WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.640 Amen. Thanks, JT. Good morning. Good to see everybody this morning and just great to be able to come and join you again to worship. 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:15.839 It is super for us, too, just to be partners together, partner churches. 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:21.940 There isn't just one local body. There's one church. Right. And we're all part of it. 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:26.400 And it's there's a great expression of that in Edinburgh growing. 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:36.439 So it's just been super to be a part of that over the years and just to work together for the for the for the cause and for the kingdom of Christ in this great city. 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.979 Amen. Just be able to do that together. And this is a part of it. 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:43.879 This is just gathering regularly like this is what we need. We need to be here. 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:48.179 We need to be together. We need to encourage each other all the more. 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:53.579 Don't we as we see the day approaching and with all the craziness in the world going on right today? 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:56.739 I don't know. I don't know. Might be approaching fast. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:00.379 And there's loads to do. There's loads to do. 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:10.799 And it's just to be it's super to be able to be a part of it astounds me every time I think of the fact that God would invite me into that. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:13.359 And I hope you feel the same way, too. 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:25.140 So I'm just great to be able to worship and be a part of this kind of weekly reminder and encouraging and equipping that we get to do as we come together week by week. 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:42.680 There's there's I don't know if you know this or not, but there's a there's a group, a fairly large group of Americans here today from the States who have come from from our church plant in Wallaford and come to do some ministry here. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:47.760 And they didn't come to Corroboros this morning because they didn't want to hear an American preacher. 00:01:49.820 --> 00:01:53.800 And so they came to Brunsfield where they could hear a good Scottish guy. 00:01:54.300 --> 00:01:55.800 But Graham's not here today. 00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:59.200 I'm so surprised for you guys. 00:01:59.360 --> 00:02:00.820 But I'm sure great to have you here. 00:02:00.860 --> 00:02:02.960 They're over here. Get to know them after the service. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.780 They're as weird as anybody from the States, but I'm sure you'll enjoy their company this morning. 00:02:09.260 --> 00:02:10.319 All right. So back to Matthew. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:15.620 You guys are back to Matthew, obviously, after taking a break and picking up here in chapter five. 00:02:16.459 --> 00:02:28.159 If you if you flick back through your Bible, through the first four chapters of Matthew's gospel, you realize that by the time you get to chapter five, things are just beginning to take off. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:30.959 It's really kicking off now. 00:02:31.819 --> 00:02:39.819 The first four chapters of Matthew are very early on in the life and the very early ministry of Christ. 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:42.459 And so you've got all the events surrounding his birth. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:54.439 And then you have the events surrounding his his baptism and then the choosing of his first disciples, the beginning of his ministry. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.959 And now Jesus is back to Galilee. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:00.480 He's come back to Galilee. 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:05.000 And that's kind of where it picks off here, picks up here in in chapter five. 00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:07.379 Jesus is back in Galilee. 00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:11.680 He's he's just I mean, it's crazy stuff is happening. 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:13.620 Wonderful stuff. 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:13.980 Wonderful. 00:03:14.100 --> 00:03:14.520 But great. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:23.280 I mean, if you were there, if you were a part of this and things have been silent for so long for the for the Jews, they haven't heard much from God. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:24.800 400 years or so. 00:03:25.140 --> 00:03:30.099 And and and the prophetic word was absent and there was they were still waiting. 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:36.259 The faithful among them knew something was going to happen, just like probably us. 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:40.520 I'm not saying the prophetic word is absent today, but we're waiting. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:41.060 We're waiting. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:41.879 Lord, come on. 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:42.500 Come on. 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:43.699 Come on. 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:47.379 The world is just the world is is is so tough. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:48.219 It's so hard. 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:51.599 It's so misguided and misled. 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:52.659 Lord, please come on. 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:56.900 They were probably in some sense feeling that in these early days. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:59.180 They were feeling that what's going on. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.180 And then all of a sudden it begins to happen. 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:06.620 And the word comes and and and Jesus is born and the word is beginning to spread. 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:09.800 And then there's some quiet years as he grows up and now he's back. 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:18.100 He's back and he's baptized and he enters the scene and he's tempted and he he begins his ministry and and wild stuff is beginning. 00:04:18.220 --> 00:04:19.840 And I'm right at the end of chapter four. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:25.540 He's going around Galilee and he's teaching and he's preaching and he's healing and he's he's he's he's delivering. 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:31.580 And and and and and and word is beginning to spread is something's going on. 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:32.760 That's right. 00:04:32.840 --> 00:04:33.580 Something's happening. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.860 And I'm sure there's loads of people who are asking the question. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.440 Who is this guy? 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:41.360 Right fair. 00:04:41.900 --> 00:04:44.100 Who is I don't know what your story is. 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:55.200 But my story is that that when I was 19 years old, I was really introduced and and and in a in a in a in a in a big sense really to Jesus. 00:04:55.200 --> 00:05:02.520 And the more I began to read the word of God and and journey in the direction of Christ, I began to ask this question. 00:05:02.640 --> 00:05:03.540 Who is this guy? 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:06.340 Who is this guy? 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:14.039 And I don't know about you, but I even find myself now, 46 odd years down the line of following Christ. 00:05:14.239 --> 00:05:18.259 I find myself when I get to a point where I'm really, really praying. 00:05:18.479 --> 00:05:20.579 It doesn't happen as often as I'd love it to. 00:05:20.659 --> 00:05:23.599 But where I'm I really feel like I'm connecting with God. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:27.319 I find myself just looking up, asking a similar question. 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:28.519 Who are you? 00:05:30.179 --> 00:05:30.959 You know what I mean? 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:35.120 We tell people we know God and I'm supposed to come here and I'm supposed to teach you about God. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:36.399 What's that all about? 00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:38.199 I'm supposed to teach you about God. 00:05:38.259 --> 00:05:41.199 All I can do is I can try to tell you what he said about himself. 00:05:42.019 --> 00:05:42.379 Right. 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:43.620 That's all I can do. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:44.659 Teach you about God. 00:05:44.799 --> 00:05:45.339 Who am I? 00:05:46.359 --> 00:05:46.919 Who am I? 00:05:46.979 --> 00:05:48.079 I'm going to teach you about God. 00:05:48.159 --> 00:05:48.299 Right. 