Collierville First Baptist Church

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All right. Let's have a word of prayer. And I want to pray.

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There's, a young lady in our church that, was carried to the hospital, and she had an operation, and, she began bleeding. So her name is Kylie Sulak. Her husband is Allen. And so I want to pray for for Kylie right now. And if you'll join me. Heavenly father. Thank you so much for the opportunity that we have to gather and to study the word of God tonight.

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Lord Jesus, I thank you for the Beatitudes. I thank you for the the way you have established kingdom values that you expect out of those who are your disciples. I pray that everybody in this room will be aligned with your kingdom values, and that we would experience the joy and the fulfillment and the satisfaction of knowing that we are approved by you.

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Lord, we love you. Speak to our hearts tonight. Lord, I pray for Kylie, and I pray in the name of Jesus that her doctors will be able to see what they need to see, know what they need to know, and do exactly what they need to do. And I pray that you would stop the bleeding, and that you would heal this young lady, and that you would be with Allen and and meet every physical, spiritual and emotional need that they have in their lives.

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According to your riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Thank you, father, for hearing our prayer. Thank you for answering it in Jesus name. Amen. All right. The Beatitudes. Let's let's go over them. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

00;02;11;03 - 00;02;37;27
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Excuse me. Blessed are the merciful. Excuse me. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Now, tonight we're picking up with verse seven. And we are going to finish the Beatitudes tonight. Okay? If we have to stay extra, we're going to finish the Beatitudes tonight.

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Now the world and the world system considers this information that we're studying in the sermon on the Mount as absolute foolishness. Nietzsche was an atheist, and Nietzsche considered this absolute hogwash. Okay. And, but we as kingdom citizens, we as believers know that this is fundamental, basic, stuff that Jesus laid down for us to incorporate in our lives if we're going to be effective disciples.

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Now, those who listened that day there by the Sea of Galilee. We're forced to examine their hearts. And I want to encourage you tonight as we go through this. Examine your heart. Maybe there is an integrity crisis here. Virtue for somebody is. You examine your heart, and you realize that as a believer, you're not living up to the standards that Jesus set for you.

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And maybe there's an identity crisis. Maybe as you go through this tonight, we go through it. You'll realize, hey, I'm not even a believer. This does not even apply to me. I'm so far out of bounds. I need to examine myself and make sure I'm in the faith. So whether you have an integrity crisis or an identity crisis, I pray that the Holy Spirit will use this word tonight to really minister to your heart.

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Now let's look at verse seven. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Now I want you to think about this beatitude. The word blessed means joy. Happiness that transcends circumstances, right? It literally is the idea of being approved by the Lord. Don't you want to be approved by the Lord? I could care less about being approved by the world.

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I just want to make sure at the end of every day that I've done the will of the Heavenly Father, and I've accomplished the work that he has signed for me to do that particular day. And I can lay my head on the pillar and know that I have been approved by the Lord. Amen. Blessed are the merciful.

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The Greek word means benevolent compassion that involves both thought and action. It's a standard that Jesus set for us himself. Jesus reached out to heal the sick. Jesus restored cripples that everyone else had abandoned. Jesus went up and actually touched a leper. Now, that may not mean much to you, but in first century Judaism, for anybody to touch a leper was so far out of bounds that it would mean that you would be secluded from the the life, of the Jewish faith.

00;06;07;27 - 00;06;35;24
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But Jesus went up and touched a leper, and he healed him. He talked about compassion. He fed the poor. He he forgave those who crucified him. Can you imagine that? From the cross Jesus looks down and prays to the father. Father. Forgive them. They do not know what they do. So how is mercy manifested in their lives? Well, it's manifested in our attitude.

00;06;35;24 - 00;07;13;06
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First, an attitude of mercy, and then it's attitude. It's manifested in our actions. I read this story just on. Amazing story. A few years ago, three Kentucky football players were going deer hunting, and they were all drunk. Jason Watts was driving. They had a wreck. And Arthur Steinmetz was killed before his funeral started. Before a funeral started.

