Participants: David Asscherick
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000979
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01:00 Well, good morning and I want to welcome every one of you
01:03 to the Three Angels Broadcasting Network 01:06 worship centre here 01:07 in beautiful Southern Illinois. 01:08 We've got a gorgeous day out there today, don't we? 01:11 The rain has gone 01:13 and I think today is supposed to be beautiful, 01:15 lovely weather, even cool, only 82 degrees. 01:18 And I think we can live with that 01:19 as compared to the last few days. 01:21 And I want to welcome all of you that are with us 01:24 from around the world. 01:25 Welcome to our Camp Meeting. 01:27 We have got a wonderful guest this morning. 01:29 Our speaker, someone that doesn't need 01:31 a whole lot of introduction 01:32 but I am honored, always honored and appreciative 01:35 when David Asscherick comes 01:37 to be a part of our Camp Meeting. 01:38 And, you know, David is an ordained minister 01:43 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 01:45 the Director of ARISE. 01:47 And David started coming to 3ABN a few years ago 01:51 and something that we learned about him 01:53 very quickly was that, he is really a man of God, 01:57 he has a heart after God and he studies God's word. 02:01 I think it's so evident that he is someone 02:05 that really diligently studies 02:07 to show himself approved unto God. 02:10 And something that we have learned about him as well, 02:13 is that, he's a man that will stand up for truth, 02:16 he will take a stand for truth 02:18 no matter what the opposition might be. 02:20 I appreciate what Pastor Gilley has said. 02:23 "Truth is right all the time." 02:25 It's always right to stand on the side of truth. 02:28 And not only is David a man of truth 02:31 but he is a man of integrity. 02:33 And I am just honored 02:35 that he's going to be with us this morning, 02:36 I am looking forward to what he has to share. 02:38 But before Pastor Asscherick comes, 02:41 Melody Firestone is with us 02:43 and I'm gonna ask Melody to come out now. 02:46 Melody has been with 3ABN before there was a 3ABN. 02:51 And I asked her earlier, 02:53 how long has she been ministering for the Lord? 02:56 She can remember ministering since she was eight years old, 02:59 but I believe Danny says since she was three years old. 03:02 You know, she is a songwriter and she is a recording artist. 03:07 But I think her greatest accomplishment 03:10 is that she has eight well behaved children. 03:15 And Melody is going to sing a song 03:18 that she personally wrote. 03:20 Melody, what's the name of the song? 03:22 "We Have This Hope." 03:41 They say what doesn't kill us makes us strong 03:48 And I've heard it's always darkest before the dawn 03:56 But all I know is that God's promises are true 04:03 And He only wants what was best for you 04:09 We have this hope that all hurting will be gone 04:17 We have this hope 04:19 That all tears will be left behind 04:25 I know down here life is hard 04:29 And the world is so unkind 04:32 But hold on 04:34 Because we have 04:37 This hope 04:43 Every one of us has hard aches and trials 04:50 Just remember we are only here for assured one 04:58 Sometimes I feel I have had more than my share 05:06 But He won't give us more than we can bear 05:12 We have this hope that all hurting will be gone 05:19 We have this hope 05:22 That all tears will be left behind 05:28 I know down here life is hard 05:31 And the world is so unkind 05:35 But hold on 05:37 Because we have this hope 05:42 And this hope for us 05:46 Is Jesus 05:55 So hold on 05:57 Because we have this hope 06:17 Amen. Thank you, Melody. 06:18 It's beautiful. Morning, everyone. 06:20 Morning. 06:22 Happy Friday. Happy Friday. 06:24 Are you having a good day? Yes. 06:26 Yeah, me to until I had a visit this morning 06:29 with some of Southern Illinois finest. 06:35 You see I not only speak fast. 06:43 Anyway, I just felt like I have to confess that this morning. 06:47 I feel like I have expunged myself of guilt now. 06:49 All I have to do is pay the fine. 06:50 So when I came a little bit late, 06:54 they were like pulling their hair out, 06:56 which they should know better. 06:57 You know, I've been coming here for 10 years, 06:58 they know I'm not gonna be on time. 07:03 But this morning I told them that I had a conference meeting 07:05 with one of the officers, 07:07 I needed to talk with him about a few things, so... 07:11 Anyway I just feel so much better now 07:12 that I have confessed this publicly 07:15 and I feel like I can move on now 07:17 with the presentation. 07:18 Let me just say that you should obey all traffic regulations, 07:21 you should obey the... 07:22 I received no mercy this morning, 07:23 it was all law this morning. 07:25 And I am perfectly happy to receive law 07:27 because I preach it all the time. 07:30 I preached that sin is the transgression of the law. 07:32 So you won't hear me, you know, winning about a ticket. 07:35 I say, no, I broke the law, give me the ticket 07:37 and I am happy to pay. 07:40 Now if you want to be merciful... 07:46 But I don't complain if the mercy is not forthcoming 07:49 because it would be very hypocritical of me, 07:52 since that's what I preach 07:53 and I travel all over the world, 07:55 that sin is the transgression of the law. 07:56 So anyway... 08:00 Feeling much better now. 08:03 Well, our presentation yesterday morning... 08:05 By the way I just have to say that I have already been 08:08 richly blessed here at the Camp Meeting. 08:09 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 08:11 The presentations yesterday just thrilled my soul. 08:15 And I want to thank Pastor Brooks 08:17 and Pastor Gibson and Pastor... 08:18 I mean my heart was just thrilled yesterday 08:22 with the presentations. 08:24 And I just thank God for these truths 08:27 that He has committed to us as a people. 08:29 As I was listening to Pastor Brooks 08:31 talk about the last mile home, my heart was just... 08:34 I couldn't just see the imagery there. 08:36 I mean, I was with him in the forests 08:37 and escaping the dogs and hiding in trees. 08:40 This was like, yes, I am with you. 08:43 And when Tai walked us through the nature of love yesterday 08:47 and just to look at the conundrum 08:50 that the modern scientific community finds itself in, 08:52 and affirming the fact that we are loving people 08:55 but denying the basis and reality of that love. 08:58 This was so resonating with the goodness of God and... 09:01 Anyway just a blessing to be here at Camp Meeting. 09:03 Amen. Amen! 09:05 And so I am looking forward 09:06 to our presentation this morning. 09:07 It's tight. 09:09 Well, yesterday was the Friend of God 09:10 and our presentation today 09:11 is called "The Kingdom of Heaven is Yours." 09:13 So yours is the kingdom of heaven. 09:15 And I like to just begin with a word of prayer 09:16 and then we'll get right into our time together. 09:22 Father in heaven I want to thank You 09:23 for a new day of life 09:25 and I want to thank You that You are so good to us, 09:27 Your goodness is fresh every morning, 09:30 Your mercies are fresh every morning. 09:33 And Father, as Melody has 09:34 so beautifully and wonderfully sung 09:36 "We Do Have This Hope." 09:38 And when the times of difficult 09:39 and even when the times are not difficult, 09:41 when the times are going well, 09:42 we just need to be continually reminded 09:45 that this world is not our home. 09:47 Father, we're like Abraham, we are living intense 09:50 and we recognize that we are looking for a city 09:52 whose builder and maker is God. 09:56 And so Father, I want to pray for every person here 09:58 and myself included that, that we would be cutting those ties 10:02 and cutting those chords 10:03 and cutting those chains that bind us to this earth. 10:06 Father, may we be increasingly uncomfortable on this planet 10:10 and may we be looking for heaven 10:13 and for that new heaven and that new earth. 10:16 Father, may we say with the old song that, 10:18 that this world is not our home, 10:20 we're just a passing through. 10:23 And so Father, as we learn this morning 10:25 that ours is the kingdom of heaven. 10:28 Help us to be cognizant Father, not just in this presentation 10:31 but through rest of our lives, 10:32 that Jesus himself said My kingdom is not of this world 10:36 or else my servants would find. 10:37 Father, help us to know that heaven is our home, 10:39 that ours is the kingdom of heaven. 