WEBVTT

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 So do open your Bibles to Matthew 5 and verses 1 to 12.

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 And what I want to do tonight is I want to speak to you on one word. One word. It's the word we find eight times in the passage.

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 And it's this word blessed. Blessed. It's the Bible's word for happiness.

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 Everyone of course wants to be happy. That goes without saying.

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 But it's rather like looking for the end of the rainbow. It's rather elusive in our world.

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 Happiness. Where do you find happiness?

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 The word blessed that you see here eight times is actually the word that's used somewhere else in the New Testament to describe God.

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 He speaks of the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

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 And so God is the happy God.

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 That means that for us tonight, true happiness is to be found in the happy God.

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 And not somewhere over the rainbow, wherever that happens to be.

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 The source of true happiness and joy, according to the Bible, is God himself.

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 God cannot give us happiness apart from himself.

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 Because it's not there.

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 There is no such thing as happiness apart from God.

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 And so if you're looking for happiness tonight, and you're looking at anywhere else except God, you're looking in the wrong place.

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 Because in the end, there's no such thing as happiness apart from God.

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 God is the happy God.

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 He is the source.

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 He is the fountain of real joy.

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 And maybe that comes as a bit of a surprise to you, that God is such a God.

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 Because I think as Christians, we are often very guilty of misrepresenting God.

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 So do you remember the shorter catechism tells us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

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 To enjoy him.

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 Maybe you're surprised by that.

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 Maybe you didn't realize that Christians actually enjoy God.

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 We enjoy a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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 Came as something of a surprise to C.S. Lewis.

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 He described himself in his spiritual autobiography as the most reluctant convent in all of England.

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 And you'll remember that he entitled that book, giving his testimony, Surprised by Joy.

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 Surprised by Joy.

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 And it may come as a surprise to you, under so many people, that there is joy, there is real joy, real happiness, found in a relationship with the living God.

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 I don't know if you've heard the story of the little boy who was taken to church.

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 It was one of those churches that had plaques on the wall.

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 It's one of the things I am so thrilled about, about this building, that we managed to build this building without plaques.

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 All right.

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 I don't think there's a plaque in the whole building.

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 At least I hope not.

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 But you've got lots of churches and there are plaques there.

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 This little boy noticed at the front of the church there was a war memorial at the front.

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 And he asked his father, what is that war memorial for?

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 What is that plaque up there?

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 His father said to him, it's in memory of those brave men who died during the services.

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 Little boy looked astonished and said, the morning service or the evening service.

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 And so often like that, isn't it?

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 A picture of the church and of us Christians, we often misrepresent God.

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 And so the last thing that God was about was happiness and joy.

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 Sometimes if I can say it, I think we almost think it's unreformed to be happy.

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 But the first point of our reformed confession is that it's the chief purpose of man to enjoy God.

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 There's nothing unreformed about being happy.

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 And so when we meet together to worship or go about our Christian lives, we enjoy God.

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 Someone has put it like this.

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 Joy is the flag flown from the citadel of the heart when the king is in residence.

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 Joy is the flag flown from the citadel of the heart when the king is in residence.

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 So when you drive past Windsor Castle and you're driving along the M4 and you see the castle.

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 And what do you look for?

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 You look for the flag, don't you?

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 Because if the flag is flying, the queen is in residence.

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 And this Puritan writer is saying that happiness is the flag flying from the citadel of the heart to show that the king is in residence.

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 And that's where true happiness is to be found.

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 Real joy in knowing Jesus.

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 In having Jesus dwell in your heart by the Holy Spirit.

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 Of having Jesus resident in your life.

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 Blessed are those who know Jesus and follow Jesus.

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 And over the next few weeks what I want us to do is we explore this.

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 We'll get more into it over the next few weeks.

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 But we'll look at this definitive statement in the Bible of our Lord on happiness in these eight statements.

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 And so tonight I just want to introduce it and give a kind of general view.

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 And first of all I want you to see just how appropriate the title is to the passage.

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 I often think the titles aren't very helpful but this is, isn't it?

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 The Beatitudes.

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 If you pardon the pun, they are attitudes that will be.

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 That's helpful, I think.

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 It's not mine.

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 The Beatitudes are attitudes that will be in your heart.

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 If you're a Christian, it's a very good way of putting it.