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Steinmetz parents asked the parents of Jason Watts to sit with them. Can you imagine how mummy was the head football coach at the University of Kentucky? And he said, and I quote, it's one of the greatest acts of forgiveness and one of the most touching things I've ever seen. But that's mercy. That's mercy. Now we are saved through the mercy of God.

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Look at Titus, chapter three, verses 5 to 7. He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his. What? His mercy by the washing of regeneration, by the renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Christ Jesus our Savior. So that being justified by his grace, we will be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

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Now there's two words in Titus three verses 5 to 7 that you need to think about mercy and grace. Now, what's the difference between mercy and grace? Well, in mercy, God chooses not to give us what we deserve. In grace, he chooses to give us what we don't deserve. That's the difference in grace and mercy in both. Both of those words are, very important in this matter of salvation.

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There's not a person that will ever go to heaven who will go to heaven on their own righteousness. No one will go to heaven because their good works outweigh their bad works. No one will go to heaven because they're religious. The only way to go to heaven is to realize, as the first beatitude says, we're poor in spirit.

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That we are sinners in need of a Savior. And we turn to Jesus, and we believe in him, and he releases his mercy and his grace into our lives. And we are born again. We become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It's a wonderful thing. Notice Ephesians two 4 to 5, but God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.

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Now, I made a little statement down here. I got this from John MacArthur. Forgiveness flows out of mercy, and mercy flows out of love. Now, an interesting thing happened in the inauguration of President Trump. They went to Saint John's Episcopal Church, and this lady bishop, who's liberal, has a $3 bill. Said some things to President Trump and his family that were just totally outrageous.

00;10;39;01 - 00;11;14;08
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And she has no clue what the word mercy really means, because you can listen. You read the Bible. You cannot divorce mercy from justice. They go together. God is a merciful God, right? But let me tell you, the Bible says God is a just God. He's a just God. I wrote something down here. God's mercy is grounded not only in his love, but also in his justice.

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So when she lectures, our president, about what she lectured the president about and having mercy, she totally ignored the idea of the law and justice. And you cannot do that. You can't do that with God. You can't do that as a nation or your nation is going to absolutely crumble and collapse. Now, I may offend some of you, and if I do, you'll get over it.

00;11;49;05 - 00;12;27;05
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I promise you'll get over. Now look at. Look at this. Blessed are the merciful. For they shall receive mercy. Mercy from whom? No mercy from God. Do you realize that you can show mercy to people and never have a boomerang effect from them? You can forgive somebody and they won't even admit that they've done anything wrong. But I'll tell you, my friend, when you show mercy God, there's a boomerang effect and God will show mercy to you.

00;12;27;07 - 00;12;59;04
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I love what Donald great Barnhouse observed. He said, when Jesus Christ died on the cross. And I never thought about this. All the work of God for man's salvation passed out of the realm of prophecy and became historical fact. God has now had mercy upon us all. Listen, this is what blew my mind. All the mercy that God will ever have on man he has already had.

00;12;59;04 - 00;13;42;13
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When Christ died. Now you chew on that. You meditate on that. That is the totality of mercy. There could not be any more. The fountain is now open, and it is flowing, and it continues to flow freely. God's mercy serves as an example for how we are to be merciful to others. Tony Evans made this statement to fail to show someone mercy simply because they may have caused or contributed to the pain they are experiencing, is a dangerous stance to take.

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When you do, you can be assured that when it comes time for you to need mercy from the consequences of your own wrong choices, God will remember how you treated others. Look at James 213. Flip over there. James chapter two, verse 13. Go to Hebrews and take a right.

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Your Bible ought to just automatically flow to Hebrews. We lived in that book for a while. Then we.

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James chapter two, verse 13. And we'll get there in a minute.

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A pages sticking together. All right. Look at this. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. I think our natural inclination is to be judgmental of people. Somebody blows it and they blow it because of their own failure. It's easy for us to get judgmental and say, well, you got it coming to you.

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I'd help you, but you got to help yourselves. And we start sermonizing when what they need is mercy. I had an opportunity this week to show mercy to somebody who, because of their own failure, they're in a pickle. And you know what? I didn't hammer them. I told I told this gentleman, I want you to know I love you.

