You know, I hope that you've seen our<\/p>\n
our desire is to point all of us again<\/p>\n
and again and again to the grace of God<\/p>\n
in all things. So, you know, we believe<\/p>\n
that God does not<\/p>\n
change. Um, I want to look at briefly at<\/p>\n
at Hebrews. Um, God does not change. And<\/p>\n
that is really, really good news because<\/p>\n
everything else changes.<\/p>\n
Everything else changes. But the Bible<\/p>\n
teaches that Jesus, who we've been<\/p>\n
singing about and looking to and<\/p>\n
trusting in, is the<\/p>\n
same. Jesus is the same, will be the<\/p>\n
same yesterday, today,<\/p>\n
forever. So as we look to God in faith,<\/p>\n
we can lean into that. We can rest,<\/p>\n
stand on, lean into that beautiful<\/p>\n
truth, rest in it with hope. We can rest<\/p>\n
in the goodness of God and in God's<\/p>\n
constant faithfulness and unchanging<\/p>\n
nature. So Ajanati alluded to this at<\/p>\n
the at the beginning of our service and<\/p>\n
again unscripted but as we looked at the<\/p>\n
call to<\/p>\n
worship. What is it that you've been<\/p>\n
through this week or you're going<\/p>\n
through? I mean perhaps you have<\/p>\n
something heavy on your heart. Perhaps<\/p>\n
uh you know this past week even has been<\/p>\n
difficult for you in some ways uh even<\/p>\n
this morning. Perhaps you're in the<\/p>\n
midst in the middle of some really<\/p>\n
significant changes, some hard things<\/p>\n
and and perhaps you're feeling<\/p>\n
anxious. You're feeling confused. You're<\/p>\n
disappointed maybe in yourself or in<\/p>\n
circumstances. You're<\/p>\n
fearful about<\/p>\n
tomorrow. Is that you?<\/p>\n
You know, the core message of the gospel<\/p>\n
comes from Jesus himself. And it's this.<\/p>\n
Come to me. Jesus says, \"Come to me.<\/p>\n
Come find<\/p>\n
rest. Come and find rest for your weary<\/p>\n
souls.\"<\/p>\n
So, as we read uh the passage today, as<\/p>\n
we meditate on the truths of God found<\/p>\n
in the scriptures, let's<\/p>\n
allow the eternal and good word of God<\/p>\n
to examine us, to show us our hearts,<\/p>\n
help us learn what we're thinking and<\/p>\n
feeling, and ask God to speak to you<\/p>\n
through his<\/p>\n
word into that place of anxiety, into<\/p>\n
that place of confusion. confusion of<\/p>\n
disappointment,<\/p>\n
fear. Let's be reminded that Jesus is<\/p>\n
our<\/p>\n
Emmanuel. God with us. So Jesus is with<\/p>\n
us. God is with us in the midst of that.<\/p>\n
Whatever that is, that challenge, that<\/p>\n
hardship, you know, often we speak about<\/p>\n
um reading the Bible, right? Reading the<\/p>\n
Bible. And I've said this before. I I<\/p>\n
remember hearing this years ago, but the<\/p>\n
reality is that the Bible reads<\/p>\n
us. The Bible reads us. What do I mean?<\/p>\n
The truth that we encounter through<\/p>\n
God's word, it has the power to reveal<\/p>\n
our hearts. It reads<\/p>\n
us. It challenges us. It encourages us.<\/p>\n
It guides us. It guides our hearts and<\/p>\n
minds. It allows us to know God. that<\/p>\n
God has created us, that God loves<\/p>\n
us, and also reveals our own hearts to<\/p>\n
ourselves so that we can know how God is<\/p>\n
at work within<\/p>\n
us. So Jesus says to us today<\/p>\n
again,<\/p>\n
come, come to<\/p>\n
me, come to me.<\/p>\n
So let us go. Let us heed that call and<\/p>\n
let us go to the word of God now with<\/p>\n
open and expectant<\/p>\n
hearts. Expectant hearts. Let me pray<\/p>\n
for<\/p>\n
us. Holy God, we come before you today<\/p>\n
as a people living in a a wonderful and<\/p>\n
yet fractured, broken world.<\/p>\n
This world and our own lives are filled<\/p>\n
with great joy and beauty at<\/p>\n
times. But we also experience great<\/p>\n
darkness, pain,<\/p>\n
suffering. Help us to know you and to<\/p>\n
believe the truth that you know us. You<\/p>\n
know our hearts better than we know them<\/p>\n
ourselves.<\/p>\n
Help us remember that you, Lord Jesus,<\/p>\n
have entered into our suffering. And the<\/p>\n
heights of joy, the depths of despair<\/p>\n
that we have experienced and experienced<\/p>\n
and will experience are not unknown to<\/p>\n
you. Even at this very moment, you know,<\/p>\n
the thoughts occupying our minds, the<\/p>\n
emotions ruling our<\/p>\n
hearts. Lord God, please meet<\/p>\n
us in this very place, this time. Would<\/p>\n