10:42 And may we have the experience this morning of orienting 10:45 and in some cases recalibrating ourselves to be aware that, 10:50 that even though there are bills that have to be paid 10:53 and there are planes that have to be caught 10:54 and there are schedules that have to be kept, 10:56 that ultimately this world is not our home. 10:59 So be with us now this morning, as we spend time in Your word 11:01 and through out the course of this day, 11:03 Father, as we are immersed in Your word, 11:05 may we receive again not to hoard, 11:08 but may we'll be receiving 11:09 to give freely you have received, freely given. 11:12 So come and bless us now, is our prayer in Jesus name. 11:16 Let all of Gods friends say, amen. 11:18 Amen. 11:21 Well, our presentation yesterday as we have said 11:23 was titled, "The Friend of God." 11:25 And Jesus says in John 15:15. 11:27 Remember we were sort of talking about the new language, 11:30 the new nomenclature that Jesus seemed to be introducing there. 11:33 He said, "No longer do I call you servants," 11:36 because a servant does not know what his master is doing. 11:38 Now I call you, "What everyone?" 11:41 Now I call you friends. 11:42 Because everything that Father has shown me, 11:44 I have revealed to you. 11:46 And we learned yesterday that Abraham was the friend of God, 11:48 that Moses spoke to God. 11:49 As a man speaks to a friend face to face 11:52 and the God more than loves us, He likes us. 11:56 But there's also a passage there just before John 15:15, 11:59 John 15:14 in which Jesus says, "You are My friends if you do 12:04 whatsoever I have commanded you." 12:06 "You are My friends if you do 12:08 whatsoever I have commanded you." 12:09 The reality is, is that we can become the friends of God 12:14 if we be friendly toward God 12:16 and the sense of being friendly toward His kingdom 12:18 and toward the principles upon which His kingdom operates. 12:21 We want to be the kinds of people 12:23 that would be happy in heaven. 12:24 Amen. 12:26 Can you say Amen to that? Amen! 12:27 I like to tell people that god is taking everyone to heaven 12:30 who would be happy there. 12:33 If you would be happy in heaven, 12:35 it is a guarantee that you will be there. 12:37 If you are a friend of God, 12:39 it is a guarantee that you will be there. 12:40 The only people that will not be in heaven 12:42 will be people who, 12:44 if they themselves could choose, would choose 12:47 because they already have chosen not to be there. 12:51 No one is excluded from heaven or dismissed from heaven 12:53 on the basis of some arbitrary degree from God, 12:56 it is our own unfitness that would shut us out 12:59 from the presence of God. 13:00 And so Jesus invites us, the Father invites us, 13:03 the spirit invites us to be His friends. 13:06 But that raises a question in the minds of many, 13:08 myself included. 13:09 And that is, "How does God relate to us 13:12 in the meantime, right?" 13:13 How does God relate to us 13:15 if we could sort of use this stage here 13:16 as a kind of timeline? 13:18 If we think of this side of the stage 13:19 is being sort of conversion, the beginnings of conversion. 13:22 Now many of us have sort of radical transformative 13:25 pivotal immediate conversions 13:26 and we can trace our conversion 13:28 to a single kind of moment in time to a time 13:30 and some times even to a place. 13:32 But others like my wife... 13:33 In fact I remember very clearly. 13:34 One day I was speaking to my wife 13:36 and I was talking about my testimony. 13:37 And she said to me, this was early in our marriage. 13:38 She said something like, 13:40 "Well, I don't really have a testimony." 13:41 Now my wife is raised in the church, 13:43 she never really stayed far, she stayed close to Jesus, 13:46 she stayed close to her family. 13:47 And so I remember being shocked by that. 13:49 When my wife said, I don't really have a testimony. 13:53 Beloved does my wife have a testimony? 13:55 Yeah, of course she does. 13:57 But we have sort of programmed ourselves 13:59 in promoting the most radical pivotal U-turn testimonies. 14:04 We have unwillingly down played the most powerful testimony 14:07 and that's a testimony 14:09 if somebody who gives their life to Jesus 14:10 at a very young age and then stays with Jesus. 14:13 So me that is a more robust, more profound, 14:15 and more powerful commentary on the keeping power of God. 14:19 Yes, yes, yes, we want to hear about the man 14:21 who lived in the cave. 14:22 And yes, yes, yes, we want to hear about the man 14:23 who was a gangster. 14:25 And yes, yes, yes, we want to hear about the man 14:26 who was a former punk rocker or whatever, 14:28 but we also want to hear about the man 14:29 who gave his life to Jesus at eight 14:31 and never looked back. 14:32 We want to hear the testimony about the woman 14:33 who gave her life to Jesus at 10 14:35 and by the grace of God has never looked back, 14:37 that is just as powerful 14:38 and in some cases a more powerful testimony. 14:41 And if we are not careful 14:42 on emphasizing both testimonies, 14:43 the message that we will unwillingly 14:45 send to our young people is it, 14:46 if you really want to be used by God 14:48 and you really want to have a powerful testimony, 14:50 you first have to go out before you can come back in. 14:55 Are we together everyone? Yes. 14:56 And so we need to be very careful 14:57 that we don't always place the most emphasis 14:59 on testimonies like my own 15:01 in which people were out and came in. 15:03 And I tell people all the time. 15:04 If you are in a room, 15:06 you don't have to leave to come back in. 15:09 Right? 15:10 If you are in this room, 15:11 I don't have to go running out of that door, 15:13 stay out for a while and then come back in 15:15 and say, "Uhh, I am in the room." 15:17 No, no, no, no. 15:19 If you are born in a Christian context, 15:20 if you are born in a Christian home, 15:21 if you are born in a home 15:23 that values the pillars of faith, 15:24 you can just stay there. 15:26 And that is a powerful testimony 15:28 to the keeping of God. 15:30 Everyone has a testimony. 15:31 God has no grandchildren, only children. 15:33 And so everyone has to be born again 15:36 because no one is born, born again. 15:38 Are we together everyone? 15:39 So we sort of use this as a timeline 15:41 in which you are converted here, 15:43 whether that was a pivotal crucial water shed moment, 15:46 like my testimony was and may be it was gradual. 15:48 And you think back that... 15:49 Well, you know, there was that moment when I was eight 15:51 but there was also that moment when I was nine 15:52 and, you know, it seems like 15:54 I have always loved Jesus, good for you. 15:55 Whatever your testimony is, the reality is that 15:57 once we turn our life's over to God, 15:59 there is a process. 16:01 There is what everyone? 16:03 There is a transition. 16:04 There is a process in which we go from being converted... 16:08 That is to say being declared right. 16:10 I don't want to steal any of Shelly's thunder 16:11 because she's going to be talking about justification, 16:13 sanctification and glorification. 16:15 But there is this process of being declared holy, 16:17 we call that justification, 16:18 but then there is this 16:20 process of being made holy, sanctification. 16:22 The process of becoming increasingly the friend of God, 16:26 until eventually the process of glorification 16:28 when we are taken home. 16:29 Are we together everyone? 16:30 So, so many of us wonder. 16:32 I myself wonder at times. 16:33 How does God relate to us in the meantime? 16:37 How does God relate to us in this process 16:39 when we have begun the conversion experience? 16:41 And I think many of us 16:42 in this room can relate to this. 16:43 We would love for the Christian experience to be like this. 16:47 We're just marching and yeah, that's right I'm converted now, 16:49 I'm going to heaven, right? 16:51 And we are just, would to God, 16:53 that it was just this absolutely perfect, 16:54 absolutely linear straight line. 16:57 But if your experience is anything like mine, 16:59 there's a few dips, there's a few... 17:01 there's a few curves, there's a few wiggles, 17:03 there's a few pauses, 17:05 and even at times there's a few of these. 17:08 You know what we call this? Backsliding. 17:10 Okay. 17:12 Now the good news is, is that God loves backsliders 17:14 and He can save backsliders 17:16 and it would be the rare person who doesn't, 17:18 at some level and some ways struggle with backsliding. 