Jeff Miller

March 30, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

You Are God's Influencers

Jeff Miller

March 30, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Introduction:

Influencer = Social media professional who has built a sizable following around a relevant topic, and can therefore influence their followers to take an action, thanks to their credibility and authority.

  
    As Salt and Light, I Am God's Influencer 
(Matthew 5:13-16)

My Influence is Expected.
My Influence Comes from Me Being Different.
My Influence Is for God's Glory.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:06
Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of Matthew and chapter five.
00:08-00:12
Today, we are going to talk about influencers.
00:17-00:29
Now, the young people here already know something about this, but those of us who are older, I'm in that category too.
00:29-00:34
This might be a new concept to some of this.
00:35-00:36
But what is an influencer?
00:36-00:37
We have a definition here.
00:37-00:39
Can we get the definition up on the screen?
00:40-00:43
This is what an influencer is, okay?
00:44-01:10
It's a social media professional who has built a sizable following around a relevant topic and can therefore influence their followers to take an action thanks to their credibility and authority.
01:11-01:18
That's what a social media influencer or an influencer, that's what that is.
01:19-01:22
And those relevant topics, it's a lot of different things, right?
01:22-01:26
It's food, health, fashion, pop culture, travel, gaming, beauty.
01:26-01:31
You name it, there's somebody out there that is an influencer.
01:34-01:37
They are internet celebrities.
01:39-01:46
And by that, some of them were already celebrities and they got online.
01:48-01:57
And some of them are people who became celebrities because of their online presence.
01:59-02:01
There's lists of the top ones.
02:01-02:12
I was looking up all these lists and you can do this sometime, not now, but I was looking up lists of who were the biggest influencers of our day.
02:13-02:16
And for sake of time today, I'm just gonna share top five.
02:16-02:20
Here's the top five, according to this one list for whatever that's worth.
02:21-02:26
The number one biggest influencer, Cristiano Ronaldo.
02:28-02:30
I don't even know who she is.
02:30-02:31
Does anybody?
02:33-02:37
A soccer player, not football.
02:38-02:40
That is a different sport.
02:41-02:43
We call it soccer like good Americans.
02:45-02:49
Okay, so apparently Cristiano Ronaldo is a soccer player.
02:49-02:52
on this list, the biggest influencer in the world currently.
02:53-02:55
Number two, I think I heard of her.
02:55-02:56
It's a Selena Gomez.
02:57-02:58
Isn't she like a, is she an actor or something?
02:59-03:00
Okay, actor, singer.
03:00-03:01
Okay, all right.
03:03-03:05
Number three is Mr. Beast.
03:07-03:08
Probably not his real name.
03:11-03:14
Number four is Lionel Messi, Messi?
03:16-03:17
Another soccer player.
03:18-03:19
(congregation laughing)
03:22-03:26
I played soccer in high school and college and it was not popular back then.
03:27-03:30
Now two of the top five so far, oh, number five, I know number five.
03:31-03:37
Number five is the Biebs, as his followers like to call him, Justin Bieber.
03:38-03:39
That's number five.
03:41-03:46
Did you know God has a face for his brand?
03:48-03:50
God has a spokesman.
03:50-03:55
God has someone to endorse his relevant topic.
03:55-03:56
Do you know who that is?
03:58-03:58
It's you.
03:59-04:00
It's you.
04:03-04:14
Lick it by your heads with me, and I want you to pray for me as we turn to God's word, that I'll be faithful to communicate it, and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what God has for us today.
04:15-04:15
Let's pray.
04:22-04:25
Father, Your Word tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.
04:27-04:33
The only transformation that can happen is supernatural transformation.
04:33-04:34
It has to come from You.
04:36-04:45
I pray, Father, that as we encounter Your Word, as we encounter You, we are profoundly changed.
04:45-04:47
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
04:48-04:51
And all of God's people said, amen.
04:52-04:55
We just finished what was like an eight week series on the Beatitudes.
04:56-05:00
And the Beatitudes describe what a follower of Jesus is like.
05:02-05:10
Verses 13 through 16 describe the function of the believer in the world.
05:11-05:15
You are God's influencer.
05:16-05:16
You are.
05:18-05:31
When you live as described in the Beatitudes, you influence the world.
05:33-05:34
Like, well, how does that happen?
05:34-05:35
Well, let's see what our Lord says.
05:36-05:38
Matthew 5, verse 13.
05:38-05:42
He says, "You are the salt of the earth.
05:45-05:49
"But if salt has lost its taste, "how shall its saltiness be restored?
05:50-05:56
"It is no longer good for anything, "except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
05:58-06:00
"You are the light of the world.
06:01-06:11
"A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, "nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, But on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
06:12-06:13
In the same way.
06:15-06:24
Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.
06:27-06:29
Jesus here is saying, OK, here's the short version.
06:30-06:33
The world is decaying.
06:35-06:35
And it's dark.
06:37-06:43
Have you noticed what it needs is salt and light?
06:45-06:48
Let's talk about salt and light for a second, shall we?
06:48-06:53
When it comes to salt, look, in our day, we kind of take salt for granted.
06:54-06:55
It's everywhere.
06:55-06:58
It's on every table, it's in your cabinet, it's everywhere.
07:00-07:01
And it's cheap.
07:03-07:08
But the people that lived in Jesus' day they would have had a different view of salt.
07:08-07:11
To the Greeks, they considered salt divine.
07:12-07:21
The Romans said that there is nothing more valuable than two things, sun and salt.
07:22-07:28
In fact, Roman soldiers were actually paid in salt.
07:28-07:30
Do you ever hear that expression?
07:31-07:32
He's not worth his salt?
07:33-07:33
That's where that comes from.
07:36-07:37
True story.
07:38-07:40
It was so important in so many ways.
07:41-07:43
People would use salt in making covenants.
07:43-07:46
Salt was used in Old Testament sacrifices.
07:46-07:48
Salt was used for flavor, obviously.
07:49-07:50
Salt is an antiseptic.
07:51-07:54
Like, well, how did Jesus mean it?
07:56-08:02
I believe the main primary focus of Jesus' teaching here is salt as a preservative.
08:05-08:06
Salt prevents corruption.
08:06-08:09
You see, in Jesus' day, they didn't have refrigerators.
08:09-08:14
They didn't have a deep freeze chest in the garage like we do.
08:15-08:23
So in order to preserve meat, you would literally have to rub salt into the meat to keep it from spoiling.
08:25-08:31
And in the same way, Jesus followers are the salt in the meat of the world.
08:32-08:37
We are what's preventing the world from totally rotting right now.
08:38-08:51
But the Bible says, 2 Thessalonians 2, the book of Revelation, when the church is removed from the world in the rapture, the world is going to go to hell.
08:52-08:58
It's going to get horrific because the salt's been removed.
08:59-09:00
It's gonna rot.
09:01-09:13
So the implication here of salt is that the world is polluted and corrupt and it has this tendency to rot like meat.
09:14-09:18
And what it needs is your influence.
09:19-09:20
It needs salt.
09:23-09:25
So let's talk about light for a second.
09:27-09:35
Also much more valuable in Jesus' day because again, we kind of take it for granted, don't we?
09:37-09:44
We're so used to having electricity and flicking the lights on, but don't we just lose our minds when a storm takes the power out and there's no light?
09:46-09:51
I know our house does, but see, they didn't have that electricity.
09:52-09:56
So light would have been a much more valuable thing to them.
09:56-10:04
But you know, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," back in John 8, verse 12.
10:04-10:09
And here, Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." So which is it?
10:09-10:11
And the answer is both.
10:13-10:14
It's both.
10:15-10:16
It's His light through us.
10:17-10:25
Just as the moon doesn't produce its own light, but reflects the light of the sun, that's how it is for followers of Christ.
10:25-10:30
We are to reflect the light of Jesus Christ in our lives.
10:34-10:41
Now, when the Bible talks about light, it's talking about revealing God's truth.
10:41-10:46
This is what the Bible refers to talking about light, right?
10:46-11:00
Psalm 119, 105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet "and a light unto my path." So light has to do with the revelation of God's word.
11:00-11:03
It is the light that tells us the cause of the darkness.
11:04-11:14
It is the light that shows us that our problem is we're separated from God, but it's also the light that shows us the way out of darkness.
11:15-11:20
It's the light of God's word that says there is a way to get back to God.
11:20-11:26
And that is through Jesus Christ, who died for your sins, who rose from the dead to give you eternal life.
11:26-11:27
It's through faith in him.
11:27-11:29
That's how you get back to God.
11:29-11:33
And that is only revealed in the light of God's word.
11:35-11:41
So the implication when Jesus talks about light is this.
11:43-12:24
The world is dark. Sin has made this world a very dark place. What it needs is light. It needs your influence. So on your outline, I encourage you to take some notes here. Here's the sermon. As salt and light, I am God's influencer. I am. And if you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you are an influencer for God.
12:25-12:33
You are. Let's unpack this a little bit, shall we? Number one, write this down, "My My influence is expected.
12:37-12:39
My influence is expected.
12:40-12:44
Interestingly, in the Greek, we talked about this in the Beatitudes, it's here too.
12:44-12:48
You know, you is emphatic in the Greek.
12:49-12:55
So literally, you could translate this, Jesus is saying, you are the only light in the world.
12:56-12:59
You are the only salt in the world.
13:02-13:04
I was thinking about salt this week.
13:04-13:12
You know, something really interesting about salt, as valuable as it is, it's really no good on its own, is it?
13:16-13:17
It's not good by itself.
13:18-13:23
I mean, when was the last time you went to Pantera Bread and you said, "Yeah, you know what?
13:23-13:24
I'm not really that hungry.
13:24-13:29
I'm just going to have a bowl of salt." Like, who does that?
13:31-13:33
It's no good on its own.
13:34-13:37
Salt is always used for something else.
13:39-13:44
And you know, thinking about that further, light is the same, isn't it?
13:45-13:48
Light is always used for something else.
13:49-13:56
Meaning this, when you turn on the lights, you don't do it because you're like, You know what, man, I just really like light.
13:58-14:00
Nobody just really likes light.
14:00-14:01
Why do you turn it on?
14:01-14:07
Because it's light that illuminates what's in the room.
14:10-14:12
Light has no other purpose.
14:16-14:21
So salt and light, always used for something else.
14:22-14:25
always used for something else.
14:25-14:26
You know what?
14:27-14:31
You, you are so valuable.
14:32-14:33
You are.
14:35-14:42
But like salt, you're not valuable for yourself.
14:47-14:48
Here's what I mean.
14:48-14:58
If all God wanted was for you to be saved, then the moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God would just take you to heaven.
14:59-14:59
Like, we're done.
15:01-15:01
Good job.
15:01-15:02
I wanted you to be saved.
15:03-15:05
But he doesn't do that.
15:07-15:11
God, when you're saved, God keeps you on this earth for one reason.
15:15-15:15
It's influence.
15:17-15:21
He keeps you here to be salt and light.
15:24-15:27
You see, that's what Jesus is saying here.
15:27-15:37
There is no salt and light except from a Christ follower who is going to show and tell the people around you about Jesus.
15:40-15:42
You're like, "Well, you're the pastor.
15:42-15:43
Isn't that your job?" No.
15:45-15:46
Look, it can't be.
15:48-15:53
You're going to encounter people just through the course of your every day that I'm never going to meet.
15:54-15:59
You're going to work with people, and there's people in your family that Pastor Taylor is never going to meet.
15:59-16:04
So whose job is it to let them know about Jesus Christ?
16:05-16:06
That's yours.
16:07-16:08
So why God has you there?
16:11-16:12
There's no alternative.
16:14-16:15
There's just not another option.
16:17-16:22
But you know, side note, it's an interesting paradox.
16:22-16:25
Last week we were talking about persecution, right?
16:25-16:27
And people hating you because of Jesus.
16:27-16:36
Isn't it an interesting paradox that the world hates us so much, but the world needs us so desperately?
16:40-16:42
Look, you're expected.
16:44-16:46
You are expected to be salt and light.
16:48-16:50
That is so clear from Jesus' words.
16:50-16:52
It is just an expectation.
16:52-16:55
That's why Jesus gives warnings of being useless.
16:55-16:56
Did you see that?
16:56-17:14
He says, verse 13, "If the salt has lost its taste," and then over in verse 15, he says, "Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket." What's the point?
17:15-17:21
Well, the point is this, if salt isn't salty, it's useless, right?
17:21-17:27
And if light doesn't shine, it's useless.
17:30-17:38
What Jesus is saying here is when salt isn't salty and when light isn't bright, what that means is you've lost your influence.
17:41-17:43
You've lost your influence.
17:45-17:52
It's a terrible place to be when you lose your ability to be salt and light for Jesus Christ.
17:53-17:54
You're like, "Well, how does that happen?
17:55-17:56
How do you lose your influence?
17:56-17:58
How does salt lose its taste?
17:58-18:02
How do you hide your light?" Well, it happens through sin.
18:03-18:04
That's how it happens.
18:08-18:12
complaining, you're losing your saltiness.
18:13-18:16
Gossiping, you're losing your saltiness.
18:16-18:19
Do you have a hair trigger temper?
18:21-18:24
You're losing your saltiness when that erupts.
18:27-18:30
Inappropriate with the opposite sex in any way.
