Pete McKenzie 0:01
Welcome, guys, it’s great to have you here. We were taking a journey through the Beatitudes and knew we’ll get into the sermon, the major body of the sermon. But before we get to the body of the sermon, we have to and we talked about this every week, we have to go through the Beatitudes. It’s interesting in the chosen how Jesus, they kind of have a little backstory that they come up with in every episode, that Matthew is helping Jesus put together the Sermon on the Mount, it was going to be a manifesto, Jesus said that the kingdom it was going to be an explanation path to people finding him. And Matthew said, well, you’re starting with the salt of the earth. In the light of the world, I think it needs something before that. Jesus said, we’re what he says, I don’t know, why don’t you ask your problem. So Jesus came back the next day, and he says, I’ve got it. And then he gave him the Beatitudes. And it was interesting to see Matthew response, and I just kind of laughed, and now that’s what the Beatitudes are. They’re a pathway to find Jesus. And we’ve talked before about each one follows the other. It’s progressive. You’re never going to get to hunger and thirst for righteousness without first going to mourning over your sin. So what we’re doing is we’re trying to define those things and understand what they’re talking about. And Oswald Chambers had a devotional this week, I think it was on Wednesday. It’s a perfect introduction, though, talking about the importance spirit and what that means. And he’s taken it from verse 39, in Matthew five, in the Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew five, six and seven. Matthew 539, says, I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. It’s interesting, the first verse, that first comment that chambers makes this verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit that is because he’s a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it’s the very evidence of the Son of God in him. If he does not get back, when you’re insulted, you must not only not presented, that you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus. It is either in you

or it’s not.

A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus. Sometimes when you read these kinds of things, you just kind of think, you know, I bought a theology. I don’t have any problem with the Trinity. I don’t have any problem with theology of salvation, and all the other theologies out there. But what we bought is a theology but maybe not the lifestyle. God’s called us to live this kind of life, not just the by the theology and say Amen. And I agree to be these kinds of people. The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not doing your duty, but is in effect, knew what is not your duty. It’s not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the

cheek.

But Jesus said that if you are his disciple, that’s always what you will do. We will not say, Oh, well, I just can’t do anymore. I’ve been so misrepresented and misunderstood. I’m under attack. Every time I insist on having my own rights, hurt the Son of God. While in fact, I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I’ll take the blow myself. That’s what it means in being, feel, feel feeling in my flesh, what

is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.

And the cycle realizes that it is his Lord’s honor this state. I think that’ll make a big difference in a man’s life when it gets to the point where he realizes it’s Jesus’s reputation at stake in my life. Now I live my life now responding, so humiliation. misunderstood how I respond, Jesus, his reputation is at stake. If it’s just my record, patients respond in a very different way now, it’s Jesus never looked for righteousness in

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the other person,

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but never cease to be righteous yourself. We’re always looking for justice. Yet in the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, it’s never looked for justice, and never cease to get in, they had a word, another quote, Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself, is never going to give me my right to myself. Because when I claim the right to myself, it just leads to depression. The one essential element in all of our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is to be abandoned, not calculating, and no trace of self interest. But this is an interesting passage and an interesting way

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to look at life.

Pete McKenzie 6:08
When Jesus called

you and I will come and follow Him and to be His disciple. If in fact, you put your hand in the cloud salvation and following Christ, if you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus, this is routine, everyday average ordinary living. Living of the kingdom of God, heavenly. And the reward for the poor in spirit is for years as a team.

As a reward for every one of these Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom.

Chamber said is the most. This verse reveals that humiliation of being a Christian humiliation means to reduce someone to a lower position in one’s own eyes, and in other signs. It means to make someone ashamed or embarrassed. The greatest

disgrace is on

shame.

I wonder if anybody explained that to you when you came to Christ. Because that in the small print and the contracting side, he didn’t know what you’re getting yourself into here. He didn’t know that you were going to have to take a position in your heart and in your

character, being reduced to a lower position, not only in your own eyes, but in others. That you would be embarrassed, disgrace dishonor, humbled shame. And if they treated Jesus like this, they’re going to treat us like that as well. He said that he’s the last beatitude less than or you when you’re persecuted for my name. So once we get through all the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit blessing to those who

humble and

listen to the merciful blessing, period, lesson of the peacemaker. And then finally, listen to you and your person. After living that kind of life. It’s exemplary life.

It’s a

life of self sacrifice and being yourself out. Not thinking little of yourself, but not thinking of yourself at all. And self is the thing that keeps us from a vain this. The attitude to becoming that kind of self interest, self preservation, self honoring a lot of yourself. It’s all selfishness. It’s all about me. If there’s anything that Jesus was not to be all about him, or even the Son of Man, even the Son of God to come, not come to be served, but to serve. Came to verify, stand in the face of danger and verify the suffering and sacrifice. That’s the lifestyle you’ve been called. Cyber of Christ. The question is you enough of a man of God to live that lifestyle. If you’ve given up enough that you surrender your rights to yourself, be able to be this kind of man. You can carry your Bible around and go to church and quote verses and memorize scripture. If you’re not living it out in your own life if you’re too proud to turn the other cheek and go to the second person. me maybe that’s a reason Jesus said as he finished up his sermon in Matthew seven inner Bob in there So the gate is small and the way is narrow. That means that the way the paint is wide in the way is broad that leads to destruction and many go there. And the narrow way, he said, and few there be defined. So if you’re one of those guys that does as well, I’m just not sure that’s what I understood I was done. And that’s okay. too, there is an implied paid in a narrow or broad way over here. And you can go that way if you want to. It’s easier way you don’t have to put up with persecution. You don’t have to take a stand. You don’t have to be neglected, or missed, or made or embarrassed or ashamed. You can skip all that. You need to understand that that’s the way that leads to destruction. If you’re going to come to the small gate, and the reason it’s a small gate is Jesus Christ. He’s an entrance into the kingdom. Let’s say only gate areas, there is no other gate. It’s not a gate over here it says, register for all the good work you’ve done. And we’ll see if you get in. And then most guys, I don’t care if they’re professing Christian or not operating on that basis. They’re operating on the basis of works, because that’s what makes sense. It’s logical. It’s practical. It’s justice. You get what you deserve. But with Jesus, you get what you don’t deserve. You don’t deserve salvation and forgiveness and grace and mercy and loving kindness and compassion. You did nothing to earn it deserved, that you were given it by Jesus. That’s who he is.

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That’s what he does.

Pete McKenzie 11:47
And so, we come to this place of being poor in spirit. Jesus says it’s a map, this whole Beatitudes it’s about to be able to find. So in that map, you go to poor and spirit and then you go to morning repentance. You don’t hear a lot about repentance, we’re sharing the gospel. That’s what Jesus called me and john the baptist call man, and he was paving the way for the Messiah. And the way that is paid by repentance, mourning over your sin. finding yourself in center knowing that all had sinned and fall short before God, it’s my nature I was born. And there’ll be 1000s of senators born today. Everyone having a sin nature, everyone out of saying it’s mine, every one of them say that’s a fallen nature that started in the garden we still present seems that Most professing Christian men evolved with theology, but not the lives and their original language. There are two ways to define for one is a working man. So man, it works with his hands, he works hard all day, provides for his family. He’s not wealthy, and he’s not poor. He’s a working man. That’s one way to look at. There’s another way, absolutely than abject poverty. Poverty which speaks men to their names. man who has nothing at all. Unless it is a man who is absolutely destitute, they say Christianity that Jesus Christ came to say, desperate. Christianity leaves the rescue at the destitute, desperate man. Not my poverty. So poverty. If you’re going to be poor in spirit, you have to understand that nothing. I’ve heard often times during my Christian experience, people are looking at a guy that’s not a Christian. He’s gifted a lot of talents, and abilities. And people say if that guy came to Christ, think what a great Christian leader. That’s not what God’s looking for. There’s a lot of man with talent and gifts and abilities. As a matter of fact, I can recall watching a young preacher preach one time and one of his mentors was standing in the back of the church. I looked at him and I said, What do you think? He says, he operates a lot. See, as easy to do, if you’re 50 Beautiful. If you have a lot of talent. It’s easy to operate out of that and have no spirit you’re not preaching the gospel of Christ. The spirit of it if you don’t, what you do is you wear out on your gifts and gifts can only take you so far. But that’s as far as As the Holy Spirit in you, is going to take you through your trial, that was difficult because

you’re never gonna

get to the end of yourself. And that’s where the Holy Spirit kicks. Not always because men will humble themselves beforehand. But when you get to the end of yourself, when you’ve done all that you can do you put up with all you can, you’ve had as much patience as you can bear. You’ve had as much pain as you can. That’s where the Holy Spirit kicks in. That’s where he gives you strength, if it’s not your own wisdom, and it’s not your own patience, gentleness, kindness, self control. It all comes with the Holy Spirit. But it can’t come to you and won’t come to you until you’re desperate enough to ask. You have not caused you to ask.

But Jesus.

So if you want more patients, if you want more influence, if you want to learn the lessons of character, then God is trying to build into you. It’s not about you. It’s about the character of his nature, he wants to believe in you. And that’s not about you, it’s for others, for your wife, your children, your grandchildren, for your friends, colleagues who were down the freeway, that’s what it’s about, it’s for them. God didn’t give you gifts to glorify

God and you can make your life easier. Although your life will be more bearable. If you have to prove this, if you found come to the end of yourself, if you realize you have nothing to offer is a forge to four stage development for that word, original language. It began by meaning you’re simply Korea, it’s the absence of having any money or possessions, next stages and being cool. You’re then having no influence, power, or prestige. So that’s the way the world is, you have no money you have no Well, your name is not in mind. So then men will disparage you will have no influence or power. And therefore you will be done downtrodden and oppressed by a man because he has no earthly resources puts its own trust in God. So if you’re going to get to that place of putting your whole trust in God, you have to come to the state or province come through those stages of being simply poor or the absence of money or possessions. And you’re gonna have a lot of money in the bank and a great RA and stocks and bonds and all the other stuff that you can have

you can still be

poor in the way that really matters, who are in the richness of God wants to get so even though we’re rich we can pour for this. Anybody can become there are a lot of beings that have no money, they have no wealth, they have no position you have no status.

And then don’t look at them is very valuable, where they can be the richest guys and that’s what Jesus was came to came to make.

And how do you get to experience? Well as a fine, he came face to face with the year of kingdoms eyes, death, I saw the Lord sitting in the train of his road doing the temple. There were sarahfey stood above each having six weeks, the two he covered his face, to he covered his feet and with two and one called out to another instead of Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thread shows trembled at the course of him while the temple is filling with smoke, and then as I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among the people. From my eyes have seen the Lord. And then one of the serapeum the burning coal is taken from the author. Touch my mouth with the hope this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away. As it came in the presence of God he saw himself as he really is. He saw what he was really by. One reason men stay out of the Bible and resistance groups and small groups Because they don’t want to see themselves, the reflection of themselves and the holiness and righteousness of others. One reason that we resist people that seem to have their act together, we’re living the lives of character. And they discipline themselves for godliness. Sometimes we’re intimidated by those guys, because they show us what we’re really like, their reflection of Christ. And they’re showing us, we’re falling short of the mark. So we resist, if you really want with Christ in your life is disciplined accordingly to his standard. And you’re going to have these, you’ll be persecuted in some ways, and people not wanting to be around.

And all you’re doing

is having a strong family resistance when you’re having a thought. It was truly aggrieved God’s heart that so many want to serve. When I say I came into the presence of God is able to see and we’ve been preaching for years. Now he saw himself in the

presence of God.

The closer you get to the light, he said, You’re the light of the world. Jesus was the light that came in. And the closer you get to the light, the darker your shadow. That’s why we resisted. That’s why we resist the prayer meetings,

the Bible studies

are afraid to get into His presence because he shows us what we’re really like. But until we find out what we’re really like, we can’t get to know the lesson of those who mourn. We can mourn over our sin and repent. If we’re not making peace with the reality that I’m a sinner.

And I think grace lesson

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for the poor.

