A (17:22)

When you pray to God, is it more like a chat or are you really connecting with him in a deep and meaningful way? We'd like to help you establish a stronger, deeper and more personal prayer life. Tim Keller's book, Prayer Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God offers biblical guidance as well as specific ways to pray in certain situations, such as dealing with criminal grief, loss, love and forgiveness. In the book, Dr. Keller helps you learn how to make your prayers more personal and powerful through a regular practice of prayer. Experiencing awe and intimacy with God is our thanks for your gift to help us reach more people with the life changing power of the gospel. Request your copy today@gospelandlife.com give. That's gospelandlife.com give now here's Tim Keller with the remainder of today's teaching.

C (18:14)

Besides that, if you look carefully, it really isn't completely parallel to the the first four is not really completely parallel to the second four. Do you see that? Because down at the bottom it says, you're rich now, but later you'll be empty. You're well fed now, later you will be empty. But up here it says, blessed are you who are poor, blessed are you who are hungry. And one little hint that you have to read this on multiple is it's not really saying just anyone who's poor is blessed. Anyone who is weeping is blessed. Because it says then at the bottom, blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, and insult you because of the Son of Man for my sake. So here's what most commentators say, and I don't have the time to, you know, give you all the background reasoning, but I think just trust me on this. We're being given a description of the kingdom. The kingdom is for the poor and for the weak and the grieving and the excluded. But what does that mean? It means, you read that at four levels. You might say it means four things. Number one, you have to be poor in spirit. You have to be spiritually hungry if you are to receive the blessings of salvation at all. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says this, gives this sermon again. And there he says, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. See, here it says just those who are hungry. There he says, hunger and thirst after righteousness. Here it says just poor. There it says poor in spirit. And what that means is it's multi layers. But it means at least this, you're not a Christian unless you're poor in spirit. You're not a Christian if you're middle class in spirit. Now what is a middle class and spirit person spiritually? What does it mean to be middle class? I'll tell you what it means to be spiritually middle class. Middle class people say, I don't need your charity. I've worked very hard. I pay my taxes, I want my rights. That's how middle class people feel. And a middle class in spirit person says, I've lived a pretty good life. I'm not perfect, but I've lived a pretty good life. And I believe God owes me a good life or certainly needs to answer my prayers. That's middle class in spirit. But poor people, they're looking for charity. They're looking for bleeding charity, they're looking for a handout. And you're not a Christian until you realize that you are poor in spirit. Till you are spiritually bankrupt, that you have not only done bad things, but even the good things you've done, you haven't done for the right motive and you need radical forgiveness. Not until you're spiritually poor, not until you're spiritually hungry, because you believe what Cynthia Heimel told you, which is that the things of this world will never satisfy you. Not until you are spiritually poor and spiritually needy will you turn to Jesus Christ as your Savior. Otherwise, you'll be your own savior, you'll be middle class in spirit. And therefore the blessings of the kingdom of God only come to people who are poor in spirit, who admit that they're sinners and they need radical grace. So that's the first thing that means to enter the kingdom of God and to be, to be in the kingdom of God, to get the blessings of the salvation of the kingdom of God, is you've got to be poor in spirit, you've got to be spiritually hungry, you got to grieve over your sins, spiritually grieving and so on, that's one level. But then secondly, if you are poor in spirit, truly poor in spirit, if you are truly have grieved in spirit, if you're truly hungry, then you will have a tremendous heart for the literally and materially poor and hungry and excluded and marginalized and oppressed. See, if you look at a poor person and say, why don't you pull yourself up by your bootstrap? That means you're middle class in spirit. Because if you're a true Christian who understands you're saved by grace, you will know that you didn't pull yourself up by your bootstrap. God came and saved you with his radical charity and grace. And a real Christian is someone who you might be middle class, you might be well off, you might be an incredibly accomplished person. But before God, you know that you are spiritually bankrupt and you are only live because of his intervening grace, undeserved grace. And once you understand that, it changes your attitude toward everyone around. You don't just want to hang out with the powerful and the materially comfortable and the successful. Your heart goes out to the poor and it goes out to the grieving, it goes out to the messed up, it goes out to the excluded, it goes out to the oppressed. In fact, the Bible over and over says that that's how you know you're a sinner saved by grace, because you care about those folks. See, that's the second thing it means when we say that the kingdom of God belongs to is for the poor and the and the grieving and the weak and the excluded. Why? Because it creates, through the gospel, it creates a cadre of people who care about those folks and who reach out to them and draw them in. So first of all, why is the kingdom of God for the poor and the weak and the grieving and the excluded? Because you have to be spiritually