you encourage our hearts through your<\/p>\n
eternal and good word? We ask this Jesus<\/p>\n
in your holy name.<\/p>\n
Amen. We just started a a series from<\/p>\n
the Gospel of Matthew and it's a section<\/p>\n
of teaching that Jesus gave. In fact,<\/p>\n
some Bibles have this text in red, which<\/p>\n
means these are words of Jesus recorded<\/p>\n
us. And this section of teaching is<\/p>\n
known as the<\/p>\n
biatitudes. And it's a a section of the<\/p>\n
scriptures<\/p>\n
uh where Jesus is teaching. And this<\/p>\n
word biatitude actually comes from the<\/p>\n
Latin word<\/p>\n
bayotas. Botas which means<\/p>\n
uh the range of it means happy<\/p>\n
uh<\/p>\n
blessed blessed joy. We might think of<\/p>\n
this happiness as like a really really<\/p>\n
deep deep joy a deep state of of<\/p>\n
blessing and of fullness if you will.<\/p>\n
In these teachings, Jesus is revealing<\/p>\n
more of what it looks like to follow<\/p>\n
Jesus, what it looks like to be a<\/p>\n
disciple, a follower of Jesus, to seek<\/p>\n
him, to know him, to live in the new<\/p>\n
reality of the life in the kingdom of<\/p>\n
God. So, the biatitudes have a pattern.<\/p>\n
If you go back and read what we looked<\/p>\n
at last week and and we'll see it as we<\/p>\n
read the text today, Jesus is giving<\/p>\n
this picture of you might say the good<\/p>\n
life. Maybe not in the way we think.<\/p>\n
What is the good life? That question,<\/p>\n
but what it means to live in Jesus and<\/p>\n
into him. And we would say yes, the good<\/p>\n
and full life, the life that is being<\/p>\n
formed and shaped and guided by the<\/p>\n
gospel. What does that look like? What<\/p>\n
does that look like? And Jesus is the<\/p>\n
one to tell us. Jesus is the one to show<\/p>\n
us. So we we read this blessed are<\/p>\n
blessed are blessed are. So Jesus is<\/p>\n
simult simultaneously teaching us<\/p>\n
teaching the disciples and then us as<\/p>\n
well as we read this and calling us. So<\/p>\n
teaching and calling us to step into the<\/p>\n
life lived in him. Teaching and<\/p>\n
calling. He's revealing the blessing.<\/p>\n
He's he's revealing this fullness of<\/p>\n
life for those that come to him uh that<\/p>\n
that rest in<\/p>\n
him, place their faith in him, those<\/p>\n
that follow him. The way of Jesus is<\/p>\n
what brings communion even as we<\/p>\n
celebrate communion today. Bringing<\/p>\n
oneness, bringing relationship and<\/p>\n
communion with God, our creator. So<\/p>\n
following Jesus brings the biatitudes<\/p>\n
will reveal this deep sense of joy<\/p>\n
satisfaction in our God. In our God. So<\/p>\n
the gospels of course uh Matthew, Mark,<\/p>\n
Luke and John in the scriptures show us<\/p>\n
reveal to us the person and work of<\/p>\n
Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ. And this text tonight shows us<\/p>\n
offers us teaching again directly from<\/p>\n
Jesus. you know, blessings that he<\/p>\n
bestowed and teachings that he uttered<\/p>\n
to his<\/p>\n
disciples 2,000 years<\/p>\n
ago,<\/p>\n
recorded and here for us tonight to<\/p>\n
glean from and to learn from as God<\/p>\n
leads us in him. So, let's turn to this<\/p>\n
passage. We're going to look at three<\/p>\n
verses tonight from this portion of<\/p>\n
Matthew. And here's another thing for<\/p>\n
you. I like to give you homework, right?<\/p>\n
Right? Have you ever noticed that when I<\/p>\n
get to stand up here, I like to give us<\/p>\n
homework. So, here's some homework for<\/p>\n
you, okay? Um, read through Matthew 5<\/p>\n
this week. We're just looking at three<\/p>\n
verses. We looked at three verses last<\/p>\n
week. We're going to look at more in the<\/p>\n
coming weeks. Read through it and spend<\/p>\n
some time with this passage and ask God<\/p>\n
to deepen your understanding of what is<\/p>\n
being taught here. So some homework for<\/p>\n
you uh and for me as well to read<\/p>\n
through this again and and sit with<\/p>\n
these truths, meditate on these truths<\/p>\n
uh this coming week. Let me read to us<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:es<\/p>\n
6-8. Blessed are those who hunger and<\/p>\n
thirst for<\/p>\n
righteousness, for they shall be<\/p>\n
satisfied.<\/p>\n
Blessed are the<\/p>\n
merciful, for they shall receive<\/p>\n