Pete McKenzie 22:13
This is where the blessing of God begins, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God not of meaning the future, but being right now, in the present tense. It’s not that you will be or that it is, I can have a taste of heaven right now. When I received the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is a taste of any man that’s enjoyed the love of God, joy that comes through SSL comprehension, the goodness, gentleness and kindness, self control a little bit. Anytime you’ve been set free from sin and forgiven when you give them grace, and your self control is controlling that. Now you’re going to send this but you’re sending less. That’s anytime you get forgiven, that God will stop. And you’ll agree with God that Sam shouldn’t have thought that I shouldn’t have said that I shouldn’t have done that sin and every time that you confess your sin, He said He’s faithful and righteous to forgive your sin. Every time you’re able to forgive others who don’t deserve it, or say, No, that’s what grace is. You’re giving a guy something he does not deserve. And you didn’t have to give. But you’re compelled to give it because you’ve been forgiven. You’ve been compelled to give grace because he perceived grace. Jesus says, if you don’t forgive those who have sinned against you, I want for you. And it said that the unforgiving heart is forgiven. So when you give grace and you forgive others, and you go the second mile and you turn the other cheek and you’re mourning and repenting

over your sense of taste of heaven, blesses approach.

You’re entered into

it now, not later, not some time not in prophecy. Right now this very moment. You could be sitting in your chair right now and forgiving someone guts but on

their mind.

They hurt you. They want you to do they don’t deserve it. You’ve spent many sleepless nights it’s gotten in the way of you reading the scriptures and praying fellowship with

God said, I want you to forgive them. When you forgive, he said, that’s a truth that will set you free you will know the truth. And the truth

is there’s power in the Holy Spirit. There’s power to change your life. There’s power to be a different person. Anyway As in Christ is a new creature, old things have passed away and new things have come. He’s not the same old god he used to be. He’s a new man in Christ. And he acts like he has the power to act like it. And that’s a taste of that lesson. But they’re hard to find. There are a lot of men that profess to know Jesus Christ, but it’s hard to find a guy that is given up his right to so he doesn’t think of himself at all, it’s not thinking little of yourself, it’s not thinking of yourself at all. How could you possibly live the Sermon on the mound and consider yourself Jesus caused us to have this attitude that Christ, who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God is something to be grasped or held on to, that he emptied Himself taking the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of a man. being found in the likeness of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient,

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even when he wanted to

Pete McKenzie 26:07
have this attitude in you, which is also in Christ.

That’s a case.

We’re born again to become like him, not conformed to the world but transformed into his image, to have a strong family resistance, no more pity parties. He never attends your pity party. Never attention. He say, I’ve had enough I can’t do anymore. He says, great. How about let me do it. Great. I’m glad you’ve come to the end. So he’s not talking about bless it, or those who don’t have money in the poor in that regard. He’s like, listen to those who are poor in spirit, you know, they have nothing to bring to the table. Nothing to offer to God. That’s no gift, no talent. No, well, he didn’t need it. He didn’t need your will. When we were moving to Eastern Europe, and I’ve been speaking at retreats and teaching couples classes and counseling people and doing all this stuff I was doing and now God was saying, we’re moving to Germany. We’re going to work in Eastern Europe and Eastern Europe by the work of translators, I wasn’t going to be speaking in any retreats, teaching couples classes, counseling guys. And so I was in Germany one day I said, God, what am I doing going to Eastern Europe? I’m not gonna be able to teach there. Like I teach here speaking retreats. Why am I going over there? What about mangers hidden say statement? He says, what about all major gifts? Guys? Never heard of. You don’t need my gifts. I don’t need your stinking. I need your stuff, not to your sacrifice that you’re saying let’s go. You got things to burn over there. And you can’t learn them while you’re teaching. And then the landline turn on when you’re over there, behind the curtain, people that are suffering. You won’t ever learn that here. Never heard it put like that. What did I have to give you?

My problem.

That’s all we want. And whatever you’re going through right now is to get you to the point of being less of yourself and more of him. john the baptist said I must decrease and he must increase. You’re not going through all your trials and hurt and disappointment.

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loss.

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God’s effort is always to bring us to a place we’re taking everything. It’s anything to us away. So all we have is Christ alone. Christ in

Christ around Christ, the book, Christ. Never get to the end of His love is trying to get you and me into that place of being poor in spirit. Because if you’re not poor in spirit, miles will not go to listen.

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So those who come

Pete McKenzie 29:34
to see us when you love

when you love to be at that place where you just hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ in your life. So you’re done with all that selfs stuff that leads to sand and depression and all the things you love them. Their supervisors wouldn’t have loved to be at that place. It’d be a nurse with the appearance of being the man that brings peace Wherever you go, he’s known as a son of God.

Children

Would you like to be

honored

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to be suffering for Christ in person?

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Not because you can get persecuted because you’re persecuted for my namesake said, because you’re living for me you’re standing for me represent. You’re living this like I got the scars to prove you guys that’s where we’re heading. That’s what God has called us. It’s called us to be men who are poor and spirit. I don’t know what you came in

here thinking you

got to offer God and you got nothing to offer guy. Remember the story about Mother Teresa? She

cheated on

Mother Teresa’s in Washington, DC, and she’s speaking to Congress. And she’s about this afterwards with a bunch of reporters and people around trying to get this one Congressman, so his opportunity for a photo walks up to her with a check for says Mother Teresa. But after my foundation, check and the sisters. Sir, I

appreciate your

assistance. But we have all that, to take this and go home and become

God workspace.

God wants

you to go home.

I don’t think most men like the idea of becoming good in Christ. If we don’t become nothing, we’ll never be anything.

Amen. Again, are out. I believe you. And that’s the kind of man that’s going to move the day and the days to come. It’s not going to be the men that have something to offer and be the man they have nothing to Christ. So I don’t know what your view is. You’re building your wealth or lack of wealth, and your problem. God seems to dissolve

after the course.

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Let’s pray.

Pete McKenzie 32:39
Father, that’s what we pray this morning. We need your help to be poor in spirit, we need your help, and we’ll never get there. We need to be poverty stricken so that we can be not proud of our poverty but proud of the guy who became poverty stricken himself, who emptied himself and gave himself and sacrificed himself. Not to be served but to serve. That’s, that’s a man we want to be. We want to do all that with joy not gritting our teeth, and certainly not gritting our teeth and forgiving our teeth and giving grace not gritting our teeth and bearing with his suffering. But doing it all with joy, because we’re serving the people that come into Christ living your life

that’s the mission that’s what we’re

committed to.

And that’s what you’re here

and we’ll give you the glory and the praise forever and ever in Jesus name And all God’s man said a hearty given heaven guys. Morning

Pete McKenzie 0:00
It just so happens that Bill Bickers reminding pointed me to my utmost for his highest this morning stegen for Matthew five, Matthew is the one that really records the Sermon on the Mount. I think Luke, give some of it. Matthew is more meticulous, I tell you not to resist the evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek turn the other also, that’s his verse. Here’s what he had to say about that. This verse reveals the humiliation of being a Christian. In the natural realm, if a person does not hit back, is because he’s a coward. But in the spiritual realm, it’s the very evidence of the Son of God in him. If he does not hit back, when you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but you must make it an opportunity to exhibit the Son of God in your life. And you cannot imitate the nature of Jesus. It’s either in you, or it’s not. A personal insult becomes an opportunity for a saint, to reveal the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus. The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not do your duty, but is in effect, do what is not your duty. It’s not your duty to go the second mile, or to turn the other cheek. But Jesus said, if we are His disciples, we will always do these things. We will not say oh, well, I just can’t do anymore. And I’ve been so misrepresented so misunderstood. Every time I insist on having my own rights, I hurt the Son of God. Well, in fact, I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I will take the blow myself. That is the real meaning of filling up in my flesh, what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. A disciple realizes it is his Lord’s honor that is at stake in his life, not his own honor. never looked for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We’re always looking for justice. Yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is never looked for justice, but never cease to give it. It’s good stuff. You know, they say Christianity is a rescue effort for desperate men. In the Sermon on the Mount,

and the chosen, Jesus was preparing his message is going to be the manifesto. He was going to lay it on him. This is what the kingdom is all about. This is what this new, he came to start a revolution. He said, and this is what that revolution is all about. And it was really interesting, the way that they depict it. They had Matthew taking notes when Jesus was working on his sermon. And Matthew said, well, you’re starting out with salt and light. What does that mean anyway? And Jesus explained what that meant. We’ll talk about it later. And then he said, I don’t think you’ll start with the salt and light. I think it needs something before you start that. So Jesus men all night pray and and came back and came up with a Beatitudes. He said, I came up with a map, he says, What’s a map? A map to how a man can find me. In the starting place in that map is bless it of the poor in spirit. And we talked about before last week and weeks before that, that the attitudes are progressive, and they follow one another, you don’t start with bless it are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness you got to do something’s got to happen before you ever get to that. It starts with blessing to the poor in spirit.

blessing to the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. And as I said a minute ago, Christianity is a rescue effort for desperate man. It’s not just a rescue effort for men. It’s a rescue effort for desperate man. In other words, if you’re not desperate, you’re probably not going to come to Christ on true hard, solid gospel ground. You may come to Christ because you want to miss hail and go to heaven. You may come to Christ because someone has coerced you. But if you’re truly going to come to Christ and have an experience of being what Jesus called born again, you’re going to have to be desperate. What does that mean poor in spirit, in the original languages in Greek and Hebrew, they had two ways to define poor one was a working man, one who serves his own needs with his own hands. And meets his own needs with his own hands. That’s a guy that’s not necessarily wealthy, but he’s not poor either. He just works hard, provides for his family. And that’s one definition. Another is absolute abject poverty, poverty, poverty, which beats men to their knees, the man who has nothing at all. Bless it is a man who is absolutely destitute. It’s not my poverty before man, we’re talking about its poverty before God. Nowhere in the Bible does, it says you’re blessed. If you’re poor and don’t have money. You bless if you don’t have enough to eat. What he says here is in your own heart, in spirit and attitude, you realize you have nothing to offer. You’re destitute, you’re even desperate. And Hebrew, there’s four stage development of the word poor. It starts with beginning simply being poor, the absence of money or possessions. And then the next stage is being poor, then having no m, because you’re poor, you have no influence, or power, or help, or press stage. So it starts by being you don’t have money and possessions. And because you don’t have money and possessions, you have no influence and power and prestige. And because they’re therefore you’re downtrodden and oppressed by men. Finally, you’re a man because he has that has no earthly resources. And because of that, he puts his whole trust in God. My sin leads me to Christ, my sin, and now all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And I didn’t come to Christ because I was righteous. I came to Christ because I was a sinner. And I needed to be forgiven. I needed help. I was desperate. I tried to do it myself. It didn’t work. I tried other things. alcohol, drugs, sex, the world’s way of trying to find happiness. I didn’t try all that stuff. But that’s what I’ve tried some of it. But it always left me in misery. It always led me down a path I had a guy call me. Not long ago, his 16 year old daughter was on social media. And it’s crazy what kids are doing on social media today. And she keeps heading down this rebellious path, she’s headed down the way she’s interacting with boys on social media. I said you’re gonna have to explain to her where that road is headed. Jesus did in the end of the Sermon on the Mount. He said enter the narrow way the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life. But the way gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many that go that way. The narrow way, the small gate, few there are that find it. And I think we could see it in the Sermon on the Mount where there’s few that come through the small gate in the narrow way. Because it’s costly. You have to surrender you have to give up you have to become spiritually poverty stricken and destitute. You have to come to the place where you realize I got nothing. I got nothing to you know, my son. I told the illustration, my son in law, I told the illustration one time maybe I’ve told it in here. Our Mother Teresa was speaking in Washington DC to all the Congress and dignitaries and everybody. And afterwards, there was a crowd around her trying to get her attention and interview in her in this congressman comes up and he’s tall and good looking and had a check in his hand. And he saw a good photo up opportunity. A banded the check to and said Mother Teresa with my I have a foundation and we want to help you and your ministry, the Sisters of Mercy. And she is about this tall and he’s way up

here. And she looks at him and says sir, thank you for that. We have all we need. And she gave him the check back is for a million dollars. She says why don’t you go home and become nothing. God works best with nothing. Well, ever since my son in law heard that every time he leaves my presence, he looks back and goes remember you’re nothing. Remember your meathead? So we have a loving relationship.