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I'm here for you. I'll help you any way I can. And I laid my hands on him. I prayed over. That show of mercy. You say? Well, he didn't deserve it. Well, you think you deserve it. We don't deserve it, right? It's almost like the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Right?

00;16;09;27 - 00;16;42;04
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If you want people to show you mercy, and sometimes they will, and sometimes they won't. But God will do that all the time, right? Then be a merciful person in your attitude and your actions. Now, now notice the Bible says, let me get back to my text here. The Bible says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

00;16;42;07 - 00;17;20;15
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Now look at verse eight, verse eight. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now the word pure in the Greek language was used to refer to metals, maybe silver, to metals that have been refined until all the impurities were removed. There was a process. They went. They went through it. It refers to a radical inner purity.

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Notice it's pure in heart and heart. Pure in heart. Now, we're not talking about the organ of the heart that beats and all that kind of stuff. We're talking about the central, spiritual element of our lives. The Bible says, watch over your own heart. For out of it flow the issues of life. That's what the Bible is talking about.

00;17;50;10 - 00;18;24;14
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There. Now, purity means that you are no longer disconnected from God by something. You've allowed to defile your relationship with him. I'm not sure we really understand, how God reacts to sin in our lives. Even as believers. The Bible says in the book of A back at chapter two, verse three that God's eyes are too pure to approve evil.

00;18;24;17 - 00;18;56;27
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You say, but it's just a little sin. Well, I'm telling you, we're talking about a holy God. That the Seraphim cry out constantly. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord our God. This Sunday I'm preaching out of Isaiah chapter six, and you're going to read about the holiness of God, and you're going to read what Isaiah did when he he was brought into the presence of a holy, holy, holy God.

00;18;56;29 - 00;19;20;09
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And he heard the seraphim crying out constantly, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord our God. I'm telling you, that man fell on his knees before God and he said, woe is me, for I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. The holiness of God.

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You know, I've asked the Lord to keep me super sensitive to any sin in my life, any sin. And, But I tell you, the Holy Spirit, as a born again believer, the Holy Spirit will let you know. When you have said something you thought something. You got a wrong motive in your heart. You've done something that is an offense to a holy and righteous God.

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He'll let you know now what you do with it at that point is very important. And what do we do as a believer? Do we do we spend the the next week beating ourselves up with guilt? No, we don't do that. The Bible says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God is not up there in heaven with a lightning bolt ready to zap you because you said something you shouldn't have said or done, something you shouldn't have done or failed to do.

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Something you should have done. God loves you. You're his child. And he wants you to experience not only eternal life, but he wants you to experience abundant life here and now. Now, in order for us to experience that abundant life, we've gotta have this purity of heart. Notice Psalm 24 verses three and four, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who may stand in his holy place?

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He who has clean hands, and what a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully. Look at Second Corinthians seven, verse one. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now the word heart refers to the mind emotions of will.

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Proverbs 423 I say, I refer to that in a moment. You'll watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Look at Second Corinthians 416 therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Do you realize that as a born again believer, a child of God, that even though you get old in your physical life and you can't walk like you used to walk, you can't run like he used to run.

00;22;13;24 - 00;22;44;28
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You can't think like he used to think. You can't do a lot of things. And we won't get into all that. And, But as a born again believer, even though your body gets old, do you realize that your spirit, your soul, can be so fresh and vibrant as a born again believer? Let me, this morning I went to this this psalm, Psalm 92.

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Look at it. Psalm 92.

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I'm sort of hanging on this Psalm.

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Psalm 92, verse 12. The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord. They will flourish in the courts of our God. They look at this. They will still yield fruit in old age. They shall be full of sap and very green. To declare that the Lord is upright.

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He is my rock, and there's no unrighteousness in him. So even though our our physical bodies wear out. We must not fall into the trap of thinking that we need to cut back on our quiet times. We need to cut back on sharing the gospel. We need to cut back on worship. We need to cut back on the things of God.