poor and weak in order to receive the blessings of the kingdom, number one. Number two, it makes you care about and reach out to the poor and the weak and the grieving, the excluded. Christian churches ought to be just filled with those people because we draw them in. Because we don't just want to hang out with people who open doors for us and help us in our career. We've been totally changed by the gospel. Thirdly, if you do reach out to people like that, you realize that even if you are middle class, even if you're upper class, even if you are accomplished, even if your life's going pretty well, some of the suffering and some of the poverty and some of the weakness of people around you will fall on you. Think about it. For example, the Bible says you should tithe. The Bible says you give at least 10% of your income away every year. Now, I'm not preaching on that. If you say, what, yes, it's there, I could get there for you. But I'm just lay this out here. Now, if that's true, you realize that if you really just give your money away in biblical proportions, you will be poorer. You won't live as well. That money that you could have spent on yourself, you won't. And there is a sense, therefore, in which to live in the kingdom of God makes every. Anyone in the kingdom of God is poorer than they would have been otherwise. Everyone in the kingdom of God is actually probably weeps more. You know why? Because even if your life is going well, you don't stay away from weeping people. You get involved with weeping people and they drain you. And you're sad too. See, in the kingdom of this world, you're too busy for those folks. You're on your way up the ladder. Power, material comfort, success, recognition. You don't have time for them. Besides that, you really can't afford to give too much of your metabolism to all these hurting people. But if you're in the kingdom of God, you give yourself away. You live sacrificially. The kingdom of God is not based on power and recognition and moving up the ladder. It's based on love and service and self giving and self emptying. And that means everybody in the kingdom of God is poorer. Everybody cries more often. Everybody. And lastly, if troubles hit you, if weakness comes to you, if poverty comes to you, if suffering comes to you, Christians, because they've got the true wealth, because they got the true hope, they're not destroyed by suffering, they're not overrun by it, they're not overcome by it, but instead they just, they can actually rejoice in their sufferings. They can put their roots down, deeper into God and know that through the suffering they will grow more in grace, they'll grow more in joy, grow up more in strength, more in faith and a sense of God's reality than they would have otherwise. Do you see the four levels? What does it mean to live in the kingdom of God? It means to be poor, weak, grieving and excluded spiritually, then reaching out to those people and drawing them in, then experiencing some of that weakness yourself, and then finally being able to rejoice in actual weakness. Because all things work together for good to those who love God, God walks with you through that suffering to turn you into someone like Jesus. And that's what it means to live in the kingdom of God. So that's what it is and that's what it's not. And that's what it's like. And lastly, here's the reason why this is. I'll be brief here, but you should always remember this when you read the Beatitudes. You know the Matthew list is longer than the Luke list. But when you read the Beatitudes, you're right in seeing this. And most commentators say this is a description of a Christian. Christians ought to be poor in spirit. Christians are supposed to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Christians should be peacemakers. And we're going here. I'm talking about Matthew 5. Christians ought to do all these things. But you know, the Beatitudes don't just describe Christians. They also describe what Jesus Christ had to go through to make you a Christian. Because I want you to think about this for a second. Why can Jesus Christ say, someday you will be so you blessed are you, you are spiritually rich. Now you know why? Because he, though he was spiritually rich, became poor. He was living in heaven. He was a glorious son of God, and he emptied himself and became human, became poor. He was rich so that but he gave up his riches and became poor so that we, through his poverty, might become rich. Why can Jesus Christ say, you will be comforted? Because on the cross, he was disconsolate. How can. Why would Jesus say, you will be satisfied? Because on the cross he said, I thirst. Why would Jesus say, you will laugh and rejoice? Because he was a man of sorrows. Why can he say, you will be accepted, you'll be recognized by God, you'll be brought into the kingdom of God? Because he was excluded. He was excluded. My God, my God, why hast thou excluded me? My God, my God, why have you cast me out? I'll tell you why. Jesus Christ was reversing places with us. He, though he was rich, became poor, that through his poverty we might become rich. And that's the reason why we live in the kingdom the way we do. When we become spiritually poor, we become spiritually rich. Not until we admit our spiritual bankruptcy do we have the riches of infinite bliss and absolute forgiveness and complete acceptance by him. Having a meaning in life that suffering can't take away from you. Having an identity so rooted in God's love that criticism and even your own failure can't uproot you see, only when you become absolutely poor do you become rich. Why? Because Jesus Christ, who was absolutely rich, became poor. It's actually only through getting involved with the tears of the world that you find the joy of God. Why? Because Jesus Christ, who was God, left his joy and became a man of sorrows. You see? Reversal. Because God, Jesus Christ reversed places with us. He gets what we deserve, so we get what he deserves. That's why we, in a sense, can live