Participants: David Asscherick
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000984
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01:01 Good evening! Good evening!
01:03 June 3, 1996, a young man only 23 years of age, 01:11 a former extreme sports enthusiast, 01:14 punk rocker turned his life over to Jesus Christ 01:19 and he was baptized into the 01:20 Seventh-day Adventist church. 01:22 Now, this was after he had been nurtured with excellent 01:27 vegetarian food at a restaurant by one, 01:30 that was owned by one of our ASI members Mary Bernt. 01:35 This was in Rapid City, South Dakota, 01:38 and she didn't just nurture them with food, 01:42 she gave them spiritual food 01:44 and good advice as well. 01:45 In a kind mothering way she shared advice 01:48 and she shared books, 01:50 including the great controversy 01:53 and this convicted him of the truth. 01:57 Then he went on to join Mission College 02:00 of Evangelism that was run by another 02:03 one of our ASI members Louis Torres. 02:06 Fast forward three years for him, 02:09 but 11 years ago for us. We were here in Orlando, 02:13 Florida for ASI, some of you remember that 02:16 and we held our first youth for Jesus program 02:20 here in Orlando. And this young man 02:23 was our first speaker for the ASI Youth for Jesus. 02:27 Most of us had never ever heard of his name, 02:30 but I'm pretty sure most of you 02:33 have heard of his name now. 02:35 I remember also that very many people thought 02:37 it wasn't a good idea for us to hold that meeting 02:40 in a tent in August, in Florida. 02:43 Well, yes it was air conditioned, 02:46 so that was okay. 02:47 And that young man held these meetings they were 02:51 so well received that over 200 people were baptized 02:55 that year. And Youth for Jesus for the first time 02:59 became a recognized part of ASI from then on. 03:04 Out of that Youth for Jesus many of our own youth 03:07 have become workers for the Lord, 03:09 they have gone on to be leaders in evangelism, 03:12 leaders in GYC our General Youth Conference. 03:17 They have gone onto business in evangelism 03:20 and medicine. And hundreds of people 03:23 that we had never met before have become 03:25 Seventh-day Adventists through their work. 03:27 Well, these young man we're talking about 03:29 of course you probably know is David Asscherick. 03:33 He was then asked to join the Michigan Conference 03:36 as a pastor of a brand new congregation 03:38 and that congregation came about 03:41 because of another Youth for Jesus program in 2002 03:46 up in Michigan. So, we are very pleased about that 03:50 and right after that soon after he started 03:54 another program called ARISE, which trains 03:57 many thousands of other young people, 03:59 about one and half years ago he moved to, 04:04 Sonora, California which is in the 04:06 Northern California Conference 04:07 and during the last eight years over 7000 people 04:13 have been through his programs 04:15 and many, many others have been trained 04:18 for short time periods. 04:20 Well, David is a wonderful young man 04:23 we wish him all love, 04:25 he is married to Violeta Asscherick. 04:27 She is the lovely daughter of wonderful Romanian parents 04:31 that are also ASI members 04:34 they came here many years ago from Romania 04:36 with their five children. 04:38 And they have participated themselves 04:40 in many evangelism programs around the world. 04:43 David and Violeta they have two boys, 04:46 they are Landon age 9, and Jabel age 7. 04:49 And so after the special music tonight 04:52 we are so happy and thrilled to be able to 04:55 welcome our keynote speaker David Asscherick 04:58 as he shares with us the bread of life like 05:02 he was shared many years ago himself. Amen. 05:20 Face to face with Christ my Savior, 05:30 Face to face, what will it be, 05:41 When with rapture I behold Him, 05:50 Jesus Christ, who died for me? 06:01 Face to face I shall behold Him, 06:12 Far beyond the starry sky; 06:21 Face to face in all His glory 06:35 I shall see Him by and by! 06:54 It may be at morn, when the day is awaking, 07:03 When sunlight through darkness and shadow 07:11 is breaking, When Jesus will come in the fullness 07:23 of glory To receive from the world His own. 07:37 O Lord Jesus, how long, how long 07:48 Ere we shout the glad song? 07:52 Christ returneth, Hallelujah! 08:01 Hallelujah, hallelujah, Amen, hallelujah, Amen 08:21 Face to face shall I behold Him, 08:32 Far beyond the starry sky; 08:41 Face to face in all His glory 08:55 I shall see Him by and by! 09:24 Amen, thank you very much. Good evening, everyone? 09:28 Nice to see you here at ASI, 09:30 I have been sitting just over there adjacent 09:32 to where you're at. 09:33 And I have noticed that you seem at least to me 09:36 to be a little subdued, 09:37 which for me is uncharacteristic of ASI. 09:40 So, is it jet lag or are you feeling just pensive? 09:46 And yes my observation is further confirmed, 09:49 nice to be here. Forgive me, 09:57 but this, this ambiance,this, 09:59 this department is going to work for me. 10:01 So, hopefully we can muster 10:04 a little of enthusiasm for the Lord Jesus Christ 10:07 and his work on earth, amen. Amen. 10:08 There have been some profound and powerful 10:11 and heart moving testimonies 10:13 I have been thrilled as I have heard what God 10:16 is doing in the world and I have been a little surprised 10:19 maybe you need just a little spanking as we begin. 10:22 I have been a little surprised 10:24 at your pensivity. And so I would urge you 10:27 to participate with me in an enthusiastic study 10:32 of the word of God, can you say amen to that? Amen. 10:35 Incidentally the word enthusiasm, 10:37 if you're interested in the etymology of that word 10:40 actually comes from two words en meaning in 10:42 and theos meaning God, the word 10:45 enthusiasm literally means the joy and attitude 10:48 that comes from being in an relationship with God. 10:51 And so when people tell me 10:53 Oh! I like you're an enthusiastic preacher, 10:55 I say, I'm trying my best, I'm trying to be in a saving 10:59 and happy relationship with God. 11:01 Our message today is a very important one 11:03 and really it sort of just matures 11:08 and tries to put some legs on the things 11:12 that we've been hearing tonight, 11:13 put some legs on our lessons 11:14 and on feet on our faith. 11:15 And so what we are going to try and do is paint 11:18 a Biblical theological picture 11:20 for the very kinds of things 11:22 that we have been hearing tonight the testimonies 11:24 and the experiences of God's people 11:26 and really frankly for what ASI is all about. 11:30 I have had the privilege of being involved with ASI 11:32 for the last almost 15 years, 11:34 can you say amen to that? Amen. 11:35 And from the very beginning of my conversion to Christ, 11:37 very beginning of my conversion 11:39 to Seventh-day Adventism. 11:41 ASI has been part in parcel of my life and my ministry 11:44 and it is an honor to have been asked to be here 11:47 for the keynote address. 11:48 And so what we are going to try 11:49 and do is encapsulate Biblically, theologically 11:52 tonight in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, 11:55 what ASI is all about? 