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According to Matthew. Amen. And amen. And amen. Hope you're ready. You are ready. Grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Matthew, chapter five. We are in. We've kind of closed the door on season one. We're moving into season two. We're going to go up this mountain. This is called the Sermon on the Mount. For the next several weeks, we're going to study the longest sermon that is ever recorded of Jesus preaching. And we're going to look at this very first section, just the first 12 verses or so. It's called the Beatitudes. If you grew up in Sunday school, you're very familiar with this, very familiar with the Beatitudes. I think it is one of the most misunderstood portions of scripture in the whole Bible. Before I dive in, though, I do want to say one. Welcome to one of our brand new outposts at Alligator Alcatraz. The staff of Alligator Alcatraz is an outpost of 1122. Amen. Amen. So we're a movement for all people, for everybody sitting in the room, for everybody sitting on the couch, the incarcerated and those that watch over the incarcerated. Because this is a movement for all people to discover and deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. Amen. So the word that you're going to see more than any other word in this text is blessed. Blessed. It's kind of a tough word to translate in English. We use it a lot kind of in English. But most of us are chasing blessings instead of being a blessing. My friend Ruslan kd, he's like an online influencer guy. I love him. He's just deeply rooted in the scripture. He's got a line of clothing and he's got a set of conferences called the Bless God Conference. I love it. That's why I tuned in. Because most of us, when we think about blessing and God, we ask the question, God, how can you bless me? His conferences are all about, how could we be a blessing to God? Now, do you. I don't know if you use the word blessed a lot. If you're church folk, you probably do. You probably overuse it. You probably lie when you use it, though. People ask you, how you doing? People say blessed and highly favored. Are you sure? Because your Instagram looks like your life is a dumpster fire. But that's fine. I understand what you're saying. For those of you Yankees that have moved here to be with us, welcome. We're so glad you're here. Sometimes Southern people use the word blessed as a curse. Sounds like a Blessing? It's not a blessing. Somebody blesses your heart at Walmart doesn't mean what you think it means. Sometimes it's weird. Like when somebody sneezes, you say bless you. This is kind of like it's this old school kind of superstition, things about demons leaving you. We use it in all kind of ways, okay? And when the Bible uses it, it uses it in a very different way. Chapter 5, verse 1 starts out this way, seeing the crowds. If you'll remember, chapter four, this is just one big continuation. Remember what Jesus did. He primarily taught the Scriptures. He proclaimed the kingdom of heaven and he healed everybody. He healed all kinds of people. So now there are these huge crowds beginning to follow him. And seeing these crowds, five, one, he went up on the mountain and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. Now the way they taught in the first century is that the teacher would sit down and everybody else would stand up. We should try that one week. I'd be less tired when I get done with this on Sunday. Now I've been there. It's beautiful. And part of what Matthew's doing. Remember Matthew's writing to a Jewish audience and he is trying to connect his Jewish audience with the reality that Jesus is the coming Messiah. That the blessing that Abraham was given Israel decided to be a cul de sac of the blessing instead of a conduit of the blessing. And so Jesus is the greater Moses, Jesus is the greater Israel. And so like Moses, the Pharaoh killed the boys two and under. And Jesus and Moses brought his people out of Egypt. And then Matthew, as you remember in the first four chapters, that Herod kills the boys two and under. And then Jesus family flees to Egypt and then comes back to town that John the Baptist has baptized him and said, behold my son in whom I am well pleased, that he fought the devil in the desert and was tempted by him, that he calls His 12 disciples together. And now Jesus the new Adam with no sin, the greater Isaac, the greater Abraham, the greater Moses, the greater temple. He's going to personify this in the temple. They would slay lambs. And then John the baptizer is going to say, behold the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world. There were 12 tribes in Israel. There are 12 disciples that Jesus calls to follow him. Matthew wants us to make all of those connections. And then Moses went up on a mountain to receive the law of God. But it was different because Moses gives us the law and Jesus gives us grace. Moses goes up on this mountain. And he says, you can't come up here because you are unholy. You were unconsecrated. And if you get close to this mountain, the holiness of God will kill you. And then Jesus shows up on the scene and says, follow me. Come with me. I'm going to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. You see? I mean, Matthew wants us to understand that Jesus is the greater Israel, the greater Moses. And he goes up on this mountain in verse two, and he opened his mouth and taught them, because that's what you have to do to teach. You have to open your mouth. And then here's what he does. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit. Now think about this for a second. He's got thousands of people following. He's just healed. He's just cast out demons. I mean, you want your ministry to go let everybody roll in and walk out? You understand what I'm saying? You start healing people heart, soul, mind and strength. He's got this big crowd, and he could just give them cotton candy, give them exactly what they want to hear. This would be the opportunity for him to say, hey, we're gonna pass around a giving basket right now so you can support Jesus ministry. This is not what he does. Here's what he says. He doesn't even look at it and be like, you're good enough, you're strong enough, and doggone it, I like you. It's not what he does. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. We got some people mourning in here right now. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Now imagine with me that you come to Israel with us. It's beautiful, man. We take this long flight out of jfk. You land in Tel Aviv, we get on a bus. And the way we do it when we go is we just chase Jesus. That's what we do. So we don't visit every Byzantine church, whatever. I don't care about this stuff. It's probably important to somebody. Not me. We just chased Jesus. It's just like a big Bible study. It's what it is. Okay? And. And we go to Bethlehem, where he was born. We go to this little village that simulates where he grew up, and then we hightail it up to the Galilee. And when you get up to the Galilee, you realize, no wonder he lived here. It's beautiful. I mean, it is beautiful. There's this big. They call it the Sea of Galilee. It's not really that big, but they're kind of in the cells, so, like, the Sea of Galilee. It's really, like, a big lake, but whatever. Okay. There's rolling hills, and there's all these crops and stuff, and. And if you've ever been to Napa Valley, it looks a lot like Napa Valley. You know, my people don't go to Napa Valley. First time I ever went to Napa, Elder Petey took me, and I called my daddy. I said, daddy, I'm going to Napa. He said something. What's wrong with your truck? So it's just. It's different. So it's not like that. It's like this, okay? So everybody's got to live somewhere awesome. I mean, everybody's got to live somewhere. Might as well live somewhere awesome, right? That's why we live here. Praise God. All right. So it's beautiful. And if you go visit where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, get on the bus, go around, there's a big parking lot there. You walk up, there's a little gift shop. Everywhere in Israel, there's a gift shop selling all the things. All right? And there's a little. There's the bathroom. You can pay to go in. Yeah. The gift of eternal life is free, but it'll cost you a nickel to go pee. I understand. All right, Whatever. And so. And then as you walk up to the place where they believe that Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, you pass these eight separate little headstone markers. And each one of the markers have one of the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit. And I think one of the reasons this passage is so misunderstood is cause oftentimes that's how people see these, as eight separate circumstantial blessings. But it kind of falls apart. It doesn't make a lot of sense if you really think about it. And, in fact, the last time I was there, we took our group there, we had a worship service we sang some songs, I unpacked a little bit of the Scriptures. And then everybody just split up and took the Bible and they just read the Sermon on the Mount where the Sermon on the Mount was given. I mean, just, okay. And if that don't fire you up, it's because you're going to hell. That's what's happening. All right? I mean, it's incredible. And I see this little group come up, you know, and there's this guy, and you could tell he was the in charge guy because he had the fancy clothes on, you know, and the things. And I overheard him talking to his group and it was the most, it was the most non gospel thing I've ever heard in my life. He was like, see, this is where Jesus gave the Kingdom Ethic. And the point, here's what he said. He said, the point of the Beatitudes are this. If you will just help the down and out, then God will lift you up. And I thought, oh, God, that is not it at all. What if the Beatitudes are actually just the progression of the Christian life, not eight individual statements. The reason that we're going to know what the Beatitudes are is because he's going to begin the sermon and he's going to end the sermon the same way it's going to begin with the Gospel and it's going to end with the Gospel and, and everything else in the Sermon on the Mount is not just a new law or a new kingdom ethic, it's actually the diagnosis. I mean, when you read the Sermon on the Mount, wait till we get into it. If you read it and you get to the end of it and you think, I got this, you're in trouble, man. If you read the Sermon on the Mount and you think, well, there's no way I can do this. I mean, Jesus is gonna say things like, you heard that it said don't commit adultery. But I say to you, if you just got lust in your heart, you're already an adulterer. And you're like, uh, oh, Jesus is gonna say, you've heard that it said don't murder. And you're like, nail that one. But I say to you, if you've got anger in your heart, you ever drive in the left lane like JTB at 5 o'? Clock? Yeah, man, you're going to hell. The whole point is you look at this and be like, well, this is impossible. Jesus is like, right, right. So you need to do. You need someone to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And if you miss this, you'll miss the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount. And so he's gonna start all eight of these with blessed. Blessed. It's a hard word to translate in English. The Greek word is mercurios. Say mercurios one more time. Mercurios. Some people translate it happy. I mean, kind of. But I hope you know God is more concerned with your holiness than your happiness. What it really means is like this complete and total shalom, this feeling, this feeling that you're filled up with the completeness, the wholeness of God that you cannot contain within yourself, and then it begins to spill over and out of your life. That's what this was word blessed means. It means way more than happy, because happiness is based on our happenings, but it's more like joy, because joy is rooted in Jesus, and Jesus never changes. That's what it's like. One translator said congratulations is a pretty good translation because he's gonna. And he's not saying. It's not a quid pro quo. It's not like if you do these things, then you're chasing after blessing. No, no, no, no. Blessed. Here's congratulations if you're poor in spirit. And so the first one he starts with is that this is where he starts. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Does that make any sense at all? This is why happy doesn't work. Happy are you when you're broken. Now he says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Remember his sermon, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He's saying this when you realize that you are spiritually bankrupt, then you are ripe and ready to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean blessed are you if you're poor in finances. It's not what he's talking about. There is righteous poverty and unrighteous poverty, just like there is righteous wealth and unrighteous wealth. He's talking about blessed are you when you get to the place in your life that literally the word poor in spirit means when you're a beggar. Blessed are you when you know that you need Jesus and we don't bring any merit to the equation of our salvation. So if you were broken, if you were busted, then you are perfectly positioned for the kingdom of heaven is so close to you. How many of you watched the Grammys this week to watch the Grammys? First time I've ever been excited to watch the Grammys jelly roll win. Right? Let's go, man. If you a critic, you ain't gonna like it here. My man gets up on stage seven times, he gives glory to Jesus. Seven times. Not the friendliest crowd. Can we just say that for a second? Everybody wasn't like, woo, Jesus. No, no, no, no, no, no. Everybody had an opinion about what was going on in this world. I don't know why in the world we listen to the jesters of this world, by the way. Who cares what they think? And here. Did you hear how he started? I hear you, Jesus. I hear you, Lord. That's how he started. And then he said. What did he say? He said, I was busted, I was broken. That's why I wrote this album that I mean, well, he can preach, can't he? He's got it in him. He was like, I was busted, I was broken. I was the worst of humanity. And I was in a 6 by 8 cell. And he says, I had this Bible and I had this radio and I knew God could save me. Jesus is for everybody. He doesn't belong to a political party. Jesus is for everybody and he wants a relationship with you. Here's what he's screaming, here's what he sings about. He's saying he was poor in spirit, he was spiritually bankrupt. I tell you what's really sad in our country is when Jelly Roll can be more bold about the gospel than half the preachers in a pulpit this weekend. It's a sad day, man. He didn't say, look at me, I got it all together. No, no, no. He said, I was busted, I was broken. So if you read the Sermon on the Mountain, you think, I can't do this. You are perfectly positioned for the kingdom of heaven. If you think you just got to clean yourself up, I got terrible news. If you think you're good, salvation is a million miles away from you. I hope you realize that. If you think I got this, you ain't got this. You know why the Pharisees couldn't recognize Jesus? We're gonna see it over and over and over. Cause you know what? You need to be saved. You need need. You need need. And listen, man, if you don't know you're lost. A map does you no good. If you don't know you're drowning. A lifesaver does you no good. And Jesus says, blessed are you when you realize that you're busted up. One of the most famous parables that Jesus ever tells is in Luke 15. It's a very famous story. Kid comes to Jesus, younger kid says, hey, dad, give me my Inheritance. That means you're dead to me. I don't want you. I just want your stuff. You know, it's a Jesus story. Cause the dad gives the inheritance. If I went to my daddy, he said, daddy, why don't you give me what's coming to me? He said, boy, I'm about to show you what's coming to you. That's how that would go real quick. Okay, this is a Jesus story. He gives it to him, and the boy takes off. And the Bible says, squanders everything he has in reckless living. He chases all the temporary things of this world. He's feeding pigs. He's an Orthodox Jewish boy. This means he's out of fellowship with God. He's out of fellowship with his family. He's out of fellowship with the synagogue. He's dirty. And then one day, while he's feeding the pigs and the temporary things of this world left him bankrupt, he's actually jealous of what the pig's eating. And then there's one little verse in there nobody ever talks about. And it says, and no one did anything for him. Do you realize it's the kindness of God to let you fall flat on your back? So the only thing we can do is look up and say, I need you. And then the Bible says, and he came to his senses. To be poor in spirit means that you come to your senses and that's when he comes home. And so if that's you, man, if you're busted up and you're broken and you're like, I need help. Yours is the kingdom of heaven. It is right there. Which leads to the next one. I don't think these are eight separate things. I think these are building blocks of the life of the person who was lost and meets Jesus and then acts like it. Because when that begins to happen, when you are broken and you begin to come to Jesus, then you get the next one. Blessed are those who mourn. How does that make any sense at all if this is a circumstantial blessing? This makes no sense. Happy, are you when you're sad? No, I'm not. Now, listen, man, there are things to mourn over. There are things to be sad about. God gives us feelings to navigate this thing called life. Feelings are a good gauge that they make a terrible guiding God. So he's not just saying, if you want to be happy, go be sad. That doesn't make any sense. But if you look at this with gospel lenses, I believe what he's saying is, blessed are those who mourn. This is not an event, but you begin to mourn your condition. You're not mourning that you got busted. You're mourning that you are busted. This is what theologians called regeneration. This is that moment where you begin to be convicted of your sin and convicted of your condition. And he says, when you do that, what happens? They shall be comforted. Do you remember one of the primary roles Jesus said he was gonna give us with the Holy Spirit? He says, I'm gonna send you the Holy Spirit. The comforter is what Jesus calls him. That isn't that big thing you put on you in bed at night. No, no, no, no, no. That when your heart begins to be regenerated, when you feel the warm invitation and the conviction of sin, you don't run from God, you run to him. And then anybody that puts their faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible later, is going to say that God deposits the third person of the Trinity, God, the Holy Spirit, on the inside of every single believer. And one of the primary roles of the spirit of God in the believer is. Is to comfort us, to give us a peace that transcends all understanding, not regret and resolution, not God is good, you're bad. Try harder. See you next week. But the Spirit of God begins to do things in us that we can never do for ourselves. You see, because when we see God for who he rightly is, you know what you do? You feel convicted. Isaiah. Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets. I mean, you think you're cool, you're not as cool as Isaiah. He wrote the Bible. Would you write? And in Isaiah, when he encounters the living God, his response is not, hey, big guy, I got some questions. No. He falls on his face and he says, woe in me, for I am lost. I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. My friend JR Vassar, saturated years ago, said, this repentance means, I refuse to be at peace with sin that is in my life. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are those who come to the reality that this is not what I was created for. I was made for more. I was made to be in a relationship with God. Because when you begin to go down that road, when you realize you're spiritually bankrupt, when you begin to feel that conviction of sin and you say, God, I'm a sinner. I need a savior, then God has comfort for us. He is the Holy Spirit. Which leads to the third building block. Blessed are the meek. Blessed Are the meek. We don't understand this word. English is tough, man. Cause it rhymes with weak. It ain't a man I know that wants to be weak. I don't want you to be weak. God doesn't want you to be weak. I don't know a man that's like, man, I hope at my funeral they say, you know, that Joby was meek. See, you laugh right there. Hurt my feeling. So that's not what it means. It means strength under control. Literally, in Greek, meek. I know I sound like Dr. Seuss when I say this, but it means bit bridled horse. That Greek can be a picture language. And that thing that you would put in the mouth of a thoroughbred so that you could control that strength. That's what meekness is. It's not weakness. It means that I'm turning over the reins of my life to another master. Not that I'm gonna be less strong. Actually, when you tame or break a horse, they get stronger, they live longer. They. They can pull more. One cowboy on a broken horse can go round up 12 wild ones easy. You realize this. This is, in my opinion, as Jesus is laying this out. Blessed are you when you realize I do not bring merit to the equation. Blessed are you when you begin to mourn your spiritual condition, your separation from God. And blessed are you when you turn the reins of your life over to another master. This is the moment of salvation. This is when you say, I ain't the boss of me anymore. I admit it. I'm a sinner. God, I believe that when Christ died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. Lord, take the reins. In 26 minutes, I'm gonna give you an opportunity to do that. You start praying about it right now. For they shall inherit the earth. It's directional language that you were heading towards absolute destruction. Pastor Adam taught us about four or five weeks, a month ago or something, that in the end, in the consummation of all things, heaven is not some place up there in the sky where you go forever. No, no, no. There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. And when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, what you're doing is God turns you around, you repent. You were facing the world, you were facing destruction, and your back was toward God. And he brings you back to himself, that now you've got your back towards this world and you are coming towards Him. And yours is you inherit eternity. So blessed are you when you repent and change direction. Surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ as Your Lord and Savior, which leads to number four. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? You see, most of the time, when we hear righteous, we think about right activity. It's not what the Bible typically means. It typically means a right standing with God. You see, the moment you put your faith in Jesus, you are justified. It is just as if, from God's perspective, this breaks down a lot, but it will help you remember it from God's perspective. When you put your faith in Jesus, it's just as if I'd never sinned. Because when he sees me, he sees the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's what he sees. I'm adopted into his family. And so this doesn't just mean I hunger and rise to do good things. I hunger and thirst for him. I hunger and thirst for you, God. This is why Jesus, in John 15, he gives this unbelievable invitation. He's like, come here, come here, come here. Really close. Abide in me and I will abide in you. Not some kind of program. My dad's like the gardener, and he loves you so much. There's some junk he's gonna cut out, man. It's gonna hurt so bad. It's gonna be so good for you, though. Abide in my Word and you'll abide in me. Stay close to me. This is all relational language. Eventually, he sits down with his disciples. He's like, you call me Lord and master, and you should. I'm the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I'm the boss of everything. I spoke you into existence, knitted you together in your mama's womb, and I call you friend. Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst for Jesus. Listen, man, our church scares me to death. I love it. I love it. There's nothing else I want to do in my whole life, okay? I'm telling you, I'm going to preach. I'm going to preach my own funeral. Close the casket, and then you'll be done with me. I'm not kidding. They're gonna show clips of me doing this right now, okay? Man, we got so many people flooding in and watching on the Internet, watching on YouTube and all that kind of stuff. And I know I can get fiery and I can be funny sometimes. And I am so afraid that people will just be entertained. But you don't know Jesus. And I don't know how to make you love something I love. I don't. I want it so bad for you, man. That's why I stand in that lobby. I wanna pray with every person I can. I just want you to love him. I want you to know him. I don't want you to just show up here every once in a while and just attend an event and think, well, that was neat, and then just leave, man. I want you to hunger and thirst for him, not just right activity. Now, when you know him and love him, he's gonna change everything about your life. When you get run over by the grace train, of course it changes everything. And I'm just telling you, man, I know him, I want him, I love him. I can't get over the gospel. I don't know why he would save me except for his glory. And so this doesn't mean I'm hunger and thirst just to get everything right so I can check all the boxes. In Romans chapter three, Romans is like the standard for righteousness. And in the book of Romans, Paul makes it abundantly clear that righteousness is not simply right activity because he struggles with activity in Romans chapter 7. In Romans chapter 3, he says, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. The only way that you could be dressed in his righteousness and stand before him faultless before the throne is that you have trusted in Jesus. And if that doesn't drive you to want more of him, and more of him, and more of him, something's wrong. In that great hymn, How Great Thou Art, the writer says, and when I think of God, his Son, not sparing, sent him to die. And then it's like he stops for a second. He makes this parenthetical statement. I scarce can take it in. I can't believe it. I can't get my mind around it. I can't get my heart around it. I can't get over it. I scarce can take it in that on the cross my burden gladly bearing he bled and died to take away my sin. And then something happens. When you realize that, then sings my soul, My Savior God to thee, how great Thou art. Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst for righteousness. The alien righteousness that the Bible is talking about is Jesus in your place. And you know what happens? You'll be satisfied. You know why you're so dissatisfied with your life? Because you keep chasing the temporary things of this world. And you were created as an eternal being with an insatiable soul. And the only thing that can satisfy it is the Almighty, everlasting God. This is why some of you have accomplished all your dreams, man. Now you're not satisfied with them anymore. But, I mean, you're living in a fatter house and you have a dream. You married up. You're aggravated with her. You got relatively okay kids compared to the other kids at school. They're awesome. You got money. You've been on so many vacations, you can't even remember whether things happened anymore. You got a cybertruck, And you lay in bed at night and you go, is this it? That ain't it. It'll never satisfy. Augustine says, thou madest us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in thee. He'll never be satisfied until you hunger and thirst for him, and only he will satisfy. C.S. lewis, very famously in Mere Christianity, says, if we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world. Jesus says, blessed are you when you hunger and thirst for me, because in me and me alone is where you're gonna find abundant life, where you're gonna find satisfaction because you were created for me, Me. And then, much like the Ten Commandments, if you know the Ten Commandments very well, the first four, the first three are about our vertical relationship with God. There's one God, cut out the idols. Watch your mouth. Don't use the Lord's name in vain. The four commandment, the Sabbath commandment, it's not just about, like, take a day off, that's fine, but it's really about, you've got to live in the kind of rhythm of this hinge commandment where you make me first in your life, that I am before all things. And you rest and you refuel so that you could be about the business of God. And you refuel with the love of God every single week so that the love of God can then flow through you in the way we treat one another. All the rest of the commandments are how we're supposed to live and love one another. So don't kill each other, don't lie to each other, and only sleep with your wife. Those kind of things. The Beatitudes are the same. Blessed are you when you're broken and you realize, I need a Savior. Blessed are you when you mourn over your disconnected relationship with God. Blessed are you when you turn the reins over to Jesus and you deeply desire that growing relationship with him. And Then Jesus through you is gonna begin to help you treat the world differently. Which leads to the fifth one. Blessed are the merciful. Dude, praise God. This isn't just a conditional blessing. Cause guess what? If I'm like, hey, with all the merciful people raise their hand, guess who ain't raising their hand? Your pastor. I don't just ooze mercy, except that I know how merciful God has been to me. And as I hunger and thirst for him and I get closer and closer to him, then with his spirit through me, I'm able to treat others like God treated me. Grace is to give somebody what they don't deserve. Mercy is to not give somebody what they do deserve. And God has been so merciful to us. So he says, blessed are the merciful. Anybody know a Christian whose lead foot is just judgmentalism? They're not blessed. They're not walking in the way of Jesus. Accountability, yeah. Condemnation. No way that what God has done in me is beginning to change me. Because identity precedes activity. And if you are in Christ, this is crazy. You are full of mercy because you're full of Christ. Ephesians 2 says you were children of wrath. Think about that. Now, I know our 1825. I know that's offensive to you because you were told your whole life that you were a butterfly and you were a snowflake and you were a skittle. You're not. You're a child of wrath. A wretched, crooked and depraved black hearted sinner