18:33-18:38
Flirtation, direct messages to full on affection.
18:38-18:53
affairs. You're losing your saltiness when you're involved in sin. Jesus gives a hard warning about that here. He says you're not good for anything when that happens.
18:54-19:05
I can just speak personally. You know, over the years there have been several pastors who have been a big influence, influence.
19:05-19:07
Several pastors have been a big influence on me.
19:09-19:12
Some local guys, some national names.
19:15-19:20
People who have disqualified themselves from ministry because of flagrant sin.
19:21-19:23
And in a lot of the cases, it was affairs.
19:24-19:36
Whether it was emotional or physical, that seems to be the predominant disqualifier And look, right, wrong, or indifferent, you can reach your conviction on this.
19:37-19:49
But I've got to tell you, I've thrown away a lot of books, and a lot of sermons, and a lot of materials from ministries because those pastors lost their influence.
19:49-19:57
How can you preach this and for years secretly live a completely different way?
19:57-19:59
How can you do that?
20:01-20:09
don't have audience with me anymore." You're like, "Yeah, that's terrible." Well, what about you?
20:10-20:19
What about your influence with your unsaved family, with your friends, with your coworkers, when they know that you're a Christian?
20:20-20:22
And by the way, they absolutely should.
20:25-20:28
Look, when they know you named the name of Christ, they're watching you.
20:30-20:33
They are watching everything you do.
20:35-20:36
They're watching your attitudes.
20:38-20:43
They're listening to every word that you say and how you say it and what you talk about.
20:43-20:44
They're listening.
20:48-20:48
They're watching.
20:49-20:52
I have to ask you, when they do, do they see sin?
20:57-21:06
Or maybe you just try to tone down the salt a little bit when you're around them.
21:06-21:11
Maybe when you're around them, you don't wanna be the weird religious wackadoo.
21:11-21:14
So let's just dim the lights a little bit.
21:14-21:16
Can we just dim the lights a little bit?
21:21-21:26
Jesus says, if that's the case, he says, you're not good for anything.
21:28-21:31
Like, Jesus is saying, "Why do I have you here?
21:32-21:34
Why do I have you here if you're not going to be salt and light?
21:34-21:38
You're no good." It's a hard warning.
21:41-21:53
But notice Jesus didn't say, after the Beatitudes, "Okay now, would you pretty please be salt and light?" He said, "You are.
21:56-22:00
You are." The question is, how salty are you?
22:01-22:02
How bright are you?
22:04-22:06
Because you're gonna influence people one way or the other.
22:09-22:17
And Jesus is expecting his influence on this world to happen through you.
22:19-22:24
So your influence is expected, number one.
22:26-22:31
Number two, right this time my influence comes from me being different.
22:32-22:34
My influence comes from me being different.
22:37-22:39
That's something else about salt and light.
22:41-22:47
It has to actually be touching what it's going to affect.
22:47-22:48
Did you know that?
22:52-22:55
If the salt's gonna be of any use, It has to be on the food.
22:58-22:59
I know that's profound, right?
23:00-23:01
What'd you learn in church today?
23:02-23:07
He said something about the salt's no good unless it's on the food, right, right.
23:10-23:14
The light must be mingled with the darkness, right?
23:15-23:19
But at the same time that it's touching, it's also distinct.
23:20-23:24
What I mean is salt and light are unlike the medium on which they're placed.
23:29-23:33
So the point is we are to be different from the world.
23:35-23:39
We're to be as different as the salt is from the meat.
23:41-23:44
We're to be as different as the light is from the darkness.
23:47-23:50
And that means, my friends, we're not self-serving.
23:50-23:52
We're not materialistic.
23:52-23:53
We're not worldly.
23:53-23:59
The influence happens when we're different from the world.
24:01-24:08
And somehow, we have a hard time as Christians remembering that.
24:12-24:20
We think, we think that we are going to attract the world by imitating them.
24:22-24:34
We have this game in our minds where we say, well, I'm going to show them that I'm no different than them and they're gonna see that I'm cool and I'm relevant and then I'm gonna be able to give them the gospel.
24:35-24:37
We think being like them is going to attract them.
24:44-24:49
Just imagine you have this coworker and you have an exchange like this.
24:50-25:16
Your co-worker says, "Hey, you want to hear a dirty joke?" And your reply is, "Yes, and then I will tell you one, because I'm cool." Or your co-worker says, "Hey, did you check out that new lady that they hired?
25:17-25:32
She is fine." "Fine!" And your reply to that is, "Yes, I also think she is smoking as you do.
25:35-26:07
"Because you and me are the same." Your coworker says, "Hey, "do you wanna have too much beer later?" And your reply is, "I sure would because that would be relevant to my relationship with you, because I'm just like you. And then maybe after our beers I will tell you how Jesus changed me."
26:09-26:09
(congregation laughing)
26:13-26:15
Changed you, from what?
26:21-26:31
Even in the church, even in the church, there's this tendency, we wanna attract unsaved people so we think we've gotta be just like them.
26:31-26:34
Let's put on a show, let's make it like a secular concert.
26:34-26:39
Let's get the laser lights and the smoke machine on a big theatrical production here.
26:40-26:41
Let's be like the world.
26:41-26:42
That'll win the world, won't it?
26:44-26:45
Because don't we want people to be comfortable?
26:47-26:50
We hate that, don't we, when churches are like, we want you to come and be comfortable.
26:51-26:53
Church is the last place you should be comfortable.
26:55-26:59
Standing in the face of the word of God is the last place you should feel comfortable.
27:04-27:13
The churches, you know, let's be like the world, And what that means is we're going to have to not take such a hard stand on the truth of God's Word.
27:16-27:18
Because we want to win the world, right?
27:18-27:21
And in order to do that, we've got to be like the world.
27:24-27:31
I was shown a church recently, online was advertising, you can get baptized there.
27:32-27:36
But the interesting kicker was, they said you can get baptized any way you want.
27:37-27:38
Any way you want.
27:38-27:39
You want to get dunked, we'll dunk you.
27:40-27:42
You want to get sprinkled, we'll splash you.
27:43-27:47
You want us to dip our hands in water and touch your forehead, we'll do that.
27:48-27:53
You name the way you want to get the water on you, we'll get the water on you.
27:55-28:01
As our Lord would say, what is going on?
28:02-28:05
I heard this quote one time that always stuck with me.
28:05-28:22
Somebody said, regarding the church, they said, "Just when the world needs us the most, we become just like them." And look, if we're just the same, we got nothing to offer them, right?
28:22-28:26
And if we learn anything from the Beatitudes, it's this.
28:27-28:30
Kingdom of heaven people live different than kingdom of earth people.
28:32-28:33
We are not the same.
28:34-28:40
We are not made out of the same stuff that the world is made out of.
28:40-28:44
We are salt and light.
28:46-28:49
My influence comes from being different, right?
28:50-28:55
And finally, number three, my influence is for God's glory.
28:58-29:01
My influence is for God's glory.
29:03-29:04
Look at verse 16 again.
29:07-29:22
Jesus says, "In the same way, "let your light shine before others, "so that they may see your good works "and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Good works, good works.
29:22-29:23
You do good works?
29:23-29:27
Well, you have to check your motives for that, right?
29:28-29:35
Because it's not about what people think about me as much as what they think about God.
29:37-29:48
But Jesus said, "They'll see our good works "and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Meaning this, I do what I do because I love Jesus.
29:49-29:58
And people are going to see that, and that is going to give me the opportunity to share the gospel with them, to invite them to church where they're going to hear the gospel.
29:59-30:09
And our hope is that they receive Jesus Christ Lord and Savior, because that is the ultimate way that God is glorified.
30:15-30:26
But if we're going to be influencers, we have to be salt and light both.
30:30-30:34
You could read this passage and be like, isn't Jesus kinda saying the same thing with the salt and the light?
30:35-30:37
Like, why did he use two pictures?
30:37-30:40
Why didn't he just keep it short and use one?
30:44-30:49
Because there's some key differences between salt and light.
30:56-30:58
The one I wanna focus on is this.
30:59-31:01
We could spend so much time on this, we don't have it.
31:02-31:03
But I wanna say this.
31:05-31:09
Jesus is saying you have to have godly conduct.
31:10-31:11
That's salt.
31:14-31:17
And you have to have the gospel message.
31:19-31:20
That's light.
31:21-31:22
You have to have both.
31:27-31:36
Meaning this, you can't just walk away from this message and focus on one of these aspects, but not the other.
31:40-31:44
Meaning, let's just say you're only gonna focus on being salt, okay?
31:44-31:45
You're like, you know what?
31:46-31:48
He's right about the salt, you know what?
31:48-31:49
I gotta work on that.
31:49-31:52
I'm just only gonna focus on being salt.
31:53-32:00
I'm just gonna focus on my walk with Christ, but you never actually share the gospel with anyone.
32:03-32:11
Well, the question is, how is anybody gonna glorify the Father if you never tell them the gospel?
32:14-32:29
Do you think people are going to see your good works and just automatically, somehow, miraculously understand the content of the gospel just because you're doing good works?
32:36-33:00
There was a saying that was thrown around years ago. You know those sayings that sometimes creeps into the church that Christians use that sound, they sound so like magnanimously spiritual, but they're really, when you think about it, really kind of empty.
33:01-33:14
This is one that kind of drove me nuts. Years ago people would say, "Preach the gospel and use words if necessary." Remember that one? "Preach the gospel and and use words if necessary.
33:16-33:19
Look, words are necessary.
33:21-33:22
Words are necessary.
33:23-33:34
No one hears the truth just by watching somebody's character but on the other hand, if you're like, you know what, you're right, I'm not gonna worry so much about the salt.
33:35-33:39
I'm not gonna monitor my salt content so much.
33:39-33:41
I'm gonna focus on being light.
33:45-34:01
But look, if you're just running around telling everyone John 3:16, but you're not personally walking with Christ, there's no good works backing up this message that you're preaching, you're going to leave people asking, "Why should I listen to his message?
34:01-34:08
Because he doesn't seem any different than me." You got to have salt and light both.
34:09-34:12
See, salt refers to your general conduct.
34:12-34:14
Light is the specific word.
34:14-34:16
Salt talks about who you are.
34:16-34:18
Light speaks to what you do.
34:20-34:22
Salt is being the example.
34:23-34:26
Light is carrying out the work of evangelism.
34:28-34:29
Salt is living it.
34:31-34:33
Light is telling it.
34:35-34:37
See, that salt can't save anyone.
34:39-34:41
Salt holds back the corruption.
34:41-34:52
You need the light of God's truth to lead to salvation, but the light has to be backed up by the salt of godly character and good works.
34:53-34:55
That's Jesus' point here.
34:56-34:57
And the end game?
34:58-35:05
The end game is the same end game for literally everything in the universe.
35:07-35:08
The glory of God.
35:13-35:15
Can we get that definition of the influencer back up here?
35:17-35:19
I looked at a few definitions here.
35:22-35:35
But I thought, "Wow, doesn't this definition really speak to the same kind of stuff Jesus was talking about here?" Look, here's what I mean.
35:38-35:40
Has our Lord built a sizable following?
35:45-35:45
A little bit.
35:46-35:47
You may have heard of Him.
35:48-35:49
He built a sizable following.
35:50-35:51
Does He have a relevant topic?
35:57-36:03
I would argue the most relevant topic ever, eternal life.
36:06-36:09
Is our Lord interesting in influencing His followers to take action?
36:13-36:14
That's why we're here.
36:16-36:19
Like, well, how does that happen?
36:20-36:22
Those last two words jumped out to me then.
36:23-36:24
Credibility and authority.
36:25-36:26
What's credibility?
36:28-36:29
That's salt.
36:30-36:31
And what's authority?
36:35-36:36
That's light.
36:39-36:48
Look, God has given us a new mission field to reach at Harvest Bible Chapel.
36:50-36:56
God has given us a community without a church where we can be salt and light.
36:58-37:01
So there's an exciting new chapter ahead for Harvest Bible Chapel.
37:02-37:10
And just now we're going to have our town hall meeting, getting an update on how God is moving.
37:12-37:19
And my friends, you were in the presence of a miracle today because I got done early.
37:20-37:20
(congregation laughing)
37:24-37:24
(congregation applauding)
37:31-37:33
We'll do the director's cut in the next service.
37:35-37:38
So why don't you just, what, we're gonna take a couple minutes.
37:39-37:41
We're gonna start at 10 promptly, Pastor Rich.
37:41-37:46
So why don't you take a couple minutes if you need to check on little Joey or use the restroom.
37:46-37:56
And then at 10 o'clock, sharply, Pastor Rich is gonna come up here and we have an amazing update for you on what the Lord's doing.
37:56-38:00
So let me pray real quick and then we'll reconvene here at 10.
38:01-38:11
Father in heaven, I just wanna close this time in your word by asking you to empower us to be what you've already pronounced us to be.
38:12-38:20
You've said we're salt and light, and God, we need the wisdom of your word and the power of your spirit so that we can carry out that function in a way that glorifies your name.
38:22-38:24
Thank you, Father, for all that you've done.
38:24-38:26
We're excited at what you're going to do.
38:27-38:29
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:13-16