11:57 And so we are going to begin appropriately 11:59 with a word of prayer and then we are going 12:01 to beginning into, you did bring your Bibles 12:03 of course. Amen. Yes, yes, 12:04 I know you have your little programs 12:07 and you've got all of your, well you're beginning 12:09 to get your various ASI accouterments, 12:11 but you are going to need your Bibles tonight. 12:13 So, let's begin with a word of prayer 12:15 and then we will get into our presentation titled, 12:17 Blessed Are the Peacemakers. 12:20 Let's pray together. 12:23 Father in heaven, it is a great privilege 12:25 and an honor to be here this evening. 12:28 Father, we are gathered together in keeping 12:30 with the promise of Hebrews chapter 10 12:32 which should tells us that we should gather together 12:34 more and still more as we see the day approaching. 12:38 And Father, surely we are living in strange 12:40 and pretentious times, unusual times. 12:43 As we look around us the world seems to be falling 12:45 apart it seems, but Father, 12:47 we pray that as the world falls apart increasingly 12:50 that we would not be falling apart with it, 12:53 but that we would be complete, 12:54 that we would behold, that we would be, 12:56 that we would be joined together in Christ 12:59 and in his righteousness. 13:02 Father here at the ASI convention you know, 13:04 that we are about the up building of the kingdom 13:07 of God and we are about the correct 13:10 and enthusiastic proclamation 13:13 of the character of God. 13:14 And so Father tonight as we seek to set these two gems 13:18 in their proper orientation, as we seek to understand 13:21 what that means the kingdom of God 13:23 and the character of God. 13:25 Father, I pray that we would be able tonight 13:28 to be able to say that we are each kingdom builders 13:30 and peacemakers. I want to thank you for every person 13:34 that has testified, every experience that 13:36 we've heard tonight Father, prosper 13:38 these ministries the outreach there at Heritage Academy 13:41 and the Watch the Hills Team 13:43 and the AII mission and all of the others 13:45 that were mentioned Father, 13:46 may you prosper us as we seek in our own feeble 13:50 and often faulty ways to build your kingdom. 13:54 Father, help us to be not just kingdom builders, 13:56 but kingdom participants that we ourselves 13:59 may say with Apostle Paul 14:01 that our citizenship is in heaven. 14:04 So, please Father tonight as we kick off 14:07 our inaugural keynote address we pray 14:10 that it would be a spirited presentation. 14:12 And that you would empty us of self 14:15 and empty us of our own desires to advance 14:18 our kingdoms and our glory. 14:21 And that we would be here desiring only the goodness 14:23 and glory of your kingdom and your son. 14:28 So, be with us now as we open your word 14:30 may you open us is our prayer in Jesus name, 14:33 let all of God's people say, amen. Amen. 14:38 I would like to invite you to open your Bibles 14:40 with me to the Book of Matthew. 14:41 We are going to the Book of Matthew 14:42 and we are going to chapter 7. 14:44 Matthew chapter 7, we are going to be spending 14:48 the balance of our time tonight, 14:50 in fact almost of our time in what is referred 14:52 to commonly and colloquially though not scripturally 14:55 as the Sermon on the Mount. 14:58 We refer to it simply that way because Jesus 15:01 delivered this sermon, this inaugural public 15:04 address from, you guessed it, a mountain. 15:06 We are going to be looking here in 15:08 Matthew 5 and 6 and 7, but primarily 15:11 Matthew chapter 5, the first part of 15:13 Matthew chapter 5. 15:14 And we are going to be trying to under, 15:16 we are going to try and understand 15:18 what Jesus was communicating in the 15:21 opening part of this address what, 15:24 that we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. 15:26 Now, in order to do that what 15:28 we are going to try and do is 15:29 listen to the sermon on the mount 15:31 contextually. What's the word everyone? 15:34 Contextually. Contextually; 15:36 now of the most difficult things to do 15:37 for someone living in the 21st century, 15:38 for myself and for each of us is to 15:41 read the Bible in a contextual way, 15:44 it can be very easy for us to 15:46 read the Bible with a 21st century 15:47 perspective to read the Bible 15:49 with a modern perspective, when it is 15:51 true that the Bible has a great deal of 15:53 modern application. Can we say amen 15:56 to that everyone? Amen. 15:57 But there can be no question 15:58 that the Bible is an ancient book 15:59 that needs to first be understood 16:01 in it's original context and after 16:03 we've understood what was meant 16:05 then we can then ask the question 16:06 what it means now? Now, 16:09 we are going to what is referred 16:10 to simply as the sermon on the mount 16:11 and this is Jesus' first public address 16:13 as we've already said. Now, 16:15 in the gospel of Matthew, 16:16 More so than Mark, Luke, or John, 16:18 Jesus sets Matthew rather as an 16:21 author sets up the sermon on the mount 16:23 as a sort of sequence in which Jesus 16:26 is seen as the new fulfillment of Israel. 16:29 And not just as the fulfillment of Israel, 16:31 but as he is sort of tracing the chronological, 16:35 historical steps that Israel had gone through, 16:38 Jesus is presented as the messiah. 16:40 Matthew does this purposefully, 16:41 evangelistically and certainly apologetically 16:44 just to give a little bit of a context here. 16:46 For example, in ancient Israel, 16:48 the way that Israel originally ended up 16:51 going into Egypt prior to 16:53 the Exodus was that a man 16:54 name Joseph had dreams. 16:56 What was his name everyone? Joseph. 16:58 His name was Joseph. 16:59 A man named Joseph had dreams and 17:01 in the context of those dreams the children 17:03 of Israel literally the descendants 17:05 of Jacob went into Egypt for a time, 17:07 they remained there for a time. 17:08 And then they were called out 17:10 of Egypt and we refer to this simply 17:12 as the Exodus or the leaving of Egypt. 17:15 Hosea refers to this. 17:16 Hosea the prophet, in Hosea chapter 11, 17:18 verses 1 and 2. When it says, 17:20 out of Egypt I have called my son. 17:22 And so Israel here is not just a 17:24 únational entity, but, but an entity 17:27 in which it takes on the position of sonship, 17:29 it is a child of God and Egypt, 17:32 Israel that had gone into Egypt because 17:34 of a man name Joseph having dreams 17:36 remained in Egypt for a time. Now, 17:38 as the children of Israel are then 17:40 called out of Egypt, the very first 17:42 experience that they have as they're 17:44 leaving Egypt the ten plagues are 17:45 fallen is they meet this major obstacle 17:47 known as the Red Sea. 17:49 What's the obstacle everyone? The Red Sea. 17:52 The Red Sea, and they passed through the 17:54 Red Sea. Now, the Apostle Paul 17:56 in First Corinthians chapter 10, 17:57 picks up on this imagery and 17:59 says that as they pass through the Red Sea, 18:01 they were all, I wonder if anyone 18:03 knows, there were all, 18:04 he gives us the theological application, 18:05 they were all baptized in the Red Sea. 18:09 And so he makes the application here 18:10 that the passing through the Red Sea 18:12 was analogous to the New Testament 18:14 experience of a believer being baptized. 18:16 And so he sees them coming 18:18 through and he says, this is the baptism. 18:20 Now, I just have to ask a quick true 18:21 or false question here. True or false, 18:23 it was God's plan for Israel 18:25 to wander in the desert for 40 years. 