that deserves to go to hell forever and ever and ever. Selah. Everybody laughing too though. That's the thing. But God being rich in mercy, he didn't give us what we deserve. To be rich means you have more than enough. God does not simply give you enough mercy that you could squeak your way into heaven. But God would love us so much that he lavishes his love upon his children that we might be called children of God. He has over. He just pours mercy and pours mercy and pours mercy. He says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. This is what Jesus is going to pray in the Lord's Prayer. By the way, you realize what we pray when we pray the Lord's Prayer. Father, forgive my trespasses, okay? As I forgive those who trespass against me. You know who doesn't give forgiveness? People that don't have forgiveness. And maybe you ain't giving it because you ain't got it. And if you got Jesus, you got mercy. Which leads to the next one. I hope you see here, when you turn the reins of your life over to Jesus as your master, he begins to transform you from the inside out. The Christian life is not outside in. I've said this a million times, going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore. And putting your head in the oven makes you a biscuit. That is not how it works. He begins to do a work from the inside out. This is called the fruit singular fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. These are not outside in things that are manufactured. These are inside out things. And then he says this, blessed are the pure in heart. This is how I know that my theory that this is just building blocks of the gospel of Jesus Christ, justification and sanctification that one day will lead to glorification. This is how I know, because this is the conditional blessing. Would all the pure in heart people please stand up? And the moment that you self identify, that's me. You're full of pride and God opposes the proud. If you declare yourself righteous, you are by definition self righteous. Does anybody like the self righteous? No. So here's what this means. You know who's pure in heart? Every single person that has trusted Christ as their savior. You don't feel like it yet. You haven't fully realized it yet because you got the same mind. We talked about this during the temptation sermon. You still got the same jacked up mind. This is why we have to not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. But the moment you put your faith in Jesus, he ripped out that wretched, crooked and depraved black heart and he gave you a new heart. He gave you his heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Psalm 51 After David had done some shady stuff, he says, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. You realize what this is? You don't have to do the things you used to do. You're not the person you used to be. The the old you is dead. The new you is alive in Christ. And guess what you get? Blessed are the pure in heart. You get to see God. That's what you were created for when the very first man was ever created, God gathers together the dirt of the earth. The Hebrew word's Adamah. This is where we get the name Adam or Adam, that's what he named him. Dirt. And the Bible says he's not yet a living creature. Then the Bible says he breathes into his nostrils. He wants you to know that he's not doing this from the third heaven nose to nose, mouth to mouth. God, the almighty Creator, breathes the Ruwah spirit breath into Adam and he opens his eyes and he's face to face with his heavenly Father. That has been imprinted on every single one of us. That's what we were created for. That's why the temporary things of this world will not satisfy. And when you put your faith in Jesus Christ and he gives you a new heart, you get to see God. Think about this. When Moses is a big deal man. Moses, part of the Red Sea. What you done? Moses is on the mountain and received the Ten Commandments. That God with his finger etched him into the. I know you had a dream and thought God talked to you one time. That's neat. God gave him the Ten Commandments. He's a big deal. He writes five books of the Bible. And at one point, Moses has a request. Show me your glory. I want to see your face. God's like, nope, ain't gonna work. I have not sent the Redeemer the substitutionary atonement for your sins. So if you enter into the presence of my holiness, I'll burn you up like a marshmallow in a campfire. Won't be good for you. Very loose translation. But here's what happens. So I'm gonna tuck you in this little rock, and I'm gonna walk by. I'm gonna let you see the afterburners. How about that? Made his face glow. Jesus comes along. He says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. This is what you were created for. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed is the person that surrenders their life to the lordship of Jesus Christ because he gives us a pure heart. And you get to be face to face with God like Adam was, which leads to the next one. Blessed. Blessed are the peacemakers, not peacekeepers. So all you moms staying at home raising them hellions that you call babies, you spend all day, right? You go to your room. You go. This is not what Jesus is talking about. God bless your ministry. I'm praying for you a peace. How do you make peace? This is not the absence of conflict, but this Is the fullness or wholeness the shalom of God? You will never be at peace until you're at peace with God. Blessed are you when you help this traitorous race be reconciled to a holy and perfect God. That's what this is saying. Second Corinthians 5 says it this way, beginning in verse 18. And then it gets to one of my favorite verses. Paul says, all this is from God, who through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. If you're a believer in Jesus, you have a peacemaking ministry to help lost people, sinful people, people that have rejected the Almighty God just like the prodigal did. And our job is to communicate the good news of the gospel, that they, through the blood of Christ, might be reconciled to this holy and perfect God that is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting us to with