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
In what ways are disciples of Jesus like salt? Like light?
How does salt lose flavor (the believer lose their influence)? In what ways do we put our lamps under a basket? Why does Jesus say someone in that state is “no longer good for anything”?
Why is it important to both salt AND light? Why not just focus on one or the other?
How do you really know if you are doing good works for other people’s attention or God’s glory?

Breakout
Pray for one another to be salty and bright.

Jeff Miller

March 23, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Congratulations to the Hated

Jeff Miller

March 23, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Introduction:

The Heart of the Disciple: Congratulations to the Hated! (Matthew 5:10-12)

Who Are “Those Who Are Persecuted”?

1 Peter 4:3-4 – For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you...

Luke 9:23 – And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

2 Timothy 3:12 – Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…

Why Are We Congratulating Those Who Are Persecuted?

Acts 5:40-41 – And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

How Do I Respond to Being Persecuted?

Three Reasons to Rejoice in Persecution:

Persecution Proves I Belong to Jesus!
1 Peter 1:6-7 – In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I Have a Reward in Heaven!
2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
I'm in Good Company!
John 15:20 – Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:04
Open up your Bibles with me, please, to Matthew chapter five.
00:08-00:28
Matthew chapter five, as we are coming at the end of an eight-week-long congratulations party, as we look at the Beatitudes, this is the introduction to the greatest sermon ever preached.
00:30-00:36
And every beatitude begins with the word blessed.
00:37-00:41
And the word blessed means congratulations.
00:44-00:49
And if I asked you, what is a Christian?
00:53-01:01
We could probably go around the room and get dozens and dozens and dozens of different responses to that.
01:01-01:02
What is a Christian?
01:02-01:04
What does a Christian do?
01:04-01:06
What does a Christian look like?
01:06-01:07
How does a Christian act?
01:10-01:19
As we go through the Beatitudes, understand from the mouth of our Lord, this is what a Christian is.
01:20-01:30
So it really doesn't matter what I think a Christian is or what you think a follower of Jesus is, this is what Jesus said a follower of him looks like.
01:32-01:34
This is what Christians are meant to be.
01:35-01:41
And as we've said through this whole series, there's a spiritually logical flow in the Beatitudes.
01:42-01:45
Jesus wasn't just pulling out these random sayings.
01:46-01:47
There's a flow here.
01:47-01:49
It's like a staircase.
01:50-01:51
It's like steps on a ladder.
01:53-01:54
Let's look at them again.
01:56-02:00
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
02:01-02:05
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
02:06-02:10
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
02:11-02:16
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
02:17-02:29
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
02:30-02:34
"Blessed are the peacemakers, "for they shall be called sons of God.
02:35-02:47
"Blessed are those who are persecuted "for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Look at this flow here.
02:48-02:54
What I want you to see here, The first three beatitudes address our need.
02:57-03:00
We're poor in spirit and we should mourn over that.
03:02-03:09
And we need to stop thinking of ourselves first and live a life of complete unselfishness.
03:09-03:10
That's meekness.
03:11-03:13
That's the need that we have.
03:13-03:18
And then the need is satisfied as we hunger and thirst for righteousness.
03:20-03:24
And then the next three Beatitudes show the result.
03:26-03:27
We become merciful.
03:29-03:31
We become pure in heart.
03:33-03:34
We become peacemakers.
03:37-03:41
Today, this last one, this is the outcome.
03:43-04:03
If you are sincerely following Jesus Christ, If Christ is alive in you and he is changing you, I gotta tell you, this is kind of a shocking statement.
04:05-04:10
That Jesus says, you know you made it when people hate you.
04:13-04:13
Wow.
04:15-04:17
Before we dive into this, let's just pause for a moment.
04:18-04:23
I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's word.
04:24-04:30
And at the same time, I will pray for you to receive what it is the Lord wants to tell us in his word today.
04:31-04:32
All right, let's just take a moment.
04:33-04:34
Please pray for me.
04:41-04:50
Father in heaven, as we come to your word, This is a hard one, but we're not cherry picking.
04:54-04:59
Just trying to cover the parts of your word that might be easier on our ears, Father.
04:59-05:02
We want to hear everything that you had to say.
05:03-05:04
This is a hard one.
05:06-05:18
So I pray, Father, for all of us, you would open our hearts for a time of self-examination maybe a change of perspective.
05:22-05:27
To your glory and honor, Father, let your word take root in our hearts.
05:29-05:38
To make us the people that you've called us to be, to make us the people that Jesus described his followers would be.
05:40-05:42
I pray these things in Jesus' name.
05:42-05:45
All of God's people said, amen.
05:45-05:47
All right, we're in week eight of the party.
05:48-05:50
Anybody else have like party fatigue?
05:50-05:51
You're like, all right, you know what?
05:51-05:54
In any other party, I would have gone home long before this.
05:55-05:57
But look, we got one more week of party, all right?
05:57-05:58
So are you ready?
05:58-06:04
Today, we wanna wish a hearty congratulations to the hated.
06:05-06:05
You ready?
06:05-06:06
Let's do it.
06:07-06:08
(congregation applauding)
06:11-06:12
(congregation applauding)
06:21-06:23
I gotta tell you, it feels strange.
06:23-06:24
You're hated.
06:25-06:25
Congratulations.
06:26-06:27
I'm so happy for you.
06:27-06:28
You're hated?
06:28-06:29
Wow, that's awesome.
06:32-06:34
Like, man, you're gonna have to explain that one.
06:36-06:37
Well, let's look at what our Lord says.
06:38-06:45
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
06:46-06:49
So the first question we have to ask is, who are we congratulating here?
06:49-06:51
Who are the persecuted?
06:53-06:58
Well, the Greek word persecuted means pursue.
07:02-07:07
The word we would use in our day is harass.
07:09-07:20
In this verb tense, talks about somebody who continually allows themselves to be put in this position, the persecuted.
07:21-07:25
You're like, well, persecuted like how?
07:26-07:28
Well, Jesus tells us, look at verse 11.
07:30-07:45
"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." So you see this persecution, there's two sides of the coin here.
07:46-07:47
There's reviling.
07:49-07:50
That's face to face.
07:51-07:58
That's I'm assaulting you with words in your face, or we would just call that insulting you.
08:01-08:01
Right?
08:02-08:09
But then he says, "Utter evil falsely." That's not in your face.
08:09-08:12
That's behind your back.
08:13-08:15
That's slandering you.
08:15-08:18
That's, "I want to ruin your reputation.
08:18-08:21
"I want people to think lesser of you.
08:21-08:24
"So I'm going to say things about you behind your back.
08:25-08:36
"And what I don't know, I'm just gonna make up "because I want people to think of you "in a negative light." But you have to notice here, Jesus says persecuted.
08:40-08:49
Look, you gotta get this because if you miss this, there's somebody gonna be walking out of here, strutting like a rooster because you missed it.
08:50-08:52
Jesus says it's for righteousness sake.
08:53-08:59
Verse 11, he says, "It's on account of him." And that's so important when we talk about persecution.
08:59-09:03
It's not persecution because you're obnoxious, okay?
09:04-09:07
It's not persecution because you're a jerk to everyone.
09:09-09:16
And you wear your religion like some kind of an honor badge that you think it's your job to slap everybody in place.
09:19-09:25
If people treat you negatively because you're a jerk, that's called consequences.
09:27-09:30
That's called you're reaping what you're sowing there.
09:30-09:32
So he's not talking about that.
09:32-09:35
He's also not talking about putting on a show, right?
09:36-09:47
It's not trying to be as over the top, self-righteous as you can be so that you get people's attention so that they say something about you.
09:47-09:49
So you can be like, oh, I'm so persecuted.
09:50-09:52
He's not talking about that either.
09:52-09:53
Look at Daniel.
09:54-09:57
Daniel quietly sought the Lord and he was persecuted.
09:59-10:00
Right?
10:01-10:08
Jesus isn't talking about getting a rise out of people on social media by trolling them.
10:09-10:22
You know exactly what to post, exactly what to comment, and you know it's gonna get a rise out of people and people are gonna say things and you're gonna be like, "Oh, I'm so persecuted." No, you're not.
10:23-10:26
You're being a jerk, okay?
10:26-10:29
That's not what Jesus is talking about at all.
10:29-10:31
He clarifies that twice here.
10:33-10:39
It's being hated, being persecuted because of Jesus.
10:39-10:41
It's because of his righteousness.
10:42-10:45
It's because you strive to be like Jesus.
10:45-10:56
Or in the context of this sermon, It's you're just striving to live out these beatitudes that he laid out.
10:56-10:59
You're just striving to be that kind of person.
11:03-11:03
And you're hated.
11:06-11:08
Isn't it sort of ironic?
11:08-11:10
What did Pastor Taylor preach about last week?
11:11-11:13
The previous beatitude.
11:13-11:14
What was that one?
11:15-11:16
Okay, two of you were here.
11:16-11:18
There were more of you here than that.
11:18-11:19
(congregation laughing)
11:21-11:23
What was the previous beatitude?
11:25-11:27
Peacemakers, isn't that interesting?
11:29-11:35
Blessed are the peacemakers and then, blessed are the persecuted.
11:36-11:37
Like what's going on there?
11:37-11:45
Well, it is very simply this, Christians strive for peace with all men, but all men don't return the favor.
11:48-11:51
And you're like, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hang on a second, man.
11:52-11:53
Why all the hatred, man?
11:54-11:55
Like why the hatred?
11:56-11:59
Why can't we just live and let live, man?
11:59-12:00
You know what I'm saying?
12:03-12:11
Why do they hate?" Well Peter tells us that.
12:12-12:13
Peter answers that very question.
12:13-12:16
Why do people hate you for trying to follow Jesus?
12:17-12:21
Look at 1 Peter 4, verses three through four.
12:21-12:32
He says, "For the time that has passed suffices "for doing what the Gentiles want to do." And in this context, the Gentiles is sort of a figure of speech for unbelievers.
12:34-12:49
He says, "Living in sensuality, passions, "drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, "and lawless idolatry." Do you see that Peter says, "Hey, listen, Christians, we're done living life like it's one long beer commercial." All right?
12:49-13:03
He says, "With respect to this, they are surprised, the unbelievers are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you." Do you see that?
13:04-13:10
He's saying that people are going to slander you, malign you because you're different.
13:12-13:14
You live as a citizen of heaven.
13:15-13:17
You don't live a sinful lifestyle.
13:17-13:23
And lost people view that somehow as you condemning their sin.
13:27-13:38
Lost people feel like when you try to follow Jesus, and even if you don't say a word, they feel like you're calling them out.
13:40-13:43
"Oh, oh, oh, you think you're better than me?
13:45-13:46
Oh, you don't do that stuff.
13:46-13:49
Oh, oh, Mr. Holier-than-thou, huh?
13:50-14:00
Whatever happened to thou shall not judge, huh?" And you're like, well, I'm not judging.
14:00-14:05
I just don't live that way because of my faith in Jesus Christ.
14:09-14:11
They're gonna hate you for that.
14:13-14:23
And maybe you're like, well, you know what, Pastor Jeff, I wouldn't say anything to anyone, because I believe, I believe in keep your religion to yourself.
14:26-14:29
And I would say, that ain't good either.
14:30-14:31
According to Jesus.
14:33-14:41
In Luke 9 23, Jesus said, look at this, "For whoever is ashamed of me." Oh, look at that.
14:42-14:52
"And of my words." "Of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels." Do you see that?
14:52-14:56
"And of my words." It's not just ashamed of Jesus.
15:00-15:02
It's also being ashamed of what he said.
15:03-15:05
It's being ashamed of what he taught.
15:07-15:08
So what do we do?
15:08-15:15
We try to avoid persecution by making the gospel tolerable.
15:18-15:22
And we say things like, "Well, now there's not just one way to heaven.
15:23-15:24
We're all kind of on our path.
15:24-15:28
And as long as you're sincere, I think God sees that.
15:28-15:31
and there's not just one way to heaven.
15:31-15:35
And I don't really think there's a hell.
15:36-15:44
I know there's some Christians that believe that, but I don't really think that's, I don't really think a loving God would send somebody to hell.
15:44-15:47
And you know what, man, love is love, right?
15:47-15:55
And we're ashamed of what Jesus said when we talk like that.
16:00-16:19
When you're with your family, your unsaved family member specifically, when you're with your unsafe friends, when you're at the workplace, the sort of just kind of hide your faith. You're ashamed of Jesus' words. It's a problem.
16:22-16:37
Try this, try saying things like, "I believe that marriage is for a man and a woman "because that's what God said." Say things like, "I believe that the unborn are people "who deserve to live." Try that one.
16:38-16:48
Try, "I believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven "because he's the only one who died for my sin "and rose from the dead to promise eternal life.
16:48-16:51
"He's the only one that did that, "So I believe he's the only way to heaven." Say that.
16:55-16:56
People will hate you.
16:58-17:02
And you're going to be persecuted for righteousness sake.
17:05-17:07
And you're like, "You know what, pastor?
17:07-17:10
You have to, the world is rough, man.
17:10-17:11
The world's rough.
17:13-17:14
It's rough out there."
17:16-17:17
(sighs)
17:20-17:21
It's not just the world.
17:25-17:28
Some of the worst persecution of Christians happens in the church.
17:35-17:35
Think about this.
17:38-17:39
Jesus' ministry.
17:41-17:43
Who gave Jesus the most problems?
17:44-17:45
Was it the unsaved pagans?
17:48-17:51
It was the hardcore religious people, wasn't it?
17:53-17:54
What about the book of Acts?
17:55-18:03
The book of Acts, the first four chapters, it's attacks from the outside, still from religious people, but it was attacks outside the church.
18:04-18:05
And the church was standing strong.
18:06-18:09
And then what happened in Acts chapter five and chapter six?
18:10-18:13
All the problems came from within the church.
18:14-18:16
and things really got hard then.
18:18-18:34
And church, I gotta tell ya, the worst insults that I've ever received, the worst slander about me that's ever been spoken, the worst accusations that I've ever experienced have come from church people.
18:39-18:40
It shouldn't be that way.
18:42-18:43
That's how it is.
18:48-19:01
And maybe there's some people sitting here and if we're being honest, some of the ways that you're talking about people and the leadership of the church, you're being divisive.
19:04-19:06
And maybe you're not the persecuted.
19:08-19:09
Maybe you're the persecutors.
19:12-19:18
And you're like, "Well, why would church people do that?" Same reason.
19:19-19:35
You take a stand on what the Bible says, you stand for righteousness, fleshly, worldly-minded people in the church are going to attack you.
19:38-19:40
Oh, and by the way, look at verse 11 again.
19:41-19:51
Jesus says, "Blessed are you when others revile you." Notice he didn't say if.
19:52-19:56
Like, this is gonna apply to some of my followers.
19:57-19:58
No, he didn't say that.
19:58-20:02
If you're, listen, if you're a true follower of Jesus, it's when.
