Blessed Are They Who Hunger and Thirst

The Beatitudes are the introduction to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. CS Lewis said one road leads home and a thousand roads lead to the wilderness. Christianity is not a comfortable religion. Returning home often seems unattainable. Aim at the the things of earth and you’ll be forever lost. Apart from Christ, it’s impossible to reach home. The Sermon on the Mount is the profile of Jesus Christ himself. He blazed the trail to the Father’s heart. Home is where the heart is. The Sermon on the mount is the roadmap, the turn by turn directions to arrive at home. The final destination is at the end of time when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

There are many battles in this world. However, we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the powers of the Darkness of this world… against spiritual wickedness from on high. Then at the end of our earthly life, we who have been born again can say with the Apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing”.

Jesus said, Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. What is it that you are hungry for? What can satisfy your thirst? The one who is blessed is the one who is hungry and thirsty for God’s righteousness. God will honor a desire for the righteousness of His son. This is a hunger only he can fill.

Hungering and thirsting for the things of this earth never satisfy…. they leave the soul empty and disappointed. Hungering for the things of the flesh are the picture of Tantalus…. According to Roman mythology, Tantalus was doomed to spend eternity in the underworld… he was tortured by his perpetual hunger pangs even though he was surrounded by a feast of delectable (tantalizing) foods. They were just out of reach above his head. His condemnation was to suffer a tantalizing insatiable eternal hunger.

When is enough enough? John D. Rockefeller, one of the world’s richest men was asked, “how much more money is enough?” His answer: “Just a little bit more.” Reach for the kingdoms of this earth and you will die frustrated and empty handed. Reach for the kingdom of heaven and you’ll get the earth thrown in.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. The filling is with the righteousness of God in Christ in us. The Apostle Paul said, “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.”

Men strive for the unattainable… to dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to try when your arms are too weary to reach the unreachable star. The striving is for the things that this world holds dear…. self satisfaction, self gratification, self aggrandizement, self sufficiency, and self actualization. When the hunger is for the selfishness of self, the result is continuous frustration… the appetites of the flesh cannot be satiated.

However, when we turn from the frustration of hungering for the things of this world and instead hunger for God’s righteousness, then this is a hunger that only God can satisfy. Only he is sufficient.

According to 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good morals.” We’re most like those with whom we choose to associate, those whose company we enjoy. Who are you following? When we’re hungry for the fellowship of Jesus Christ and those who hunger and thirst for his righteousness, then we will be filled. Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4:14, …whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Then in John 6:35 he said, …“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

We’re blessed when we hunger to “choke in the dust of other men who chase after Jesus Christ.” When our heart’s desire is to follow in close proximity to our Lord… to hunger and thirst after his righteousness, then we shall be filled… the filling is his righteousness, his character, his spirit… For Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him…

… that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of Thy grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Pete McKenzie 0:07
He broke it off. Now you’ll have some talk about afterwards.

We’re talking about the Beatitudes. And getting into the Sermon on the Mount eventually. But you can’t get any of that before you go through the Beatitudes. And it’s what Jesus said at one time in the chosen. This is a path that people can get used to get to me, who really want to know Jesus Christ. This is the gate in the narrow way that you have to walk. To get to him. I want to read a few quotes by CS Lewis. As we go into this, we’re talking we’ve talking about bless it are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. That’s the message today. CS Lewis said, one, one road leads home and 1000 roads lead to the wilderness. So we’re talking about that one road that leads to home and home is in heaven. He also said if you want a religion that’s going to make you really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity. Can I get an amen from the congregation, especially when you start talking about these quits preaching and goes to meddling in this sermon on the mount, he starts messing with things in our lives that we don’t want to have to mess with. He opens doors to things in our lives that we don’t want opened. And it makes us uncomfortable. Matter of fact, it seems to be unattainable. And it is apart from Christ. Aim in heaven, and you get the earth thrown in Hemet, earth, and you get neither aim in heaven and you get the earth thrown in aiment Earth and you get neither. And finally, the Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. And that’s what he’s doing in the Sermon on the Mount. He saying this is what a son of God looks like this is a lifestyle. This is a character. This is a profile. This is the image. And this is who I am is basically what he say. Jesus never asked us to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself in the nRd done. Here’s another quote, the more the world sinks into madness, and it seems to be doing more daily, the more God’s man must draw closer and closer to Jesus Christ in His gospel. It’s the world’s only hope. It’s the only way to real peace. With all the fights divisions, partisanship, gender wars, ratio, wars, church wars, political wars, nations warring, it seems that the world is divided between blacks and whites, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, men and women, husbands and wives, children and parents, doctors against doctors. Just keep in mind that when all the dust settles, and the last wars have been fought, there’s only one war that really matters. In Jesus’s incarnation, death, and resurrection, if it means anything at all. It means that there are only two kinds of people saved and unsaved. For a day will come when the wars will cease. The swords will be converted into proshares, the lion will lay down by the lamb, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, Amen. There are so many fronts at the war these days, the gods man are going to have to fight. Just make sure you’re fighting the right war. Never try to take a hill that doesn’t need to be taken or you can’t be taken, choose your battles carefully that strategies of war. And what did what is that right war? Well, Paul in Ephesians, six said, finally be strong in the Lord in in the strength of his mind, but on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. That’s the war. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers against powers against world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. And then in First Timothy as Paul was writing, Timothy, his protege Fight the good fight Timothy, it’s a good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. And you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses, fight the good fight of faith.

In Second Timothy four, four, I am already being poured out as a drink offering in time of my departure has come. I fought the good fight. At the end of your life, you want to make sure you can say I fought the good fight. There’s a lot of good fights these days. There’s a lot of things it seems worth fighting for. But you can’t fight on every front. And if you’ve got to fight, make sure you’re in the right war. Make sure in the war that makes a difference. If there’s only two kinds of people saved and unsaved make sure you’re fighting that war. I think that’s what these men are saying. So bless it are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. You know, we don’t know a lot about hunger and thirst. In our culture today. There are some people that do but not like third world countries. And when Jesus was teaching these men about tongeren, and thirsting for righteousness, he’s what he was talking about man that know what hunger was. The average worker in those days in Jesus’s days, made about a nickel a day. So he was very poor. He couldn’t go to his tap in his house and turn it, turn the water on and get clean drinking water. Water was rare, and he didn’t want to be caught out in the desert in a place where you couldn’t get to water, there wasn’t an oasis close by, or you didn’t have your pig skins full of water on your camel, if you had one. So these people understood thirst, they understood hunger. Most people have an instinctive desire for goodness and righteousness, but not really, if it means to pay a price. Robert Louis Stevenson said, it’s the malady of not wanting or not being needy enough to be willing to pay a price to have it. So hunger and thirst. And I think we have to ask ourselves the question, What am I hungry for? What am I thirsty and after? Usually, it’s something to gratify the flesh or the ego, something to make us feel safe and comfortable.

Get my attention.

It would be obviously make all the difference in the world if we desired goodness or righteousness to the point of being desperate for it. And I think if you’ve ever really truly come to Christ, you’ve been desperate. You tried it all. You tried being good, you tried getting baptized, you tried walking the owl, you tried reading good books, you tried going to the conferences and retreats. And nothing seemed to satisfy nothing. got it done. And finally, you were desperate. You were desperate enough to pray a prayer prayer prayer. I’m not sure what that is. But don’t let it by the