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Are examining our heart and and making sure that we are pure in our heart, and there is nothing that's between us and God. I don't know about you, but I am so blessed by Psalm 92. You know what I asked the Lord this morning? I asked the Lord. I said, Lord, on the last day you allow me to live.

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I pray that I'll be full of sap, and I'll be very green. And that you will produce some fruit through my life on the last day that I'm on this earth. Hey, it could be tomorrow. I could live to be nine. I don't know. I don't know, but I. I do know what this scripture teaches, and I'm encouraged by it.

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And you should be encouraged by. All right.

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Look. Look at the promise Jesus makes to the one who is pure in heart. They shall see God. I know what you're thinking. But, pastor, the Bible said nobody can see God. Well, you got to realize that God is spirit. God? Spirit. Right? Moses couldn't see God's face. Moses could only see the after effects of God's glory.

00;25;54;15 - 00;26;23;07
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When God had passed by. Nobody can see God's face. But you. Know what you can do. You can see God in creation. Man, how many times have he been driving down the road and you see the most gorgeous sunset? How many times has the Spirit of God quicken your heart and and you begin to praise God for his creative ability.

00;26;23;09 - 00;26;54;06
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And you can see God in the word. Man, this morning, I'm telling you, I saw God in the word, the Word of God. I had a time this morning. Now you gotta realize as your body gets older, at least for me, I sleep less and I get up earlier. And it has an opposite effect on Darlene. She's still looking at the back of her eyelids, and I'm in there and I've got the fireplace going.

00;26;54;06 - 00;27;33;01
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I got a big cup of coffee, and I am just absolutely having the time with the Lord. And it's wonderful. Now she has our quiet time when she gets up. Now. You can see God in the word. Do you remember those times when you've been reading the Bible? And it's like the Holy Spirit takes a phrase, a word of a verse of Scripture, or a passage like Psalm 92 that I read to you just a minute ago and just makes it come alive in your heart, and the Holy Spirit leads you to turn what you just read into a prayer.

00;27;33;02 - 00;27;56;29
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And you, you take the Scripture and you pray it back to him, how you just seen God in the word. And you can see God in worship. How many times you've been in a worship service where singing or are where we're looking at the Word of God and and the Spirit of God just does something special in your heart.

00;27;57;01 - 00;28;30;03
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You just sing God at worship, or you can see God in your circumstances where God it just almost like supernatural intervention that God did to do something special in your life to protect you or or to get you to a place where you need to be or are. You can see God in your relationships, or you can see God in your decisions, or you can see God in all of life.

00;28;30;06 - 00;29;03;05
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That's the way it's supposed to be. But it all hinges on one thing that we cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, and we have purity of heart. We shall see God. Look at verse nine. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

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Listen, peace is such a central part of who God is in his character and judges. Chapter six, verse 24. The Bible says, Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it the Lord is peace. The Lord is peace. Jehovah Shalom. To this day. It is still in Oprah and biz writes. I remember when I was a young believer.

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I got saved when I was 20 and I would read something like to this day it still in Oprah and Abyss writes, and I thought it was still there. Now it was still there when they wrote this. Okay. It's not still there, I promise. All right. Isaiah nine six for a child be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

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Prince of Shalom. Romans 1533. Now the God of peace be with you all. The Bible opens with peace in the Garden of Eden, and the Bible closes with peace. And, the the new heavens and the new earth.

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We are to be peacemakers. Now, peacemaker is a compound word. The word peace refers to all that makes for a complete and whole life. The second part of the word maker is an action filled word that literally burst with energy. It means to actively pursue peace to the fullest. The Bible says in the book of Romans, as it relates to you, be at peace with all men.

00;31;19;00 - 00;31;55;23
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Be at peace with all men. Jesus is a perfect example. In Colossians chapter one, verses 19 and 20, the Bible says, for it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, in Christ, and through him to reconcile all things to himself. Having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him I say, where the things on earth are things in heaven.

