WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:15.280 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.760 Good morning. My name is Megan Doxon. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.299 And I'm part of the Thursday Night North Berkeley Community Group and Women Reading Women. 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:50.240 Our reading today is from the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 5, verses 1 through 16 and 43 through 48 as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:01:11.400 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:15.000 His disciples came to him and he began to teach them. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:15.980 He said, 00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:20.060 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:01:20.820 --> 00:01:23.859 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:27.620 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 00:01:28.620 --> 00:01:34.219 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for righteousness, for they will be filled. 00:01:34.219 --> 00:01:38.439 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be filled. 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:39.140 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:43.239 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:48.039 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:55.480 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:01:55.480 --> 00:02:25.460 Blessed are you, for they will be called the Lord. 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:26.259 Blessed are those who are trampled underfoot. 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:28.780 You are the light of the world. 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:31.539 A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 00:02:32.679 --> 00:02:35.780 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. 00:02:36.799 --> 00:02:40.379 Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. 00:02:41.399 --> 00:02:44.359 In the same way, let your light shine before others, 00:02:44.799 --> 00:02:48.159 that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:52.139 You have heard that it was said, 00:02:52.339 --> 00:02:54.259 Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:59.139 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:01.799 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:06.139 He causes his son to rise on the evil and the good, 00:03:06.500 --> 00:03:09.399 and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:14.020 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:16.860 Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:21.759 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:24.020 Do not even pagans do that? 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:28.360 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:31.420 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:33.720 Praise you, O Christ. 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:37.639 Thank you, Megan. 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:38.800 And good morning. 00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:45.879 These next three weeks, we are going to be exploring parts of the Sermon on the Mount, 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.060 the greatest sermon that's ever been preached. 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:50.719 You can read it in about ten minutes or so. 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.560 And some of you may think, if only the sermons at Christchurch were so short. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:02.420 But this is, of course, the summary of Jesus' prolonged periods of instruction to his disciples. 00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:09.780 And I first had my adult encounter with the Sermon on the Mount about 23 years ago when I was in college. 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:13.800 And I read a book by Martin Lloyd-Jones. 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:19.860 It was 60 sermons that he preached on the Sermon on the Mount just after World War II in London. 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:26.220 And I found in his sermons on this sermon a Jesus that I never knew. 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:28.540 And some of you I know are here. 00:04:28.660 --> 00:04:32.500 You're exploring Christianity, investigating who Jesus is. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:40.020 Others of you are here trying to learn what it means to follow Jesus in the context of a disciple-making community. 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:49.840 And I could think of nothing better for you to spend time reading than the studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Martin Lloyd-Jones. 00:04:49.860 --> 00:04:53.879 But why should we study the Sermon on the Mount? 00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:58.520 Why might some of us even commit this to memory? 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:05.960 If you look at verse 1, it says that when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:09.500 His disciples came to him and he began to teach them. 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.759 And we should instinctively think back to what happened when Moses went up Mount Sinai. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.100 The Word of God came to the people of God. 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:26.140 Those ten life-giving words, the ten commandments, the rest of the Torah was given to Moses. 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:33.720 There on that mountain, the place of revelation, there God showed his mind, his heart, his will to his people. 00:05:33.820 --> 00:05:40.840 And here is Jesus now up on this mountain standing in the place of God, ready to give the Magna Carta, 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:48.679 ready to give the charter of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a disciple and to live in the kingdom of God. 00:05:49.479 --> 00:05:56.839 And we should remember that Jesus is preaching to Peter, Andrew, James, John, all these others that he's going to send out as apostles. 