20:03-20:05
It's gonna happen to you.
20:06-20:18
"You are going to be persecuted in some way, shape, or form to some degree for your faith." This is for all true disciples.
20:18-20:31
And if you're not getting any kind of backlash because of your faith in Jesus Christ, that's actually a bigger problem than if you're facing persecution.
20:34-20:35
This is for all true followers.
20:35-20:39
Paul says this in 2 Timothy 3, 12, in case it's unclear.
20:40-20:48
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
20:52-20:58
So you think you're gonna stand for Jesus and Satan's kids aren't gonna hate you?
21:00-21:01
Let's not be so naive.
21:05-21:07
That's who the persecuted are.
21:09-21:15
You're like, wow, so why are we congratulating them?
21:16-21:18
Well, let's look at the text.
21:19-21:24
Verse 10, why would we congratulate people that are hated, persecuted for righteousness sake?
21:24-21:31
Well, look what Jesus says, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom of heaven.
21:31-21:33
We talked about this, didn't we?
21:33-21:37
It's the place where Jesus is ruling.
21:38-21:39
Like where is the kingdom of heaven?
21:40-21:43
Right now, it's in the heart of every believer.
21:47-21:49
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
21:49-21:53
The first and last Beatitudes are bookended by this statement.
21:54-22:08
That was the very first thing Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And what Jesus is saying is the first thing and the last thing you need to know is when you receive him, you get his kingdom.
22:11-22:30
Oh, and by the way, with all these beatitudes, all of these results, all of these things we've been congratulating people for, you realize every single promise, every congratulation of every beatitude are all facets of a diamond called salvation.
22:32-22:36
These are all just figures of speech describing salvation.
22:37-22:39
Receiving the kingdom of heaven, that's salvation.
22:40-22:43
Being comforted by God, that's from salvation.
22:44-22:46
Inheriting the earth, salvation.
22:47-22:49
Being satisfied, only in salvation.
22:50-22:52
Receiving mercy, that's salvation.
22:52-22:56
being able to see God, that's salvation.
22:57-23:02
Being called a son of God, that's adoption, which is, tell me, salvation, right?
23:03-23:06
Receiving the kingdom of God is salvation.
23:08-23:11
So why are we congratulating those hated because of Jesus?
23:11-23:14
Because it proves that Christ is in you.
23:17-23:23
Wait, wait, you mean people who would hate Jesus We were here.
23:25-23:29
Hate you instead because you remind them of Jesus.
23:32-23:34
That, that is a high honor.
23:36-23:37
That is a really high honor.
23:39-23:46
And somebody right now is like, "Oh, you know what, Pastor Jeff, I don't think we should think that way." And I would say, "Why not?
23:46-24:09
The early disciples did." Acts chapter five says, "When the council had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go." Now, I would think the next statement would be, "And the apostles left cursing them under their breath.
24:09-24:16
The apostles left crying, 'Why God, why did you let this happen to me?'" That's what I would think the next line would be.
24:17-24:18
But you see what the next line is?
24:18-24:39
It says, "Then they left a present to the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." See that the early apostles, they weren't waiting for Harvest Bible Chapel to have our little congratulations party before they started celebrating.
24:41-24:43
They were congratulating themselves.
24:46-24:53
What an honor, what an honor to so act like Jesus that sinners treat you like Jesus.
24:55-24:56
That's an honor.
24:56-25:02
And that is why we're congratulating those who were persecuted.
25:03-25:09
So, there's one more question that we have to answer today.
25:13-25:18
The third question on your outline, how do I respond to being persecuted?
25:21-25:23
How do I respond to being persecuted?
25:23-25:30
You know, this beatitude is obviously very different than the rest.
25:34-25:46
The other beatitudes are about what happens in me, But this beatitude is about what happens to me, right?
25:47-25:53
But you know another difference is this is the only beatitude that Jesus elaborates on right here.
25:56-26:01
And you're like, wait a minute, is this the part of the sermon where you tell me how to be persecuted?
26:01-26:04
No, I don't need to tell you how to be persecuted.
26:04-26:06
You follow Jesus Christ, you will be.
26:07-26:07
That's the point.
26:08-26:12
You strive to live this kind of a life, you will be.
26:12-26:17
The question that we need to answer is, how do I respond to that?
26:19-26:20
That's the question.
26:23-26:28
And the answer is not retaliate.
26:29-26:30
I'll get you for this.
26:32-26:33
It's not that.
26:34-26:41
It's not resenting people like, "I hate you for this!" It's not that.
26:43-26:48
And it's not even becoming depressed or sorrowful.
26:49-26:52
Like, "I hate this!" It's not that either.
26:55-27:02
Look at verse 12, because Jesus actually tells us how to react.
27:03-27:04
Look at this.
27:06-27:10
Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven.
27:11-27:15
For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
27:18-27:20
Jesus says, here's how you react.
27:21-27:23
People hate you because you follow him.
27:23-27:24
Jesus says, rejoice.
27:26-27:28
And you're like, really?
27:30-27:30
Yeah.
27:31-27:33
Jesus actually doubles down on that, doesn't he?
27:34-27:47
He says, "Rejoice and be glad." Why should I rejoice and be glad when people are against me because of Jesus?
27:47-27:49
Why would I do that?
27:51-27:55
How in the world is that an occasion for happiness?
27:58-28:00
Well, Jesus tells us that too.
28:01-28:02
We don't have to guess.
28:02-28:03
He tells us right here.
28:05-28:07
So three reasons to rejoice in persecution.
28:07-28:08
Drop these down.
28:08-28:09
I'm gonna go through these quickly.
28:11-28:13
These are the three reasons Jesus gives right here.
28:13-28:17
Number one, persecution proves I belong to Jesus.
28:18-28:20
We already touched on this briefly already.
28:23-28:27
But like the rest of the Beatitudes, there's a congratulations on what results.
28:29-28:34
He says, "Yours is the kingdom of heaven." meaning you belong to Jesus.
28:38-28:40
Do you wanna know if your faith is real?
28:43-28:52
Or would you just rather stumble through life wondering, do I really believe?
28:52-28:56
I mean, do I really believe in Jesus Christ?
28:57-29:03
Is my faith a real thing, or is it just kind of in my head Have I deceived myself?
29:03-29:05
Is my faith real?
29:08-29:12
Well, your faith needs tested, and there's only one way that happens.
29:14-29:16
See what Peter says again, 1 Peter 1.
29:18-29:23
He says, "And this you rejoice." Oh, there's rejoice again.
29:24-29:25
For what, Peter?
29:25-29:32
"Now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, Persecution being a big one.
29:34-29:54
"So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Here's the point.
29:56-30:03
Anyone can say that they believe in Jesus Christ at a prayer meeting.
30:05-30:11
Or go to small group and say, "I just want you to know I believe in Jesus Christ.
30:11-30:14
Do you think there's gonna be any pushback there?" No, there's not.
30:15-30:16
It's easy to say it there.
30:20-30:22
But do you still believe when it's not so popular?
30:25-30:27
Do you still believe when you're insulted for it?
30:27-30:29
When you're rejected for it?
30:29-30:32
When you're falsely accused because of it?
30:32-30:36
Do you still believe when your faith costs you something?
30:39-30:53
You see, when following Jesus is painful, but you refuse to walk away because his promises are so glorious and his ways are so right, and Jesus himself is so worthy!
30:56-31:16
You don't really prove to Jesus what your faith is made out of as much as you've proven to yourself what your faith is made out of, because I got a feeling Jesus already knows. That's reason to rejoice.
31:19-31:21
Persecution proves I belong to Jesus.
31:21-31:24
Number two, will I rejoice?
31:25-31:26
I have a reward in heaven.
31:28-31:29
Look at verse 12 again.
31:29-31:33
Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven.
31:35-31:36
You're like, well, what's the reward?
31:37-31:37
What's the reward?
31:38-31:40
Well, there's all kinds of rewards in heaven.
31:41-31:45
Actually, you could kind of look at heaven as one big reward, right?
31:46-31:55
And I mean, you got this, there's no sickness war, there's no unhappiness, oh how about the best thing in heaven? Jesus himself.
31:58-32:23
All of that's true. And at the same time, the Bible says that each individual gets special individual rewards. And how much of these you get is based on how you facing persecution because of Jesus.
32:27-32:53
2 Corinthians 5.10, Paul says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due," what is due, excuse me, "for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." There's different levels of rewards based on your faithfulness now, based on your faithfulness in the face of persecution.
32:56-32:58
Like, all right, well, what are those rewards then?
33:01-33:02
I don't know.
33:04-33:06
Here's something I do know.
33:10-33:13
Jesus says they're great.
33:16-33:24
And if Jesus says something is great, that's what I was thinking.
33:26-33:30
If Jesus says it's great, then it must be pretty great.
33:30-33:39
If God himself refers to something as being great, then it must be spectacular.
33:42-33:50
So church, can we just believe Jesus and like wait 15 minutes and find out what it is?
33:53-34:04
Because I got to tell you, all the stupid insults and slander are going to look pretty petty in light of whatever Jesus has for you.
34:06-34:08
And that's a reason to rejoice.
34:11-34:12
I have a reward in heaven.
34:15-34:19
Number three, a third reason to rejoice.
34:20-34:25
And if face persecution is I'm in good company, I'm in good company.
34:27-34:28
Look again, verse 12.
34:30-34:38
Jesus says, "Your reward is great in heaven." But then he talks on this statement too.
34:38-35:04
He says, "For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Are you being persecuted for your faith to some degree in some way? And if you follow Christ, you should be. Well, Jesus reminds us here you're in good company. I mean, man, think of the people in the Old Testament.
35:06-35:15
Abel, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel.
35:17-35:19
You're in some pretty good company.
35:20-35:24
Oh, how about Jesus himself?
35:26-35:36
You know, Jesus spoke of this in John 15, when he said, "Remember the word that I said to you, "A servant is not greater than his master.
35:37-35:44
"If they persecuted me, "they will also persecute you.
35:46-35:53
"If they kept my word, "they will also keep yours." Okay, hang on.
35:57-35:59
How is this a motivation to rejoice?
36:03-36:08
Okay, so you're saying I should be motivated by the fact that other people were persecuted too?
36:09-36:11
Like, how is that a motivation?
36:19-36:24
You know, we love the name drop, don't we?
36:26-36:27
Oh, you say you don't.
36:28-36:30
You say you don't.
36:30-36:33
You run into somebody famous at the airport and keep your mouth shut.
36:33-36:34
(congregation laughing)
36:35-36:36
You won't.
36:38-36:43
I ran into Jerome Bettis at the airport one time, literally ran into him.
36:45-36:46
Like physically ran into him.
36:46-36:48
I knocked him back about five yards.
36:49-36:51
No, okay, I made that part up.
36:52-36:54
I did make that part up.
36:55-36:57
We love to name drop.
36:57-36:58
I felt good telling that story.
37:01-37:02
Why do we do that?
37:03-37:04
Why do we name drop?
37:06-37:11
Because there's something in us that we're kind of proud of our associations.
37:11-37:12
You know what I mean?
37:13-37:16
There's something in us that we like that.
37:19-37:28
Several years ago, Aaron and I were at a church conference in Orlando and we were having breakfast.
37:29-37:31
It was this big dining room.
37:31-37:32
Aaron and I are having breakfast.
37:33-37:37
And this stranger comes and sits at our table.
37:38-37:40
He just sits down literally right beside me.
37:43-37:45
And dude was so weird.
37:46-37:48
Now, listen, I am not criticizing.
37:50-37:51
I'm weird.
37:52-37:54
My wife married weird, all right?
37:55-37:56
I'm not criticizing.
37:57-37:59
The dude was just strange.
37:59-38:00
He just sat down with us.
38:01-38:07
He had these giant like plastic rim glasses, like really big, and he had this enormous mustache.
38:07-38:09
He looked like a cartoon character.
38:10-38:14
And if you know me, I was like so fascinated by him.
38:14-38:19
I think people are so fascinating, but when like this cartoon character sits down, he was so strange.
38:20-38:24
And he was going on and on and on about some exercise bike that he bought.
38:24-38:27
I'm like, they're still making exercise bikes?
38:28-38:29
Like people are still doing that?
38:30-38:34
You can buy a bike with two wheels and take it on the road.
38:36-38:45
Like, he was so strange, but he sat there and talked to Aaron and I the whole breakfast about his exercise bike.
38:46-39:31
And then he gets up and leaves, and Aaron and I are like, "Who was that?" Well, then we go into the auditorium for the conference, and Aaron and I take our seats, and there's a time of worship and then somebody gets up and announces, they're like, "We'd like to introduce, "you know, our main speaker for the event, Paul Tripp." He came out on the stage and Aaron and I are like, "That's him, that's the guy we had breakfast with." I walked around the rest of the conference like, I don't wanna brag or anything, but, I had breakfast with Paul Tritt.
39:33-39:38
You know, it's just kind of a thing we do once.
39:42-39:44
Yeah, oh, it was great.
39:44-39:47
We were talking mustaches and exercise bikes.
39:53-39:55
Are you being persecuted because of your faith?
39:55-40:22
Do you realize that's the occasion for the ultimate name-drop? You're like, "I get to be hated because of Jesus." Do you realize what that means? I'm in company with the Lord of the universe! They can't get Him, so they come after me! Isn't that awesome?
40:22-40:28
How much Jesus? Way cooler than Paul Tritt, by the way.
40:34-42:04
When you feel like your faith has made you an outcast, hey, hey, that's just for now. Someday you're going to be walking around heaven with the prophets who came before us who were persecuted for their faith and you're gonna look around these people in heaven and say, "You know what? It was rough at times being insulted and being slandered, but now I see that I'm in good company. And that is a reason to rejoice. So as our worship team makes their way back up to the platform here, I have to ask you, has being a Christian resulted in people reviling you as being a Christian resulted in people insulting you and lying about you? Do people hate you just because you follow Jesus? Well then, on behalf of the elders, the ministry team, and all of the nursery workers at Harvest Bible Chapel, we would like to wish you a truly heartfelt congratulations.
42:06-42:07
(congregation applauding)
42:19-42:26
Yours, yours is the kingdom of heaven.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:10-12

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What are different ways persecution is carried out? Have you ever personally been persecuted because of your faith, on some level? If not, why not?
Read 1 Peter 4:3-4. What exactly motivates nonbelievers to slander Christians who refuse to live a sinful lifestyle?
Why do you think Christians aren’t persecuted in America the way Christians are persecuted in other countries?
In your opinion, which of Jesus’ reasons for rejoicing in persecution is the most compelling / motivating? Proof of salvation, reward in heaven, or being in good company?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

March 16, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Congratulations to the Peacemakers

Taylor Brown

March 16, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Introduction:

Congratulations to the Peacemakers! (Matthew 5:9)

Who are the Peacemakers?

