Collierville First Baptist Church

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Good evening. Hey, it's good to see you guys again. I may just get started. Back on Wednesday night, teaching the sermon on the Mount. Amen. I know that some of you have been going through the sermon on the Mount, and, But I promise you, you can go through it ten times and never, never exhausted. I promise you that.

00;00;26;04 - 00;00;56;02
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So let's begin with a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your infinite grace and mercy. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that you've allowed us to come to church tonight. Thank you that we get a chance to open a Bible and study the Bible. And I pray, Lord, that you would fill me with a Holy Spirit, give me freedom and unction and power and anointing to teach the Word of God tonight.

00;00;56;04 - 00;01;24;06
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Yes, I pray, Heavenly Father, that the, the the gist of the the sermon on the Mount would be clearly brought out tonight. I pray, as we begin this study, that we would get a grip on exactly why, you wanted to include this in the Gospel of Matthew. So, Lord, we just give ourselves to you, give us ears to hear what the Spirit of God would say to us.

00;01;24;08 - 00;02;04;08
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And, Lord, work powerfully in us and through us for your glory in Jesus name. Amen. So the sermon on the Mount 2000 years ago, Lord Jesus, the Son of God, stepped out of glory, incarnated in human flesh, fully God, fully man. Matthew records his birth, right. Matthew records his early part of his ministry, his baptism. And then we come to chapter five.

00;02;04;10 - 00;02;51;16
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And Matthew records arguably the greatest sermon that has ever been preached on the face of this planet. I'm not sure any anything could ever compare to it. Jesus first sermon. You see it here in the notes Matthew 417. From that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now that that reference to kingdom is a very important reference, because, the sermon on the Mount is basically a teaching on what it means to be a member of the Kingdom of God.

00;02;51;18 - 00;03;46;21
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What are God's expectations for those who are citizens of his kingdom? So after a three year ministry, that was punctuated by astounding miracles, by teaching like no one is ever taught, by confrontation with those who were religious. But there, they were religious with their lips, but not with their hearts. Jesus was crucified. And God the Father by one of my favorite Bible verses about the cross is first Peter 224, where the Bible says, and he bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

00;03;46;21 - 00;04;19;27
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For by his wounds you were healed. What a powerful explanation of the cross to think about this. Jesus. God the father took all of your sin. All of my sin, all of our guilt, and placed it upon His Son Jesus. And then God the Father punished Jesus so that he wouldn't have to punish us for all of eternity.

00;04;19;29 - 00;04;56;11
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This, called the substitutionary atonement of Christ, is one of the greatest doctrines in all the Bible. And Jesus, after he was crucified, was resurrected from the dead on the third day. It was the greatest display of power this world has ever has ever witnessed. A man who is dead. Was raised bodily three days later, and then 40 days after that, he ascended back to heaven.

00;04;56;13 - 00;05;33;17
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What an amazing king we have in our kingdom, right? In Matthew chapter five, we begin the study of this this sermon called the sermon on the Mount. I think it was, oh, I can't remember. Who first called this the sermon on the Mount? I'll look that up. I'll tell you next week. Okay. It's in the Bible. It's not referred to as a sermon on the Mount, but some great Bible.

00;05;33;29 - 00;06;03;12
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Later. Later, later in the Christian church named it the sermon on the Mount. And I'll have that person for you next week. So this is one of the five major sections that highlight the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. You got Matthew chapter five through seven. Matthew chapter ten, verse one through 11, verse one. Matthew chapter 13, verses 1 to 53.

00;06;03;14 - 00;06;42;10
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Matthew 18. Verses one to 19 to 19 one. And Matthew 23 through chapter 26, verse two. So in this sermon, Jesus emphasizes the centrality of the kingdom of God. In this sermon, Jesus lays out the standard words that he has said for those who are part of his kingdom. You do know that as a Christian, Jesus has expectations for you, and he has expectations for me.

00;06;42;12 - 00;07;06;03
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Now, when you when you read and study, the sermon on the Mount, you're going to feel some tension because there are things that Jesus is going to say in this sermon that is going to rattle your cage. It's going to make you think, how in the world can I ever live up to this? And you can't. That's the point.