17:22 Are we together on that everyone? 17:24 And so how does God relate to us 17:26 in the midst of this wonderful glorious journey, 17:29 there's sometimes curvy, 17:30 sometimes cutest, sometimes straight, 17:32 and sometimes pensive journey 17:34 that we are taking towards the kingdom of heaven. 17:37 Well, let me ask you a question and answering that question, 17:39 the question that how God relates to us in the meantime. 17:43 We have the Annual General Conference session 17:45 of Seventh Day Adventist, 17:47 it's taking place this June I think, is that right? 17:50 Taking place this June. 17:52 I just want you to imagine with me. 17:53 What if you received a call 17:56 from the General Conference Executive Committee, 17:58 the programming committee, 17:59 it's gonna be in Atlanta this year. 18:00 And let's say that you received a phone call 18:02 and the phone call went something like this. 18:04 Sir, Madam, we've just come out of the general conference 18:07 executive committee programming committee 18:09 for the upcoming General Conference session in Atlanta. 18:11 And, you know, we were praying 18:13 and we were asking God to give us 18:14 wisdom about speakers, wisdom about presenters 18:16 and we just felt led the spirit of God 18:19 laid your name on our hearts 18:22 and we want you to take the Sabbath morning ceremony 18:26 for the final weekend 18:28 of the upcoming General Conference session. 18:30 Now don't we be nervous, 18:31 there will only be about 70,000 people there 18:35 and millions tuning in worldwide. 18:38 But we just feel led of God to invite you 18:41 to take the Sabbath morning ceremony. 18:43 Now how would you feel about that invitation? 18:50 How many of you would be nervous 18:52 if you receive that invitation? 18:54 How many of you would immediately hang up the phone? 18:59 I don't even know what a Seventh-Day Adventist is? 19:02 Right? 19:04 Many of us, if we were being totally honest, 19:05 we would distance our self from invitation like that 19:08 because it would be scary, it would be... 19:10 I mean, beloved, it's scary 19:11 to stand in front of ten people, 19:12 much less 10,000, much less 70,000 people. 19:15 I mean, they say that there are two great public fears, right? 19:18 Consistently there are two great phobias 19:20 and those phobias are public speaking and snakes, 19:26 public speaking and snakes. 19:27 So I suppose, if you have both of those fears, 19:30 be very careful about taking a mission trip 19:32 to say the Philippians or south America or Africa, 19:36 a place in which you could encounter 19:38 both of those primordial fears at the same time, right? 19:41 Because you could be standing up. 19:42 Good evening everyone, we are so happy to 19:43 and a snake could drop right on the pulpit 19:45 and then you will be faced 19:46 with both the public speaking fear 19:48 and the snake fear at the same time. 19:52 The reality is that, many of us would feel very nervous, 19:55 very apprehensive, very anxious about an invitation to speak 19:59 even to our local church, much less to 70,000 people. 20:03 But I want you to think this morning about Jesus. 20:06 I want you to think this morning about Jesus. 20:09 Put yourself into Jesus perspective there. 20:12 We're given hints of this in the gospel of Luke, 20:16 but it's communicated expressly 20:17 in the book, the Desire of Ages. 20:19 In the Gospel of Luke, Luke 1 and 2, 20:21 Jesus has taken to the temple for the first time. 20:23 Does anyone know how old He was? 20:25 He was 12 years old. 20:26 So, Jesus has taken to the temple for the time. 20:28 He's 12 years old and at that moment, 20:30 this is hint to that at Luke, in Luke. 20:32 It's sort of implied in Luke, 20:33 but it's expressly communicated in the Desire of Ages. 20:35 And that is this idea that Jesus 20:38 when He saw the Paschal lamb being slain there, 20:41 at the temple for the first time. 20:42 It was at that moment that He realized, that's Me. 20:47 We've to remember here that Jesus, as He was sitting 20:50 as a two year old or three year old 20:51 or four year old on Mary's lap, 20:53 was not saying to Mary. 20:54 Mary, let Me tell you what it was like 20:56 with the glories of heaven before eternity began. 20:58 Let me tell... 21:00 No, no, no, no, 21:01 Jesus the Bible says in Luke 2. 21:03 And of course He's a physician, 21:04 you would expect him to document, 21:05 the developmental stages, 21:07 that more so than any of the other Gospel writers. 21:09 And, so Luke Chapter 2:52 says that He grew in wisdom 21:11 and in stature and in favor with God and men. 21:14 In other words Jesus grew. 21:15 He grew intellectually, He grew spiritually, 21:17 He grew physically, He grew socially etcetera. 21:19 And, so it wasn't Jesus 21:21 that was saying to Mary 21:23 as he would been sitting on his mother's lap. 21:25 It wasn't Jesus that said, 21:27 "Let me tell you what the glories of, of..." 21:28 No, no, no, no, it was Marry who is saying to Jesus, 21:31 there were special circumstances 21:33 around Your birth. 21:34 You're the Messiah, you're the... 21:36 And Jesus would have heard from his mother's lips 21:38 and from the teaching of scripture 21:40 about His identity, who He really was. 21:43 But there was a moment of crystallization, 21:44 there was a moment of galvanization. 21:46 When He went to the temple for the first time 21:48 and He sees that Paschal lamb being slained 21:50 and it dawns on Him in a... 21:52 In the grandest epiphany, 21:54 you reek a moment in all of the universe, that's Me. 22:00 I'm the lamb. 22:02 Now, John the Baptist would say many years later, 22:03 his elder cousin John would say, 22:05 "Behold the lamb of God 22:06 that takes away the sin of the world." 22:08 But for Jesus this was a self realization. 22:10 This was an identity of coming to be aware of His identity. 22:14 He learned, He grew, He quoted scripture just as you and I. 22:17 He learned as He read, He learned as He studied, 22:19 He learned from the mouth of his mother and from others. 22:22 In fact there in Luke 1 and 2, 22:25 when Jesus, just after He's realized 22:26 that He is the lamb, 22:28 He was confounding the doctors. 22:29 He was confounding the scribes and the pharisees, why? 22:32 Because God had revealed all of these things to Him 22:34 in a person-to-person... 22:36 No, no, no because He had study scripture, 22:38 because He had listened to the voice of his mother. 22:39 In other words, Jesus came to know 22:41 that He was the Messiah. 22:43 Are we together everyone? Yes. 22:45 Now, think that through. 22:47 What was likely Jesus vocation 22:50 prior to becoming a public minister? 22:53 Carpenter. 22:54 Okay, so He was a carpenter, okay. 22:56 So, so put yourself in Jesus mind. 22:58 Put yourself in Jesus perspective 23:00 and here He is sawing away, right, day after day. 23:04 From the age of 12 on to about, 23:05 we will say 30, we will just use around number. 23:07 So far 18 years Jesus is sawing away, 23:10 He's measuring away, 23:11 He's hammering away, he's carrying... 23:14 All along, He knows that God has not put him on earth 23:16 primarily to be a carpenter. 23:18 God has put Him on earth as the Messiah. 23:22 As the, what everyone? 23:23 Messiah. As the messiah. 23:24 Now, the Jewish nation has been looking for 23:26 to the Messiah from more than a thousand years. 23:28 They have been looking forward to the Messiah 23:29 and Jesus is sawing and Jesus is measuring 23:32 and Jesus is hammering and He has 18 years, 23:35 the better part of 18 years to think about, 23:37 one day He's gonna take that saw 23:39 and he is gonna lay it down. 23:40 He's gonna take that hammer, He's gonna lay it down, 23:42 he's gonna take that, take measure and lay it down 23:43 and He's going to take off His carpenter garb, 23:46 He's going to put on the garb of rabbi 23:48 and He's going to step out 23:49 and present Himself to Israel, 23:52 not just as another rabbi, not just as another teacher, 23:55 but as their Messiah. 23:59 Now, you think you would be nervous 24:01 speaking to 70,000 people, 24:02 Sabbath morning at the General Conference session? 24:04 But imagine being the Messiah, 24:06 having that knowledge for 18 years 24:08 and knowing that one day you're going to have 24:10 to put down the saw, put down their hammer, 24:12 put down the tape measure 24:14 and introduce yourself to Israel 24:15 who's been looking forward to You for a thousand years. 