in a reversed, upside down kingdom. The world thinks we're crazy. The world thinks the things that we value we should try to avoid, like suffering and poverty and grieving. And the things that they're after, we're kind of suspicious of. So it's almost like we live in an upside down kingdom, at least from the world's point of view. That's because Jesus Christ was turned upside down for us. So how do you pray thy will be done? Or what do you do when you pray thy will be done? I would suggest that you keep four things in mind. Maybe not every time, you know, take turns. Tomorrow, when you pray the Lord's Prayer in the morning, pray it one way, the next Tuesday, pray it the second way, Wednesday, pray the third way, and Thursday, pray the fourth way. I don't know what you're going to do on Friday. Actually, you know, be innovative. But here's the four things. First of all, thy kingdom come means, lord, I want more and more people in the world to know the blessings of your Kingdom, thy kingdom come. Spread your word, spread the gospel. Thy kingdom come. Let more and more people know these spiritual blessings. That's the first thing. The second thing is when you pray thy kingdom come, you're also praying this, or you can pray this. Let your justice be done. See, the kingdom of God is based on love and self giving and service. If God's the king, God's the coach, King of the world. When God is complete king of the world, there will no longer be oppression, there will no longer be injustice, there will no longer be people living for themselves, people, in a sense, there'll be harmony and there'll be peace and there'll be no suffering or death, right? And so when you pray thy kingdom come, you're praying against the injustice and oppression and violence in the world. You're saying, lord, make it right. Set things to right. Thirdly, St. Augustine said, and this actually draws on the last part of chapter six that we had read, but I haven't spent much time on St. Augustine said, you should never pray thy kingdom come without saying, and Lord, let thy kingdom go deeper in me. Because, see, you see that place at the end of the chapter where Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say to some degree, we're all like that, are we not? We call him Lord, in fact, Lord. Lord, by the way, was a Semitic way of expressing passion. When you say Lord, Lord, that was a way of expressing emotion. So Jesus says, you not only call me Lord, but you're passionate and you sing worship songs and you're really excited and you sway with the music, but you're not obeying me in every part of your life. And to pray thy kingdom come is to say, lord, help me to dig down deeper and put my foundation on you. See, the man, he says, the man who says Lord, Lord, but doesn't obey me is like a person who actually says they're basing their life on me, but actually they're basing their life on something else. Their house, the house of their life has not gotten all the way down to the rock. And an awful lot of us, we are Christians and we're trying, we say, oh, yes, Jesus is my Lord, but actually our career or our family or something else really is what we're basing our life on. And so when storms come, we feel jostled because of course, we're not really. We're not rooted. We're not founded on Jesus love. It's on something else. So when you pray thy kingdom come as St. Augustine says, say, and Lord, let your kingdom go deeper in me. Don't let me say, lord, Lord, help me to be more obedient than ever. I obey you and I see these parts of my life that I want to obey you, and I give them to you now. And lastly, praying thy kingdom come is to hope, is to look to the future. It's to look to the day when the kingdom really comes and makes everything right. When we're all resurrected, we have our bodies, our new bodies. To pray thy kingdom come is a way of consoling yourself because so often it's so hard. Here. Say thy kingdom come means oh Lord, I'm looking forward to that day. Lord, haste the day when faith shall be sight. You know, the clouds rolled back like a scroll. And John Calvin has a little prayer. He suggests praying every morning when you wake up and it goes like this. It says, lord, I lay down last night to sleep and I rose this morning alive by your grace now. And this is what he says, keep me in the joyful remembrance of my final rising because Jesus Christ lay down in death for me and rose for my justification. See what he's saying? Oh Lord, all day, keep me in joyful remembrance. Fill me with joy at the thought that someday, no matter all this trouble that I'm going through will be over and I will someday keep me in the joyful remembrance of my final rising someday. I'm not going to just wake up from the sleep in my bed. I'm going to wake up into my new body all because Jesus Christ laid down in death for me and was raised for my justification. So I can hope I can live in the knowledge of that coming kingdom. Thy kingdom come. Let us pray. Thanks Father, for giving us what we need in order to pray thy kingdom come. And we ask that as we pray it, we would feel your kingdom power. You would sense your kingdom power extending itself through us and healing us of all that's wrong with us. Teach us as a community, teach us as individuals to say thy kingdom come in us, in the world, in me. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

A (35:31)

Thanks for listening to today's teaching. It's our prayer that you were encouraged by it and that it helps you trust God's word and love him more. You can find more resources from Tim Keller@gospelandlife.com Just subscribe to the Gospel and Life newsletter to receive free articles, sermons, devotionals and other resources. Again, it's all@gospelandlife.com you can also stay connected with us on Facebook Instagram YouTube and Twitter. Today's sermon was recorded in 2014. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel in Life podcast were preached from 1989 to 2017 while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.