00;07;06;03 - 00;07;39;25
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You can't in and of your own power. The only way that you and I can ever live up to the the standards that Jesus sets in the sermon on the Mount is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You see, our King has given us the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who indwells us. And he releases his power and his ability to help us be the people that he expects us to be.

00;07;39;28 - 00;07;51;08
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Aren't you glad that Jesus didn't say, look, I expect this out of you and then leave it up to us? Man, aren't you glad he didn't do that?

00;07;51;26 - 00;08;31;03
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As disciples of our Lord, we should never get our cue for how to live from actors and actresses, from politicians, from, great businessmen, scientists, musical stars, athletes or members of the educational elite. We are the media. We shouldn't get our cue for half a live from these people. We get our cue for how to live from our King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

00;08;31;03 - 00;09;13;11
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Listen, if you're a believer, I want you to know that Jesus is your King. He is your Lord, and he has absolute authority and sovereignty over everything in your life. And you and I owe him our allegiance and our obedience. 24 over seven. Now the moment you were saved, you were justified. You were forgiven. And then for the rest of our lives, from that moment in time when you were saved, until you step into eternity, the Holy Spirit is constantly working in our lives, conforming us to the image of Jesus, making us more like Jesus.

00;09;13;18 - 00;09;37;14
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Okay, we talked about that Sunday in the message out of John chapter 15. How, Jesus is the vine. We're the branches and the father is a vine dresser. And when the vine dresser, the father sees stuff in our life that diminishes his glory, he takes a pruning knife and he begins to cut it out of our lives.

00;09;37;16 - 00;10;07;04
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And I shared with you Sunday how the Holy Spirit had taken his pruning knife to me just this past week, because I had a critical spirit towards somebody that I should not have had a critical spirit toward. I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit wore me out. And you know what I did? I did not stick my heels in the ground and say, I'm right and you're wrong, Lord, I you know what I did?

00;10;07;04 - 00;10;38;01
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I said, Lord, I'm so sorry. Would you please forgive me? And would you cut that spirit out of me and help me to be more like Jesus? That's what it means to be a follower of Christ. That's what it means to be a Kingdom citizen. Now I want to do something unusual. This is a night. I'm introducing the sermon on the Mount, and I want to read the entire sermon on the Mount to you.

00;10;38;01 - 00;11;04;06
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It should take about 15 minutes. I hope and pray you don't get bored with hearing the Bible read, but I think it'll help you to hear the sermon on the Mount verbally as an introduction. This is the only night I'm going to do this, okay? So if you have your copy of God's Word, you might want to look at your Bible and follow along with me.

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If you don't, just listen.

00;11;09;17 - 00;11;41;18
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Matthew 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. He opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying, 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;11;41;20 - 00;12;13;01
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 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 persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

00;12;13;04 - 00;12;42;10
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Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you falsely, and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?

00;12;42;12 - 00;13;15;24
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It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven.

00;13;15;27 - 00;13;44;24
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Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

00;13;44;26 - 00;14;11;12
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But whoever keeps and teaches him, he should be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.

00;14;11;15 - 00;14;38;29
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But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. And whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing shall be guilty before the Supreme Court. And whoever says, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar. And there remember that your brother has something against you.

00;14;39;01 - 00;15;04;13
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Leave your offering there before the altar and go first. Be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

00;15;04;15 - 00;15;28;17
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Truly, I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent. You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if you're right, eye makes you stumble.

00;15;28;19 - 00;15;51;24
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Tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you, for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

00;15;51;27 - 00;16;21;12
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It was said, whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of chastity, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.

00;16;21;14 - 00;16;42;20
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But I say to you, make no other oath at all either, but by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is a footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is a city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

00;16;42;22 - 00;17;12;22
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But let your statement be yes, yes or no? No. Anything beyond these is evil. You have heard that it was said. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat.

00;17;12;22 - 00;17;42;01
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Also. So whoever forces you to go one mile, go with them two. Give to him, ask of you, and do not turn away from him. Who wants to borrow from you? You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven.

00;17;42;03 - 00;18;06;19
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For he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

00;18;06;22 - 00;18;32;24
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Therefore, you are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound the trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues, in the streets, so that they may be honored by men.

00;18;32;25 - 00;19;02;16
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Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret. And your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men.