00:05:57.799 --> 00:06:03.139 And he's beginning this gospel, telling them what they're to be and what they're to go and do. 00:06:03.139 --> 00:06:09.639 And he gets to the end of this gospel in Matthew 28 and the resurrected Jesus gives them this mission. 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:09.979 He says, 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:17.039 I want you to go now and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:17.599 And what? 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.539 Teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:30.819 And this Sermon on the Mount pretty much sums up everything that Jesus taught us and everything that he commanded us, 00:06:30.900 --> 00:06:33.300 everything he wants us to do. 00:06:33.420 --> 00:06:35.640 And that's what the apostles are to go out and to teach. 00:06:36.060 --> 00:06:41.560 And this is what Christians and churches everywhere are to learn and to live and to obey. 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:48.280 The Sermon on the Mount is a perfect picture of life in the kingdom of God. 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:58.639 And nothing shows us our absolute need for the new birth, for the Holy Spirit to come down and work within us, 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.500 than trying to live out the Sermon on the Mount. 00:07:01.559 --> 00:07:05.979 If you try to live out the Sermon on the Mount in your own strength and with your own resources, 00:07:06.179 --> 00:07:07.459 you are going to be crushed. 00:07:08.779 --> 00:07:12.939 You will very quickly be undone and begin to despair. 00:07:13.479 --> 00:07:15.759 Like verse 44, for example. 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:17.219 What does it say? 00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:22.180 It says, I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:07:22.280 --> 00:07:23.220 Who can do that? 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:32.080 This will drive you to see your need to be born from above with a new life from God that can enable you to do this. 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:38.320 The gospel, God's grace, the operation of the Holy Spirit working on you from the inside out. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:40.380 That's what a Christian is. 00:07:40.940 --> 00:07:45.660 It's a person who's experienced the grace of Jesus Christ and his cross. 00:07:45.660 --> 00:07:55.800 Somebody who's been given a new nature by the Holy Spirit to begin living and practicing the Sermon on the Mount in an alternative kingdom, 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:58.100 with an alternative king. 00:07:58.760 --> 00:08:06.820 And this, I think, is what the world today is so desperately looking for and so desperately in need of. 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:14.439 It's just to see some true Christians, true churches who are living like this. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.120 We don't need a strategy for evangelizing our neighbors. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.519 We just need to live the Sermon on the Mount. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:27.680 Can you imagine what would happen if all Christians in the East Bay were living the Sermon on the Mount? 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.480 There would be a revival, right? 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:32.919 There would be spiritual awakening. 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:38.560 People would look at us and say, what is the secret to what you've got going on here? 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:40.220 Where are you getting this love? 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:46.440 Where is this joy and this hope and this life and this power coming from? 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:48.379 It would be amazing. 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:49.820 It would be amazing. 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:52.600 So that's why we should study the Sermon on the Mount. 00:08:54.580 --> 00:09:00.840 But if the Sermon on the Mount is the symphony, the Beatitudes are the overture to the symphony. 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:04.680 And each of these really deserves a sermon of its own. 00:09:05.400 --> 00:09:10.900 And I'm just going to attempt very feebly to give you my sense of the whole of the Beatitudes here. 00:09:11.680 --> 00:09:15.180 They're the lenses for which you interpret the rest of the sermon. 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:17.339 So you guys ready for the Beatitudes? 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:20.439 Or at least my feeble attempt at the Beatitudes? 00:09:21.599 --> 00:09:30.579 Jesus says in the Beatitudes that he fills the empty, he pours out the full, and he rejoices in rejection. 00:09:31.699 --> 00:09:37.839 That Jesus fills the empty, he pours out the full, and he rejoices in rejection. 00:09:38.739 --> 00:09:40.859 First of all, Jesus fills the empty. 00:09:40.860 --> 00:09:48.500 The Sermon on the Mount really defines the character of a Christian, but you notice that it opens with words of grace. 00:09:48.800 --> 00:09:51.600 It begins not with demands, but with, what? 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:52.700 Blessings. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:58.279 And the Son of God comes and he blesses people who know that they're broken. 00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:03.120 These first four Beatitudes are not for people who feel terrific. 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:05.580 It's for people who feel miserable. 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:15.080 People who feel their need and their lack in a sense that they are empty of the usual requirements for the blessed and abundant life. 00:10:15.160 --> 00:10:16.400 Those who are poor in spirit. 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:18.300 Those who are poor in joy. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:19.720 Those who are poor in power. 00:10:19.900 --> 00:10:21.900 Those who are poor in righteousness. 00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:31.879 It's so easy to misread these first four Beatitudes as praiseworthy virtues when really it's the exact opposite. 