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.859 The eternal creator and sustainer of everything. 00:05:51.860 --> 00:06:03.780 And we got to be really careful just that we don't become, I don't know, too blasé or too familiar or whatever it is that we know God. 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:04.120 Really? 00:06:04.520 --> 00:06:05.759 How well do we know God? 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:07.819 How well do we know God? 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:08.580 And I do. 00:06:08.699 --> 00:06:10.400 I find myself 46 years down the line. 00:06:10.460 --> 00:06:13.120 I still find myself looking up into the sky thinking, who are you? 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:15.460 Who? 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:16.360 Anybody with me here? 00:06:16.460 --> 00:06:16.819 You guys. 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:17.680 Right. 00:06:17.780 --> 00:06:18.800 You understand American. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.319 You talk to these guys later on. 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:23.639 You got to understand what they say. 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:24.860 Who are you? 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:26.060 And so it's all happening. 00:06:26.180 --> 00:06:30.540 That's I got get a sense in the Bible when I try to read this and put myself in their shoes. 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:31.500 I get a sense. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:32.759 That's a bit of what they're feeling. 00:06:33.580 --> 00:06:34.639 What's going on? 00:06:34.699 --> 00:06:36.240 Who is this guy? 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:38.860 And so he begins to gather them together. 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:40.540 In fact, he's not going to have to gather them together. 00:06:40.580 --> 00:06:41.519 They just follow him. 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.680 They just start following him wherever he goes. 00:06:44.780 --> 00:06:45.680 They follow his crowds. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:47.600 Of course there's crowds. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.620 There's stuff going on here that people have never seen before. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:51.939 Never experienced before. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.040 Maybe they've heard some of it in the stories of the past. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:56.379 Moses and the great miracles. 00:06:56.620 --> 00:06:59.760 And now it's starting to happen in their day, in their time, in their place. 00:06:59.820 --> 00:07:00.260 It's here. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:00.980 It's happening. 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:03.260 And so he sees this. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:03.960 Chapter 5. 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:05.120 He sees the multitudes. 00:07:05.520 --> 00:07:07.240 And he goes up on the mountain, we're told. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:08.580 On the side of a mountain. 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:12.240 And disciples are sitting down with him. 00:07:12.260 --> 00:07:13.900 But the crowds are there as well. 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:17.599 And he sits down, we're told, and he begins to teach them here. 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:20.879 And it's probably one of the most well-known, I think, passages in the Bible. 00:07:21.719 --> 00:07:23.959 This first bit of Matthew chapter 5. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.419 Even for people who don't normally read the Bible. 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:31.819 I think that probably people are probably just familiar in one sense. 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:34.800 I imagine most of us have heard these verses before. 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:36.099 This is the first part. 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:45.060 This bit, and JT just read for us, is the first part of the first sermon that Matthew records Jesus preaching. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:51.699 He kind of revolves a bit of his gospel around these five big sermons that Jesus preaches. 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:52.939 And this is the first one. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:57.819 And these verses, they're often referred to as the Beatitudes. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:58.819 The Beatitudes. 00:07:58.819 --> 00:07:59.379 Beatitudes. 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:01.800 People kind of probably heard this before. 00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:05.120 They're referred to as the Beatitudes because the word blessed. 00:08:06.099 --> 00:08:06.319 Right? 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:08.019 Blessed are the poor in spirit blessed. 00:08:08.300 --> 00:08:16.139 The word blessed that Jesus uses here nine times in 11 verses comes from the Latin word beati. 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:18.180 Beati. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.680 Which is the word for blessed or for happy. 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:30.360 Except as the Lord begins to unpack this here, you realize that what he's talking about here is infinitely more profound. 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:34.720 You know, we just think of happy, happy, happy, happy, you know, happy days. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:35.159 Right? 00:08:35.220 --> 00:08:35.480 How you doing? 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.159 Happy days. 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:37.500 We just throw it around. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:37.840 Whatever. 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:44.919 Infinitely more profound and rich in meaning than what we often think when we normally use the word happy. 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:49.919 One commentator says that the word Jesus uses here is miles away. 00:08:50.059 --> 00:08:55.899 It's miles away from just a good miles that we've just been, you know, Artemis and Splashdown. 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:56.219 Right? 00:08:56.299 --> 00:08:57.319 You all been watching that. 00:08:57.719 --> 00:09:01.039 What was I think was 695,000 miles. 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:01.879 Was that what they did? 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:03.860 You think you've been on a long trip? 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:06.539 You think been on a long trip? 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:07.899 695,000. 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:10.879 That was 695,000 miles they put in. 00:09:10.939 --> 00:09:18.919 This guy says here in a spiritual sense, this is miles away what Jesus is talking about here from just a good feeling that comes from the pleasant circumstances of our lives. 00:09:18.939 --> 00:09:19.259 Happy. 00:09:19.699 --> 00:09:20.699 Miles away from that. 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:22.039 And you got to get your head around that. 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:26.219 Instead, he says what Jesus is talking about here is it's not a feeling. 00:09:26.319 --> 00:09:26.980 It's a reality. 00:09:29.299 --> 00:09:30.120 It's a reality. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.399 It's a blessing bestowed. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:33.319 It's not something that people do and then feel. 00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:34.839 It's a blessing bestowed. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:35.879 It's a reality. 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:40.419 It's an inward state of truth, he says, no matter how you're feeling. 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.200 You guys ever get that with your Christian life? 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:45.320 You ever get that with your Christian life? 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.220 You just kind of, you're there with something. 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:52.159 There's something that you get, something that you know is real and that's true. 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:53.559 No matter how you're feeling. 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:53.840 Anybody? 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:55.980 Happens from time to time. 00:09:56.539 --> 00:09:57.539 Happens from time to time. 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:03.440 An inward state of truth no matter how we're feeling because this is describing a state of being in relation to God. 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:05.259 That's what the Beatitudes are. 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:09.960 It's a state of being in relation to God, independent of how we're feeling at any given moment in time. 