18:28 False. Okay, false very good. 18:29 So, his plan was for them to go 18:32 from the passing through the Red Sea 18:35 to a certain place, to a certain location 18:38 and what was that location, 18:39 who remembers? To Mount Sinai. 18:42 Sinai. Okay, the distance according to the 18:45 to the Book of Exodus, 18:46 the time that is took them, 18:47 the duration that it took them 18:48 from the Red Sea passing to Mount Sinai 18:51 was just about a month, roughly a month 18:54 give or take. It could have been 18:55 40 days, which will become important 18:57 in just a moment. And so, let's just 18:59 sort of take stock of what we've got, 19:00 a man named Joseph has dreams 19:02 and the children of Israel go into 19:05 Egypt where they remain for a time 19:08 and then they are called out of Egypt 19:10 in the first experience that they pass 19:11 through is the. Red Sea. Red Sea, 19:13 the first significant experience. 19:14 The first significant obstacle then 19:16 from the Red Sea, they go through 19:17 a wilderness period of wandering 19:19 actually just a wilderness journey through 19:21 the wilderness of sin and they come 19:23 to Mount Sinai. So, get the sequence 19:25 in your mind. Now, we know that 19:27 after Mount Sinai, the children of Israel 19:29 were going to wander in the wilderness 19:30 for some 40 years, but this 19:31 was not part of God's original plan. 19:33 God's original plan goes like this, 19:35 into Egypt remain in Egypt, 19:37 out of Egypt through the Red Sea, 19:39 through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, 19:41 are we together everyone, 19:43 yes or no? Now, Jesus walks through 19:46 this I believe intentionally and other 19:48 scholars share that prospective Jesus 19:50 walks through this basic prospective 19:53 intentionally and Matthew. 19:55 More than Mark, more than Luke, 19:56 more than John sets forward Jesus 19:59 as the messiah, as the New Israel 20:01 and opens his gospel basically Matthew 20:03 chapter 1, Matthew chapter 2, 20:04 of course Matthew chapter 1 is the beget. 20:06 But then Matthew chapter at the end 20:08 of chapter 1 and end of chapter 2 20:09 is a man named Joseph having dreams 20:11 and the angel says, take the child where? 20:15 Take the child into Egypt, 20:18 remain there for a time and then 20:19 when the person that sort to do 20:21 him harm Herod is dead then 20:23 he is called what? Out of Egypt, 20:25 that's Matthew chapters 1 and 2. Now, 20:28 what Bible student wants to tell me, 20:29 what takes place in Matthew chapter 3, 20:31 Matthew chapter 3, there is an event 20:34 that takes place there it is the baptism, 20:37 baptism very good, thank you. 20:38 And so, here we have in the Egypt, 20:40 remain in Egypt called out of Egypt 20:42 through the baptism experience that's 20:44 Matthew chapter 3. Now, you tell me 20:46 what happens in Matthew chapter 4? 20:47 The temptation in the wilderness 20:52 it lasts for 40 days, 20:54 which is analogous to you or corresponds 20:56 to the 40 days in the, 40 years 20:58 in the wilderness, but again we 20:59 want to remind ourselves that was not 21:00 part of God's plan. Some wilderness wandering, 21:03 some wilderness traveling was 21:04 part of God's plan, but it would have 21:06 been simply the amount of time 21:07 to traverse to, to move from the 21:11 Red Sea experience to what was 21:13 the next place that we are 21:14 going after they passed through 21:15 the wilderness? To Mount Sinai, 21:17 and so notice the corollaries 21:19 here Matthew sets this forth in his 21:20 gospel intentionally. The child Jesus goes 21:23 into Egypt remains there for a time, 21:24 he is called out of Egypt incidentally 21:26 Matthew makes this identical application himself. 21:28 Matthew has a favorite word that he 21:31 Uses over-and -over-and-over 21:32 again in his gospel. In fact, 21:34 he uses it more than Mark, 21:35 Luke, and John combined and his word is fulfilled. 21:37 The word is what everyone? Fulfilled. 21:40 Fulfilled, what Matthew begins 21:42 to do is the same thing that Paul 21:43 also loved to do, is he begins 21:45 to read experiences and incidences and 21:47 passages from the Old Testament 21:49 and he begins to take them and put 21:50 them in a new frame, in a new setting 21:52 and he says, this happened so 21:54 that it might be fulfilled and then 21:55 he gives a messianic application. 21:57 This happen that it might be fulfilled 21:59 then he gives a fulfillment in Christ. 22:00 This happened and it might be 22:02 fulfilled and this just comes up 22:03 over-and-over-and-over again in the gospel 22:04 of Matthew that it might be fulfilled, 22:06 that it might be fulfilled that it might 22:07 be fulfilled, in fact the passage 22:08 that we just mentioned a moment ago. 22:09 Hosea chapter 11, verses 1 and 2 22:11 that originally applied to Israel going into Egypt, 22:14 out of Egypt I have called my son, 22:16 Matthew takes that passage and says, 22:18 this was fulfilled in Jesus. 22:20 And so the basic sequence 22:22 of a man named Joseph has dreams 22:24 into Egypt, remain in Egypt, 22:26 out of Egypt passed through the 22:27 Red Sea baptism experience, 22:29 then into the wilderness 40 days 22:30 and then into the mountain 22:32 or toward the mountain is a basic 22:34 apologetic structure. It's Matthew 22:37 setting forth his gospel in an 22:39 apologetic evangelistic sense to 22:41 show you that Jesus is the messiah. 22:43 Are we together, yes or no? 22:46 That this is the God, he is fulfilling 22:47 step-by-step, point-by-point, 22:50 the national ambitions and over 22:52 coming the national failures of Israel. 22:54 Now, here's the amazing thing, 22:55 this is where, where it gets right 22:57 to where we want to be? Who 22:59 was it, Oh! Tell, tell me just a 23:00 very simple question here, what 23:02 was the significance of Mount Sinai? 23:03 I just your enthusiasm is just disturbing, 23:10 your lack of enthusiasm is just astonishing, 23:12 this is the ASI convent, this was not 23:14 an insurance seminar, I don't know 23:19 what to say, I'm a little stupefied here. 23:21 So, let's try that again, the 23:22 significance of the Sinai experience 23:26 was what? What happened there? 23:27 Okay, they receive the law and the law 23:29 was written on tables of, stone, with 23:32 the fingers of, God. Now, here is the question, 23:34 whose finger was that? God. 23:36 They say God's, more precisely whose 23:39 finger was that? That's the finger 23:41 of Jesus. Amen, amen. 23:42 That's the finger of Jesus, now the Father 23:45 was certainly there that's clear, 23:46 but Jesus is the one there who is 23:48 communing with Moses, who is 23:49 writing and so here is a very fascinating 23:51 that is happening, what we 23:52 basically do is move through this sequence, 23:54 the history of Israel in which we go 23:56 from Egypt through the Red Sea 23:58 experience, is exactly what happens? 23:59 This is Matthew 1, this is Matthew 2, 24:01 Matthew 3, is the baptism, Matthew chapter 24:02 4 is the wilderness experience, 24:04 Matthew 5, 6, and 7 is the New 24:07 Testament Sinai. Matthew 5, 6, and 24:11 7 is the New Testament Sinai, 24:13 Jesus in the Old Testament. 