When this man is, has no earthly resources, he puts his whole trust in God. So that’s in that the way It really is in our life. We try everything except prayer or everything except God, when all else fails, we pray. We can’t get the loan when we can’t make it happen when it’s not happening. And we have nowhere to turn we turn to God. And we are in that’s where a lot of us come to Christ. That’s where our sin drives us to Christ. It can be the sin of a lack of faith, a sin of trying to do it on your own. But you have to come to that place where you are willing to put your whole trust in God, that two things happen when you get to that point in your life. And Galatians 614 points that out. But it may never be that I would boast accepting the call grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. The world has been crucified to me and out of the world, I’m not boasting in myself, I’m boasting in the cross of Christ. So he becomes one detach from things. Because he knows that things can’t bring him the happiness and security that he needs. So one, I’m crucified to the world. But the world is crucified to me, he becomes detached from the things and attached to God. For he will know that God alone can bring him help and hope and strength. He realizes that things are nothing, and God is everything. But you have to discover that you have to be destitute, bless it, or the poor in spirit. In courses, they were trying to talk Jesus and changing some of his message. Because they were his disciples were and they said, you know, you’re gonna run people off with that. He said, you know, that sermon, and you tell people to go the second mile and turn the other cheek, and that’s not going to go well. And Jesus says, it’s, it meant not to go well. He said, I’m going to say a lot of things and preach a lot of things that a lot of people aren’t going to like, and they’re not going to understand. But there are those who will understand and they’ll come, and they’ll follow us. Because this is what they’ve been looking for. Most won’t most want to wide gate in the narrow rather than the narrow gate in way. poor in spirit means at the moment, when is a moment when a man realizes his own lack of resources to meet life and finances help and strengthen God? You know, some guys will never get there. They got plenty of money, they got gifts saved on top of the world. They’ve been successful. They don’t need God. They got a great house, a great car, not sure about the wife and kids. But for the most part, the guy’s not needy. He hadn’t gotten to that point of desperation. He’s can do it himself. He’s qualified bonafide, in his own mind. poor in spirit is the first evidence that a man is a true lover and follower of GOD. It means that before God, I know I have nothing to offer him because I didn’t find him. He found me. I didn’t choose him, he chose me. Apart from him, I found that I can do nothing. And Colossians 127 says, It’s Christ in you the hope of glory. It’s not your gifts in you, your talent in you, the wealth in you and that you have, it’s Christ in you, the hope of glory. You are so for me with Galatians, 220 and 21. I’ve been crucified with Christ. So it’s no longer I who live. but Christ lives in me my hope of glory. And the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and delivered himself up for me. I do not know if by the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly. He died for nothing. Why would he need to down the cross if I could save myself by being good? By keeping the law and God gave us a lot to prove we couldn’t keep it. He gave us rules to prove we couldn’t keep it. We have a constitution that we can’t keep. We say vows when we get married that we can’t keep.

But those vows can keep us when the going gets tough. The vows can keep us commitments to Jesus Christ. Don’t come cheap. They they’re always a surrender a death. Somebody somes gotta die. If you’re going to grow in your Christian life, some selfish ness, some selfish pattern of life some taking it easy. Not wanting to work hard or not wanting to give up not wanting to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Something has to go for Christ to come. If you want more of Christ, what’s got to die in you? What do you have to give up? What do you have to change? Because if you ask the average guy, do you want to be like Jesus Christ? Well, yeah, kinda. That’s what the guy told me, Bob, do you really want to be God’s man? That’s what Bob said. Bob said. Yeah, kinda. He said, but you know, I listened to all your good teaching the pastor’s good teaching. All the good teaching out here. And I’m thinking, should I do it? Yeah, I should. Am I gonna do it? Probably not. And we’ve talked before about having a lot of probably not Christians. But you get to the point, where are you gonna, you gonna obey, you’re gonna get to that place where you’re so empty of yourself. You don’t have to defend yourself, take up for yourself, explain yourself, indicate yourself. You’re willing to be misunderstood. You make yourself a doormat. Is that what you’re in for? Is that what you came to Christ understanding? Because that’s what it’s all about. You have to be so empty. You have to have yourself. And I’ve literally had people in counseling sessions as I did, all I do is hold up the Scripture and say, Well, this is what Jesus said. Yeah, but he didn’t call me to be a doormat. Said the Jesus of Nazareth didn’t call you to be a doormat. You may have an orange county Jesus is not calling you to be a doormat. But the Jesus of Nazareth made himself a doormat. He didn’t come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many He emptied Himself. And then regard equality with God is something to be grasped or held on to. But he emptied Himself taking the form of a man and being found in the form of a man He emptied himself and grabbed the grace of the cross. And God Holly exalted Him, and bestowed on him a name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue confess Why? Because he emptied Himself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you at the proper time. So we don’t get the small print. Usually, when we come to Christ, we may get the sad part, I’m forgiving for all my sin. But we don’t get to turn the other cheek part. We don’t get the go the second mount part. We don’t get that I can’t take up for myself. I don’t need to. When he was reviled, he reviled not when he suffered, and he uttered no threads when they accused him falsely, and they brought him witnesses to lie about him. He never tried to explain himself. He just went silent. Until they said, Are you kidding? Are you the King of the Jews? He says, I am and you’ll see me coming with my angels in heaven. They were tearing their robes, but at that time, he broke every law, he broke every rule. He did everything you could do to make the Pharisees do what they show who they really are, and do what they really did. And the Jews and the Romans, who found no wrong in him, you know, as as they can counter the living God. He got a whole new view of his own life. You know, when you get in God’s presence, and one reason that we don’t read our Bible more, pray more go to church more is because we’re afraid to be alone with God. We’re afraid to face him face to face. And that’s one of the fears they found in interviewing a lot of men, that they’re afraid of being alone with God. Why would a man be afraid to be alone with God? Well, because when well, Isaiah found that out in Isaiah six, in the year of King whose eyes death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne loft in exalted in the train of his robe filling the temple and they stood

above him having six wings. With two he covered his face with two he covered his feet with two he flew in there Sarah fam called out to one another Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of almighty the whole earth. is full of his glory. And the foundations of the three shows trembled at the voice of Him who called out while the temple temple was filling with smoke. And then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips. So while what was as a as an experience in coming into God’s presence, seeing the Lord sitting high and lofty on his throne, he saw his sin.

Unknown Speaker 20:31
Why would a guy go

Pete McKenzie 20:31
into God’s presence if he knew he was going to be confronted and faced with his sin only takes a desperate man to do that. He’s turned everywhere else. So he’s so desperate that he’s not worried about being convicted anymore. It’s he has been, he’s not worried about feeling guilty and ashamed. He’s tired of it. He is so desperate that he’s willing to face Christ in the face Christ is to face your sin. That’s what he does. He doesn’t do it because he’s judging us. Although judgment is part of his job. He does it because he loves us, a discipline you because you’re my children. And if you didn’t discipline you, then you wouldn’t be my son. And so God disciplines out of love. punishment is not love. punishment is getting even. You can’t treat me that way. This plan is different. What was is me I am ruined. As I got a whole new look at his own life, he had been preaching for years. And now he was different because he saw himself as he really is. And I don’t think we man want to see ourselves as we really are. I think we’re embarrassed ashamed. We have secret sans. We have stuff we don’t want flashed up on the screen here. But in heaven, everything I do is flashed up on the screen. God’s watching everything. He’s everywhere all the time. He’s all knowing he’s all present everywhere. Can’t run. You can run but you can’t hide. We talked about that last week. And I live among a people of unclean lips. It’s kind of the way it is in the church in life in general. Where if we’re laziest gather around a lot of lazy Christians. And we see guys that are turned on for Christ in their reading their Bible eight times in working on nine or something. And they’re excited about Jesus and I told you about the Campus Crusade guy that stood up in one of our meetings in our church and said, we’re excited about Jesus Christ. I thought crud I never heard anybody say that before. Then in church all my life. Not one person ever seem to be excited about Christ. We were excited about Southern Baptist Church of Christ up there was decided about being Church of Christ. They were very competitive, just like men are competitive churches are too. My brother was getting ready to take his family to church on Sunday night. Southern Baptist goes Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. And so he stuck his head out the door to his 10 year old son and said, Rob, come on. We got to go to church. Rob said Come on, dad. I’m having some fun. We’re playing with Billy and my friends. Well, now we got to go to church. Come on. He said, Well, can Billy go with us? He said sure. Damn chat with his parents. So we did and Billy went to church with him that night. They’re sitting on the second row. And preacher was crowd was kind of down and he decided to have a southern ballad, Southern Baptist pep, pep rally. So let’s just talk tonight about why we’re excited about being Southern Baptists. This one one woman raised her hand so I’m proud of being Southern Baptist goes to Billy Graham’s a Southern Baptist and he’s his most famous evangelists in the world. They had this light Applause Now the man stands out. I’m glad we’re Southern Baptist because we’re the largest denomination in the world. Mount applause few more gave testimony. say let’s hear from some of our young people and looked over at my brother’s row and there’s Billy sitting there. So he looked and walked over two buildings that stand up so he stood up said Why are you Southern Baptist? He says I’m not he said what are you say? I’m Church of Christ. Oh, we got a church of Christ with us here tonight. was on why you church Christ. I guess goes mom and dad or church Christ. Well, that’s really good logic son. Let me let me just ask you one more question. What if your mom and dad were idiots so I guess at least Southern Baptists.

I’m tell that all myself. Here’s a principle, the closer I get to the light, the darker my shadow. He is a light of the world. And then he told me, I’m the light of the world. So if I get close to Jesus, then I can see my sin. And when people get close to me, if I’m the light of the world, I’m living for Christ, and they’re going to be able to see their dark shadow. And that’s why they don’t like to me be around me. I don’t know about you, but on my street, they don’t know what to do with me. I think they liked me. But they don’t want to get too close to me. And they’re great people, I got a great cul de sac that I live on. And I know I’m out. I’ll see them out in the street. And we’re putting our garbage bins out at the same time or going to the mailbox at the same time or having to see each other. But I just get the idea. They don’t know what to do with me, here on party and sometimes in doing their deal, they invited me to a party or to but then they quit invite me, which is fine with me. But you let your light shine, you’re going to miss a lot of parties. I was one time so far from God, I couldn’t see myself as I really was. So that’s one thing that we invite people in to see what they really are. And the ones that are chosen will see that small gate in that narrow way. And they’re desperate. That’s what they’ve been looking for. They’ve been looking for a way away out of guilt and shame away out of the misery. They’re in a way out of the problems they’re having in their marriage with their kids with addictions. And they are looking for a way out. But you notice a temple was filling with smoke. You can’t exist in God’s presence, his righteousness, his light will suffocate you. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. See, there were all of these Beatitudes have a reward. blessing, the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so Jesus speaks to the kingdom of God not of being in the future. But being right now. It’s not like it’s a prophetic thing. And one day we’re going to be in the kingdom of God when Jesus Christ comes into your heart to the Holy Spirit, and he gives you heaven in your heart. And so you get heaven in your heart before you actually arrive in heaven. It gives you a taste. It gives you the spark of heaven. And you experience it in your heart from time to time, not all the time. But every now and then your heart will warm to the gospel. Your heart would be lit up by some song we’re saying, or by some verse, or something the speaker said, or some experience you had. There was truly a divine encounter that God and you get this taste of heaven, you have this sense of peace when you shouldn’t have any peace, a taste of heaven. When you turn the other cheek and you’re not offended, you’re not hurt. You may be hurt physically. But you’re not offended by them. You don’t take it in as a resentment. You don’t have to anymore. That’s a taste of heaven. Yours will be the kingdom of heaven you’ll have the lifestyle that I have. When you’re evolved. You don’t have to rebound. Not when he suffered. You don’t have to utter threats. You don’t have to explain yourself or defend yourself. You can just be quiet. That’s a taste of heaven. You have no reason to have peace, the doctor’s report what and good but you have peace it surpasses all comprehension is no reason except for the presence of God is the absence of worrying. And one of my wife’s favorite sayings was joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence of God. As a 57 for this as a High Exalted one who lives forever, whose name is holy. I dwell on a high and holy place and also with a contrite and lowly of spirit, who does God dwell with the contrite and lowly of spirit. In order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. A broken and contrite heart, David said in Psalm 51, God will never cast doubt. It’s a feeling of showing contrite and this means feeling Now showing are showing sorrow and remorse or a sin or a shortcoming. Be in Pennington and regretful

