. Where did this take place? It tells
us Jesus went up onto a mountain side to deliver
this address. Now, ancient people have always
felt that mountains represented this point, this
place, where heaven and earth kind of connected
with each other. It's this place where the creator
meets the creation. But when you think of the
mount, the Sermon on the Mount, do not think
of these Swiss Alps or do not think of the Rocky
Mountains. Think of a little like rocky outcropping,
the kind of place where if Jesus went up there,
then people could see him better. And it created
a place where they could hear him better as well.
But the reason. Jesus chose a mountain was not
because of the acoustics. I think the real reason
Jesus chose a mountain was because of an important
connection he wanted to make. You see, thousands
of years before that, Moses, the great Moses
also climbed up onto a mountain to receive the
Ten Commandments from God and brought those down
to God's people. So you know what Jesus is saying
in this little Sermon on the Mount thing? He's
saying, hey, everybody, look at me. I'm like
the new Moses. I'm going up a new mountain. And
I'm going to give you some new teaching on how
to be the brand new people of God. So that is
the first thing we know about the place, very
carefully chosen place. The second thing is the
people. Who weren't there that day to hear this
amazing sermon? Well, for sure his disciples
were there. What we just read, it said his disciples
were there, and they were probably sitting in
the front row, taking notes the whole time. But
it wasn't just his disciples. It says there were
crowds there. Who was in the crowds? Well, go
back just before the Sermon on the Mount to Matthew
chapter 4, and you can see the people who were
hanging out with Jesus that day. It says, Crowds
of people came bringing the sick and the suffering
and the lame and the paralyzed so that Jesus
might heal them. Guys, what I'm saying is that's
very ordinary people. These were not the elite.
These were not academics who came to hear Professor
Jesus extol the virtues of the kingdom of God.
These were people like you and me, just everyday
people. That's who the people were. Thirdly,
though, let's talk about Jesus' posture. It tells
us that, for some reason, when Jesus went up
the mountain, that he then sat down. Oh, it's
a long way down. Sat down to give this sermon.
That may seem weird to you, but actually, in
the ancient world, that's what you did when you're
about to give a sermon. That's what a teacher
would do. That's even what a rabbi would do in
the synagogue before they gave their sermon.
They would sit down. It was a posture of a teacher.
which lets you know something else too. This
sermon that Jesus gave, it was not like off the
cuff. He wasn't just like, oh, shooting from
the hip. Hey, here's some ideas. No, he had prepared
this. It was polished. It was a rehearsed thing.
Jesus had probably given this sermon several
times before, and he'd probably give it several
times afterwards as well. Finally, the purpose.
What was the point of this sermon? Well, I already
hinted at this. This sermon was all about the
kingdom of God. Or, as you'll read this morning,
it said the kingdom of heaven. Just a quick note
about that. Matthew. doesn't like to use the
word kingdom of God. He always uses kingdom of
heaven. Why is that? It's because Matthew was
writing to a Jewish audience. And you might know
this, but the Jewish people out of respect do
not say God's name. They don't go around saying
God. They always would say something else. And
so as Matthew writes to them, he's not going
to call it the kingdom of God. He's going to
call it the kingdom of heaven. But you have to
understand the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom
of God mean exactly the same thing. But the whole
point of this sermon, this is important, is to
Help us understand what does it look like to
live in the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of
God. Now right away, some of you are here today
and you're like, OK, Rob, you've officially lost
me because I don't even understand what that
means. Kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God. It
sounds archaic. Here's all you need to know.
The kingdom of God is anywhere, any place, any
time where God is in charge. where what God wants
to happen is actually happening. Now, the kingdom
of God actually existed and kind of came into
being 2 ,000 years ago when Jesus started walking
around on Earth, healing people. Boom, the kingdom
of God. Teaching people. Boom, look, the kingdom
of God. It's popping up here and there. It was
like Jesus' ministry, like popcorn. The kingdom
of God kept popping up here and there and everywhere.