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:14.559 And so I'd suggest to you, I'd suggest to you because that's what it is. 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:15.519 It's not just a feeling. 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:18.659 It's not just something that you kind of go for or whatever. 00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:20.759 It's something that God bestows upon you. 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:25.299 I would suggest to you that these Beatitudes, they're not about how a person gets to God. 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:26.740 That's not what Jesus is about here. 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:30.439 He's not telling you how to get to God or how to become a Christian or whatever. 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:31.919 That's not what's going on here. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.720 It's rather about what kingdom citizenship looks like. 00:10:35.860 --> 00:10:36.679 Kingdom citizenship. 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:42.259 What kingdom citizenship looks like for those, as Paul puts it in Colossians, 00:10:42.939 --> 00:10:47.379 have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness, 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:50.599 which is where it all starts for us as we come into this world. 00:10:50.599 --> 00:10:53.199 Those who have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness 00:10:53.199 --> 00:10:58.359 and transferred to the kingdom of God's beloved God. 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.560 And so, guys, this is kingdom living. 00:11:01.180 --> 00:11:06.139 This is a picture of kingdom living at its best. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:08.440 At its best. 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:10.879 And it blows your mind. 00:11:11.659 --> 00:11:16.700 It's why many have called this passage here or this first sermon, 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.500 chapters 5, 6, and 7, that you're going to look through. 00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:22.340 It's why many have called this first sermon and this first bit of it, 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.659 the manifesto of the king, because it's about kingdom living. 00:11:25.659 --> 00:11:29.339 The manifesto of the king or the manifesto of the kingdom. 00:11:30.259 --> 00:11:35.879 Because contrary to what so many today think about power and promise and prominence, 00:11:36.219 --> 00:11:40.120 Jesus says, this is what life looks like in the real world. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.600 Not in this real world, but in the real world. 00:11:44.719 --> 00:11:45.120 You know what I mean? 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:47.379 Sometimes we see somebody who looks a bit spacing. 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:48.779 We tell them to get into the real world. 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:50.899 And what they mean is our world. 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:53.759 Guys, this world, it's not that it's not real, 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:55.240 but it's not the real, real world. 00:11:56.319 --> 00:11:57.579 It's not the real, real world. 00:11:58.319 --> 00:12:01.439 The real, real world is one that actually we can't see. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:03.659 It's beyond us. 00:12:03.779 --> 00:12:04.299 Is that fair? 00:12:04.579 --> 00:12:05.079 Is that fair? 00:12:05.199 --> 00:12:06.620 I'm not being heretical here this morning. 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:07.399 It's beyond us. 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:10.719 And this is what it looks like, Jesus, in that real world. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.339 This is the world where God rules and God reigns and God dwells. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:15.600 All right? 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:18.679 And so let me give you three observations in the time that we have this morning 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:20.019 about what this world looks like. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.480 Because that's what he's going to tell you. 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:24.320 It's just, he's going to tell you what kingdom life looks like. 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:26.060 Give you a wee picture of that. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:27.980 Three observations about what he says here. 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.639 The first one is that it looks like the opposite. 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:37.940 It looks like the opposite of what our fallen world thinks about greatness in particular. 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:42.760 It's the opposite of what our fallen world thinks about greatness. 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:45.780 And please tell me that you picked this up as JT read that. 00:12:46.400 --> 00:12:46.600 Right? 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:52.640 Please tell me as he read that that you picked up, this is very different from where I work. 00:12:53.380 --> 00:12:53.820 Right? 00:12:53.820 --> 00:13:02.140 This is very different from kind of the ideology that's just kind of swimming around me in this world and in this life. 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:02.440 Fair? 00:13:03.280 --> 00:13:06.000 Please tell me that as he read that you picked that up. 00:13:06.300 --> 00:13:15.520 The Roman dominated world into which Jesus spoke these words was not really a whole lot different in this sense 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:26.600 than the world that we live in today where power, birth, economic status, education, gender, race, influence, looks, physical strength, intellect. 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:34.159 Probably some combination of all of those things was and is how most people viewed greatness. 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:37.860 That was the world into which Jesus spoke these things. 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:39.960 And in that sense, is it very different? 00:13:40.939 --> 00:13:42.240 Is our world very different? 00:13:42.319 --> 00:13:42.960 No, it's not. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:44.319 It's not. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:44.360 It's not. 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:46.180 It's exactly the same. 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:51.400 And then Jesus comes along and he preaches the Beatitudes. 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:55.400 First thing, first part of the first big sermon. 00:13:56.460 --> 00:13:57.420 Here's where he lands. 00:13:57.760 --> 00:13:58.580 Here's what he says. 00:13:59.020 --> 00:13:59.200 Right? 00:13:59.420 --> 00:14:00.260 Must be significant. 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:01.540 He's just beginning. 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:03.800 People are still, I don't think everybody's got it yet. 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:05.920 I don't even think a lot of his disciples have got it yet. 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:08.720 It's just beginning, but they're seeing, they're following. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.560 Some of them are believing, but it's all just beginning to come together. 00:14:12.560 --> 00:14:14.100 It's all just beginning to come together. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:16.640 And this is the very first part of a huge journey. 00:14:17.180 --> 00:14:18.860 And he comes and he preaches the Beatitudes. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.480 And you hear that and you just think, what? 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:27.980 Well, it's kind of like watching a movie where, you know, it kind of ends. 00:14:28.060 --> 00:14:31.520 You hit this point where there's this shocking twist in the plot that nobody's expecting. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.179 I think that's kind of how it fell on most of these people. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:35.360 They weren't expecting this. 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:36.620 They weren't expecting. 00:14:36.699 --> 00:14:38.840 They knew Jesus was great because he was doing great things. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:41.360 They knew he was a guy to follow because he was followable. 00:14:42.980 --> 00:14:44.220 And he still had a lot to learn. 00:14:44.299 --> 00:14:44.960 He had a lot to learn. 00:14:45.019 --> 00:14:47.319 And boy, I think this one hit him right between the eyes. 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:48.399 Nobody expected this. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.679 And that's why it's often referred to as Jesus' upside-down kingdom manifesto. 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:54.779 That's how it's often referred to. 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:55.720 Jesus' upside-down. 00:14:55.819 --> 00:14:58.720 Because this stuff that he's preaching just seems upside-down. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:06.179 From everything else that they kind of were prone to believe and to follow and to everything else. 00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:07.620 It's upside-down kingdom manifesto. 00:15:07.620 --> 00:15:16.440 Or maybe even better, how Jesus takes the upside-down, inside-out, wrong-way-up perspectives and practices of this ridiculously miscalculated world. 00:15:18.560 --> 00:15:22.179 And he puts them right back to... 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:28.539 He puts them right back right-side up, really, to where they belong in the value system of God. 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:35.620 Alexander McLaren, Bible scholar, says that the Beatitudes are a set of paradoxes. 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:40.399 There are a set of paradoxes to the mind of the flesh. 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:46.899 They were meant to tear away the foolish illusions of the multitude as to the nature of the kingdom. 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:54.539 And they must have disgusted and turned back many would-be sharers in it when they heard this. 00:15:55.560 --> 00:15:59.620 They're like a dash of cold water, he says, on the fiery, impure enthusiasms, 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:04.320 which were eager for a kingdom of gross delights and vulgar conquest. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:06.879 You got it? 00:16:07.139 --> 00:16:10.539 Polar opposite of what the world thinks about human greatness. 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:13.000 And without being too dramatic, I would say... 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.679 I don't know how you pick up the vibes of the world in which you live. 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:22.500 But without trying to be too dramatic, I would say that probably a good 95%, maybe even more. 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:30.799 A good 95%, maybe even more of what Sarah and I have kind of flicked through on our TV or our computers or our phones over recent years, 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:36.419 have left us utterly flabbergasted that anybody would be drawn to it. 00:16:36.419 --> 00:16:41.639 And yet, obviously, they come in droves. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:43.240 Right? 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:44.439 Because it works. 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:45.439 People buy it. 00:16:46.439 --> 00:16:47.299 They buy it. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.099 They pay for it. 00:16:48.819 --> 00:16:49.979 They buy into it. 00:16:51.099 --> 00:16:52.399 Ideologically, they buy into it. 00:16:52.459 --> 00:16:52.679 Fair? 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:55.500 People that you work with, live with, maybe people in your family. 00:16:56.179 --> 00:16:57.339 They buy into it. 00:16:57.979 --> 00:17:00.019 And yet, as believers, when we look at this, we're just thinking, 00:17:00.439 --> 00:17:02.019 why would anybody want this? 00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:06.319 Why would anybody want this? 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:08.740 That anybody would be drawn to it. 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:10.420 And obviously, they come. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:18.359 And I wonder if any of us can remember the last time we saw anything close to the ethos of the Beatitudes in something we were watching. 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:24.019 Can you remember the last time you saw anything close to the ethos of this, the way Jesus puts it? 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:28.480 And in the world's media or what you were watching, 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:33.059 I'm not even sure I can put the great British bake-off in this category anymore. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:34.759 Right? 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:35.740 You know what I mean? 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:41.620 The presenters, just the ethos, the stuff that's said, the way it's said, or it's just... 00:17:41.620 --> 00:17:43.740 And then Jesus comes in and he flips it. 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:47.120 He flips it. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:57.259 Because I don't think we're often aware of the immensity, of the extent to which the world that God lives in and the world that we live in are different. 00:17:57.559 --> 00:17:57.759 Fair? 00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.720 I don't think we're aware of that. 00:18:01.539 --> 00:18:02.740 A.W. Tozer. 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:04.660 He says that... 00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:05.720 Listen to this. 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:06.440 Look at where he puts it. 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:06.980 He says, 00:18:07.059 --> 00:18:19.299 A fairly accurate description of the human race might be furnished to one who is unacquainted with it by taking the Beatitudes and turning them wrong side out and then saying, 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:20.640 Here's your human race. 00:18:21.879 --> 00:18:22.740 You get it? 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:23.839 You get it? 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:24.519 You get what he's saying? 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:24.599 Amen. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:28.539 And so instead of our normal... 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:30.119 So he starts to list it out. 00:18:30.659 --> 00:18:31.579 He starts to list it out. 00:18:31.619 --> 00:18:33.099 I don't have time to go through all the Beatitudes. 00:18:33.619 --> 00:18:34.359 But take your time. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:35.379 Pour through them. 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:37.159 Work through them one by one. 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:46.660 But instead of our normal self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-dependent ways of doing things, Jesus says it's the poor in spirit. 00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:49.920 It's the poor in spirit, he says. 00:18:50.040 --> 00:18:50.560 The opposite. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:51.560 Who are blessed. 00:18:52.019 --> 00:18:54.000 Because these are the ones, the poor in spirit. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:19:03.180 These are the ones who perfectly understand the devastating implications of their own terribly limited and utterly imperfect humanness. 00:19:03.300 --> 00:19:03.519 Anybody? 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:15.720 When you understand how limited you are, just how utterly imperfect you are, how human you are, and that gets you, you're poor in spirit. 00:19:15.879 --> 00:19:16.420 You feel it. 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:17.720 That's what it means to be poor in spirit. 00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:18.639 Jesus says, good. 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:20.559 He says, good. 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:22.039 Good. 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:22.079 Good. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.519 That's what the kingdom looks like. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:25.480 That's what it feels like. 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:41.180 Instead of minimizing our sin with the kind of self-justifying attempts that we often use in justifying ourselves, to convince ourselves that surely we're not nearly as bad as the guy down the road. 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:50.680 Jesus says, blessed are those who mourn over the interminably foul nature of their depravity in the sight of an infinitely holy God. 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:52.759 How different is that? 00:19:52.820 --> 00:19:53.940 Where do you see that? 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:56.100 Where do you see that in your world? 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:56.920 Where do you see that? 00:19:57.100 --> 00:20:00.360 I hope we see it a bit here in places like this. 00:20:00.600 --> 00:20:11.740 I hope we see it a bit here where we really feel the burden of our sin, where it really affects us when we sin, where if we sin against somebody in this church, we can't wait to just go and get it right. 00:20:11.840 --> 00:20:12.039 Anybody? 00:20:12.560 --> 00:20:12.799 Right? 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:15.700 I hope we see that a bit here because it's what kingdom life looks like. 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:16.980 And we say we're part of the kingdom. 00:20:18.100 --> 00:20:19.680 And this is what kingdom life looks like. 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:26.500 Instead, he says of the impulsive and the brash and the impetuous, he says it's the meek. 00:20:28.100 --> 00:20:30.440 It's the meek who inherit the earth. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:31.600 You know what meekness is? 00:20:32.980 --> 00:20:34.019 You know what meekness is? 00:20:34.620 --> 00:20:35.180 I'll give you a hint. 00:20:35.220 --> 00:20:35.820 It's not weakness. 