24:19 Do you think that Jesus would have thought about that sermon? 24:23 Do you think that Jesus would have thought about 24:24 what He would he say in His first public address? 24:27 What do you think? 24:29 He had 18 years to think about it, beloved. 24:31 He had 18 years to think it through to plan to pray, 24:35 to be in contact with His Father. 24:37 I mean, dare I say that if you're invited to speak 24:39 at the upcoming General Conference session, 24:40 you would spend sometime in preparation. 24:42 Even if you're invited to speak at your local church, 24:44 you would spend sometime in preparation, 24:45 you would spend sometime, 24:47 you would study, you would pray, 24:48 you would want to be prepare. 24:49 Are we together everyone? 24:51 What if you had 18 years to prepare for a sermon? 24:54 What, if you had 18 years to prepare for a sermon? 24:56 But even more than that, 24:57 what if you're presenting yourself 24:58 not just as the morning speaker, 25:00 not just as the morning's devotionals speaker, 25:01 but you're presenting yourself as the long awaited messiah? 25:06 Would there have been anxiety? 25:08 Would there have been nervousness? 25:09 Would there have been apprehensiveness? 25:10 The answer is yes. 25:12 And what we encounter is what we refer to colloquially 25:15 as the Sermon on the Mount. 25:18 What we called the Sermon on the Mount. 25:20 This is Jesus first public address. 25:24 This is Jesus introducing Himself in a public way 25:27 in the beginning of His ministry, 25:30 in a sermon setting. 25:32 This is who I'm. 25:34 Now, let set a little bit of context here 25:35 before we actually get into the Sermon on the Mount. 25:38 Several years ago, I read a book called 25:40 "Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing." 25:42 Have you read that book? 25:43 I think I've read it several times, marvelous book. 25:45 It's basically a verse by verse 25:47 exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. 25:49 It's a verse by verse 25:50 exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. 25:52 And in the introduction to the book there, 25:54 "Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing," 25:55 something he said that 25:57 I thought was absolutely fascinating 25:58 and that is this. 26:00 The author says, "That if all we had in all of scripture, 26:04 if all we've was the Sermon on the Mount." 26:07 In other words, not the 66 books that you see 26:10 between these two leather covers here 26:11 and then you've in your hands. 26:12 If all we had was Matthew 5, Matthew 6, and Matthew 7. 26:16 The author says, we would have more than enough to be saved 26:20 and to know who God is in truth. 26:21 Amen. 26:22 Now I remember when I read that, 26:24 I thought, well, wait a minute. 26:25 If everything that I would need to know for salvation 26:27 and everything that I need to know about 26:28 the goodness of God and His love for me, 26:30 and His plan for me is contained 26:32 in sort of nuclear form, the Sermon on the mount. 26:36 I'm going to commit that to memory. 26:38 I mean in the sense, the sermon on the mount, 26:40 it's like a mini Bible. 26:41 It's like a Bible with in a Bible, 26:43 if all you had was Matthew 5, 6, 7, 26:46 you would have enough. 26:47 Are we together everyone? Yes. 26:49 And so I began to commit that to memory. 26:50 I began to commit the Sermon on the Mount to memory 26:52 because I thought some day 26:53 someone might take my Bible away, 26:54 but by the grace of God 26:56 they will never be able to take away 26:57 the mini Bible in my mind, the Sermon on the Mount. 26:59 Now the point I want to make here is simply this. 27:00 We're asking the question. 27:02 How does God relate to us in the meantime? 27:03 How does God relate to us in that transition 27:06 from the first part of conversion? 27:08 Whether it's something you can trace 27:10 to an immediate pivotal moment 27:11 through the process of what we call sanctification 27:14 to eventually glorification, translation, 27:15 or in some cases resurrection. 27:17 How does God relate to us in the meantime? 27:20 Now, we need to set a little bit of historical context here. 27:23 But you can open your Bibles 27:24 to the Book of Matthew, Matthew 5. 27:27 Now, when the New Testament writers realized finally, 27:31 most of them post resurrection 27:33 that Jesus was who He claimed to be. 27:35 There was a totally radical transformation 27:39 that took place in a way that viewed themselves, 27:41 whether if you're God 27:42 and especially perhaps in the way 27:43 that they viewed the Old Testament. 27:46 And, what you find in the New Testament is that, 27:48 the New Testament writers 27:49 began reading the Old Testament, 27:51 but they're reading it in a radial new way. 27:54 What they basically done is that, 27:55 God has set a glasses. 27:57 Okay, they had grown up hearing about the Old Testament 27:59 as Jews would have been... 28:01 They would have memorized large portion of it. 28:02 They would have known it. 28:04 They would have been familiar with it. 28:05 They would have known the major stories, 28:06 the major things etcetera. 28:08 And, so there was a familiarity 28:09 with the Old Testament in Jesus day. 28:10 In fact on one occasion Jesus said, 28:12 "You guys are searching the scriptures 28:13 because in them you thing you have eternal life, 28:15 but these are they which testify Me." 28:17 In 2 Corinthians 3, 28:19 the Apostle Paul uses the image of veil 28:21 and he basically says that the Jews are veiled. 28:23 The Messiah rejecting Jews, 28:25 the Christ rejecting Jews are veiled, 28:26 they can't see the real essence, 28:28 the real thing of the Old Testament, 28:30 they are veiled. 28:31 And then he says something very interesting. 28:32 He says, that veil has taken away, 28:34 that opaqueness is taken away in Christ. 28:38 So what happened with Paul and Matthew 28:40 and the other New Testament writers, 28:41 is they began to read the Old Testament, 28:43 but they didn't read the Old Testament 28:44 in the normal old run of the middle way. 28:46 The rabbinical way, the scribal way, 28:48 they got a new pair of glasses. 28:50 And those new glasses were a Christocentrism 28:54 and they started reading the Old Testament 28:57 and Jesus was everywhere. 28:59 Jesus had introduced this method of Bible study, 29:02 there on the road to a mass, 29:03 where the disciples were walking 29:04 and they were furlonged. 29:06 And, well, this is the third day. 29:07 And Jesus says, "Why are you so said?" 29:09 And the Bible says, that beginning in the Psalms 29:10 and moving even into the prophets and the law, 29:15 he expounded onto them all things concerning Himself. 29:19 In other words what Jesus did... 29:20 He said, "Oh, you guys, you kind of miss it. 29:21 You kind of miss the point." 29:23 Here's the Messiah. Here's the Messiah. 29:24 Here's the Messiah. Here's the Messiah. 29:26 Here's the Messiah. Here's the Messiah. 29:27 It's all over the Old Testament. 29:29 And when that Bible study was done, 29:31 and if ever there would have been 29:32 a Bible study to have been, 29:33 to have been privy too, it would have been the Messiah 29:35 Jesus showing us the Messiah in the Old Testament. 29:39 But this notion of Christocentrism 29:41 in the Old Testament radically informed 29:43 the way that the New Testament writers 29:44 began to read the Old Testaments so much so that... 29:47 For example the Apostle Paul would say 29:48 in 2 Corinthian 1:20. 29:50 Just as an example, he said all of the promises of God. 29:55 And he's speaking to Jews here 29:56 who would have known the promises of God, 29:58 who would have clung to the promises of God. 29:59 The Apostle Paul says, 2 Corinthian 1:20. 30:02 "All of the promises of God are yes in Christ." 30:08 In other words the whole Old Testament 30:10 revolves around, orbits around 30:12 and is centered in Jesus. 30:14 Now, when we come to the Gospel of Matthew, 30:16 which is what we're in now, Matthew 5. 30:17 Matthew picks up this theme 30:19 of the Christocentric nature of the Old Testament 30:21 that He is everywhere 30:22 and he has a favorite word. 30:23 Matthew has a favorite when he is writing his gospel, 30:26 this word comes up over and over, 30:28 and-over and over again. 30:29 He uses it more than Mark, Luke and John combined. 30:33 Does anyone know the word? 30:36 The word is fulfilled. 30:39 The word is fulfilled. 