00;19;02;23 - 00;19;31;28
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Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret. Will reward you. For when you are praying, do not you? And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

00;19;32;01 - 00;20;00;27
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So do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then, in this way, our father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive, have forgiven our debtors.

00;20;00;29 - 00;20;35;19
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And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions. Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as a hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance, so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.

00;20;35;21 - 00;21;06;12
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Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your father who is in secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

00;21;06;15 - 00;21;33;27
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But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also the eyes, the lamp of the body. So then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

00;21;33;29 - 00;22;04;01
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It then the light that is in you is darkness. How great is the darkness? No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on.

00;22;04;03 - 00;22;29;23
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It is not live more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air that they do not show, nor read, nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you, by being worry, can add a single hour to his life?

00;22;29;25 - 00;23;01;02
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And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin. Yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all of his glory, clothed him in all his glory, clothed himself like one of these if gods. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?

00;23;01;04 - 00;23;29;07
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Do not worry, then, saying, what will we eat? Or what will we drink? Or what will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself.

00;23;29;08 - 00;23;51;03
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Each day has enough trouble of its own. Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and by your standard of measure it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

00;23;51;06 - 00;24;20;21
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Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye. And behold, the log is in your own eye. You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet and turn and tell you to pieces.

00;24;20;23 - 00;24;45;28
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Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. And he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his own son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?

00;24;46;00 - 00;25;10;06
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Or if he asked for a fish, he will not give him a snake. Willie, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him in everything? Therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you.

00;25;10;08 - 00;25;41;01
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For this is the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

00;25;41;03 - 00;26;10;02
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You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad through. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad free tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

00;26;10;05 - 00;26;33;21
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So then you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven, will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?

00;26;33;23 - 00;26;58;02
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And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house.

00;26;58;04 - 00;27;25;02
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And yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell and great was its fall.

00;27;25;04 - 00;28;02;11
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When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one, having authority and not as their scribes. Heavenly father, I thank you for the Word of God. I thank you that it is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword. I thank you that every word I just read was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and was given to Matthew for him to record in his gospel.

00;28;02;13 - 00;28;30;01
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And I thank you, Lord, that over the next several weeks, we're going to we're going to take this sermon and we're going to take it apart. We're going to study it. And, Lord, I just believe that you're going to use the Word of God in our lives in a powerful way. Wednesday after Wednesday, after Wednesday. So again, Lord, thank you for allowing us to look at these three chapters tonight in a in an opening type of way.

00;28;30;04 - 00;28;57;16
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Lord, we love you in Jesus name. Amen. I tell you, when you read the sermon on the Mount, I think you'll agree with me. You do feel some tension, don't you? Because there's some very difficult things that Jesus says in there. And I want you to notice that a lot of the words that Jesus uses, they have layers of meaning to them.

00;28;57;18 - 00;29;23;09
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Like like, for instance, if your right hand, is an affront to God, cut it off. Well, what did Jesus mean by that? Well, there'd be a lot of people go around here with one hand, wouldn't there? Right. So. So the meaning of that word is more than the way you just look at it on the page of the Bible.

00;29;23;12 - 00;29;55;10
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And we're going to get into the deeper meanings, of these words in these metaphors. And it's going to be an interesting study. Look, as disciples of our Lord, we can't escape the fact that Jesus expects some things out of us that we can't pull off. We cannot do it. You hear me? We cannot do it. We need the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

00;29;55;11 - 00;30;22;23
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We. Let me tell you, if we're ever going to live up to this, the first thing that happens is we have to be saved. By the way, you don't receive the Holy Spirit if you're not saved. Are you saved? Are you a part of the kingdom? Listen. Right here tonight in this room, those watching live stream, you're either a part of the kingdom of God or you're not a part of the Kingdom of God.

00;30;22;24 - 00;30;50;18
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There is no middle ground. There's no middle ground. And so I'm excited about digging into this, and I hope you're. You'll be here, Stanley. Ha! Was captured. The tension of these words when you wrote this on page two. It's hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe.

00;30;50;20 - 00;31;20;16
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But rather to make us disciples. Citizens of God's new age. A kingdom of surprise. The sermon on the Mount shows us what life looks like in the Kingdom of God. We must first again. We must first receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Before we try to live up to these words as our King. I love this statement as our King.

