True Christianity, Part 1

Pray with me for a moment, please father. We thank you for the truth of your word We thank you for how you explain to us your nature and character how good you are to give us the word of god to study and to explore and I pray that As we once again have the opportunity to open the text and to study what you say concerning your kingdom I pray that lord we'd have open hearts and receptive ears to Believe what it is. You have said that we might be followers of jesus christ our lord. We pray in jesus name amen Turn with me in your bible if you would to luke chapter 6 Luke chapter 6 and we're going to study this morning the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived jesus christ our lord luke chapter 6 verses 20 and following is Basically the same account as matthews 5 6 and 7 Commonly called the sermon on the mount Now if you were with us some 11 12 years ago We went through matthews 5 6 and 7 and about 35 weeks and talked about what it means to live like a child of the king if you weren't with us and you want to Purchase those you can because they're going to go into much greater detail than i'm going to go In with you over the next couple of weeks as we cover luke's account because luke's is a lot shorter than matthews account Which would lead some to believe that it is a different sermon rather than the same one in matthews 5 6 and 7 And one of the reasons they say that is because it says that when christ came down from the mountaintop He stood on a level place.

And so they say well, this is the sermon on the plane Where matthews 5 6 and 7 is the sermon? on the mount well Maybe that's the case The point is is that what jesus says or what's recorded in luke 6 by luke is virtually the same thing As matthew records in matthews 5 6 and 7 except a little shorter and a little different emphasis on some issues that jesus speaks of Why is that?

Well, that's because when matthew records the sermon of the mount he records it from his perspective And when luke records it he records it from his Perspective and so they wouldn't give all the necessary details. They wouldn't speak everything the same But they would record those things under the divine inspiration of scripture that god wanted them to put in the text And so we're going to study that this morning and next week and a couple of weeks after that As we begin to understand what jesus christ had to say this day in luke chapter 6 verses 20 and following Now you need to understand that this sermon that jesus preaches Is a sermon Not about religion It's a sermon about redemption It's a sermon not about ethics.

It's a sermon about eternity It's a sermon about those who know god And those who do not know god It's a sermon that determines whether or not you're going to go to heaven Or whether or not you're going to go to hell It is the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived And so when luke records for us this sermon, he wants us to understand the identity of the messiah In matthew's account at the end of matthew chapter 7 it's recorded these words that when everyone had heard Him speak they were astounded at his words because he spoke as one having authority Now we read that and we think okay.

He speaks with an authoritative voice But i'm not quite sure we understand the authority with which our lord speaks For instance when the universe was created It was created through the spoken word of god He spoke the universe into existence When jesus calmed the sea He spoke a word And when he spoke a word the sea That was torrent became like glass When jesus wanted to raise someone from the dead he spoke a word and they came To life jesus when he speaks speaks with authority When he would cast demons Out of an individual he would just speak a word And because he had such authority Whatever he said happened well Luke is presenting to us the messiah jesus christ god in human flesh and when jesus speaks He speaks unlike anyone else who has ever spoken So imagine the authority With which he would speak these words, but the amazing thing about this sermon is that luke records it Matthew records it but at the end There's no story of anybody ever converted Jesus speaks this great sermon.

He gives this great sermon luke chapter 4. He gives a great sermon What do they want to do? They want to kill him In luke chapter 6 he preaches this great sermon And what happens no response? Nobody comes forward gets saved nobody repents of their sin There is no indication in scripture that anybody ever got saved from this sermon It's the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived Figure that he speaks with one having Authority, oh they marveled that as words But they were hard words to digest Very hard words to digest Oh the pharisees hated him They couldn't stand him because what he says speaks against their religious system And they became so infuriated with him that they said that he had a demon He spoke the truth so clearly and so plainly And they were used to living a lie for so long That when he came and spoke the truth, they thought he was crazy.

They thought he had a demon ironically they thought john the baptist Also had a demon we'll find that later on luke chapter 7 later on Everybody believed that john was a prophet They all believed john was a prophet And that john was going to point to the messiah and he did but when they heard the messiah They didn't like the messiah So they concluded that john must have been wrong. Even though all judea went out to be baptized in the jordan Even though they all affirmed that john was a great prophet And although they all affirmed that john was a prophet prophesied in the old testament They hated jesus so much they turned on john and said john must have had a demon He was bizarre We'll talk more about that in luke chapter 7.