way. Now, looking at the Beatitudes this way, makes it the most demanding and frightening of them all. At the same time, it’s the most comforting it means that the man who is most blessed is not necessarily the man who achieves goodness. But the man who longs for it with all his heart. Sometimes you can feel like well, I’ll never get to be that good. I can’t be good enough. I can’t do enough serve enough. give enough no enough. Attend enough. And so you feel like a second or third class citizen you feel like you just can’t attain to what’s been the standard being held. But you know what God looks at our heart. And God looks at the fact that you add to what you want. cite my centers prayer. God I know I’m not the man You created me to be but I want to be so I want that man. But I wanted to be that man and God honored my wannabe. And God knows hearts. You can’t fool God. You can fool most some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool God anytime. He knows everything you’re thinking before you think it insane before you say it. Look at Psalm 139. You can’t run from him and hide. You can’t go the highest mountain they say or the lowest desert or ocean and he’s there. And when you get there, you’re on long trip. He’s in there waiting on you. You go to sleep at night and you wake up and he’s been thinking about you all night long. So there’s no, there’s running but no hiding from him. If blessedness only came to those who achieved, then nobody would be blessed. So he’s not putting a non attainable standard up here. But what he’s saying is, if you want to be if you’re desperate in your heart, and you’re striving in that direction, well, that’s what he said to David David always wanted to build the temple if you remember, and God wouldn’t let him build a temple. And David, heard God say this in First Kings, you did well, that it was in your heart to do so. God told the children of Israel when they were taken captive into Babylon, he said, I will put it in your heart to know me. We’ve talked about that before. God looks at the heart. You and I this out of heaven will never achieve complete righteousness will never be holy enough, will never be obedient enough, will never serve enough. Steady enough, give enough. But God looks at our heart. And he knows that when we repent, for not doing enough, he forgives. He encourages he comforts. So on one hand, this is a frightening beatitude, I’ll never get there, I can’t attain to it. On the other hand, it’s a very comforting beatitude where he says, you have a heart to do so and I’ll honor that. The meaning of righteousness in this Beatitudes means the whole thing blesser to those who hunger and thirst for all of righteousness. Now, you will never attain to that. But that’s your goal. And if that’s your goal you’re going to attain and more than you would attain if it’s not your goal. In other words, you don’t want to eat half the sandwich, you won’t eat the whole thing. And back in my day, I didn’t want one beer on the whole six pack. That’s thirsty now after the wrong thing. But it’s the same goal. It’s kind of like you don’t want one drink from the jug, you want the whole jug. And that’s what the kind of righteousness that we’re talking about. Now, there’s partial righteousness, and you’ve seen it, maybe you’ve even been it. Hope you’re not now. Partial righteousness is there’s a guy who’s good. He goes to church, goes to the Bible studies goes to the concerts, maybe a trade conference. But then he goes to work and his language is foul, and he treats people unkindly. And I’ve had guys come up to me before, in one of the leaders years ago in our ministry, and he said, I know so and so’s one on your leadership team, but you have to see him at work and how he treats people. See, that’s partial righteousness. You’re righteous here, but you’re not righteous there. I saw that mon dad’s life, I never heard my dad use profanity around my house. But when I saw him with the guys he worked with, he would use four types of profanity. And I’ll never forget noting the knowing the difference. And he was a great Dad, I’m gonna want to put him down. Because he his love covers a multitude of sins, and he loved me.

And he took care of me, he spent time with me. There’s also that, that righteousness where there’s a guy who uses bad language, and he’s cheats and on his taxes and does a lot of things that don’t replicate Christian behavior. But then if he sees someone down and out, then he’s the first guy to show up to help help them move. Help them physically help them financially, as partial righteousness is not living a very good life, but he’s got a good heart to help people. But what God is saying here is bless it are those who desire and hunger after Complete Whole righteousness. Martin, Lord Jones said, Let me describe it as a great charter of every seeking. So this beatitude is a outstanding declaration of the Christian gospel to all who are unhappy about themselves in their spiritual state, and who longed for order and quality of life that they have never enjoyed before. It emphasizes one of the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, namely, that our salvation is entirely grace, by grace, and for grace, that it is entirely the free gift of God. Bless it in happy or there is a world for the world wants to be happy, seeks after happiness. But the problem with happiness is it’s dependent on circumstance. dances is dependent on things going wide going well, man I hit one up the gap knock into Ron’s I got great happiness. I’m having guys in the dugout. But I got men in scoring position and the last in strike out. That happiness I had in the third inning went left in the ninth inning. But God gives us a happiness, it doesn’t leave. It’s in spite of circumstance, stances in spite of what he puts in and takes out. We can still have a peace and a blessedness.

It is consistently unattainable. You can have it for a short while and then it’s gone because our happiness depends on circumstances. But consider Pain Pain is a wonderful thing in the body to alert to a deeper problem. Now I got a pain in my knee, I don’t know if it’s alerting to a different problem is problem enough. You may have one in your elbow or knee, one between the eyes? What’s the cause of all wars and pains and misery? Well, it would be sin. Treat the real problem of sin in the disease is taken care of. And what we do too often is we treat the symptom rather than the real source of the disease. So if a person’s got a adultery problem or drug problem or line problem, an unfaithful problem, nicotine, alcohol problem pornography, you can take those sins head on and try to help them with them. But what if they change their heart? What if they had no more appetite for that? What if the source was that they’re centers by nature, and they needed to be forgiven and altered, they needed to be redeemed, transformed, conformed to Jesus’s image. And then, and you’ve seen it happen, maybe it’s happened to you. You were one kind of man and then you became different. And that different man, that new man didn’t have an appetite for those things. He used to have an appetite for. He didn’t like the party in in the drinking in the pornography and he will find it out of his life, he will be tempted all his life. But he’s found a new life. He’s found peace and happiness. He’s found that a peace in happiness that you can’t take away from him. No trial, no difficulty. No temptation can remove that from him because that’s who he is. Now, that’s a spirit that’s been put in him. And so he’s got it in there because he was poor in spirit, which is a gateway by sort of the poor in spirit. for theirs is the kingdom of God bless it to those who mourn, who were repentant who are broken and crushed because of their sin. In the first three badly Beatitudes, then bless it at the maker looking at our lives in a negative sense. We’re seeing our sin and we’re crushed over our sin. we’re realizing that there’s no good in us. And apart from Jesus, we can do nothing and we got nothing he needs. But this beatitude is different. This is the one that says once you’ve been through these other Beatitudes, you come to bless it are those who hunger and thirst. So you’ve seen that your poor in spirit, you saying that you have nothing to offer your crust in mourning and repenting over your sin. And that gives you a different kind of heart. Once you’ve been in those saying you’re meek and humble. And you want now, righteousness, you want to be like Christ, you want the goodness, the blessing that comes. You want to be satisfied. You want to be content. You want to be at peace. And that’s what Jesus Christ is saying, if you want to come to me and you want all that you want those blessings. Then you come through that road. You come through those gates, and you get to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Well, this profile this righteous man, hungry and thirsting for righteousness follows poor and mourning and make it means being free from the desire and power of sin. You want to be rid of it. You don’t want to be that sin, sinful guy, you want to keep doing that stuff. It’s not paying off. You’re tired of throwing up. You’re tired of your wife criticizing you and getting on you about this and the other you’re tired and you know it’s true. It’s not like you’ve been accused falsely. And that can happen too. But we’re talking about things that you know you want to shake off. You know, you want to be delivered from the power of sin. It means that desire to be free from sin in all its forms and manifestations because it separates you from God in Too often we have Christian men, and we’ve talked about this many times, and we can’t talk about it too much, because we forget it. That when we say and we have a recourse, you don’t want to say and you’re tired of standing, but you do anyway. Amen. You think it you say it, you do it. And then you feel crummy. You feel the consequences in your guilt meter in your heart. And you know, you did wrong. And Jesus says, Come to me are you are heavy laden,