00;31;20;18 - 00;31;51;12
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He has the authority and the power to make us what he teaches us. We should be. He had a great statement. He has the power to make us be what he teaches us. We should be. And that's an important statement. Before we ever start digging into this, you gotta get that in your mind, in your heart. Now, the first thing I want you to notice in verses one and two, let's look at it.

00;31;51;14 - 00;32;19;13
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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, say, now the sermon on the Mount was addressed to Hu, his disciples. It's right here in this verse. Now there are two groups of people here. You got Jesus.

00;32;19;15 - 00;32;53;27
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You got the crowds. Okay. And then you have the disciples. Now, the crowds could listen in. They could take part. They could drink in everything that Jesus was saying. But only the disciples, those who had bowed the knee to King Jesus, only those could allow what Jesus said to really penetrate their hearts and and see the Holy Spirit begin to conform them to into what Jesus said he wanted them to be.

00;32;53;29 - 00;33;28;25
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But why are so many people congregating around the Lord Jesus? I mean it it must have been a large crowd. We don't have a number, but it was a crowd, the Bible says. And then there were the disciples. Well, I think we found the answer in chapter four, verses 23 to 25. The Bible said Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the what?

00;33;28;28 - 00;34;03;28
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The kingdom, the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. 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 crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

00;34;04;01 - 00;34;40;11
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Now understand this the Jewish people had for a long time been oppressed. They were under Roman rule. They were under Roman domination. And living under Roman domination was not an easy thing to do. The Romans were merciless, and so they're living under Roman domination. And guess what? They're looking for it. They knew what the prophets taught. The prophets taught that the Messiah's coming.

00;34;40;13 - 00;35;19;23
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The King is coming. Now, the Jewish people, as even the disciples, they viewed those prophetic teachings as saying that the Messiah was coming and he was going to set up his kingdom right then and right there. They had no clue about the birth and the development of the New Testament church. They had no clue that Jesus had other plans, another, way of doing things, and that that he would die on the cross for their sin, their sins, and Gentiles saying it would be raised from the dead to send back to God.

00;35;19;27 - 00;35;53;21
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And then one day in the future, he would come back and the kingdom would be consummated. They didn't understand all that. That's why they were so disappointed and frustrated that Jesus was not taking control and ridding them of Roman domination. They wanted the king right then. But how many of you understand? Let let's let's take the second coming.

00;35;53;24 - 00;36;21;18
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We're not on the planning committee. You know that, don't you? We're on the welcoming committee. That's the committee. We're all. And so, God, God's plans supersedes our plans. And it was true when Jesus manifested himself there at the age of 30. Remember, he had a three year ministry from 30 to 33. He died on the cross at 33.

00;36;21;20 - 00;36;52;02
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And and, people were drawn to him like a I love it like a colony of ants to an open jar of honey. Why? Well, look what he was doing. He was teaching like no one had ever taught before. He was healing paralytic. He was healing people, of epilepsy. He was casting out demons, and people were coming from Syria.

00;36;52;04 - 00;37;31;21
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They were coming from Decapolis. The ten cities there on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They were coming from Judea. They were coming from Galilee. They were coming from everywhere because the word had spread like wildfire. This miracle worker from Galilee could deliver you and heal you and do miracles in your life. And so they came. That's why the I believe the crowd is mentioned here in chapter five of the sermon on the Mount.

00;37;31;23 - 00;38;00;17
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Verses one and two. Now notice the Bible says, When Jesus saw the crowds, verse one, 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. Now understand that in the Jewish way of doing things, the rabbi would sit down and teach, and the people would stand up.

00;38;00;19 - 00;38;38;11
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Now how would you like to do that here? Well, what about Sunday morning? I sit down up there and all y'all stand up for about 45 minutes while I preach. You think that work? But that's the way it worked in Jewish life. Jesus was sitting and he was teaching. Now. Evidently the crowds of the disciples were hanging on every word that Jesus said, especially the disciples.

00;38;38;14 - 00;39;02;07
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By the way, this is the first time in the Gospel of John that the word disciple is used. Now, what is disciple mean? You say, it's got to be some fantastic definite. Now here's what it means. You ready? Here. Here's a here's a disciple. A disciple is a follower of Jesus.