So it was present in history. But the kingdom
of God is also something that is present right
here, right now. It is visible even in this church,
even in our city. Again, whenever people's lives
are being transformed, whenever people are encountering
the powerful presence of God, then the kingdom
of God is among us even now, right? God is in
charge. in when these things happen. But it's
also fair to say, it's also true to say, that
the kingdom of God has not fully come. It's growing,
often in secret and unseen ways. It's growing.
But one day, God will rule. In every nation,
God will rule. And in every heart, God will rule.
One day, this partial kingdom will become a total
kingdom. We're just not there yet. So what you
could do is you could put it this way. The kingdom
has come. It is coming and it will come in full.
It's already here in part, but one day, my friends,
it will be here in power. So the question is
in the meantime, how do we live? That's what
the sermon on the Mount is all about. And today
we're just going to look at the opening of that
sermon, but you guys know openings are pretty
important. As a preacher who does sermons fairly
regularly, I know that openings are really important.
The way you open your sermon either makes people
pay attention or not, makes people listen, oh,
I want to hear more or not, causes them to ask
some questions or not. And I have to tell you,
Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount. I mean,
it's a master class how he does this. He does
it in such a gripping and memorable way that
people have never forgotten it. And for the past
2000 years, they've been saying it over and over
again, singing it over and over again, reciting
the beginning of his sermon. And that is because
the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount is commonly
called the Beatitudes. The be attitudes blessed
are the blessed are the blessed are but I think
the real reason it's so gripping is that what
Jesus is doing at the beginning of his sermon
is he's giving us a ladder a ladder What do you
mean ladder Rob? I'll tell you what I mean You
know, in olden days or even today, if you go
into some farmers fields in Europe or, you know,
in the beautiful countryside, what you'll see
is fences all over the place because people keep
their animals out there and they don't want their
animals to go outside the fences. But human beings
want to go over these fences. And so what they
do is they'll put ladders like this so that so
that a farmer can come and go from one field
to the next. But the animals can't go from one
field to the next. Right. This is. really important,
because I want you to understand. The Beatitudes
are a ladder that gets you not from one field
to the next, but it gets you from one world to
another world. The Beatitudes are a ladder that
get you from one way of living to another way
of life. Listen to me on this. The Beatitudes
are an eight runged ladder. that show you how
to get from the life you are living right now
to the life on the other side, which is the life
of the kingdom of God. That is why Jesus puts
the Beatitudes right at the start of the Sermon
on the Mount, because what he's saying is this.
Look, everybody, in this sermon, I'm about to
show you how to live your life according to God's
reign and rule over there. It's going to be amazing.
You're going to love it. But he says, but before
I can talk to you about that, I've actually got
to talk to you about how to get into that kingdom.
There's no point trying to live that way of life
out here. You have to first gain entrance into
the kingdom of God. And I actually believe that
the first four Beatitudes are the first four
steps that take us out of this place toward the
kingdom. And then the next four Beatitudes We
swing our leg over here. I'm not going to do
it. I'm not going to do it. The next four take
us down into this kingdom of God that is there
and ready for us at any time we can make this
journey. In fact, I made a little rhyme to help
us understand this idea, right? Four to get out,
four to get in, then the rest of the sermon can
begin. All right? Why don't you say that with
me? four to get out, four to get in, then the
rest of the sermon can begin. Now, before I go
further, I gotta tell you, not everybody agrees
with the take on the Beatitudes I'm about to
go through. And fair, but I have to tell you
over the last two or three weeks in the readings
and the stuff I've listened to, I believe this
is a really effective way to understand what
these Beatitudes are all about. They are a ladder
into the kingdom of God. And it's also not a
new idea. Because for the longest time, ancients
have used this idea of a ladder as an example
of how to live the spiritual life. I found this
old icon. If you check it out, on the bottom
is the desert. And at the top is Jesus in heaven.
And people are working their way up this ladder.
