Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20231011 - Inward, Upward, and Outward - Matthew 5:1-12

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#20231011 - Inward, Upward, and Outward - Matthew 5:1-12 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word, recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co To learn more about the many resources
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available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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Amen. Thank you for praying.
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All right. This evening.
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By the way, for those of you that just turned in, I'm Pastor
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Bob Clay Camp. I'm one of the assistant pastors
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here. And tonight we're going to be in
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the Gospel of Matthew, so. If you are at home watching or
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you're listening on Grace FM and you're able to open up the
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Bible, we're in. We're going to be in Matthew
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chapter 5. So those of you downstairs in
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the Res area go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter five.
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We know you're down there and I know you're sipping your coffee,
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but we are up here. So what?
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But we're all still together. You got that?
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Okay, Matthew, Chapter 5. And as I have read the scripture
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many, many times through over my 54 years of knowing the Lord, I
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just recently asked the Lord, when I open up the Gospels
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again, could you make it fresh again?
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Even though I know all the accounts, I I just want you to
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stir my heart as if I've never heard it before.
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And and keep it fresh for me and help me to notice things that
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maybe I missed before. Because the Bible's like that as
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you read through. It's not like a novel or some
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even a nonfiction. It is absolutely the truth.
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And there are so many things to pull out of these 66 books here
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called the Bible that for the rest of your life, even if we
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you know, if you somehow live. By cryogenics, you know, hope to
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be 200 years old or something. There's still something to glean
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out of the scripture because it's our life changes and it's
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the Holy Spirit who is our teacher.
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Amen. So we're going to be looking at
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Chapter 5, and it's the beginning of the section that
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Matthew put together called the Sermon on the Mount.
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Now this is a collection that Matthew the Apostle put together
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at the head of his gospel because his gospel is written to
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really reach his Jewish people. That that is, that's his heart
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in in the whole Gospel of Matthew.
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The other gospels, Mark and Luke and John, have specific emphasis
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according to what was on their heart by the Holy Spirit.
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And so here Matthew is putting this collection together, and as
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I was reading the Sermon on the Mount this time I wanted to
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catch the overall feel and I wanted to find out why.
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Why these be attitudes? Why these blessings at the
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beginning and how do they tie in with the rest of the Sermon on
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the Mount? Because I I don't think there
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are a preamble, but. But it is interesting that Jesus
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was speaking to his disciples and not to the crowds, although
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they were overhearing. And so there's something
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important that the Lord Jesus was wanting to impart to his
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disciples. And so we're here in the 21st
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century, and we're his disciples.
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Most of this in here. Some of you may not.
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Some of you may be just kind of considering and searching.
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And I'm glad that you're here, because this is a time.
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Like the Lord says in Isaiah, come now, let us reason
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together, says the Lord. Though your sins are a scarlet
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before God, they shall be as white as snow.
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Though they be red as Crimson, they shall be as white as wool.
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Because God's desire, as we're going to see in these verses
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here, verses 1 to 12, God's desire is to do a work in us.
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Which leads to a work that causes us to look upward to God.
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And with that loaded vessel, we're to go out to the world.
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But going out to the world without first having the Holy
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Spirit work in your heart, I think is the cart before the
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horse, because you don't have the heart of the Father yet.
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And that's what we're to impart to the world that is so lost and
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needs the hope of the gospel. So our title for this section,
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Chapter 5 verses 1 to 12, is called Inward, Upward and
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Outward. Inward, upward and outward.
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Now the first time that I taught this study.
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Because I found the notes handwritten was way back in
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1992, and I was, I was on a cruise and of the Alaskan inland
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passage with Pastor Chuck and it was formal night and we were
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coming back from the inland passage and we hit that middle
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section where you're kind of in the open ocean and it was stormy
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and I get motion sick. Very easy.
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And so I've got the patch behind my ear, the scopamine patch
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that's supposed to last three days, which pretty much lasts 3
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minutes. And it's formal night.
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So I got this tie on and as I'm at the dinner and I and it's my
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time to teach, I've never taught in front of Pastor Chuck ever.
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And so he's going to be there and this has got to be good.
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But I'm I'm filling queasy. I'm all colors of funny green
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and so. I come up to Pastor Chuck and I
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say, Pastor Chuck, I'm not, I'm not sure if I can do this
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tonight. And I mean, you know, and in the
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meantime, the whole thing is going like this as I'm talking,
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you know, the the glasses are clinkly and all.