00;39;02;10 - 00;39;34;17
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It's a follower of Jesus. Remember, Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee. Tell us James and John and Peter and Andrew, follow me, and I'll make you fishers of me. But what do you say? Follow me. That's what a disciple is. That's what a believer, a true believer, does. A true believer follows Jesus. Listen, we're not in the lead.

00;39;34;19 - 00;40;08;20
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We're in the following business. We follow Jesus. We seek to please him. I love what Paul said in in, second Corinthians chapter five, verse 18. He said, my, my ambition is to please the Lord. That's what a disciple does. Hey, hey, look, the clock is ticking on me. I don't know how much longer I'll live. You don't know how much longer you're going to live.

00;40;08;22 - 00;40;42;23
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And you know what? I can't think of a better thing that we can do with our lives than to glorify our Lord and follow him and seek to please him. Is that your goal? Is my goal. Hey, take your Bible. Flip over to John. Just meet John for. You remember Jesus was there at the. At the, the well in Samaria.

00;40;42;25 - 00;41;17;17
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And he'd been. I've been talking to the Samaritan woman, you know, and she was quite a character, remember? She was a sinner. And, Jesus sent the disciples into town to get some food, and he's alone with this woman, and he's talking with her. And he, after living water, remember that after living water. And they enter into a conversation and Jesus said, I can give you water and you'll never thirst again.

00;41;17;19 - 00;41;51;04
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She said, Lord, give me that water. And then, and then, Jesus said to her. She asked. She said, I know Messiah's coming. And Jesus looked her. He said something to her. He didn't say to to Peter, James to John. At that point he said, I am the Messiah. I'm the Messiah. Man. She went off into town. The disciples came back and they were worried about Jesus not eating anything.

00;41;51;06 - 00;42;20;27
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And Jesus said to them, and John chapter four verse, See verse 32. He said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples were saying to one another, no one brought him anything to eat. Dairy. Jesus said to them, I love this. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

00;42;20;29 - 00;42;47;27
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The. When you read your Bible on a consistent basis and you ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you, sometimes he just takes a verse of Scripture and just makes it jump off the page. And when I was reading this, I'm telling you, it jumped off the page. And one thing I regularly pray this for my life in my ministry.

00;42;47;29 - 00;43;17;12
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Lord, help me to please you today. Help me to do your will today. Help me to accomplish the work you want me to accomplish today. You know what I. I can't do all that. Yesterday is gone. I can't do all that tomorrow. It's not here yet. I have a 24 hour window of opportunity to please him, to do his will, and to accomplish his work.

00;43;17;14 - 00;43;27;01
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And my prayer on a consistent basis. Lord, help me to do those three things.

00;43;27;03 - 00;43;56;16
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All right. Back to the sermon on the Mount. All right. There's a reason this sermon has attracted so much attention over the years. In fact, listen, do you realize that this this, this sermon has attracted negative attention over the years? There are people who have taken this sermon and totally misinterpreted it. There are people who have taken this sermon.

00;43;56;22 - 00;44;32;06
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And because Jesus said, you ought to turn the cheek and let somebody slap you on the other cheek. They have used that to develop a, passive, passive ism and say, look, we should never, ever go to war. There's no such thing as a just war. But we know that's not true. But they've misinterpreted it. People have misinterpreted the sermon on the Mount, and they say, well, look, the weight of salvation is to live up to the sermon on the Mount.

00;44;32;07 - 00;44;51;03
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Just live up to the sermon on the Mount. Just look just like the Jews thought in the Old Testament dates that if they kept the Ten Commandments, they could they could be saved. They could be right with God. He said, if we if we live up to the sermon on the Mount, we can be right with God. The only problem is that it is nobody can do it.

00;44;51;05 - 00;45;23;16
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You can't do it. I can't do it. Let me tell you, if our salvation depended upon our ability to live up to the sermon on the Mount. We would not be going to a good place when we die. I promise. No. This is all about the King and his kingdom. And we have a king who is willing to die for us.

00;45;23;18 - 00;45;51;27
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He's willing to save us and deliver us. So why did Jesus attract so many people? Well, he taught with authority. He taught. Listen, I say, there's a part of me feel sorry for the scribes and Pharisees and those guys. When Jesus was around.

00;45;52;00 - 00;46;28;23
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Because I'm telling you, they were sucking wind. They were sucking wind. I promise you, Jesus taught with authority. Look at the last two verses of this chapter seven of the sermon on the Mount. Look at it. When Jesus had finished, see the words I just read to you? When he had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one, having authority, and not as the scribes.

00;46;28;26 - 00;47;03;11
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That's why people were drawn to Jesus from all over the known world at that time, and he spoke directly to the heart. Jesus words I mentioned this earlier carried layers and depths of meaning below the surface. You know, you can you can read the sermon on the Mount and you can read it over multiple times. And I promise you, every time you read it, the Holy Spirit will give you a new insight, a new direct.

00;47;03;13 - 00;47;42;20
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The the vine dresser would take out the pruning knife, and he cut out that part of your life that diminishes his glory. He'll do it. I promise you. The Bible is unlike any other book you can read. A novel is just dead words on the page. I'm telling you, when you read the Bible, the Bible itself says that the Bible is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword, piercing as far as the vision of soul and spirit, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart.

00;47;42;22 - 00;48;04;06
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That's the Bible. That's why we should read the Bible. That's why we should gather on Wednesday night and study the Bible. That's why on Sundays we we're part of a small group. And you walk into a small group and the teacher teaches a Bible. That's why when you come to worship service, I open the Bible and I preach the Bible.

00;48;04;06 - 00;48;47;14
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I teach the Bible because it can do things in you and through you that nobody else could do. I promise you. So the first part, of the sermon on the Mount, involves some short, pithy statements that have been labeled the Beatitudes. But I'm telling you, these short little pithy statements right there in verses one. Excuse me, verses three through 12, of Matthew chapter five are jam packed full of meaning.

00;48;47;16 - 00;49;23;01
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Now, next week, we're going to start unpacking that meaning of these beatitudes. But I'm going to give you some little advance information about the Beatitudes. The purpose of the Beatitudes is to explain what it means to be a disciple. The emphasis of these Beatitudes is on the heart, not some form of external righteousness based on keeping the law.

00;49;23;04 - 00;49;53;03
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Think about it. The Ten Commandments focus on what you shouldn't do. The Beatitudes focus on what you should do. Powerful. You notice the word blessed is used over and over and over in these beatitudes. In fact, the word blessed is used as a form of the word is used for 516 times in the Bible. Now, I want you to gather what I'm about to say.

00;49;53;16 - 00;50;00;04
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Gather it in your heart and just deposit it in your heart. Don't ever forget it.

00;50;00;07 - 00;50;30;11
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If you're a born again believer, if you're a part of the kingdom, I'm telling you on the authority of God's word that the Lord wants to bless you. He wants to bless you. I think so many times we as believers have bought into this nonsense that God is some kind of angry deity up there in heaven with his arms crossed, just waiting to zap us.

00;50;30;13 - 00;51;12;07
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That's not. That's not the God of the Bible. You remember what Jesus said? And in John chapter 15 he told the disciples, he said, look, the father loves you the same way he loves me. It's hard for me to grasp that, that the father loves me the same way he loves Jesus, but he does. In fact, in Romans chapter eight, the Bible said, the last part of that chapter, it says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

00;51;12;12 - 00;51;37;14
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And Paul list a bunch of things. Death and and persecution and and all kinds of stuff. He said none of that can ever separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He loves you. He wants to bless you. Maybe you're you're here tonight and you're going through a difficult time, and you're hurt and you're wounded.

00;51;37;17 - 00;52;02;06
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And you don't know if you can put one foot in front of the other. I'm telling you, you can. I'm telling you on the authority of God's word that the God of heaven loves you and he wants to bless you, but you got to put yourself in a position to be blessed. Okay? That's what the Beatitudes are all about.

00;52;02;08 - 00;52;33;21
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And we're going to get into them next week. Now the Greek word what does bless blessed mean? Well, it refers to an ideal happiness that cannot be affected by outward circumstances. In fact, some verses in the Bible translate happiness as opposed to blessed. Happy. Happy is the poor in spirit. Happy is the excuse. But go back to chapter five.

00;52;33;29 - 00;53;08;28
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Happy are the Gentiles. They shall inherit the earth. The new American standard translates it blessed but blessed. And happiness goes together. But it's a special kind of happiness. It's not the happiness that is up one moment, going down to the next based on circumstances. It's a happiness that that can can, survive bad times and bad circumstances. It means to be approved by God.

00;53;09;00 - 00;53;22;09
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And the blessing of God is something real and tangible. So? So ask yourself, what does it mean to be blessed? Blessed are happy.

00;53;22;11 - 00;53;52;06
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Well, I love what Dee Martin Lloyd Jones observed. The Martin Lloyd Jones was a physician in in Great Britain, and he became a pastor or great Bible expositor. And he made this statement, the whole world is longing for happiness. And that's true, isn't it? Everybody wants to be happy. And he said, it is tragic to observe the ways in which people are seeking it.

00;53;52;08 - 00;54;24;27
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The vast majority, alas, are doing so in a way that is bound to produce misery. Anything which, by evading the difficulties, merely makes people happy for the time being, is ultimately going to add to their misery and problem. And that is where the utter deceitfulness of sin comes in. It is always offering happiness, and it always leads to unhappiness and to final misery and wretchedness.

00;54;24;29 - 00;55;04;25
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Think about Adam and Eve. They were living in Paradise. They had everything going for them. And then Satan shows up. And say, you know what? Satan prompts them? Happiness. Fulfillment. Satan said to Eve, look, if you eat this fruit, you'll be like God. You'll be like God. Eve. Same. That sounds good. That sounds appealing. I can be like God.

00;55;04;27 - 00;55;37;22
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And she took a bite. She gave it to Adam. And what they thought would bring them happiness brought them untold misery. Hey, as a pastor, I've seen it over and over and over and over and over again. I've seen. I've seen people in the church who have sought happiness in the wrong way.

00;55;37;24 - 00;56;14;09
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And they end up absolutely miserable. Now, the good thing about our Lord is he forgives us when we go down that rabbit trail. Rabbit hole. He forgives us and he restores us, and he revives us. But but it's like it's sort of like Jacob. Remember, Jacob, wrestle with the angel of the Lord. But what did Jacob do for the rest of his life?

00;56;14;11 - 00;56;38;13
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He limped because his hip was out of place, and he had a limp for the rest of his life. Was he fulfilled? Absolutely. God forgave him. God did a work in his life. God used him in amazing way. In fact, he's one of the the three great patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

00;56;38;15 - 00;57;05;00
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But I tell you. He looked for happiness in the wrong place. Solomon. I'm right. One of my goals this year I'm reading through the Bible. And so I started in Genesis. I started in Psalms, and I'm reading through. And I'm doing something I've never done before. I'm going to take Proverbs and I'm reading a proverb a day. So there's like 30 days in a month.

00;57;05;02 - 00;57;32;13
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So I'm reading a proverb a day. So I'll read through Proverbs 12 times this year, once a month, along with the other stuff. And I tell you, I'm, I'm reading over there in Proverbs. I started today, I'd read through Psalms and and I jumped over and I went to Ecclesiastes. Solomon wrote, Solomon had everything.

00;57;32;16 - 00;58;13;13
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And he chased everything, thinking it would make him happy. And you know what he repeats over and over again in Ecclesiastes. He's he says, vanity of vanities. It's all vanity. Then he comes to the end of the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes, just flip over there, just me. Ecclesiastes, the I got it. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. He says the conclusion, verse 13, the conclusion, when all has been heard is fear God, reverence God.

00;58;13;13 - 00;58;52;11
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That's what it means. Keep his commandments because this applies to every person. Fear God, keep his commandments because this applies to every person. You all know how to be happy. Fear God. Obey him. That's the route to happiness. And that's what the Beatitudes brings out. Now the Beatitudes reveal the Lord's expectation for every believer. Now there are some people say they're eight.

00;58;52;11 - 00;59;30;23
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I count nine. And, All nine of these beatitudes are for all believers. It's not like a buffet. I love buffets. Don't you love buffets? Man, I remember I was working for King Refrigeration when I was in college, and we were doing a job up in Jackson, Tennessee, and there was. It was Bemis. Bemis. And there was a little hotel, Thunderbird Hotel or something like that, and they had a buffet for lunch.

00;59;30;26 - 01;00;06;00
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Man, I was a college kid. I woke up, we were working hard. I was hungry, man. I tore it up. I love buffets, but I want you to understand that the Bianchi's not a buffet. You don't walk through the Beatitudes and say, well, I'll take some poor in spirit. But I don't want any of this. And we invited.

01;00;06;02 - 01;00;33;10
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But I don't want any of this peacemaker stuff or pure in heart stuff or merciful stuff. No, no, no, that's not the way it works. Listen, all nine of these beatitudes are for every one of us. You say, well, that's not my gift. We're not talking about spiritual gifts. We're not talking about spiritual gifts.

01;00;33;12 - 01;00;50;04
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This is for all of us. All nine of these beatitudes are designed by our King so that we can experience true happiness and blessedness.

01;00;50;15 - 01;01;23;15
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The Beatitudes are produced in us by grace through the Holy Spirit's ministry. The Beatitudes reveal the essential difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. You want a different point a Christian, non-Christian? Look at the Beatitudes. The Christian should be fundamentally different from the unbeliever. Martin Lloyd-Jones said this. It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can.

01;01;23;17 - 01;01;50;05
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Though we can't, though we happen to be Christian, but rather to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we possibly can be. Our ambition should be to be like Christ. The more like him, the better. The more like him we become, the more we should be. Unlike everybody who is not a Christian. Paul, that is so true.

01;01;50;08 - 01;02;19;02
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Listen, the Christian and the non-Christian are absolutely different in what they admire, what they seek, and what they do. Again, Martin Lloyd-Jones said, the truth is that the Christian and the non-Christian belong to two entirely different realms. You will notice the first beatitude of the eighth beatitude promise. The same reward for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. But what does this mean?

01;02;19;05 - 01;02;43;06
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Our Lord starts and ends with it, because it is his way of saying that the first thing you have to realize about yourself is that you belong to a different kingdom. Look at me. If you're a Christian, you belong to a different kingdom. Listen, you may have friends and family members that are not believers. They're part of a different king.

01;02;43;07 - 01;03;00;25
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Does that mean you don't love them? That you don't reach out to them and minister to them and share the gospel? Oh, absolutely. You do that. We want to get as many people in the Kingdom of God as we can possibly get in the Kingdom. God right?

01;03;00;27 - 01;03;20;15
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And he goes on to say, our Lord starts and ends with. It begins his way of saying that the first thing you have to realize about yourself, that you belong to a different king. You are not only different, in essence, you are living in two absolutely different worlds. You are in this world, but you are not of it.

01;03;20;18 - 01;03;56;23
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You are among your among those other people. Yes, but you are citizens of another kingdom. And I've got two scriptures here I want to read to you to just, nail that down in your mind. Colossians chapter one, verse 13 to 14. For he rescued us from the domain of darkness. If you are your believer, the Lord Jesus Christ rescued you from a domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

01;03;56;25 - 01;04;25;28
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Philippians 320 and 21 for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that he has, even to subject all things to himself. Amen. Oh my goodness! Well, this is our start.

01;04;26;00 - 01;04;51;14
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I'm hoping and praying that we will consider it a rolling start. And next Wednesday we'll pick it up and we'll look at the Beatitudes. Okay, I'm not sure we can cover all of them. I'm going to try to because like I said a moment ago, these words of Jesus have layers to them. And we got to we got to get down through those layers to get the true meaning of the Beatitudes.

01;04;51;14 - 01;05;22;23
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Okay. So thank you for being here tonight. Stay warm. If it snows, I assure you this. Mark this down. We will have church Sunday and we'll have church Sunday. I've been here 20 years. I'll be 21 in March. And. And we have never not had church on Sunday morning. Now, we may have to wade through snow, waist deep.

01;05;22;26 - 01;05;50;02
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And if we have 20 people will worship with 20 people. And rest of you can worship on online. Okay. But we'll have church. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for helping us to understand some of the basics of the sermon on the Mount before we really dig into it. Lord, I pray that this would be a study that will impact us like nothing has impacted us before.

01;05;50;04 - 01;06;03;23
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We love you, Lord. Thank you for being our King. In Jesus name. Amen. Thank you and God bless you.