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:37.899 Jesus is coming to us and he's saying, God bless you who feel far from virtuous. 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:40.700 If you've reached the bottom. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:47.259 If you know that you're helpless without God's supernatural help. 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:53.159 If you wonder whether or not God even knows you, cares you, loves you, and accepts you. 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:58.740 Then Jesus says, the kingdom that I bring and the blessings that I bring are precisely for you. 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:00.259 They're for you. 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:06.100 And so he begins, blessings on you who are spiritually impoverished. 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:07.580 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:10.720 For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:20.840 If you feel your spiritual and moral bankruptcy before the glory and the holiness of God. 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:27.819 If you know that you're a sinner who deserves absolutely nothing from God but judgment. 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:32.780 If you know that you have nothing to offer him in exchange for salvation. 00:11:33.780 --> 00:11:37.560 And that there's nothing you can give to buy the favor of heaven. 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:42.980 And that there's no contribution you could make so that God would love you more. 00:11:43.660 --> 00:11:44.540 Then you're blessed. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.379 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:11:47.379 --> 00:11:50.860 Jesus illustrates this beautifully with a parable. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.059 He says, two men went up to the temple to pray. 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:54.980 One a Pharisee. 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:56.100 The other a tax collector. 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:02.720 And the Pharisee stood by himself and he prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like all these other people. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:03.960 Robbers. 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:23.340 And the Pharisee stood by himself and he said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:29.200 In one of our hymns we say, nothing in my hand I bring. 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:31.700 Simply to thy cross I cling. 00:12:32.540 --> 00:12:34.280 Naked come to thee for dress. 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:36.740 Helpless look to thee for grace. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:39.180 Foul I to the fountain fly. 00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:42.980 Wash me, Savior, or I die. 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:46.420 That's what it means to be poor in spirit. 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:53.399 Have you come to terms with your spiritual inadequacy before God? 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:55.719 Because that's where it all begins. 00:12:56.479 --> 00:12:56.599 Right? 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.559 The Sermon on the Mount is going to climb up to the very heights of Mount Everest. 00:13:00.699 --> 00:13:04.659 But it begins right down here where we all live in Death Valley. 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:12.759 And it's really this first, you can't even understand the rest of the Beatitudes without this first key that unlocks the rest. 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:18.419 Because it says, we cannot be filled unless we are first empty. 00:13:19.819 --> 00:13:25.759 I mean, how can I, if I'm full of a prideful spirit, how can I be full of the Holy Spirit? 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:39.080 If my life is marked by self-reliance and self-confidence and self-expression and self-assertion and I think, oh, I'll go out and live the Sermon on the Mount in and of myself and my own strength and my own resources. 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:46.240 Doesn't Jesus first have to come to me and condemn me before he can release me? 00:13:46.300 --> 00:13:55.879 Doesn't he have to first convict me before he can convert me and say, you're so much more poor than you even realize? 00:13:57.160 --> 00:14:03.520 Jesus is saying, look, no prideful person can enter the kingdom of God. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:06.000 It's a small gate. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:09.079 It's a very narrow road. 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:10.899 It's humility. 00:14:11.699 --> 00:14:15.019 It's poverty of spirit that causes us to enter in. 00:14:15.079 --> 00:14:18.259 It's someone who says, I really need a Savior. 00:14:18.439 --> 00:14:23.360 And I know that salvation is a completely undeserved gift of God. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:32.500 And if by faith we receive that gift, then Jesus says, yours is the kingdom of God. 00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:37.240 You've come to live under the rule and the reign of a totally different king now. 00:14:38.899 --> 00:14:42.159 Blessings on you if you're spiritually impoverished. 00:14:43.180 --> 00:14:43.940 And Jesus goes on. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.519 He says, blessings on you who are poor in joy and in power. 00:14:48.060 --> 00:14:48.200 Right? 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:52.139 Verse 4, he says, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:55.879 And this is not necessarily those who are bereaved. 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:08.319 But it's rather those who grieve with tears over their loss of innocence, their loss of righteousness, their loss of self-respect because of sin. 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:17.319 Blessed are you if you know that your self-interest keeps you from loving God with all your heart and loving other people as yourself. 