That's the spiritual life. People in faith and
obedience are walking up the ladder toward Jesus.
Now you'll notice, see those little scary demons
with spears and arrows? Pew! They're shooting
people off the ladder. And yes, some people,
as they go through that spiritual journey, they're
succumbing to temptation. And they're falling
down. And then what do they have to do? They
have to start all over again and start climbing
again. Listen, there's so many problems with
this picture. I don't want you to go home with
this picture in your mind. I want you to have
this picture in your mind. But the one really
important thing this is telling us is this. The
Beatitudes are not describing eight different
kinds of people. This is just one kind of person,
right? You don't divide the Beatitudes up and
say, you know, I kind of feel like I like, you
know, blessed are the merciful, but I don't like
blessed are those who mourn. Or you don't say,
hey, I'll take blessed are the peacemakers, and
you can have blessed are the pure in heart. That
is not how it works, right? Everyone has to climb
every step. All these steps are just aspects
of how to get into and live in God's kingdom.
Martin Lloyd Jones, old, old Welsh preacher,
he said this, there is beyond any question a
very definite order in these Beatitudes. Our
Lord doesn't place them in their respective positions
haphazardly or accidentally. There is what we
may describe as a spiritual, logical sequence
to be found here. I like this metaphor for another
reason, and that's because of this word, macarius.
Say that with me, macarius. Yes, that is the
word that gets translated as blessed, but I will
tell you there's huge controversy on how to translate
macarius. There actually is really no really
good English equivalent. Many do say, oh, it
means blessed. Blessed are the poor, blessed
are the meek, but listen, since when is being
poor blessed? Other people translate it as happy.
Well, happy are the poor and hard. Happy are
those who mourn, but since when are people happy
to be mourning the death of a loved one, right?
And some have even translated Macarius into congratulations,
like congrats to the persecuted or stuff like
that. It's hard. There is actually, I don't think
one word that makes the connection in English,
but there are some phrases that I think are very,
very, very helpful. I think the better way to
capture the essence of Makarios is this. It means
something like you're on the right track or you're
going in the right direction. Sin means you're
going the wrong direction. Sin means you're falling
off the ladder. But Makarios, no, Makarios means
you're not lost. Don't worry. You're on the path
God intended for you. And so rather than say
blessed are the meek or happy are the meek, why
not say To those who are meek, you're on the
right track. To those who are pure in heart,
that's the path God has in mind for you. For
those who are hungering for righteousness, you're
climbing in the right direction. Keep on going.
You're entering the kingdom of God. That, I think,
is the better reading of Makarios. So let's climb
this ladder this morning in the time we've got
left. Let's ask the question. How do we enter
into that kingdom? And once we're into that kingdom,
how do we live? Four to get out, four to get
in. But I just don't want people to walk away
today thinking, oh, that was a very interesting
take. Oh, how novel or how creative to have a
ladder. I've never thought of it that way, but
that's not what ladders are for. Ladders are
invitations. I mean, don't you want to climb
every ladder you see? Right? You see a ladder?
Ooh, I want to climb that ladder. Let's see where
it goes. That's how I want you to think about
today's sermon. Today's sermon is an invitation
for you to climb this ladder or keep climbing
this ladder into a life with Jesus. Ask yourself,
even before I go any further, have you started
climbing this ladder? Are you somewhere on the
climb? Have you crossed over the top to the other
side? Right? Are you ready to leave this world?
and live in the next world? Let's start. Here
we go. I'm going to whip through this, by the
way. The latter begins with step one. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. And guys, I want to tell
you, I think this first step is all about admitting.
It is about admitting you are poor in spirit.
It's admitting the poverty of your spirit. The
first thing you have to do to enter the kingdom
is you have to say, I got nothing. Spiritually,
I am completely bankrupt. Spiritually speaking,
I've got nothing in my bank account. I've got
nothing in and of myself to earn my way into
that kingdom. My balance is zero. That's your
starting point, to acknowledge you got nothing.