a broken and contrite heart. I’ll never cast out pride or feel hail with all its inhabitants, as the opposite of a broken and contrite heart of a man who realized he had nothing to offer to God. If you ever heard anybody say, Boy, we need to see that guy come to Christ. There’s gifts and his abilities and now that he’s got man he had make a great Christian. Well, he’s not making a great question Colorado, his gifts and wealth and abilities. Guy may or may not come to Christ. But if he comes to Christ, all that thing, like the rich young ruler, he had it all. He had the money, he had the chariots, he had the robes, he had the servants. He had the house. And he comes and said, what I have to do to be saved in and he says, Well, you got to keep the law. Well, I’ve kept it all. As far as he knew, very sickly he had. He said, one thing you like, you go and sell all this stuff that you have, and give it to poor people and come and follow me in and understand how Jesus one word about guys following him. That guy’s rejecting Him and walking away. If you’re trying to recruit and build your church, you’re not going to tell a young ruler that. But if you’re trying to recruit followers who love you and are willing to forsake the world and be detached from the world and attached to God, that’s that’s kind of thing you say to him. And then he shook his head and walked away sadly, that was he was very wealthy, the Bible says. So you got to look at that young, rich young ruin, said, Boy, he’ll make a great Chris Christian leader. But he won’t sell his stuff, give it to the poor now, he’s not telling every wealthy guy to do that some wealthy people are using their wealth for God’s glory. But some that’s the only thing that’s gonna stand between them and eternity in heaven. Not only does God sit in a high and lofty place on his throne in heaven, but he also lives in the heart of the poor and lowly. So when we come to the Sermon on the Mount, we come to that place where we have to say this is a gate. This is an entryway to the path to find Jesus Christ. No one ever found Jesus Christ, impressing him with their gifts and abilities. They only found Jesus Christ when they came, and they realized they were sinners, All have sinned and fell short of the glory of God, the wages of sin is death. It’s appointed on demand to die once and then comes judgment. Who Praise be to God I came that you might have a life and have it abundantly, that God so loved the world he gave his only son said, whosoever believes in Him should not die and perish and spend eternity in hell, but have new life in Christ. God’s given us that life. And they said, the entrance door to have in that life is realizing you got nothing to offer. So where do you go with that? Just check your heart as they search me, O God and know my heart Try me and know my just thoughts. See if there’s any hurtful way and me Father, that’s what we pray as we close today. Searches Oh, God and know our hearts. know if we’re depending on anything other than your grace and your mercy. We’re saved by grace through faith. It’s not of ourselves, help us to be broken and contrite before you help us to be poor in spirit, realizing that it’s all about you and nothing about us. And then we’ll dwell with you and eternity. But we all have heaven here on Earth. That taste of heaven in our life today the life that men can get in the presence of Christ because of our lives. That’s what we asked you to do. Now we want to be a part of that revolution. And we want to do it in Jesus name for His glory and all God’s men said go get him Heaven, guys.

Transformed

Only the Holy Spirit can expound the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus had said, “I must leave so the Holy Spirit, the comforter can come along side you. He will teach you all things…. he will lead you to the all truth.” Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. However, the natural man who is not born again of God’s holy spirt cannot receive the things of the spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned, neither can he know them. Through the spirit of Christ in us, we can perceive and know the truth, for Jesus Christ is the Word of God made manifest.

After Mary Magdalene was delivered when Jesus cast out of her seven devil spirits, she said, I’m now different than I used to be. Before, the devil used and abused her. Jesus delivered her from the devil’s domain of darkness… of possession and oppression into the glorious light of the gospel of truth.

According to Romans 12:1-2, “I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Through abiding in Christ and allowing our minds to be renewed according to the Word of God, we will know by experience the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. He has made us fit for the purpose for which he’s called us, to be holy and without blame before him in love because of our righteousness in Christ.

Therefore we can present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God which is our reasonable act of worship. In the Old Testament, offerings were presented to approach God with a pure heart. The purpose of the sacrifices were to offer God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving as an acceptable sweet smelling fragrance. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ himself is the acceptable sacrifice, for he has cleansed us and made us acceptable in God’s sight… he gave us access to God’s holy presence.

Romans says, ye are slaves to whom you obey, wether sin unto death or life in obedience to the spirit of life in Christ. For the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be… but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. The battlefield is in the mind. Therefore, take every thought captive to Christ. According to 2 Corinthians 10, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

In the spiritual battle, we’ll come to learn the love of God and the hope of his calling…. Romans 5 says, we glory in tribulation (mental pressure,) for tribulation worketh patience and patience experience (tried and proven character), and experience hope (of Christ’s return), and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holly spirit that is given to us.

Therefore Jesus emphasized in his Sermon on the Mount, Ye are the salt of the earth, ye are the light of the world.. Therefore do not be influenced by the unsavory stench, of infection, disease, and decay of this and dark, depressing, and depraved world, but instead influence the world by walking as God’s disinfectant… by sprinkling His salt and shining His light.

The solution to being conformed to this world’s purpose is to be transformed into God’s purpose by allowing God to renew our minds as we set our affections on things above and not on the things of this world.

In an upside down world, we’re different when we’re right side up. The Bible is given for reproof and correction. To correct means to restore to an upright position. God’s direction is paradoxical to the world’s direction. To go up we must condescend to men of low estate, to lead we must follow him, to be chief we must become a servant, to be set free we must become captive to Christ, he who saves his life shall lose it and he who loses his life shall save it, to live unto him we must die to self… the greatest victory is in total surrender to Christ…

We could not love God until he loved us first. For in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. Our forgiveness is by the payment Jesus made on our behalf… not because of who we are, but because of who he is. Grace, mercy, forgiveness and love is God’s nature, not ours.

The transformation and renewing is through the word of God. It is through hearing, listening, studying, meditating, memorizing, and applying God’s Word. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works that he has prepared in advance for us to walk.

LIfe is so much more than our daily necessities. Consider the lilies of the field, they toil not neither do they reap, yet Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God has so clothed the lilies of the field which blooms for a short time and then dies, shall he not much more clothe you, oh ye of little faith?

We’re only in this world for a little while. The things of this life will soon be passed, only that which is done in Christ shall last. For this light affliction which is but for a moment is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall follow. The joy of life is not in the things of this world. Joy is not in possessions, fame, fortune, or worldly accolades and the praise of others. Our joy is in the object of Joy. Therefore rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice…

… that we may live transformed by his spirit to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Pete McKenzie 0:08
Alabama National Guard, they don’t care about those kinds of things.

We’re talking about the Beatitudes being the attitudes, Warren wispies wrote a beautiful outline about attitudes in the book of Philippians.

But what we’re doing is we’ve been talking about a kingdom living in the Sermon on the Mount. And it starts with the Beatitudes.

And we got a little introduction to the Beatitudes today. I don’t know if you are in Oswald Chambers, my utmost was highest guy. But today, I thought this morning as I read it, I thought, Boy, I got to read these this to the guys today because it’s such a good introduction to what we’re talking about. And so let me read that for you. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered sport, or weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus, in the realities of this life. And it’s always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth in excellence. If we’re going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth in excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult. But it’s difficulty does not make us faint, or cave in. it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ, enough to be our utmost for his highest, our best for His glory? I thought that was interesting. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus. And that’s what we’ve been talking about in here. That when you’re living the Christian life, it’s very distinctively different. And it’s very difficult. The reason is difficult is because we don’t want to have to work hard to get it. We want on a silver platter, we want it easy to attain. But we’ll never get God’s character in an easy way. Because to get his character, we have to forsake ours for his, we have to deny ourselves for what he has to build that into us and give us we have to forget who we thought we wanted to be for and let him make us into the man that he created us to be. So there’s a giving up, there’s a surrender. And that’s what makes it so difficult. I think. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. That’s what I tell guys about ministering to men in churches. 10% of churches have ministries demand and 80% of them are struggling. But I tell them if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. But only 10% are even trying it. Because it’s not an easy ministry. It’s the only target of ministry that doesn’t want to be ministered to. Everybody else is clamoring for their pastor to women, director, to their children’s ministry to their special ministries, whatever they are, and they’re all good. But you didn’t hear too many guys clamoring for a ministry to man and man of the end and that’s a part of the spiritual warfare that we’ve been going through. It’s always been going through neutralized men. Make them compromise. marginalize them, relegate them to a place of dishonor and disrespect in a group or family or culture, or church, especially in family. Get the get the Warriors out the field. If we’re going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all the efforts are worth of worth and excellent or difficult. Everything that you ever want to aspire to that snowball is going to be hard to attain. If you’re going to take that mountain you’re going to have to give up something, you’re going to lose some men. It’s called warfare, spiritual warfare. So when we come to the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, and he says these audacious sayings, things that if you actually live that way would make you different and distinctive from everybody, you know, even other Christians. It’s difficult to because we live in a very casual comfortable coming to you Do as you want Christian culture. It’s like the church in Laodicea.

The thing he had against that church is they were lukewarm. He said, I wish you either hot or cold, be better if you were cold is out of it not trying backslidden. But because you’re lukewarm, because you keep coming, you keep doing you keep participating. But you’re not excited about it. You’re not engaged, you’re present but not engaged in what he said, to another church, he said, You’ve lost your first love. What was the first love that was Jesus, but you’ve lost that first love, and you’ve given yourself to other things. Things that cannot pay off things that aren’t fruitful, don’t satisfy, they’re temporarily happy. But they don’t satisfy the Beatitudes is an outline of the Christian man in his essential features and characteristics. In other words, this is something we look at, and you might read it in this go, who could ever live that life? Who could ever attained that standard of living? And it seems impossible. And we look at it like it is impossible. We must understand the whole before we look at the individual parts. Sometimes we wanted to rush ahead to the sermon without going through the Beatitudes. The sermon says turn the other cheek and go the second mile if you look at a woman and with a desire to possess her for yourself, that’s adultery. You’ve heard adultery is when you have sex with a woman outside of besides your wife, but I’m telling you, if you look at a woman with the desire to possess or lust after her, then that’s adultery and we’re going well, golly, there’s all i knows adulterers, we’re all adulterers. So where do you go with that? Sermon on the Mount tells us where to go with that. So let’s don’t rush to those parts and try to understand those. We’ll get to those. But we have to understand the Beatitudes and you have to start with them before you’ll ever get in there progressive. We’ll look at that in a second. You know, Martin, Lord Jones is he was preaching through this, the Beatitudes, said there’s another word you could use for blessing. It’s happy, happier though the truly happy man, the truly man that has peace, the truly man that you can depend on. He’s happy. Happy means fortunate, characterized by well being or contentment, having your desires satisfied. The scripture in Psalm 37 says trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness Delight yourself in the Lord and he’ll give you the desires of your heart and that make you happy. But you know before he gets to then I hear people quote all the time that passage but they leave out the first part is saying God wants me to have it I’ve had people tell me this before God wants me to have the desire my heart in the same person was saying, No, my wife is no longer the desire of my heart and my husband is no longer the desire my heart but he wants me to have the desire my heart so I need to get rid of them and find the desire by heart. I’ve literally had people say that and they want to be happy, happy confronts all mankind. We do everything to be happy to be have fun. If it’s not fun and happy then we’re not and we’re looking for something else that will provide that happiness and the fun and the problem with happiness is it’s temporary. When I hit it I remember hitting the line drive up the right centerfield alien knocking into Ronson went into ballgame, man I was happy. Also remember having a slow roller roll through my legs at third base. I remember a pop up over by the bleachers at third base and I was patting my glove and looking up and I hit 10 feet behind me. Which one is bad is the next pitch which he did the same thing and it hit 10 feet behind me. I remember my coach coming out and saying, you know, Mackenzie, thank you the worst third baseman I ever saw. didn’t make me happy. So you could you could win the ballgame in one game and strike out to end the game in the next game and you lost your happiness. But we’re not talking about a happiness you can lose. We’re talking about a happiness. When loser draw. You can still maintain that is that peace. It surpasses Is our comprehension.