the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. Let me put it on the bottom shell. Blessed are you when you pray for your one more. Blessed are you when you invite your one more. Blessed are you when you share that invitation. Why? Because God is making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God for our sake. He made him to be sin who knew no sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God. When you are convicted of your sin, when you realize you're poor in spirit, you're broken, you're busted up, you're like God, I can't do this. When you begin to mourn your separation from God, when you say, okay, I'm turning over the reins of my life. And he begins to work in you and fill you with mercy. And he makes you a peacemaker. And you, because the people that you love, you want them to understand the love that you've experienced from God, you begin to share your faith. The Bible says, blessed are you. Cause you're gonna be called sons of God in Greek. They don't have adverbs like we do. This would be the Greek way of saying, blessed are you, for you will be godly. You wanna be godly, Be like God. What did God the Son do? He came on a rescue mission for me and you. Every single time, you realize the moment you got rescued, you're part of the rescue team. Congratulations. Blessed are you. Cause you're doing God's stuff. So far, so good, right? This last one makes a terrible turn. Because in our world. Now listen, if you just want to do the casual cultural Christianity, you'll be fine. You'll be totally fine. Just don't tell nobody. But if you begin to actually live like this, if you can begin to actually be covered in the dust of your rabbi, if you're not just like a church attender that kind of believes in Jesus, but you actually follow in the footsteps of Jesus and you begin to say the things that he said and do the things that he did, and you begin to live this kind of life. Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness. Now, there's a couple of things here. First of all, blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness. Not blessed are you because you're a jerk. And there's a lot of jerks for Jesus ministry out there. That's not what we're talking about. I know some of you are like, no, I'm just bold. And my Myers Briggs is J E R K. No, that ain't what I mean, man. But because you decide I'm gonna do what God says and not what this world says, you will be persecuted. Trust me, you will be persecuted. Now, there are definitely degrees to it. We should be praying every single day for the persecuted church around the world. The thousands of believers right now in Nigeria. This means something different than them, than a mean tweet. And I would say this if you hadn't busted your nose lately against this culture, it could be because you're just going with the flow. If you haven't been persecuted for your faith ever, it could be just because you are indistinguishable from the lost. And you might want to check that. But he says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness. For the kingdom of heaven is yours. Repent. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the gospel of the kingdom is not only the gospel of your salvation. That is definitely the beginning of it. No doubt. But the gospel is not just like the entrance exam in the Gospel is the whole course load. The gospel is not just the shallow end of the pool. It's the whole thing, including the deck and the diving board. Y' all don't have diving boards anymore? We used to have diving boards. Sorry. The gospel is not just the starter of the car. It's bumper to bumper. It's not just the ABCs, it's the A to Z. And so Jesus preaches the gospel of the kingdom Heaven. Why? Because when you submit and surrender to the king, you are about his business. And when we do this in this world, we have an enemy. But I've got Good news, the same power that saved you is the power that will sustain you. And Jesus has the audacity to say, rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets and now the rest of the of the Sermon on the Mount. In a few weeks, when we get to the end, we're gonna get back to Jesus saying, hey, some of you are gonna be standing in line for heaven. And I'm gonna say, depart from me forever. I never knew you. Is that scary? I hope so. You realize there's gonna be people that don't get into heaven and they are totally caught off guard. And the reason that we know these people didn't know Jesus is because their response when Jesus says, I didn't know you. What they produced was their religious resume. But Jesus, I did all kind of things for you. I went every night of saturated. I sponsored a kid. I showed up to church several times a month. Sometimes I would tip you on the way out. Their list is even more than that. They say, but did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? You would think if you're on the exorcism team, you're probably going to heaven, right? I ain't never cast out a demon. I've told you before. Closest I ever got, I sent a seventh grader home from camp. That's the closest I ever got to casting out a demon. And here's how we know they didn't get the gospel. Because the only paperwork that matters when you stand before the Great White Throne, Judgment, is not your resume. It's that you RSVP to his invitation. That is it, man. Like Alistair Beggs says, the only way we get in is like the thief on the cross. The man on the middle cross said I could come. That is it. So please don't miss this, because the middle of the sermon, the next bunch of weeks, it's going to be the symptoms of the gospel infected life. So we do marriage different, we do sex different. And we do. We don't sue people like the world tells us to. We do everything. We do forgiveness different. We do money different. We do everything different. Not so that we can stand right before God. If you get to heaven and think you're gonna show him your resume, then you have completely missed the very beginning of the sermon. Blessed are you who are poor in spirit. Blessed are you when you realize you bring nothing to the equation except the sin that requires salvation. Jesus did not come to make bad people better or Sad people happy. He came to give life to