You see that's how religious people attack the truth They attack it by saying the messenger is filled with satan. He's a demon. He must be wrong Because our system must be right We've lived it for so long And here were these pharisees Who would hear jesus? And after they said that he had a demon they wanted to silence him. They wanted to put him to death They wanted nothing to do with jesus of nazareth What jesus taught? Shattered everything they believed about their religion Totally turned it upside down What jesus taught?

Replaced and shattered everything foundational to what they said they believed And so he comes on the scene and begins to preach and they've never heard anything like it before Although it's the fulfillment of old testament prophecy It's because the religious system of the day had so turned the people away from the truth That when the truth was presented They thought it was a lie They thought it was from satan They thought that christ Was an error imagine that Let me read to you what he says Luke 6 verses 20 to 26 In turning his gaze on his disciples.

He began to say blessed are you who are poor? For yours is the kingdom of god Blessed are you who hunger now for you shall be satisfied Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and cast insults at you and spurn your name is evil for the sake of the son of man Be glad in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets But woe to you who are rich For you are receiving your comfort in full Woe to you who are well fed now for you shall be hungry Woe to you who laugh now For you shall mourn and weep Woe to you when men All men speak well of you For in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets Now you read that That that sounds absolutely ridiculous Since when are poor people hungry people crying people and ostracized people blessed If we're hungry, we want to be satisfied If we're poor we want to be rich If we are the people who want to or are being ridiculed we want to be popular We reverse all those things and yet jesus says in my kingdom the people who are blessed are the poor people the crying people those who weep the people who are blessed are those who are hungry and those Who are rejected?

You see it goes totally contrary to what we believe naturally But that's the gospel The gospel goes against our natural beliefs And so these people would come and they would hear these words and they would be taken back by what jesus the messiah says See the world's thinking is completely opposite of ours That's why over in first corinthians 1 paul says that the wisdom of god is foolishness to man The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who don't believe in romans chapter 1 verse number 22 Paul says that man professes to be wise But in reality, he's a moron That's the greek text The unbeliever is a moron In the eyes of god, they're foolish people Because they won't accept the basic truth of the gospel Christianity Doesn't add to man's brilliance Christianity replaces it Completely and see we we today Modern day christianity has a hard time with it.

Just like modern day judaism did or old time judaism did They had a hard time accepting the words of the messiah but this Sermon is a sermon for discerning. Listen carefully your spiritual condition Let me give you the context of the sermon And then let me give you the contents of the sermon We'll begin with the context because you need to understand what christ is doing here He wants people to be able to discern where they are spiritually It's it's a lot like our church today or any church people go to church and they ask questions How how can I obtain forgiveness from god?

Who is god? How do I how do I get into the fellowship of god what does it mean to be a christian People come to church they come from various backgrounds. They ask those kinds of questions. Well, remember jesus had Prayed he had chosen his twelve. He comes down with those messengers According to the previous text in verses 17 and following he comes down with his men. He descends onto a plain And there it says that a great multitude of his disciples and a great throng of people from all judea And jerusalem and the coastal region of tyre and sidon who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured This is an amazing scene Jesus chooses his men We've talked about all 12 of those men Luke lists them for us.

We went into great deal to describe them to you. He comes down with his men He comes to a level plane and there's a mixed multitude of people And we told you about that mixed multitude of people You must understand who they are because the text says in verse 20 and turning his gaze on his disciples That wasn't the 12 men That was the mixed multitude of people who claimed to be his disciples who claimed to be followers of christ Who claimed to be learners of christ who came to see him as their rabbi and they wanted to learn more about him His kingdom and the way his life was to be lived or the way their lives were to be lived And so they came and they they would listen And some of that mixed multitude had committed their life to christ Some of that mixed multitude were true believers in the lord.

Jesus christ Others were on the fringe others were debating whether or not this was the messiah would they follow him? They came to learn about him because they wanted to hear and see for themselves And then there was that great multitude that many more Of people from tyre and sidon who were pagans who were unbelievers who were so taken back by what he was doing They too wanted to see him. They too wanted to hear him They too wanted to know what all the hubbub was about I mean this was the greatest show on earth It was Everybody was being healed He healed everybody If they had a demon cast out If they had a sickness healed a disease healed Lame healed whatever it was.