I’ll give you rest. If you confess your sin, I’ll be faithful and righteous. I’ll forgive your sin and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. You don’t have to wallow in your guilt and shame. Come to me come into the light. And that light will cleanse you from the sin. Because we’re going to fight this our whole life. site, Jesus said, did you think when you came to follow me that you’d never sinned again, wouldn’t be much of a redemption if one or two sins and mistakes, cancelled it all. You don’t lose your salvation, once you’ve come to me and truly have it. The question is, Do you truly have it. And if you truly have it, you’re not going to lose it. It means a man has come to realize that he lives in a world controlled by sin and Satan. He knows what the real battle is. We read it a few minutes ago in Ephesians, six, where our fight is not against flesh and blood is against powers and principalities of the air, it’s against Satan and sin. He knows that he’s under the control of a malignant influence, that he has been walking according to the prince and power of the air, he wants to get rid of the power that drags him down. In spite of himself, in spite of not wanting, in spite of wanting righteousness, it’ll drag him down. He remains free from the bondage of sin outside and inside, because he likes it. And he wants it still. And that’s the battle that we fight every day. The reason we want to be in the word in prayer and fellowship, and well the reason we want to just saturate ourselves with praise, music and the theology. And the truth of that is to keep our hearts in a place where we can hear his voice and where he can protect us from ourselves, not just from the outside world, and all the things that are there, but protect me from me, from my wanting to lust and have what I want. It’s not good for me, tastes good, makes me feel good, temporarily. But then I feel the guilt and the shame and the consequences of it. And you want to be free from that. summing it up to hunger and thirst for righteousness, his desire to be free from self and all its harmful, horrible manifest state stations. It means nothing but the longing to be positively holy. And again, if you don’t want to be positively holy, fully, wholly, completely, wholly, you’re not going to work real hard and confessing your sin. You’re going to justify and rationalize, you’re going to accept it. You’re going to say, well, that’s just me. But if you’re really hungry and thirsty for the whole righteousness, then you’re going to work harder in learning and Time In the Word and discipline yourself or godliness, confessing your sin. So the question is, do you and I really want all the righteousness that God’s got? Oswald Chambers put it in these terms, my utmost for his highest. Do you want his highest so you’re willing to give your most to have it? What are you willing to sacrifice to be fully wholly holier than you are today you’ll never been fully fully holy until you get to heaven? Even so, come Lord Jesus. Amen. It’s an it’s a man who wants to live out the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and the fruit of the Spirit and everything he says and does in life. Are you going to get there? No, not completely. Are you going to try and give it all you got? Yes, that’s what you and I get to decide. I’m going to give it all I’ve got. I’m going to quit being so lazy. I’m going to least be less lazy than I was yesterday. I’m going to be moving in the right direction. I’m going to be making better choices and stick into them. Now, it really helps if you’re hanging out with guys who are doing the same thing. You got to be careful who your friends are, who you hang out with what environment you find yourself in, because that environment will shape you Make sure you’re creating the right environment for people that come into your environment. That they’re that you’re the kind of guy that people that are really hungry and thirsty for righteousness seek after others who do that. They want to be in their presence, they want to be friends with them, they want to hang on their screen door. They want to influence each other. It’s really matters, who you hang out with, and what the men are like that are your friends. It means that one supreme desire in life is to know God and to be in fellowship with Him, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the light. It means a longing and desire to be like Jesus Christ.

And look at him. On the earth, he’s incarnate in his incarnate state, his human state, look at him in his positive obedience to the Gods Holy law. Look at him in his reaction to people and how he treats them, his kindness, his caring, his gentleness, and humility, is giving spirit. Look at him in his reaction to his enemies, and all they did to him. And after all they did to him. Look at him in his holding the line in his determination to fulfill his mission of dying for the center of the world. This portrait of Jesus is what he through the Holy Spirit is shaping us into its very likeness and heart, spirit and attitude of Christ. Come to me, follow me. And I’ll make you fishers of men. All throughout scripture in the gospels, Jesus is calling men to himself, to free them up, to make them holy, what they were created to be. He left his throne in heaven because we were languishing in sin, and we had no hope, no power, no ability to shake it off. And he came with the power and they gave us the ability and the freedom and the Holy Spirit, to be able to become man of God, the Son of God became a man that he made enable other men to become men as sons of God. And that’s why he is in the business of making us into one of the earlier quotes that I shared with you is, the more desperate this world becomes in matter and crazier and all the lunacy that we see going on. The more we need to draw closer to Christ and other men who are drawn closer to Christ. We need it more than we’ve ever needed it. Thanks for being here today. Thanks for coming in and sitting with other men who are chasing after Christ. You know, other guys would benefit from being the ground men like this, go get them. They need the fellowship. They need the word. They need to be in this environment. So let’s go get them. Because they could be freed up they’re struggling like you and I struggle. Yeah, they may be Christians, maybe they’re not. Maybe they think they are. They hope they are. But they don’t know they are. And they need to come and hear what they hear and hear and testimonies and worship and teaching. Or if not here, get them somewhere where they can hear that. Just go after guys. And let’s ask God to give us a heart for man. Like he had men who are languishing and feeling the guilt and shame but don’t know where to go, that are not enjoying that fellowship with Christ. That cleanness, they’re getting drinks, and they want more. They want more of his righteousness and his character and his nature. They want more of the blessings. They want to inherit the kingdom of God. They want to be satisfied, in come into crisis where that happens. So we have a great guide and a wonderful Savior in Christ. And now we’ve gotten a hunger and thirst for righteousness. The next time we make. We’ll talk about Blessed are the merciful. We’ll talk about what the fruit of all this is. Where is it? Where are we headed with that? Blessed are the peacemakers blessing to the poor in heart. And they will get around to hopefully in time for the persecution not to break out too much. So we’ll be ready for when it comes blesser those who are persecuted for my namesake. So we got a lot of road to travel. But we’ve had a good one up to this point. And Jesus came today which I have to say, Man, this has been good stuff. I need to hear this. And I’ve always told you that I teach what I need to hear. I’ve taught this over the years a dozen times. It’s new every time and I needed more every time. So I figured maybe you do too. Let’s pray. Father, thank You for the word you give us in the home. You give us thank you for the life you’ve given us in Jesus Christ. Thank you for forgiving our sense. Thank you for giving us a heart. Not that we’ll ever holy attain it on this side of heaven. But you’ve given us a heart for righteousness. Give us more of a hunger and thirst for your presence for your nature for your character and us for holiness and righteousness and peace in the fruit of the Spirit. Lord, without that were lost. But with that we can help other men find that themselves. Do that Lord, in Jesus name And all God’s men said amen given heaven guys.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Blessed Are the Meek

The beatitudes are a progression, the steps that lead us to the heart of Jesus Christ himself. The path of righteousness is opposite from the path of our natural sinful fallen nature.

The first beatitude is that we must be poor in spirit… destitute and empty-handed in order to receive the blessings of the Lord. The second beatitude says, blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. The comfort is in the Holy Spirit and the hope of the return of Jesus Christ at the resurrection.

The third beatitude says, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is not a wordy value… The world discounts meekness. However, meekness is not weakness… instead meekness is power under control. Jesus, although he had twelve legions of angels at his command, controlled his spirit to the glory of God. What would Jesus do? He said, “I always do my Father’s will.” Meekness means teachable… coachable to follow the leading of our Father according to the spirit of God in Christ in us.

In order to be blessed and meek before the Lord, first we must become poor in spirit and then mourn over our having missed the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Meekness is adaptable and flexible to follow the holy spirit’s direction. Meekness is eager to reconcile and forgive. It is related to the our Father’s steadfast love… his loving kindness, tender mercy, and compassionate forgiveness.

Even though Jesus ministered when Judea was under the oppression of the Roman Empire, he was not concerned about political correctness. He told his disciples and the Pharisaic leaders of the temple, render unto Cesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.

Meekness characterizes one who demonstrates kindness, generosity, and compassion toward those who are suffering and in distress. The meek are not caught up in their own self interest… A meek individual is not defensive and self-absorbed, but instead seeks to comfort, bless, and minister to others.

Meekness and humility counter the selfishness of pride. Meekness gives up our own rights and with a heart to serve others, debases and decreases my own self serving self so that the Lord may increase. To the meek Jesus said,
‘Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” When we’re pulling alongside our Lord, He will carry the bulk of the load. With a heart of love and compassion, It’s no chore to carry a brother who has fallen and needs my help. As the song says, He ain’t heavy… he’s my brother.

Meekness allows the Holy Spirit to come help himself to my life. A man of meekness knows by experience that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Meekness teaches that it is all of Thee and none of me. After Paul had prayed three times for God to remove his thorn in the flesh, God finally answered him, “My strength is made perfect in thy weakness, my grace is sufficient for thee.”

The reward of a meek heart is that the meek shall inherit the earth. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3, all things are yours and ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.

When you’re purposefully set at naught, when your good is evil spoken of, your opinions ridiculed, and you take it all with patient silence, then you’re blessed to be numbered among the meek. When you’re standing in the midst of persecution for God’s righteous calling, when you can truly love to be unknown, then you understand the meaning of meekness.