And I don't know how many of you are familiar
with Alcoholics Anonymous, but they have a 12
-step program. And their very first step is the
same idea. We admitted we were powerless. and
that our lives had become unmanageable. You cannot
enter the kingdom of God apart from this first
step. You can't take a bottle that's half full
of old wine and fill it with new wine and expect
it to taste good. You've got to bring it back.
You've got to empty it out. And only then can
you fill it with the new wine of the kingdom.
Only once you've emptied yourself out, only when
you've totally emptied yourself of your pride
can you begin to live the kingdom life. Otherwise,
you will fail miserably. You might say, oh, I
got it. I can handle it. I can live over there.
No, you can't. You can't. In order to climb in,
you have to admit you cannot do it. That's step
one. How do you like that? Step one. Here's step
two. Blessed are those who mourn. Now, let's
think about this one. Is Jesus saying blessed
are those? Happy are those who've lost loved
ones? No. He's talking, spiritually speaking,
about a spiritual kind of mourning. your own
brokenness. Mourning your own sins, mourning
the train wreck of your life, mourning the fact
of all the mistakes that you've made. We call
this repenting, by the way. It's this sorrow
that comes when you actually look at the things
you've done and what's going on inside of you.
And you just acknowledge that, and you name that.
But more than that, you turn away from it. You
say, I'm done with that way of life. I repent
of my sins. Not just I feel bad about them, but
I am leaving them behind. Jesus is calling us
to a kind of mourning that leads to this life,
right? Paul said, Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of which I am the worst.
Guys, I am the worst sinner. That is step two.
Step one is saying I got nothing. Step two is
saying even what I do got is pretty gross and
miserable, if I'm honest with you, okay? Sin
has separated us from God. We have to acknowledge
our sin, that's step two. Now step three, blessed
are the meek, right? Now if step one was blessed
to the poor in spirit, step two is blessed to
those who, blessed are the meek, essentially
means this. You gotta humble yourself. Before
you go any further toward the kingdom, stop thinking
of yourself so much. Gosh, you're always thinking
of yourself, whether it's thinking of how great
you are, or whether it's thinking of how pathetic
you are, whether it's thinking of how successful
you are, or whether it's thinking of what a failure
you are. You're constantly thinking of yourself.
Meek people are done with that. They stop thinking
of themselves. They take their eyes off of themselves,
and they focus their eyes instead on God. Again,
Martyn Lloyd -Jones says, we spend our whole
of our lives watching ourselves. But when a man
becomes meek, when a man hits step three, gosh,
I don't think I really want to go much higher
than this. But when a man hits step three, they
have finally said, you know what? I'm taking
my eyes off my life. I got to refocus my eyes
and my attention on God Himself. Okay? So that
brings us through the first three Beatitudes.
And notice all three of those are about emptying,
right? Poverty, mourning, meekness. Now that
brings us to the next one, which I would say
is actually the most important step on the whole
journey. And that is you go from emptying to
desiring. So let's say you get up this high.
It's almost like you can look over now into the
kingdom and you can see, oh my gosh. That is
the kind of life I want. I'm hungry for that
life. I'm thirsty for that life. I'm longing
for the world to look that way. I wish I could
be made right. I wish the world could be made
right. If you feel that way, then guess what?
You're on step four. You are ready. You are hungry.
You are thirsty to be made new. You are thirsty
for the world to be made new. And if you guys.
When that happens, you are so close to the kingdom.
You are so close to the kingdom. But the only
way to actually swing your leg over to the other
side and cross the threshold and enter into the
kingdom of God, you cannot do that part on your
own. You have to instead trust what Jesus has
done for you. You see, God made Jesus, who had
no sin, to be sin for us so that we might become
the righteousness of God. You're hungry and thirsty
for righteousness. You can't get it yourself.