They were completely healed. He healed them all He didn't bypass some He didn't say well your faith isn't really good. You can't be healed. Sorry How about you your faith any good? Okay. I'll hear you. It wasn't that way. He healed them all So the context is important Because he wants these people to come to a point of decision And he realizes that what he's doing for them is not going to save them. Oh, yes physically they feel better physically They look better physically. They are better but spiritually They're dying on the vine and so he Fixes his gaze upon them boy.

What a what a great phrase For jesus to fix his gaze upon you that's important because you see he knows what's in your heart He would fix his gaze upon him john 2 remember john 2 I think it's verses 22 and 23. There were many who believed him But he did not commit himself to them because he knew what was in their hearts So he had a lot of followers. You see a lot of people on the outskirts who believed him Oh, yeah, this is the messiah. This is my rabbi. Oh, I believe in jesus, but he knew their hearts And so he fixes his gaze upon him over in john 6 verse number 66 There are many of his disciples who departed and never walked with him ever again Why because they were learners of the christ They wanted to know about the christ and when he spoke the hard words about eating my flesh and drinking my blood Taking all of what I say all of who I am into your life accepting me They said nope don't want to do that.

That's just too hard for us to accept He turned and walked away That's when christ would say to his own 12. Will you go away also and peter said no lord. You have the words of eternal life Over in john 8 31 christ says You are truly my disciples if you abide in my words and my words abide in you my words remain in you If you're committed to what I say You're a true Disciple of mine.

You are a true learner a true follower a true christian. You are truly a believer in me as your messiah So christ he fixes his gaze upon these people Because he wants them to come to a point of decision He wants them to realize what the kingdom is all about He wants him to realize what christianity is all about and this sermon is about true Christianity this sermon is about those who really know christ and those who don't Those who are committed to him and those who are not now most commentators don't believe that So if you pick up a commentary this afternoon, you go home and say well pastor The guy I read about he doesn't agree with what you say Sorry, you know Most commentators won't agree with it it's a sermon about true genuine salvation How do we know that by the way he concludes look at verse 46 Why do you call me lord lord and do not do what I say Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts upon them I will show you who me is like He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock and when a flood rose the torrent Burst against the house and could not shake it because it had been well built But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly Is like a man who built the house upon the ground without any foundation and the torrent burst against it And immediately it collapsed and the ruin of that house was great Thus ends the sermon That's how he ends he ends with the prospect of judgment He ends with saying you will either stand in the day of judgment or you will fall in the day of judgment He ends his sermon on a note of negativity by the way jesus ended Almost every one of his sermons on a negative note Not a positive note In fact, most of his sermons were negative not positive They weren't real feel good sermons.

They weren't like oh wow. Jesus that is really cozy and schmoozy man. That's good. Jesus It just wasn't that way Because he confronted the evil system. He confronted the the sinful hearts of man Hearts that needed to be broken over the sin hearts needed to know the truth because he was concerned about their spiritual welfare He was concerned about their spiritual condition and every great preacher is concerned about where you stand spiritually with god They could care less where you stand with anybody else.

They just care where you stand with god Because one day you'll stand before god and on that day There'll be nobody beside you. It's just you and the lord god And many he says will say to me lord lord Lord And he says why do you call me lord and yet not do what I say? You see if he's your lord you do exactly what he says If you don't do what he says He's not your lord He's not your god. He's not your messiah. He's not your king It's as simple as that And so he wants them to come to a point of conclusion He wants them to understand that this is what it's all about.

He knows they're not all believers He knows they're all not committed to him. He knows that he knows it's in their heart But he wants to give them the opportunity to respond to the truth. He wants them to know the truth He wants them to be able to see the contrast Between the system of the pharisees and the scriptural truth of what biblical Christianity is all about So it begins With a sharp contrast Between those who are blessed And those who are cursed that leads us to the content of the sermon You're either blessed or cursed by the way, there is no middle ground There's nothing in between Today Is the same as it was 2 000 years ago.