the dead and salvation for sinners. He's going to close this whole thing up. We'll be there in a few weeks. There are two guys that build houses. House means life. One guy built it on the sand, his own resume. And another guy built it on the rock. The person and work of Jesus. And the wind and the rain came to both guys, the Jesus follower and the Jesus faker. So God does not promise some easy life. Man, if you want easy, don't be a Christian. If you want everybody to like you sell ice cream, don't be a Christian. And the guy that built his life on his own resume, everything fell apart and great was the fall of it. But the man who built his life on the rock of Jesus Christ was sustained because it was not him holding him up, it was Christ himself. So blessed are the poor in spirit. If your testimony is the same as jelly rolls, maybe not that extreme. Or maybe because we got a bunch of guys watching in prison right now. And you realize, man, I'm not just sad that I got busted, I'm sad because I am busted. And I don't bring any merit to the equation. And I need someone to do for me what I cannot do for myself. I got no righteousness in and of myself. I admit it. I'm a sinner. I need a savior. And I believe, I trust that somehow when Jesus Christ was on that cross and he pushed up on his nail pierced feet and he said it is finished or paid in full, somehow that counted for me if I will just trust him. Not trusting me, not trusting my good works, not not trust in the religious activity that I was brought up in. No, no, no, no, that's not gonna do it whatsoever. That's a house built on sand. But I trust in the finished work of Christ that when he died on the cross somehow that counted for me. Then the Bible says if that's you, then there's a prayer in the Bible that you can pray that gets answered 100% of the time. Says this in Romans 10:13. For all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Because what it means to call on the name of the Lord is blessed are the meek. What it means to call Jesus your Lord is. I ain't got this. I'm ready to turn the reins of my life over to you. You take it from here and that's called salvation. And you and God is a promise keeping God. And so I want you to bow your heads, I want you to close your Eyes. Not because you're embarrassed and not because I care if anybody sees you. I want the whole world to see you. I just don't want you to be distracted. In your mind, I want you to go back 2000 years and I want you to sit on the side of a mountain. And even though there were thousands of people with all kinds of reasons for being there, I mean, some people's just got healed and some people's cousin just got healed, and they were just in the mood for another healing or to see a good show or to hear a good sermon. And yet as he was talking, you had that feeling like, oh my gosh, did somebody tell him? I feel like he's only talking to me. That even though you were sitting among thousands, you felt like the Christ was looking right at you and talking just to you and saying, come on, hand over the reins to me. And that might be your experience right now, that the God of the universe is speaking through this dumb old redneck to you right now saying, come home, won't you come to me? Why don't you put down your pride? And for the very first time, why don't you admit it? You're not just a bad person that needs to be better, but you're a sinner. And you need a savior. What you need is Him. And you realize that in this moment, for the very first time, it's not just a head knowledge with a lot of pushback between your ears, but somehow you believe. You trust that when Jesus died on the cross, that actually counted for you. Not the person just next to you, but the you sitting in your seat right now. So today you want to say yes to the invitation of God to turn over the reins of your life, to call on the name of the Lord. And so if that's you, there's no magic prayer. This isn't witchcraft. There's not an incantation. It's just surrender. And so if you, for the very first time, are ready to call on the name of the Lord as your Lord and Savior, would you just stick your hand up right where you are and just say, lord Jesus, save me. And that is a prayer that he will answer every single time. Not cause your hand's in the air, but. But because you were admitting it, you were believing in him and you were calling on his name, lift it high and say, lord Jesus, save me. Our good and gracious heavenly father. God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. God, I thank you so much that you did not just come and upgrade the Rules by which we have to live by. But you fulfilled every single one. You did for us what we could not do. You lived the life we couldn't live. And then you died. The death that we deserve. That Jesus, you did not merely die for us, you died instead of us. And for anyone who would believe, we get credit, we get imputed with your perfect righteousness, your perfect standing before God. God, you rip out our heart of stone and you give us a heart of flesh. Your heart. And we get to see you face to face forever and ever and ever. And God, may we never get over the gospel. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Church, would you please stand? We believe that the gospel demands a response. I mean, demands it. And so we're going to sing. We're going to sing. The Bible says, is anyone among you cheerful? You should sing. We're going to sing Gospel words. It's like a big prayer. Where all of our campuses, all over the place, from organization, Orlando to Jessup, we're all singing the same thing at the same time in prisons and all. The thing man, because he is worth it, he is worthy of it. And we're gonna bring our tithes and our offerings. Cause we're saying, Jesus, where my treasure is, my heart will be also. And I want you to have it all. I want you to have my heart. Cause you're the only one worth it. And we pray. Cause he is a good dad. And he says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened. If you're mourning, if you need something, Jesus says, come to me. Cast all your cares upon me. Because I care for you. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray, let's respond.