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:23.440 If you get to the end of your day and you go back and you review and say, what was I thinking? 00:15:23.660 --> 00:15:24.420 What was I saying? 00:15:24.500 --> 00:15:25.160 What was I doing? 00:15:25.660 --> 00:15:33.260 You, in utter helplessness and hopelessness, cry out like the apostle Peter cried out to Jesus. 00:15:33.400 --> 00:15:36.860 He said, depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:46.399 You say with the apostle Paul, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death? 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:47.539 And you begin to mourn. 00:15:48.899 --> 00:15:52.639 And this godly sorrow leads to a repentance. 00:15:53.779 --> 00:15:54.000 Right? 00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:06.679 It's a sorrow that drives you to seek the only comfort that is on offer to us, which is the comfort of the forgiveness of almighty God through the death of his beloved son, Jesus. 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:14.740 And then Jesus says, blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.279 And you'll notice this just gets increasingly difficult. 00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:18.820 We're only on the third verse. 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:21.280 And it's harder and harder and harder. 00:16:21.400 --> 00:16:26.680 It's one thing for me to humble myself before God and to say, God, I'm a miserable sinner. 00:16:26.780 --> 00:16:32.500 But it's much harder for me to allow you to think of me as a miserable sinner. 00:16:32.900 --> 00:16:33.060 Right? 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:40.420 In my pride, I resent other people seeing me in my weakness and in my inability. 00:16:41.379 --> 00:16:45.540 But meekness is to have a true estimate of myself. 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:49.959 And therefore, to have a humble attitude before other people. 00:16:51.339 --> 00:16:51.519 Right? 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:53.620 I see myself for who I am. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:55.959 Therefore, I no longer have to protect myself. 00:16:56.899 --> 00:17:02.559 And I can think of myself in the lowly status that I actually have. 00:17:02.599 --> 00:17:04.379 And in that place, I can be content. 00:17:05.139 --> 00:17:06.319 And I can be teachable. 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:09.859 And Jesus says, if that's you, yours is the earth. 00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:14.440 You're going to rule the earth with the earth's rightful king, Jesus. 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:18.100 Blessings on you if you're spiritually impoverished. 00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:21.440 Blessings on you who are poor in joy and poor in power. 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.259 And blessings on you who are poor in righteousness. 00:17:26.019 --> 00:17:26.120 Right? 00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:31.400 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness because they will be filled. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:34.080 This is the person who says, you know what? 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:36.460 I'm not right in myself. 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:43.860 And even when I'm at my best, the very best righteousness I can produce is filthy rags. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:44.640 Right? 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:48.240 The Apostle Paul looked at all of his righteousness and he said, it's dung. 00:17:48.860 --> 00:17:49.700 It's refuse. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:54.460 What I really need is a right relationship with God. 00:17:54.460 --> 00:17:58.180 This is what the psalmist is saying in Psalm 42. 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:06.940 And he says, like the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you. 00:18:07.059 --> 00:18:08.940 God, I'm thirsting for you. 00:18:09.100 --> 00:18:10.220 Oh God, the living God. 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:13.000 When can I go and meet with God? 00:18:13.059 --> 00:18:15.860 It's a hunger for God that aches. 00:18:16.620 --> 00:18:18.460 It's a thirst for God that burns. 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:19.180 That burns. 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:23.100 We're starving to be justified by God. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.120 We're starving to be reconciled to God. 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:31.940 We're starving and desperate to be sanctified by all the means of God's grace. 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:35.380 By his scriptures, by prayer, by worship, by fellowship. 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:42.259 We so want to be rid of those desires in our lives that separate us from God. 00:18:43.120 --> 00:18:48.319 And we so want to be glorified with God one day that we'll not only be free from the penalty 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:54.480 of sin and the pollution of sin, but we'll be free from the presence of sin itself. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:01.559 Do we hunger and do we thirst for this kind of righteousness? 00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:07.720 Jesus says that he's come to fill the empty. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.899 Those who acknowledge their spiritual bankruptcy before God. 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:17.159 Those who weep over their sin and their self-centeredness and their failures to love. 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:23.560 Those who are willing for others to think about you the way that God sees you and your humility 00:19:23.560 --> 00:19:24.820 and lowliness of heart. 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:30.279 And those who have a ferocious appetite for God to have a right relationship with God. 00:19:31.120 --> 00:19:36.860 And to receive that perfect righteousness that comes from God and God alone. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:39.820 That's where the Christian life begins. 00:19:40.320 --> 00:19:41.340 With emptiness. 