You're either part of the blessed Or you are a part of the cursed one or the other nothing in between he says Blessed Blessed Macarioi, it's a good great word. It's a word that speaks of one being the most favored One being the most or being in the most beneficial condition So much so that on the on the inside of an individual there is complete and utter joy and satisfaction Because macarioi is that which deals with the soul of a man And the blessed man has his soul at rest with his savior as opposed to the cursed man The cursed man is in the most unfavored position the most or the worst condition possible There are two spheres of existence One sphere is the blessed sphere.

The other is the cursed sphere Christ isn't speaking about wishing Hoping or even praying about any of these things No, he states absolute statements of facts This is the verdict The blessed man is the poor man The blessed man is the hungry man The blessed man is the weeping man and the blessed man is a rejected man. That is statement of fact But the cursed man Is the rich man The cursed man is the satisfied man The cursed man is the one who is the happy man The cursed man is the popular man See how that goes against everything we think to be right We have a hard time swallowing that And that's because we don't understand exactly all that jesus is saying and how he is actually portraying to these people the truth of christianity And that's why we're here today To study this The question comes which group are you in?

You in the blessed group Are you in the cursed group? Like it was for those people 2 000 years ago on the mount or on the plane wherever they were hearing this sermon They find themselves in one of two categories And christ wants them to examine their spiritual condition He wants them to know exactly where they are. He wants them to be without excuse as to where they are spiritually with their maker He wants them to understand it very very clearly And today As we come to celebrate the lord's table The bible says in first corinthians first corinthians 11 that we are the kind of people that need to examine ourselves, right?

Should always examine yourself. So this becomes a test for all of us It becomes an examination as to Who is a true christian? And who is not? This is very important Because in luke's account he has just chosen the 12th We know that 11 of them were true one of them was not On the outside. They all looked like they were true And the one that looked the truest was the most false judas And so jesus Wants people to know That even among all the true there will stand people who are false So, how do you know you're a true christian?

How do you know you truly? Have jesus as lord of your life How do you know for certain that you've repented of your sins? How do you know for certain that you're going to heaven when you die? See jesus wants people to know that He wants them to understand true christianity And that's luke 6 My prayer for you and for me is that when it's all said and done when we come to the end of verse number 49 of luke 6 you'll know for certain whether or not you're saved or you're not the blessed and the cursed the content of the sermon Let's begin with those who are blessed We won't get very far this morning, but we'll begin there those who are blessed.

It says blessed are you Who are poor for yours is the kingdom? of god now when we read that we think well, that's That's just ridiculous because we don't want to be poor Some of you saying well, yeah the way gas prices are i mean i'm getting poorer by the minute here, you know So I must really be blessed. No, it's not about physical poorness. It's not about materialistic Poorness, it's not about that It's about spiritual poverty Not physical poverty or material poverty How do we know that? Well matthew's account says blessed are the poor in spirit see It speaks of one's spiritual condition.

It speaks of one's bankrupt condition And the word used is tokos. It's a word that that speaks of the the the the the beggar who who? Is so poor that he has nothing in and of himself To get himself back up out of poverty It's a word used in luke chapter 18 of of of the publican who who stood outside and covered his face And would not even look up because he was so ashamed of his poverty stricken condition begging god to have mercy upon him Because he had nothing to stand on versus the pharisee Who said i'm glad i'm not like that publican over there Oh, I fast twice a week Oh, yes, I I give my tithes to the lord all the time I i'm so glad i'm not like that other man, but the bible says in luke 18 that that man prayed to himself A lot of people today prayed to themselves.

I think they're praying to god But they're praying to themselves You see the jews believed that they were righteous The jews believed that they were I mean after all they're the children of abraham the chosen people They didn't have to ask for forgiveness They were already forgiven But on top of that there was nothing to be forgiven for because you see they did all the right things They did the good things And christ says listen the blessed person Is not the self-righteous one The blessed person is the one who knows That in his spirit in his soul He is poverty stricken.

He has nothing In which to offer god There are no deeds you can do that will ever be good enough to gain favor with god There is no righteousness that in of yourself that will ever cause god to look upon you say oh you are such a a Wonderful person I will save you because you are kind and good and gentle and sweet It doesn't work that way Not in god's kingdom Good deeds work self-righteous acts Ceremonies Rituals all those things that the jews believe saved them or made them right with god don't That's why The blessed person is the one who recognizes he has nothing to offer god That's worth anything And that's the blessed person That's what the bible says in isaiah 66 verse number two to this man will I look Well, which one's that?