00;31;55;27 - 00;32;31;04
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Now understand this. Before Jesus went to the cross, the Bible says, where we were at enmity with God, we were enemies of God. But when Jesus went to the cross, the Bible says that he became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And Jesus reconciled us to the father. Have you ever been in a situation where you're trying to help two people who are in conflict?

00;32;31;07 - 00;32;58;21
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It's sort of a dangerous thing. You can get you can get shot at from both sides. When you're involved in being a peacemaker. But you do understand that this is not just for pastors. This is for disciples. Are you a believer? That means you're a disciple. That means you're a peacemaker. It means you have the authority to get involved when there's two family members who at odds with each other.

00;32;58;23 - 00;33;36;07
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And you can be a peacemaker. You can take biblical principles and you can lay it out. Think about this. We talk about building a bridge between people. But, you know, to have a bridge that's effective. It has to. It has to be built from both sides. Right. And when it's built from both sides, there's a chance that it can accomplish its purpose.

00;33;36;09 - 00;34;03;07
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But it requires something else. Once the bridge is built, it requires those on each side of the bridge to keep it up and to keep it supported and to keep it in proper working order. Right. So you, as a born again believer, are a bridge maker. And you, you, you take the person that's an odd on this end.

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And you, you help them build a bridge to the other person. And they build a bridge to that person. And you are doing exactly what God's called you to do. You are measuring up to the kingdom values that the Lord Jesus Christ has laid out for us in the Beatitudes, in the sermon on the Mount. And you know what that means.

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That means the Lord Jesus approves you. Blessed. You have happiness and joy that circumstances, our situations, cannot rob you of that happiness and joy. And you have the the privilege of knowing that the Lord is pleased with you and approves of what you're doing. When you seek to be a peacemaker. Now look at Romans chapter five, verse one.

00;35;00;03 - 00;35;28;29
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Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, now you got to think about this. You got to think about what it doesn't say. It says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't say that we have peace with God through our own merit, through our own good works, through our own religion.

00;35;29;00 - 00;35;59;06
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No, no, no. It's not there. There's only one way that you and I can have peace with God, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way. So what's our responsibility? Look at Romans chapter 14, verses 17 to 19. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

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For he who serves in this way serves Christ. He is he who excuse me, for he who in this way serves Christ, is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the thing. Look what we pursue. We pursue the things which make for peace and for the building up of one another. Hey, you may be in here tonight, and you're at odds with somebody.

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Somebody in your family. It could be a neighbor. It could be a friend that you've been a friend with for a long time. But something happen, and there needs to be a reconciliation. You know what? This. You know what Jesus is saying here in this beatitude. He said, you make the first move. That's what it means to be a peacemaker.

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You make the first move. But but they haven't even expressed remorse about what they've done. Matter. You make the first move, you be a peacemaker.

00;37;07;03 - 00;37;34;15
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Pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. I would encourage you to that if you're at odds with somebody, you ought to sit down with your Bible and with a piece of paper, and you ought to jot down what the Holy Spirit reveals to you that you can do to make peace with that person.

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I have a counseling session this week, and I'm I'm making a list of exactly scriptures that I'm going to share. In this counseling session.

00;37;50;16 - 00;38;26;18
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And I'm going to use that bridge illustration I just shared with you because I think it's priceless. Now, keep this in mind. The true peacemaker is not tolerant, nor is he or she and appeaser who longs for peace at any price. A true peacemaker speaks the truth and love. Can I I'm be honest with you cannot have legitimate peace if you don't deal with the problem that created the conflict to begin with.

00;38;26;20 - 00;38;54;22
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It could be a husband and wife. I can't tell you the number of times that I've done marital counseling. And if you don't, if you can't get a couple to agree about the issue, the problem that has created the conflict, you're not going to make much progress. That's the first thing you got to do. So you can't putty over the cracks.

00;38;54;25 - 00;39;30;27
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All right. You got to deal with it. But you deal with it in a biblical, Christlike, get this merciful way right. For they shall be called sons of God. Throughout eternity. The peacemakers shall be called the Son of God. Child of God. Notice it's God who assigns his title. The church can't bestow this title upon you. I, as your pastor, cannot bestow this title upon you.