But the kind of man that is living the Beatitudes is a man to be graduate, congratulated and envied. He’s happy he’s bless, bless it, are

Unknown Speaker 10:14
you

Pete McKenzie 10:15
when you’re poor in spirit, bless it are you when you mourn over your sin, bless it are you and your humble and make Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst for righteousness. Bless you and you merciful. Bless you when you’re pure in heart, bless it are the peacemakers, blessings to you and you’re persecuted for my namesake. And they say all manner of things against you, happier you. When that happens. That’s a truly happy man. But you’re never going to get to that place of happiness and persecution if you hadn’t started with poor in spirit. So the Beatitudes are progressive. But you know, guys do a lot to try to find happiness. And most of the things we do to try to find happiness end in misery. I know what is drugs, and tobacco and alcohol and all those things, entertainment? What are they all about it trying to find places of happiness, places where you can have fun places where you can chuck, all the hurts and trials and difficulties and burden of life and find fine times of happiness. A lot of people have turned to drugs, but it only turned to misery. A lot of people have turned to alcohol, but it only turned to misery. A lot of people have tried everything you can imagine sex, pornography for a little relief, but it only leads to guilt and shame and misery. And so the things that we try, are only missing it not missing anything but the boat. And so we’re here he tells us if you really want to be happy. And that’s that makes sense to the world, it makes sense to me before I came to know Christ. If you really want to be happy, you got to be humble and poor in spirit, you have to know that apart from him, you can do nothing. You have to know that you have no hope. There’s nothing in you that could save you, deliver you redeem you that only he can do that blessing to the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So what’s he saying? You’re not getting into heaven unless you’re poor in spirit. Simple as that. But if you are poor in spirit, bless it, are you because you’re going to have and you’re going to spend eternity in Heaven with Him? because no one’s going to stand up at the gates of heaven. And they say why should I let you in because I was such a good guy. Because I did so many good things. Because I helped so many hurting people. Maybe you did. But Lord, we cast out demons in your name and prophesied in your name and heal people in your name. He says I know my name is pretty powerful in it. But I never knew you. You did all those things. But you would never pour in spirit, you did them for the wrong motive for the wrong reason. You did it to draw attention to yourself, put notches on your belt. But I can’t bless and won’t Bless you. We’re never humble you’re never given me the credit. You’re never bowing before me. I never knew you. The pattern of looking for happiness is the understanding of the secret of sin. It’s rooted in sin. So always offering happiness and always leads done happiness. the Sermon on the Mount says it’s really want to be happy, this is a way to do it. And there’s some general lessons that we need to look at before we get into next week poor in spirit. Here’s one lesson all Christian so to be like this. You know one of the mistakes we’ve made in has been made in religious sects and denominations and just about anywhere you found Christians gathering under whatever banner flag or name is we separate people into two categories. We have the really religious professionals that are pastors and missionaries, the apostles. You have those guys, the priests, Pharisees had this and they turned it into a doctrinal work. And then they got the regular guys.

And it got so bad You call that clericalism. It got so bad in the Catholic church for years centuries. They wouldn’t let the laity which is the nonsense. professionals, they won’t let down, even read the Bible only with priests good read the Bible and preach the Bible. So they didn’t encourage it. But they held that for themselves that made them different and put them up above where they were ministering down to instead of getting under like Jesus did and lifting up. And so that’s been one of the dangers of religion, in religious orders in sects and denominations. And we tend to do that, don’t we? We look at the pastor like he’s something really special. Like, he’s really great Pete preacher, he’s got it all together. He knows the word is wise and counsel in at all may be true. But he’s just a guy. And it doesn’t do him any good or us any good when we put him on a level that he really can’t attain to on a consistent basis. So that when he falls in, they do and we do. When he falls, he falls on people. He disappoints him because he had put him at a level that he just couldn’t attain to. Now some can in some are real and genuine, authentic. What you see is really real in that guy’s life. He really does know Christ, he really does walk the walk, because he’s talked the talk. And we see a lot talk the talk, but not walk the walk. We see them that are fearful. You see them, they want power and glory and control. You see them that are threatened. They’re inadequate. They’re isolated, they’re lonely. And they’re just guys. And when we put them up higher than they should be, then they fall further than they should fall. So the average guy in the average church, if he falls or commits adultery, or is caught in some sin, that’s a ripple in the church. But that’s why the scripture says letting out many of you be teachers, for you will incur a stricter discipline and judgment. So if we’re teachers, and we’re up here pontificating every week, then rightfully so people expect you to live it out. They expect you to be they won’t hope that this can actually be done. Someone can live this life, give me some hope. That’s what your parents were supposed to do. They’re supposed to give us hope, hope that we could survive hope we could make it Oh, good. We could be something we could attain to. They didn’t always do that. It’s Matter of fact, some did the opposite. But this is for all Christians. It’s not a description just for exceptional Christians. And you look at some Christians that are fired up. And y’all should have heard Brent today, man, he went out there and led this couple to Christ. Well, he’s an exceptional Christian. Well, not supposedly, supposedly, that’s what we’re all doing. That’s just like normal Christian life. Did you see how you responded when he got slapped across the cheek and put down publicly and humiliated, and he just was at peace with it and didn’t strike back and then try to get even or field around, fill our pockets. That guy’s different. We’re all supposed to be that way. We’re all supposed to be this kind of Christian. We’re all supposed to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. It’s not just for exceptional Christians. We’re exceptional because we are Christian. We don’t become Christian and then become exceptional. The second lesson that we need to learn and keep in mind about the Beatitudes. all Christians are men meant to manifest all of these characteristics. It’s not a buffet line, where you go through the buffet and you pick what you want, well, I’ll be, I’ll be peace, I’ll take peace. I don’t want that love. And they are lovely though. I don’t want that blessing those who persecute you or I don’t want to pray for your enemies. If you knew my enemies, you wouldn’t tell me to pray for him. If you knew how my husband treated me, you didn’t tell me to stay with him. If you knew how my wife undermine me, with the children, and didn’t trust me and ran up the money on the credit card. You didn’t tell me to bless her. And honor her is my wife. Yeah, what? It’s not how she’s treating you. It’s how you treat her. God’s never gonna have her stand up before him and say, and make excuses for you or,

and die to. You’re going to stand before God and answer for your own attitude regardless of hers. Your own response, your own behavior, your own character. You’ll never have to answer for your wife’s character. You’ll have to answer for yours. I’ll have to answer for mine. It’s that judgment seat of Christ. In this Christian man lives like he’s going to face judgment, he never forgets the fact that one day I’ll stand before God. And I’ll never be able to say, God, you didn’t give me enough translations of the Bible. I never had the new iPhone, so I couldn’t get that out that app. Or they cancel my app, because they upgraded my iOS. I mean, I’m sitting there minding my own business, and I’m on a zoom call the other day, we’re having a zoom marriage builder. And I’m talking about giving flowers to your wife and I had my phone sitting there and the phone said, if you’re looking for flowers, I can tell you where to get it. I said, My stinking phones, listen to them the conversation into the internet. Why don’t they put in these phones when they upgrade your is? Nobody No. I know one thing that can tell you where to get flowers.

the Beatitudes are a progressive dynamic. In other words, you got to start with poor in spirit, you don’t start with hunger and thirst for righteousness. You’ll never get hunger and thirst for righteousness unless you start with being poor in spirit. Bless it to the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And you’re never going to get to bless it are those who mourn. If you hadn’t been poor in spirit to begin with. Nobody that’s not poor and spirit is going to mourn over their sin.

So once you’re poor in spirit, then you start to be brokenhearted. When you sin. It’s not that you’re never gonna sin. But when you do, you’re broken about it. You’re repentant. And you don’t wallow around and guilt and shame you turn and face the Lord and he said, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. If you will confess your sin, I’ll be faithful. I’m a faithful God, I’ll always do this, you can trust me for this. I’ll be faithful and righteous to forgive you of all sand, don’t wallow around in your guilt and shame. That’s one of the things that men deal with it. This destroys more man’s walk with God. And their sense of self worth is there I don’t know how to deal with their sin. And they don’t deal with their sin. And they beat themselves up in some others may beat themselves up, but we won’t forgive ourselves. So why would God forgive me? You’re never going to get to mourning over your sin, nor will you get to the next one. blesser the poor in spirit, bless those who mourn. Blessed are the meek or the humble. You never get into the make of the humble unless you’ve been poor in spirit, you realize you can’t do it. You prayed that desperate prayer. God, I’m a total failure of being a Christian, I can’t live it out. You’ve probably prayed that prayer somewhere along the line, and maybe not those same words. But you felt like a loser. You just can’t attain to that high standard. Can’t live that life. until you realize you can’t live that life, you’re never going to say Come into my heart and live that life in me. And that’s the way we come to Christ. That he comes into our heart to give us life that we can’t have apart from him apart from me said you can do pretty much anything you want to you can be what you want to be if you work hard enough you can get there. In that what they say how many athletes have you seen? What What do you want to say those people out there that want to be in the Olympics like you are, I just want to tell you, you can have your dream if you just want it bad enough. And if you work hard enough, and that’s a bunch of bull. She did work hard, or he did work hard to get where they got. But there’s a lot of people who’s going to work hard and they’re not going to end up on the Olympic team. They’re going to lose out in the trials. They never got to the trials. What do you tell them? Tell them that there’s a higher goal and being on the Olympic team. There’s a higher place in life that God has for you. And not making the Olympic team may be the best thing that ever happened to you. Or not. the Beatitudes are a progressive dynamic. We really want to get to the place of hungry and thirsting for righteousness. But how do you get there? You don’t wake up one morning and hunger and thirst for righteousness, you hunger and thirst. Because you were poor in spirit because you were meek and humble because you are repentant and mourn over your sin. And then you want something that will give you some headway to attain to something that you can grab ahold of, and actually live out something that gives you Christ esteem. We’re not just self esteem, but Christ esteem. And that’s what we’re living the life in. We’re Bane. And you’ll never totally Live The Life and you’re never going to arrive this out of heaven as far as perfection goes in Christ. But you can make progress you can grow from he says, some of you guys are still thumb suckers, you’re still stuck in your thumb, you ought to be made here to get that thumb out of your mouth and get out of the corner and get in the game. And that’s what Paul was telling him. It’s a complete whole and cannot be divided. So then once you get hunger and thirst for righteousness, then you say Blessed are the merciful because they will be shown mercy is how do you respond to and mercy another word would be grace.