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:38.380 It's not weakness. 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:45.320 It's actually great power under perfect control for ultimate good. 00:20:45.620 --> 00:20:47.900 I think that's a really good definition of meekness. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:50.020 It's great power, not weakness. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:53.200 It's great power under ultimate control. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:58.380 I'm sorry, under perfect control for ultimate good. 00:20:59.319 --> 00:20:59.759 All right. 00:20:59.819 --> 00:21:00.620 Check me out on that one. 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:01.600 Come back to me if you want. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.700 But listen, is that not exactly the character of Jesus on his way to the cross? 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:06.200 It's exactly what he was meek. 00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:08.140 Come to me, all you are heavy laden. 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:08.299 Right? 00:21:08.340 --> 00:21:08.799 He's meek. 00:21:08.860 --> 00:21:09.420 He's meek. 00:21:09.420 --> 00:21:12.700 And yet, who has more power than him? 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:14.980 Who has more power than him? 00:21:15.019 --> 00:21:16.800 It's exactly what it was like for him on the way to the cross. 00:21:17.060 --> 00:21:20.900 He had more than 12 reasons of angels, he says, to Peter in the garden at his disposal. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.220 Guys, that's 72,000 angels. 00:21:25.120 --> 00:21:26.580 That's 72,000 angels. 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:33.900 According to the Bible, it only took one of these guys to obliterate 185,000 Assyrians in 2 Kings chapter 19. 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:40.080 And yet, Jesus keeps that infinite power under perfect control for the ultimate good of bringing salvation to the world. 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:41.540 Wow, that's meekness. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:42.840 That's meekness. 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:46.840 I hope that overturns your understanding of what it means to be meek. 00:21:47.360 --> 00:21:49.259 God calls us to be meek. 00:21:50.540 --> 00:21:51.980 And he stays on the cross. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:54.019 And he stays on the cross. 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:57.200 And so every single one of these lists, every single one of these in the list, 00:21:57.460 --> 00:21:59.620 these kingdom attitudes that Jesus presents here, 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:01.200 hungering and thirsting for righteousness, 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:06.120 mercy, purity, peacemaking, persecution taking, 00:22:06.840 --> 00:22:10.819 demonstrates with infinite beauty the character of kingdom life and living. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:11.660 That's what he's doing. 00:22:12.539 --> 00:22:13.480 That's what he's doing. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:18.680 That living that belongs to those who belong to Christ. 00:22:19.059 --> 00:22:19.600 You get that? 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:23.759 It belongs to those who belong to Christ, 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.340 who've been delivered from the domain of darkness, 00:22:27.840 --> 00:22:30.940 kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of God's beloved Son. 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:34.920 And so listen, is this upside down or is this right side up? 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:36.480 All right? 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:39.320 Is it upside down or is it right side up? 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:40.340 You scratch your head. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:41.539 You read this. 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:45.059 And I think it all depends, how you see this, 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:47.820 all depends on which kingdom you're in. 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:50.759 All right? 00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:52.160 And so I'll just ask you this morning. 00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:53.420 Don't know everybody here this morning, 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:54.680 but which kingdom are you in? 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:58.400 You're in somebody's kingdom. 00:23:00.340 --> 00:23:01.539 Which kingdom are you in? 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:03.140 So number one, 00:23:03.180 --> 00:23:06.700 the Beatitudes look like the exact opposite of what a fallen world considers to be 00:23:06.700 --> 00:23:09.360 the path to greatness and success and distinction. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:11.940 And that's blatantly obvious. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.360 It's blatantly obvious here. 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:17.920 Guys, God has called us to swim against the tide, hasn't he? 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:20.580 It's opposite to what he's called. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:25.360 It should look, our lives should in many ways look opposite to the rest of the world, 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:25.880 shouldn't they? 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:29.519 I'm not just saying be an idiot, right? 00:23:30.080 --> 00:23:33.660 Or, you know, just make yourselves obnoxious to people. 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:36.140 I don't think that's what the Bible ever tells us. 00:23:36.140 --> 00:23:42.560 But in some sense, in many senses, when we swim for Christ, we're swimming against the 00:23:42.560 --> 00:23:43.280 flow, right? 00:23:44.280 --> 00:23:49.060 And in a very strange way, I have found through the years, even to my neighbors, my colleagues, 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:54.040 unsaved family, there's just something very magnetic about that to them. 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:56.840 They don't like it, but they're really intrigued. 00:23:58.360 --> 00:23:59.620 What happened to Wayne? 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:00.560 I don't know. 00:24:00.620 --> 00:24:03.340 He woke up one day on the wrong side of the bed or what? 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:07.000 You know, and hopefully now over the years, they know what happened to Wayne was Jesus 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.000 happened to Wayne. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:11.839 In some senses, my family thinks I'm nuts. 00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:15.939 And maybe in some senses, I am, right? 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:17.919 But that's how they look at it. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.939 That's the should be some, you know, it should be drastic enough being in this kingdom. 00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:23.079 Come on, guys, right? 00:24:23.299 --> 00:24:27.959 It should be drastic enough being in this kingdom that people, they may disagree with it from 00:24:27.959 --> 00:24:31.240 where they're at right now, but they should just stand back in awe. 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:32.720 What's going on with this guy? 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:35.779 What is, who is this neighbor? 00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:36.500 Who is this guy? 00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:37.700 What, where are you from? 00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:39.019 Are you a vegetarian or what? 00:24:39.059 --> 00:24:39.460 You know what I mean? 00:24:40.120 --> 00:24:41.460 What, where are you from? 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:42.859 What planet do you come from? 00:24:43.539 --> 00:24:46.120 I think that's a lot of what he's saying here. 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:49.119 So that's the first thing. 00:24:49.219 --> 00:24:49.419 Okay. 00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:50.199 Opposite to that. 00:24:50.239 --> 00:24:53.679 But it's also really important to note here, coming back to where we started in all this, 00:24:54.019 --> 00:24:57.939 that the Beatitudes, and I think we have to get this, the Beatitudes are not a formula 00:24:57.939 --> 00:25:02.759 for how sinful people can make their way to a holy God. 00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:03.959 That's not what these are about. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:09.459 It's not a formula for sinful people to make their way to a holy God, but rather a description 00:25:09.460 --> 00:25:16.220 of the real life that characterize, characterizes the sanctified people of a holy God. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.240 You understand the difference? 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:19.900 Because it's huge. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:21.740 It's huge. 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:25.259 Or to put it another way, the Beatitudes aren't the way to righteousness. 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:27.120 They're actually the way of righteousness. 00:25:28.019 --> 00:25:30.799 I think that's, and you have to get this because this is big. 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:33.519 People misunderstand what it means to be a Christian. 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:36.019 They misunderstand Christianity. 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:39.940 They misunderstand what following Jesus is all about. 00:25:40.579 --> 00:25:43.220 And often it's far more about works than it is about faith. 00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:46.799 And we even get caught up and brought back into this ourselves. 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:51.859 Maybe you just think I'm playing about words here, but I can absolutely assure you there 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:53.960 couldn't be a greater difference between these two things. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:58.240 There couldn't be a greater difference in these two things because one of them has to do 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.259 with trying to attain or achieve the righteousness of God. 00:26:01.259 --> 00:26:05.400 And I'll tell you something, a lot of people in our world are trying to do that. 00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:07.940 They're trying to be good enough to make God happy. 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:11.359 They're trying to be good. 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:12.640 I lived that life for a long time. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:14.900 Trying to be good enough to make God happy. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:18.279 That's their view of Christianity, and that is not biblical. 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:22.200 We've got to tell them that, and we've got to show them that. 00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:25.779 But that's the one side. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.900 People trying to be attained or achieve righteousness of God, 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:33.340 while the other side of this is simply demonstrating the reality of the righteousness of God 00:26:33.340 --> 00:26:38.500 possessed by his people in the form of the indwelling person of Christ, 00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:40.160 who is righteousness. 00:26:40.980 --> 00:26:43.400 Who is our righteousness, Paul says, to the Corinthians, 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:47.780 and comes by God's amazing grace through faith in his sacrificial death 00:26:47.780 --> 00:26:49.600 and his victorious resurrection. 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:51.840 Can you see the staggering difference between the two? 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:54.820 Staggering difference between the two here. 00:26:55.620 --> 00:26:57.340 If you can, then you understand the gospel. 00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:59.039 If you can see the difference between these two, 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:04.159 then you'll understand the gospel, the good news that God gives us about Jesus and salvation. 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:09.019 If you can understand the huge difference between striving to attain righteousness 00:27:09.019 --> 00:27:12.919 and possessing a righteousness by grace through faith. 00:27:13.619 --> 00:27:14.379 This is massive. 00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:14.779 It's massive. 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:16.539 It's what the gospel, it's the heart of the gospel. 00:27:16.859 --> 00:27:17.959 It's at the heart of the gospel. 00:27:18.879 --> 00:27:19.939 It's what it's all about. 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:21.759 Staggering difference between the two. 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:23.159 If you understand that, you understand the gospel. 00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:25.459 If you don't understand that, then you're almost certainly, 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:31.140 I guarantee you're almost certainly going to misunderstand God's perfect means of salvation. 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:32.600 You're going to misunderstand that, 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:38.200 and you're going to be left with the absolute futility of trying to earn God's acceptance 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.920 through your achievements, 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:44.600 which the Bible says is never going to work. 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:47.579 It's never going to work. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:51.839 Paul tells us in Romans 3 verse 10 that there's none righteous. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:55.740 No matter what you think of yourself or all your good works, 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:57.240 there's nobody righteous. 00:27:57.339 --> 00:28:00.139 He says, no, not one. 00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:01.179 Do you get it? 00:28:01.879 --> 00:28:03.000 How many are there? 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:04.939 Right? 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:05.380 Zero. 00:28:06.059 --> 00:28:06.539 Zero. 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:09.640 None inherently righteous. 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:16.140 Because, Paul says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:17.360 Romans 3, 23. 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:18.480 Or in the words of Tim Keller, 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:25.019 we are all more desperately wicked than we ever imagined. 00:28:26.100 --> 00:28:28.140 You think, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:28:28.180 --> 00:28:28.900 Wait a minute, Sutton. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:31.200 You know, hang on a second. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:35.860 You know, you might have some slip-ups yourself, but not me. 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:37.799 Not me. 00:28:39.080 --> 00:28:39.480 Right? 00:28:39.620 --> 00:28:40.920 I haven't ever made any mistakes. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:43.279 Well, if you haven't made any mistakes, then you can please leave now. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:47.200 You can leave because none of this is going to make any sense to you 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:49.559 if you've not made any mistakes. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:52.160 But the Bible is very clear. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:54.960 More desperately wicked than we ever imagined, 00:28:55.059 --> 00:28:58.660 which presents a massive problem when it comes to being united with God 00:28:58.660 --> 00:29:01.640 in His kingdom forever. 00:29:02.259 --> 00:29:02.620 Right? 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:03.600 That's bad news. 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:05.740 We don't have what it takes. 00:29:06.380 --> 00:29:09.380 What it takes is perfect righteousness, and we don't have it. 00:29:10.200 --> 00:29:12.420 Even our good deeds, the Bible says, are filthy rags. 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:13.180 Oh, my goodness. 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:13.980 Like, what? 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:15.600 What? 00:29:17.380 --> 00:29:18.300 That's the bad news. 00:29:18.360 --> 00:29:21.920 However, the good news is that the Bible also teaches without a shadow of doubt 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:24.720 that even though we're more desperately wicked than we ever imagined, 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:27.720 we're also more dearly loved than we ever dreamed. 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:32.279 More dearly loved than we ever dreamed. 00:29:32.380 --> 00:29:36.000 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.779 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:42.960 And through that sacrifice, giving His Son, through that sacrifice, 00:29:43.079 --> 00:29:45.000 God tells us that He's facilitated. 00:29:45.100 --> 00:29:45.680 Listen to this. 00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:48.440 Through that sacrifice, God has facilitated, 00:29:49.019 --> 00:29:55.400 through Jesus' substitutionary death. 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:56.740 You knew that was what I was going to say. 00:29:57.460 --> 00:30:00.840 His substitutionary death on the cross and our faith in that sacrifice, 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:08.860 He has facilitated the transfer of our sin to Jesus and His righteousness to us. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:09.320 What? 00:30:10.660 --> 00:30:11.620 Did you get that? 