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And so he goes, well, Bob, you know, it's, it's all right,
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We'll work around it. And then Pastor Raul Reese is
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right next to him and he says, Oh yeah, I remember that time I
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got up there and I started talking and then I just threw up
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in front of everybody. And so I go, I go back to my
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cabin and I'm, I'm, you know, rocking and rolling, going God,
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please, please, please don't do this.
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I mean come on. And so I said I got to do this.
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I just got to do this. I mean it's the only time I'm
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ever going to teach in front of Pastor Chuck.
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So. So finally we get to the place,
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the venue. It was in the bow of the ship,
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which is going like this okay. And then that there were, there
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were red glittery curtains behind it.
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And so the curtains were going like this and I'm going, gosh,
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Lord, I can't look. I just can't look.
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Pastor Chuck had and I will get to the study, come on, don't
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worry. And Pastor Chuck has this guy
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playing harmonica from his church.
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So he must have played like 17 verses of Amazing Grace on this
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harmonica while I'm waiting for my time.
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And so finally he gets done. Pastor Chuck gets up there,
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introduces me as one of the old hippies from the Jesus
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Revolution. You know, I'm going super.
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So I finally get up there and I made a deal not to look at
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Pastor Chuck ever when I'm teaching.
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So I looked down at my notes. And the three points were
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inward, upward and outward. And I say, please God, I don't
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want to give a visual on this on these three points because I'm
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just sick as a dog. So I get like 2/3 of the way
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through the study and I make the mistake.
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But it was spirit directed. And I I glanced down at Pastor
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Chuck and he's like this. He's looking at me.
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Not saying anything. You have one minute and what was
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the guy with the harmonica took all my time and so I I quickly
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wrapped it up and I was I was okay, made it through.
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So anyway I probably made you sick now for the study.
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But the three points of today's study are inward, upward and
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outward, because when you look at the beatitudes.
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I think they fit within these three categories.
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I know there's lots of commentaries on the beatitudes
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you can look at. Almost every single commentator,
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Bible commentator has his own take on it.
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So I just want to present to you what I see here and I want you
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to consider it. You don't have to agree with me,
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just consider it, OK, Versus. Three through 5 would come under
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the category of inward because I believe it describes the inward
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work of the Holy Spirit that takes place to bring us to that
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place of repentance. And then verses 6-7 and eight
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are in the second category, and that category is called the
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upward result. Of the inward working where we
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get our eyes on the Lord. Something happens in us and it
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draws us right to God. And we'll talk about that.
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That's versus 6 through 8 and then versus 9 to 12.
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The outward working of the Holy Spirit to a lost world.
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And so I think as we go through it, you might see these things,
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but the one thing I want you to do most of all.
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Is to take out your pen. Or if you've got your tablet and
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you do little doodles on it, make a note of what God is
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ministering to you as we cover this, because it's fascinating
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that you had no idea what I was going to teach and the Holy
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Spirit knew you're going to be here and there's something for
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you tonight. So let's just prepare our hearts
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for this. I'm going to read through verses
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1 to 12 and then we'll start with prayer.
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Longest introduction you've ever heard.
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Okay chapter 5. Matthew and seeing the
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multitudes. Jesus went up on a mountain and
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when he was seated his disciples came to him.
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Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying blessed or
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blessed. Are the poor in spirit, for
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theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for
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they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
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shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and
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thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
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Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
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Blessed are the pure in heart. For they shall see God.
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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of
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God. Blessed are those who are
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persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom
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of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile
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and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you
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falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
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for great is your reward in heaven.
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For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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Father in heaven, We're asking now for your ministry to us
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through the word of God by the Holy Spirit.
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It's no accident we are here tonight.
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We are here to hear from you. Open our ears, Lord.
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Open our hearts to receive and obey in Jesus name.
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Amen. Well, let's take a look at the
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1st 3 Beatitudes verses 3 through through five.
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And I put this under the category of the inward working
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of the Holy Spirit. And the very first one is
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Blessed are the poor and Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
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heaven. Matthew's Gospel includes the
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word in spirit in the Greek, but as Luke covers this, he just
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says blessed are the poor. I firmly believe Jesus is not
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laying out some recipe for dealing with social injustices.
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I believe this has to do with coming into the Kingdom of God.
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And getting your heart right before God first, because unless
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that work takes place in your heart by the Holy Spirit, you
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really don't have the power or the heart of God.
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You just have a message and that's God is able to use that.
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But God wants to change the Messenger while they deliver the
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message, and so consider this blessed.