Those who Love unity and actively seek to Promote and Defend it in all circumstances.

Why are We Congratulating the Peacemakers?

For they shall be called Sons of God.

Galatians 2:11-14 - But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

How Can I Become a Peacemaker?

By Resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me.
Ephesians 2:13-14 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

Colossians 1:20-22 - And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.
By valuing the good of others above my Feelings and Preferences .
By having a healthy view of Conflict .
1. I shouldn't Desire it.
2. I shouldn't Avoid it.
  Romans 12:18 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:05
Maybe you have a hard time being happy for anyone else besides yourself.
00:06-00:11
Maybe you're envious of the person you're supposed to be congratulating.
00:12-00:17
You know, at times we all struggle with truly congratulating other people.
00:18-00:25
But do you know whose congratulations are always 100% genuine, heartfelt, and passionate?
00:26-00:27
Jesus Christ.
00:28-00:32
Over the past two months, we have been digging into the Beatitudes.
00:33-00:42
These are Jesus' blessed statements from the Sermon on the Mount, where he congratulates those who we would never think to congratulate on our own.
00:42-00:54
We've already seen him congratulate the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful and the pure in heart.
00:55-00:59
Jesus doesn't congratulate these people to make them feel good about themselves.
01:00-01:04
He truly congratulates these individuals because he means it.
01:05-01:22
He gives his most sincere congratulations to his followers who choose to go against the grain and be different than the rest of this world because he knows that they will experience eternal rewards that defy expectation and imagination.
01:24-01:30
So this morning, we will zero in on Jesus' next round of heartfelt congratulations to the peacemakers.
01:31-01:35
So let's join our Lord and Savior in congratulating the peacemakers, okay?
01:37-01:37
(congregation applauding)
01:49-01:51
Great job, everybody, I'm very proud of you.
01:53-01:55
In all seriousness, this is such a chaotic world, isn't it?
01:57-02:08
Hatred, slander, betrayal, shattered relationships, broken families, murder and war are all around us and in our faces 24/7.
02:09-02:10
Do you ever get tired of it?
02:12-02:12
I know that I do.
02:13-02:18
There is so much trouble and so little peace.
02:19-02:24
There are so many troublemakers and so few peacemakers.
02:24-02:25
peacemakers.
02:26-02:35
I hope and pray the Lord will use his word this morning to recruit more peacemakers in this room and watching online for the work of his kingdom.
02:36-02:37
So let's go to the Lord in prayer.
02:38-02:44
Please pray for me that I will faithfully communicate God's word and I will pray that you faithfully receive and submit to it.
02:49-03:01
Father, we thank you for this most important appointment and we come together as your people to worship you together and come under the preaching of your word.
03:03-03:04
Or may we take this seriously.
03:05-03:12
May we take what your word has to say to heart and live it out, not just today, not just the rest of this week, but the rest of our lives.
03:13-03:15
We thank you in advance for what you will do.
03:16-03:18
We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen.
03:20-03:29
So as Pastor Jeff and Pastor Rich have said over the course of this series, The Beatitudes are not random and isolated statements to be read and understood on their own.
03:30-03:38
The Beatitudes are like steps on a staircase and rungs on a ladder that work together to lead us towards a specific destination.
03:40-03:52
This means that we cannot become peacemakers until we walk the previous steps and climb the rungs that Jesus has already laid out before us since the beginning of February.
03:53-04:00
With that in mind, let's read the entire Beatitudes and really keep track of what Jesus is telling us here.
04:02-04:05
Matthew chapter five, verses one through 10.
04:06-04:18
Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain and when he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
04:18-04:22
Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
04:23-04:26
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
04:27-04:33
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.
04:34-04:38
Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.
04:39-04:43
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
04:44-04:49
"Blessed are the peacemakers, "for they shall be called sons of God.
04:50-05:01
"Blessed are those who are persecuted "for righteousness' sake, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." So let's follow the logical flow of what Jesus is preaching here.
05:02-05:08
You cannot be a peacemaker if you do not recognize your spiritual bankruptcy before a holy God.
05:09-05:15
You cannot be a peacemaker if you do not mourn over your sin and seek after repentance.
05:16-05:24
You cannot be a peacemaker if you are not meek and do not put aside your self-interest for the ultimate interest of God's glory.
05:25-05:29
You cannot be a peacemaker if you have no appetite for the things of God.
05:30-05:38
You cannot be a peacemaker if you demand mercy for yourself but you refuse to show mercy to other people in your life.
05:40-05:51
And finally, you cannot be a peacemaker "The heart is set on perversion rather than purity." At this point you may be thinking, "Okay, Taylor, I get it.
05:51-05:58
"I need to exhibit all the rest of the Beatitudes "to be a peacemaker, but what is a peacemaker?
05:59-06:10
"Who are the peacemakers?" Well, you must have read my mind or pay attention to the whole entire series and how it really rolled out before you, but that is the first question on our outline this morning.
06:11-06:13
Who are the peacemakers?
06:14-06:22
In the original Greek, the term peacemaker is only used once in the entire New Testament, and it's found right here in the Beatitudes.
06:22-06:26
It is a compound word of peace and to make or to do.
06:27-06:31
So let's unpack each individual word so we can better understand the whole term.
06:32-06:40
In Scripture, peace is such a beautiful concept that goes so far beyond our limited American definition.
06:41-06:44
To most people in this country, here is what peace looks like.
06:45-06:49
Gas prices are down and there's no major wars right now, we can breathe easy for a minute.
06:50-06:53
Or yay, no one's fighting in my family today, we have peace.
06:55-06:59
The biblical definition of peace is so much greater than that.
07:01-07:06
That is a worldly view of peace is based on circumstances and what happens to you.
07:07-07:10
It can easily be changed and stolen away.
07:11-07:15
Biblical peace is way more than the absence of conflict in your life.
07:16-07:20
Biblical peace is the presence of God in your life.
07:21-07:26
The missing puzzle piece in your soul has been found and filled.
07:26-07:33
You experience a sense of fullness and completeness that no one else can take away from you.
07:34-07:42
It is the eternal reality that works its way outward into your life and to other people around you.
07:44-07:47
And there is no true peace apart from the one true God.
07:48-07:53
There is no true peace apart from submission to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
07:54-07:59
And the word make and peacemaker brings an important reality into focus.
07:59-08:03
Peace isn't just something for you to experience on your own.
08:04-08:06
It is meant to be shared with others.
08:08-08:11
For this to happen, you must be active and not passive.
08:12-08:17
Steps need to be taken to bring this God-given peace to others.
08:19-08:24
So here is the definition of peacemakers that I want you to write down and meditate upon for the rest of this week.
08:25-08:26
Who are the peacemakers?
08:26-08:39
"those who love unity and actively seek to promote "and defend it in all circumstances." Those who love unity and actively seek to promote and defend it in all circumstances.
08:43-08:54
When you put the words peace and make together, you don't get a picture of someone just sitting back in their lazy blower recliner saying, "Man, I love peace, I love when people get along, "that's my jam.
08:55-08:56
Can't really do much about it.
08:58-09:01
That's a peace faker, not a peacemaker.
09:02-09:06
Peacefakers talk a big game, but do nothing to back up their empty words.
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While peacemakers do something about their desire for harmony with the people who God has placed in their lives.
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Peacefakers pretend like nothing is wrong, but they seethe with anger on the inside.
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while peacemakers refuse to sweep issue after issue under the rug, they just rip the rug up to deal with all those issues.
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Peacemakers put the ball on other people's courts when it comes to resolving disagreements, while peacemakers grab the ball and run with it.
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Peacemakers do nothing to contribute to the solution, while peacemakers find God's answer to the problem.
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Now some people take a sinful step beyond peace faking and become peace takers.
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Where they realize it or not, peace takers prefer dysfunction.
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And they actively seek to dismantle unity everywhere they go.
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Peace fakers, actually peace takers, stir the pot on purpose.
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They toss grenades in the people's laps.
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And then they act like they did nothing wrong.
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They act like they're totally innocent in the situation.
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while peacemakers seek to diffuse tough situations with the word of God in a calm attitude.
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Peacetakers look at conflict as a contest to win, while peacemakers look at conflict as an opportunity for relationships to be restored.
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Peacetakers badmouth those they have conflicts with to make themselves look like the good guys in the situation, while peacemakers refuse to speak poorly of anyone out of respect for people's public reputations.
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I want to challenge you this morning to figure out which label best describes you.
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Are you a peacemaker who puts on a performance?
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Are you a peacetaker who makes matters worse?
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Or are you a peacemaker who brings people together?
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It's so easy to spot peace faking and peace taking tendencies in others, but it's so difficult to see it within yourself.
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You can ask your loved ones for their perspective and counsel.
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Talk to your spouse, your kids, a close friend, a pastor, an elder at harvest after service.
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Others can point out the blind spots that you cannot see on your own.
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But I beg you, please do not assume that you're doing just fine in this area of life.
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Evaluate yourself and allow others to evaluate you as well.
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So we figured out who the peacemakers are and who they are not.
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Now we need to answer the second question of the morning.
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Why are we congratulating the peacemakers?
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Why are they worthy of these big balloons that Pastor Jeff pointed out earlier?
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Why are they worthy of this big party?
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Well, Jesus clearly tells us why in Matthew 5, verse 9.
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He says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, "for they shall be called sons of God." So why are we congratulating the peacemakers?
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For they shall be called sons of God.
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I don't wanna bore you with my seminary homework, but in the original Greek, shall be called is a verb in the continual future passive tense.
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And some of you who didn't do very well in English, like what in the world does that mean?
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Let me make it really simple for you.
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Jesus is describing something that will be repeatedly declared about peacemakers in eternity.
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On this earth, peacemakers are often misunderstood.
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In this life, Christians are hit with the wildest of lies and accusations.
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Has that ever happened to you personally?
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A family member cuts ties and walks away even though you did nothing wrong.
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Someone at work causes others to think poorly of you because of a slight that has no basis in reality.
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A friend turns his or her back on you for seemingly no reason.
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In our culture, biblical peacemakers are called a lot of rude and untrue things.
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But if you are a genuine peacemaker, take heart in this astounding truth, one day all of heaven will openly and eagerly acknowledge what is already true of you right now.
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You are a child of God.
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More specifically, you are a son of God.
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Ladies, you may be scratching your heads and thinking, wait, I'm a son, but I'm a woman.
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I don't want to be called a son of God.
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Trust me, you really do.
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2,000 years ago, sons were the ones who received the inheritance.
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They were heirs of so many blessings and privileges.
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In God's family, his daughters are treated like sons and heirs of his infinite riches.
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Both men and women enjoy the reward of sonship.
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We are on equal footing with one another.
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Whether you're a man or a woman, you do not earn your sonship by being a peacemaker.
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You simply demonstrate your sonship by being a peacemaker.
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Let me encourage you, those who label you with hateful names right now are showing themselves to be children of the enemy, children of Satan, who follow in his footsteps of slander and accusation.
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while you prove yourself to belong to your heavenly Father when you follow in his peaceful footsteps and refuse to sink to the level of this world.
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You know, sometimes my kids don't act the way that I would like them to in public.
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They can really embarrass me at the store by yelling no or questioning me.
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And to be honest, in those moments, I wish I could take a massive step away from them and just say, whose child is this?
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There's a lost kid here, excuse me, I need help.
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Can any of their parents relate to me?
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Okay, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
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Thank you, Jillian, one person was honest enough.
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You know, several years ago, my son, Sam, had a Christmas concert at school, and he was the only kid in the entire school who cried the whole time and didn't sing any of the songs.
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Kate and I just wanted to slide down in our seats and just fall through a trap door in the floor, but unfortunately there was no trapdoor underneath of us.
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But the next year, Sam had a complete turnaround.
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He did awesome.
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He sang every song, he did all the motions, and he even gave the crowd a big thumbs up after he was done.
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I'll never forget how I felt in that moment.
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With tears in my eyes, I wanted to yell out, that's my son, that's my boy.
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God feels the same exact way about you peacemaker who actively seeks to promote and defend peace everywhere that you go.
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He wants everyone to know that you are one of his precious children. In eternity the courts of heaven will ring out with God saying, "That's my child. He belongs to me. She is mine." Angels and other believers will wholeheartedly accept and agree You will be free with that truth.
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No one will ever misunderstand you ever again.
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You will be fully known by God and other believers forever.
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Does that sound worthy of congratulations?
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Well at this point you may be thinking, okay I get it, I know who the peacemakers are, I get what the reward is, I'm sold.
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How can I become a peacemaker?
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Well, Paul provides the answer to that question in Galatians chapter two, verses 11 through 14, where he provides a personal example of peacemaking from his own life.
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So please turn there with me.
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Galatians chapter two, verses 11 through 14.
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Galatians chapter two, verses 11 through 14.
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"But when Cephas," that's the apostle Peter, "came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, "because he stood condemned.
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"For before certain men came from James, "he was eating with the Gentiles, "but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, "fearing the circumcision party.
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"And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically "along with him, so that even Barnabas "was led astray by their hypocrisy.
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"But when I saw that their conduct was not in step "with the truth of the gospel, "I said to Cephas before them all, "if you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile "and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles "to live like Jews?" This passage may seem random to you.
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It may seem off topic, maybe thinking, the word peace isn't even mentioned in these verses.
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It seems like Paul is picking a fight and causing trouble.
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But that's not true at all.
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I chose this passage because it demonstrates three important lessons about becoming a peacemaker.
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So how can I become a peacemaker?
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Number one, your outline, by resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me.
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By resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me.
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Throughout biblical history, there was a tension between Jews and Gentiles.
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Jews held to a strict diet and schedule of worship, while Gentiles did not.
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Gentiles did things that seemed very unacceptable to the Jews.
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And the Jews did things that seemed very strange to the Gentiles.
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These two groups didn't hang out and spend time together.
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They stayed as segregated as humanly possible.
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Their relationship was one of hostility, not peace.
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But that all changes with Jesus Christ.
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Christ came to bridge the massive gap between a holy God and sinful humanity, and in the process, he did the same for Jews and Gentiles.
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Listen to what Paul has to say about this in Ephesians chapter two, verses 13 through 14.
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But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
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There are many differences.
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Cannot compare to their greatest similarity, salvation in Jesus Christ.
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Before the cross, there was a wall that divided Jews and Gentiles from one another, but it has been torn down by the death and resurrection of Christ.
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Both Jewish and Gentile believers belong to the same God, have been adopted into the same family, have experienced the same peace.
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But this doesn't mean that Jewish and Gentile believers always sing kumbaya around the campfire and enjoy perfect peace during the days of the early church.