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:17.700 It's facilitated the transfer of our sin to Jesus and Jesus' righteousness to us. 00:30:17.840 --> 00:30:18.580 Is that not wild? 00:30:18.579 --> 00:30:19.779 Come on, guys. 00:30:19.919 --> 00:30:20.359 Wake up. 00:30:21.199 --> 00:30:22.259 Is that not wild? 00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:24.220 Incredible. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:25.439 Incredible. 00:30:25.579 --> 00:30:27.539 Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:32.139 that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf 00:30:32.139 --> 00:30:36.259 so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:37.159 And I think, 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:40.659 I think that's exactly what the Beatitudes are telling us 00:30:40.659 --> 00:30:42.879 about those who belong to God by faith 00:30:42.879 --> 00:30:46.419 because there's no way I can live these things that He's just said on my own. 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:47.000 Can I? 00:30:47.259 --> 00:30:49.039 I read every one of those and I feel like a failure. 00:30:49.320 --> 00:30:50.940 I can't do that on my own. 00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:52.400 But listen, 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:54.539 with Jesus living in me, 00:30:55.539 --> 00:30:57.100 right? 00:30:57.300 --> 00:30:57.980 Christ in you, 00:30:58.039 --> 00:30:58.640 the hope of glory. 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:00.980 With Jesus living in me, 00:31:01.980 --> 00:31:03.880 my goodness, 00:31:04.860 --> 00:31:06.120 I can do all things through Christ, 00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:06.800 through strength and strength. 00:31:06.840 --> 00:31:07.240 Get it? 00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:08.500 Get it? 00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:09.140 Okay? 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:10.940 So the Beatitudes look like the opposite 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:12.480 of what the fallen world 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:15.039 thinks about greatness. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:15.119 righteousness. 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:16.940 They're the way of righteousness, 00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:19.740 not the way to righteousness. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:20.720 And then finally here, 00:31:20.899 --> 00:31:22.859 I think there's a way you can look at this, 00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:24.680 the Beatitudes and the Gospel of Matthew, 00:31:25.099 --> 00:31:28.240 to see that these Beatitudes are actually a perfect preparation 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:31.019 for a life as an ambassador for Christ. 00:31:31.879 --> 00:31:33.359 They're a great place to start. 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:35.200 And isn't it interesting? 00:31:35.420 --> 00:31:36.700 That's where Jesus starts. 00:31:38.299 --> 00:31:40.799 First part of the first big sermon. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:42.240 And He says this. 00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:43.000 You'd think, 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:43.740 you know, 00:31:43.779 --> 00:31:44.240 it's over. 00:31:44.339 --> 00:31:45.700 You'd think by the time people heard this, 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:46.579 they'd be heading for the hills. 00:31:46.779 --> 00:31:47.259 No way, 00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:47.740 no way. 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:50.299 But He's beginning to show them the way of discipleship. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:52.900 He's beginning to show them the way of discipleship. 00:31:53.059 --> 00:31:54.559 And I think it's a perfect preparation 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.420 for anybody who wants to grow 00:31:56.420 --> 00:31:59.579 in their ability to live in this world for Jesus. 00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:00.779 Fair? 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:02.180 And I hope we do. 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:03.099 I hope we're here this morning 00:32:03.099 --> 00:32:04.500 because that's what we want to do. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.559 It's really interesting how Matthew frames his Gospel. 00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:08.420 Just a couple more things. 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:09.160 We'll finish up here. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:11.660 How Matthew frames his Gospel. 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:13.340 Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here, 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:14.820 but indulge me for a minute. 00:32:15.120 --> 00:32:15.880 Think about how Jesus, 00:32:16.220 --> 00:32:18.240 how Matthew frames his Gospel. 00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:21.140 Because just back in chapter 4, verse 19, 00:32:21.300 --> 00:32:24.040 and if you're part of the Brunsfield family, 00:32:24.220 --> 00:32:25.740 you must have done this at some point in time 00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:27.200 because you did up to chapter 4. 00:32:28.120 --> 00:32:28.980 And in 419, 00:32:29.100 --> 00:32:30.800 you'll probably remember that Jesus chooses 00:32:30.800 --> 00:32:32.060 His first disciples. 00:32:32.220 --> 00:32:32.660 Remember that? 00:32:32.660 --> 00:32:34.400 He chooses His first two disciples 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:37.380 who were Andrew and... 00:32:37.380 --> 00:32:39.540 Good, you were here for that teaching. 00:32:39.660 --> 00:32:40.200 That was great. 00:32:40.620 --> 00:32:41.240 Andrew and Peter. 00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:42.360 Andrew and Peter. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:44.700 And He chooses His first two disciples 00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:47.120 and He says that He's going to take 00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:49.460 these fishers of fish 00:32:49.460 --> 00:32:51.880 and He's going to make them, 00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:52.380 what's He say? 00:32:52.660 --> 00:32:54.340 Fishers of men. 00:32:54.779 --> 00:32:56.860 He's going to take these fishers of fish 00:32:56.860 --> 00:32:59.220 and He's going to make them fishers of men. 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:02.519 And then for the rest of the Gospel of Matthew, 00:33:02.600 --> 00:33:03.640 that's exactly what He does. 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:04.759 It's exactly what He's doing. 00:33:05.160 --> 00:33:07.160 Matthew traces it from the eyewitness accounts. 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:08.920 He traces how Jesus lived them, 00:33:09.180 --> 00:33:09.960 what He said to them, 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:11.039 what He showed them, 00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:12.279 how He corrected them, 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:14.079 what He prayed over them, 00:33:14.140 --> 00:33:14.400 everything. 00:33:14.620 --> 00:33:15.500 It just shows them. 00:33:15.660 --> 00:33:16.799 It's exactly what Jesus does. 00:33:16.860 --> 00:33:19.480 He teaches His men how to fish for men. 00:33:21.299 --> 00:33:21.700 Right? 00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:23.160 Tonight you're going to have a quip, I think. 00:33:23.259 --> 00:33:23.400 Right? 00:33:23.480 --> 00:33:23.779 It's a quip. 00:33:23.860 --> 00:33:25.240 That's probably what it's part of. 00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:27.299 We've been doing the same kind of stuff. 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.100 Passion for life. 00:33:28.099 --> 00:33:28.699 Equipping. 00:33:29.019 --> 00:33:30.379 Our churches should be about this. 00:33:30.459 --> 00:33:32.219 We should feel as though week by week 00:33:32.219 --> 00:33:33.179 we're getting equipped. 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:36.500 Not just placated or happy, happy. 00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:37.480 Being equipped. 00:33:37.579 --> 00:33:37.899 Equipped. 00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:38.159 Right? 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:40.079 We're a part of a battle, guys. 00:33:40.919 --> 00:33:42.619 That's going on all around us. 00:33:43.199 --> 00:33:44.879 That has eternal consequences. 00:33:45.779 --> 00:33:48.059 Being taught to fish for men. 00:33:48.139 --> 00:33:50.139 It is interesting that it starts with this sermon. 00:33:51.019 --> 00:33:53.019 And then how does Matthew's Gospel finish? 00:33:54.039 --> 00:33:55.139 Think about how he frames it. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.039 How does Matthew's Gospel finish this? 00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.500 Remember Matthew 28, verse 18. 00:34:00.059 --> 00:34:00.779 Jesus came to them. 00:34:00.819 --> 00:34:02.920 He said, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 00:34:02.980 --> 00:34:04.139 I hope you've seen that now. 00:34:05.180 --> 00:34:05.539 Right? 00:34:05.559 --> 00:34:06.680 He can say that at the end. 00:34:07.379 --> 00:34:08.699 He's resurrected now. 00:34:08.980 --> 00:34:09.179 Right? 