30:41 See because what's happening with Matthew, 30:42 Matthew is definitely writing his Gospel 30:44 as a kind of apologetic to the Jews. 30:46 Scholars agree on this 30:47 and it's just clear from the textual evidence itself. 30:49 What Matthew is doing, 30:51 is he begins reading the Old Testament passages 30:53 and he finds a passage and he pulls that passage out 30:56 and he says, "This was fulfilled in Jesus." 30:58 And then he reaches into another Old Testament passage 31:00 and he sees Messianic overtones there 31:02 and he says, "This was fulfilled in Jesus." 31:03 What Matthew began to do is, 31:05 he began to look at the life of Jesus, 31:07 he began to look at the Old Testament context, 31:09 the Old Testament stories and the Old Testament Psalms 31:11 and prophets and began to say, Well, Jesus is everywhere." 31:13 And so as he writes his Gospel, his you and galleon. 31:16 He's basically seeking to persuade other Jews. 31:19 Hey, all of these things in the Old Testament 31:21 were fulfilled in Jesus, 31:23 fulfilled in Jesus, fulfilled in Jesus, 31:25 fulfilled in Jesus, fulfilled in Jesus. 31:27 So we together everyone? 31:29 Matthew even structures his Gospel this way. 31:33 He structures the opening of his Gospel in this way. 31:35 Just very quickly by way of review here. 31:38 When Israel originally went into Egypt, 31:40 it was because named Joseph had, had dreams. 31:44 And so you've this very simple thing. 31:45 A man named Joseph has dreams, 31:46 the children of Israel go into Egypt. 31:48 they remain in Egypt for a time, 31:50 then they're called out of Egypt. 31:52 When they come out of Egypt, what is the very first thing 31:55 that the children of Israel encounter? 31:57 The first major obstacle, they're being let out of Egypt, 31:59 we call this the Exodus. 32:01 And the first major obstacle they encounter is the Red Sea. 32:05 After they passed through the Red Sea incidentally, 32:07 then they go through a period of wilderness wandering, 32:09 which was only about a month and that's all the longer 32:11 God intend them to be in the wilderness. 32:13 It wasn't God's plan for the children of Israel 32:15 to be in the wilderness for 40 years. 32:16 So, we together everyone on that? 32:17 The period of time, the period of distance between 32:21 leaving the Red Sea and getting to Mount Sinai, 32:23 it was just over a month. 32:25 In other words, about a literal 40 days, 32:27 not 40 years. 32:28 And so look at the process here. 32:29 A man named Joseph has dreams, 32:31 the children of Israel go into Egypt. 32:33 They remain in Egypt for a time, 32:34 then they're called out of Egypt, 32:36 then they go through the Red Sea experience, 32:38 then they pass through the wilderness 32:39 and they come to... 32:41 What did they come to after...? Where were they headed? 32:42 Where were they headed when they were on their way? 32:44 To Mount Sinai. 32:46 Okay, now just follow that basic sequence 32:48 and look at the Gospel of Matthew. 32:51 Basically we have in Matthew 1 is, 32:52 is Matthew setting forth to be gaps. 32:54 He's trying to demonstrate 32:55 that Jesus is in fact the promised Messiah, 32:57 that's Matthew 1. 32:59 When we come to Matthew 2, 33:00 we have the story about the birth of Jesus 33:03 and Jesus being called into Egypt. 33:06 Because an Angel Gabriel appears to a man named... 33:09 What was Jesus earthly father's name? 33:10 Joseph. 33:12 So Joseph has dreams 33:13 and the children of Israel go into Egypt. 33:16 So, a man named Joseph has dreams, 33:17 the children of Israel go into Egypt. 33:19 Jesus goes into Egypt. 33:21 Jesus remains there for a time 33:22 and then he receives another dream, 33:24 bring the little child out of Egypt 33:26 because here it is dead. 33:27 The very next thing that we encounter 33:28 in the Gospel of Matthew, it's Matthew 3. 33:30 Can any Bible student tell me what's happening in Matthew 3? 33:34 Matthew 3, what is that? 33:36 Matthew 3, not the temptation. 33:38 It's the baptism. It's the baptism. 33:40 Now you tell me what happens in Matthew 4? 33:44 The wilderness temptation. 33:45 So look at this, look at this sequence. 33:47 A man named Joseph has dreams, Jesus goes into Egypt. 33:50 He remains in Egypt for a time, then He comes out of Egypt. 33:52 The very first thing that He encounters coming out of Egypt 33:55 is the Red Sea of the baptism experience. 33:58 The Apostle Paul says that, 33:59 when the children of Israel went through the Red Sea, 34:00 they were baptized. 34:02 And then he goes from the baptism experience 34:03 into the wilderness experience. 34:05 And he's in the wilderness for how long? 34:06 How long was He there? 34:08 Forty days corresponding with the 40 years 34:10 that Israel was in the wilderness 34:11 and then they come to... 34:13 Jesus comes to Matthew 5. 34:15 What we call the Sermon on the Mount, 34:17 just as the children of Israel came to Mount Sinai. 34:20 So if you see the sequence, it's absolutely marvelous 34:22 and Matthew has constructed his gospel this way. 34:25 Point by point Jesus is retracing 34:28 the history of national Israel. 34:30 There are even more evidences incidentally, 34:31 I'm just giving you the quick version. 34:33 Jesus is moving through the history of national Israel. 34:35 A man named Joseph has dreams into Egypt, remain in Egypt, 34:38 called out of Egypt through the baptism experience, 34:41 Red Sea experience, 34:43 through the wilderness experience 34:44 and then to the mountain. 34:47 Now, what was so significant about Mount Sinai? 34:48 You tell me the Bible students. 34:51 What happened at Mount Sinai? 34:53 Okay, they received the law. 34:55 They received the law. 34:57 What's happened in Matthew 5, 6, and 7? 35:01 Jesus, the Giver of the law, 35:03 the one who in Exodus 20 35:05 had written with his own fingers 35:06 on tables of stones, 35:07 his own finger on tables of stone. 35:09 Who had given the law, 35:10 Jesus the lawgiver is now the law expositor. 35:13 He's now the explainer of the law. 35:15 No wonder he kept saying things like this. 35:19 You have heard that it was said by them of all time, 35:23 thou shalt not commit adultery. 35:25 But I say unto you, that whosoever lust... 35:27 "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust 35:28 after her hath committed adultery 35:30 with her already in his heart." 35:32 What Jesus is doing? 35:33 Here the lawgiver is becoming the law explicator, 35:36 the law explainer. 35:38 Are we together everyone? 35:39 And, so Mathew has constructed his gospel, 35:41 his favorite word is fulfilled. 35:42 This is a very consistent New Testament theme. 35:45 This Christocentrism 35:46 that Jesus is everywhere in the Old Testament. 35:48 He's everywhere. He's everywhere. 35:49 He's everywhere. He's everywhere. 35:51 And Matthew even constructs the opening of his Gospel 35:53 going from the Egypt experience 35:55 to the baptism experience, Red Sea experience, 35:59 through the wilderness experience 36:00 and ending up at Sinai, 36:01 retracing point by point the history of national Israel. 36:05 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 36:06 So, Jesus... Now here's the point. 36:09 Jesus has been thinking about this sermon for 18 years. 36:13 Jesus has been thinking about this presentation 36:15 for the better part of 18 years beloved in preparation. 36:21 Now, Jesus says six times, 36:24 you have heard, but I say to you. 36:27 Now, step outside of your belief right now. 36:30 Just try to step outside. 36:31 Imagine that you don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah, 36:34 that you don't even know who Jesus is. 36:35 All you're, as a Galilean 36:37 and you're sitting on a hillside, 36:38 some 2,000 years ago, 36:39 and there's the sense of anticipation 36:41 as a provocative new young rabbi 36:44 is sitting on top of the mountain 36:45 and there's this kind of electricity in the air. 36:47 Like, who is this Guy? 36:49 What's He is going to say? 36:51 Now, some people where at his baptism 36:52 and some are claming that when this Guy was baptized, 36:54 that they actually heard, 36:56 what sounded strangely like the voice of God saying, 37:00 "This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased." 37:01 But others said, "No, no, no, no, no, 37:03 that was just lightening." 37:04 And, so we don't... How many over there? 37:06 We'll says it's 500, 600, 700, maybe a 1000 or 2000 people 37:08 should have gather there on that mountain side 37:10 and just imagine this morning that you're one of them. 37:12 You're just there 37:14 and it's maybe a nice beautiful sunny day, 37:15 the birds are singing 37:16 and you're sitting down and this... 37:18 You don't know that this is the Messiah. 