mercy. Blessed are the pure in<\/p>\n
heart, for they shall they shall see<\/p>\n
God. Read these to us<\/p>\n
again. I'm going to pause as I read and<\/p>\n
just allow it to sink in. Blessed are<\/p>\n
those who hunger and thirst for<\/p>\n
satisfied. Blessed are the<\/p>\n
merciful, for they shall receive mercy.<\/p>\n
I<\/p>\n
imagine that because we're human and we<\/p>\n
have the, you know, this experience that<\/p>\n
we've all had<\/p>\n
times where we've been at some level,<\/p>\n
some degree thirsty and<\/p>\n
hungry. Thirsty and hungry. Some degree,<\/p>\n
some level that we've experienced of<\/p>\n
hunger and thirst.<\/p>\n
And the greater and more intense these<\/p>\n
sensations<\/p>\n
become, the more focused we become on<\/p>\n
meeting them, of satisfying them, right?<\/p>\n
We begin to have a singular focus on<\/p>\n
finding something to eat, consuming<\/p>\n
food,<\/p>\n
sustenance, or we will do anything, it<\/p>\n
seems, at some point to find something<\/p>\n
to drink. All right. Now, perhaps none<\/p>\n
of us have ever been at a state of of<\/p>\n
starvation or uh or suffering from lack<\/p>\n
of hydration to a degree where we need<\/p>\n
medical attention. But lack of food and<\/p>\n
water can move from being a minor<\/p>\n
discomfort to a very serious<\/p>\n
lifethreatening even<\/p>\n
issue issue in just a matter sometimes<\/p>\n
of hours sometimes days very serious and<\/p>\n
Jesus it's interesting he uses this<\/p>\n
language of hungering thirsting these<\/p>\n
these very basic and yet essential<\/p>\n
to our survival. He uses this language<\/p>\n
to point his<\/p>\n
disciples to our need for restoration<\/p>\n
unto God. He's speaking about<\/p>\n
righteousness. Blessed are those who<\/p>\n
hunger and thirst for righteousness.<\/p>\n
Jesus, he's calling us also to a<\/p>\n
singular serious urgent focus towards<\/p>\n
living<\/p>\n
righteously before<\/p>\n
God. Righteousness. Now it that word<\/p>\n
right, you see the right in there, it<\/p>\n
refers to a right or moral standing. It<\/p>\n
has to do with justice, rightness.<\/p>\n
You might think of it as striving to<\/p>\n
live a life that honors a certain or<\/p>\n
meets a certain moral standard or code.<\/p>\n
The blessed life is the life lived<\/p>\n
rightly before God. It seems we're<\/p>\n
reading here. Those that seek after<\/p>\n
righteousness, those that yearn for<\/p>\n
righteousness, those that seek<\/p>\n
righteousness will be satisfied. What<\/p>\n
does this mean? Many times, let's talk<\/p>\n
about righteousness a little bit, okay?<\/p>\n
And our understanding of it. Many times<\/p>\n
when I have conversations with others<\/p>\n
about uh their view on the world or even<\/p>\n
their thoughts on religious beliefs and<\/p>\n
teachings, on faiths. Um they may share<\/p>\n
something along these lines. Perhaps<\/p>\n
you've heard this as well. All<\/p>\n
religions teach you to be good, right?<\/p>\n
There's an idea of of seeking<\/p>\n
righteousness teach you to be<\/p>\n
good,<\/p>\n
right? Or and this kind of builds on<\/p>\n
that. And if you do good, right, if<\/p>\n
you're a good person and you do good,<\/p>\n
you receive<\/p>\n
good.<\/p>\n
Now, there seem to be some truth in<\/p>\n
these statements. I mean, certainly<\/p>\n
we've seen that kind of play out<\/p>\n
sometimes, right? we extend kindness to<\/p>\n
someone there and we receive kindness or<\/p>\n
doesn't that seem to kind of speak<\/p>\n
towards that there might be some nugget<\/p>\n
or or truth in that in some ways and and<\/p>\n
certainly religions teach like this<\/p>\n
moral code this ethical code right<\/p>\n
certainly Christianity has law as<\/p>\n
well but this second statement is what I<\/p>\n
want us to focus on briefly as we move<\/p>\n
into this more talk about what Jesus<\/p>\n
might be getting at with our this idea<\/p>\n
of righteousness<\/p>\n
an understanding of this second<\/p>\n
statement. You know, to do good, you<\/p>\n
receive<\/p>\n
good. It's an understanding of this this<\/p>\n
religion or faith or practice as a<\/p>\n
transactional endeavor, which means you<\/p>\n
do something, you receive something. If<\/p>\n
I do this, then this will happen. And<\/p>\n
honestly, at first reading, some of<\/p>\n
these biatitudes seem to follow that.<\/p>\n
And so Kung Chan talked about that last<\/p>\n