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Peace must be actively promoted and defended, or both parties are gonna fall back into bad habits.
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And that's what happens in this passage.
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The apostle Peter becomes a part of the problem.
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He used to eat with the Gentiles, and now he decides not to.
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Unity is broken.
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Peace is disturbed.
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Paul and Barnabas and the rest of the people they led astray are acting like peace takers and not peacemakers.
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They're trying to rebuild the wall that Christ has already demolished.
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They're making the gospel look very bad.
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And Paul is very concerned that they're making Christ look bad.
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They're ruining the reputation of the church.
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So Paul knows he can't stand by and do nothing.
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Paul can recognize this issue because his spiritual and tenor are always up to catch anything that threatens the unity of the church.
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Paul can seek after the right solution because he cares about the gospel more than anything else.
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Paul can be a peacemaker because he has personally rested in the peace that Christ purchased for him on the cross.
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As I said earlier, only Christians can enjoy the peace that God offers.
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You cannot share the peace of Christ if you have not personally experienced the peace of Christ for yourself.
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So I have to ask the most important question of the entire message.
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If you're just totally tuned out, please tune back in.
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Are you at peace with God?
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Are you at peace with God?
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And I know that question may seem so dumb to some of you, and you may say, well, of course I'm at peace with God.
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I'm sitting here, aren't I?
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I'm a good person.
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I do the right thing.
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If I weren't on good terms with God, I wouldn't be sitting here.
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All of those answers are wrong and unbiblical.
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Your peace with God has nothing to do with you and your list of accomplishments.
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Your peace with God has everything to do with Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished.
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Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, you hate God.
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No matter how much you say that you love him.
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You are an enemy of God.
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You were at war with him, not at peace with him.
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But the great news this morning is that doesn't have to be true of you any longer.
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Colossians chapter one, verses 20 through 22 tells us this, that Christ came to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
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And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.
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Christ purchased never-ending peace on the cross with his precious blood.
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But that peace can only be given to you if you ask for it and you accept it.
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You can be at peace with God right now if you turn from your sin and turn towards Jesus Christ for forgiveness and eternal life.
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If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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You will transform from an enemy of God into one of his beloved friends.
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So the first step to become a peacemaker, you must first bow the knee to the Prince of Peace who freely offers what the world can never give.
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How can I become a peacemaker?
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Second step, by valuing the good of others above my feelings and preferences.
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By valuing the good of others above my feelings and preferences.
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Since Paul is so concerned with the integrity of the gospel and the unity of the church, he deeply cares about the ultimate good of his Christian brothers and sisters, Jewish and Gentile alike.
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But before we can talk about what Paul says and does, let's talk about what he doesn't say and do.
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First of all, he doesn't take Peter's side and ignore the Gentiles.
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But also notice from this text that Paul doesn't sidebar at the Gentiles and say, man, I can't believe what Peter and Barnabas are doing to you guys.
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They are such jerks.
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You should be so angry with them and ignore them right back.
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That wouldn't be good for the Jews or the Gentiles.
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That would be childish behavior that belongs in the school playground and not in the church.
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You know, kids are obsessed with their feelings and preferences.
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I don't want milk in the blue sippy cup, I want it in the orange sippy cup.
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Kids do not naturally care about the good of others.
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Susie's so weird, I'm not gonna sit with her at lunch.
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Billy was mean to me, so I'm never gonna talk to him ever again.
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I'm not gonna say sorry and you can't make me.
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You may smile at those examples, but you may not be much better.
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So many professing Christians are little kids wearing adult clothes.
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They look like grownups, but they certainly do not act like grownups.
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I have to ask you this morning, is that you?
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Are you a little kid in the church wearing adult clothes?
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Do you keep a mental file of personal offenses?
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Do you give the silent treatment to those who offend you or offend a loved one?
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Do you ignore people who frustrate you?
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Do you just completely write people off?
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Replace those ungodly attitudes and behaviors with godly disciplines.
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If someone offends you in a small way, you don't have to dwell on it and hold onto it.
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You can let it go.
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Proverbs 19 11 says, "It is your glory to overlook an offense." That should become the new life verse for many of us in this room.
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If someone, maybe in the aisle next to you, constantly annoys you and frustrates you, instead of writing them off, write them notes of encouragement.
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And I promise you, and your attitude towards this person will begin to change.
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If someone sins against you and refuses to apologize, pray for that person every single day.
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I can tell you from personal experience, it is so hard to hold on to anger and bitterness towards someone that you constantly lift up before the throne of grace.
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Harvest, it's time to put childish ways behind us.
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It's time to grow up and become peacemakers.
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It's time to put yourself last so others can come first.
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It's time to care more about the good of others than your petty preferences and flaky feelings.
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It's time to stop caring about what you want and to start caring about what other people need.
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How do I become a peacemaker?
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Finally, by having a healthy view of conflict, by having a healthy view of conflict.
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So we've covered what Paul does not say and do, now let's talk about what he does say and do to promote and defend peace at Antioch.
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Galatians 2.11 says that Paul opposes Peter to his face.
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And according to verse 14, Paul did this in front of everyone.
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Peter sinned publicly, so he must be rebuked publicly.
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And verse 14 also lays out exactly what Paul says.
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If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?
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In other words, you are acting so two-faced right now.
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You used to eat with the Gentiles, but now you act like they're inferior and they have to keep the Old Testament laws to be at the table with you.
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Cut it out right now.
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Paul isn't rude, but he is firm.
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Paul proves that peacemaking sometimes involves direct and uncomfortable conversations.
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A bone must be reset before it can be repaired.
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A wound has to be cleansed and disinfected before it can be healed.
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For a plant to thrive, the parts that are dying to be cut off and pruned.
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Biblical peace cannot be enjoyed in Antioch apart from this conflict between Peter and Paul.
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We often think that conflict gets in the way of peace, but sometimes it is the way towards peace.
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Paul has a healthy view of conflict, which makes him a productive peacemaker.
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And every single one of you in this room, and myself included, we need to imitate his example.
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and view conflict the way that he did.
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So what is a healthy view of conflict?
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Well really quickly, letter A in your outline, I shouldn't desire it.
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I shouldn't desire it.
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You know, Paul isn't a fake tough guy looking to get into fist fights and arguments.
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He isn't making big deal out of nothing.
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He isn't just blow up at people who rub him the wrong way.
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No one doesn't desire conflict and neither should you.
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But maybe you do desire conflict.
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Maybe you like drama when it pops up and you add fuel to the fire with gossiping and complaining.
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But please, don't be hungry for the next controversy, debate, and dispute.
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Instead, work hard to be the calmest and most collected person in every single room.
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Never to be the person that other people invite into conflict because you are known for your helpfulness, your humility, and your wisdom.
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For this to happen, you must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
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Or what is the healthy view of conflict?
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Letter B, I shouldn't fear it.
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I shouldn't desire it, but I shouldn't fear it.
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Paul isn't afraid of conflict.
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He isn't pacing around Antioch wondering what's gonna happen if he opposes Peter.
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Oh no, what's gonna happen?
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What are people gonna think about me?
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No, he is confident.
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He's confident not in himself, but in the word of God and the spirit of God who lives within him.
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If you want to become a peacemaker, you have to get over your obsession with being liked and appreciated by everyone.
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When you are convinced that God approves of you, the disapproval of mere human beings loses its hold.
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And sometimes you need to hurt someone's feelings to tell them the truth.
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You can't make a peace on them without breaking a few eggs.
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You can't rise above a painful situation without stepping on a few toes.
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You will fear conflict if you care more about the opinion of man than the commands of God.
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This may be hard for you to believe because I'm a pastor and I talk in front of people all the time, but I was painfully shy growing up.
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And I used to dread ordering food at a restaurant.
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And so I made my family do it for me.
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And my family, who's not here right now, but they'll be happy to tell you more about that later on.
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So I used to tell them, okay, I'll give them my order, and they would tell the waiter, or they'd go to the cashier and tell them what I wanted.
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But there was just one particular Sunday after church growing up when my family was done.
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They were done with my avoidance tactics, and they forced me to go up and order my own chocolate Frosty at Wendy's.
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I gotta tell you, I was terrified.
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I'll never forget that moment, just shuffling up to the counter with my crumpled up one dollar bill, getting to the cashier, putting my head down, putting my hand up and saying, "Small Frosty."
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(audience laughs)
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Guess what?
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Everything worked out just fine.
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The cashier was nice, and I was able to enjoy the blessing of eating a chocolate frosty they ordered myself.
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I'm so glad that my family forced the issue, and I stopped avoiding this important task.
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Maybe you need to force the issue.
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Maybe you need to stop avoiding the important task of dealing with a specific conflict in your life.
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If you need to confront someone or have a painfully honest conversation, do not procrastinate, do not push it off any longer, rip off the band-aid and do it today.
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Not tomorrow, not next week, and not some magical made-up time when things slow down, because guess what, things are never ever gonna slow down.
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You may be wondering, didn't Pastor Jeffery tell me this two weeks ago during his sermon on mercy?
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Jeff, didn't you say this already?
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Yeah, he did say that, but did you listen?
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Did you follow through?
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Or did you decide not to listen and not to follow through?
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Now is your chance.
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Stop avoiding conflict because by doing so, you are delaying the blessing of true peace.
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And I know what some of you are thinking right now.
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Taylor, that's all well and good, but you don't know my spouse.
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He or she is so stubborn.
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You don't know my family.
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They are never gonna change.
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Or you don't know that situation in my friend group, "That history is so long, it's so messy.
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"My attempts to make peace will fall on deaf ears "and not accomplish anything." Well, it seems like you have a very low view of what God is capable of.
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It seems like you've already decided that God cannot and will not change that person and situation.
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Is that mindset honoring to God?
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It's insulting to him, it's destructive for those you care about, it's harmful for your own soul.
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You have to take your eyes off of the results that you do or do not expect and choose to focus on your God-given responsibilities.
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What is your God-given responsibilities?
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Well, Paul tells us in Romans 12, 18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, "live peaceably with all." You are responsible for the action of your peacemaking, not the response to your peacemaking.
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You cannot control other people's actions and reactions, but guess what?
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You can control your actions and your reactions.
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Do your small part of peacemaking and trust God with his big part that he will take care of the results.
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As the worship team comes forward, I have some final questions for you.
37:02-37:08
Are you sick and tired of giving in to the temptation to be a peace faker or a peace taker?
37:10-37:13
Are you ready to make some big changes?
37:14-37:19
Have you truly rested in the peace that Christ purchased on the cross?
37:20-37:29
Are you willing to place your feelings and preferences aside so you can focus on the good of others and the unity of this church?
37:31-37:34
Are you willing to deal with conflict in a biblical and healthy way?
37:35-37:40
If your answer to those questions is yes, then I want to offer you my heartfelt congratulations.
37:41-37:43
Congratulations to the peacemakers.
37:44-37:45
(congregation applauding)
37:57-38:03
Congratulations to the peacemakers, "for you shall be called sons of God." Let's pray.
38:07-38:10
Father, we come to you and we admit our faults.
38:10-38:11
We admit our sins.
38:11-38:18
Lord, there's not one person in this room who shouldn't be feeling the conviction of your word.
38:19-38:24
All of us can be peace fakers or peace takers in different ways and around different people.
38:26-38:29
And Lord, I pray that by your spirit we would stop.
38:31-38:44
Lord, we would put off anger, we would put off bitterness, we would put off giving people the silent treatment, and that we would put on unity and harmony and love.
38:48-38:53
Lord, we thank you that you didn't turn your backs on us, and we want nothing to do with you.
38:55-38:59
but you pursued after us through your Son, and you gave us your perfect peace.
39:01-39:05
Lord, help us to pursue after others to share that peace that you have given to us.
39:06-39:08
We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:9 & Galatians 2:11-14

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What is biblical peace and how do we share it with others?
How do you see yourself being a peace-faker or a peace-taker right now? How is the Lord calling you to address these issues and move forward?
Which do you struggle with more: desiring conflict or avoiding conflict? Why are both harmful?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

March 9, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Congratulations to the Pure in Heart

Jeff Miller

March 9, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Introduction:

Congratulations to Pure in Heart! (Matthew 5:8)

Who Are the "Pure in Heart"?