Bless her the graceful besser of those who receive grace and are looking for opportunities to give grace, not get even not hold it against them not put some in your resentment bank. But give them grace. Blessed are the merciful why this is a big one. This is a big reward, they shall be shown mercy. I guess the opposite must be true. If you’re not going to show mercy, you’re not going to get it. If you’re not going to forgive them, then I’m not going to forgive you. You’ve been forgiven. You’ve been redeemed. I put it behind me as far as he sins the West, I don’t keep score on here saying I have no file with your name on it that I’m marking and keeping score on your sin. And if you’re doing it to others, then I’m going to do it to you. If you’re keeping score on others, and you have a resentment bank and you’re unforgiving in your life, you’re not going to be forgiven. The way it works is once you’ve been forgiven, you want to forgive once you’ve been forgiven you. forgiving and not holding grudges is not hard. Because you’ve been forgiven. You’ve been changed. You’ve been redeemed he’s put it before behind him as east is from the west. Blessed are the merciful, happier you and happy to do it. Blessed are the pure in heart. Who don’t we want to be pure in heart. They only want to quit lusting and being fearful and jealous and egotistical and prideful. Loving to hear our name loving to speak our name. Wanting to be noticed in listen to the pure in heart. for they shall see God that’s a that’s a pretty good reward. But if you’re not pure and hard if you have ulterior motives, hidden agendas, ego centric kind of a life. narcissistic they call it. If that’s you, you’re not going to see God, you’re not going to understand God, you’re not going to want to see his face. You’re not going to sing the songs that talk about knowing him open my eyes. Lord, do we want to see Jesus? You’re not gonna sing that song. If you haven’t been pure in heart, if you haven’t been in his presence, if you haven’t hungered in thirst for that, because you see a desperate need for him. He won’t understand God His ways will not be your ways. They’ll seem unreasonable, unattainable. You want to do it your way. Here’s another one. None of these descriptions refers to a natural tendency. Each one is a disposition that can only be produced by the Holy Spirit through grace alone, while some people see seem to make and humble by nature, but these Beatitudes are not natural qualities. You know, you see some people and they’re just naturally humble and meek and mild and mild mannered. And that’s just their nature, their personality. There are others that are lions there, get things done. They use people for attraction. They don’t care what you think about them, they’re getting the job done. They’re committed to the mission. And they better get you they will get you committed to the mission or else. Other people are pretty mild mannered. They don’t like big crowds. They’d rather have quietness and a few friends not a lot. They’re stressed in a big crowd with too many people. That’s their personality, that’s their nature. And then there are some that go by the numbers. They fly the 740 sevens. They hit all the buttons. They will go to the routine they need a plan and they work the plan. They are the people you aren’t taking care of your taxes taking care of your fine your airplane and putting the there the guys I won’t screw in the bolts in the airplane putting the gas in the airplane making sure all the answer Let’s work. So they’re all that by nature, they may be calm, they may be peaceful, but that doesn’t mean that they’re saved. That’s their nature to be that way, these Beatitudes can’t be attained by natural tendencies, they can only be attained to the power of the Holy Spirit. And so we have to make sure that we can distinguish between the two. That guy must be a Christian look at peaceful he is. Well, he may be. But that doesn’t mean he is. And so natural gifts of personality don’t measure up to what we’re talking about here. What we’re talking about is being pure and hard. And, you know, it’s like, I’m a man of God until I face opposition. Then all of a sudden, I’m

not that man of God that I thought I was. It bothers me, it makes me angry. It makes me upset. You slapped me on the cheek, you’re gonna get roomful of advocates. I’m not gonna turn the other cheek. You can’t treat me like that you won’t get away. If I let you get away with it. You just keep slapping me. When he was reviled, he reviled not when he suffered, he uttered no threats. That’s a hard one to buy into. To buy into that you have to data something you write to yourself. It’s Supernatural. The data you write to yourself, I don’t care how peaceful you are in your nature, how jovial you are, how personable you are, they’ll come a point where you’re personable to a point, you’re patient to a point. And then you’re not patient anymore. So we want to keep these things in mind. But as we start the, in the family, these descriptions clearly indicate the essential utter difference between the Christian and the non Christian, you’re the light of the world. You’re the salt of the earth. I go out there and be salty. What does that mean? live it. Martin, Lord john says, you know, we have all these evangelistic campaigns, we have all these events to attract those outside of the church. He said, but you know, we wouldn’t have to have those things. If every Christian we just live the Christian life. You’ll be distinctively different. You’d make people hungry for what you’ve got. Sometimes you can do that best in failure, rather than in winning the game and losing the game. Or then being on the all star team, not making the all star team because you didn’t live up to what they’re paying you for. Now, when I played baseball, I experienced just about everything you can experience. I was drafted, I was signed, I was reassigned. I was released, assigned again. And I was told as the worst third base and he ever saw. I went through every bit of that. But you will remember my story. And I’ll close with this. I had the worst year ever had my final year, which usually is the final year of the guys. That’s when you’re experienced release. And I retired before they could release me. So there you go. So I’m having this terrible year and I’m making errors at shortstop and didn’t hit that. Well. He had about 250 last game of the year, this guy comes out to my locker. He’s one of the pitchers on our team. He goes, I’ve been watching you all year, whatever you got on me and said What have I got man, I just had the worst year that I ever had. What do you need that I have? We went to dinner that night. And I found out that what he had seen is watching me fail. So my worst year in baseball became my best year for the gospel. He came to Christ at night over dinner. I tracked him down a few months ago on Google. He’d been a Hall of Fame high school baseball coach in Pennsylvania for years. But what do you do? How do you come to Christ? Now there are other people that might look at me on the golf course and never come to Christ looking at me but that guy came to Christ because he saw something distinctively different. I had no idea. I wasn’t aware that anybody was watching me except my manager told me I was the worst third baseman ever saw. But he’s this is meant to make us distinguishing distinguish slightly different, distinctly different. We live a different life. We’re not the same guys. We used to be And that’s really evangelistic. That makes people want what you’ve got. And that’s what the Beatitudes are talking about. This is a lifestyle that you live to make people want what you’ve got or not. Amen. Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for calling us out of the darkness into the light with Thank you for calling us to be just mend but to not just men but men of God. Man who are distinctively different from the way we used to be in the life that we’re living now. Help us not to be casual thumb suckers. Help us not to be poor, just poor in spirit, but beating ourselves up. Help us attain to that life in Christ. It could only be attained to the Holy Spirit, even today, Lord, we want to make a difference for you in Jesus name And all God’s men said get heaven guys

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Different

The sermon on the mount is about Kingdom living. Jesus Christ was the king from heaven. Jesus had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene. When asked what had happened to change her, she simply said, “I was one way but now I’m different.” The kingdom of Jesus Christ is different in every way from the kingdoms of this world.

Oswald Chambers said that only the Holy Spirit can expound the teachings of Jesus Christ. Before we can understand his teachings, we must first be born again of God’s spirit. We cannot see from God’s perspective, with Christ’s eyes behind our eyes, unless we are born from above of God’s Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ teachings from the sermon on the mount are diametrically opposed to the teachings of this world. The Beatitudes are the beautiful attitudes of Jesus’ disciples who have allowed the Holy Spirit to have his way with them. These heavenly attitudes take us away from this world and into the moral frontier where the spirit works in us and through us to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Poverty in spiritual things is the prerequisite for receiving the Beautiful Attitudes of the beatitudes. God works best with nothing. In order for God to fill us, we need to enter into his presence with empty hands. When God reveals that we are lacking in spiritual things, then he can fill us with his spirit. Once we have received God’s spirit we can know that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… those who walk according to the spirit of life in Christ. Poverty of the spirit leads to hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of Christ.

Romans 12:1-2 says, ….. I beseech ye therefore (because of the Doctrine from Romans chapter 8) brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which your reasonable act of service of worship. The ultimate sacrifice is praise to God… according to Hebrews, bring ye the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.

When we offer ourselves up as an approach offering to God, then we can sacrifice every worldly choice in order to live to the praise of the glory of God’s grace…. for he alone is worthy… What is it that you value most? You love what you value… When we love God above all, he alone is worth my sacrifice, my giving up of everything else.

Romans 12:2 says, the result of becoming a living sacrifice unto theLord is to be not conformed to this world, squeezed into the world’s mold. But instead we will be transformed (passive voice) by allowing ourselves to be renewed by the renewing… the upward-newing of our minds according to God’s heavenly calling. Transformed is complete metamorphosis. The renewing of the mind according to God’s word transforms us from the world’s mold into His mold… for we are his workmanship, his poetry in motion…. his great work of art created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he has foreordained that we should walk in them.

The renewing of the mind means that morning by morning new mercies I see. Each moment is a fresh and new opportunity to walk in the newness of life in Christ.

Life is a series of choices. Saying yes to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus separates me from the sin of the world’s carnal calling.

Romans 8:3 says, what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in th flesh that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

A man of God transformed by the renewing of his mind, walks with an awareness and acknowledgement of the presence of God. When we walk in the spirit, he will open the eyes of our spiritual understanding.

A man of God sees from God’s perspective instead of the world’s. Jesus said, don’t worry about what we shall eat or what we shall drink, consider the lilies of the field…… they toil not neither do they reap, yet even Solomon in all his glory wasn’t arrayed like one of these. …. therefore take no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take care of its own cares, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

We are sufficient unto all things overcoming all worldly things through Christ who infuses us with his strength…. I can co all things through Christ who strengthens me…

That we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Kingdom Living

Jesus came to introduce his disciples to a new kingdom… a kingdom that is not of this world. The standard of Christ’s new kingdom is the unconditional love of God…. to love God above all and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

According to 1 Corinthians 13, Love is patient, love is kind, is never selfish, rude, or proud… it never demands its own way. The unconditional agape love of God is not of this world. It is one of the qualities of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. The love of God is not touchy or irritable. It is not resentful or bitter. The love of God rises above human frailty… it transforms and transcends worldly standards, morals, and conventions. The love of God suffers injustice, always thinks the best of others, never holds grudges… it never fails to bless, to encourage, and to edify. Love never fails.

The devil is the accuser and the deceiver. He reminds us of our fallen nature and the things we’ve done that fall short of God’s righteous standard. However, even while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. For even though our heart condemns us… God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things… that our righteousness is in Christ.

What calls a man to repentance… to turn from darkness unto light? Is it the threat of death and eternal damnation? Is it guilt, shame, pain, and suffering? Romans 2 says, it is the goodness, kindness, love and mercy of God that calls a man to repentance. The love of God is what attracts a son of God to run to the Lord and not away from him.

Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. When Pontious Pilate asked Jesus, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus responded, “You said it.” Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” He could not perceive that he was looking the truth in the eye… for Jesus Christ himself is the way, the truth and the life.

After Jesus healed a man born blinded, the religious leaders asked the blind man, “Who healed you?” He said, “I don’t know who he was, but this one thing I know, I was blind, but now I see.” Jesus came to open the eyes of those born blind… physically and spiritually. To perceive truth we must be born again… to see and perceive from Christ’s eyes behind our eyes.

Many men hear the truth and casually agree with it. However, they are not willing to commit their lives to Christ. They want to be their own master and are unwilling to subject their hearts in submission to the Lord. The kingdom of self is heavily defended territory. When a man repents, God brings him to the realization that, “I have found the enemy and he is me.”

The thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy. When the devil attacks, this assault is either an invitation to join the devil’s pity party, or the point of repentance to turn from the darkness of this world unto the glorious light of the gospel of salvation through faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone.

Living the Christian life gets the attention of this world. The love of God is not of this world. Jesus said, blessed are they when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven. The love of God turns the other cheek… it gladly goes the second mile. It does not return evil for evil. It is full of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. The love of God is the nature of God himself… for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Christianity is not about the cost. Rather, it’s about the value…. what is it that you value most? The valuable things of this life are priceless… we could not afford either the payment for sin or for eternal live. Therefore we have been bought with a price… the priceless precious blood of God’s only begotten son. Because Jesus Christ paid our debt of sin, we can live in the glorious light of the gospel of peace. For he who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus said, I always do my father’s will. His father’s will was your redemption and mine. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, not my will but thine be done. The answer to Jesus’ prayer in the garden is in Hebrews 11, Jesus Christ for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God… God showed his son the joy of your redemption and mine.

We love him because he first loved us. Because God has given us his spirit of life in Christ, we can Love God above all. Then when we love others, Jesus said, in that ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. To love others, we love Jesus himself.

Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives and to set free them that are bound. In an upside down world, the greatest freedom is to subject ourselves captive to Christ… casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. According to Galatians 5, stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage of the law of sin and death. Only use not liberty as an occasion to sin, but in love, serve one another.

… That in loving God above all, we may live according to the his kingdom’s purpose… that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Pete McKenzie 0:08
Hey, man.

Well, we’ve already had a full morning with all the great announcements and interviews and prayer that’s been going on the fellowship. It’s been a good day. We’ll finish it off with a few words from the Sermon on the Mount. And I have some quotes. From Oswald Chambers. He did a lot of writing on the Sermon on the Mount. And he’s got a section in his one of his books called the studies in the Sermon on the Mount.

Thank you, we got to look after each other. It’s like monkeys picking fleas off each other in the zoo. Yeah, you’re the big monkey.