24:14 Exodus chapter 20, writing with his 24:17 finger on tablets of stone is now in 24:19 Matthew 5, 6 and 7 saying things like this. 24:22 You have heard that it was said 24:25 by them of old time, but I say unto you. 24:28 Here Jesus, the lawgiver from Exodus 24:31 chapter 20, is the law explicator, 24:34 the law expositor. He is basically 24:36 saying, this is what the law 24:38 means? Are we together 24:40 everyone yes or no? Amen, amen. Now, 24:42 here is the significant thing for 24:44 Jesus to stand up and uses this 24:46 referring incidentally six times in the 24:48 gospel of Matthew, six times 24:50 he says this. You have heard, 24:52 but I say, you have heard, 24:54 but I say, you have heard, but I say. 24:58 Jesus very clearly here, very purposefully 25:01 and very unambiguously is setting 25:03 himself against. Setting himself 25:06 what word did I say everyone? 25:08 Setting himself over and against the 25:10 prevailing religious opinions of the day, 25:12 that's what he is doing. 25:13 You have heard, but I'm saying, 25:14 you have heard, but I'm saying. 25:17 Jesus here is the, he is on 25:19 top of the New Sinai. 25:20 He is on top of the New Sinai, 25:22 the sermon on the mount is the 25:23 New Sinai in which God is not, no, no, no, 25:27 in no way undoing or obfuscating 25:29 what was done in the Old Testament, 25:30 he is clarifying and elucidating what 25:33 had been lost sight of during this 25:34 period of Jewish apostasy. Now, 25:37 to sort of set the context here 25:39 a little bit, we need to understand 25:40 that when Jesus would have 25:41 stood on top of the New Sinai 25:43 and top of the sermon on the 25:44 mount or the, the mountain from 25:46 he would preach the sermon on the mount. 25:47 How old approximately would he 25:49 have been? Sort of 60, okay sort 25:53 of 30 years old. Now, we need 25:55 to try and understand, here's what 25:57 we are trying to do, we are trying 25:58 to understand the sermon on the 26:00 mount in it's historical context, 26:02 in it's Biblical context, in it's 26:05 what everyone? In it's Biblical and 26:07 historical context and so when 26:09 Jesus stands up, he is approximately 30 years 26:12 old by his, by the standard of 26:14 his own culture, he is a whippersnapper, 26:16 he is a kid, he could have been 26:18 as young as 27 or 28, the Bible says, 26:19 he was about 30. So, he stands 26:21 up there unmarried and therefore 26:23 disqualified just by virtue of his 26:27 non-married status from being 26:28 a member of the Sanhedrin, 26:29 he had not been to the school 26:31 of the scribes, he had not been 26:32 to the school of the Pharisees. 26:33 In other words, he hadn't been 26:34 to seminary. Here is the question, 26:36 what was then his preparation 26:37 to stand up and have temerity? 26:40 Have the audacity to say to Israel 26:43 you have heard, but I say, 26:45 you have heard, but I say, you 26:47 have heard, but I say unto you. 26:49 What would have been his earthly preparation? 26:52 What was he doing prior to standing 26:55 up as this proactive young Rabbi? 26:57 What was he doing? He was a carpenter. 26:59 He was the son of a carpenter. 27:02 Now, you, you need to sort 27:04 of get this in your mind's eye, 27:05 here is Jesus day in, day out, 27:07 right accept for the Sabbath sawing 27:09 and measuring and hammering, 27:12 but ever since the age of 12, 27:15 Jesus had known that this is 27:16 not what God had put him 27:17 on earth to do primarily. Amen. Now, 27:19 this is intimated in the gospel of Luke, 27:21 but communicated expressly in the 27:24 Book of Desire of Ages, it's 27:25 intimated in Luke. In fact, in Luke 27:27 chapters 2 and 3, and especially 27:29 Luke chapter 2, Jesus goes to 27:31 the temple. He goes to the 27:33 what everyone? Temple. 27:34 He goes to the temple and how old is he, 27:36 keeping with Jewish tradition and keeping 27:37 with Jewish, he was 12 years old, 27:39 very good. So, Jesus is brought 27:40 to the temple at the age of 12 27:42 and at the age of 12, he has a realization. 27:45 He sees the lamb being slain, 27:48 he sees that with his own eye, 27:50 he sees the Paschal lamb being 27:51 slain and he has a moment here, 27:53 he has a, he has a Revelation, 27:54 he has no epiphany, again this 27:56 hinted at in Luke and communicated 27:58 expressly in the Desire of Ages. 27:59 He realizes under the assumption 28:01 of the spirit and through his own 28:02 study of the scriptures. That Lamb 28:04 is you, you are the Lamb. Now, 28:07 many, many, many years later 28:09 his elder cousin John would eventually say, 28:11 behold the Lamb of God that takes 28:15 away the sin of the world, but at 28:16 some point there was a realization. 28:18 To sort of set a little bit of a context here, 28:21 when Jesus was a young boy and 28:23 he was sitting on Mary's lap, when 28:25 Jesus was sitting on Mary's lap 28:27 at the age of two, at the age of three, 28:28 at the age of four. Jesus is not saying 28:30 to Mary, Mary, let me tell you 28:33 what it was like in the celestial 28:35 glories before eternity begin, 28:38 let me, no, no, no, no, no 28:40 there is some instruction going on here, 28:42 but it's from Jesus toward Mary. 28:44 Mary is saying to Jesus, Jesus, 28:47 let me tell you of the extraordinary 28:49 circumstances surrounding your birth, 28:51 let me tell you of the angel that 28:52 appeared and it would be Mary that 28:54 was communicating to Jesus and 28:55 so Jesus would be learning. Amen. 28:58 Jesus would be what everyone? Learning. 29:00 Learning, we, we, we sometimes 29:01 read the Bible in a very 29:03 anachronistic way, we read the Bible 29:04 from a 21st century perspective, 29:06 we read the Bible and, and we basically, 29:10 we already know Jesus died, 29:11 he buried, and he was rose again 29:12 and we read assuming that that 29:13 everybody in their original chronological 29:16 context understood that, they didn't know that. 29:17 Here is Jesus learning from Mary 29:21 and Jesus would have said to Mary, 29:22 or Mary would have said to Jesus, 29:24 you are an extraordinary boy, 29:25 these are the circumstances surrounding your birth. 29:28 You're the messiah, she would have 29:29 believe that, she would have had 29:30 faith in that, she would have 29:31 exercised it and at some point, 29:32 the three year old Jesus, 29:34 the four year old Jesus, the five year old Jesus, 29:36 it's time for him as the 12 year old Jesus 29:38 to go to the temple, but when the 29:40 12 year old Jesus comes to the 29:42 temple and he sees the lamb 29:48 being slain. In some fundamental 29:52 and revelatory way, he 29:54 realizes that's me, I'm the guy. 30:03 Again John the Baptist his elder cousin would 30:05 later confirm something that Jesus had known for 30:07 many years, when he was sawing, when he was 30:09 measuring, when he was pounding? So, here's Jesus. 30:14 His preparation for standing on the New Sinai, 30:17 his preparation for say you have heard, 30:19 but I say, you have heard, but I say, 30:23 his preparation was he was a carpenter. 