week and addressed that. We'll look at<\/p>\n
that a bit more now about these and and<\/p>\n
think about that as as we look further<\/p>\n
on in these teachings from Jesus. Now<\/p>\n
back to righteousness. Yes, in faiths<\/p>\n
there there might be this list of rules,<\/p>\n
right, or laws or tenants, if you will,<\/p>\n
to live by. And the way it works is if<\/p>\n
you do this, right? do this, this, this,<\/p>\n
this, this, and this. If you can, then<\/p>\n
okay, then you receive something, right?<\/p>\n
You receive something. So all religions<\/p>\n
and faith practices teach you to be<\/p>\n
good, right? Going back to that idea.<\/p>\n
But here's the question for us. But do<\/p>\n
we live fully good lives? Like, do we<\/p>\n
live fully good lives? Do we reach that<\/p>\n
standard? Do we do we meet all those<\/p>\n
things? Do we check off all those<\/p>\n
things? And and if we do good at times,<\/p>\n
like we as the Christian would say,<\/p>\n
through the mercy and grace of God, if<\/p>\n
we extend something good towards<\/p>\n
another, do we always receive good? No,<\/p>\n
not always, right? Like sometimes there<\/p>\n
are difficult things, right?<\/p>\n
Um so that's just an honest look at some<\/p>\n
of those statements. But let's take a<\/p>\n
deeper look at what the Bible teaches<\/p>\n
about this about righteousness, this<\/p>\n
idea of righteousness.<\/p>\n
And we'll go to Romans actually in this<\/p>\n
Romans chapter<\/p>\n
3. And this is also found in the Psalms<\/p>\n
and and Romans in fact is looking back.<\/p>\n
The Apostle Paul's looking back on the<\/p>\n
Psalms and other parts of the scriptures<\/p>\n
that speaks to this and he writes as it<\/p>\n
is written referring<\/p>\n
back none is<\/p>\n
righteous. No, not<\/p>\n
one. No one understands. No one seeks<\/p>\n
for God. All have turned aside together.<\/p>\n
They have become worthless. No one does<\/p>\n
good. Not even<\/p>\n
one. No one does good. Not even<\/p>\n
one. The Bible, the the overarching<\/p>\n
message of the scriptures is that there<\/p>\n
is a high moral code, the ten<\/p>\n
commandments and the law, but we are<\/p>\n
unable to live it. We are unable to live<\/p>\n
up to it. In the New Testament, again,<\/p>\n
in the Gospels, when Jesus taught about<\/p>\n
the law, here's what happened. He did so<\/p>\n
in a way that he honored the law. He<\/p>\n
fulfilled the law. And he showed us that<\/p>\n
because of our brokenness, our sinful<\/p>\n
hearts, we are<\/p>\n
incapable of living righteously before<\/p>\n
God. We are incapable of living<\/p>\n
righteously before God. The text says,<\/p>\n
\"No one is righteous, no one does<\/p>\n
good.\" And here's what Jesus taught. He<\/p>\n
said, \"Remember the law of God says, \"Do<\/p>\n
not take life. Do not kill. You shall<\/p>\n
not<\/p>\n
kill.\" And you think, \"Okay, I haven't I<\/p>\n
haven't killed anyone.\" Like, okay,<\/p>\n
check. Like, I'm doing okay in that one.<\/p>\n
But then Jesus in the New Testament<\/p>\n
said, you know, that that that time<\/p>\n
you've been so<\/p>\n
angry at someone and you've thought,<\/p>\n
\"Oh, I could<\/p>\n
just really hurt them. I'm so<\/p>\n
angry.\" Jesus is saying that seed of<\/p>\n
anger is the root of<\/p>\n
murder. You too have murder in your<\/p>\n
heart. You're just an act away. And<\/p>\n
Jesus said<\/p>\n
also another commandment. Do not commit<\/p>\n
adultery. Do not commit adultery. And<\/p>\n
Jesus said, you know, if you even look<\/p>\n
with lustful intent on another, you in<\/p>\n
your heart, you are committing adultery.<\/p>\n
And so what Jesus does is he he takes<\/p>\n
the law of God and he shows<\/p>\n
us that we cannot keep it. We cannot<\/p>\n
keep it. How does this play out<\/p>\n
then? And it's it's through our<\/p>\n
understanding why we call the gospel<\/p>\n
good news.<\/p>\n
It's coming to a place which we<\/p>\n
understand that our relationship with<\/p>\n
God is not<\/p>\n
transactional but based on the mercy and<\/p>\n
grace of God towards<\/p>\n
us. It's not transactional because we<\/p>\n
can't pay. We don't have currency that<\/p>\n
works. We can't keep our end of the<\/p>\n
bargain. We don't. We<\/p>\n
can't. No one is<\/p>\n
righteous. No one is<\/p>\n
righteous. So what does it mean to<\/p>\n