To him who is broken and of a contrite spirit and he trembles at my word How do you know you got a broken and contrite spirit you shake uncontrollably under the authority of god's word That's how you know, you got a broken and contrite spirit You ever talk to people and say well, yeah, I know that's what the bible says, but i'm not doing it Hmm The bible says that god looks at one man the broken and contrite spirit who trembles at my word You know Your spirit is broken and contrite when the word of god is open it confronts your sin and you shake uncontrollably under it God says oh, that's what god says.

I got to do it If god says I got to do it, I got to do it I might not like it. It doesn't make a difference whether or not I like it because it's not open for debate It's not even open for discussion. God says this is the way it is.

This is what you got to do You say yes lord I got a broken and contrite spirit. I will do that And that's the poor spirit Blessed are the poor in spirit For theirs is the kingdom of god Theirs and theirs only is god's kingdom They have entrance into the kingdom of god the place where the king rules. The kingdom is the rulership of the king And if you want the king to rule your life The only way that happens is when you come to him and say lord. I have nothing to offer you I have nothing to give you there's nothing in and of myself that causes you to accept me lord I have nothing to give you so I come to you in all humility and I bow before you in submission Because you're king I am not you are god.

I am not all my righteousness is as filthy rags There is nothing at all. That's good in me See that's hard for our culture to accept because we're into self-esteem We're into building people up And god's into tearing them down So it's no wonder the world doesn't like god Because he says you can't come to me with a good self-esteem. You can't come to me thinking you're pretty good Because god says people come to me think they're that way.

They're the cursed people They're not the blessed people The blessed come and beg for mercy You know what jesus said in luke 4 You know, it's always good to study the sermons of jesus Because then you know, you always got it, right? See In luke chapter 4 remember when he came to the synagogue there in nazareth And they offered him a scroll and he stood up to read it was a reading of the day isaiah 61 he reads it It's a fulfillment of the prophecy that the messiah would come the spirit of the lord would be upon him and we know that because That happened earlier in luke chapter 4 when he was or luke chapter 3 when he was baptized And the spirit of the lord descended upon him like a dove and there he is.

He's he's the messiah It was a testimony to all those who are around them and it says in isaiah I'm, sorry luke chapter 4 verse number 18 When the book was handed to him it says the spirit of the lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel He he anointed me to preach the good news. This is the good news. This is the best of all news This is what the angel said to the shepherd Good news that brings great joy. There's no joy without the good news Jesus says i've been anointed to preach the good news.

Okay, great but only to the poor Only to the poor he says The spirit of the lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor the good news to the poor same word used in luke 6 of blessed are the poor Potokos those who have nothing Nothing in and of themselves to ever offer god because there's nothing they can do that will ever cause god to look with favor upon them Man is saved by grace through faith, right? Man is saved because god bestows grace upon him to save him God chooses to save you Then choose to save some because they're nicer kinder sweeter and gentler He chooses us Because that's what he wants to do And he bestows grace upon us Because that's who he is And we recognize that we have nothing to offer him poverty Of spirit And christ says I I came to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release of the captives people who are in prison And recovery of sight to the blind those who can't see anything spiritually And they set free those who are downtrodden to proclaim the favorable year of the lord those people who are depressed Those people who are oppressed those people who are down i've come to preach to those people And the jews of that day who were his friends Who were a part of his family in the synagogue became so outraged They wanted to kill him And all he did is say i've come to preach the gospel the good news to the poor blind the prisoner And the downtrodden Why are they so mad because they didn't see themselves that way They saw themselves as the spiritually elite They saw themselves as the children of god They saw themselves as the children of abraham the chosen ones They didn't have to ask for forgiveness.

They didn't have to receive any grace That's why the pharisee was so upset when jesus offered grace to sinners tax collectors prostitutes They were infuriated with that Became angry with him because you see That was something they didn't need because they were already children of god And christ says these are the blessed people These are the ones who recognize that they have nothing in and of themselves.