00:19:41.339 --> 00:19:45.819 Jesus can only fill people who are empty. 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:50.539 And you see, Jesus comes and he fills the empty. 00:19:51.439 --> 00:19:55.119 But he not only fills the empty, he comes to pour out the full. 00:19:56.019 --> 00:19:56.159 Right? 00:19:56.159 --> 00:19:58.159 He wants to pour out the full. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:03.939 And these beatitudes are a microcosm of the way in which Jesus makes disciples. 00:20:04.179 --> 00:20:09.459 He first drives us down on our knees, because that's the only place where you can receive grace. 00:20:09.460 --> 00:20:16.039 And then he stands us up on our feet to serve others with the grace that we've been served by God. 00:20:16.860 --> 00:20:16.980 Right? 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:21.960 Jesus first blesses the poor in spirit and joy and power and righteousness. 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:23.620 And then he blesses us. 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:29.799 He blesses others through us by giving mercy and purity and peace through us. 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:35.119 And you'll notice that in these beatitudes, there's a shift in gears. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:42.200 Somewhere in the middle, from God's grace to you, to God's love through you. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:49.899 That if you've received God's gift of salvation, then it's now yours to go work out that gift in moral terms. 00:20:49.900 --> 00:21:02.160 That if you've been brought into the privileges of a relationship with the blesser, then it's now our responsibility to pour out his blessings on others. 00:21:02.280 --> 00:21:04.820 You follow in the logic of the beatitudes? 00:21:05.100 --> 00:21:09.080 Jesus says, blessings on you who are full of mercy. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.200 Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:21.220 This does not mean that we practice mercy at the expense of truth or righteousness or justice or holiness. 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:26.740 Jesus was fiercely committed to those things and yet he was compassionate. 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:28.059 Right? 00:21:28.120 --> 00:21:33.360 He had compassion on those who were spiritually stuck in the misery of their sin. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.940 Compassion on people who were stuck in their guilt and shame and fear. 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:47.380 Yet, he had compassion on people who were materially left half dead by the side of the road until finally a good Samaritan came along. 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:54.580 And what he's saying here is that rather than condemn people and rather than resent people and rather than pass people by, 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:58.700 my disciples extend mercy. 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:03.000 Extend that same mercy that they've received from God himself. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:03.299 Right? 00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:12.279 And that is the perfect and central illustration of mercy is that God the Father sent his only son, Jesus. 00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:21.400 And that Jesus in his mercy emptied himself, he humbled himself, and he saw us in our miserable and pitiable state. 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:26.019 He saw us sinning against each other and causing one another to suffer. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.140 He saw us in our rebellion and our law breaking. 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:36.180 And he came and in his mercy, he substituted himself right in the middle of us on his cross. 00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:44.480 And Jesus says, if you've been shown that mercy of God, then you must show that mercy to other people. 00:22:46.380 --> 00:22:48.080 Blessings on you who are full of mercy. 00:22:49.320 --> 00:22:51.340 And blessings on you who are full of purity. 00:22:52.280 --> 00:22:55.460 Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. 00:22:55.460 --> 00:23:01.259 And that's a problem, of course, because Jesus says elsewhere in the gospel, he says, 00:23:01.360 --> 00:23:05.740 it's from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come. 00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:17.759 Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:20.120 It's a lot of stuff that comes out of our hearts. 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:20.680 Right? 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:29.440 And Jesus is saying, look, purity of heart means that you've died to that old self. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.680 It means that you've been crucified with Christ, that God has given you a new heart and a new nature. 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:41.000 And out of that new heart, you now will one thing and one thing only. 00:23:41.820 --> 00:23:42.279 Right? 00:23:42.340 --> 00:23:44.740 You're done with all double-heartedness. 00:23:44.740 --> 00:23:54.200 Now you have the single-hearted clarity on the one thing that you want above all other goods. 00:23:55.059 --> 00:23:55.940 And what is that? 00:23:56.019 --> 00:23:58.620 The psalmist in Psalm 27 says, 00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:20.179 That's a person who has purity of heart. 00:24:20.180 --> 00:24:22.840 They want one thing. 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:31.880 They have a singular passion, and that is to see the presence of God, the beauty of God, and the face of God. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:38.560 And Jesus is saying, if that's the one thing you really want more than all else, that's what you will get. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:41.380 By faith, you'll see it now. 00:24:41.380 --> 00:24:51.240 But one day, your faith is going to be turned to sight, and you are going to enter into the purity of God's holy presence. 00:24:52.220 --> 00:25:01.160 And you yourself on that day are going to be faultless and blameless, and you are going to have a sight that's beyond all imagining, all description. 