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 Because the attitude of the heart that makes a person happy is not the smile on their face.

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 We all know people like that, don't we?

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 They've got broad grins but inside they're really sad people.

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 So one of the highest suicide rates amongst men is amongst stand-up comedians, isn't it?

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 Funny men.

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 People who've made other people laugh.

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 The jolliest and the funniest of people on the outside, deeply, deeply unhappy on the inside.

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 And so true happiness is not on the surface of life.

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 It's not skin deep.

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 True happiness has to do with the attitude of your heart.

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 And I think we need to remember that as we come to this passage.

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 We're not coming to Matthew 5, 1, 2, 12 to cheer ourselves up.

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 And we're not coming to give us just a little shot in the arm to help us on a Monday morning.

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 It goes much, much deeper than that.

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 It's not a superficial remedy.

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 What Jesus does in Matthew 5, 1 to 12 is he takes you to your heart.

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 And he says these are the attitudes that should be in your heart if we're to be truly happy.

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 And so it's the attitude of heart that makes a man happy, not the smile on his face.

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 It's the attitude of heart that makes a man happy, not the circumstances, not the outward, not the external.

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 So the English word happiness is not a very good word.

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 It comes from the old English word hap or chance.

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 We could call it happenness or chanciness.

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 And really that's what it is for so many people.

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 And that's all it is.

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 For so many people, happiness depends on chance.

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 Whether or not your luck is in, in terms of health or wealth or relationships or family, it's a very chancy business.

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 But this word blessed, the Bible's word for happiness, is a very different word.

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 One writer says, it is that joy which has as its secret within itself a serene, untouchable and self-contained.

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 Which is completely independent of all the changes, all the external things and chances of life.

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 It's a joy that shines through the tears.

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 Which nothing in life or death can take away.

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 And so we're not concerned with superficial remedies or recipes that the world has got to offer.

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 We're concerned with our hearts.

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 Because that's where true happiness lies.

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 Now secondly, let's just see this.

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 It's not just a matter of temperament or natural disposition.

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 I once read a paraphrase of the Beatitudes that I've spent all week looking for and I can't find it.

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 But I remember the first two phrases.

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 And it went something like this.

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 It said, blessed are the dormice and blessed are the doormats.

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 I don't know if any of you have seen that.

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 You can't find it anywhere.

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 That's how it went.

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 It's very, very clever.

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 Blessed are the doormats.

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 Blessed are the doormats.

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 It's very clever.

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 It's very wrong.

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 It's very wrong indeed.

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 It's a total misunderstanding of what the Beatitudes is about.

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 They're often preached in this way.

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 The Lord is not describing a person's natural disposition.

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 He's not describing a person's natural temperament and saying, well, that is the blessed way.

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 When he says in verse 3, for example, blessed are the poor in spirit.

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 He's not saying blessed are the doormats.

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 He's not saying blessed are those who are timid by nature.

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 Blessed are those who've got a low self-esteem.

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 Blessed are those who bite their nails and get all anxious.

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 He's not saying that.

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 When he says there in verse 5, blessed are the meek, he doesn't mean blessed is the person who just allows everyone to walk all over them.

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 That person is a happy person.

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 Well, we know that's not true at all, don't we?

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 Jesus is not speaking psychologically.

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 He's not speaking about people's natural personality type and natural disposition.

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 He's talking about spiritual qualities and graces.

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 So in verse 6, he talks about a person hungering and thirsting.

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 Blessed is the man or the woman who hungers and thirsts for righteousness and truth.

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 That's good news for you tonight.

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 It means that there's hope for us.

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 It means there's hope even for the most miserable of us.

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 Some of us, because of our background, I'm not going to look at anyone.

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 Some of us, because I don't know the state of our liver, whatever it is that determines these things.

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 Some of us are naturally miserable people.

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 Well, there's hope for you tonight.

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 Because happiness, real happiness, true happiness, blessedness is not a matter of natural temperament.

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 Or natural disposition.

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 You don't have to be one of those kind of hail, fallow, well-met types of people.

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 You don't have to be an extrovert.

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 You don't have to be the outgoing type.

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 It's not a matter of being an extrovert or an introvert.

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 Whatever your temperament, whatever your natural disposition, the grace of God can make you happy.

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 And the very thing that you need to be blessed by, the happy God he himself will give you.