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It's a it's more of a Kingdom perspective than an emotional
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experience or an increase in outward conditions.
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And yet sometimes in our Western mindset, we think, well, that
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means that, you know, I'll be prosperous.
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Wait a minute. It's Kingdom perspective blessed
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from Kingdom's perspective. It's not the result of striving
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to be like the quality listed. So it's not about Okay.
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I'm going to be poor in spirit. I'm going to purpose to be poor
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in spirit. No, no.
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It's the result of God's spirit working on the inside of the
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soul. Poor in spirit has to do with
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those who have been been made aware of their absolute poverty
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before God. I've got nothing to offer.
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God by the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to see your condition
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that you have nothing really to give to Him.
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The sin has saturated your life. Everything you touch is falling
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apart. Sin.
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It's running wild through your life and and you're in poverty.
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The opposite of poor and spirit is proud in spirit.
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Where you're the self-made person and that I can do it
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myself. I don't need God, I'll do it
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myself. That's not poor and spirit,
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that's proud and spirit. And there's no blessing on that
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from heaven because God resists the proud, but he'll give grace
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to the humble. So then Peter says so humble
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yourselves in the side of the Lord that he may lift you up and
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do season. How do you humble yourself in
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the side of the Lord? You agree with him and it takes
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the Holy Spirit to turn the light on to see our true
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condition because the Bible says we're in darkness spiritually
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until he shines that light. Blessed are the poor and Spirit
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as God shines his light on your heart and shows you your
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absolute poverty before him. That's called brokenness.
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You're broken. You've got nothing to offer, and
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you see that and you're convinced of it.
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And when that takes place, you don't care what's going on at
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social media. You don't care what about your
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work, you don't care about anything else.
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Your whole life is being put in the limelight with God, and you
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sense that poverty of spirit. Psalm 34 verse 18 says the Lord
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is near to those who have a broken heart and save, such as
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have a contrite spirit. Psalm 5117 says the sacrifices
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of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.
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These so God you will not despise.
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I want you to think for a moment what it feels like to have a
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broken heart. Do you really feel that God is
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close? Doesn't it feel like you're all
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alone? You can be in the midst of a
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crowd of 1000 people and you still are just feeling like
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you're all alone. You're an island.
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Your life is collapsing. You've got a brokenness in your
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life. But God wants us to to
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understand that he is near those who have a broken heart, and he
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saves, such as have a contrite spirit.
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Isaiah 5715 says, For thus says the high and lofty one who
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inhabits eternity, whose name is holy.
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I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a
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contrite and humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the
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humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
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So here's the deal. If you're going through
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brokenness in your life right now because of what's taking
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place, and you're asking where was God?
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Couldn't he have stopped this? How could he have allowed this
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to happen to me? What's going on in your life
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right now is brokenness. And you, you need to understand,
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first of all, God is near and he wants to heal, but you have to
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do it his way. You can't just put a Band-Aid on
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it. You need open heart surgery
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spiritually. And that's what he has come to
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do. And in the midst of that.
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In the midst of that poverty, we are to understand that he
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considers us in a place of blessing because it's a place of
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preparation. It's maybe you don't see it as a
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place of preparation, you see it as a place of destruction.
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But God is the rebuilder. God is the transformer of a life
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that's broken. Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
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Understand, you may lose everything in this life and you
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may die absolutely a pauper, but you have the fullness of the
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Kingdom of heaven. As a matter of fact, you have it
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right now spiritually, even though your life falls apart
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physically. Let's continue on the second one
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here. Blessed are those who mourn, for
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they shall be comforted. Now if we're looking at the
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first one and seeing a progression, when God shows you
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your poverty, He also shows you that your sins separate you and
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Him. And there's a mourning that
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takes place, that the Holy Spirit works into our heart.
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And it's interesting that the word blessed and mourn are put
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together because they seem rather diametrically opposed.
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I I believe the context here with mourning has to do with
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deep mourning, seeing your condition before God as he sees
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it, because that's essential. You're not just following a
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philosophy. Your life gets changed by the
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work of the Spirit of God on the inside.
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First, to try to do these things on the outside, without any kind
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of inward work, is the cart before the horse.
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I when I read, blessed are those who mourn.
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I think of Peter when the Lord asked to use Peter's boat to
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give his message to the crowd after Peter and Andrew had
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fished all night and caught nothing.