37:19 You don't know that He is doing 37:21 all these marvelous miracles yet. 37:22 Up to this point, all He's done 37:24 so far as we know it's the miracle in Cannon, 37:25 with the changing of water to wine. 37:27 So, and you're just sitting down 37:28 to enjoy a nice sermon so to speak. 37:30 And this guy, we don't know how old He was, 37:32 but in our minds He's 28. He's 28. 37:35 He's 10 years younger than me. 37:37 Okay, so He's a Kid, okay. 37:39 And this Kid, this kid stands up in front of Israel. 37:44 He stands up in front of Israel 37:46 and He starts saying things like, 37:49 "You have heard, but I say." 37:54 Now, if Jesus who was anyone other than who He claim to be. 37:59 What would He sound like? 38:00 What would be your impression? 38:02 What would you think? 38:04 What would you think? 38:05 When you start hearing this young... 38:07 I mean, who does this whippersnapper think He is? 38:08 I mean really. 38:10 You would be tempted to think things like this. 38:13 Who does this Guy think He is? 38:15 I mean seriously. 38:16 I mean He is setting himself 38:18 over and against the whole rabbinical structure. 38:20 You've heard that it was said by them, but I say. 38:24 I stand before you today as a 28 year old whippersnapper 38:27 and I'm telling you. 38:28 And people are saying, "Oh, this Guy been to the school? 38:30 Is this guy been to seminary? 38:32 Could we see Your credentials?" 38:35 Now, what Jesus communicated 38:38 there on the Sermon on the Mount 38:39 was more than revelatory. 38:42 It was revolutionary. 38:44 Absolutely, profoundly, revolutionary. 38:48 In fact, let me just give you a single paragraph, 38:50 just a single short paragraph from that book 38:52 "Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing." 38:53 Listen to this. 38:55 Page 147. 38:57 His words, Jesus words, in the Sermon on the Mount, 39:00 "Had struck at the very root 39:02 of their former ideas and opinions, 39:05 to obey His teaching would require a change 39:08 in all their habits of thought and action. 39:11 It would bring them into collision 39:13 with their religious teachers." 39:14 Now listen to this language. 39:16 "For it would involve the overthrow 39:18 of the whole structure 39:20 which for generations the rabbis had been rearing." 39:24 In other words, if we're gonna obey what this guy says, 39:25 it's gonna involve the overthrow 39:27 of the whole structure of rabbinical religion. 39:30 Now let me just ask you a question. 39:32 What does that sound like? 39:33 The overthrow of a whole structure of religion... 39:36 What word would you use to describe that? 39:38 You would call that a revolution. 39:41 You would call that a revolution, 39:43 the over through of whole structures? 39:46 Jesus here is setting Himself up profoundly 39:51 as the Messiah and very boldly over 39:54 and against the typical status quo teaching 39:58 and religiosity of His day. 39:59 You've heard... But I say. 40:02 Six times you repeat this mantra, this refrain. 40:04 You have heard but I say. 40:06 Now, look at Matthew records. You're there in Matthew 7. 40:10 Look at Matthew as he records the response of the people. 40:15 As he records that... 40:16 How did people relate to this Young whippersnapper, 40:19 who people at this time are not aware yet... 40:21 How did they relate to what this Guy said? 40:24 Matthew 7:28. 40:26 "And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings 40:28 that the people were..." 40:29 What does your Bible say? 40:31 Astonished. Astonished. 40:34 Synonyms for astonished. 40:36 They were amazed. 40:38 They were shocked. Very good. 40:39 They were surprised, they were amazed, they shocked, 40:42 they were surprised, they were astonished. 40:45 When Jesus finished these sayings, 40:46 the people were astonished at His teaching. 40:48 Why, according to verse 29. 40:50 According to verse 29, 40:51 what was source of their astonishment? 40:54 Because when He taught, 40:55 he taught as one that possessed authority. 41:01 And not like describes in the Pharisees. 41:04 Beloved, this sermon... 41:05 Did I tell you this sermon was 18 years in a preparation, 41:07 did I mention that? 41:09 Yeah. 41:10 This sermon was crafted, 41:11 this sermon was prepared and Jesus, they're not. 41:13 Just imagine you're there, you're on the mountain side 41:16 and there's the sense of electricity, 41:17 there's sense of anticipation, 41:19 and they are like, "Who is this Guy?" 41:20 And Jesus opens His mouth, 18 years in preparation. 41:24 May have been 17, may have been 19, 41:25 but the point is the better of 20. 41:27 Jesus opens His mouth and people are listening. 41:29 And He says, here comes, 41:31 here comes down the pike, 20 years. 41:36 "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, 41:42 for there's is the Kingdom of Heaven." 41:44 Amen. 41:46 Now, just to set a little bit of context here. 41:48 In the book Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 41:49 we're told that these words felt... 41:52 My paraphrase, like a bombshell on first century listeners. 41:55 I mean, what did He say? 41:57 Blessed are the poor inspirit. 42:00 You need to understand 42:01 that the Judaism of Jesus day was one, 42:03 in which, if you're a Jew, you're guaranteed access to God 42:06 by virtue of your genealogical relationship to Abraham. 42:09 On one occasion the disciples brought 42:10 a blind man to Jesus, said, Jesus this guy is blind. 42:13 Why is he blind? 42:14 Because his parent sinned, because he's sinner, 42:15 Jesus said neither. 42:17 There's sort of his idea 42:18 in first century Judaism that if you're a Jew, 42:20 you're in by virtue of your Jewishness. 42:22 That's why John had to say, 42:23 "Don't even begin to say within yourselves 42:24 we have Abraham as our father. 42:26 But if you're a healthy Jew 42:27 then you're sort of doubly in with God. 42:29 And on one occasion Jesus was speaking to a man 42:31 that we know only as a rich young ruler. 42:32 And he said, man, that's gonna be hard 42:34 for a rich man to be saved. 42:35 And the disciples were like, 42:37 picking the jaw up off the ground and saying, 42:38 "Well, who then could be saved?" 42:41 Because in first Century Judaism, 42:43 you've this idea that if you're Jew, 42:44 you're recommended to God, but if you're a healthy Jew, 42:47 you're doubly recommended to God 42:49 and if you're a healthy, wealthy Jew, 42:50 you're assuring for the kingdom. 42:52 And Jesus begins His sermon 18 years in preparation 42:55 and says, "Happy or the unhappy? 43:01 Am I right? Blessed are the poor in spirit. 43:04 Happy... 43:06 The word blessed is the equivalent of happy. 43:07 Happy or the unhappy. 43:10 Blessed are the poor in spirit, 43:12 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 43:15 That's our presentation this morning. 43:16 Your's is the kingdom of heaven. 43:19 The first century listeners were like, 43:21 the moment that they heard blessed are the poor... 43:25 Like, there was just no words. 43:30 What Jesus does here, is He gives us a sequence. 43:33 Of what, everyone? A sequence. 43:35 Now watch this sequence. 43:37 He begins by saying, blessed are the poor in spirit. 43:39 Everybody's personal journey 43:40 begins by recognizing their spiritual poverty. 43:44 Everybody spiritual journey 43:46 begins by recognizing their spiritual poverty, 43:48 whether you are living in a 21st century 43:50 or you're the thief nailed to the cross. 43:52 All that the thief nailed to the cross knew, 43:54 was he was in trouble and he was scared. 43:56 And he turns to Jesus and he says, 43:58 "Lord, when you come into Your kingdom, 44:00 remember me." 44:01 Jesus says, "Verily I say unto you today, 44:02 you will be with Me in paradise." 44:04 All the thief had, by way of sanctification, 44:06 was that, he knew he was a sinner 44:07 and he needed to Savior. 44:09 Everyone spiritual journey 44:11 begins by a sober recognition 44:14 of your spiritual impoverishment before God. 44:17 Amen. Are we together on that? 44:19 So, Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." 44:22 That's the very first step in the sequence. 44:25 Now, the very next step... Look at what Jesus says next. 44:27 He says, "Blessed are they that mourn, 44:31 for they shall be comforted." 44:33 After we recognized our spiritual poverty, 44:35 we began to mourn that spiritual condition. 