Monkey. Moving right along. introductory thoughts by Oswald Chambers to the Sermon on the Mount. Only the Holy Spirit can expand the teachings of Jesus Christ. Beware of placing our Lord his teacher first. Instead of Savior, we must know him first his Savior before his teaching can have any meaning for us are before it can have any meaning other than an ideal that leads only to despair. In other words, basically what he’s saying here, this is a new kingdom that we’ve been born into. It’s not like the kingdom that we know is in the world. It’s a brand new kingdom that’s sprung in our hearts. It’s something from the inside out, not from the outside in. And what he’s saying here is only the Holy Spirit can teach about Jesus Christ in. It’s what Jesus told his disciples, I’m going away, but I’m going to send a comforter to you and he’ll teach you the truth is he’ll lead you to all truth. If Jesus is only a teacher, then all he can do is tantalize us by erecting a standard we cannot come anywhere near. But by being born of the Holy Spirit above and knowing him first as Savior. We know that he did not come to teach us only he came to teach us what he teaches we should be. So the Sermon on the Mount. Basically, if you’re born into a new kingdom, and you go, what have I gotten myself into here? Just read it in Chapter Five, six, and seven of Matthew. And then he makes it really clear now it’s not really easy, but it’s really clear what the new kingdom is all about that the kingdom he came to introduce and usher in to the world is really all about, it’s an upside down kingdom. It’s an inside out kingdom. It’s not like anything, anybody ever could sit in a room with a bunch of leaders in the church and go, let’s come up with a lifestyle that fits the kingdom of God. What lifestyle did he come up with? And he started that out by sending his own son down here, and he demonstrated in was an example of the kingdom. And he was confusing people all over even his disciples, and you know all about that. Now, they had no idea what he was talking about, in most cases, he’s taught in parables, why would do what he did? If you’re keeping up with the chosen, they do a really good job in that of seeing how confused the disciples were. In now. carnal they were they were worldly thinking and they had to be changed. But so did you and I, I was once one way, and now I’m different. They have a T shirt in the chosen calls. It says that now I’m completely different. That was what Mary said, after Jesus had cast the demons out of her. Remember that our Lord’s teaching only applies to those who are His disciples. We talked before about not holding a standard up for people who’ve never been born again that don’t have the Holy Spirit. Don’t try. Don’t expect them to be able to live the Christian life. Don’t expect them to be able to have the power to turn the other cheek and go the second mile and bless those who persecute him. They can’t do it. I remember the frustration in my life. Maybe you can remember experiencing the same thing. When I was trying To be a good little credit Southern Baptist boy. And I couldn’t do it. I could keep the rules some of the time. But I had a really hard time keeping the rules. And it was frustrating to the point where I got desperate at one point, I got it put it in my heart as he told the exiles from Jerusalem when they were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and he was taken them back to Babylon. And he said, I’ll put it in your heart to know me, it’s going to take for 70 years for you guys to get these out of worship, and all of your disobedience out of your system, and then I’ll bring you back to Jerusalem. But I’ll put it in your heart to know me. Now, I don’t understand all I know about that. But I know God put it in my heart to know him. If you know him today, he put it in your heart to know him. You didn’t do a thing. And I don’t understand all I know about that. But I believe he puts it in our hearts. Now that doesn’t mean you’re gonna come to know him. I don’t believe but it means if you do come to know him, he put it in your heart. He’s the one that did it. And if we you know, the thing that shines light on this is in Romans 12. And it’s a very familiar to verses Romans 12. One and two.

This look at them for a minute. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So that you may prove what the will of God is. That which is good, and acceptable, and perfect, in the will of God. So, here Paul is dealing with a bunch of Romans in every church it’s ever existed with its emphasis of fellatio, Romans are current, no matter where you find the church, Paul started, they got trouble. They got false prophets coming in, they got old ways that are coming in, say, yeah, you need Jesus. But you also need to keep the sacrifices, you need to keep the traditions going, you need to do the Jewish sacrifices and offerings. And so Paul had to battle that in every church that they had. And so here, he’s given him a overall, really, it’s a play, it’s not as much a teaching is it is pleased. He says, I plead with you, brother. And that’s a sense of urgency. I urge you brothers, by the mercies of God. Now, he wouldn’t urge them to do it on their own power. The only way that we do spiritual things and accomplish spiritual things is through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the mercy and the grace of God. And that’s what he’s calling on here. He’s not just say, go out and do it. He said, by the mercies of God, by the grace of God go out and do it in his power and his wisdom and his understanding. So I plead with you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies. Now I’m pretty picky about present my body, at least I thought I was. I didn’t have much to present there. But what I had, I was a little picky about presenting it. But then what do you say in here is I have to do that. It’s something I do, I present my body a living and holy sacrifice. Now you realize in the Old Testament, and before Jesus came, that they sacrificed animals on the altar, and they shed the blood of those, and it covered the sand, it didn’t forgive the sand, it covered the sand of the Jews, and they would sacrifice animals. And Jesus ushered in a new sacrifice. He said, we’re done with all those sacrificing animals in covering sand, I’m going to completely forgive sin, I’m going to shed blood that will cleanse you from all sin. But I want you to present your body just like I presented my body and that God so loved the world, he gave his only son to sacrifice his body. Not his spirit, but his body. Beside marriage is a physical relationship, and the two become one flesh. So you sacrifice your body to your mate to your wife, in marriage. But in the spiritual context, what he’s talking about here is I want you to present your body’s a living and holy sacrifice. Now, I was a sacrifice at how long the cross and shared the blood and no more animal sacrifices need to be given. That’s done. We’re not doing that anymore. That Lamb of God has come. He’s been sacrificed. We don’t have to do those animal sacrifices anymore. He accomplished it. He said, it’s finished. It’s done. You don’t have to do that. But here’s what you do have to do. You have to decide to present your own body to God. In a holy and living sacrifice, not a bad sacrifice, but a holy sacrifice which has been cleansed by the Holy Spirit and found righteous in God’s eyes. And that’s what happens when you give your heart to Christ and you confess your sin and he forgives your sin and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. So he said, you present that holy body to him is a living sacrifice, not a dead sacrifice. It’s one thing to die for Christ. It’s another thing to live for Christ. And it might be a lot easier to die for Christ and to live every day and the day in and day out challenges of life and trials and trouble and tribulation, irritations and interruptions that come to our life, you have to live that out every day. And it might be easier just to die. And he’s saying go ahead and die. But die is a living sacrifice. Present your body before the Lord, give your body to him. Now you’re going to give your body to somebody, you’re going to serve somebody. Now he’s saying serve the Lord. And that’s what Joshua said in Joshua 28. He says,

you guys serve the gods that you serve back in Egypt serve the gods, that you are the idols that your forefathers served. But for me in my house, we’re gonna serve the Lord. And so Joshua made a decision to present his his family, his house, his to be living sacrifices for God. So you and I have to decide that he’s urging and pleading us to do it, and then we have to decide to do it, I can’t decide for you. You can’t decide for me, I couldn’t decide for Susan, I had to decide for me. And she had to decide for her, I was responsible for my own spiritual walk. She was responsible for her own spiritual walk, you’re responsible for your own spiritual walk, you can walk in the light, or you can walk in darkness, you can walk in newness of life, or you can walk in death. Dead Man Walking when you’re walking without Christ. So this is acceptable to God, when you’re living and holy sacrifice that’s acceptable to God. And it’s our spiritual service of worship. Now, we just had a great time of worship and singing. But a greater worship is when we present our bodies to God is a sacrifice. And that’s acceptable to God. And it’s our spiritual opportunity and even duty to worship Him in that way. If you’re a Christian, if you put your hand at the Christian life and plow, if you will, then you’re obligated to live that life out. Then you’re going to be pretty frustrated trying that if you’re casual, or lukewarm, or backslidden, or not even a Christian and think you are. So you can be just as desperate and back in backsliding as you can be in not knowing him. But you can know Him and not knowing Well, you can know Him and follow Him but not following him closely. That’s your choice in my choice every day. And so he’s urging us to make that decision. And then he said, Look, here’s a problem going on in the church, and they were having that problem in the church. We’re having this problem in the church. And it’s Don’t be conformed to this world. They were being conformed to the world they were in. Now, you can know Jesus Christ, but you could be carnal and worldly in knowing Jesus Christ. Or you can profess to know Jesus Christ and be carnal and worldly and you don’t know Christ at all. And only God can sort that out and who’s in which camp or category. But what he’s doing here says be conformed and I looked up conformed in a means assuming an outward expression that does not reflect what’s really going on inside. That’s another def another definition for that is hypocrite. You know, we’ve we always will have and have had a problem living what we say we believe. We believe things in weird saying about things and we hold our hands up to things and we amen to things that we really, truly believe. But then, you do and I do oftentimes really well. We’re really man of God, until we face opposition. And then not so much. until things aren’t going our way until we have that health issue, that financial issue, that neighbor issue, that marriage issue, though children issues are those car issues. They’re always issues, they’re always irritations. They’re always challenges every day. You’ll never be without them this out of heaven. And he’s saying, Look, don’t be conformed and tree in respond to those things like the world. Don’t be conformed to the world’s ways, the world’s attitudes, the world’s values. You’ve been called out of that. to a higher standard, to a different life, to a new life, to a more powerful life. But it’s a harder life and a more challenging life because it attacks everything in us. Everything that we try to save in, that’s what Jesus said, If you try to save your life, you’re going to lose it. But if you lose your sake for my life, for my sake and the gospel, then you’ll have eternal life, then you’ll find true life. So don’t be conformed. It’s a kind of masquerade act to be shaped and fashioned or brought into harmony with to be similar or identical. So you could be similar or identical to the world, or you can have a strong family resistance resemblance to Jesus Christ. And here’s Paul is saying, look, present your bodies a living, holy sacrifice, it’ll be acceptable to God. And then you will have a life that’s not just acceptable to God, but a life that similar and identical to who he is. He put it this way, after he taught him the Beatitudes, and he went through the Beatitudes, and he says, You’re the salt of the

earth. You’re the light on a hill, you’re the light of the world. Now, let your work light shine. Don’t put it under a bushel basket. Don’t be backslidden. Don’t be ashamed of the gospel, live the life. It takes courage to live the life, encourage one another and listen, in doing that, you’ll never be the man of God, you could be or should be without the man in your life next to you now, right here, without other godly men in your life. That’s the reason we have 4am groups. It’s a face to face group, you guys sitting over here, don’t know the guy sitting over here, you’ve been together 10 years in here and you don’t know each other. But you get guys in a forum group and they’re sharing their hearts. They’re sharing their troubles. They’re sharing their victories. They’re sharing life together. That’s what we call Heart to Heart groups. If you don’t have a heart to heart group, you’re never going to be the man you could be or should be. Whatever the heart to heart group is, you need godly men in your life that will push you out of that plane when you’re supposed to parachute over that Warzone. Because you’re not gonna jump out on your own. But if that guy behind you is counting on you to get out of his way, so he can jump and he puts a boot in your rear end. If you got a boot in your rear and leave recently, as if you hadn’t it’s not called you don’t need it. It’s because people don’t think you can take it.