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This is something that has to be bestowed by the Lord.

00;39;35;24 - 00;40;17;21
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Now we're coming to the end of the Beatitudes. I want you to think about what we've looked at so far. Every every beatitude builds upon the next one, and every beatitude runs contrary to the world system in which we live. The world does not operate with these kind of values. And when you and I choose to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, and to live with these kingdom values at full force in our lives, I'll tell you, the world is going to look at us like a calf at a new gate.

00;40;17;24 - 00;40;44;21
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I'm telling the world does not understand it. I know I've had times in my life. I know you've had times in your life when you've had people look at you with that side glance. You know what I'm talking about. Like you're some kind of, dinosaur or something. I tell you what. You have to ask yourself this question.

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Who do I want to please? I love what Paul said in Second Corinthians chapter five. He said, my ambition is to please the Lord.

00;41;01;18 - 00;41;37;06
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If you please Jesus, it doesn't matter who you displease, but if you display Jesus, it doesn't matter who you please. You got to remember that it's all about Christ. That's what the sermon on the Mount is all about. Matthew chapter five, verse 10 to 12. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

00;41;37;08 - 00;42;04;12
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Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad. For your reward in heaven is great. For the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

00;42;04;14 - 00;42;15;12
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Do you know that that Nietzsche's father and grandfather were pastors? They were pastors.

00;42;15;14 - 00;43;03;14
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And yet he wrote a book entitled The Anti Christ. In that book. It's it's almost vile, is sacrilegious. Blasphemous. And he would look at what we just read. And he would say, this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. How can you be blessed if you're persecuted? You know, he and Bonhoeffer came out of that same area, and Bonhoeffer was a man of God, a true disciple of Christ.

00;43;03;16 - 00;43;33;24
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Those who have been persecuted. This refers to a constant willingness to endure persecution, insults, abuse, vicious speech, false accusations of a godless world, the word of God. Listen. Look at me just to me. I'll tell you so. One thing that the gospel does not do. It does not pull a bait and switch.

00;43;33;26 - 00;43;46;02
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The gospel does not trick you. Jesus tells you upfront what you can expect if you follow him.

00;43;46;05 - 00;44;02;29
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Jesus said, if any man wishes to come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross daily and follow me.

00;44;03;01 - 00;44;34;01
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In John chapter 15, verses 18 to 21, Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room, Now he, he's our, he's ours, away from the cross. And he's got 11 disciples in the upper room. And he says to them, the world hates you. You know that it has hated me before. It hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own.

00;44;34;01 - 00;45;08;27
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But because you are not of the world. But I chose you out of the world because of this. The world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you? A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And they kept my word. They will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me.

00;45;08;29 - 00;45;38;13
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In Philippians 129, Paul wrote to the Philippian believers and said to them, for to you it has been granted for Christ sake, not only to believe in him. But also to suffer for his sake. Hey, I've been sharing the gospel with people before and and, they've got things going on their lives, they've got marital problems, they've got financial problems.

00;45;38;13 - 00;46;16;05
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I got stuff going on in their lives, and they, Honestly, I have had to warn them. They want to believe in Jesus so that their financial problems will go away. They want to believe in Jesus. So their marriage will be fixed. I said, that's not the way it works. And I've quoted some of these verses to people I've shared the gospel with because I don't want them to to make a false profession of faith, thinking that everything's going to be I'm gonna use a, northeast Mississippi term hunky dory in their lives because they believe in Jesus.

00;46;16;07 - 00;46;38;25
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It's not going to be hunky dory. I can tell you this. You read Matthew 24, and you'll see that as we get closer and closer to the return of Christ, things are going to get more and more difficult for people who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you ready for that? Seriously? Are you ready for that?

00;46;38;28 - 00;46;49;22
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Are you ready to take a stand for Jesus when it will cost you something? It's coming.

00;46;49;24 - 00;47;19;01
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That's why we're studying the sermon on the Mount. We want to be ready right? We want to be able to be, as Paul said in first Corinthians 15. 5058 I think Paul said, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

00;47;19;03 - 00;47;29;14
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Hey, to be honest with you, we got pretty easy right now here in Carterville, Tennessee. Yeah we do. Let's just face it.