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And then after the end of the message Jesus says to Peter
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launch out into the deep and Cath throw out your Nets for a
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catch. And Peter said, Lord, we have
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fished all night and caught nothing nevertheless that your
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word will go out there. And so he's he's rowing out
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there. Jesus is in the boat because
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later on Peter falls at Jesus knees and he doesn't row back
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into the shore and then fall at Jesus knees.
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Jesus is still in the boat when this whole thing and Luke
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chapter 5 unfolds and all the fish and they're, you know
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whistling to James and John on the shore, bring your boat.
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Our boat is sinking. The net is breaking.
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By the way to break one of those rope Nets is a big deal.
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I mean the weight that must have been there with that catch.
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But it caught Peter in the midst of his unbelief.
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And Peter said, depart for me, Lord, I'm a sinful man.
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All he could see was his unbelief in his sin.
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And that's when the Lord said, I'll make you a Fisher of men.
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They shall be comforted. You know, God gave a a word of
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comfort to Israel and Isaiah 40 versus one and two Comfort.
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Yes, comfort. My people says you're God.
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Speak comfort to Jerusalem. Cry out to her that her warfare
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has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received
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from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
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In Psalm 32. David cries out about this
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morning, and he says, when I first three, when I kept silent,
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my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.
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For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
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The vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
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Say la I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I have not
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hidden. I said I will confess my
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transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my
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sin. The comfort is God's forgiveness
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after we're convinced that we've got nothing to offer to God, he
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says. I agree.
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And that's where we're starting. And I'm going to give you
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everything you need. But first your sins are
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forgiven. I think that's an important life
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change, man. I remember that at age 18.
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I was so messed up when my mom died.
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When I was 15 I went on this journey to try to contact her
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from the dead and that led me into Ouija boards and automatic
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writing sessions and taking the drugs and and getting at the
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Eastern mysticism and and all of that and and I was heading on
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into a life of of self destruct for the next three years
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especially. And then the Lord and his
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kindness sent believers to me that I had to live with and in
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the house that we were in. And and you know, I'm just so
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grateful. I'm so grateful for how God set
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this up. And those of you that are
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Christians, I want you to take, I want you to remember back on
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how God not set you up, but how he searched you out, how he put
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you in situations and how he put people in front of you and and
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how you just kind of get out of here, get out of here and
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laughed at him and mocked him. And God is just setting you up.
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Yeah, I'm going to say that he set you up because he loved you.
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He called you. He knew your need, and then he
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forgives you and you have no right to be forgiven.
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But he did it because he loved you.
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And yet it wasn't just amnesty. The price for your sin was laid
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upon Christ on the cross, and the righteousness of Jesus were
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given was given to you who believe.
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Let's go on to the third one here, Blessed or the meek.
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Meekness here means yieldedness, by the way.
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It doesn't mean weakness. Meekness is power under control.
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A picture of meekness is a jockey on top of a racehorse.
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That horse can just go so fast, but the jockey has the horse in
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control. Meekness is yielding us before
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God, and I think the two phrases that stand out are not my will,
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but yours. Be Done fits into this idea of
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meekness, and the Holy Spirit does that job in our life.
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Brings us to the place to say whatever you want to do, Lord,
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in my life, through my life, I'm yours.
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Do it your way. Do it in your timing.
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I trust you and I yield to you. That's a work of the Holy
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Spirit. Because our flesh is totally.
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I'm doing it my way, you know. Don't tell me what to do.
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I'll do what I want to do. It's my truth.
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That's not meekness. But that has to be a work of the
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Holy Spirit in your life. Meekness.
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For they shall inherit the earth.
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Because yielding this to the Lord, what may cost you earthly
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possessions, it may cost you your job, it may cost you being
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written out of the family will. It may cost you all kinds of
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things outwardly. But yours is you're going to
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inherit the earth. So don't worry about the loss.
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This life is only temporary. So then, now let's look at the
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upward result of that inward working and it starts in verse
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six with blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
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righteousness. When we become born again,
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something changes on the inside and all the sudden we just want
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to find God. We want to hear what He says.
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We we want to get it straight from him.
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And there's this hunger that happens in us.
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You know there are three basic drives with all humans.
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First of all is air, secondly is thirst and 3rd is hunger.
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And you take this concept of hunger and thirst and apply it
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to true righteousness and it gives you an idea of the
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desperation. I've got to find out.
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I remember when I first became a Christian, I went home and got
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the family Bible and I brought it.
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This old baby has been around a long time.
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And so I took it and I opened it up and I'm looking at it.
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I'm going, I want to hear what Jesus has to say.