00:25:01.380 --> 00:25:04.760 You are going to see God. 00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:14.319 Blessings on you who are full of mercy, and blessings on you who are full of purity, and blessings on you who are full of peace. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:16.839 Right? 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:21.960 Blessings on the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. 00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:27.299 Whether you're at home, or at church, or at work, or at school, or in your community, 00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:35.259 you want people to experience the one thing that can give them peace in their heart. 00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:44.119 The one thing that can bring peace between individuals, peace between races, peace between classes, peace between groups, peace between nations. 00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:44.799 And what is that? 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.480 You want them to have peace with God. 00:25:49.539 --> 00:25:50.619 You're a peacemaker. 00:25:53.099 --> 00:25:55.859 And peacemaking is, of course, a divine activity. 00:25:57.299 --> 00:26:06.940 Colossians 1 says that through Jesus, God reconciled to himself all things by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:14.099 And a peacemaker looks at that and says, well, just as God took initiative toward me, 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:22.940 I'm going to seek out my conflicted friend, or spouse, or sibling, or child, or church member, or neighbor. 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:31.019 And I'm going to, a peacemaker is going to enter into that situation, and they're going to know how not to speak. 00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:33.700 But just how to listen. 00:26:34.660 --> 00:26:36.380 And how to apologize. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:39.680 And how to risk holding someone accountable. 00:26:40.460 --> 00:26:41.900 And speaking the truth in love. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:44.680 And waiting for someone to repent. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:45.440 A peacemaker. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:50.120 In a church context, as somebody who absorbs anxiety. 00:26:51.080 --> 00:26:52.440 And cools anger. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:53.759 And decreases tension. 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:55.380 And fosters listening. 00:26:55.620 --> 00:26:56.920 And gets to root issues. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.380 And especially does this in the church. 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:03.620 Because this is the one place where we really should be at peace. 00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:11.079 And Jesus says, if you do that, you're a child of God. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:19.299 You're a child of God because you're acting like your heavenly father who reconciled us to himself at infinite cost. 00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:22.959 The cost of the blood of his own son, Jesus. 00:27:23.179 --> 00:27:24.000 Blessed are you. 00:27:24.779 --> 00:27:28.259 If you're full of mercy, and full of purity, and full of peace. 00:27:28.339 --> 00:27:30.479 And if you're like, I'm full of none of those things. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.720 Well, blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:34.940 For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:35.299 Right? 00:27:35.380 --> 00:27:36.920 It always goes back to that. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:39.700 Jesus fills the empty. 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:41.299 And he pours out the full. 00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:44.160 But finally, he also rejoices in rejection. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:46.480 He rejoices in rejection. 00:27:46.620 --> 00:27:47.920 If you're going to live this way. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:50.860 A life of mercy. 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:51.980 And purity. 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:52.819 And peace. 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:56.120 Then you're going to experience this last beatitude. 00:27:56.120 --> 00:27:57.980 Which is, blessed are you. 00:27:58.059 --> 00:27:59.700 And people persecute you. 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:00.960 Because of righteousness. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:02.640 For yours is the kingdom of heaven. 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:06.160 Jesus elaborates on that in verse 11. 00:28:06.259 --> 00:28:08.200 And he says, blessed are you when people insult you. 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:09.200 Persecute you. 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:11.819 And falsely say all kinds of evil against you. 00:28:11.860 --> 00:28:12.380 Because of me. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:13.480 Rejoice and be glad. 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:15.900 Because great is your reward in heaven. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.120 For in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:22.739 Jesus is saying, look, if you align yourself with me. 00:28:23.179 --> 00:28:24.479 And my identity. 00:28:24.679 --> 00:28:25.579 My righteousness. 00:28:25.919 --> 00:28:26.559 My kingdom. 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:27.639 My mission. 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:31.319 You need to go ahead and give up your need for people to like you. 00:28:32.179 --> 00:28:34.559 Give up your need for people to approve of you. 00:28:34.659 --> 00:28:35.399 And respect you. 00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:36.199 And treat you well. 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:38.099 Because if you live like me. 00:28:38.219 --> 00:28:40.099 You're going to be treated like me. 00:28:40.099 --> 00:28:44.159 And we know that the son of God, he spent three years. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.240 And he blessed the poor in spirit. 