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 And so God will create within you poverty of spirit, a godly sorrow for sin.

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 These are the things that I mentioned here.

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 Meekness towards God.

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 So you stop quarreling with God all the time.

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 Stop raising your fist at him.

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 Stop complaining about him.

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 You become meek before him.

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 And all these things that I mentioned here, an appetite for righteousness and truth.

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 Those things, they don't come to us naturally.

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 You're not naturally like the Beatitudes.

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 These are things that God gives to us through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.

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 And that leads me to a third thing in introduction.

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 The sermon is actually just an introduction, so don't fear.

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 The happy man that Jesus describes here.

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 Can you see how different he is?

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 That's the third thing.

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 Can you see how different?

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 He stands out from those around, doesn't he?

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 Even a cursory glance of this passage.

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 How very different this person is from the average person in the street.

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 Or on Insta.

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 Blessed are the poor in spirit.

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 Well, that's not what the world says, is it?

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 The world says happy is the person who's got it all together and is very confident in themselves.

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 Who knows where they're going.

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 The self-confident person.

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 The person who believes in themselves.

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 That's the man or the woman that the world admires.

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 We look up and we respect.

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 And we're interested in those kind of people.

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 Those are the kind of people that get interviewed in magazines.

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 Who've got it all together again.

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 Those are the people that go on the chat shows.

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 They've made it.

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 Those are the people with millions and millions of followers on social media.

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 And we're supposed to be impressed by that.

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 Here's what the world regards as happiness.

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 People who are puffed up.

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 People who sense their own importance.

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 But Jesus says the exact reverse is the case.

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 That the truly happy man or woman or boy or girl

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 realizes in and of himself or herself they're nothing.

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 They've got nothing to commend themselves to God.

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 They are poor in spirit.

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 The blessed person knows that she is nothing.

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 And she has nothing.

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 And she needs everything from God.

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 She's poor in spirit.

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 And she's empty of self.

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 And so do you see the happy person?

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 Can you see the paradox?

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 Verse 4.

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 They mourn.

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 And again it's such a paradox.

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 Such a contradiction.

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 As far as the world is concerned.

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 That person's got a heavy heart.

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 How can that person with a heavy heart be happy?

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 Well those of us who are Christians.

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 We know that straight away don't we?

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 We know what it is to look out at this world with a really heavy heart.

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 And we thank God that God by his grace has given us such a heart.

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 And we thank God that our hearts are no longer insensitive.

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 And we thank God that he's shown us that it's really foolish to eat, drink and be merry.

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 Or to eat, drink and watch telly.

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 To think that there's nothing you can do about it.

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 And who cares anyway?

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 Let's escape from it all.

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 Let's live for myself.

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 That's the way the world sees it.

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 That's happiness in the world's eyes.

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 But true happiness and real happiness is a person who cares.

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 A man who mourns.

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 A woman who grieves.

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 Who's sorry for the state of the world.

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 And sorry for the state of their own life.

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 Can you see how different this person is?

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 There's something totally different about the Christian, isn't there?

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 Take the description in verse 6.

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 Look at the Christian's ambition.

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 Look at verse 6.

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 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.

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 About righteousness.

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 And truth.

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 You talk to the person in the street.

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 Your friends.

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 About righteousness and truth.

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 And they'll be interested.

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 They will be interested.

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 They'll be really interested in a general sense.

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 Won't they?

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 But when it comes personal.

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 They're not interested.

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 They're really up for righteousness out there.

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 In society.

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 In culture.

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 But actually when it comes to themselves.

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 It's a different matter.

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 People are really happy to talk about rights.

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 They're really happy to talk about the travesties of injustice.

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 They're really happy to talk about the big issues.

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 Out there.

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 But when it comes to affect them.

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 They're not actually that interested in righteousness.

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 And truth in here.

00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:34.980
 Do you see how different the Christian is?

00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:35.779
 Look at verse 8.

00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:36.860
 Blessed are the poor in heart.

00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:39.940
 For they will see God.

00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:44.820
 A person on the street.

00:16:44.920 --> 00:16:46.100
 Then they're not interested in God.

00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:46.340
 Are they?

00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:49.940
 And they're interested in what they can see.

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:50.580
 What they can touch.

00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:51.640
 What they can have.

00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:52.880
 But they can't see God.