When everything I do is for God’s glory and not mine, when my purpose is to comfort and not be comforted, to serve and not be served, to love and not be loved, then I’ll understand the nature of Jesus Christ himself… for he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Christ himself was our example of meekness….

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

Blessed Are They That Mourn

The prophet Jeremiah said, morning by morning new mercies I see. The word of God is beyond our worldly understanding. There is always more that God can teach us when we are meek and teachable to receive new insights and revelation from his word and from his spirt.

The entrance to the narrow gate which leads to the narrow way requires a humble heart of meekness and humility. The narrow way and the narrow gate is Jesus Christ himself. The first of the beatitudes says blessed are the poor in spirit, those who have relinquished their own spirit for the spirit of life in Christ.

The second beatitude says, blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Mourning is to deeply grieve for the loss of someone or something we hold dear. There are threee ways we can understand mourning. One is sorrow and affliction for the tough things of this life such as the death of a loved one. Another is mourning for having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The third type of mourning is when we’re afflicted by others and the cares and pressures of this world they heap upon us. We mourn when men and society persecutes us, slanders, libels and impugns our character…. When our good is evil spoken of.

God’s Holy Spirit is given to us to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. When Jesus said, blessed are they that mourn, the context was primarily for those who mourn and are crushed over their own sins and their own sinful nature, for they shall be comforted. The comfort is in Romans 8 which says, there is therefore no condemnation for those which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death.

The devil is the deceiver and the accuser. He accuses those whom God has made righteous in Christ. He reminds believers what Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. EW Tozier said, the more a Christian man grows in his faith, the more broken he is, grieving over his sin that remains.

Our righteousness is not in the flesh or the deeds of the flesh but in the righteousness of the spirit of Christ. For he.who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

Mourning is the prerequisite for repentance. Before we can turn our hearts to God for deliverance from sin, our hearts must be broken because we were depraved… we were dead in trespasses and sins without God and without hope in a world of darkness. Then when we turned our hearts to him, he reached down to save us with the grip of his Son’s nail-pierced hands.

The disposition of sin is pride. Sin says I am the captain of my own ship… i am the master of my own destiny. Sin says, I’m independent, a self made man… i need no one but me, I’m confident in myself… I’m my own Sovereign lord and in my own power I can overcome anything.

Sin is ruthless, vengeful, bitter, angry, and seeks retribution from a heart of self-righteous indignation. It is boastful, proud, arrogant, ungrateful, without self control. It is conceited and seeks the gratification of the flesh. It is jealous of my outward reputation. Sin is influenced by the wisdom of the world… it is earthy, sensual and devilish.

Sin nature is independent of God. Sin loves the darkness and hides in the shadows… for he that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought of God.

Apart from the grace of God, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Without God, I am set to self destruct. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Holy Spirit is the one who comforts the afflicted. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. When we come to realize I’m a sinner in need of deliverance, this is the point of repentance. Jesus said, come unto me all ye who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. When we are crushed and downtrodden by sin and the cares and tribulation of this world, when we reach to God for deliverance this is the point of inflection… a change of direction. Blessed are they that mourn when they realize, I have found the enemy and he is me.

God sent his son Jesus Christ not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. 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.

Repentance is when in our mourning we come to ourself like the prodigal son. After he had squandered away his father’s inheritance, he sank so low that he lived in a pig pen with the pigs. He was so hungry that he craved pig slop… he “feign did fill his belly with the husks which the swine did eat.” There was a rude awakening when he hit rock bottom. The point of repentance, of turning around is when “he came to himself.” He said, I shall arise and go unto my Father. Repentance is to turn from the darkness of a deprived and depraved world and unto the light of the Father’s only begotten son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we come unto our merciful Father in confession of our sins, he will cast our sins as far as the east is from the west and remember them no more. This is amazing grace, this is unchanging love. When we confess that Jesus is Lord, he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him!

In surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ, I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Then we can rejoice with the Psalmist according to Psalm 145:
I WILL extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable…. 8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. 10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee”… 15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

This is the joy of the Lord. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning… Morning by morning new mercies I see…

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

Pete McKenzie 0:02
It’s great to be able to gather, it’s great to be able to come in worship and pray and fellowship. It’s great to have the opportunity to share a few thoughts with you guys, as we go through the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, just some reminders in that regard. When Jesus gave the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, that was his blue chip sermon. That really was what he was communicating what his kingdom was all about. This is the kind of lifestyle that he was introducing people to and it blew their minds, they just couldn’t believe it. It’s still blowing people’s minds today, when you really take a look at the Beatitudes. Listen to the poor in spirit, bless it to those who mourn, blessing. Today, we’ll talk about Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And then you get over into the Sermon on the Mount. And you hear the things like if you look at a woman and lust after her, you’ve committed adultery. You know, who could stand up to that, if someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other. They force you to go one mile volunteer to go to. And so you started raising the bar on what lifestyle is like to be holy and righteous and to be in the kingdom of God? You know, I started studying, knowing what the blessing of the meek is all about. And I just thought, boy, I’m not sure I measure up. I’m not sure that that’s the lifestyle that I knew I was getting myself into. And I came to know Christ. What did I get myself into? Because I found that I couldn’t do it. That’s when you find how can you do it. And Jesus had covered that in john 15. If you abide in me, in my word, about 10 years, you can do it. You’re very much, far apart from me, you can do nothing. So it’s really important when we look at the Sermon on the Mount, that he’s not teaching that sermon on the mount to my natural nature. He’s talking to Christ in me. That’s the hope of glory, the hope of glorifying him by living this kind of lifestyle, that he didn’t think Pete McKenzie can live this life. Because he can’t, I tried. But I feel wowee Sure. He’s speaking to the Spirit of God in the Spirit of God in me, I can live this kind of lifestyle, it can be done. But in my own power, and gifts and abilities and even desires never happened. It’s not a natural quality. No matter what your natural disposition is, all Christians are meant to live this way. Philippians two, and we talk about that a lot, because it explains so much and helps us understand so much about living this life and what Jesus came and model for us have this attitude in you, who was also in Christ Jesus. But you know, when he called us to himself, he wanted to transform us to be just like him. He wanted to alter our personality, our desires, our purpose in life, who we are our identity, changed everything. Nothing stayed the same. With any man’s in Christ. He’s not the old guy made new. He’s a new creature. He’s, he’s the guy that never existed before. I think Susan married me because I became a guy that never existed before. She wasn’t she didn’t like that old guy. Too much partying. Too much embarrassing her authorities. And I don’t blame her. And she came up to North Carolina. And when I was playing ball up there, and she had met, she came up to break up with. And so she comes out and starts telling me about our Monday. And I was disappointed, but I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t. I wasn’t the old guy that she had been dating for four years. I was a totally new guy. I was disappointed. I was sad. That she began to tell me he’s coming up to spend the week with her this year. And we have two quarters left at that time. And then she was going down there to the Olympics in Mexico City The next summer and seeing him and that was disappointing stuff. But then is a two days that we were able to spend together went on and I was just a different guy and responding so differently than she expected. She changed from breaking up with me to saying I don’t want to go home. I just want to stay up here with you and sit down. With you can’t do that. She said why don’t we just get married? I gotta pray about that. Okay.

We got married five weeks later. Why? Because I became a new creature in Christ. I wasn’t the same old guy that she had dated. I’m sure she was praying every day I wouldn’t change back. Though that happens.

What I want to do today is last week we talked about blessing to those who mourn those who are crushed because of this their sin, what it does to them what it did to God. And it caused God His son and his son his life. We get new life out of it. And we profile sin, we went down a list of what sin is, I want to do the same thing for what, what a meek man looks like? What’s his character traits as he respond? What is meekness? And I looked up about 20 something different translations to see what word was used for me. And then at novom, they use the word me and six out of them, they use the word General, and six others they use the word so you could interchange that. So what is the humbler I said at the humble for they shall inherit your lesson with a gentle and then that what Jesus, the only self description we have of Jesus, he says, I am gentle and humble apart, you’ll find rescue yourself. So that’s the kind of man He wants us to be that we have a lot of mistakes about what we think that means because meek is not a word you use. guy wants to be characterized that humble, okay, it’s not too bad. Gentle, I’m not sure. We don’t want to be calling me. So what is make me meek means that doesn’t mean I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean you’re ineffective, or just nice or easy to get along with weakness and personality or character compromising or peace at any cost. timid, afraid. Doesn’t mean that Lisa doesn’t mean it can mean that I guess with guys, but that’s not what this make is done. Here’s what it meekness is compatible with great strength and authority, its power under control, Jesus had all power, all authority has been given to him. He said, I have all power, I can call 10,000 angels, I can raise the dead I can heal the sick, I can make the blind see. Leopard spots, I got all power. Its power was under control. He didn’t misuse it, and used it where it was necessary. And use it where mainly he’ll lift up and encourage you build up. And that’s power under control. And that’s what meekness is. And we’ve talked before and it’s need to remember this. This baddies Beatitudes are a progression, if you would admit the path to Jesus Christ, this is if you want to know me, these are the stepping stones to get to who I am and be transformed and conformed in the mind. And that has to start with poor and spirit. And that’s the gateway it’s a small gate. It’s a narrow way that it starts with blessing to the poor in spirit lesson to those that know they have nothing to offer God. Nothing that he needs. Nothing they have, he didn’t give them. You don’t have a salvation because you can pat yourself on the back and say I received Christ on our small. You can’t do that. You received Christ, that grace through faith in me gave me the grace and he gave me the faith. You didn’t deserve it. He couldn’t learn it. But he gave it to me. That’s called grace. So you start with that blesses the poor in spirit, then you then it naturally comes blessing to those who mourn over that sin. I realized I’m a sinner. I know I have nothing to offer. And it breaks my heart breaks my heart that I’m a sinner. There’s nothing I can do to help myself, cleanse myself with ever myself, redeem myself. And my last call apart from Christ, I can’t fix it. I can’t help it. I’m never going to heaven, except through him and by him and what he’s done.

Unknown Speaker 9:20
Because he’s forgiven

Pete McKenzie 9:20
sin, cloaking and white righteousness in his eyes. So when he sees me then see my sin. He sees the righteousness of Christ in the same as he does in you if you know Jesus Christ. So it’s a natural progression to go from poor and Spirit to those who mourn. The next step is blessed are the meek, humble. And here’s the profile of a meek man has rundown that he has an inward calmness and tranquility of

mind.

See, there’s a work that God does and we come to know him. It might be called The peace that surpasses all comprehension and tranquillity of quietness, being content and satisfied being knowing two things. No matter what God puts into my life, no matter what God takes out, my God is sovereign. He’s in control. He knows what’s happening. He didn’t take a vacation, and then I got sick. For I lost. I lost the job. I lost a friend, someone cheated me out of my hair, and all the things that happened to me in life. He’s not surprised it’s not biting his fingers up, they’re hoping that they’ll get well, but they’ll do. They won’t die. He knows exactly what’s happening. And he puts in and takes out according to His will, and according to what my needs, and what your need is. He has this inward calmness and tranquillity that’s rooted in the sovereignty of God and the goodness of God. Another thing it shows in him outward, and outward, affable, courteous, kind, and friendly behavior to other men. Read that list again. It’s your outward behavior. Half of a man it’s easy to get along. courteous means that you respect him and treat him friendly. That means they may not be your friend that you’re going to be their friend. This guy is slow to anger. And then maybe he doesn’t get he doesn’t have a quick temper. You know, one of the things I loved about my mom is she had a temper right now and I brought it out in like an expert. If you know what she would get over it. She didn’t carry reason. She didn’t remind me of it all the time. So that’s a blessing. He lets go of his anger as fast as he can. You know why he does that because it hurts him as much or more than it does a person is angry. That anger does something chemically to your body, to your heart, to your nervous system. It breaks it down. resentment, anger, bitterness, those kinds of things. They’re killers, their heart stop their disease. They bring anxiety and worry. So we let go of that as quick as he can. He will not settle into a fixed hatred and lasting resentment that he’s ready to receive anyone who wants to make Has anyone ever wounded you? And they came back and wonder forgive and you didn’t want to forgive them? They hurt you too bad. They’ve crossed the line that they think well this guy’s not like that. This guy’s open and it wouldn’t it be awful in therapy crossed the line that Jesus would you the only forgivable sin in the line you cross in that regard, this offer of salvation in Christ. And we reject that. That’s the unforgivable sin. Otherwise, I don’t care what you’ve done and what you’ve said and what you back or what law you broke. Do you have news you can leave if you were broken up. If you have knowledge of seeing poor in spirit, you can have that you can be forgiven. God has forgiveness means ready to receive anyone who wants to make peace. We’ll talk about that when we get the blessing of peace. meekness is always joined with humility, resignation, contentment, moderation, peaceable patient. These are all fruits of God’s Spirit. And that’s what he does in you and your body. Not because you go and say I got to work on a piece of paper that I got to work on being unkind. Can’t be said I gotta work on stopping doing this has to do with sending in that direction. He never beat sin by focusing on sand. beach sand, focusing on Jesus Christ, Christ in new Christ is in you the fruit that the bears takes care of the saying you lose the appetite. It’s not fun anymore. It’s not enjoyable and it gives you guilt and shame, you know like that. So agreeing to the point of asking forgiveness, mourning. He is so good and so obedient to the government that he will live quietly and peaceably under

if he can. And I think that’s the challenge for us today. We see the government Seeing the major political side so many things. Not everything that they’re politicizing is a bad thing. But because a politicized city becomes you know, living under the government, nothing in a peacemaker, being contented, being satisfied and living a quiet life, you obey the government every chance you get everything you can. You know, civil disobedience is something you have to choose very carefully. You have to choose your battles carefully. That doesn’t mean that there’s not a time to do that. But there are times when I think, because we’re Americans who have to be Christian to civil obedience or disobedience that do. Go to it, maybe Jesus wouldn’t go to, you know, I never can remember a scripture and all of the scripture where Jesus ever joined yourselves to run alone. He never did. back, he paid no attention at all to the Romans until they asked him what they should do until that Roman centurion came up to him and said, I have a servant who said, Jesus and immediately said, you don’t have to officer to go to come. All you have to do is say the word up here. And Jesus was amazed. And that’s the only guy in the whole Bible and the whole New Testament, the whole Gospel, Jesus was ever amazing. We will pretty much done amazing. When he was amazed at his center, why was he amazed? He said, I’ve never seen such great faith in any Israelite, who supposedly knows God is this Roman centurion. He didn’t join the zealots to run them out. The Pharisees taught that the Messiah is going to come and he’s going to run these Romans out of here and move it out chosen people places in the desert. Because no attention. That’s not why. If they tried to recruit him to be a zealot, they’d say, aren’t you, you call yourself the Messiah. That was fun. The Romans out he said, I got bigger fish to fry. I got something more important than running the Romans. Do you think this is a big deal? To every Jewish person who was forced to go one carrying the Roman Jesus and within volunteer to go to that didn’t sit? Well. They were civil disobedience. They weren’t gonna do anything for the Romans. They didn’t have Romans tax them. They didn’t they hated the fact that the Jews tax them too. So they were getting them from both sides. That fact one time in Matthew 17. Guys, it took up the temple taxes to drag. This said the theater, and then you Peter was on the team. And they said, Did your master paper company? Anyone go back to the team and said, We need a template. Jesus said, Who pays taxes? strangers are members of the club. He said strangely, he says, Yeah, that’s true. We shouldn’t have to pay that because we don’t want to offend. You go down to the lake, and you pull out a fish and there’ll be money in its mouth, and you go pay for both of that. So he didn’t want to offend and so evade the government. He didn’t deserve to have to pay the tax. He didn’t know the tax, that he paid it anyway, to make peace. It wasn’t a hill he wanted to die on. It wasn’t the hill worth dying on the hill worth dying on the cross and salvation, forgiving sin. That’s why you came in. And that’s a bigger deal than any governmental government issue that you could possibly come up with. A man being forgiven is hell in heaven are true. And we believe that hell is a bad place to go and everybody that doesn’t know Jesus is going to hell, and they’re going to spend eternity burning alive. And that’s a big deal in running the Romans out. That’s a bigger deal than disobeying the government. If we can have a live those quiet, peaceable lives, then there may come a time when they say you take the mark of the beast, or similar thing. We can’t do that. We’re not going to obey that. We’re going to stand on the gospel of Christ and the truth of the Scriptures will say, I can’t take that. And there’ll be consequences to pay for that. But you got to choose carefully what you’re going to pay for and what you’re willing to suffer for. This man is likely to have greater peace in his home and families and other angry ill condition. Now you may blame the lack of peace in your home on your wife. And there may be some truth to that. But God’s not looking at your wife when he looks at you as

he’s looking at how you and I respond to our wives. We love Have them anyway, Susan would never stand she’s not standing before God now answering for the because she’s answering for the wife that she was. I’ll never stand before God and answered the citizen, I wish I could get her record. But I’ll be standing on my own record. And I remembered the guy that said his mentor one day got in the door. And

a week later, he was standing by his mentors, wife with the grace. And she leaned over to him. She said, you know, he courted me every day of my life.

Instead, it was like a night. He said, I knew if this is my, my wife couldn’t say, when I heard him say that I’d like a knife to my heart. But Susan said, he never got a chance, one way or the other. But could she say that is that the kind of peace in my home family without do everything I could to make for peace. He has many friends. And few and his friends are generally of the best. And his enemies are the worst, sort of. We don’t hang around with the wrong crowd. He draws guys, attention of men, to be friends who are worthy. And for instance, you know, you got yourself in most trouble when you were growing up by being with the wrong guy. And a lot of your friends got in trouble code review. And I get an amen from the congregation.

Such a man who has been good and kind to all should happen to suffer crosses and losses in the world, he will be sure to find more pity and caring and relief in his adversity than other men do. And all that is saying is if you’re helping people and generous to people and blessing people and serving people, it’s going to come back to you someday. You’re suffering crosses and losses. There’ll be people wanting to help, because you’re a helper, and they’ll help you in your time of need. And that’s the way it works. So this neat man who’s serving and humble, to find others treating him the same way. He doesn’t need to always talk about himself. He likes to be unknown. He’s not always caught up in his own self interest. He’s not always on the defensive, doesn’t have to explain himself indicating exonerating he’s willing to own his stuff and fix the stuff whenever he needs to. The greatest curse in life, the cause of the fall is this insidious preoccupation with himself. He avoids it at all costs. The man of God is finished with that. He’s no longer a slave to how people treat him or what they think that he no longer has to protect himself, pity himself with indicators that explain and feel sorry for himself. Watch out for his own self interest. He’s done with self. That’s what it means to die and be crucified with Christ. You’re done with yourself, your needs, your rights, your right to yourself. And that’s what Jesus called us to do. He called us to repent, repent of all this stuff. So serve me another god others said to me, me nicknames not the thing little of yourself but the you don’t think of yourself at all, and how in the world you ever get there? Well, you start with poor in spirit. And then you’re mourning and broken over. And then you get to the point where you’re this kind of guy who’s given up his rights and knows he deserves nothing. He has come to know that no one can harm him that he then allowed. All burns Runyan said he that is down here no call. He’s amazing man. And God could think well of him at all. He must of necessity, the mild, meaning gentle in nature of behave, not sharp, not spicy. Good are not putting others down the building. Jesus said, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. We said a minute ago. If you’re going to be conformed to the image of Christ, you’re going to find yourself being gentle, humble. And that’s the kind of direction you’re headed. And if you’re not interested in that direction, you better go back to square one. You’re not interested in being this kind of man having this kind of character, you go back to square one. That’s cool. And then you better go to square two and check that out. If you’re gonna live this kind of lifestyle, that’s what you got to do. He must of necessity be the most approachable person in the world, the world has ever seen was Jesus Christ. He’s whoever will make, he took all calm. Everybody who would have never turned to turn one away. The complete absence of the spirit of retaliation, hurting them the way they hurt. You get to a point when you’re following Christ and the Holy Spirit’s having to come up, they stole from the family. That’s normal. Simply. If you’re not there anymore, that’s not what drives you. That’s not what you want to do. It’s not how you respond. First, Peter, he was talking to service servants be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only for those who are good in general, but also those who are unreasonable you ever had an unreasonable Master? Here have been the army, the Navy, the Air Force, and Marines, some teachers, some coaches, some parents, some bosses, they’ve been unreasonable. simpliciter You not only be submissive, not only for the good in general and reasonable for this science favor.

If you first say if he’s for sake of conscience toward God, that person bears up under sorrows and suffering on test. That’s what he pairs up under sorrows, suffering on justice. And you have been and will be suffering, suffering, just you didn’t do it, you don’t deserve it. You weren’t guilty. You’re going to be a key star to your ego good is going to be evil spoken. So it says here that, for what credit is there when you sin in our hearts that treating the patient? But if when you do what is right and suffer far too patiently? And during this time to speak to what God looks at how we respond and suffering, I’m just not submissive to these unjust masters. Not being obedient to unreasonable guys, this is not fair. This is not right. This is not how you’re going to respond. Well, we’ll cover that some more when we get to Plessy. What are you gonna have to do to make peace in this situation? What is God required to somebody who has a teachable spirit, and you’re teachable, you learn from your mistakes, you can even learn from others mistakes. I used to do that with my brother sometime I did and then I learned what to do not watch the news, I did watch. Finally, where to leave everything, ourselves, our rights. Teacher, leave it in the hands of God. And especially so if you feel that you’re suffering unjustly. Policy must be Vengeance is mine. I will repay says the LORD, not me. need not repay we need just leave things in God’s hands with the quietness and spirit. The gentle, humble, you shall inherit the earth is what he’s talking about. That’s what this kind of man does. He inherits here. He enjoys the good things in life that other men can enjoy. And this is a great reward for bearing the fruit of this. Man is always satisfying. You might say, Well, I’m not always satisfied. Well, that doesn’t mean you’re not supposed to be. You feel justified sometimes to feel justified not being satisfied. I feel justified in not being because of that person. Why would I be content with that kind of attitude that kind of treating me that way that you can have peace and you don’t have to go within you know I have to go with you. And we do but we don’t have heavy nothing but possessing all things. I know how to found Paul said, and I know how to be a face. And I can do all things through him Brian’s to strength. So then let no man boasting for all things belong to you with a call or policy or secrets, or the world or life. Things present, become, all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ. Christ belongs to God. So there’s a very serious matter here, who claim to be Christian, there’s no excuse for not being me. Now, I want to close reading you something that said, the real what real victory is and I think it means the same as what real meekness. He goes like this. When you’re forgotten or neglected, of purpose and senate and you smile inward. Glory, command self oversight, that’s, that’s when you’re good as evil spoken. wishes are across your tastes within your advice, disregard your opinion, ridicule. And you take it all in patient loving silence, that is victory. This sounds on attainable. Talk about that. I have to remind myself of this all the time. This is unattainable apart from Christ, if you’re content with any food, any clothing, any climate, any society, any solicitude interruption. That is the mean. And you can bear with any discord and noise in the irregularity, and punctuality of which you’re not to call me

when you can stand face to face with falling, strapping, spiritual and sensibility, contradiction of sinners. persecution, and endure at all is Jesus. And that’s, that’s. And you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your good work, or seek after commendation. You can truly love to be unknown. You might want to bow your head and repent, right? You might want to say God, I hadn’t done a meeting. That’s what meekness is, that’s not who I that’s okay, if you can admit that. But you might say following that, and this is a good thing to say, but I want to be, I want to be this kind of, I want to have this kind of character, these kind of responses. I want to be contented, satisfied. I want to turn the other cheek and go to the glory of God. I can’t do it. And I usually do things for my glory for to live this life to the glory of God says honor to reputation is at stake in your life, your responses, your attitude, toward you say, things you do. And so let’s take a minute, when you talk to God, like maybe during this same something film, your heart, stopped doing that. Start whatever it is, we all have things in our life. And it’s a bigger thing than you and your rights. It’s a big, it’s a great commission. It’s people coming to Christ, it’s changing the world. And this lifestyle is what does. Is it going to cost me Yeah, but is it going to cost you not to do it

Unknown Speaker 33:56
much more.

Pete McKenzie 33:59
So let’s just take a few moments.

ordered, we’re taking a few moments to do this. And that’s all it takes for us to ask you to help us give a stream to give us all this going on. Thanks for being that kind of guy who calls us to yourself and you give us everything you need to do what you called us to do. We want to do that even today. We want a new fresh start. Thank you for being a god bridgestones thank you for being the guy who forgives and picks us up and gets us off and say let’s go get and that’s what we want to do even today in Jesus name And all God’s men say Get out there and get them Heaven guys.

JOHN, God bless you, man.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Pete McKenzie 0:01
He lets go of his anger as fast as he can. It’s not that you don’t ever get angry. But if you’re make you let go of it, you don’t hold on to it. That was one of the things I like to appreciate about my mom, my mom had a temper, and boy could she get after us when I was growing up.

But she never held on to it. She got over it real quickly. And she didn’t keep reminding us of what we just done.

She was make

he will not settle into a fixed hatred or lasting resentment. You know, you got guys that hurt you 10 years ago, and you still hadn’t forgiven them, you still hadn’t let them go. They’ve never asked you for forgiveness.

He will not settled into a fixed hatred and lasting resentment but is ready to receive anyone who desires to make peace.

And he felt i’d betrayed him and I’d done a lot of things. It wasn’t appreciating how he had been good to me.

And so I tried this seek reconciliation, and he wouldn’t have any part of it. And that’s not make a mate guy when someone wants to come and make things right. He’s eager to do it.

Magnus has always joined with humility,

So you don’t need a list of these things. You just naturally are these sayings when you’re abiding in Christ. He says, If you abide in Me and my word abides in you, this is the kind of person you will be. You’ll be meek. And all the things we’re describing of meekness. That’s what will start coming out of you. That’s what will define your personality. That’s where how you’ll start responding and thinking.

Jesus wouldn’t give that any oxygen at all. He didn’t I never talked about that he ministered to Roman soldiers. Matter of fact, there was one Roman soldier who said he hadn’t seen faith and all of Israel like this Roman soldier had. And that was when he had a servant that was dying. And he came to Jesus and said, I have a servant who’s dying. And Jesus says, I’ll go, he says, you don’t have to go. He said, you just say the word. He says, I understand how authority works. I say to this man, come and he comes, I say that man, go and he goes, all you have to do is say the word because you have authority, and he’ll be healed. And when the Roman soldier got home, he found that that that very minute that he was talking to Jesus, that servant was healed. So he ministered to serve. And he told the Roman soldiers to obey your officers. He told the Jews obey those and Peter actually did this. But he got it from Jesus, obviously, you slaves be submissive to your masters, not only those who are good and reasonable, but also those who are unreasonable and unkind. For this finds favor with God.

If you bear up under unjust suffering, with a sweetheart attitude, And so Jesus was there to turn upside down the fair Sacco government. But he didn’t have anything to do with the net was a religious government in the church, it was just so whacked out. But he had nothing to say to the Roman government. And even when he was tried and beaten in question, and palette finally said, not palette but the Roman Yeah, I guess it was palette. Anyway he said I find no fault with this man. So it’s you always respond peaceably under the government if you can, I’m not saying there’s not a time when you can’t. I’m just saying you really have to be led by God. And when that time is, and you have to choose your battles carefully. He is likely to have greater peace in his home and family than other angry, ill conditioned man. He has many friends, and few enemies, and his friends are generally of the best, and his enemies are of the worst sort of men. If such a man who has been good and kind to all should happen to suffer crosses and losses in the world, he will be sure to find more pity and caring and relief in his adversity than other men do. In other words, if you’ve been good and kind and generous to others, and then you get cut losses and crosses in your life, they’re more likely to be kind and generous and helpful to you. When you’re suffering.

Whatever portion the McMahon has of the good things of life, be at greater small. He enjoys it with a quiet, contented mind and God’s blessing. The make man has no interest in glorifying in himself or being proud of himself. He does not hold on to his right to himself. He doesn’t need to always talk about himself. He’s not always caught up in his own self interest. It’s not always on the defensive. That becomes a real problem in marriage. And in any kind of relational desktop that you have. Because if you’re always being defensive, and that’s one of the things that kills communication in relationships, someone wants to come to you with a problem. And you’re always defensive, you’re always pushing back, you’re always explaining and vindicating yourself. So they walk away thinking, I’ll never be able to communicate, happens in marriages all the time.

Whenever a wife or a husband will not own their stuff. And even if they are not guilty of what they’re being confronted with, they listen to it. And they, if they could just respond in a way to say, I remember Susan sitting down with me one time, she pulled her chair up alongside my TV chair, and I cut the TV off, because I learned that better do that when she pulls her chair up next to next to my chair. She says I need to talk.

Because you humbled yourself and you are make and you didn’t defend yourself or even go on the offensive and talk about what they do and accuse him of things that they’ve done to hurt them. So it may get had a need to do that. He’s secure in himself in that regard.

The greatest curse in life because of the fall is this insidious. Sidious preoccupation with ourselves defending ourselves, explaining ourselves, honoring ourselves.

Talking about ourselves. The man of God is finished with all that. He’s no longer a slave to how people treat him or what they think of him. He no longer has to protect himself or pity himself, vindicate himself, explain himself, feel sorry for himself, watch out for his own self interests, he doesn’t have to do that anymore. He’s free. That’s a truth that sets him free. To be make means that you think that you think little of yourself, but that you don’t think of you’re not that you think little of yourself, but you don’t think of yourself at all. He’s given up his rights, and knows that he deserves nothing. He has come to know that no one can harm him. Paul Runyan said, He that is down need to fear no fall. So when you’ve humbled yourself, and you’ve emptied yourself of all that pride, and all that self preservation and self realization, and all the other self stuff, you don’t have to worry about falling because you’re as low as you can get. He’s amazed that men and God can think of him as well as they do. He must of necessity be mild. And that is defined as gentle in nature or behavior, not sharp or spicy or bitter. Jesus, if you recall, said, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. for I am gentle, and humble. I think that’s the only self description we ever have of him.

He just described himself as gentle and humble of heart.

Now in that Interstate, once he’s the first he said, Take my yoke, yoke together with me yoke is something that you are tied to they put the oxen together. And if you had one oxen going one way and one oxen going the other way, you got a problem, if they’re in a yoke, but the oxygens need to go in the same direction. That’s why they’re yoked together. And Jesus says, yoke yourself together with me. Now, don’t be afraid of doing that because I’m gentle and humble of heart.

Guys are not like that guy with one talent that said, I knew you’re a hard taskmaster who gathered, where do you have not sown and report you have not scattered? And so I buried my talent.

That’s truth and grace. He will tell you about hell, he will tell you about damnation. He’ll tell you about living a life so you can avoid that. But at the same time, he’s gentle and humble of heart. When he does it, he doesn’t wish any should perish.

He soft and soothing, tender and quiet but firm when he needs to be the most approachable person in the world has ever seen is the making lowly Jesus. He has a complete absence of the spirit of retaliation or getting even. He lets things go. He didn’t he leaves it in God’s hands to rectify that person. It’s not up to him to do that. He’s patient and long suffering, especially when suffering unjustly.

Well what happens to the man who’s like this? Well, he’s going to inherit the earth. See, there’s great reward in being obedient and following Christ. Having spirit heart and attitude that shaped in his spirit, heart and attitude. of deciding that you’re going to be that meek person but to be make you have to have come to the poor and spirit. If you haven’t come to poor in spirit you have no hope of being make.

mourned over your sin, and been crushed because of it. You have no hope of living this meek and humble life. Because you’re always going to be full of yourself. You didn’t find yourself poor in spirit because you’re not poor in spirit. You

You’re strong and yourself in spirit. You won’t lay that down, you won’t die to yourself. And you won’t crucify with the crucified with Christ, as Paul said. So it’s a progression to get to this place. If you find yourself, having a hard time being humble and meek, and gentle, and all the things we’re reading here, go back to square one, how you doing and being poor and severe. I doing it realizing that grace, it’s all of grace, that you have nothing to offer God. And God has everything to offer you are go back to square two blesses those who mourn. And get those two things right. And then you’ll start seeing all these sayings about meekness and humility become real in your life. And you know, why would you want them to be real in your life, will also you can have the abundant life that he came to give. You don’t have to be angry and bitter and defensive and offensive. You can be at peace. You can be gentle and mild, you don’t have to hold on to resentments, and bitterness and unforgiving spirits. He wants to set you free, I came to two might have life and this is a life he came to give this make life this humble life. I came that you might have life and have it abundantly, not just a little bit, I want you to enjoy it all to the brim, overflowing, pressed down, shaken together. And that’s what he came to give us. But if we’re not going to humble ourselves, if we’re not going to see ourselves as poor in spirit and mourn and be broken over our sin, then we can’t have it. It will not be ours. And you’ve basically said I don’t want it. I want me. That’s what lust is. I love me, I want you. This man enjoys good things in life that other men can enjoy. He’s inheriting the earth. This is the great reward of bearing the fruit of the Spirit. He’s this man is always satisfied and content, having nothing and yet possessing all things. I know how to abound and how to be a based and I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. First Corinthians three says so then let no one boast in man. For all things belong to you whether Paul or Apollos are safest, or the world or life or death or things present are things to come, all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. All things are yours if you’re truly Christian, you have already inherited the earth. But the humble will inherit the earth. So this is a serious matter if we claim to be Christian, we have no excuse for not being make. Let me say that again. This is a serious matter. If you claim to be a Christian, you have no excuse for not being meek. Well, that’s just not me, Pete, I have more fired up personality or that have been you need the power. It’s under control then. It’s not about personality. It’s about the fruit of the spirit being born in our lives. One man wrote this wrote this, and I’ve used it in several different contexts. But I think it fits perfectly for Blessed are the meek and he said when you’re forgotten or neglected, or purposely said it not, and you smile inwardly glorying in the insult or the oversight. That’s what it means to be make. When you’re good is evil spoken off. When your wishes are crossed, your tastes offended, your advice disregarded. your opinions ridiculed, and you take it all in patient loving silence. That’s what it means to be make. When you’re content with any food, any clothing, any climate, any society, in any solitude and interruption. That’s what it means to be make. I think the key word there was content.

When you can bear with any discord or annoyance, any irregularity and punctuality of which you’re not the cause. That’s what it means to be make. When you can stand face to face with folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility contradiction of centers, persecution, and endure it all the way Jesus intuited, that what it means to be make when you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, not to record your good works, nor seek after commendation. When you can truly love to be unknown. That’s what it means to be make in Jesus. Christ was the epitome of that. He had all the power in the world and he kept it under control. He could have called 10,000 angels, but he didn’t. He could have taken up for himself explained himself, but he never did. And when they slapped him around and ridiculed him and beat him to a pop, when he was reviled he Reval not and when he suffered, he had heard no threats. But it just kept in trusting himself to him, his father who judges all men, equally, who brings justice. He could wait on it, he didn’t have to have it right now. And so that’s a higher bar, amen. It goes against everything in our human nature. It goes against everything in our sense of manliness and macho. It doesn’t work in the gangs in East LA, I can tell you that right now. From what I’ve heard about that, but that’s what Jesus called us to be and do and is so different, it makes me and want it. When you have it, others want it, they see it in you. They’ll might call you, sissy and a wimp to begin with. But when you stand your ground, and you hold on to the humility and meekness that we’re talking about here, it’s very evangelistic guys married, and they all end up respecting it. Because they want it themselves and they know they don’t have it. So, Lord, we thank you for giving us this whole understanding of what it means to be meek and gentle, and humble. And, Lord, we just have to confess that apart from you, we have no hope. We can’t do it. We can’t be these kind of person. But that’s why you brought us to a place of being poor in spirit. That’s why you brought us to this place of mourning in brokenness, so that you could make us meek, and mild and gentle, and humble, loving others away, you loved keeping power under control, being a blessing, experiencing the and inheriting the earth, experiencing the abundant life that you came to give us to the max. So Lord, we just finished this sermon today saying help us, we believe help us in our unbelief. We need help to do this. We need to abide in you. We need to be in the word we need to be in prayer. We need to be in the fellowship of other men who are chasing after you. And you’ve given us that privilege right here right now in this place. And we give you all the glory and gratefulness in Jesus name And all God’s men said give him Heaven, guys.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Blessed Are They That Mourn

To come through the narrow gate and into the narrow way, Jesus Christ himself, then come with a heart of humility. Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The second beatitude says, blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. The Psalmist said, weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning. The Greek word for Mourn means to grieve deeply, to passionately lament for a heartfelt loss, especially for the loss of a loved one who has died.

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. The comfort is in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In John 14 Jesus said to his disciples, I have to leave you. The disciples were deeply grieved when Jesus said this. Then Jesus said, unless I leave the Comforter cannot come. The Comforter is the Holy Spirit, the one who will come alongside you… He will be with you and within you. The Comforter will lead you to the all-truth.

There are certain life-lessons that we can only learn when our heart is broken. Love and hope are learned through the crucible and the furnace of trials and tribulation. The refiner’s fire is to prove what we’re really made of. It proves Christ’s character in us. For tribulation worketh patience and patience experience…. Experience is proven character, proven by the refiner’s fire. Proven character produces hope and the hope of eternal life maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy spirt which is given to us.

God leads us and plants us where we need to be to prove the character of Christ in us. Jesus said, in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. This side of heaven there will be trials and tribulations. The holy spirt afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted.

Blessed are they that mourn for their hearts break for those who are suffering and downtrodden. Pain and suffering are inevitable in this fallen world. When a person comes to the place that he realizes that he cannot overcome the darkness and oppression of this world, then he can lift his heart to God for deliverance.

God is no respecter of persons. He is, however, a respecter of His Word. Repentance begins with sorrowing for our having broken God’s righteous standard according to his word. When a person realizes that he has missed the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, then he can turn from the darkness of this world and unto the light of Christ.

Sin says, I’m my own God. I can make it on my own, I’m the master of my own destiny. I’m the captain of my own salvation. The disposition of Sin says I’m self sufficient, self actualized, and a self made man… with the emphasis on self. The root of sin is pride… worshipping myself instead of the one true God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sin prevents a person from coming to the Lord, for he that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought of God.

Sin is the nature of the god of this world, The devil… He is the deceiver and the accuser. His purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy…. to separate our hearts from God’s heart.

Sin makes us fearful, inadequate, lonely, and separated from everything that is noble, virtuous, righteous and godly. Sin is full of doubt and worry and depression. It leads to a heart of darkness that seeks comfort in the things of this world… the lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes. A sinful heart seeks the wisdom of this world… that which is earthly, sensual and devilish. Sin sets itself up against every righteous commandment, to love God above all, to show mercy, and to worship the One True God.

Sinful pride prevents me from approaching God’s throne of grace with a heart of meekness, humility, obeisance, and surrender to a holy, righteous, gracious, merciful, and loving God.

Sins will be revealed by the light of the truth of the Word of God. Jesus Christ himself is the word of God made flesh. In the light of Christ, all things will be revealed and the sin that lurks in darkness cannot hide.

The good news is that Jesus came not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved…. for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus Christ is the solution to sin. Repentance is to turn from sin and unto the Saviour from sin. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… thou shalt be made whole and holy before a righteous God.

Even while we were yet sinners, God reached down to us sinners with the grip of his son’s nail-pierced hands to rescue us from the dire consequences of sin. For Jesus Christ who knew no sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

When we turned to him…. when we confessed that Jesus is Lord and believed that God raised hm from the dead is when we relinquished the right to our selfish selves. Lord means owner…. Christianity is not who we are, but whose we are.

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. The mourning is for the sin that separated our hearts from God’s heart. The comfort is in God’s gift of Holy Spirit, Christ in us the hope of glory… For my sinful self was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This is the comfort of the Holy Spirit…

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