But Jesus has a righteousness that he's willing
to give you because he already lived the life
you should have lived. He died the death that
you should have died. And now all you got to
do to cross over to the other side is to put
your faith and your trust in Jesus. And what
he's done for you on the cross, he laid down
his life for you. This is the biggest step, people.
It's also the most risky step, because at the
top of the ladder, it's very teetery, right?
And you're putting your trust in someone else.
You're putting your trust in Jesus. Hey, are
you there today? Are you right there at the top?
And you're hungry for a new life. You're hungry
for a new world. And you can almost taste it.
But you're just nervous to put your trust in
Jesus. Guys, that's the step. That's step four.
Do it. Make that decision. Repenting, yes. Humbling,
yes. Desiring and trusting Christ, that is the
step. Once you've done that, guess what? Welcome.
to the kingdom of God. I can't turn this ladder
around because it doesn't have steps on the other
side. But imagine you crossed over. And now look,
you've come over the top. You're in the kingdom
of God. Welcome to this new life, this new world
that God has created for you. And once you are
over here, guys, that is when the real transformation,
the real change in your life begins to happen.
And one of the first things that you're going
to notice starts to happen. Again, now I'm up
here and I'm going to descend. One of the first
things that's going to happen is your relationships
are going to start to be transformed. They're
going to start to be made new. Because what happened
was you just realized, man, God was so merciful
and gracious to me. He forgave me and showed
such compassion to me. That's the only way I
got over here. So now that I'm in this world,
you can bet I'm going to be merciful and compassionate
to others. Because I know what it felt like.
I know how much God had given me in His mercy
that I want to extend. that mercy to others.
I would say this. If you are over here on kind
of on step five, and you're having a hard time
being compassionate and merciful to other people,
it's probably because you didn't actually grasp
really well the compassion and mercy that God
extended to you. Because if you grasp that, you
would be a much more merciful, caring, patient
person with other people, people who are merciful.
are compassionate. And they don't just feel mercy.
They help others. They act it out, right? They
show practical help to people who need it, even
people who they don't particularly like or people
who they don't think deserve it. You didn't deserve
it. So you will gladly show that mercy to others.
Guys, that is a huge step five. You cannot go
any further into the kingdom until you get that
step. Look at this. We cannot climb further up
the ladder. or down the ladder, unless we begin
to take others with us, mercy interrupts our
climb and turns us outward. Kingdom people, they
forgive, they don't retaliate. Kingdom people
help, they don't withhold help. Kingdom people
love, even when it costs them. That's the world
you're walking into, right? Keep on going. Keep
on going. Step six now. Jesus says, blessed are
the pure in heart for they shall see God. Guys,
I just want to say, I think the best way to understand
this particular step is to understand the word
pure. Pure is opposed to divided. A divided heart
is what many of us struggle with and many of
us struggled with over here on this side in the
old world. We were two different people. We were
one person on Sunday and we were another person
on Monday. We were one person when we came to
church, but we were another person when we went
to school. Our hearts were split. We were divided,
right? But as we step down closer and further
into the kingdom of God, our heart has to start
coming together. The person we are over here
has to be the person we are over here. our friends
has to be the same person that we are when we're
gathering together in worship in church. Single
-mindedness, a single heart. Tim Keller, the
late Tim Keller, he puts it this way. He says,
a pure heart means your faith isn't just an act.
You're not just putting on a performance. It's
actually who you are, especially when no one
is watching. No masks anymore. You're not pretending.
No performance anymore. You're coming down into
this world. You've got to be real. Your heart
has got to be pure. That's why, when we come
down into this world, we start practicing things
like prayer. and Bible reading, and Sabbath,
and solitude, because all those practices are
focusing our heart, focusing our heart on one
thing and one thing alone, and that is God. That's
why it says the pure of heart will see God, not
because we're going to see God in heaven, but
because the more we have a single -minded and
single focus in our prayer and devotion, we're
going to see God in prayer. We're going to see
God in worship. Guys, we're almost there. We're
almost there. Two steps to go. Blessed are the
peacemakers. Peacemaking is all about reconciliation.