00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:53.840
 And so they're not interested in him.

00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:55.940
 This man.

00:16:56.060 --> 00:16:56.700
 This woman.

00:16:56.920 --> 00:16:58.120
 This happy man.

00:16:58.200 --> 00:16:58.680
 Happy woman.

00:16:58.740 --> 00:16:59.560
 Is totally different.

00:17:01.540 --> 00:17:03.600
 And so the happiness that we're talking about in these verses.

00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.799
 You will not find out there in the world.

00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:08.740
 It's a different breed of happiness altogether.

00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:13.620
 Fourth thing I want to say in introduction is this.

00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:15.340
 It's one picture.

00:17:17.340 --> 00:17:18.519
 It's one picture.

00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:24.380
 You're not to read the Beatitudes.

00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:26.160
 And think you've got eight different people here.

00:17:26.320 --> 00:17:27.799
 Here are the different personality types.

00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:32.380
 Our Lord isn't giving you eight good ideas on how to be happy.

00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:35.920
 He's not giving you eight different recipes for happiness.

00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:37.860
 He's not saying you pay your money.

00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:38.720
 You take your choice.

00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:42.539
 We need to see that it's all together.

00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:43.519
 It's a composite picture.

00:17:45.320 --> 00:17:48.360
 And so all of these qualities that our Lord describes here.

00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:50.740
 Are to be found in your life if you're a Christian.

00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.940
 And you mustn't come to this passage with a kind of sliding scale mentality.

00:17:57.580 --> 00:17:59.360
 How many do I score out of eight?

00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.920
 Well I've got four out of eight.

00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:02.460
 Maybe I've got five.

00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:06.360
 How do I measure on the Beatitudes scale?

00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:07.279
 It's not like that.

00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:11.619
 The truth is Jesus is saying isn't it?

00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:14.139
 Unless you have all of these qualities you're not a Christian.

00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:21.319
 And unless all of these eight qualities have been found in your life you're not a Christian.

00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:28.339
 It's a bit like in Galatians where Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:35.119
 That's really key that we understand that he speaks of the fruit singular of the Holy Spirit.

00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:38.879
 He goes on to speak about nine things doesn't he?

00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:44.460
 And whenever the Holy Spirit is to be found those nine things will be present.

00:18:46.120 --> 00:18:49.740
 And so whenever Jesus is present in someone's life these Beatitudes will be found.

00:18:49.860 --> 00:18:50.300
 All eight of them.

00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:51.300
 Not one of them will be missing.

00:18:56.600 --> 00:18:57.120
 Do you remember?

00:18:57.340 --> 00:18:58.240
 I haven't seen it for ages.

00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:02.540
 But it used to be just sometimes at the end of the news or you'd watch Crime Watch.

00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:08.920
 And they would show you a composite picture of the criminal.

00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:11.359
 And they'd say we're looking for someone like this.

00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:12.299
 Does it still happen?

00:19:12.379 --> 00:19:12.680
 Policemen?

00:19:12.899 --> 00:19:13.359
 They still do that?

00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:17.819
 And so it used to be the person didn't even look like a human being very often.

00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:20.200
 And they'd say we're looking for someone who looks like this.

00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:21.759
 And you'd look at them and think good grief.

00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:23.519
 But do you remember that?

00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.359
 There was a composite picture wasn't there?

00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:27.480
 An identicate picture.

00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:35.180
 And so what you've got in Matthew 5 is you've got an identicate picture of the Christian.

00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:39.839
 And so let me ask you to know.

00:19:39.860 --> 00:19:40.559
 Would you be recognised?

00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:43.500
 If there was a line-up?

00:19:46.860 --> 00:19:50.299
 Would you be recognised as the woman or the man that our Lord describes here?

00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:57.279
 I found it really helpful this week to kind of step back a little bit and think.

00:19:57.819 --> 00:19:59.200
 What about us as a church?

00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:04.180
 It's an identicate picture of the church I think here as well.

00:20:06.500 --> 00:20:08.259
 How do you recognise a living church?

00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:14.339
 People sometimes come here and they think, well, we're a bit traditional, aren't we?

00:20:14.460 --> 00:20:15.279
 We're not very trendy.

00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:18.519
 And so this is an alive church.

00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:22.319
 But what is a alive church?

00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.299
 What is spiritual life in a church?