44:38 Are we together everyone? 44:40 We begin to mourn that condition, 44:41 we feel contrition, we feel sadness in our hearts, 44:44 but look at what happens next. 44:45 "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. 44:48 Blessed are the meek 44:50 for they shall inherit the earth." 44:51 When we realize that, God and His goodness 44:55 reaching down to us and that we're sinners, 44:57 this begins to affect the way that we treat those around us. 44:59 It gives us an attitude of meekness 45:01 and attitude of humility. 45:02 So notice the sequence. 45:04 You first begin by recognizing your spiritual poverty, 45:06 then blessed are the merciful, blessed of those 45:08 or blessed are those that mourn rather 45:10 because they recognized that 45:12 they're basically corrupt before God 45:15 and then blessed of the meek, this begins to impact 45:17 that way that we treat those around us. 45:18 And now you need something, you long for something, 45:21 you want something that you realized suddenly 45:23 you, yourself do not possess, 45:25 but you need it desperately, you need it immediately. 45:27 What do you need? What do you need? 45:28 You need righteousness. 45:31 You need a righteousness that can come only from God 45:33 and that's exactly what Jesus says next. 45:35 Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for" not for food, 45:40 not for haystacks, for what? 45:42 "For righteousness." 45:44 "Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, 45:46 for they shall be filled." 45:47 But how do we receive the righteousness of God? 45:49 We receive the righteousness of God 45:51 because God is so good and God is so merciful. 45:53 It's not because you're so good, 45:54 it's because God is so good. 45:55 And so notice the very next step here. 45:57 "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." 46:00 In other words, when you realize that you're 46:01 the undeserved recipient of the mercy of God, 46:04 this begins to impact the way that you feel about yourself 46:08 and especially the way you feel about others. 46:10 What Jesus is doing here marvelously, 46:11 wonderfully is walking us through a sequence. 46:14 Notice the sequence again. 46:15 First you recognize your spiritual poverty, 46:17 you mourn that condition, 46:19 this gives you an attitude of meekness, 46:20 you hunger and thirst now for righteousness 46:23 and you receive that righteousness 46:25 because God is so merciful. 46:28 Are we together? Amen. 46:29 And when you begin to treat others 46:30 the way that God has treated you, 46:32 when you begin to treat others 46:33 with a kind of mercy that God has treated you with. 46:34 Look at the next step on the line... 46:36 What does it say? 46:37 "Blessed are the pure in heart." 46:40 Beloved, when you begin to treat others 46:42 with the kind of mercy that God has treated you with, 46:44 something begins to happen to the human heart 46:46 that all of the enlightenment 46:47 and all of the yoga and all of the Pilates 46:49 can not accomplish in the human experience. 46:52 You might be able to do the splits, 46:53 but you're still the sinner. 46:55 You might able to touch your toes, 46:56 but you're still a sinner. 46:57 You might be able to umm, but you're still a sinner. 47:00 As you begin... 47:01 One of the great, one of the great sad chapters 47:03 in the history of the church is what's called Monasticism. 47:06 When people began to move off into the, 47:08 into the nunneries and the monasteries, 47:11 basically what they did is, they separated themselves from, 47:13 from the populous because they thought, 47:15 if they can go just be alone 47:17 and they can flagellate themselves or eat, 47:19 you know, scanty food or spend all they washing 47:21 and chanting and praying... 47:23 Now, this is the path to holiness, 47:25 but this is not the path to holiness. 47:26 This is the path to a kind of modified selfishness. 47:29 The path to holiness is in serving others. 47:32 Because really and I wish I had time to go into this. 47:34 Holiness is love. 47:36 I wish I had time to sort of unpack that. 47:38 But holiness is love. 47:40 Truly treating others the way that God has treated you 47:42 with loving others centeredness, 47:43 as we talked about on our sermon on the Godhead. 47:45 That is the essence of holiness. 47:48 And when you begin to treat others 47:49 the way that God has treated you, 47:50 your heart begins to be purified. 47:52 God begins to do something in you 47:54 that all of the stretching and splits 47:56 and umm, umm, umm, could never accomplish. 48:00 Are we together? Yes. 48:02 So your heart begins to be purified, 48:03 but look at what happens. 48:05 As your hearts begins to be purified, what's the next step? 48:06 Blessed the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 48:08 Blessed are the peacemakers. 48:10 Beloved, Jesus is the Prince of peace. 48:13 When you begin to go to your neighbors, 48:14 when you begin to go to your brother, 48:15 when you begin to go to your sister, 48:17 when you begin to go to those acquaintance 48:18 and introduce them to the Prince of peace... 48:19 The Apostle Paul actually says that, 48:21 God in 2 Corinthians 5 has made peace with the world. 48:24 Our message is fundamentally a message of peace, 48:27 that God has made peace with humanity 48:29 in the person of Jesus Christ. 48:31 That is our message. 48:32 That's why the Apostle Paul could say, 48:33 "In the grandest of his Apostles, Roman 5:1. 48:35 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have..." 48:39 Does anyone know this? 48:41 "Therefore being justified by faith 48:42 we have peace with God." 48:45 Our message fundamentally 48:46 and essentially is a message that God has made peace 48:48 with humanity in the person of Jesus 48:50 and Jesus as the second Adam. 48:52 If you express faith in Him, 48:53 you're born into the first Adam's world, 48:55 but you can be again into the second Adam's world 48:58 and God has made peace with humanity 49:00 in the second Adam. 49:02 You can be represented not by the old Adam 49:04 that blew it in Eden, but by the new Adam 49:07 that won it all in Gethsemane. 49:10 Everything was lost in the garden by the first Adam, 49:12 everything was regained in the garden 49:13 by the second Adam. 49:14 You can be newly represented by your new representative, 49:17 your new Adam. 49:18 The new man kind, it's what the word means. 49:20 And when this begins to happen, 49:21 you have a message of peace for those around you. 49:24 You can go to anyone and say, 49:25 "God has made peace with you in the person of Jesus Christ, 49:28 it is absolutely true. 49:29 And so when we began to bring 49:30 this message of mercy to others, 49:32 our heart begins to be purified 49:33 and we realize that God has put us on earth, 49:34 not primarily to acquire new SUV's 49:36 and houses and boats and clothes and wardrobes. 49:39 God has put us on earth as Ambassadors 49:41 to bring the message of peace to those who are in darkness. 49:44 But wait a minute. What happens after that? 49:47 Once we realized that we were put on earth 49:48 for the purpose of communicating the Gospel, 49:52 what is the inevitable consequence? 49:54 Blessed are they that are persecuted. 49:57 When Saul was there on the road to Damascus 49:59 and he was smitten down, 50:00 a voice from heaven and a blinding light said, 50:03 "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute my church?" 50:09 No, no, no, no, why do you persecute Me? 50:11 But wait a minute, Jesus have been in heaven 50:12 for the better part for four years. 50:14 In what sense was Saul persecuting Jesus? 50:17 Jesus was at the right hand of God in heaven. 50:19 How was Jesus being persecuted? 50:22 He was being persecuted in the body 50:25 because, listen, don't miss this. 50:26 The church had so identified with Jesus... 50:29 The church had so identified with Jesus 50:32 that to persecute the church was to persecute Christ. 50:35 Now follow the sequence and don't miss it. 50:37 Okay? It begins... What does it say? 50:39 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, 50:41 you recognize your spiritual property." 50:42 Are we together? 50:44 "Blessed are they that mourn that spiritual condition." 50:46 Right? "For they shall be comforted." 50:48 After you mourn that spiritual condition, 50:49 it's gives you an attitude of meekness. 50:51 And as you begin to treat others 50:53 the way that God has treated you, 50:54 earth becomes your home, heaven becomes your home. 50:56 "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." 