Simply put, in the kingdom, you know that you
have been reconciled to God by the sacrifice
of Jesus. So therefore, in the kingdom, you are
going to join God in that reconciling work by
healing. bringing wholeness, building bridges,
not building more fences. In fact, I don't think
that in the kingdom of God there are any fences.
I think this is the last fence. And once you're
in here, it's all about building bridges, not
putting up walls. Peacemaking is the work of
those who are no longer at war with themselves.
We've been reconciled with God. And so now we
can help others find that same peace. Kingdom,
peacemakers pursue reconciliation, not revenge.
They forgive, even when it's really hard to forgive.
You guys know about that. They pray for their
enemies. They work toward justice. This is step
seven. You're really getting into what this world
is like and what it means to live in the kingdom.
But there's one more step. And this is one that
you might think doesn't make any sense. Because
you might have thought, oh, by the time we land
over here, the last step, surely the last one
will be about peace and comfort and joy and victory.
But instead, Jesus makes the final step off the
ladder about what? Suffering and persecution?
Why? Here's why. Because the more you become
like Jesus, the more you're going to attract
the kind of opposition. that he did. Martin Lloyd
-Jones, again, puts it this way. Persecution
is the ultimate test. It tells you whether you're
truly living in the kingdom or whether you're
still clinging to that world over there. You
see, the world over here is so different than
the world over here, that if you're actually
going to live this way, people over there aren't
going to be happy about it. And that you can
expect resistance, but remain faithful, even
if it costs you. So there you go, guys. Four
to get in. No, I said it wrong. Four to get out,
four to get in, and the rest of the sermon can
begin. We just climbed our way, right? Again,
this isn't an academic exercise. This is a ladder.
Where are you on the ladder? Have you taken step
one? Have you admitted your need? Have you taken
step two? Have you confessed? your sin and the
brokenness in your life? Or are you ready to
take the big step four, to swing your leg across
to the other side, to actually trust your life
to Jesus and the work that he did for you on
the cross to give you the righteousness that
you need? Are you ready to cross over? Maybe,
actually, you already have crossed over. Some
of you, you've been on this side of the ladder
for a long time now, but you're struggling with
showing mercy. Or you're struggling with your
devotions, your prayer life. Or you're still
struggling with reconciling. Or maybe it's the
persecution that's really getting to you. It's
really hard for you to stand firm, even when
it costs you. So whether you're at the first
rung of the ladder, whether you're over here
on the first rung, or whether you're over here
coming off the sixth or seventh rung, that's
OK. Maybe you're halfway up and you're just holding
on for dear life. Whatever. What matters is that
you respond to the invitation. Jesus has come.
Come, climb the ladder. Come into the kingdom.
And if you do, you're going to find something
very interesting. Jesus already climbed this
ladder. I mean, think about it. Jesus totally
emptied himself. Jesus mourned. Jesus was meek.
Jesus hungered for righteousness. Jesus was merciful.
Was there ever anyone who was more pure in heart
than Jesus? Anyone who ever sought peacemaking
more than Jesus? And of course, Jesus himself
was persecuted. He was beaten. He was mocked.
He was crucified for the kingdom. Jesus has already
climbed this ladder. And this ladder is his biography,
right? This is his life. But because he climbed
it, he's made it secure for us. And that means
we don't need to be afraid to climb. He will
climb with us. Jesus is the reason you can take
your next step. So, step onto the ladder, everybody.
Wherever you are, first rung, halfway up, clinging
for dear life, take the next step. Jesus has
gone before you. The Holy Spirit's gonna go with
you. And the Father is waiting at every rung
with His grace. And once you've entered the kingdom,
well, that's when the real adventure begins.
Thanks be to God. Amen. Thank you for tuning
in to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.
This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
in Mississauga, Ontario on July 6th, 2025.