00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:29.660
 Well, here it is.

00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:31.960
 Let me ask you these questions.

00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:37.360
 If you're thinking, if you're moving and you're looking for a church, let me give you some questions to ask when you go to a new church.

00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:40.339
 Number one, is there poverty of spirit there?

00:20:40.339 --> 00:20:45.159
 Or are these people really full of themselves?

00:20:45.159 --> 00:20:50.899
 Is there a mourning over sin in the congregation?

00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:56.900
 Is there a meekness towards God and his word?

00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:00.060
 Is there peacemaking?

00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:06.759
 Are they living together across all the divides as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus?

00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:12.399
 The age gap, the ethnic gap, the class gap, all the divides.

00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:14.279
 Are there peacemakers in that congregation?

00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.119
 Are they hungering and thirsting for righteousness?

00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:19.659
 Is that the ambition of these people?

00:21:19.659 --> 00:21:21.479
 To live lives that are right with God?

00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:36.120
 Are there people who care enough about the Lord Jesus Christ that they are willing to put up with being persecuted?

00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:47.619
 Do they believe it that strongly that when people speak all kinds of evil falsely against them, they're willing to stick with Jesus?

00:21:47.619 --> 00:21:55.819
 Well, if you want to measure life in church, I think the Beatitudes are a great measuring stick.

00:21:57.399 --> 00:21:58.579
 This is life.

00:22:00.379 --> 00:22:01.719
 And so how do we measure up?

00:22:03.479 --> 00:22:05.759
 Do you recognize yourself in the identicate picture?

00:22:05.879 --> 00:22:07.419
 This is the happy man and the happy woman.

00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:11.319
 The one who is alive instead of just existing.

00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:23.379
 Last thing I want to say in the introduction is I want you to see it's the picture of a king.

00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:25.419
 That might surprise you.

00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:26.119
 It surprised me.

00:22:27.159 --> 00:22:30.720
 Just notice the way that the Beatitudes begin and the way that they end.

00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:34.439
 Look at how they begin.

00:22:34.439 --> 00:22:38.480
 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.539
 The poor in spirit have a kingdom.

00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:50.420
 At the end, the very last Beatitudes, it ends in the same way, doesn't it?

00:22:53.519 --> 00:23:01.200
 Blessed are you, those who are persecuted, verse 10, for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:05.700
 And they may have goods taken away from them.

00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:07.799
 They may have their wives taken away, their children.

00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:09.099
 They may get thrown in prison.

00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:10.819
 They may become social outcasts.

00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:11.579
 But they have a kingdom.

00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:15.619
 And it's not just that they're in the kingdom.

00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:20.019
 I don't want to minimize that.

00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:21.299
 That's what it means to be a Christian, isn't it?

00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:23.639
 You come, you enter into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:25.379
 You come under his lordship and under his rule.

00:23:26.159 --> 00:23:26.980
 Under his protection.

00:23:27.059 --> 00:23:28.240
 That's what it means to be a Christian.

00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:30.519
 It means you stop fighting him.

00:23:30.639 --> 00:23:33.079
 You throw down the weapons of your warfare against him.

00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:35.359
 You repent.

00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:36.680
 You surrender to him.

00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:37.579
 You come under his rule.

00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:39.579
 And under his protection.

00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:41.799
 And you enter his protection.

00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:44.059
 That's what it means to be a Christian.

00:23:44.199 --> 00:23:46.419
 But what our Lord is telling us here is more than that, isn't it?

00:23:46.439 --> 00:23:49.480
 He's saying, not blessed are the poor in spirit because they are in the kingdom.

00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:50.339
 He is saying that.

00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:51.299
 But it's much more.

00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:52.199
 They have a kingdom.

00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:54.740
 Theirs is the kingdom.

00:23:57.139 --> 00:23:58.519
 I think Romans 5 helps us.

00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:00.139
 So Romans 5, verse 17 says,

00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:02.540
 Because of one man's trespass.

00:24:02.540 --> 00:24:03.660
 Because of Adam's sin.

00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:05.620
 Death reigned through one man.

00:24:05.619 --> 00:24:14.479
 But how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life?

00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:17.459
 Through the one man, Jesus Christ.

00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:18.459
 I think that's what he's talking about.

00:24:20.959 --> 00:24:22.339
 About reigning in life.