00;47;29;17 - 00;47;47;15
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We might get some of those side eyed glances and. And we may not get a promotion when we thought we should have got a promotion because we we live for Jesus. We we we're live by the kingdom values. We got it. Good.

00;47;47;17 - 00;47;52;17
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But it's going to get worse.

00;47;52;19 - 00;48;05;29
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You say, pastor, what a downer. You're supposed to encourage us. No, no, no. My job is to equip you.

00;48;06;01 - 00;48;42;18
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As a shepherd. My job. I put a, a post on Facebook this week warning the body of Christ about a new study Bible that's come out that it's just woke. It's woke from beginning to end. And I told I told it. Don't buy it. Don't waste your money. That's my job as a pastor to protect you, to protect the body of Christ, and to put us in a position where we are knocking it out of the park for Jesus.

00;48;42;21 - 00;48;48;10
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Amen.

00;48;48;12 - 00;49;19;03
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It's interesting. Philippians 129, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Look at Second Timothy 312 indeed all who desire to live godly. Let me rephrase that all who desire to embrace the kingdom values of the sermon on the Mount will be persecuted. I'm telling.

00;49;19;05 - 00;49;51;06
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Now notice the reason for the persecution in verse ten. You're persecuted for the sake of what? You know what the word righteousness means. It literally means you do the right thing that pleases God. It means you say the right thing that pleases God. It means that your motives are in line with the kingdom values. It means every area of your life is in line with the Word of God.

00;49;51;06 - 00;50;28;16
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The will of God. The way of God. But you're persecuted for the sake of rights. You're not. You're not persecuted because you acted dumb and did some, did something you shouldn't do. That's not. That's not what he's talking about. Now you're persecuted for the sake of righteousness. I'll tell you, when you live the kind of life that Jesus is emphasizing here in the sermon on the Mount, it will draw a negative reaction from the world.

00;50;28;18 - 00;51;08;29
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Listen, there are places in the world where it's not all, easy. It's not easy. In places like Sudan, Nigeria, North Korea, China, Iran and other places in the world where believers are getting slaughtered. I'm talking about in the 21st century, believers are getting slaughtered for the sake of righteousness, for the sake of Jesus. But Jesus says we are double blessed when we're persecuted.

00;51;09;01 - 00;51;16;11
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This is the only one that has two blessings attached to it.

00;51;16;13 - 00;52;09;23
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Do you remember what that word means? It means to have the favor of God on your life by experiencing a happiness and joy that transcends circumstances. Now look at verse 12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. Now if you were a secular person. And you're part of the world system you bought in the world system, and you read that Jesus said that when your persecuted and they insult you and they spin vicious lies about you, that you're to rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.

00;52;09;26 - 00;52;19;23
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That does not make sense to the world. But I tell you, it makes sense for those who are part of the Kingdom.

00;52;19;25 - 00;52;46;16
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Our lives are being to be shaped by kingdom values. Look what Paul wrote. Romans chapter eight, verse 18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

00;52;46;18 - 00;52;51;10
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There's no comparison.

00;52;51;12 - 00;53;02;28
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Listen, if we had time, we could go back and we could look at some of the martyrs of the faith.

00;53;03;00 - 00;53;27;04
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You remember Peter after Christ was resurrected from the Sea of Galilee. And and Jesus is is lifting and up and helping him to to get over the guilt he felt because he denied the Lord. Remember that. And Peter looks around to see John following.

00;53;27;06 - 00;53;33;03
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And Peter said, what about him?

00;53;33;06 - 00;54;02;11
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And Jesus says, well, if I wanted him to to live until I come again. What's that to you? You just you just follow me and you're going to glorify me with your death. You know how Peter died. He was crucified upside down in Rome. Not because he was a thief. Not because he was a murderer. Crucified upside down.

00;54;02;11 - 00;54;10;23
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Because he was a follower of Christ.

00;54;10;25 - 00;54;40;08
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Look at Second Corinthians chapter four, verse 16 to 18. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us. When you're persecuted, when you're insulted for the sake of Christ and the sake of righteousness, the Bible says it's producing for you an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

00;54;40;11 - 00;55;05;03
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While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

00;55;05;05 - 00;55;36;18
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John, I don't I'm not sure I ever pronounced this word right. His name. Right. John Chrysostom. That's the best I can do. John. Er. And or or Brother Tommy. They can probably do it a lot better than me. But John Chrysostom was a godly leader in the fourth century church. And he preached so strongly against sin that he offended the unscrupulous empress.

00;55;36;20 - 00;56;18;27
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You doxa, as well as many church officials. And he was summoned by the emperor. And Chrysostom, the emperor threatened him with banishment if he did not cease his uncompromising preaching. His response was, sire, you cannot banish me, for the world is my father's house. Then I will slay you. The emperor said, nay, but you cannot, for my life is hidden with Christ, and God.

00;56;18;29 - 00;56;51;07
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Well, your treasures will be confiscated. Was his next threat. John Chrysostom replied, sorry, you cannot do that either. My treasure in heaven, where none can break through and steal. Then I will drive you from man, and you will have no friends left. Was a final desperate warning, and John Chrysostom replied that you cannot do either, for I have a friend in heaven who said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.

00;56;51;09 - 00;57;11;08
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So he was banished. He was banished. First, our mania, and farther away to piteous on the Black Sea. But he never arrived there, because he died on the way.

00;57;11;10 - 00;57;40;01
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The things that he valued most highly. Were things that the Emperor could not take away from him. What do you value? Do you value the things of God? Do you say the kingdom of God? Is it your desire every single day to align your life with the will of God, the way of God, and the Word of God?

00;57;40;03 - 00;58;09;17
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Is it your desire to make sure that you are shaped by kingdom values, as represented in the Beatitudes? Hey, let me read you something out of Tony Evans book. You know, his wife died with cancer.

00;58;09;19 - 00;58;43;13
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Tony Evans wrote in the last days before my wife Lois went on to glory. She lived in a state of the in between. The effects of the cancer had taken away much of her physical strength, so she slept a lot and even saw things that we couldn't see. For example, one time she asked us if we could see her mom and dad, both of whom who had died previously, sitting in the room with us.

00;58;43;16 - 00;59;23;08
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Of course, we couldn't. But we know she did. And one of those in-between moments, Lois expressed delight. She said the award for the award. We asked her what award she was talking about. She said they were wanting to give her an award and that they were just waiting for the music to start. We were blessed to gain a glimpse into what she saw so clearly, and would get to experience so fully in eternity.

00;59;23;10 - 00;59;42;08
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There is no way to explain to any of us who are still on earth. I know Eternal Award will be like. But I do know it will be worth whatever you have to face in achieving it. Amen. Amen.

00;59;42;10 - 00;59;45;26
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Let's pray.

00;59;45;28 - 01;00;24;06
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Heavenly father, I pray if there's any believer in this room. And the Holy Spirit has taken the Beatitudes and has revealed to them that they have an integrity issue. They're not living up to the kingdom values that Jesus laid out so beautifully for us in the sermon on the Mount. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that every believer who has an integrity issue will get on their knees before they go to bed.

01;00;24;06 - 01;00;59;27
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Tonight. And they would ask your forgiveness and ask that you would line them up according to the Beatitudes, and you would just release from heaven your blessing, that blessing that transcends circumstances, that joy that the world cannot take away. And Heavenly Father, if there's a believer in this room who has an identity crisis. And you have convict Holy Spirit, convict them of not being saved.

01;01;00;02 - 01;01;13;17
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Lord, I pray that tonight, before they lay their head on their pillow, they'll fall on their knees, their cry out to Jesus, to forgive them and to cleanse them and to save their souls.

01;01;13;20 - 01;01;42;21
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Lord, don't let us read and study these words. And let them go in one ear and out the other ear. Cause them to lodge in our hearts. And I pray that through the Holy Spirit that we would please you and honor you in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. God bless you.