Theirs is the kingdom of god They're the ones who accept me as their king. Those are the ones who see me as their ruler and will submit to my authority Because they have nothing to offer they have nothing To give The kingdom of god Says Blessed are those who are poor for yours is The kingdom you don't get things out of the kingdom.

The kingdom is yours You don't get parts of the kingdom The kingdom is yours. It's yours you become owners Of the kingdom it's yours It's what I give to those who are poor in spirit I give it to them What does that kingdom consist of listen to this? But the kingdom of god Is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit And what that tells me That says it says basically this How do you know you're poor in spirit? How do you know you are worse than begging poor spiritually You're broken Have a contrite heart And you tremble under the authority of god's word And when you do the kingdom is yours And the byproduct of that It's not eating and drinking It's righteousness It's peace It's joy You got joy today We got peace today Those things are byproduct of children of the kingdom How do you know you're a child of the king?

How do you know that the kingdom is yours? Because in the kingdom is joy in the kingdom is peace and in the kingdom is the righteousness of christ All that is yours and when you obtain the righteousness of christ you are at peace with god And when you're at peace with god you have supreme joy Folks let me tell you something one of the highest marks of a christian is the joy he has in his soul Because of what christ has done So How do you know You're a true christian You have joy today We have bitterness anger resentment You grit your teeth When it comes to things of the gospel and the truth of the of christianity You don't want to submit to what the word of god says And you will live a life of of of just constant turmoil That's not the child of god At least as the bible speaks of him or her They have peace in their hearts Amidst all the conflict around them.

There's great peace in their soul There's joy in their soul, even though there could be sadness in the heart There is joy in the soul because of what god himself has done for them already And what god will do through his sovereign work because he is god he rules you're in his kingdom You understand his sovereignty you believe in him. You trust in him. You've given your life to him. That's the christian So we have to stop fooling people We got to stop trying to convince people that they're saved When in reality they might not be Why do we work so hard at convincing somebody that they're saved when in reality they might not ever have experienced their relationship with the living god Let the word of god speak to their hearts.

Let the word of god speak to them and say yes. Uh, I I think i'm saved. Well, well, do you have a are you poor in spirit? Are you bankrupt in your soul? Do you realize you have nothing to offer god? You're broken and contrite over your sin and you tremble uncontrollably under the authority of god's word We tremble under the authority of god's word And that puts me from god's perspective into his kingdom because he accepts me into that kingdom And in that kingdom there is peace and there is joy and there is righteousness in the holy spirit It's not that difficult to figure out folks We make it so cloudy today When in reality, it's very clear very pointed very truthful Blessed Are the poor in spirit?

For there's the kingdom of god And then he says this Blessed Are you who hunger now For you shall be satisfied Folks this is so rich. It's so deep Blessed are are the hungry What? Hungry some of you thinking about lunch and it's only 10 15 hungry I must really be blessed because I hadn't had breakfast this morning. I'm starving to death. No, it's not physical hunger. It's spiritual hunger It's clarified in matthew's account blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness The kingdom is for the hungry and the thirsty See here's listen carefully if you're bankrupt in spirit You are so hungry and so thirsty for god's righteousness You cry out for it And god says those who do that, well, they're satisfied Cortado Great word to fodder up To fodder up, you know animals when they eat they just they eat and eat and eat and eat They just don't stop eating you can put food out there and they'll eat and eat eat forever They'll just get foddered up pigs that way they get foddered up man Just keep putting in putting in by because they don't care what they look like We we we care what we look like when we sit down we have a nice big steak potato and you know That good red meat and have that ice cream sundae afterwards, man.

We're chowing down boy we just want to keep eating and eating and eating and sometimes we're full we just keep on eating, but we we we reserve ourselves because We want people to see us on sunday trim and thin and looking really fine and dandy see We're concerned about our outward appearance, so we'll fodder up But cortado is a word that means to fodder up. It's a word used of animals. It means that there's an Unending supply of satisfaction that comes from god for those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of god Wow, that's that's great.

But but you only do that if you're poor in spirit see Because you need to be filled and god fills you They want forgiveness They want eternal life They want fellowship with god It's the soul that is profoundly aware of its emptiness The soul that's profoundly aware that it has nothing there Can't wait to get a hold of the righteousness of god and hungers for it and thirsts for it and desires it and drives for it that's The person Who is committed to to the lord? over in psalm 42 It says it this way As a deer pants for the water brooks So my soul pants for thee.