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And so I'm trying to find and all of a sudden here's the
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Gospels and I'm going red. How come it's in red.
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And and those are all the things I wonder if red means that
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they're blood And so it's the blood of Jesus and and so I'm I
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missed I'm still doing all these mystical things.
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And then as I'm reading and I'm going, wait a minute, there are
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words that are italicized that must mean something heavy.
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And so unto thee that smite at thee on the 1 cheek, what's
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what's 11? What does one mean?
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I mean, here's the thing. Italics in the Bible are just
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put in there by the translator to help smooth out the sentence
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for it to make sense. But I didn't have much sense.
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And so this look at the dust. This family Bible was given to
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my dad in 1947 when he left Kansas and moved to Oregon and
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just thought I'd bring it, David writes in Psalm 63.
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Oh God, you are my God, early will I seek you my soul.
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Thirst for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry
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and thirsty land where there is no water.
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So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and
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your glory. But I want you to think about
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something. What keeps a person from
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hungering and thirsting after righteousness?
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How does a Christian who initially was so hungry?
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How can they now take it or leave it?
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What on earth happens? Where did that hunger go?
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Well, I think there's a hint from the words of Jesus in the
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Book of Revelation. He's talking to a group of
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believers in the city of Leodosia, and here's what he
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tells them. Because you say, I am rich, have
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become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and do not know that
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you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
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You said they lost the the, the, the perspective of who they were
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before they even came to him. And now they had filled in all
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their identity with all the things that the city of Leodosia
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was famous for. But then Jesus doesn't leave
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them there. He says I want you to change.
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I I want to lift you out of that condition.
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I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that
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you may be rich. And Peter talks about our faith
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being much more precious than gold that perishes and white
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garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your
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nakedness may not be revealed. Of course this is a reference to
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the righteousness of Christ as a robe of righteousness being upon
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you, because without that robe you are naked before God,
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nothing to offer and anoint your eyes with eyes AB that you may
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see. Because they were blind, they
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had blinded themselves thinking they were fine before God.
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And because nothing was happening in their heart they
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had all they had lived a lived a surface charge life.
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So the council here was as many as I love.
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I rebuke and chase and therefore be zealous and repent and get
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back to your first love like he told the Ephesians.
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Because if you hunger and thirst after righteousness you will be
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filled not possibly but will be filled.
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And what are you filled with? You're filled with true life,
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with purpose, and with true identity, and that's good news.
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But the inward work has to happen 1st, and then there's a
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result of the upward looking to God.
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And then in verse 7, blessed or the merciful, for they shall
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obtain mercy. The the Greek word for merciful
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means to be compassionate. And here's the problem, when we
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look at people and just say OK, what's going to be my human
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reaction to what I'm seeing? I think again you've got the
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cart for the before the horse because the whole context is
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seek God first because one of his first self-proclaimed
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attributes in in Exodus 34 is merciful.
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God sets the definition for true mercy, not man.
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And you know what? Sometimes mercy says no,
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sometimes mercy says wait. God gives the definition of what
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true mercy is all about. How can we be truly merciful and
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compassionate unless we really see how he has been with us?
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Because that that provides the the life source that we are able
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to be merciful to others must begin with God.
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They shall obtain mercy. In Colossians 3, verse 13, Paul
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exhorts the Colossian believers bearing with one another and
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forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint
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against another, Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do
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so. It starts with getting a proper
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view of who he is and then that way you can live out your life.
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And then verse 8. Blessed are the pure in heart.
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It's interesting. The word pure is that Greek word
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that we get, our English word, catharsis of burning away.
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Because that's what happens as you spend time with the Lord.
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He just flushes out the the brine.
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He flushes out the defilement in your thought life, in your
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words, in your attitudes. God by the Holy Spirit does
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that. If you say, you know, I just
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want to be pleasing to God for all that he's done in my life,
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it's a pruning process. It's a a flushing.
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I call it the royal flush. You know, it's better than any
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toilet. It just, you know, Lord, flush
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me out of all that stuff for they shall see God.
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You know what that means? It means you see the
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fingerprints of God at work around your life because it's
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like the white noise is gone and you can hear the station.
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It's fascinating to see God working and you know it's him
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because it couldn't be anybody else and you see him at work.
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Blessed are those who have believed and have not seen him
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physically, is what Jesus is referring to there.
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But I want to see his fingerprints.
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I want to be sensitive to see his handiwork as you as you hear
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about earthquakes and what takes place.