50:57 But now you need something that you realize 50:59 you do not possess and can come only from God. 51:01 You're hungering and thirsting for righteousness 51:04 and you receive the righteousness 51:05 that can come only through the righteousness 51:06 of Christ by faith. 51:08 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 51:09 You receive the righteousness of God 51:10 and you realize that you received it 51:12 because God is merciful. 51:13 And when you begin to treat others 51:15 the way that God has treated you, 51:16 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be merciful. 51:18 And then he began to treat others 51:19 the way that God has treated you 51:21 and something begins to happen in your heart. 51:23 Your heart begins to be purified. 51:26 Your heart begins to be purified 51:27 when you reach out to others in ministry. 51:29 And as you began to reached out to others in ministry, 51:31 not just with meeting the physical needs 51:33 and those kinds of needs, 51:34 but you begin to bring the message 51:36 of the prince of peace, 51:37 you become a peacemaker just like Jesus, 51:39 who was the prince of peace. 51:40 Incidentally look at the second half of that. 51:42 It says, "Blessed are the peacemakers 51:43 for they shall be called," what? 51:45 "Sons of God." 51:46 Let me just paraphrase that for you. 51:47 "Blessed of the peacemaker for they shall be many Jesus'." 51:51 Because you're bringing 51:53 the message of the prince of peace. 51:54 They should be called sons of God. 51:55 But wait a minute, when we realized 51:57 that God has put us earth not to acquire SUV's 51:58 and boats and wardrobes and stock portfolios, 52:00 but God has put us on earth 52:02 to bring the Gospel to other people. 52:04 What is the inevitable consequence? 52:08 Persecution. 52:10 When there is a infilling of Christ 52:13 in an outpouring of yourself. 52:15 In other words, "Could you throw me my water bottle 52:17 from back there?" 52:19 Thank you so much, Robert. I appreciate that. 52:20 Okay, so this is you, right? This is you. 52:23 The Apostle Paul would say, you know, we're jars of clay. 52:26 Today he would say, you're a plastic water bottle. 52:28 Okay. 52:30 This thing is filled to the brim when you're borned. 52:31 It's filled to the brim with you. 52:34 Okay? 52:35 But if we take some sand 52:37 and we pour some sand into a water bottle 52:39 that is perfectly full, 52:40 so full that it even has a meniscus. 52:43 What happens to the water that's in? 52:46 Now, water is displaced precisely 52:48 to the degree that the new comes in. 52:50 But if we put another teaspoon of sand in, 52:52 then what happens to the water? 52:53 It's further displaced. 52:55 And if we put a cup of sand, then what happens to the water? 52:57 It's further displaced. 52:58 This is what's happening in this process 53:00 that Jesus is describing. 53:01 You're born full of self, but then you realized 53:04 that you're really spiritually impoverished. 53:05 And, as you begin to move 53:07 through the sequence of mourning 53:08 your spiritual condition 53:09 of reaching out to others and meekness 53:11 and realizing that you're the undeserving recipient 53:12 of the mercy of God 53:14 because you've hungered and thirst, 53:15 thirsted for righteousness. 53:16 You begin to treat others the way God has treated you. 53:18 As you go through this sequence of ministry, 53:20 you're being emptied and filled with Christ, 53:23 while self goes out. 53:26 And, when you come down to the end of that sequence, 53:28 apparently there is such an identification 53:30 with Christ here. 53:32 Such an identification with Christ 53:33 that prosecution is the inevitable result, 53:35 because just to be honest, 53:37 Satan can't effort to have you around anymore. 53:39 You see, we get this idea 53:40 that all Christians will be persecuted. 53:42 No, no, no. 53:43 Now, all Christians will be persecuted or being persecuted, 53:46 but not all church members and there is a distinction. 53:49 Being a church member does not make you a Christian, 53:51 not at all. 53:53 In fact, there are many people that, 53:55 they go to church and they wear the right cloths 53:57 and they say the right things, 53:58 but they're just members of kind of quasi Sabbath club. 54:00 But there's a huge difference 54:02 between being a members of our Sabbath club 54:03 and members of God's living, 54:05 breathing, active, mission minded church. 54:07 Are we together? 54:09 But these people are just filled, 54:10 so filled that Satan looks and says, 54:12 "I cannot effort to have these people around anymore." 54:16 And prosecution is the inevitable consequence, 54:18 because there's so little of self 54:19 and so much of Christ. 54:20 We call this process that Jesus in 18 years, 54:23 18 years in preparation. 54:25 Eighteen years in preparation. 54:27 Jesus begins basically by telling us, 54:29 how to get access to God. 54:32 Now go look at verse 3 again. 54:34 "Blessed are the poor in spirit for there is, 54:38 is the kingdom of heaven." 54:40 But take a look at the next versus 54:41 with me if you would. 54:43 Notice how the sequence changes 54:44 from the present tense to the future tense. 54:46 Verse 4. "Shall be comforted." 54:47 Verse 5, "Shall inherit the earth." 54:49 Verse 6, "Shall be filled." Verse 7, "Shall obtain mercy." 54:52 Verse 8, "Shall see God." 54:54 Verse 9, "Shall we called the sons of God." 54:56 But in verse 10, watch what happens. 54:58 "Blessed are the persecute. 54:59 Blessed are those who are persecuted 55:01 for righteousness sake, 55:02 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 55:06 Wait a minute. 55:08 All of the B attitudes 55:09 are constructed on an AB configuration. 55:11 And the, the first B attitudes A, 55:13 "Blessed are the poor, for there's, 55:14 is the kingdom of heaven." 55:15 Is present tense, and every other sequence, 55:17 future tense, future tense, future tense. 55:19 Shall be, shall be, shall be, 55:21 as you're moving through the sequence, 55:22 shall be, shall be, shall be. 55:24 These are promises to be realized, shall we. 55:26 But when you come to the end... 55:31 And you're so filled with the Spirit of Christ 55:32 that you're a threat to the kingdom of Satan. 55:34 Jesus says, "Blessed are those who had persecuted 55:36 for righteousness sake, for there is..." 55:39 He reverts back to the present tense. 55:41 But not only does He revert back to the present tense, 55:43 look at the promise for there's, is the what? 55:48 Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What did verse 3 say? 55:52 "Yours... 55:54 Surely you've notice with me that the promise 55:56 and verb tense in the very first part of the sequence 55:59 and the promise, 56:00 and the verb tense in the very last part of the sequence 56:02 are the same. 56:05 Beloved, we've answered our question. 56:08 We ask the question, 56:09 how does God relate to us in the meantime? 56:10 In that command, you're my friends 56:12 if you do whatsoever I have commanded you. 56:14 Jesus begins by saying that, 56:15 "If all you know was that you're sinner." 56:18 If you just recognize your spiritual poverty, 56:20 you might be a thief nailed to a cross, 56:22 you might be discouraged, you might be frustrated, 56:23 you might realize, you're a sinner and need of a Savior. 56:26 Jesus looks you today and He says, 56:27 "Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven." 56:30 And you and your journey, 56:31 you might be further along the track, 56:33 by the grace of God you might 56:34 down at this place and the sequence, 56:35 you might be at this point in the sequence. 56:37 At any point in the sequence, 56:39 Jesus can say to you in the strongest language, 56:41 yours is the kingdom of heaven. 56:44 And even if you by the grace of God 56:45 make it all the way to the end, 56:47 where you're such a threat to the kingdom of Satan, 56:49 so filled with the spirit of Christ 56:50 and so emptied itself, the reward is the same. 56:53 Jesus once told to parable and He said. 56:55 There was some people that went out on their work, 56:56 in the part of the day, they were paid the same 56:58 as those that worked in the middle 56:59 and those at the end. 57:01 Beloved, if you're in this sequence, 57:04 if you're in this sequence from conversion to translation, 57:08 if you're trusting to Jesus, 57:13 yours is the Kingdom of Heaven. |
Revised 2018-03-22