30:26 He had not been to the school of the scribes, 30:27 or the schools of the Pharisees, he was a carpenter 30:30 and at some point, Jesus would have known beginning 30:32 at about the age of 12 and to approximately the 30:34 age of 30. So, the better part of 20 years, 30:36 he would have known one day, he is gonna lay that 30:39 saw down. And one day he is gonna take that hammer 30:44 and hang it up. And one day he is going to take that, 30:47 take measure that yarn, roll it up and put it away, 30:49 not for the evening, not for the weekend, not for the 30:51 Sabbath, but for good and he is going to take 30:54 off the garb of, of a carpenter he is going take off 30:57 his carpentry clothes, his carpentry garb and he is 31:00 going to in the minds and estimation of many, 31:02 presumptuously put on the garb of a Rabbi and an 31:06 instructor and here Matthew paints the picture, 31:09 he paints this apologetic, evangelistic picture of Jesus 31:12 tracing point-by-point, step-by-step right through 31:15 the history of national Israel until eventually in 31:18 Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, Jesus as the new messiah 31:22 arrives on top, not as the new messiah, 31:24 but as the messiah arrives on top of the New Sinai, 31:28 and has the temerity and the audacity to say, 31:31 you have heard, but I say. Now, try and hear that 31:37 through a first century perspective. We don't know 31:40 how many people would gather there, maybe 31:41 several hundreds perhaps as many as a thousand 31:43 or more, probably a crowd smaller than this, 31:45 but the just imagine that you are sitting there on 31:47 the gentle sloping hillside and here comes this 31:49 proactive young Rabbi. Now, there is a kind of sense 31:51 of electricity and excitement about this guy. 31:54 Some people had heard a rumor that he had gone 31:56 to a wedding in Cana and water had actually been 31:59 turned to wine, but you know, these things are 32:01 hard to believe. Somebody else had actually claim 32:03 to been to his baptism and in the context of his 32:05 baptism they thought they had heard a voice from 32:08 heaven saying, can you believe it, this is my beloved 32:11 son in whom I am well pleased, but others said, 32:12 no, no, no, no, it's just thunder. And so there was 32:14 this kind of sense of, of anticipation and electricity 32:18 as Jesus stands to the front and begins to speak. 32:21 Who is this guy? There was a sense of awareness, 32:23 there was a sense of electricity, there was a sense 32:25 of expectation in the air. And so try and sit there 32:28 in your mind's eye on that gently sloping hill and 32:31 listen to Jesus, not as somebody who knows how 32:34 the story turns out. The people who have heard 32:37 Jesus in this context, they didn't know he was gonna 32:39 die and be buried and rising, they didn't know that. 32:42 Who is this guy? Who does this guy thing he is? 32:45 And frankly just to be perfectly candid or not 32:47 irrelevant at all. The only thing you could have 32:49 thought probably in the context of that initial 32:52 presentation of Jesus as the messiah to Israel who 32:55 had been looking forward to him from more than 32:57 a thousand years to messiah. The only thing you 32:59 probably could have thought is who does he think 33:01 he is? Like seriously, who does he think he is? 33:04 Incidentally Matthew wants you to know that that's 33:06 exactly what people were thinking and he tells 33:09 you that in Matthew chapter 7, verses 28 and 29. 33:11 Last two verses of Matthew chapter 7. 33:14 Matthew was very intentional about recording 33:16 the response of the people and take a look at the 33:19 response of the people in Matthew chapter 7. 33:22 It says, Matthew chapter 7 verses 28 and 29, 33:24 and so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings, 33:27 in context the Sermon on the Mount. "When Jesus had 33:29 ended these sayings, that the people were, 33:32 what does your Bible say? The people were.. 33:35 Astonished. Astonished at his teaching." 33:37 Now, you give me some synonym for astonished, 33:39 they were, they were amazed, they were surprised, 33:44 they were, where they shocked. So, the people 33:46 were shocked, they were surprised, 33:48 they were amazed, they were, the people were 33:50 amazed at his sayings. According to verse 29, 33:53 what was the source of their astonishment? 33:56 Take a look at verse 29, what was the source 33:58 of their astonishment? "For he taught them as one 34:02 having authority and not as the, as the 34:07 scribes and the Pharisees. No, wonder Jesus six 34:09 times, six times purposely he would have thought 34:14 about this. This was not some haphazard, 34:16 fly-by-the-seat-of-your -pants, serendipitous, 34:18 we'll see how it works out. No, no, no, no, no, 34:21 Jesus for years is thinking about this presentation. 34:25 Jesus is sawing, but his mind is on the mountain, 34:28 Jesus is measuring, but his mind was on the 34:30 mountain, Jesus is hammering, but his mind 34:32 was on the mountain. And so when Jesus steps 34:34 forward on top of the New Sinai to begin to 34:37 announce his kingdom and announce the character 34:39 of God. He is absolutely intentional, he is what word 34:43 everyone? Intentional. You have been hearing, 34:46 but I say. You have been, but I say, you have heard 34:51 that it was said by them of old time, thou shall 34:52 not committed adultery, but I say unto you that 34:53 who so ever looketh on a woman, to lusted after 34:55 her have committed adultery with her already in his 34:57 heart, you have been hearing, but I'm telling you 34:59 something different. Jesus here sets himself up in 35:04 a radical and revelatory, but even more than that. 35:09 It's more than radical and it's more than revelatory, 35:11 there is a another world that starts with an 'R' 35:13 I would like to submit to you here, but in the 35:14 context of submitting this word, let me read you 35:16 a simple statement from the book, Thoughts From the 35:19 Mounts of Blessing. What's the book everyone? 35:22 Thoughts From the Mounts of Blessing, page 147. 35:25 "His words Sermon on the Mount had struck at the 35:29 very root of their former ideas and opinions, 35:32 the very root; to obey His teaching would require 35:37 a change in all, let's say that word together, 35:40 would require a change in all their habits of thought 35:43 and action." In other words, this is totally radical, 35:46 the root word of radical literally means root. 35:48 When we say something is radical it means that 35:50 its root is it is fundamentally different, it, it would 35:53 require a change in all of their habits of thought and 35:56 action, it would bring them into collision with their 36:00 religious teachers. Now, listen to this, "For it would 36:04 involve the overthrow of the whole structure that for 36:10 generations the rabbis had been rearing. To obey Jesus 36:15 would require a change in all of their habits of 36:18 thought and action. Because it would require the 36:21 overthrow of the whole structure that for generations 36:25 the rabbis had been rearing. Now, you tell me what 36:26 is that sound like? The overthrow of, of rabbinical 36:30 religious structure, what's the word, what's the 36:32 word? That's a revolution. You see, what Jesus is 36:37 doing on Mount Sinai as not merely revelatory, 36:39 he is not merely revealing, it's not merely radical, 36:42 he is not laying acts of the root of the tree, 36:44 what Jesus is doing is absolutely, patently, 36:47 unequivocally, revolutionary. Amen. When Ellen White 36:50 uses the language, the overthrowing of whole 36:52 structure that the general, that the rabbis have been 36:55 ruling for generations, that's a revolution. 