00:28:47.740 --> 00:28:48.799 And those who are mourning. 00:28:48.939 --> 00:28:49.779 And those who are meek. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:51.839 And those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:57.219 He spent three years giving mercy to the sin sick and the suffering. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:02.559 He spent three years embodying this purity of heart. 00:29:02.679 --> 00:29:03.699 To love God. 00:29:03.919 --> 00:29:06.319 And want his glory above all else. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:13.039 He spent three years making peace between creatures who'd been alienated from their creator. 00:29:13.159 --> 00:29:15.579 Making peace between men and women. 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:24.119 Making peace between rich and poor and Jew and Samaritan and Zealot and Tax Collector and Republican and Democrat. 00:29:24.220 --> 00:29:25.799 He spent three years making peace. 00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:31.519 And basically in those three years he said, I am the Beatitudes. 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:34.319 I am the Blessed One. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:37.119 I am blessing incarnate. 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:42.399 And what did the world do when it met the Beatitudes in the flesh? 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:46.099 He was persecuted because of righteousness. 00:29:47.619 --> 00:29:48.819 He was insulted. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:50.579 He was reviled. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:53.039 He was falsely accused. 00:29:53.379 --> 00:29:54.720 He was verbally abused. 00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:56.299 He was beaten. 00:29:56.460 --> 00:29:57.480 He was spit upon. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:00.319 He was pushed out into the darkness to suffer alone. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:04.679 Ultimately he was murdered on a cruel and senseless cross. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:06.519 Right? 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:08.279 And what do we see? 00:30:09.159 --> 00:30:12.539 What do we see when we look upon this crucified Christ? 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:21.119 We see the most spiritually poor person who's ever existed on planet earth. 00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:23.119 Why? 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:29.959 Because there in that moment he's taking our bankruptcy. 00:30:31.019 --> 00:30:35.919 He's taking our grievous sins that we should be mourning over. 00:30:36.719 --> 00:30:39.219 He's taking our lowly status. 00:30:39.220 --> 00:30:41.380 In all of our misery. 00:30:41.380 --> 00:30:46.319 He's taking our hunger and thirst for the things that we do not have. 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:47.779 Which is righteousness itself. 00:30:48.940 --> 00:30:51.180 And yet in that place of crucifixion. 00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:52.559 He's full of mercy. 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:53.180 Praying. 00:30:53.779 --> 00:30:54.819 Father forgive them. 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:56.220 For they don't know what they're doing. 00:30:57.220 --> 00:30:59.299 There in that place of his cross. 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:03.240 He has purity of heart to will one thing. 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:05.880 And that is to love God the Father to the end. 00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:07.480 To the full. 00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:10.319 To carry out his plan of salvation. 00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:12.839 He's making peace in that place. 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:15.940 Through his blood shed on the cross. 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:16.960 Here is Jesus. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:18.259 The Beatitudes. 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:21.019 Crucified for all to see. 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:25.039 The ultimate reject for righteousness. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:28.599 And he's the one who's saying to us. 00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:29.480 Brothers and sisters. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:31.279 Rejoice. 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:34.200 And be exceedingly glad. 00:31:35.099 --> 00:31:36.119 Because great. 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:38.099 Is your reward in heaven. 00:31:39.339 --> 00:31:40.680 In the kingdom of God. 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:43.240 Even the worst things that can happen to you. 00:31:43.819 --> 00:31:44.759 Can produce joy. 00:31:46.220 --> 00:31:47.440 And you say well how can that be? 00:31:47.539 --> 00:31:49.339 Jesus says well look at my cross. 00:31:50.519 --> 00:31:51.420 My rejection. 00:31:52.259 --> 00:31:52.700 Means. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:54.079 Your salvation. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:57.079 My persecution means your redemption. 00:31:57.299 --> 00:31:58.659 In the irony of ironies. 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:02.639 As that which the evil one meant to bring death. 00:32:02.819 --> 00:32:04.819 And darkness and destruction to Jesus. 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:06.839 Actually brought life and light. 00:32:07.099 --> 00:32:08.519 And life to us. 00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:12.480 And if God can so subvert. 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:14.699 The purposes of evil. 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:15.839 In Jesus. 00:32:16.659 --> 00:32:17.480 And at his cross. 00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:18.919 Then he can surely do that. 00:32:19.139 --> 00:32:20.159 For those of us. 00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:22.279 Who are committing ourselves. 00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:24.180 To live with Christ. 