00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:11.820 All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. 00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:14.079 And now they can nod their heads and say, sure he has. 00:34:14.340 --> 00:34:15.099 We've seen it. 00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:16.579 We've watched it. 00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:17.300 We've been there. 00:34:18.300 --> 00:34:19.920 All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 00:34:20.259 --> 00:34:21.619 Therefore, I'm sending you. 00:34:21.619 --> 00:34:21.679 No. 00:34:23.960 --> 00:34:24.639 I'm sending you. 00:34:24.739 --> 00:34:25.699 You're going in my name. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:28.259 I'll never leave you for safe. 00:34:28.339 --> 00:34:31.119 To the end of the age, he says, I'm going with you. 00:34:34.219 --> 00:34:38.059 Therefore, go, he says, make disciples of all nations. 00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:39.579 We call it the Great Commission. 00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:42.239 That's how it ends. 00:34:42.739 --> 00:34:43.960 That's how Matthew's Gospel ends. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:44.900 We call it the Great Commission. 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:48.460 Isn't it interesting that everything in between the Sermon on the Mount and the Great Commission 00:34:48.460 --> 00:34:51.559 is a huge lesson in how to fish for human hearts. 00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:54.199 How to be ambassadors for Christ. 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:55.659 How to fish for men. 00:34:56.119 --> 00:35:00.240 And I wonder if the Beatitudes aren't given to us right up front to teach us how to live 00:35:00.240 --> 00:35:02.119 as salt and light. 00:35:02.619 --> 00:35:04.539 And that's what's coming next week, I think, for you guys. 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:05.039 Right? 00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:06.860 I think Graham's back next week and it's salt and light. 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:09.579 How to teach us how to do that. 00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:10.720 Does that make sense? 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:11.840 As you look at Matthew's Gospel. 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:12.840 I hope it does. 00:35:13.059 --> 00:35:15.619 Because if you look really hard, and here we finish. 00:35:15.619 --> 00:35:21.000 If you look really hard, I think you will find here in the Beatitudes, 00:35:21.139 --> 00:35:28.480 I think you will find all the elements of a faithful life as a witness for Jesus. 00:35:28.699 --> 00:35:30.719 I think you'll find them all here in these Beatitudes. 00:35:30.799 --> 00:35:32.400 If you look really hard, slow down. 00:35:32.819 --> 00:35:34.839 Go back home this afternoon, tonight, this week, whatever. 00:35:35.219 --> 00:35:37.299 Take one a day or something for a few days. 00:35:37.839 --> 00:35:39.359 And just soak in them for a bit. 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:46.780 I think all the elements here for a faithful life as a witness for Christ are present. 00:35:47.220 --> 00:35:50.660 Recognizing our own need to be totally dependent on God. 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:51.900 Poor in spirit. 00:35:52.180 --> 00:35:52.519 Has to. 00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:53.260 We have to do. 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:57.680 We've got to live as servants of Christ, as witnesses for Christ. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:35:58.980 We've got to live dependent on Him. 00:35:59.200 --> 00:35:59.760 Have to. 00:36:00.120 --> 00:36:00.660 Poor in spirit. 00:36:01.200 --> 00:36:05.780 Constantly mourning over the devastating consequences of our own sin. 00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:08.900 Has anyone ceased to sin since becoming a Christian? 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:11.059 Anybody? 00:36:12.120 --> 00:36:14.980 Cease to sin since becoming a Christian? 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:17.440 Now, there is a transforming that goes on in our life. 00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:21.220 And we often say that we don't become sinless, but we do tend to sin less. 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:23.260 Because we become more like Christ. 00:36:23.340 --> 00:36:24.019 So that does happen. 00:36:24.160 --> 00:36:27.120 But never to the point where you can't fall over or don't fall over. 00:36:27.140 --> 00:36:27.620 It happens. 00:36:27.720 --> 00:36:28.160 It happens. 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:31.079 That's why we have to come and get our feet washed all the time. 00:36:31.180 --> 00:36:32.700 Confess our sin and be cleansed again. 00:36:32.820 --> 00:36:33.039 Right? 00:36:33.160 --> 00:36:33.320 Fair? 00:36:34.039 --> 00:36:34.700 So that's here. 00:36:34.700 --> 00:36:35.240 That's here. 00:36:36.120 --> 00:36:37.360 Keeping great power. 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:38.300 Christ in you. 00:36:38.360 --> 00:36:38.980 The hope of glory. 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:39.380 Whoa! 00:36:40.340 --> 00:36:44.920 Keeping great power under perfect control for the ultimate good of the gospel. 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:47.539 Hungering and thirsting for truth. 00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:48.800 It's what we're doing here today. 00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:49.699 Looking at God's Word. 00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:50.360 Digging deeper. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.559 Tonight, you come back. 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:53.280 Your own personal times in the Word. 00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:54.139 Just soaking over. 00:36:54.260 --> 00:36:54.960 We need that. 00:36:55.019 --> 00:36:55.780 We need the truth. 00:36:55.860 --> 00:36:56.840 It feeds our souls. 00:36:57.380 --> 00:36:58.139 It's part of this. 00:36:58.539 --> 00:37:00.539 Hungering and thirsting for truth and righteous living. 00:37:00.780 --> 00:37:03.639 Having mercy on our neighbors as we lead them to Christ. 00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:07.199 While being pure in our own hearts. 00:37:07.299 --> 00:37:09.579 Open, honest about our own failures. 00:37:09.699 --> 00:37:10.579 Our own sins. 00:37:10.799 --> 00:37:11.019 Our own. 00:37:11.239 --> 00:37:13.619 Just living with that reality in our hearts. 00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:17.000 Helping others to find peace with God through faith in Christ. 00:37:17.379 --> 00:37:17.819 Peacemakers. 00:37:18.500 --> 00:37:21.259 That's what an ambassador for Christ does according to 2 Corinthians 5. 00:37:21.980 --> 00:37:23.379 Helps others find peace with God. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:24.840 Reconciliation, it's called. 00:37:26.539 --> 00:37:26.980 Reconciliation. 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:29.280 We have the ministry, Paul says, of reconciliation. 00:37:29.780 --> 00:37:31.500 Helping others to find peace with God through faith in Christ. 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:34.519 And then finally, all the while, enduring whatever comes our way. 00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:38.380 Enduring whatever comes our way as ambassadors for Christ. 00:37:38.519 --> 00:37:44.200 So that Jesus might be magnified, as Paul says, in my life as well as in my death. 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:46.019 Guys, listen. 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:47.860 Welcome to the beautiful attitudes. 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:49.519 Right? 00:37:49.660 --> 00:37:51.420 Welcome to the beautiful attitudes. 00:37:51.420 --> 00:37:56.440 What a recipe for gospel-centered living this is. 00:37:56.980 --> 00:37:57.200 Right? 00:37:57.260 --> 00:37:57.639 Let me pray. 00:37:58.320 --> 00:37:58.740 Let me pray. 00:37:58.860 --> 00:38:01.400 Father, thank you for this time together. 00:38:01.539 --> 00:38:03.039 Thank you for your precious word. 00:38:03.740 --> 00:38:08.240 Thank you for Jesus and all that he's done to make this, all this that we've talked about 00:38:08.240 --> 00:38:11.240 and thought about here this morning, a reality in our lives. 00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:17.420 Thank you for the indwelling Holy Spirit who gives us all that we need to be able to respond 00:38:17.420 --> 00:38:19.700 to all that you say here in your word. 00:38:19.699 --> 00:38:23.419 Thank you for the promises that you give, that you began a good work in us. 00:38:23.460 --> 00:38:24.319 You're going to complete it. 00:38:24.980 --> 00:38:29.299 You are going to build your church and the gates of hell are not going to come against it. 00:38:29.699 --> 00:38:37.739 But Lord, help us to be good and faithful stewards of this wonderful message that you've given to us 00:38:37.739 --> 00:38:49.359 about our glorious God to both live in a way that pleases you and also in a way that brings the world to Christ. 00:38:50.019 --> 00:38:50.879 We pray in his name. 00:38:51.379 --> 00:38:51.639 Amen.