36:59 Jesus knows that he had stepped into a very precarious 37:02 place. Now, let's paint historically this very 37:04 precarious location into which Jesus has just 37:06 stepped, not merely as a man, but he is the son 37:09 of God come as the messiah. The Jews believe there 37:13 were the promised people of God, they, they were 37:15 the chosen people of God, this, this attachment to 37:19 Abraham and God's call of Abraham was so, was so 37:22 part of he Jewish psyche that in one occasion, 37:25 when John the baptized was preaching he 37:26 anticipated their objection. John the baptized is 37:29 preaching his heart out and he anticipates the 37:30 objectives. Don't even begin to say within yourselves 37:35 that we have Abraham as our father, for verily I 37:37 say unto you that God is able to raise up children of 37:39 Abraham from his very stones. There was this sort 37:43 of expectation, there was this sense I'm a Jew, 37:47 I'm genealogically, Historically related to Abraham 37:50 and I'm a person of God, I'm a child of God by virtue 37:54 of my Jewishness, are we together everyone, 37:56 yes or no? And so, so just imagine the cognitive 38:01 dissonance that would have existed in first century 38:03 Judaism. When you are the chosen people of God 38:07 and yet you know, that your history, your history 38:09 is basically a history of successive subjugations to 38:13 pagan powers, you're the chosen people of God, 38:16 but you're in subjection to Egypt. You're the chosen 38:18 people of God, but you're in subjection to the 38:20 Babylonians, you're the chosen people of God, 38:22 but you're in subjection to the Persians, you're 38:23 chosen people of God, but you're in subjection to the 38:26 Greeks, you're the chosen people of God, 38:27 but now you're in subjection to Rome, can you 38:29 begin to see the cognitive dissonance that would 38:31 emerge, we are the chosen people of God, 38:33 and they remind of fact that our history is littered 38:35 is basically one grand story of folly being in 38:39 subjection to a pagan nation, are we together everyone, 38:42 yes or no? We're trying to deal with that cognitive 38:45 dissonance was the primary ply to first, 38:48 second and third century Judaism. Pre B.C. I'm 38:51 talking B.C., first century, second century and third 38:53 century Judaism B.C. Now, in order to try and 38:57 cope into this, to cope with this issue and this 38:59 vacuum into what Jesus is speaking, here is Jesus. 39:02 He is speaking into a situation. Jesus is not merely 39:05 speaking into a 21st century situation, 39:07 he's not just talking for talking sake, Jesus is 39:10 intentional here and he speaking into a situation. 39:13 The situation into what Jesus is speaking is that 39:16 Israel's absolutely confused, has been for the better 39:18 part of the thousand years in different camps 39:20 that sort of emerge to help Israel deal with this 39:23 cognitive dissonance. How do we continually, 39:26 proudly, and in the context of the New Testament 39:29 often self righteously say, we are the chosen 39:31 people of God and yet we are in subjection to 39:33 Rome, which is just the latest and last of pagan 39:36 powers to which we are subjected. How would this 39:39 cognitive dissonance be ameliorated, how it would be 39:41 dealt with. Well, in the context of Jesus in the first 39:44 century, you have four groups of people, 39:46 how many groups of people everyone? Four. 39:48 Four groups of people, two of them will be very 39:51 familiar to you; they are the Pharisees and the 39:55 Sadducees. The other two not as familiar, 39:58 the Essenes and the zealots. He basically had 40:01 four groups of people that were vying for the 40:03 allegiance and vying for the intellectual 40:06 allegiance of the people of God. How do we say 40:08 we're God's true people when we are in 40:10 suggestion to pagination, after pagination, 40:13 after pagination, after pagination. Well, the 40:14 Pharisees basically their solution to the cognitive 40:17 dissonance was to internalize and isolate 40:20 themselves in a increasingly deeper and contrived 40:24 version of Judaism. And this is classic four or fifth, 40:29 four, third, second and first century even beyond 40:32 that B.C. Judaism. Basically the Pharisees internalize 40:36 they became, they became very, very occupied 40:39 with Jewishness and they were Rabbinical debates, 40:41 this rabbi, debating against this rabbi and what 40:44 does this mean and they basically pretending 40:47 as though they was no Roman army. As though, 40:49 as though there was no Roman occupation, 40:51 they just internalized and that's how they dealt with 40:53 cognitive dissonance. This is what we find in New 40:55 Testament. The Sadducees unlike the Pharisees who 40:58 internalize the religiosity and become very isolated 41:01 and elitist with it. The Sadducees began to curry 41:04 favor with the Romans and they basically said well 41:06 if we can't beat them, we'll join them. 41:08 The Sadducees are kind of the intellectual elite of 41:12 Jesus day, they were like the secular religious people 41:15 today we would in our Roman culture we would 41:17 call them the religious liberals. They were secularize 41:20 they were secular people, they didn't really 41:22 buy into all of the scripture what they were more 41:24 interested in was education, Hellenism and basically 41:28 currying favor with the Romans so that they could 41:30 be perceived as sort of Roman and not patently 41:34 Jewish. So, they did retain certainly some of the 41:35 Jews identity such as the high priest etc. And so 41:38 that's the Sadducees sort of the liberals or the 41:41 distancing yourself from your religiosity. 41:43 Now, the Essenes here no mention of them in the 41:47 New Testament this is to be expected because 41:49 the way the Essenes dealt with this cognitive 41:51 dissonance dissonance is they simply moved out 41:52 into the country. They just, they just moved away, 41:55 they just said man all Israel's gone to hell in a 41:57 hand basket they have gone to pod, 41:58 they don't follow the law anymore, total apostasy 42:01 and so they just moved into the country they lived 42:02 in little tents and communes in fact the dead sea 42:05 scrolls part of what's called that Qumranic community 42:07 was almost certainly in a scenic community. 42:09 They had moved away. We don't encounter them 42:11 in the New Testament because they off in the bush. 42:15 Just off in the bush trying to deal with this great 42:18 big issue of how are we the people of God and the 42:21 actual circumstances in which they found themselves 42:24 that were the those of the scenes. And the forth 42:26 and final group were the Zealots. Simon was 42:29 probably a Zealot, and Zealots of course root word 42:31 Zeal. They sort to deal with this cognitive dissonance, 42:34 this disconnect between what they should be 42:36 seeing and what they are seeing by attacking 42:39 militarily the Roman people they were sort of 42:41 the Guerrilla warfare they were kind of the Hamas. 42:44 if I can use that analogy of Israel fighting these 42:47 Guerrilla battles at night by sort of these military 42:50 and militaristic means in these Guerrilla surprise 42:53 attacks over and against the Romans and so they 42:55 were the Zealots. They were going to actively bring 42:58 it out, they would be like the sort of radical religious 43:01 fanatics. So, here is Jesus, he is 27, he is 28, 43:05 he is 29 he has been sawing boards, measuring 43:08 boards, and pounding on boards his whole life. 43:11 At some point he knows since the age of 12 he is 43:12 going to have to step out of this safely and secure 43:15 situation and into a hot bed religious difficultly, 43:19 controversy and confusion. He has to be 43:21 very careful with his language, he has to be 43:23 very careful with his loyalties he has to be extremely 43:25 careful because if he is perceived, which by the 43:27 way this is background for the New Testament. 