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew 15:19 - For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 - And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Psalm 24:3-4 - Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

Why Are We Congratulating the Pure in Heart?

John 1:18 - No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Hebrews 11:27 - (Moses) endured as seeing him who is invisible.

How Do I Become Pure in Heart So I Can See God?

James 4:8 - ...purify your hearts, you double-minded.

1 John 3:3 - ...everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

1 Peter 1:22 - Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth…

How to Purify Yourself (Philippians 4:8):

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Think True thoughts.
Think Honorable thoughts.
Think Just thoughts.
Think Pure thoughts.
Think Lovely thoughts.
Think Commendable thoughts.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-01:20
Amen. Open your Bibles with me please to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five as we continue our congratulations party. You ready to party? Pastor Taylor's ready party, the rest of you overly affected by that hour change. I think we'd be used to that by now, right? Matthew chapter 5, are you there? This is Jesus' first sermon, and I still contend it's the greatest sermon ever preached. And this is the introduction to Jesus sermon. He says, "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 meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
01:22-01:26
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
01:27-01:32
"Blessed are the peacemakers, "for they shall be called sons of God.
01:34-01:50
"Blessed are those who are persecuted "for righteousness' sake, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And in these statements commonly called the Beatitudes, we have a spiritually logical flow.
01:50-01:56
You have to see the Beatitudes like a ladder or a staircase.
01:56-02:01
This is a progressive journey Jesus is talking about here.
02:03-02:18
And over and over and over and over, he says, "Blessed, blessed, blessed." You grab a Bible commentary, And most people say, "Well, that means happy." But it means a lot more than happy.
02:20-02:42
What Jesus is saying is, if this describes you, He's saying, "Congratulations, "because God has something awesome in store for you." This, this is what Christ followers, are meant to be.
02:45-02:51
So I'd like you to bow your heads for a second, and I'm gonna ask that you would please pray for me.
02:56-03:01
I am keenly aware that I am inadequate.
03:04-03:09
It's just that sometimes I feel a lot more than other times.
03:10-03:42
And I get to tell you today's one of those days. With the verse that's before us today, I feel so grossly inadequate to capture the grandness of this verse. The Bible says our sufficiency is from Christ. It's not about me. It's about the truth of His Word. It's about the power of His Holy Spirit. So I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to that end.
03:43-03:46
And I will pray for you as we get into God's word together.
03:47-03:47
Let's pray.
04:01-04:08
Father in heaven, we're always completely dependent on you for everything.
04:15-04:21
And I don't know if we'll ever feel that more than we will over these next few minutes.
04:24-04:29
God, I pray that your light shine in the dark places.
04:33-04:39
that we're not so concerned with what other people think we should be.
04:40-04:44
Father, let us be concerned with what You say we should be.
04:47-04:52
Father, we thank You for Your commitment into making us those people.
04:55-04:57
Father, exalt your name.
05:00-05:03
Let your word be greatly exalted in our hearts.
05:04-05:06
We pray in Jesus' name.
05:07-05:10
And all of God's people said, amen.
05:12-05:21
So the party continues today as we say congratulations to the pure in heart.
05:23-05:26
(congregation applauding)
05:37-05:38
Let's look at the verse again.
05:39-05:51
I can't think of any verse in the Bible that's more majestic and more awe-inspiring than this verse.
05:52-06:12
when Jesus, in describing our spiritual journey, says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Where do you start with a verse like that?
06:15-06:18
Well, let's talk about, first of all, who are the pure in heart?
06:19-06:19
Let's start there.
06:20-06:22
Who are we congratulating?
06:23-06:23
Who are the pure in heart?
06:24-06:27
Well, I guess let's do a little Bible study here, shall we?
06:27-06:28
Let's talk about the heart.
06:30-06:34
When we talk about the heart, we're not talking about the muscle that pumps the blood here, okay?
06:35-06:38
Biblically, the heart is the center of your personality.
06:40-06:43
Your heart is the part of you that you don't see in the mirror.
06:45-06:46
It's who you really are.
06:47-06:52
It has to do with your will and your emotions and your intellect.
06:53-06:54
That's your heart.
06:54-06:56
And biblically, there's a big problem.
06:59-07:01
Your heart is bent to sin.
07:01-07:03
We inherited that from Adam.
07:05-07:15
Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick." Who can understand it?
07:17-07:22
We are born with a heart that is not pure.
07:23-07:28
And according to Jeremiah, your heart is a sick liar.
07:30-07:31
What did Jesus say about the heart?
07:32-07:43
Matthew 15, 19, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, "murder, adultery, sexual immorality, "theft, false witness, slander." Look, mankind is evil.
07:45-07:49
And sociologists try to pin that on environment.
07:50-07:59
And yes, yes, how you were raised and where you were raised does have a bearing on who you are, absolutely true, but that's not the root problem.
08:01-08:06
And some people wanna put the problem on education.
08:07-08:08
Well, you know what the problem is.
08:08-08:09
People just need more education.
08:10-08:12
I am not against education.
08:14-08:16
That's not the root of the problem either.
08:17-08:19
You know what the root of the problem is according to God's word?
08:20-08:21
Your heart is evil.
08:22-08:28
My heart, by birth, inherited from Adam, is evil.
08:29-08:30
That's the problem.
08:31-08:41
So that's what the heart is, but Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in heart." Well, what do we mean by pure?
08:44-08:48
Pure means to be cleansed from the filth of sin.
08:51-09:02
Because we are, as we said in the first part of our party here, because we are poor in spirit, we are not naturally pure in heart.
09:04-09:06
We need God to cleanse us.
09:06-09:08
We've been talking about that, right?
09:09-09:17
Actually, you know, God does something better than cleanse your heart.
09:19-09:26
Ezekiel 36, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.
09:26-09:32
And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
09:33-09:41
And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
09:41-09:47
So you see, God does something so much better take our old nasty sinful heart and clean it up.
09:47-09:51
He takes that out and he gives us a new heart.
09:52-09:55
A heart that loves him and a heart that wants to obey him.
10:00-10:02
That's what it means to be pure in heart.
10:03-10:06
You're like, okay, alright, alright, I got the concept.
10:08-10:11
But what does the pure in heart look like?
10:11-10:18
What does that, okay, I get you're hitting this with these theological concepts here, but just brass tacks.
10:19-10:20
What does it look like to be pure in heart?
10:21-10:25
Well, we don't have to guess that either because God tells us that in Psalm 24.
10:27-10:27
I love it, look at this.
10:28-10:31
It says, "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
10:32-10:36
"And who shall stand in his holy place?" It's like, who can stand before God?
10:36-10:41
Look, he who has clean hands and a pure heart.
10:42-10:44
Like, well, what is that?
10:44-10:53
He tells us, "Who does not lift up his soul "to what is false and does not swear deceitfully." Did you see that?
10:54-11:08
The psalmist says, "How am I going to be worthy "to step into the presence of God?" He says, "You gotta be pure in heart." That means, first of all, you don't lift up your soul to what is false.
11:08-11:14
That means you are 100% dedicated to the glory of God in every area of your life.
11:15-11:21
Not just an hour on Sunday morning, every area of my life is holy ground for the Lord.
11:21-11:23
It is all dedicated to God.
11:26-11:28
And he says, no deceit.
11:29-11:30
There's nothing hidden.
11:31-11:33
There's no hypocrisy.
11:35-11:38
There's no, I put on a face for church, but they don't know who I really am.
11:41-11:44
You're pure in heart, everywhere.
11:47-11:52
To sum it up, the pure in heart is someone who has been transformed from the inside out.
11:52-12:00
It's evidenced by a manner of life motivated solely by a desire to make every aspect of their lives an act of worship.
12:01-12:03
That is the pure in heart.
12:06-12:09
So, why are we congratulating them?
12:17-12:19
You know, there's something in us right now.
12:21-12:22
They're like, this is so hokey and nerdy.
12:24-12:26
Like we're celebrating somebody that's pure.
12:26-12:28
There's something in us that rails against that.
12:30-12:32
And that's an indicator that we have a problem.
12:34-12:37
We should be celebrating the pure, not making fun of the pure.
12:39-12:40
Because Jesus celebrated the pure.
12:41-12:41
Why, why?
12:42-12:43
Why are we celebrating the pure in heart?
12:44-13:01
Well, he says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, "for they shall see God." Again, the word they, in all of these beatitudes, is emphasized in the Greek.
13:02-13:06
And Jesus is pointing out it's exclusive.
13:07-13:08
Like who sees God?
13:09-13:19
Jesus says, "The pure in heart, they, they shall see God." And the verb tense is continuous.
13:20-13:24
Not you see God once or twice in your life.
13:25-13:28
It's I'm constantly seeing God.
13:32-13:41
And I gotta tell you, it's just, it is so hard for me to capture this verse in the way that it needs.
13:43-13:48
Because this statement, this should fill us with awe.
13:53-13:59
People who are pure in heart get to see God.
14:06-14:08
What does that mean?
14:10-14:12
What does it mean to see God?
14:16-14:22
Well, it's impossible in the physical sense to see God, right?
14:23-14:27
John 1:18 says, "No one has ever seen God.
14:30-14:53
God, the only son who is at the father's side, he has made him known." So you see, John says, "Nobody's seen God, but when we saw Jesus, we saw God, but no one has ever seen God." Well, you're like, "Well, what about Moses?" Well, Moses in Exodus 33 asked to see God's glory.
14:56-14:57
But do you remember what God said to Moses?
14:58-15:17
He said, "No one can see me and live." But that takes us to a very peculiar verse in the book of Hebrews about Moses, where it says, "Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible." What?
15:19-15:26
Moses endured as, you see this?
15:28-15:33
As seeing him who is invisible.
15:36-15:38
You're like, how do you see someone who's invisible?
15:42-15:43
The answer is faith.
15:46-15:53
You see, every one of these beatitudes, every single one of them, have both a now and a later fulfillment.
15:55-15:57
Yes, will we see God later?
15:57-15:58
Yes, we will.
15:58-16:01
Eventually, yes, in heaven, we are going to see God, right?
16:01-16:03
Revelation 22, four tells us that.
16:05-16:16
Absolutely, someday we are going to see God, but now, like Moses, we do get to literally see God with eyes of faith.
16:20-16:22
I'm like, how in the world can I explain that?
16:25-16:32
And it occurred to me that to the people that get it, I don't really have to explain it.
16:34-16:40
And to the people that don't get it, there's not a thing that I can say that'll make it make sense.
16:44-16:47
But the people who get it, get it.
16:47-16:50
The pure in heart see God like no one else can.
16:51-16:55
The pure in heart see God in a way that you just can't, you can't describe it.
16:58-16:59
Like, well, what do you mean?
16:59-17:02
Well, the pure in heart, you know, we see God in nature.
17:04-17:07
We see God's hand in everything that he created.
17:07-17:10
We're just like, wow, look at the design of this.
17:10-17:14
Wow, look at the glory of God reflected in what He made.
17:15-17:17
We see God in history.
17:18-17:22
We see God at work in world events, especially through His people Israel.
17:22-17:25
We're like, well, look, that's obviously God.
17:27-17:32
We see God in His word, His wisdom on every page, promises fulfilled.
17:32-17:39
Oh, and not just like reading it in the book, but we see God when we apply His word.
17:40-17:45
and watch his hand at work fulfilling the promises that he made to us.
17:48-17:50
And that's, look, that's the objective stuff.
17:50-18:01
And I could go on and on and on, but there's a subjective sense of this that we cannot deny, that we see God personally.
18:03-18:21
We see God in His sovereignty and the events in my life, that I look back, I can't deny God actively at work every step of this journey.
18:22-18:26
I can't deny that, because I couldn't explain this any other way.
18:29-18:31
We see God personally through the peace that he gives.
18:31-18:33
We were just singing about that, weren't we?
18:34-18:38
Like the whole world is crumbling around us, and we're like, God's got this.
18:39-18:41
Yeah, it's a rough patch, but God's got this.
18:42-18:44
Where does that peace come from?
18:44-18:45
That's seeing God.
18:48-18:52
You see, you'll never convince the pure in heart that God is absent.
18:55-19:02
Because the pure in heart are constantly seeing God everywhere.
19:04-19:08
So, that really leaves us with one question.
19:12-19:17
As we've been asking, and all of these, let's ask it again.
19:20-19:24
How do I become pure in heart so I can see God?
19:27-19:37
You know, you might be sitting here saying, you know, that sounds pretty magnificent able to see the Creator, the sovereign of the universe?
19:37-19:42
Like, how, how can I become pure in heart so I can see God?
19:49-19:54
You know, maybe there's a better question to ask.
20:01-20:02
Do you really want to see God?
20:07-20:08
Do you really want to?
20:15-20:16
Because here's the truth.
20:18-20:20
Not everybody really does.
20:25-20:33
You're like, "What do you mean?" Do you want to see the police?
20:38-20:39
You're like, yeah, why not?
20:41-20:42
What if you're speeding?
20:48-20:48
You get it?
20:49-20:50
It's the same with God.
20:52-21:03
If you're living in sin, if your life is lived in such a way that you know you're dishonoring God, you sure don't want to run into Him.