Oh god my soul thirsts for god for the living god When shall I come and appear before god? over in psalm 62 psalm 62 62 It says these words. Oh, sorry. Psalm 63. Oh god thou art my god I shall seek thee earnestly my soul thirsts for thee my flesh yearns for thee In a dry and weary land where there is no water. See that that's the christian thing There's that longing there's that yearning. There's that desire. There's that hungering and thirsting For righteousness and those who do that Are foddered up spiritually They're satisfied Isn't that what mary said over in uh, luke chapter 1 verse number 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed That was mary's take on what messiah would do he fills the hungry heart these people Become completely satiated Completely satisfied because of what god does in their lives This is the believer And christ wants there to be no discrepancy He doesn't want there to be any question about who of those disciples the mixed multitude where some have committed themselves to him Some are thinking about considering committing themselves to him.

Others are on the fringe They're not sure what they want to do. Others are along for the joy ride. He says listen Here's what it's all about. You want true blessing? Look I can heal you physically I can make you better I can make you feel better, but that's not what it's about It's about the condition of your heart. And so when christ sees all these people Yes, he can deal with them physically and he can handle every physical need they have and he does but now he says look We got to go deeper than that.

We got to go beyond the skin beyond the bones We got to get to the soul of a man go beyond the blood get to the very depth of a soul and say listen This is true joy You can be healed now You can feel better now You can leave thinking. Oh, I feel so no more aches. No more pain. This is so great But you know what you're still going to die Because of the effects of sin upon your body So when you die Where will you go? Will you know me and if you know me The physical condition is not nearly as important to you anymore Because spiritually you're right and you're right with your god so he says hey listen here it is Blessed are the poor For theirs Is the kingdom of god Will be a part of my kingdom a bankrupt spirit There's nothing to offer And blessed are those who hunger Specifically for for righteousness they thirst for righteousness.

That's what they want. Oh lord that I might be like you yearning for god in a dry and thirsty land or dry land like Like like a desire for that drink of cold water lord, I want you and christ says you know what those people Will be satisfied Versus those who are physically made well in the context and they leave unchanged They won't be satisfied See you can change your physical condition But never truly be satisfied in your spiritual condition Unless you hunger and thirst for righteousness That's what christ says I didn't make it up It's not my way of salvation It's not what I say.

It's what god says And we need to obey the truth of the word of the lord you need to ask yourself As we come to the lord's table today To examine yourself Am I truly a believer in the lord jesus christ Am I truly given my life to christ?

Have I truly? Looked to him for everything Am I truly? One who is a part of god's kingdom Am I truly Satisfied in my soul See only god can do that Nobody else can do that for you But god can And that's the essence of the ministry of christ He wants people to know where they stand spiritually without question And my prayer for for us as a church is that there be nobody that comes to this church Who is in question about their eternal destiny? That everybody knows for certain this is what jesus says This is how I know the kingdom of god, this is how I know true satisfaction He goes on to say blessed are those who mourn For they're gonna laugh When's the last time you laughed Matthew's account says they should be comforted It's not that you live a life of Jokes and and that kind of thing.

It just centers around the fact that there's great comfort It's the it's the freedom Of an Of an unburdened life That causes you to to rest in god And we'll talk about that next week and then he says if you're among the hungry If you're among the poverty stricken If you're among those who weep over their sin There'll be evidence of that You'll be rejected By name People say i'm a christian. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm a christian I'm poor in spirit. I hunger thirst for righteousness. I've cried over my sin Are you rejected by the world?

Oh, no the world loves me Jesus says The world will hate you That's the byproduct of being in my kingdom you're no longer part of their kingdom Where do you stand with christ?

Are you the blessed Are you the cursed? Let's pray father. We thank you for your word And so clearly speaks to the soul of a man We thank you for your word that clearly opens to us the way of salvation We thank you for your word that never mints his words We thank you for mook who under divine inspiration Records these words of our lord and savior Oh how true it is today How much we need to hear the truth When there's so much untruth being spoken We need to hear the truth And may lord we be the people who live that truth we pray in jesus name amen