43:29 This the background for the gospels, if the Sadducees 43:32 can set Jesus over against the Pharisees or if the 43:35 Pharisees can set him over and against the Sadducees. 43:37 Basically Jesus has to stand into this gap, 43:40 into this, into this crucible of culture, we'll come 43:44 back to that in just a second. Jesus has to stand 43:47 in this place when all of these different competing 43:52 views of what's going on in the world are vying for 43:56 his allegiance and vying for his attention and he 43:58 has to be very careful how we chooses even his 44:01 associates and how he chooses even his language 44:03 and his vocabulary because if he begins to 44:05 speak like a Pharisee he is classified as a Pharisees 44:08 so he has to avoid pharisaical talk. If he begins 44:10 to speak like a Sadducees, he's classified as a 44:12 Sadducees everybody's trying to put Jesus in a 44:15 hole, everybody is trying to say who is this guy. 44:18 Is he a Pharisee, is he telling us to internalize, 44:20 is that how we deal with this cognitive dissonance. 44:22 Is he a Sadducee, is he trying to curry favor with 44:24 Romans. Is he telling us we should move off into the, 44:27 into the ditches and off into the bush with the 44:29 Essenes or is he trying to have some grand almost 44:35 riotous Guerrilla attack against the Romans is that 44:38 what he is trying to do is marshal his forces. 44:42 Well all of these four people, all of these four 44:45 groups that are vying for the attention and vying for 44:48 the allegiance of every single Jew. Every Jew at 44:53 some level intellectually would fallen into the 44:55 Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Essenes or the 44:58 Zealots. Even if weren't an Essene they would 45:00 have intellectually been favorable to the Essenes or 45:03 to the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Zealots and 45:05 Jesus basically shows up on Essenes and says you've 45:08 all got it totally wrong, it's not the Sadducees, 45:14 it's not the Pharisees, it's not the Zealots and it's 45:16 not the Essenes. There's a whole new thing that is 45:19 taking place here. Amen. Ellen White puts it this 45:22 way, when Jesus opens his mouth the very first thing 45:28 he says, what's he is gonna say man? Twenty years 45:31 of preparation, speaking into this cauldron of 45:35 religio-social cultural differently what's he gonna 45:41 say? And he stand there and takes his place on 45:44 the New Sinai. Sense of electricity, sense of 45:50 anticipation there, who is this guy? Is he a Pharisee? 45:55 Is he a Sadducee? I heard he turned water to wine. 45:59 Is he a Zealot, what's he going to say, the sense of 46:03 the expectation there when Jesus opens his mouth. 46:07 And he says in the words of Ellen White, words 46:09 that fell on the audience first century audience, 46:12 not 21st century. That fell on the ears of the 46:15 audience as strange and new, strange and new. 46:21 That's what Matthew saying, that what Matthew's 46:23 saying when he says the people were astonished 46:26 at his teaching what is he going to say? 46:28 He is going to say, blessed are the poor in spirit, 46:42 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Amen. 46:47 Now, my paraphrase of Ellen White's words these 46:49 words were a bombshell, these words were totally 46:52 unlike anything that they were hearing in 1st century 46:55 Judaism. She says they were strange and new, 46:59 what is it Blessed are the poor in spirit. The culture 47:03 into which Jesus is speaking, the situation into which 47:06 Jesus is speaking is one in which your Jewishness 47:08 recommends you to God and if you're a healthy Jew, 47:11 you're doubly recommend to God and if you're a 47:13 healthy, wealthy Jew you're triply recommend to God 47:17 and Jesus stands up 20 years in preparation, 47:19 20 years in rumination, 20 years in thinking and the 47:22 first words out of mouth are, blessed are the poor in 47:25 spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, 47:29 kaboom let the revolution began. Who is this guy? 47:37 Jesus then begins to take them on an unpresidented 47:40 journey. So that we refer to so innocuously and 47:43 globally as the be attitudes, the be, oh that's nice 47:47 to be attitudes. And we get out our little cross 47:51 stitch and we say oh blessed. I love this, I'm gonna 47:54 put a little blue bird here, a little sunshine, 47:57 little flower, and we cross this, blessed are the poor 48:00 in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 48:01 Or better yet, blessed are the meek, yes a little 48:05 blue bird sunshine, rainbow for theirs is the kingdom, 48:09 and we take that thing, we frame it and we put 48:11 it over the toilet in the guest bathroom and we say 48:14 look at this. So, when people are I guess, I guess, 48:17 I guess when people are relieving themselves this is, 48:19 blessed are the, look at the blue birds oh that so 48:22 nice. It's so innocuous, it's so glib, in Jesus, when 48:25 Jesus was speaking these were like missiles, 48:30 these were bombs that were been dropped on 48:32 First century Judaism. These were not cute little cross 48:35 stitch, oh a little cluster, oh look at that the be attitudes 48:38 cluster set, there is 9 of them, no, no, no, no. 48:44 When Jesus is speaking here he has a whole new, 48:47 he has to rewire their minds in their brains. 48:51 Then you're thinking this sounds, this sounds too strong 48:54 all this revolutionary language. Other statement Desire 48:56 of Ages page 300, In the Sermon on the Mount, 48:58 Jesus sought to undo, what's the word everyone? 49:03 Undo. Undo the work that had been wrought by false 49:06 education, and to give His hearers a right 49:09 conception of His kingdom and of His own character. 49:15 Amen. So, here's Jesus, he is sawing but he is 49:18 thinking. He's measuring but he's thinking, he's 49:22 hammering but he's thinking. How can I get these 49:24 people to see? Who God really is, and what the 49:27 kingdom of heaven really is? Mark, Luke, 49:31 John never used this phrase the kingdom of heaven 49:33 never once, it's Matthew's term, this is Matthew's 49:36 term and he presents it over and over again. 49:38 The first thing Jesus says has to do with the kingdom 49:41 of heaven, and the character of God. Jesus speaks into 49:45 this war text, Jesus speaks into this war when 49:47 Jesus is standing at the crucible of culture, 49:50 everybody waiting to put them into a box, 49:52 here in this box, here in this box, here in this box, 49:54 here in this box, and Jesus said, I'm in God's kingdom is 49:57 a matter of fact, blessed are the poor in spirit. 50:00 Blessed are those that recognize their spiritual 50:04 poverty because heaven is their home. Amen. 50:10 Strange and new. Totally different, these words 50:15 fall like, like, like a different language on the ears 50:19 of the people to which Jesus is speaking. 50:22 Happy are the poor in spirit. Happy are those who 50:26 recognize their spiritual poverty. In the 50:32 paragraph just before the one I want just read you 50:33 from Desire of Ages page 300, Ellen White writes 50:35 a single phrase she writes of unrestricted access. 50:39 That's her phrase, not mine. Unrestricted access 50:44 to the father in the context of the sermon of the 50:46 mount. You see you think the sermon of the 50:48 mount is you have heard that it was said by them 50:49 of old time thou shall not commit adultery, 50:51 you have heard that, we think it's all of this 50:53 moral exhortation. Hey if somebody slaps you on the 50:55 right give him the left, if somebody you know urges 50:57 you to go with him a mile, go with him two, 50:59 we have all of this moral exhortation but Jesus 51:01 never gets to the moral exhortation until he first 51:04 gives them her phrase not mine. Unrestricted access 51:08 to the Father. Well, how may I ever gonna get 51:11 unrestricted access to the father? Well, it's not 51:15 gonna be because I'm so good at turning the other 51:16 cheek when somebody is bludgeoning me. 51:18 And it's not gonna be because I'm such a great 51:19 guy that I walk two miles when somebody asked me 51:21 only to go one. I get unrestricted access to the 51:24 Father when I realize that I'm a sinner in need of 51:28 a savior. Amen. When I realize that I'm perfectly 51:32 totally spiritually impoverished and I've nothing 51:36 to recommend me to God. Jesus thought about 51:39 this for 20 years. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones the great 51:41 preacher who preached in the Westminster 51:43 Cathedral for all most 10 years on the book of 51:46 Romans, fantastic commentaries, for 10 years he 51:48 preached on the book of Romans. And Dr. Jones said, 51:51 Lloyd-Jones said that here is no greater articulation, 51:54 his words, there is no more perfect articulation 51:57 of the great truth of justification by faith then this 52:00 the attitude, blessed are the poor in spirit. Amen. 52:06 Because heaven is for these people, Amen. 52:12 Jesus introduces people to a God who cannot be 52:14 appeased by their goodness, who cannot be 52:16 appeased by their internalization of religiosity 52:20 all of the Pharisees or their currying favor with 52:22 the Romans, all of the Sadducees. Jesus is introducing 52:25 a whole new radical thing here. You get unrestricted 52:29 access to the Father, not because of who you are 52:31 but because of who Jesus is. And because of what 52:33 he is about ready to do. He doesn't say yours will 52:36 be the kingdom of heaven, he uses the present tense, 52:39 he only uses it twice from the attitudes. Here in 52:40 verses 9 and 10 he says your is the kingdom of 52:43 heaven. Jesus then begins to take them on a walk 52:48 though this marvelous sequence and I wish I had 52:50 time to develop this sequence you could see it. 52:53 He says blessed are the poor in spirit, and then 52:55 he says blessed are they that mourn that 52:56 condition. This gives us an attitude of meekness 52:59 and then we hunger and thirst for righteousness, 53:01 realizing we are the underserved recipients of 53:03 God's mercy, we begin to treat others the way God 53:05 has treated us. Then our hearts begin to be 53:07 purified and as our hearts begin to be purified we 53:09 become peacemakers. The very next thing as 53:14 he says blessed are those that are persecuted for 53:15 righteousness sake, for there's is the kingdom of 53:17 heaven. He begins and ends with the kingdom of 53:19 heaven, but what is Jesus doing in this sequence? 53:22 He is giving people unrestricted access to the 53:24 Father. You recognize as for spiritual poverty, 53:28 you mourn that spiritual condition, this gives you an 53:30 attitude of meekness, you hunger and thirst for 53:31 righteousness. You begin to treat others the way God 53:33 has treated you mercifully and then you begin to 53:35 treat others with mercy and your heart begins to 53:37 be purified and you become a peacemaker. 53:42 One of the most compelling and profound statements 53:44 in the New Testament, nomenclature, names, 53:46 nomenclatures for God is this idea, that he is the 53:49 God of peace, the God of peace. You tell me Jesus is 53:55 referred to in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 as the prince 53:57 of peace. Therefore being justified by faith we 54:01 have peace with God. Paul writes in Colossians 54:05 chapter 1 verse 20 of, of, of, of having made a peace 54:09 with God through the blood of His cross. Ephesians 54:11 chapter 2 verse 14, He is our peace. Amen. 54:16 This whole idea that God is not at enmity at us, 54:19 God is not at war with us, God is not out to get us, 54:21 but at some level God wants access to us. 54:23 In fact God wants us to have unrestricted access to 54:25 him and this grand and glorious sequence of the be 54:28 attitudes culminates when he says blessed are 54:31 those whose mission is to bring the message of the 54:35 prince of peace and of the God of peace to those 54:39 around them. Blessed are the peacemakers and then 54:42 he says for they shall be called, the sons of God. 54:53 You can paraphrase that, they shall be like little 54:55 Jesus'. Friends we live in a time in which groups are 55:01 vying for our allegiance. We are very similar to Jesus 55:06 in this capacity, Jesus had a message about the kingdom 55:09 of God and character of God and he had to undo all 55:11 kinds of religious cultural and theological baggage 55:14 and Jesus stood in a place. And when he stood in 55:18 that place he said you get access to God not by the 55:20 good you do but by the good that God is, blessed 55:23 are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of 55:24 heaven and then he basically brings that grand 55:28 sequence to its absolute fruition and maturation, 55:31 when he says that there will be a people whose 55:33 whole mission on earth is to proclaim the God of peace, 55:37 the prince of peace and justification by faith which 55:40 alone can bring peace with God. Amen. 55:44 We love that in a sentence, that in a nutshell is 55:48 the Adventist message. Amen. God has called us to 55:53 be peacemakers, to stand right here at the crucible 55:59 of culture, to stand right here and to say strange 56:06 and new things about God to woo people to Jesus, 56:14 to woo people to the Father, to woo people to the 56:19 Kingdom of God. Amen. We are not Pharisees, 56:25 we are not the religious establishment. We are not 56:30 Sadducees, we are the not religiously secular. 56:35 We are not the Zealots taking military political and 56:38 carnal means. And we are not the Essenes fleeing 56:41 from the condition that the world is in. 56:44 We are followers of Christ, we are peacemakers. 56:49 And we need to stand in that place in that marketplace 56:54 if you will to stand in that place and to be God's 56:59 man, to be God's woman and to say blessed are 57:06 the the poor in spirit for heaven is their home. 57:11 Amen. And blessed are the pacemakers, for they are 57:16 the sons and the daughters of God. How may tonight 57:22 have understood this basic presentation? 57:26 How many tonight want to say with raising of their 57:28 hands actually better yet, but standing to their 57:30 feet God make me a kingdom changer, a world 57:33 changer as I stand in the crucible of culture, 57:40 with a strange and new message. Can't be the 57:45 same old message. This is the 57:48 Seventh-day Adventist message. |
Revised 2014-12-17