hunger and thirst for righteousness?<\/p>\n
What does that<\/p>\n
mean? Is Jesus is calling us to that?<\/p>\n
Blessed are those<\/p>\n
that in second Corinthians sheds<\/p>\n
beautiful light on this for us.<\/p>\n
The Apostle Paul describing here what a<\/p>\n
life lived in Jesus looks like. What it<\/p>\n
looks like and read to<\/p>\n
us Paul writing from now on. Therefore,<\/p>\n
talking about the new life in Christ, we<\/p>\n
regard no one according to the flesh.<\/p>\n
Even though we once regarded Christ<\/p>\n
according to the flesh, we regard him<\/p>\n
thus no longer. Listen to this there.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if anyone is in<\/p>\n
Christ, he is a new<\/p>\n
creation. The old has passed away.<\/p>\n
Behold, the new has<\/p>\n
come. All of this is from God who<\/p>\n
through Christ reconciled us to himself<\/p>\n
and gave us the ministry of<\/p>\n
reconciliation. That is in Christ, God<\/p>\n
was reconciling the world to himself,<\/p>\n
not counting their trespasses against<\/p>\n
them. and entrusting to us the message<\/p>\n
of reconciliation. Therefore, we are<\/p>\n
ambassadors for Christ, God making his<\/p>\n
appeal through us. And listen to this.<\/p>\n
We implore you on behalf of Christ. Be<\/p>\n
reconciled to<\/p>\n
God. And this is the main verse. For our<\/p>\n
sake, he made him to be sin who knew no<\/p>\n
sin. So that what? So that in<\/p>\n
him we might<\/p>\n
become the righteousness of<\/p>\n
God. We might become in him we might<\/p>\n
become the righteousness of God.<\/p>\n
Friends, to hunger and to thirst for<\/p>\n
righteousness is to seek<\/p>\n
after the only one that is<\/p>\n
righteous, Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
himself. As we place our faith and trust<\/p>\n
in Jesus Christ as our savior, Jesus as<\/p>\n
Lord, Jesus as our God, our<\/p>\n
guide, we are reconciled unto God.<\/p>\n
We are restored to<\/p>\n
God. Verse 21 here, it's a clear picture<\/p>\n
of this. We stand as<\/p>\n
righteous only as we place our faith in<\/p>\n
the righteous<\/p>\n
one. We become righteous before God<\/p>\n
through Jesus. Through<\/p>\n
Jesus. What happens<\/p>\n
then? Our hearts<\/p>\n
grow. They grow in a longing to know<\/p>\n
Christ and his<\/p>\n
righteousness. Seek after the righteous<\/p>\n
one and you will be blessed. And then<\/p>\n
what? And<\/p>\n
satisfied. Satisfied. The text says the<\/p>\n
longing of your heart will be filled. It<\/p>\n
will be filled. It's satisfied in and<\/p>\n
through through Jesus.<\/p>\n
I go back to this quote so much. Maybe<\/p>\n
you feel like you can start keeping<\/p>\n
track of how often I use this. You're<\/p>\n
welcome to. St. Augustine of Hippo in<\/p>\n
his book, Confessions, he he speaks to<\/p>\n
this longing that we have as<\/p>\n
humans. He says this, \"You've made us<\/p>\n
yourself, oh God. Oh<\/p>\n
Lord, and our heart, the human heart is<\/p>\n
restless. We're<\/p>\n
unsettled until we find our rest in you.<\/p>\n
Until we rest in thee alone, oh God. So<\/p>\n
we are<\/p>\n
restless. That's our condition. We are<\/p>\n
without peace until we come to know the<\/p>\n
lasting and true peace of<\/p>\n
Christ. We must go to Jesus. We must<\/p>\n
seek and yearn and long for peace, for<\/p>\n
righteousness to be found in the<\/p>\n
righteous one. In Psalm 4, it's a Psalm<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
David. And King David seeks God as his<\/p>\n
God of of his righteousness, he says<\/p>\n
this, \"Answer me when I call, oh God of<\/p>\n
my<\/p>\n
righteousness. You've given me relief<\/p>\n
when I was in distress.<\/p>\n
Be gracious to me. Hear my prayer. David<\/p>\n
is acknowledging when God has been<\/p>\n
faithful. David is acknowledging that<\/p>\n
his righteousness is before God and in<\/p>\n
God. And David is also calling out again<\/p>\n
to God. Be gracious to me. Hear my<\/p>\n
prayer. Friends, let's also<\/p>\n
ask as we walk forward in yearning<\/p>\n
after, longing after, hungering after,<\/p>\n
thirsting after. righteousness in<\/p>\n
Christ, the righteous one. Ask God to<\/p>\n
give us that. Help us, Lord Jesus, to<\/p>\n
long after you, to want more of you, to<\/p>\n
seek after you. Do that work in<\/p>\n
us. God's faithful to He will. Let that<\/p>\n
be our<\/p>\n
prayer. As the biatitudes continue, the<\/p>\n
ones we're looking at tonight, Jesus<\/p>\n
says this, \"Blessed are the merciful,<\/p>\n
for they shall receive mercy.\" And this<\/p>\n
is one that that seems to go against the<\/p>\n
idea of our faith not being<\/p>\n
transactional. This one as read here<\/p>\n
seems to say, \"If you are merciful to<\/p>\n
others, then God will be merciful to<\/p>\n
you.\" Or the inverse would be if you're<\/p>\n
not merciful, then God will not be<\/p>\n
merciful.<\/p>\n
Now this can't be what Jesus means. Why?<\/p>\n
Because we need to look at the<\/p>\n
overarching message of the biatitudes of<\/p>\n
the teachings of Jesus of the teachings<\/p>\n
of scripture. And what we see is that<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
gospel of God's grace is that<\/p>\n
mercy is extended to<\/p>\n
us and it's extended to us that don't<\/p>\n
deserve it. unmmerited love and<\/p>\n
mercy. Mercy ceases to be mercy if it's<\/p>\n
conditional. Grace is not grace if it's<\/p>\n
earned through actions and<\/p>\n
deeds. And so what what Jesus is doing<\/p>\n
is actually pointing to a new renewed<\/p>\n
reality and a future<\/p>\n
fullness. A new reality and a future<\/p>\n
fullness. The new reality is the state<\/p>\n
of the renewed heart and mind of one<\/p>\n
that has received and experienced the<\/p>\n
profound mercy of<\/p>\n
God. The Christian is one that will<\/p>\n
extend<\/p>\n
mercy because we have experienced the<\/p>\n
deep mercy of God towards us. His mercy<\/p>\n
is extended and will be<\/p>\n
realized by undeserving<\/p>\n
people. And when we understand that and<\/p>\n
we live in that new reality, we will<\/p>\n
again by God's grace and God's work in<\/p>\n
us be people and be growing in it as a<\/p>\n
people that extend mercy. So it's a sign<\/p>\n
of the new life that we find in Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ, a working out, if you will, of<\/p>\n
the gospel.<\/p>\n
But also the biatitudes, if you read<\/p>\n
them, look through them, there's a<\/p>\n
future component to them as<\/p>\n
well. There's a future component to them<\/p>\n
as well. In this<\/p>\n
case, with this beatitude, we've<\/p>\n
received the mercy of<\/p>\n
God. We will become more and more a<\/p>\n
people that extend the mercy of God.<\/p>\n
Blessed are the merciful.<\/p>\n
and we will be shown again and again the<\/p>\n
mercy of God<\/p>\n
forever. There's a a quote by Pastor Tim<\/p>\n
Keller that I think helps to unpack this<\/p>\n
a little bit. It reads<\/p>\n
this. If a person has grasped the<\/p>\n
meaning of God's grace in his heart, he<\/p>\n
will do justice.<\/p>\n
If he doesn't live justly, then he may<\/p>\n
say with his lips that he's grateful for<\/p>\n
God's grace, but in his heart, he's far<\/p>\n
from<\/p>\n
him. If he doesn't care about the poor,<\/p>\n
it reveals that at best he doesn't<\/p>\n
understand the grace he's<\/p>\n
experienced, and at worst, he's not<\/p>\n
really encountered the saving mercy of<\/p>\n
God. Grace should make you<\/p>\n
just. And in the same way, God's mercy<\/p>\n
will make us merciful. Help us be<\/p>\n
merciful and extend the mercy that we've<\/p>\n
experienced unto others. Blessed are the<\/p>\n
merciful. They have received mercy. They<\/p>\n
will extend<\/p>\n
mercy. They will be shown mercy.<\/p>\n
The next biatitude that that<\/p>\n
Jesus spoke before his disciples and to<\/p>\n
us today through his<\/p>\n
word. Blessed are the pure in<\/p>\n
heart for they will see<\/p>\n
God. And really when we look at these<\/p>\n
three verses as a grouping this this<\/p>\n
next beatitude really combines in a way<\/p>\n
the the two truths we've already talked<\/p>\n
about. A pure<\/p>\n
heart is a right heart, a just heart<\/p>\n
before God. That is to be realized in<\/p>\n
and through the righteousness of Jesus<\/p>\n
alone like we just talked about. And as<\/p>\n
we place our faith in Jesus as our Lord<\/p>\n
and Savior, filled with the Holy Spirit<\/p>\n
where, you know, God is is is working in<\/p>\n
us. And and the gospel, the good<\/p>\n
news of God, doesn't just work on a bit<\/p>\n
of us. It works on all of us<\/p>\n
completely working in us. That term in<\/p>\n
in in Christian doctrine is<\/p>\n
sanctification, being set<\/p>\n
aside more and more and more, made holy<\/p>\n
by God for God. The Christian is one<\/p>\n
that has placed their reliance, their<\/p>\n
hope, their faith on God and is being<\/p>\n
changed more and more and more by the<\/p>\n
work of God in our lives. It's really<\/p>\n
beautiful. It's really beautiful. I've<\/p>\n
heard uh it said that God welcomes us as<\/p>\n
we are, but he does not leave us as we<\/p>\n
are.<\/p>\n
We're changed and we're being<\/p>\n
changed. And here's what's really<\/p>\n
cool. How are we being<\/p>\n
changed? We're being changed and<\/p>\n
transformed to be more like<\/p>\n
Jesus. To be more and more like Jesus.<\/p>\n
Isn't that<\/p>\n
beautiful? To become more like the one<\/p>\n
that has saved us. He's changing us to<\/p>\n
become like him. More and more like him.<\/p>\n
You have been shown<\/p>\n
mercy. And when you realize the mercy of<\/p>\n
Jesus in your life, working in you,<\/p>\n
you're going to become<\/p>\n
merciful. It's going to flow out of<\/p>\n
you as Jesus works in you. It's really<\/p>\n
beautiful. Martin<\/p>\n
Luther talked about this life, the<\/p>\n
Protestant reformer. He talked about<\/p>\n
what this looks<\/p>\n
like. He said this. This life is not<\/p>\n
godliness but growth in<\/p>\n
godliness. It's not health but<\/p>\n
healing. It's not being but<\/p>\n
becoming. Not<\/p>\n
rest but<\/p>\n
exercise. We are not now what we shall<\/p>\n
be.<\/p>\n
But we are on the<\/p>\n
way. The process is not yet<\/p>\n
finished, but it has<\/p>\n
begun. This is not the goal. Where we<\/p>\n
are now is not the goal, but it is the<\/p>\n
road. At present, all does not gleam and<\/p>\n
glitter, but everything is being<\/p>\n
purified.<\/p>\n
Martin Luther is alluding to the work,<\/p>\n
the perfect work that is done in us as<\/p>\n
followers of Jesus. The biatitudes are<\/p>\n
highlighting that reality. You will be<\/p>\n
blessed. You have been blessed. You will<\/p>\n
be blessed. Follow me. Come to me.<\/p>\n
Remember Jesus saying to<\/p>\n
us, theologian Kevin D.<\/p>\n
tongue says<\/p>\n
this, \"The will of God for your life is<\/p>\n
pretty<\/p>\n
straightforward. Be holy like<\/p>\n
Jesus by the power of the spirit for the<\/p>\n
glory of<\/p>\n
God.\" If he only said half this, be holy<\/p>\n
like<\/p>\n
Jesus, man, we would be in dismay<\/p>\n
because it would only be half of what<\/p>\n
our faith is about. And actually, not<\/p>\n
any of it. It would go back to that<\/p>\n
transactional<\/p>\n
piece. But God in his mercy is working<\/p>\n
in us. Be holy like Jesus.<\/p>\n
Impossible by the power of the spirit.<\/p>\n
Okay, this is where it gets real to the<\/p>\n
God. So listen, the Christian is one<\/p>\n
that understands what we just sang<\/p>\n
earlier that we need Jesus. I need you.<\/p>\n
Oh, how I need you.<\/p>\n
Every hour I need<\/p>\n
you. Every hour I need<\/p>\n
you. Here's the<\/p>\n
reality. We need Jesus when we we come<\/p>\n
to him. When he says come, we need him<\/p>\n
and we come. But you know what? We never<\/p>\n
stop needing our Lord and<\/p>\n
Savior. And we never stop needing Jesus<\/p>\n
to be working in us and teaching us and<\/p>\n
helping us and guiding us.<\/p>\n
We need Jesus every<\/p>\n
moment. Every moment. And so we hunger,<\/p>\n
right? Give us that hunger and our<\/p>\n
thirst to seek after you, oh<\/p>\n
God. Jesus is<\/p>\n
committed to refining<\/p>\n
you and helping you to follow<\/p>\n
him. That is<\/p>\n
beautiful. As we sang earlier about<\/p>\n
temptation, help<\/p>\n
us in that time of temptation to know<\/p>\n
the good and beautiful way. Help us<\/p>\n
then. That cry of David in Psalm 4, help<\/p>\n
us be gracious to us. God will do that.<\/p>\n
God will do<\/p>\n
that. So help us, Lord Jesus. May we be<\/p>\n
merciful. May we be gracious and loving<\/p>\n
unto others as God works in and through<\/p>\n
us.<\/p>\n
So in the<\/p>\n
biatitudes what Jesus is doing he's he's<\/p>\n
he's giving us again that picture of<\/p>\n
disciplehip of following him of becoming<\/p>\n
like him. You will be blessed he says<\/p>\n
because blessed are he's pronouncing<\/p>\n
that blessing and he's welcoming us.<\/p>\n
He's calling us into life in<\/p>\n
him. Come to me. Jesus says come to me.<\/p>\n
come to me and find rest for your souls.<\/p>\n
So<\/p>\n
Christian, for those of us that have<\/p>\n
have said and articulated and placed our<\/p>\n
faith in Jesus, be encouraged in that<\/p>\n
tonight that maybe you're wrestling with<\/p>\n
like, I believe this, but wow, this is<\/p>\n
what my reality is right<\/p>\n
now. That call is for you again.<\/p>\n
Come, come find rest. Come be honest<\/p>\n
before me. Jesus says, \"Come and and<\/p>\n
tell<\/p>\n
me what it is that is hurting you and<\/p>\n
let me speak my words of grace over<\/p>\n
you.\" Jesus says, \"And then for those of<\/p>\n
you maybe here tonight or maybe<\/p>\n
listening to this at some<\/p>\n
point, you might say, I don't know what<\/p>\n
I believe about<\/p>\n
Christianity. I don't even know if<\/p>\n
there's any truth in this. that there's<\/p>\n
some truth in this. Something I've heard<\/p>\n
here, maybe I don't know, but I'm<\/p>\n
open to<\/p>\n
knowing the Christian says to you, the<\/p>\n
text says to you, and we believe that<\/p>\n
Jesus says to you,<\/p>\n
\"Come, come and see. Come and ask your<\/p>\n
questions of me.<\/p>\n
Come<\/p>\n
and bring all your<\/p>\n
doubts and let's let's sit and<\/p>\n
talk. Let me speak to you. Let me speak<\/p>\n
to you. So that's for both of us. For<\/p>\n
the Christian and for those that would<\/p>\n
would say I'm I'm not a Christian, but I<\/p>\n
have<\/p>\n
questions. It's the same tonight. come<\/p>\n
as Ajan Nati<\/p>\n
uh had us focus our hearts tonight at<\/p>\n
the beginning of of our of our time<\/p>\n
here. Maybe you've been thinking and<\/p>\n
thinking all through this about<\/p>\n
something in your life right now where<\/p>\n
you're like, \"Wow, this is really<\/p>\n
hard and I'm hurting and I'm<\/p>\n
frustrated.\" Here's what I would ask of<\/p>\n
you.<\/p>\n
What does this text say to you in<\/p>\n
that?<\/p>\n
How is that real issue, that real<\/p>\n
struggle, that real problem, how is it<\/p>\n
seen in the goodness and and the gospel<\/p>\n
Jesus? And you know, perhaps you need to<\/p>\n
to speak with someone about that. You<\/p>\n
need to talk with someone about that.<\/p>\n
Kungchan,<\/p>\n
myself, any other Christian here at<\/p>\n
Grace<\/p>\n
City, any brother and sister in the Lord<\/p>\n
would be honored to sit with you and<\/p>\n
talk with you about that. That's what<\/p>\n
the church does. That's what the church<\/p>\n
is. And I just wanted to address that at<\/p>\n
the end of this. And then you know God<\/p>\n
is<\/p>\n
good and he is at<\/p>\n
work in you and around you and even<\/p>\n
through very difficult<\/p>\n
circumstances. But let us hear that from<\/p>\n
Jesus tonight. Come to<\/p>\n
me. Come to me. Let's<\/p>\n
pray. Lord God, we need<\/p>\n
you. We need you. We admit that and<\/p>\n
sometimes you will allow things or there<\/p>\n
might be things in our lives where we<\/p>\n
see that so clearly that wow we need we<\/p>\n
need God in<\/p>\n
this. So we ask God that you would help<\/p>\n
us. It would be really easy for us each<\/p>\n
of us tonight I think to leave here and<\/p>\n
think I just need to try harder. I just<\/p>\n
need to do better. I just need to be a<\/p>\n
better person. And we would miss we<\/p>\n
would miss<\/p>\n
it. We would miss what you're trying to<\/p>\n
show us that we're reliant on you. We<\/p>\n
need you and and you will do more than<\/p>\n
we can ask or or<\/p>\n
imagine. So, would you bring us to the<\/p>\n
goodness of the gospel again?<\/p>\n
Would you remind us that we're saved not<\/p>\n
by what we do or could do or can do,<\/p>\n
nothing, but we're saved by your<\/p>\n
grace. Help us rest in<\/p>\n
that. And God, help us be reminded that<\/p>\n
you are good and you are<\/p>\n
merciful. Stir our hearts again. Let us<\/p>\n
hunger. Move us to that place of hunger<\/p>\n
and thirst that we would love<\/p>\n
you and worship you.<\/p>\n
out of that place of<\/p>\n
love and that you would empower<\/p>\n
us to love and care for those around us<\/p>\n
that are also hurting. This world is<\/p>\n
full of hurting people. Help us to love<\/p>\n
them in your<\/p>\n
love. We ask and pray this in your name,<\/p>\n
your holy and good name, Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20250604","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2WaSLWTyJwg","video_id":"2WaSLWTyJwg","video_duration":"42:10","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}