Don’t be conformed to the world. Well, what’s my other option, be transformed. transformed, from this world’s age from all the beliefs and values, be transformed as changes and converted in character and condition? changed in outward appearance, you know, you’ve ever had anybody say to you, What’s your deal? What is it? What do you mean? We use the same to have a piece about you. It is there’s something about you that’s different is accounting us on your face. And when you have the light of Christ in the inside, He shines out through your countenance through your faith through the peace that you have. It’s very evangelistic to be filled with the Holy Spirit. To have peace. It surpasses all comprehension. And it shows in your face. shows in your eyes when we were traveling in and out of Romania back before the wall came down, and we’d go through the border from Austria to Romania, or Hungary to Romania. And that always stopped for passport control. They want to see your passport and sometimes it’s the middle of the night and they slam the door of your cabin open and they password control while you’re waking up like that. And so we had and we had our little Bibles and our coats hanging on the wall and stuff so they wouldn’t find them. And then we’d go do our ministry and then the wall came down. And some of our guys were still count going in and out. But it one is dangerous as it was or precarious. In one of our guys was being checked with his passport one day and this guard who was a guard for years in that same border pack crossing, said to him said your missionaries, aren’t you? He says as you know, he says I could tell it by your eyes. Can they tell it by your eyes. If you’re transformed they can if you’re transformed and outward appearance to bring over a different point of view or belief to alter from one form of function to another and that’s where in the chosen Were Matthew was talking to Jesus and Jesus had just done something that was upside down that one what they were used to. And he says, But indeed, this is what, that’s what I did. And he says, Yeah, but this is different. And you said get used to different. It’s a different life. If you want to live, you have to die. If you want to be First, you have to be last. If you want to be great, you have to be a servant. It’s that difference. It’s a paradox. You have to leave your practical thinking, your rational thinking, you have to leave that at the door, when you come into the this new kingdom. It’s a live live by the Holy Spirit in you and through you. And it’s different. It’s not the same as it was, you’ve been called to something higher and different, more powerful and more Earth shaking and more life changing. That’s what it’s all about. He didn’t just give you a different countenance and a different power to be patient and turn the other cheek and go the second mile for you. He did it so you could show people what the power of the gospel can do in a man’s life. When he comes in and changes his life. People want to know what you got and they want it. Well, how do you get transformed? Well, by renewing your mind to restored a freshness and vigor and perfection, that’s what the Word of God does when you get in. But you have to get in it to get hungry for it. You don’t get hungry for the word and then go read it. You go read the word and get hungry for it. You get hungry for it, you taste and see that it’s good. If you’re not in the if you don’t have a hunger for the word is called you’re not in the word. And I mean, you got to get in the word. It’s it’s a like in Psalm one. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And he meditates on it every Sunday morning. And then he’s a godly guy. By Sunday afternoon, when he’s criticizing the pastor for his message, he’s already lost it. You got to be on the word every day. he meditates on it every day. And every night that it did, you don’t become a man of God, in a man of the word in a spiritual, mature guy. On the backstroke, you can take a pill and get it you can’t even take a class and get it. You get it by spending time in his presence.

You know the character of God by experiencing the character of God, the way he deals with you and the way he deals with you. When you’re praying. When you journaling. When he you hear him speak, and it changes your life. And you have something to give to others. You have something when they’re going through their child their problem. You’ve been there, you’ve done that, you know what God said to you? God, I think I made an idol out of Susan. I think I love her more than I love you. I miss her so much. And he says you then make an ad a lot of her. You love her more because you love me more. See, that’s where you learn God’s character and grace. God are committed to sin again, he said, What’s in? You know, the one I’ve confessed this morning? But what was that? Adele do what it was? And he said, Did you confess it? And I said, Yeah, did I forgive it? He said, Yeah, well, then I put it behind me as far as the east is on the west. I don’t remember it anymore. What do you do? And I thought, good grief. He doesn’t keep score on me. He forgets my sand when I confess it. He doesn’t want to hear it about that anymore. It’s as a brand new sand as far as he’s concerned. What a god. Are you that way when people will offend you? Can you forgive them and not even remembered anymore? Are you putting it in a resentment back? You let in toxic jealousy and fear, bitterness and anger, resentment? You let that loose in your life because it will be toxic. And wisdom when I say are you letting it loose go like that. You got resentment banks with different people’s names on it. And God says empty that bank, I empty my bank. Why are you having your bank? Why are you claiming your right to say if he would save his life will lose it. But who loses his life he’s hard to be offended. You can’t make him mad easily. He’s not overly sensitive about how he’s treated. He didn’t take it personal all the time. He doesn’t get wounded easily. He’s got a tough skin and tender heart. That’s what God’s trying to make out of you and me. to regenerate to a better higher or more worthy state. change occurring to the Holy Spirit how he transforms our thinking through the study and meditation of the word Taylor in his Living Bible paraphrase says it put this way. And so dear brothers, I plead with you, by God’s mercy to give your bodies to God. Let him be a living sacrifice, and holy, the kind he can accept. When you think of what he’s done for you, Is that too much to ask, don’t copy the ways and behavior and customs of this world. But be a new and different person with a fresh newness. You know, you’re going to follow the customs and the values and the ways of the world if you don’t know the word of God, if you’re not a man of the word, if you don’t know what God’s Spirit heart and attitude is, if you hadn’t gotten wisdom, let’s see in life from his point of view, and if you haven’t gotten understanding that’s responding in any situation, the way Jesus would respond, then you have no other recourse but be worldly, casual, carnal, backslidden you may be a Christian, but you’re not spirit field. Christian, you’re not, there’s not a dynamic about your life. There’s not a power in your life, to live the life to make people hungry. And it’s not about you. If we could just get over ourselves. We just didn’t care what people thought of us didn’t care how we come across, didn’t care how they judge us, or accuse us or understand or misunderstand us. getting past that, but you don’t get past that overnight. You get past it by spending time in God’s word. You don’t know the will of God. Unless you know God, unless you know his word. And then you pray according to His will. In the greatest way to pray and endure prayer is not my will. But your will be done. This seems like a good thing to me, Lord, it seems like you would bring revival seems like you would heal. It seems like you would set free. But God had other plans. So I have to pray not my will. But your will be done. It didn’t matter what I think. Chambers puts it in more powerful terms. Why shouldn’t God break your heart? If God has to break your heart to accomplish His purpose in the world, and thank him for breaking your heart? Is that where you are now in your spirit, spiritual life? Are you at a place where you could thank God for the problems in the troubles in the tribulation in your life.

Because if you’re not as cold you don’t want to be. It’s not because you’re self centered and self preserving. And all those you go look up self in the dictionary, there’ll be about 30, self things that refer to ourselves. Forget about yourself. Don’t think highly of yourself. Don’t think more highly of yourself than you should. Don’t try to save your own life. But give it up for new life. That’s a whole message of the Scriptures. So how do you know these guys that have done that? What are their characteristics? Well, one is a they’re concerned about keeping God’s law, they want to be obedient. They want to be obedient to the word. They’re not always obedient. They can’t be consistently 100% of badian. No one can this out of heaven. But the tenor of their life is obedience. They fear God’s law, they want to keep God’s law. We’re not under the law anymore. But we’re under grace. But that doesn’t mean we don’t keep the law. That doesn’t mean we do away with the law. The law is still good. But it’s not the law that saves us its grace, it saves us and that makes us want to keep the law and be obedient. Not only want to we have the power to do it, because of the grace of God. So that guy wants to do that. In Romans eight for what the law could not do. Week is it was through the flesh God did. So I couldn’t keep the law. Law couldn’t save me. So God saved me by grace through faith. And then the law started kicking in, in my power in my life to obey the law started kicking in. Another thing about this guy, he lives keenly aware that he’s in the presence of God all the time. God’s constant viewer of his life, God’s omnipresent. So when the Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart, he’s with you and everything you do everywhere you go everything you think everything you say. And so the Psalm is finally in 139 said, search me O God and know my heart, try me and know my just thought, see if there’s any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way. Search me I know my heart. He’s gonna search me and know my heart anyway. He knows everything I think and do and why I do it. Every good thing every bad thing he understood And so he knows, he knows my struggles. He knows the number of hairs on my head or not. You can’t run and you can’t hide. You can run but you can’t hide. Let’s put it that way. So if you can’t hide, and he knows everything, why not just walk out into the light. When I just walk out into the light and say God, you know my heart, against the end alone, have I sinned and done what’s evil in your sight? I didn’t break man’s law broke your law. I haven’t been disobedient demand. Although I have been did that because I’ve been this disobedient to you. The big difference in the world that the world does not live in this way. He’s always aware that he is a blood bought soldier, under orders of his lord and savior and above all things seeks to please Him in all things. This is why the man of God views everything that happens to him differently from everybody else. So this man is not concerned with his daily needs. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says You guys are so worried about what you’re going to wear and what you’re going to eat and what you’re going to drink. Now to know that I love the birds of the air and I take care of them. If I’m going to take care of them. Don’t you know, I’ll take care of you. When we were going to Eastern Europe, we were raising a whole lot of money to do it and to move the whole family over there and found a place to live and do the deal. I was journaling one day. And I started panicking. What am I doing? What was I thinking? Going all the money we have to raise and the 30,000, I’ve got 10. And I said God, I don’t know why I’m going over here and putting that I don’t know what my family is going to go through in this move. I know what’s going on here. I know the life that I have. I know I get to speak and teach and speak at retreats and teach classes and do the things that I do that you’ve gifted me to do over there. I’m not going to get to do any of that I’ve worked through translators traveling around teaching stuff.

And we only have $10,000. We need 30. And I happen to have my Bible open to Matthew 17. And that’s where Jesus and the Pharisees came to Peter and they said, Does your master pay the temple tax? And Peter said, of course, then you went to Jesus and said, do we pay the temple tax? And Jesus said, Well, we shouldn’t have to. But we will. And so you go down to the sea and pull out a fish and there’ll be money in his mouth. And that’ll pay for yours and mine. In God’s in Peter did and they found the money and paid the temple tax. And God said to me, don’t you understand that if I called you to go somewhere, and I’m going to take care of you and I’ll provide for you to do it. That same week, another guy wrote a check for $20,000. And we were off to Europe, to Eastern Europe. God says You guys are so worried about your daily needs. But you better be worried about your spiritual needs. There’s a lot more important things in what you’re going to wear and what you’re going to drink and what you’re going to eat. He’s not this man is not concerned with his daily needs. Not that they don’t matter, but they’re not his main concern and are not what he lives for. The Christian man sits in differently to worldly affairs. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, Paul said, No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. So this guy is keenly aware that he’s in the presence of God. And he needs to forget about himself and trust God by faith to provide him protect and do all that he’s called him to do. And finally, he’s always in walks in the fear of God. In the fear of God means that he realizes that what I do and how I act and the things that I decide or have consequences or blessings. If I’m disobedient, there are consequences to pay. David was disobedient with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah. God forgave him because David repented and confessed and broke before God. And so he didn’t take his kingdom away like he did Saul’s who never did repent. But David had consequences the rest of his life because of That sin, and the consequences were in his house with his own children, for the most part, certainly he made himself gossip for the anti King movement for his enemies and those who didn’t wish him well. But this man walks in fear of the judgment of God, the consequences if he’s not obedient. It’s not that God doesn’t give him grace, even to face the consequences. But he walked in the fear of God that there are consequences, he’s keenly aware of that. Don’t Be Dumb, don’t be deceived, God will not be mocked, but whatsoever you so that way you reap and whatsoever you reap, has been sown in your own heart, before the Lord, that man’s keenly aware of that, and it makes him want to be obedient, another reason to want to be not just to please Him, but so that he doesn’t have to discipline us as His children because he will. And he does.

For It’s time for judgment to begin in the household of God. So guys, God’s called us to a higher lifestyle, he’s called us to another kingdom. He were in this world for a little while. And then we’re going to be taken out of the world. And if we truly know Jesus, he said, You will not perish but you will have eternal life. We got heaven to look forward to that’s our hope. But while we’re here, we have to live as citizens of a new kingdom, your citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly await the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m a citizen of heaven. We have too many Americans who happen to be Christian, rather than Christians who happen to be American. And we have to be careful about that. It’s a subtle difference. But am I more committed to this country? Am I more committed to this, this worldly flag that I sing about and cry when I do? Or am I more committed to a heavenly kingdom? A kingdom that he started when I came to know Christ and then never end. Married Susan that it ended. I still feel married. I still love her. But she left But Jesus said, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be with you. This life is temporary. It’s short. We don’t have much time left looking at most of the gray hair in this room. Let’s make it count. Amen. Let’s make it count. Let’s make every day count as live like citizens of the kingdom of heaven that we’ve been called out out of the darkness into His marvelous light. Father, that’s what we pray this morning. We want to be citizens of your kingdom. We want to be men of God for such a time as this. Want to live that life we want to see revival come and it’ll come not because we have crusades and evangelism outreaches. But because we started living the Sermon on the Mount, we started being these kind of men, we started having those kind of countenance that the Holy Spirit brings when peace and grace and joy and love is in our hearts. We start forgiving those who don’t deserve to be forgiven because we found grace in you and we can give grace to others, especially in our own home. We’ve been called to live different lives, exemplary lives. In Lord we could only do that through your power and your Holy Spirit do it Lord. In us even today in Jesus name and Norma God’s man said give them Heaven, guys.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai