Collierville First Baptist Church

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Hey. Let's pray. Heavenly father, it's an honor and joy for us to come together as the body of Christ and to study the word of God. Father, help us to never take that privilege and that freedom for granted.

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There are places in the world today, Heavenly Father, where believers have to meet in secret, and they meet in secret. Knowing that at any moment the police come in and arrest them, puts them in jail and they could either be tortured or killed. For there are millions of people around the world today who are being persecuted. And we're going to talk about that not tonight, but next week.

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And Lord, I praise you for for your teaching on the Mount of Beatitude. And, Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that you would fill me with the Holy Spirit, that you give me freedom and unction and power and anointing to teach the word of God tonight. And I pray that this word would not just bounce off our hearts or go through our heads without stopping.

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Lord, I pray this word would penetrate to the very core of our being. And I pray that we would be true disciples of yours, Lord, that we would embrace, embrace these kingdom. Values that you have so clearly articulated here in the sermon on the Mount. Lord, give us, the help of the Holy Spirit to understand what we're going to read and study tonight and show us how to apply it to our lives in our daily way on a daily basis, in Jesus name.

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Amen. So take your Bible, turn to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five. Now, last week we had the introduction to the sermon on the Mount. If you look at chapter five, verse one, when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and began to teach them.

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Now I've been to Israel, darling. I've been to Israel three times, and and we've been right there at the Mount of Beatitudes on the Sea of Galilee. And you could just picture Jesus sitting down and teaching people. It's almost, the the topography of the land there is, is almost such that you can see how the his voice would be amplified by the topography of the land and by the Sea of Galilee.

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So, tonight we're going to continue this study. Now, there are eight characteristics that are articulated here in the sermon on the Mount that Jesus emphasized as being essential in a believer's life. If they're going to be, if they're going to embrace the values of the kingdom. Now, Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom. Take your Bible.

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Look at John chapter 18 just a moment. John chapter 18.

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Jesus said in verse 36 these words to Pilate. He said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. So Jesus is articulating truths about the kingdom of God.

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Now sometimes it's called the Kingdom of God, sometimes called the Kingdom of Heaven. They are synonymous. It's not two different kingdoms here. They're synonymous. Okay. And Jesus has, some very clear expectations for people who are part of his kingdom. It's almost like the sermon on the Mount is our Lord's kingdom manifesto. In in Romans chapter 14, verse nine.

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Paul wrote this for to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. Now the word Lord means boss and master. You know what it means. It means Jesus. If you're a born again believer, if you've repented of your sin in place, your faith in Jesus, he gets to call the shots in your life.

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You don't get to call the shots, but I want you no matter what you want. But my opinion, it doesn't matter what your opinion is. Let let me tell you the only opinion that matters is the opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And and he has revealed to us his Kingdom manifesto what he expects out of every single member of his kingdom.

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And a lot of it is right here in the sermon on the Mount. Now in Matthew five one and two we read. Just read that so, so there were two groups of people that gathered to hear him. There were the disciples, and that's who he's speaking to. He is speaking to disciples. But a large number of people that were not disciples gathered to hear him.

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Now you say, well, why? Well, we read this last week, but it wouldn't hurt for us to go through this again. In Matthew chapter four, verses 23 to 25. The Bible said Jesus was going through throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

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The news about him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniac epileptics, paralytic. And he healed them. Large crowd and that noticed. Verse 25, large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Now we know, as we move into chapter five, we know why there were such a large crowd that gathered there by the Sea of Galilee to hear Jesus teach.

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Why have you been there? And you had witnessed all these healings, all these miracles? You would have made a beeline for the Sea of Galilee, to sit there and hear every word that came out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that Jesus sat down to teach them. Don't. Don't be alarmed by that. That was the normal way that a rabbi taught.

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Okay? They sat down and they taught. Now. The emphasis that we're going to study in the entire sermon on the Mount is an emphasis on the heart. The heart. Remember we said last week that the Ten Commandments focus on what you shouldn't do. The Beatitudes focus on what you should do. The word blessed. It's a big word. It appears numerous times here in the Beatitudes, and in fact, it appears.

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Let's count them. Okay. Chapter three. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Chapter four. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Chapter five blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been purged, recruited for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

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Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So we say that the word blessed are blessed is used numerous times here in the Beatitudes. Now all eight, all eight of the Beatitudes apply to all believers, all believers. Nobody in this room is left out.

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Nobody watching by live stream. If you're a believer, you're not left out.

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All eight beatitudes apply to all believers, and all eight blessings are promised to each believer. It's not a buffet line where you can pick and choose. Well, I like I like this morning part, but I don't like this poor in spirit part. Well, I'm sorry that's not the way it works. Again, you got to remember that Jesus is Lord and he is the King of his kingdom.

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Is, teaching his disciples what he expects out of any who would believe in him and follow him. The Beatitudes, as I read them, they seem rather illogical and paradoxical, don't they? I mean, who in the world today, who in the secular world today would highlight being poor in spirit? Who in the secular world today would highlight being gentle or meek?

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Say, that's not the way the world operates. That's why Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. It's a different kind of kingdom, but it's the best kingdom. I assure you that now the conditions and their corresponding blessings do not seem to match by normal human standards such things as humility, mourning, desire for righteousness, mercy, persecution are not the stuff that makes for happiness, right?

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But Jesus said, blessed. And the word blessed means happy at the highest level. It means happy and enjoy it full. Even when things in your life are horrible, they're horrible. But as a born again believer, you can go through the hardest times of your life and through the ministry of the Lord Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, you can still have this this supernatural joy and happiness in your life.

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Have you ever. Have you ever seen a Christian who went through some horrible things in their lives? But they still have joy and happiness in their lives? I remember at Mullane Station Baptist Church, our first church out of seminary. There was a lady there, Miss Ava John Gill. And I'm telling you, that lady didn't have an easy life.

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But I can tell you she had more joy in her, in her face, and in her life than you've ever seen in your life. I preached her funeral and I preached something at her funeral. After I came here, they asked me to come preach it. I tell you what I did. I've never used this. Before I preached out of Psalm one.

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Listen to what it said in this fit, Miss Gill.

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I love that lady. She notice what it says in Psalm one. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

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And in whatever he does, he prospers. I'm telling you, that was a perfect passage for Miss Gil, because that's who she was. The idea of being blessed now, to the natural man, to the to the secular person. In our culture today. Such happiness sounds like misery. It really does. One commentator observed it as if Jesus went into the great display window of life and changed all the price tags.

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The world says happy or the rich, the noble, the successful, the macho, the glamorous, the popular, the famous, the aggressive. But the message from the King does not fit the world's standards, because his kingdom is not of this world, but of heaven. His way to happiness, the way of happiness that Jesus prescribed here is the only way to true happiness.

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Have you noticed? Have you noticed that people who adopt the world's way to find happiness often end up to be the most miserable people you've ever seen in your life? Then I'm ten. None of that other stuff leads to true happiness and joy. It does not. I guarantee you, if we went to California today and we visited some of the richest, most famous people in America whose houses went up in flames, you wouldn't see the kind of happiness that we see right here in this text.

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I promise you. Okay. Tony Evans explained, the sermon on the Mount. He said the main idea, though, as we start on our journey through these Kingdom values, is that living according to them brings about blessing. Hey, let me ask you a question. How many of you. Well, the hand of God's blessing and favor on your life. I know I want it.

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I'm unashamedly. I want God's blessing and favor on my life. Well, if I really want it, then I've got to make sure that my life is shaped by these kingdom values. Okay? Not. Not 1 or 2 of them, but every single one of them. Right. We gotta remember that. All right. It says the main idea, though, is when we start on our journey through these kingdom, is that living according to them brings about blessing.

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Jesus wants each of us to know that choosing to embrace kingdom values isn't just something you do. So you can check off a list. I did that. No no no. Rather, Jesus pares each of these kingdom bags with a blessing that comes right back to you. And you'll notice that as we go through here now, tonight, we're going to do about a little less than half of these beatitudes.

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And next week we will finish up the Beatitudes. John MacArthur pointed out another important fact that we need to be cognizant of. The Beatitudes are progressive. In other words, listen. Every beatitude builds on the next one. They're they're progressive. As we'll be seeing each one and it's discussed in detail. They are not in random or haphazard order. Each leads to the other in logical succession.

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Being poor in spirit reflects the right attitude we should have to our sinful condition, which then should lead us to mourn, to be meek and gentle, and to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, and have a peacemaking spirit. A Christian who has all these qualities will be so far above the level of the world that his life will rebuke the world, which will bring persecution from the world.

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Now we'll notice as we go through here how one leads to the next one. Matthew chapter five, verse three. Let's look at the first beatitude. Hey, by the way, I want to encourage you to join me and let's memorize these beatitudes. Let's memorize. Okay. So next week we're going to have a pop test. And I'm going to have Mark.

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No I'm not going to do that. I won't. I would not do that. I promise you. But I really want to encourage you to memorize the Beatitudes and allow the Holy Spirit to begin to shape the way you live your life, the way you respond to the things that happen in your life. That he begins to use the Kingdom values to help you be who God's called you to be blessed.

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Verse three. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now let me just tell you right now. Let me tell you what he's not talking about. Have you ever seen him? By what we just call it? They were poor in the mouth. The countryside. They were poor in the mouth. In other words, if you got around them, they're going to tell you everything that's wrong.

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And and and how things are so bad in their lives. That's not it. Or they had a false sense of humility and they pretended to be humble. When deep down, they really weren't humble, poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, classical Greek use the word poor to refer to a person reduced to total destitution.

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Take your Bible. Look at Luke chapter 16. Just a moment. Luke chapter 16. Here's an example. This Greek word for poor. It's a parable that Jesus told the rich man and Lazarus. Now look at verse 19. Luke 1619 now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

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Now, from the world's perspective, the world would say, man, that guy's got it all together, right? But look at this. And a poor man. There's a word poor. Same Greek word that you'll notice over there. And in Matthew chapter five. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table.

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Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores, and the poor man died. Well, the rich man died two but in the next life, you know, you do know that when you die, you don't really die, don't you? You know that when you die, you just move out of your body, and your spirit and soul goes to your eternal destiny.

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Now, if you believe in Jesus, if he's your Lord and Savior, you go to heaven and you live with Jesus for all of eternity, and you experience amazing things and you see amazing things for all of eternity. But if you do not believe in Jesus, you end up where the rich man ended up. He ended up in torment.

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And now Lazarus, the poor man, is in Abraham's bosom Paradise. He's in Paradise and man, he's got everything in the world, and God so good to him. But the rich man is in torment, and he's in such torment that he cries out to Abraham, Father Abraham, sin, Lazarus, just to dip his finger in the water and bring a drop of water and put it on my tongue.

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Say he's still boss and Lazarus around. But I want you known Lazarus in this story was absolutely destitute. He couldn't provide for himself. He was eating crumbs that fell from his master's table. He was getting relief from his sores that were all over his body by dog licking the sauce. That's how destitute he was. That's what is meant by the word poor.

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Here. Okay? Poor what? It doesn't mean necessarily in your finances. It means in your spirit, poor in spirit. It refers to a person. Total destitution. The term did not mean simply poor, but begging. Poor. It is. Well, I just read that this person is completely dependent on others for sustenance and has absolutely no means of self-support the poor.

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In spirit of those who recognize now listen here. Here we get down to the the little dog. Okay? You ready? The poor in spirit are those who recognized their total spiritual destitution and their complete dependance on God.

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Look at look at, Luke 18, Luke chapter 18. Let me give you an illustration. I'm going to read you about two guys. You tell me which one was poor in spirit and which one would not poor in spirit. Okay. All right. You ready? Luke 18, verses 9 to 14.

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And he also told this parable, this Jesus telling a parable. Some people who trusted no, who trusted in themselves. They trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. And Jesus told this story. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a hated tax collector. The Pharisee stood. It was praying this to himself.

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God, I thank you that I'm not like other people swindlers, unjust, adulterers, even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

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Now let me ask you a question. Which one of those poor in spirit? Well, it was a tax collector, right? Jesus said this after he told this story. He said, I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

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That is what poor in spirit is all about. It's about humility. It's about realizing that there's nothing you can do to save yourself. There's nothing you can do to live the kind of life that Jesus wants you to live. You can't do it on your own. You need the help of God. Only God can save you. Only God can help you to live the kingdom way.

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Only God can help you do that. And that's what poor in spirit is all about. In Proverbs chapter 16, verse 15.

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The Bible says this.

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Death wrong verse here.

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Anyway, where? Well, you guys, you got the idea from Luke chapter 18, verses 9 to 14, deep in his heart, Paul. And in Philippians chapter three, verses 1 to 9, Paul demonstrated this poor in spirit attitude. Paul said, I count everything in my life as as dung in comparison with knowing Christ. He said, if I could only know him.

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See, Paul depended upon Jesus for every aspect of his life, and I'm telling you, that is exactly what is meant by being poor in spirit. Paul knew that only Christ could give him what he needed to live out these kingdom values, otherwise he would starve to death spiritually. That's what it means to be poor in spirit. Listen, I'm so thankful to the Lord that that when he saves us, he gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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The Holy Spirit indwells us. The Holy Spirit empowers us. The Holy Spirit helps us to love people that are hard to love. The Holy Spirit helps us to forgive people that we really don't want to forgive. The Holy Spirit helps us not to exhort, not to be full of pride, but to be humble before God. One of my favorite verses is in First Peter, chapter five, where Peter wrote, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time.

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Let me tell you, humility in the kingdom of God is a valued commodity. Pride goes before a fall right? Now notice what the promise is here. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now as we go through here, we will notice that there are some things that come back to us when we're humble or poor in spirit.

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And what comes back to us right here is ours is the kingdom of heaven. Now, all of these that come back to us in these beatitudes, you got to realize, you say, well, pastor, is that future or is that present? Here's my answer. Both. It's both. Yours is the kingdom of heaven right now. You know what Jesus said.

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Jesus said that you are seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For what Paul wrote. You're seated with Christ in the heavenly places. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter one verse three that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You're seated when you're blessed with the blessings of heaven right now, but I'll tell you, the fullness of what we will receive will be later.

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You understand what I'm saying? So you have it, but you don't have it all right now, okay? You got to wait for it, right? All right. There's is a kingdom of heaven. So how would it impact your life? Think about this. How would it impact your life tonight? If I told you that God was searching for people to bless you, would it impact your life?

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Would it change the way you think? Would it change some of the actions of your life? Would it reorder some priorities in your life? If you knew, if you knew that God was searching for people to bless. Well, there's a verse in the Old Testament. It's right here in your notes. Second Chronicles chapter 16, verse nine. The Old Testament prophet spoke this word to King Asa, for the eyes of the Lord moved to and fro throughout the earth, that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely.

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He is. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have war. So here's King Asa, and he squandered away the blessing of God. God was looking for somebody to bless, and he blew it. Asa blew it. Hey, can I tell you? Don't blow it. Put yourself in a position where God will bless you.

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Now notice what the prophet said. Who are the ones who bless those whose heart is completely his? Is your heart completely? Jesus is tonight. Is it? God's not looking for the most intelligent, the best looking, the wealthiest, the wisest, the most popular, the most successful. The one thing he's looking for is the man or woman whose heart is completely.

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He is. Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Do you love him like that? That's the kind of God that's a kind of lady that he will bless. Let me tell you the one thing that will qualify a person for receiving the favor and blessing of God is a humble heart that is completely devoted to him.

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Now, look, please, please don't do this. Let let's come to Bible study and and just try to fill our heads with new facts. Well, let let's take what the Holy Spirit is it. Put it on a table for us, and let's make sure that we appropriate it. And we meditate on it, and we think about it, and we ask the Holy Spirit to help us to be poor in spirit, to be humble before God.

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Because there's not a person in this room. There's not a person in the world today who has a right to be full of pride. I remember, when when we were at Mullen Station, I would go to pastor's conference at Bellevue every Monday. And a lot of time Doctor Rogers was there. I was amazed how much he came to that passion.

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About 100 pastors there, and there was always a sermon, music, and Doctor Rogers would hang around with with no name pastors after the pastor's golfers. And you know what he he would like at the table of pastors and he would, hey, guys, what are you preaching? Now, this is the Prince of Preachers asking a bunch of pauper preachers what they're preaching.

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And I thought to myself, man, that's where I want to be. He was humble. Did God use him? Absolutely, man. His heart was devoted to God. He knew that he was absolutely dependent upon the Lord for everything he needed. Now let's look at chapter five, verse four, the second beatitude. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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Now what? When you read that, what's your first reaction? Well, it's talking about people who whose wife died, whose husband died, whose child died. Who's whose grandchild died? No, that's not what he's talking about. It's not talking about mourning over the death of someone. You know what's talking about? It's talking about mourning over your sin. Can I let's just be honest.

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There's not a lot of mourning over sin going on in America today. There's not mourn the word. Mourn pictures. A deep sense of agony. There are several Greek words that are translated agony. And this is one of the strongest ones. Pictures a deep sense of agony. Now, Jesus is not referencing the kind of mourning that takes place when the loving dies.

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He's referring to a deep sense of brokenness over personal sin and the sin that dominates our culture.

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Let me ask you, do you want to experience true happiness and joy? The kind of happiness and joy that will be resident within you when you go through the difficult points of your life? If you do, then you've got to embrace God's perspective concerning sin. I believe there are a lot of believers who are living frustrated lives. They don't have this.

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This peace in this joy and happiness because they're not they haven't embraced God's perspective of sin. You see, in our world today, we see sin everywhere. Therefore, we see sin nowhere. But if we. I'm telling you, if we want true happiness and joy, the kind that Jesus is talking about in the Beatitudes here, we have got to get our perspective of sin not from the world, but from God, from the Word of God.

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The mark of spiritual maturity is not sin. Lessness. Can I tell you, as long as you live on this earth, you will never be sinless. Okay. Hey, guys. Punchy, why? I say I'll never be sinless. Not going to happen. And guess what, wives? You're not going to be sinless either. Now, here. Here's the mark. Here's the mark of spiritual maturity in a believer's life.

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The mark of spiritual maturity is not sinlessness, but a growing awareness of sinfulness.

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You know, here's what I've discovered. I have discovered that if I have consistent, quiet times, the Lord shows me a lot more stuff in my life that he wants me to get rid of than if I don't have consistent, quiet taps. See, the Word of God reads me like a book. The Bible says the Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints.

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A mayor and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I mentioned a few weeks ago in the sermon that that Sunday morning the Holy Spirit had convicted me about having a critical spirit toward a pastor. Man, I'm telling you what, it broke my heart. You know what I didn't do? I didn't say, well, Lord. You saw what he did.

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Lord, I think I'm justified. I didn't say that. You know what I did? I said, Lord, forgive me. And I ask him to bless that pastor. You see, if we're going to have true joy and happiness, we've got to embrace our Lord's perspective of sin. Now, the world won't call a lot of the stuff that we see in the Bible sin, but we don't get our direction from the world.

00;39;16;27 - 00;39;45;00
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We get our direction from the Lord Jesus and from the Word of God. Look James chapter four, verses 4 to 10. Look at it. You adulterous! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose?

00;39;45;02 - 00;40;13;06
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He jealously desires the spirit, and the word spirit is capitalized. He's referring to the Holy Spirit. He jealously, jealously desires a spirit which he has made to dwell in us. But he gives a greater grace. Therefore it says God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I remember Doctor Rogers saying he. It was maybe one of those parts.

00;40;13;08 - 00;40;19;09
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He said, there are some preachers that can stretch it and down.

00;40;19;12 - 00;40;46;26
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As pride. And look what the Bible says. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace. To who? To the humble, to the humble. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. That's the quiet time, right? Draw near to God. He'll draw near to you.

00;40;46;29 - 00;41;15;14
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Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep over what are you telling me, Pat? I'm supposed to be miserable and weep and mourn. Yeah. Over sin. Over sin in your life and over the sin that has literally become a cancer in our world and in our nation.

00;41;15;17 - 00;41;27;26
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Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

00;41;27;28 - 00;41;54;01
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Why is this important? We'll look at Second Corinthians chapter seven, verses nine and ten. Paul wrote, I now rejoice not, not that you were made sorrowful. That's the mourning that we're taught. Blessed are those who mourn. What are they mourning of? Their mourning over sin in their lives. They're mourning over sin that has had, has, has destroyed families and has destroyed our nation.

00;41;54;04 - 00;42;22;13
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Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. I now rejoice, Paul wrote in Corinthians chapter seven, verses nine and ten, that you were made sorrowful, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of what repentance. Repentance. For you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

00;42;22;15 - 00;42;58;08
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For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation. But the sorrow of the world produces death. You see, true biblical morning or sorrow over sin will produce a change in your heart and your life. It will. And that's what the Lord promises to bless.

00;42;58;11 - 00;43;31;09
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Look at this poem by Robert Browning Hamilton. I walked a mile with pleasure. She chattered all the way. But left me none the wiser. For all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow and narrow words. She. But all the things I learned from her. When sorrow walked with me.

00;43;31;11 - 00;44;10;21
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I'll tell you what. If we allow the Spirit of God to point out the things in our lives that are contradictory to the expectations of our King and of his values for the kingdom, and we are truly sorrowful to the point of what repentance. Not sorrowful that we got caught. Not that, but sorrowful to the point that we are willing for God to do whatever it takes to change our hearts and change our lives.

00;44;10;23 - 00;44;33;26
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That's what God will bless. And he says, they shall be comforted. They shall be comforted. The the pronoun they, it is emphatic. It literally means they and they alone. That's what it means. They envelop.

00;44;33;28 - 00;45;17;11
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The only one way to find genuine comfort is to be forgiven. And the only way to be forgiven is to confess and forsake your sins. That David committed some horrible sins, didn't he? But you know what? Look at Psalm 32, verse one. David wrote, how blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. So as we and here's the tense of the verb, we continually mourn over sin is the present tense verb.

00;45;17;13 - 00;45;22;19
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Blessed is he who mourns. That's present tense.

00;45;22;21 - 00;45;56;23
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It's not like we do this once a month or once a year at the end of the year, moving into a new year. No no no no no. It's a constant part of our lives. We ask the Holy Spirit to show us if there's anything in our lives that's grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit points out something to us, or the Word of God points out something to us, we we can we admit it and quit it.

00;45;56;26 - 00;46;26;19
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We admit it and quit it. We confess it and forsake it. Look at second Corinthians 1334 blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father, mercies and God of all comfort. By the way, what's one of the names for the Holy Spirit? He's the comforter, right? So here's what the Holy Spirit does in our lives as believers, as kingdom citizens.

00;46;26;21 - 00;46;59;08
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The Holy Spirit points out the things in our lives that are contradictory to the kingdom values that we're talking about. Sin and the Holy Spirit produces this godly sorrow this morning over sin. And the Holy Spirit leads us to genuine repentance. Not that we just feel feel bad that we've done something. Not not. And I'm not talking about that.

00;46;59;08 - 00;47;33;15
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I'm talking about the kind of, of mourning and sorrow over sin that produces genuine repentance, a change. And then you know what he does when we when we fall in line and we do what the Holy Spirit tells us to do, and we confess and forsake that sin that he's poured out our lives, he comforts us. Hey, do you remember a time in your life when the Holy Spirit nailed you to the wall?

00;47;33;17 - 00;47;59;04
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And you didn't. You didn't rebel. You didn't. You didn't stick your heels in the ground and say, I'm going to do it my way. You didn't do that. You, man. You were broken hearted. And in humility, you confess that sin to the Lord. You ask him to forgive you. Your heart was broken over that sin and you confessed it, and you forsook it.

00;47;59;06 - 00;48;27;13
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And the Holy Spirit just released his supernatural comfort in your life. And you can't put a dollar figure on that. To know that you're forgiven. And he comforts you. Look at the next beatitude. Let me check my time.

00;48;27;15 - 00;49;00;03
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Blessed are the gentle. Now, now you're your Bible. Your version may say meek, meek and gentle or the same thing. Okay. For they shall inherit the earth. Now the idea of gentle, or make a gentle, or make Messiah leading a gentle and meet people was far from any of the Jewish concepts of the messianic Kingdom. You want to know one of the reasons that Jesus was crucified?

00;49;00;03 - 00;49;40;15
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The Jews and the Romans crucified Jesus. It was because he was meek and gentle. He did not meet their expectations. You know what they were looking for. They were looking for a political messiah that would deliver them from Rome and oppression. That's not his kingdom values. And they rejected it. And they stood before Pilate, crucified. Crucify.

00;49;40;17 - 00;50;00;15
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And they're the cross that Jesus life was ebbing away. Those religious hypocrites. Said, save yourself and come down. Why, he can't even save himself.

00;50;00;18 - 00;50;10;13
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We were to praise God. He didn't save himself because he had saved to say if he could've saved us.

00;50;10;15 - 00;50;55;29
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They were looking for a different kind of messiah. And it caused them. Now the word Gentile or make literally means power under control. Now, when you think of a, a make or gentle, you might think, of some little wet noodle of a man. That's not what it means. It means power under control. In fact, the Greek word picture, presents, a picture of a powerful while stay in that's been broken to the bridle.

00;50;56;01 - 00;51;36;06
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That's a picture. That's a gentile. Our meek person. Now, let me tell you, Jesus was anything but a wet noodle. Jesus was a man of power. But it was power under control. That's what he expects out of all of us. Man or woman. It'll make a difference. He expects that out of every kingdom, citizen. The Gentile person possesses tremendous strength which is submitted to the Lord.

00;51;36;09 - 00;52;09;11
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He or she stands fearlessly for God, for truth, and for those who are mistreated. Yet they refuse to retaliate when they are wronged. In Ephesians chapter four, verses one through three, Paul wrote this therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another, and love being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.

00;52;09;12 - 00;52;43;12
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Look at it. Look at this. Verse two with all humility. And what gentleness. You could take your copy of the Word of God, and you could write above that word gentleness, power under control, under the control of who? Not you, under the control of the Holy Spirit of God. Now Moses was known as one of the meekness men on the face of the planet.

00;52;43;15 - 00;53;15;29
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But I'm telling you, Moses had power under control. Moses stood before Pharaoh, one of the most powerful men in a secular way in all the world at that time. And Moses stared him down. And Moses just kept doing what God told him to do. And Pharaoh got matter and matter and matter and matter.

00;53;16;01 - 00;53;21;08
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But Moses didn't back down.

00;53;21;11 - 00;53;33;23
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In numbers, chapter 12, there's a story about how the children of Israel, as Moses was up on Mount Sinai, getting the Ten Commandments, the law.

00;53;33;26 - 00;53;55;04
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The children of Israel went to Aaron, and they brought their, their their gold bracelets and their gold earrings that they had got from the Egyptians because God told them to plunder the Egyptians on the way out. And they brought and they put it in a pile and they say, hey, Aaron, make us a God. We need a God.

00;53;55;04 - 00;54;27;12
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We can see. And Aaron made a golden calf. And the people of Israel got totally out of hand. And they had a a pagan orgy down there worshiping this, this false, golden calf. And when Moses came down the mountain, let me tell you folks, he was hot. He was mad. You know what God wanted to do? I don't run that time.

00;54;27;14 - 00;54;35;16
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God wanted to kill all the nation of Israel and start over with Moses.

00;54;35;18 - 00;55;06;08
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You know what Moses did. Moses interceded for the covenant people of God. And he said, God, if you kill all this nation and start over with me, what are the Egyptians going to say about you that you couldn't finish what you started? God, please don't do that. In fact, he said.

00;55;06;11 - 00;55;17;09
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The kids are distracting me here for a minute, but let me get my thought. Thought back. He said, Lord, I'd rather you take my life.

00;55;17;11 - 00;55;55;06
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Than to start over with me. And God answered his prayer. And there's a nation of Israel. And 2025 right over there in the Middle East today. Because Moses was a gentle man, power under control. All right. And he says they shall inherit the earth. They shall inherit the earth. You realize that one day you as a kingdom citizen, you're going to do two things.

00;55;55;06 - 00;56;21;19
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You're going to serve serve the King for all of eternity. Your servant. I don't know all we'll be doing, but he have something for all of us to do for all of eternity. And the Bible says, and I think is, revelation 22, that we will reign with Christ over all the new creation, all over all the new earth.

00;56;21;19 - 00;56;29;13
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We will reign with Christ.

00;56;29;15 - 00;57;02;19
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Let me do one more. Let me see if I can knock it out real quick. Matthew chapter five, verse six. Now, the reason I want to finish with this one, it's like the from verses three down to verse six, all of those deal with our relationship with God. Okay? And then from verse seven on to the end, of of the Beatitudes deals with our relationship with people.

00;57;02;21 - 00;57;33;04
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It's interesting. So let's finish with verse six. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Now hunger and thirst are strong words. Have you ever really been thirsty? I remember one time my granddad was a farmer. And, by the way, I say things in sermons and some of these younger generations, they don't have a clue what I'm saying.

00;57;33;07 - 00;57;57;20
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I remember I talked about, if we're going to glorify God, we've got to commit to sexual purity. I talked about Joseph, and I said, look, if you find yourself in a compromised situation, tuck tail and run. And one of the kids went home and asked her, daddy, what does it mean to tuck tail and run? So I've got to watch myself.

00;57;57;22 - 00;58;22;06
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But my granddaddy, we were we were at the watermelon patch. He was a farmer. And, he had gone. I guess he'd gone into town for something. And I was out there, and I was so thirsty. I was about to die. I felt like a no die. You know what I did? I climbed down into the creek and I drank my belly full of creek water.

00;58;22;08 - 00;58;45;24
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Now there's no telling what was in that water coming down this way. Okay. But I'm telling you, that was some good water, and I didn't get sick. I didn't get sick, but I was so thirsty. Have you ever really been thirsty? If you ever really been hungry. Those are two powerful things that God created us when he created.

00;58;45;24 - 00;59;15;13
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A starving person has one single passion. I gotta get something to eat. A thirsty person has one single passion. I have got to get something to drink. You know what I didn't want? I didn't want a doctor, Pepper. I want water. You know, only water can quench your thirst when you really thirsty. Only water can quench thirst. Now, in Psalm 63, verse one.

00;59;15;13 - 00;59;25;13
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Oh God, you are my God. I shall seek you earnestly. My soul thirst for you.

00;59;25;15 - 00;59;35;22
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Hey, let me ask you. Does your soul does your soul thirst for the Lord?

00;59;35;24 - 00;59;51;28
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Like when you're really thirsty for a drink of water? Psalm has said, my soul thirst for you. My flesh yearns for you. In a dry and weary land. Where there is no water.

00;59;52;01 - 01;00;32;16
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The Christian life is for those who will renounce anything that stands in a way of total commitment to Christ. Anything. Notice that hunger and thirst for righteousness. That's God's righteousness. Will you say, what does the word righteousness means? Well, you see that that r g t it's what God considers to be right. That's righteousness. It's God's righteousness that the person with his passion desperately wants to measure up to God's standards, to be right with God.

01;00;32;18 - 01;01;09;15
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And notice what it says. They shall be satisfied. That'll make you happy. That'll give you joy. The word, the Greek word for satisfaction here was used when animals were fed until they wanted no more, no more to eat. You ever had a good meal and you pushed back from the table. You rub your belly and you say to, to to the ones that are eating with you, man, that was good.

01;01;09;17 - 01;01;46;11
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That was good. Our part is to seek s e k. God's part is to satisfy. Are you seeking? Are you seeking his righteousness? See, if you seek his righteousness, that means you got to put what you want to do aside. It means you got to put what the world says to do aside. It's all got to. It's all got to be focused on him and what he wants out of your life.

01;01;46;14 - 01;02;23;12
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They shall be satisfied. The person who hunger and thirst for righteousness finds it so satisfying that he and he or she wants more and more. That's true in John Stott made this observation with sort of end with this. Looking back, we can see that the first four beatitudes reveal a spiritual progression of relentless logic. Each step leads to the next and presupposes the one that had gone before, he explained.

01;02;23;16 - 01;02;51;28
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To begin with, we're to be poor in spirit, acknowledging our complete and utter bankruptcy before God. Next, we're to mourn over the cause of it our sins and the reign of sin and death in the world. Thirdly, we are to be meek or gentle toward others, allowing our spiritual poverty to condition our behavior to them as well as to God.

01;02;52;00 - 01;03;23;21
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And fourthly, we're to hunger and thirst for righteousness. You see how everything is just sort of built together there. Now that that didn't just happen. You understand that the Bible says that the the Word of God is God breathed air. Let me tell you all of this put together by God, he's put together for you and me so that we could understand it, so we can apply it and appropriate it in our lives.

01;03;23;23 - 01;03;51;00
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So I want to encourage you. I want you to memorize these first four beatitudes. Memorize for next week. Okay. And think about meditate on this in your quiet time. Ask the Lord. Lord, how can I? How do you want to use this in my life? How can I measure up to your kingdom standards? That's always got to be our goal.

01;03;51;03 - 01;04;20;27
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All right, let's pray. Heavenly father, thank you so much for our time together. Lord, it's been good. Just begin to walk through the Beatitudes, and I pray in the name of Jesus that this wouldn't just be stuff to fill our heads. I pray this be stuff that would change our hearts. Oh, we love you. Help us to be Kingdom citizens that please you and honor you and are shaped by your Kingdom values in Jesus name.

01;04;20;29 - 01;04;37;10
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Amen. All right. Thank you.