00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:26.659
 He's not saying reign in death.

00:24:26.779 --> 00:24:28.299
 That we kind of, we die triumphantly.

00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:32.099
 He's not talking about reigning in some future kingdom.

00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:33.519
 The other side of the grave.

00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.619
 Or after the world has come to an end.

00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:39.399
 He's not talking, in those terms, he's talking about this life.

00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:44.220
 And he's saying that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that's freely given to you.

00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:45.980
 And available to us.

00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:47.640
 When we come to Jesus Christ.

00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:49.200
 You and I are made more than conquerors.

00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.500
 And so tonight, if you are in Christ.

00:24:55.100 --> 00:24:56.320
 You reign in life.

00:24:57.880 --> 00:24:59.220
 For the Christian person.

00:24:59.880 --> 00:25:01.080
 Trusting in the Lord Jesus.

00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:03.120
 Indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:07.400
 We're no longer dominated by our lusts.

00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:10.120
 And our own physical appetites.

00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:11.640
 We're going to see that as we go through the Romans.

00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:15.660
 We're no longer in slavery to those things.

00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:16.660
 Those things still affect us.

00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:18.200
 But we're no longer in slavery to them.

00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:19.220
 The chains have been broken.

00:25:19.320 --> 00:25:19.820
 And we reign.

00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:20.640
 We live like kings.

00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:23.060
 In this world.

00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:24.340
 And so how is such a thing possible?

00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:25.820
 Well, only by Jesus Christ.

00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:28.519
 And he is the way into his kingdom.

00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:34.200
 In the New Testament, the kingdom is never mentioned.

00:25:35.080 --> 00:25:36.340
 Except in connection with Jesus.

00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:40.560
 And so when we talk about the kingdom of heaven.

00:25:40.740 --> 00:25:41.519
 Over the next few weeks.

00:25:41.580 --> 00:25:42.780
 We're not talking geographically.

00:25:43.040 --> 00:25:44.340
 We're not talking politically.

00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.240
 We're talking about a personal relationship.

00:25:47.620 --> 00:25:48.700
 With Jesus Christ.

00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:55.960
 We reign.

00:25:58.540 --> 00:25:59.400
 In Christ.

00:25:59.400 --> 00:25:59.440
 In Christ.

00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:06.160
 In the third part of Shakespeare's Henry VI.

00:26:07.080 --> 00:26:10.559
 The king wanders around the countryside unknown.

00:26:13.820 --> 00:26:15.299
 He wanders around the countryside unknown.

00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:16.580
 He meets two gamekeepers.

00:26:16.779 --> 00:26:18.340
 And he tells them he is a king.

00:26:19.840 --> 00:26:20.940
 And they don't believe him.

00:26:20.940 --> 00:26:24.400
 And one of them says to him.

00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:25.620
 If thou be a king.

00:26:25.779 --> 00:26:26.900
 Where is thy crown?

00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:30.860
 And the king has got a great answer to that.

00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:32.279
 This is what he says.

00:26:33.360 --> 00:26:34.779
 My crown is in my heart.

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:35.500
 Not on my head.

00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:39.259
 Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones.

00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:41.120
 Nor to be seen.

00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.100
 My crown is called content.

00:26:44.100 --> 00:26:48.580
 A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.

00:26:48.579 --> 00:26:52.039
 My crown is in my heart.

00:26:53.859 --> 00:26:55.019
 Not in my head.

00:26:57.639 --> 00:26:58.740
 Can you say that tonight?

00:27:00.199 --> 00:27:01.720
 Have you got a kingdom?

00:27:02.919 --> 00:27:03.879
 Are you a Christian tonight?

00:27:05.439 --> 00:27:06.960
 Is Christ the king.

00:27:08.399 --> 00:27:08.919
 Dwelling.

00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:10.839
 In your life.

00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:13.980
 Does he dwell.

00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:15.179
 In your heart.

00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:15.879
 By faith.

00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:18.920
 And if he does.

00:27:20.360 --> 00:27:21.720
 You are a happy person.

00:27:23.040 --> 00:27:24.140
 You are blessed.

00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:26.720
 And you are rich indeed.

00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:28.520
 Let's pray.

00:27:28.520 --> 00:27:28.600
 Amen.

00:27:28.600 --> 00:27:28.600


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