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There are Thunder and lightning and and how a Thunder clap can
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absolutely rock your house. As well as my dog jumping on the
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bed and all of a sudden I got a vibrator bed.
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You know, the dog is just shaking and freaking out.
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Now let's look at the third one and then we'll close with this
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the outward working of the Holy Spirit.
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And this. I think it's important.
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He works in us to bring us to the place of brokenness, so that
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he might heal us, so that we might hunger and thirst for
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righteous and say and say, oh Lord, all I want is you.
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I want to yield my life. I want to be pure and hard.
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I want you to do your work your way.
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And then he says, OK, now you're ready, go out into the world
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with what I've done in your life and tell them what I have done.
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Because he says your blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
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be called sons of God. I think this really, in context
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has has more to do with presenting how you can be at
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peace with God rather than settling your marriage conflict.
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By the way, when two armies fight and one army wins, the
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winning army sets the conditions for peace, not the loser.
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We don't set the conditions for peace for God.
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He sets the conditions for peace.
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Believe on my son and you'll have everlasting life and your
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sins will be forgiven. That's called reconciliation.
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God has called us to be ambassadors because we learn in
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Second Corinthians chapter 5, Paul says.
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Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
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pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's
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behalf, be reconciled to God. The ultimate peace that the
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world needs starts in the heart first, doesn't start with
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legislation, doesn't even start with conquering an outward
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enemy. It starts in the heart, peace
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with God. And then you get to experience
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the peace of God. And that's why Jesus said they
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shall be called sons of God, because God's highest goal is to
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redeem man to himself. But here's the thing.
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Verse ten, once you try that, you're going to get persecuted.
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That's just the natural result. Not everybody's going to like
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it. Blessed are those who are
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persecuted for righteousness sake.
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The word persecuted means to pursue, to follow after, to
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press forward. And let me tell you, the
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reaction in our life is not happiness.
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When we're persecuted, we want to defend ourselves.
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We want to do everything we can. It's it's not like, oh, how
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sweet, it's something altogether different.
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But God wants us to bring us to the place where we say, you know
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what? I'm in good company because so
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they persecuted the prophets who were before you, and that's what
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he points out later on. And then in verses 11 and 12, as
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we finish, Jesus makes it personal and he puts himself in
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the middle of the situation. Blessed are you when they revile
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and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you
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falsely, for my sake, rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for
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great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the
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prophets who were before you. To revile means to defame, to
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rail upon, to chide, or to reproach, And to be lied about
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is one of the things when you know you're right.
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And to be light about and to have your character slandered,
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that's that's something that pushes buttons on the inside and
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causes your flesh to rise up like a beast.
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But how do you deal with it? How does how does heaven see it?
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I'm going through this, and I'm hurting, and I want to defend
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myself with every ounce of my being.
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And that's like the Lord is saying, let me be your defense.
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Get get Heaven's perspective, rejoice instead, and be
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exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
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And it reminds me of what the apostles went through in Acts
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chapter 5 the first time that they were beaten after the Lord
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rose from the dead. It says in verse 40 of chapter 5
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the council agreed with Gamalio and when they had called for the
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apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not
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speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.
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So the apostles departed from the presence of the council,
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rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
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name. There is a special oneness with
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Jesus when we suffer shame and persecution for his name.
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A special oneness is called fellowshipping, with the
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sufferings of Christ and as much as our emotions and our feelings
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shout and scream, especially when you're beaten and your
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bones crack, because those rods were designed to cause the
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maximum damage. It could crack your spinal cord,
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your vertebraes, it could crack your ribs.
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And that pain lasts and you've got to have something to look to
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to deal with it. Jesus is telling his disciples
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here, listen, the work has to start inside by the power of the
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Holy Spirit, and it will bring you to look to God for
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everything, and then you're equipped to go out into the
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world. But just know there's a blessing
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on your life from heaven's perspective.
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Father God, we thank you for this time.
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In your word, tonight we're asking for a special move of the
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Holy Spirit upon our life on the inside.
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Lord, that you'd bring us to the place to really help us
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understand that without you were nothing.
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Help us to see, Lord, that when you work in our life, there's a
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hunger and thirst for righteousness that comes as a
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result. And I pray God that you'd fan
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that fervor back into a flame again.
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For you nothing but you Purify our hearts, Lord, and then send
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us out so that we can give a a proper picture of the heart of
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God to this dying world. And so, God, we thank you for
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this time in your word, tonight do in us what's impossible for
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us to do in ourselves. In Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
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That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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