00:32:24.879 --> 00:32:26.019 And in Christ. 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:27.680 And like Christ. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:29.480 Those of us who are committing ourselves. 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:30.920 To seek first his kingdom. 00:32:31.660 --> 00:32:32.639 And his righteousness. 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:34.359 And to try to live out. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:35.859 The sermon on the mount. 00:32:36.180 --> 00:32:37.220 Jesus is saying to us. 00:32:37.339 --> 00:32:38.980 Whatever losses. 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:41.019 You might experience. 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:42.379 On my account. 00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:43.879 Are one day for you. 00:32:44.019 --> 00:32:45.139 Going to be great. 00:32:45.140 --> 00:32:46.140 And eternal. 00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:47.180 And infinite. 00:32:47.180 --> 00:32:47.259 And infinite. 00:32:47.259 --> 00:32:48.200 Gains. 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:48.980 In heaven. 00:32:50.060 --> 00:32:51.680 So it's worth it. 00:32:52.740 --> 00:32:55.340 It's worth whatever you have to do. 00:32:55.820 --> 00:32:57.480 To live like this. 00:32:57.480 --> 00:32:57.960 Jesus. 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:02.720 Jesus' rejection. 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:05.039 Made possible. 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:06.299 All the promises. 00:33:07.339 --> 00:33:08.380 Of these beatitudes. 00:33:08.519 --> 00:33:09.640 And that's why he's saying. 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:11.140 Leap. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.099 For joy. 00:33:13.059 --> 00:33:13.660 And be. 00:33:14.220 --> 00:33:14.740 Thrilled. 00:33:15.579 --> 00:33:17.059 At what you have. 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:17.579 Now. 00:33:17.700 --> 00:33:18.980 And what you're going to have. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:19.440 In the future. 00:33:19.539 --> 00:33:20.259 And what is that? 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:22.039 What do we have. 00:33:22.180 --> 00:33:22.500 Friends. 00:33:23.339 --> 00:33:24.019 What are we. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:25.079 Going to have. 00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:26.539 What is already ours. 00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:27.879 In Christ. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:28.740 Well look at the end. 00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:29.439 Of each beatitude. 00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:29.960 He says. 00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:30.679 Yours. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:32.559 Is the kingdom of God. 00:33:33.819 --> 00:33:34.259 Yours. 00:33:34.379 --> 00:33:35.139 Is the comfort. 00:33:35.699 --> 00:33:36.480 Of his forgiveness. 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:36.980 Yours. 00:33:37.299 --> 00:33:38.259 Is the hope. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:39.899 That you're going to rule. 00:33:39.939 --> 00:33:41.059 Over the whole earth. 00:33:41.179 --> 00:33:41.899 With King Jesus. 00:33:42.099 --> 00:33:42.519 Yours. 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:43.939 Is the satisfaction. 00:33:44.779 --> 00:33:45.859 That you've been robed. 00:33:45.899 --> 00:33:46.559 In the righteousness. 00:33:46.919 --> 00:33:47.539 Of Christ. 00:33:47.679 --> 00:33:48.599 And that that righteousness. 00:33:48.879 --> 00:33:49.480 Will one day. 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:50.460 Be actually. 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:51.359 Yours. 00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:51.779 Yours. 00:33:51.879 --> 00:33:52.099 Are the. 00:33:52.199 --> 00:33:52.919 The infinite. 00:33:53.139 --> 00:33:54.220 Mercies of God. 00:33:54.220 --> 00:33:55.460 Yours. 00:33:55.460 --> 00:33:56.960 Yours is a VIP pass. 00:33:57.059 --> 00:33:58.160 To see the beauty. 00:33:58.259 --> 00:33:58.860 And the glory. 00:33:59.180 --> 00:33:59.759 Of God. 00:33:59.860 --> 00:34:01.019 Yours is the privilege. 00:34:01.360 --> 00:34:02.120 Of being called. 00:34:02.180 --> 00:34:02.880 A child. 00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:04.200 Who can cry out. 00:34:04.660 --> 00:34:05.180 Abba. 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:05.960 Father. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:09.179 What more. 00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:11.840 Could we possibly want. 00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:15.420 What more. 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:16.500 Could we possibly want. 00:34:17.300 --> 00:34:18.179 Than the blessings. 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:20.639 That Jesus is giving to us here. 00:34:21.179 --> 00:34:22.139 All that we need. 00:34:22.659 --> 00:34:24.199 And way more than we need. 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:24.699 God. 00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:25.859 Has been given to us. 00:34:25.939 --> 00:34:26.399 By Jesus. 00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:26.759 So. 00:34:27.599 --> 00:34:28.279 The invitation. 00:34:29.480 --> 00:34:30.299 The invitation. 00:34:30.539 --> 00:34:31.079 Is let us. 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:32.779 Let's be true Christians. 00:34:34.419 --> 00:34:35.539 Let's be a real. 00:34:35.739 --> 00:34:36.719 Community of disciples. 00:34:38.419 --> 00:34:39.559 Let's live our lives. 00:34:39.699 --> 00:34:40.259 Surrendered. 00:34:40.899 --> 00:34:41.739 To the blesser. 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:44.460 And to all of his many blessings. 00:34:46.219 --> 00:34:47.419 Blessed are you friends. 00:34:48.419 --> 00:34:49.719 For yours is the kingdom. 00:34:50.059 --> 00:34:50.739 Of heaven. 00:34:50.739 --> 00:34:51.219 Lord. 00:34:51.219 --> 00:34:51.339 Amen. 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:52.959 Amen. 00:34:56.399 --> 00:34:56.639 It's healing. 00:34:57.579 --> 00:34:57.919 Amen. 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:01.079 today.