21:08-21:10
So do you really want to?
21:16-21:31
Would you rather just explain this away, make this some silly, flowery, poetic concept, Sort of dismiss the impact of the truth of the words of Jesus Christ.
21:32-21:35
Just go about your day and live however you want to live.
21:35-21:36
Would you rather just do that?
21:36-21:37
I think most of us would.
21:41-21:50
Because you got to admit there's a real scary sense in which we say we will see God.
21:56-22:01
If you wanna see God according to Jesus, you gotta be pure in heart.
22:03-22:04
Like, how does that happen?
22:06-22:08
Well, we've already talked about that.
22:08-22:09
Only God can change you.
22:10-22:12
Only God can do that work.
22:15-22:18
But you know, I do a lot of reading.
22:18-22:19
I do a lot of reading.
22:19-22:25
And I read so many times this week and study in this verse, so many people said, "You can't make yourself pure.
22:26-22:27
You can't make yourself pure.
22:27-22:29
Listen, you can't make yourself pure.
22:30-22:32
You can't make yourself, I read that so many times.
22:33-22:38
And I had, I kind of had a little problem with that.
22:40-22:42
Do you know why I had a problem with that?
22:43-22:46
Do you realize how many times the Bible tells you to purify yourself?
22:48-22:53
There is a real sense in which you carry some responsibility for your purity.
22:53-22:55
Yes, God changes your heart.
22:56-22:57
100%.
22:59-23:05
But over and over and over, God says, "Purify yourself." What do we mean?
23:05-23:07
Well, James 4/8.
23:09-23:10
We studied this one a few weeks ago.
23:11-23:14
James says, "Purify your hearts, you double-minded." That's a command.
23:16-23:19
Well, you're like, well, James is kind of a hard guy, right?
23:19-23:20
Well, what about John, right?
23:20-23:21
1 John 3, 3.
23:21-23:28
"Everyone who thus hopes in him," I'm like, there it is again.
23:28-23:29
You see that?
23:30-23:38
"Purifies himself as he is pure." Do you see the responsibility put it, it's on us in a sense, isn't it?
23:41-23:46
You're like, well, yeah, that was John, but you know, Peter wouldn't say something like that, would he?
23:47-23:48
Well, look at first Peter.
23:49-23:56
"having purified your souls "by your obedience to the truth." Oh, and there's more.
23:59-24:03
Well, like 2 Corinthians 7, 1, Paul says it.
24:04-24:08
So there we have James, John, Peter, and Paul all giving a command.
24:09-24:12
Look, you have a responsibility here.
24:17-24:23
Because every New Testament writer tells us here that we have to purify ourselves.
24:27-24:28
Like, well, how does that happen?
24:31-24:37
The battle for purity is waged between your ears.
24:39-24:40
It's in your mind.
24:43-24:50
Listen, what goes in your car affects its performance, doesn't it?
24:53-24:57
What goes in your body affects your health, doesn't it?
24:59-25:04
What goes in your computer affects the kinds of programs that it runs, doesn't it?
25:06-25:10
What goes in your mind affects your purity.
25:11-25:19
Because what goes in your mind, we're not only talking about your thoughts, but we're also talking about from there comes your words.
25:19-25:21
From there come your actions.
25:22-25:24
What goes in your mind affects your purity.
25:26-25:29
And I gotta tell you, America, we have such a problem there.
25:30-25:46
Because we fill our minds with so much sewage, from the TV and the internet, Everything is sexual images and crude jokes and violence and hatred and...
25:50-25:59
We're pumping that stuff into our heads and then we wonder why we don't really feel or act in a pure way.
26:01-26:04
It's because you're allowing too much impurity in here.
26:08-26:10
Well, what do we do about that?
26:12-26:14
One verse, how to purify yourself.
26:14-26:15
Let's just look at one verse.
26:17-26:25
That if you're willing to commit yourself to this verse, you are going to see exponential growth in this area in your life.
26:26-26:27
How to purify yourself.
26:28-26:29
This is from Philippians 4, eight.
26:30-26:31
Oh, and it's a loaded verse.
26:31-26:32
Well, let's look at it.
26:35-26:56
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
27:00-27:01
So how to purify yourself?
27:03-27:04
This is not complicated.
27:06-27:07
Just look at the list.
27:07-27:08
We're gonna go through these very, very quickly.
27:09-27:09
All right?
27:10-27:12
How to purify yourself, first of all, number one, think true thoughts.
27:16-27:17
Like what are true thoughts?
27:17-27:25
Jesus said in John 17, "Thy word is truth." God gave us, he gave us a book.
27:25-27:27
Do you know why God gave us a book?
27:28-27:32
He didn't give us a digital download or a Blu-ray.
27:33-27:35
Why did God give us a book?
27:36-27:39
Because a book engages our minds.
27:42-27:43
Get into it.
27:45-27:47
Do you have a Bible reading plan?
27:48-27:48
Get one.
27:49-27:51
And that doesn't have to be complicated either.
27:52-27:54
You know what my Bible reading plan is?
27:54-27:55
Open it.
27:57-27:58
Read it.
27:59-27:59
Repeat.
28:03-28:04
but you need to be reading this.
28:04-28:09
You need to be praying this back to God as we talked about in the youth group last couple of weeks.
28:09-28:12
You need to be meditating on it.
28:12-28:13
You need to be memorizing verses.
28:13-28:16
You need to get this in your head and in your hearts.
28:17-28:22
And you're going to find it so much easier to catch thoughts that don't line up with God's word.
28:22-28:25
And you're gonna be able to replace those thoughts accordingly.
28:27-28:29
So think true thoughts.
28:32-28:34
That's what should be swirling around your head.
28:34-28:35
Is this what God said?
28:36-28:37
Does this line up with God's word?
28:37-28:40
And the second one flows straight from that.
28:40-28:41
Think honorable thoughts.
28:44-28:45
Think honorable thoughts.
28:46-28:47
Like, well, what does that mean?
28:47-28:52
Well, any scenario you face, something you should immediately be considering is this.
28:54-28:55
How would Jesus think about this?
28:59-29:02
Remember the WWJD bracelets, remember that?
29:03-29:03
Some of you do.
29:04-29:05
What was that, 90s?
29:07-29:08
We're bringing them back.
29:10-29:15
How about WWJD armband tattoos?
29:17-29:17
Too cultish?
29:24-29:34
I got to admit though, I like the concept, constantly asking, how would Jesus think about this?
29:35-29:40
You see an attractive opposite sex person, where does your mind immediately go?
29:42-29:45
Like, well, what would Jesus think about this?
29:47-29:48
What would Jesus think about her?
29:50-29:59
You've been sinned against, and you're tempted to retaliate or one up Or what would Jesus think about this?
30:01-30:03
Or you heard that juicy rumor.
30:07-30:10
What would Jesus think about that if somebody went up and said that to him?
30:12-30:17
You see, that's why the Bible says, think honorable thoughts, right?
30:17-30:19
Number three, think just thoughts.
30:20-30:20
Think just thoughts.
30:23-30:25
You're like, just what?
30:27-30:34
Not just as in only, just as in what's right, what's fair, what's proper.
30:35-30:48
And that's so important because you know where our minds, because of our bent to sin, because of our sinful flesh, our thoughts oftentimes immediately go to what's best for me, what's going to be to my advantage.
30:49-30:52
Instead of that, we need to be saying, what's the just thing?
30:54-30:56
How can I do what is impartial?
31:00-31:02
That's the kind of stuff that needs to be swirling around your head.
31:03-31:05
Number four, think pure thoughts.
31:08-31:09
Think pure thoughts.
31:13-31:16
It's a little embarrassing that I have to say this to the church.
31:18-31:20
Get your minds out of the gutters, okay?
31:22-31:25
Not everything has to turn into an anatomy joke.
31:27-31:28
It's not funny.
31:28-31:29
It is so not funny.
31:32-31:35
But for some people, that's immediately where their mind goes.
31:35-31:36
That tells you where their heart is.
31:39-31:42
It's not funny, it's not appropriate, and it's certainly not pure.
31:44-31:46
Look, are you interested in seeing God or not?
31:51-31:55
You have to ask yourself, does this thought that I have line up with God's design for sex?
31:57-32:05
And that's why pornography is the biggest purity killer, men, and sad to say, even for many women.
32:07-32:11
We put images in our minds that have no business being in there.
32:16-32:27
Pure thinking is my affection, physical attraction, thoughts, all of the stuff in that area, those are all reserved for my spouse.
32:28-32:29
Like, well, I'm not married.
32:29-32:31
Okay, your future spouse.
32:33-32:34
You're like, well, I'm not planning on getting married.
32:34-32:36
Okay, well then think about something else.
32:38-32:39
But get your mind out of the gutter.
32:41-32:44
So dishonoring, so impure.
32:47-32:48
Number five is think lovely thoughts.
32:51-32:52
Lovely.
32:55-32:56
That word's right up there with chili.
33:01-33:03
Here's what it literally means though.
33:03-33:07
I know it sounds very flowery, but literally the word means friendly towards.
33:09-33:12
It's just talking about, well, you know what should be in your mind?
33:12-33:16
Things that are pleasing and attractive and positive.
33:19-33:25
There's so many ugly things that we think about and we dwell on them and that leads to impurity.
33:25-33:27
Things like envy.
33:28-33:30
Why does he have something I don't have?
33:30-33:32
I deserve that, he doesn't deserve that, I deserve that.
33:32-33:34
We get that stuff in our minds, that leads to impurity.
33:40-33:45
Another ugly thing that swirls around our head is being critical, just critical.
33:46-33:53
Some people just like, they're ready to slap down a Yelp review on everything, everything.
33:55-34:00
Like, wow, look at her coat, three stars.
34:01-34:06
Wow, look at Pastor Taylor's shoes, one star.
34:06-34:07
Do not recommend.
34:08-34:08
(congregation laughing)
34:12-34:13
There's nothing wrong with his shoes.
34:15-34:16
But you get my point.
34:16-34:21
Some people are just in that constant, harshly critical mode.
34:23-34:25
Constantly turning their nose up at everything.
34:27-34:29
Think lovely thoughts, whatever's lovely.
34:29-34:32
Another ugly thing that goes into our head is hatred.
34:33-34:35
Some people just have something against everybody.
34:37-34:41
That's how you look, how you talk, where you're from, how you dress, the kind of car, whatever.
34:42-34:44
It's just hatred.
34:48-34:51
But you know, the Bible tells us we need to purify ourselves.
34:52-34:59
That when those thoughts come into your head, you say, "No, no, no, that's going down a dark and negative place.
34:59-35:00
I don't need to go there.
35:03-35:09
My mind isn't going to go there." And then finally, number six, think commendable thoughts.
35:12-35:13
Incommendable thoughts.
35:19-35:23
Have you ever been around that guy?
35:25-35:26
You know who I mean.
35:27-35:28
You know that guy?
35:30-35:30
The guy that,
35:31-35:32
(laughs)
35:33-35:35
not that guy, that guy.
35:36-35:40
The guy that constantly has to rip on everything.
35:41-35:44
Oh, look, I love a good yuck as much as the next person.
35:44-35:51
But some people are just constantly looking at everything through the lens of how can I make fun of this?
35:56-35:57
It gets old.
35:58-35:59
It gets old.
36:01-36:04
So instead of thinking, how can I make fun of this?
36:04-36:12
Thinking commendable thoughts means Instead you're thinking, how can I be an encouragement?
36:14-36:18
Are you constantly looking to tear people down because you think you're so hilarious?
36:20-36:25
Or instead, are you looking to build people up as God commands us to do?
36:30-36:31
Okay, that's a lot.
36:31-36:31
Can you sum it up?
36:32-36:32
Sure.
36:34-36:46
He says, "If there's any excellence, "if there's anything worthy of praise," that sums it up, doesn't it?
36:47-36:49
Your mind should be on what's excellent and praiseworthy.
36:53-36:57
Here's a good sentence to, a good question to ask yourself to sum it up.
36:58-37:03
When you have these thoughts going through your head, ask yourself, is this something that people think about in heaven?
37:05-37:08
If not, then I should be thinking about something different.
37:11-37:13
And Paul says, "Think about these things.
37:16-37:27
You know there's very little that you can control in your life." And that is a glaring truth that has become more and more obvious to me with every passing year.
37:28-37:41
so little that I can control in my life, but there is one thing, there is one thing that I and only I can control, and same for you, one thing that only you can control.
37:44-37:47
And that is what you choose to think about.
37:50-37:51
So God's given you a new heart.
37:55-37:56
You're commanded to keep it clean.
37:59-38:03
So, are you pure in heart?
38:04-38:12
Are you pursuing and growing and being pure from the inside out?
38:14-38:15
Is that your desire?
38:16-38:17
Is that what you're after?
38:20-38:33
that on behalf of our Lord, on the authority of His Word, and speaking on behalf of the leadership of Harvest Bible Chapel, I would like to wish you a congratulations.
38:47-38:56
I would like to congratulate you because if that is you, you are going to see God.
38:57-38:57
Let's pray.
38:59-39:15
Our Father in heaven, I don't even know what to say.
39:20-39:28
And Father, it just seems so hard to preach a concept that seems so foreign to our culture.
39:29-39:31
But you have called us to be a different culture.
39:33-39:38
You have called us out of the world and into your glorious kingdom.
39:39-39:47
You have called us to live as citizens of heaven now while we're making our way through our short time on earth.
39:49-39:56
Father, we thank you for the glorious promise of regeneration that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
39:56-40:11
But Father, we sometimes are just too content to ignore the very clear commands of your Word that we are to purify ourselves.
40:14-40:27
Father, I pray for all of us here at Harvest Bible Chapel, those who are watching this and listening to this all over the world.
40:32-40:52
Father, give us a desire to pursue you that includes eliminating everything in our lives that is fighting against purity.
40:55-40:58
Father, we want nothing more than to glorify you.
41:00-41:10
We want nothing more than to know you and we have this glorious promise from your Son that we will get to actually see you.
41:11-41:16
here and now, and I can't think of a better promise that you would give us.
41:18-41:22
Thank you, Father. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:8 & Philippians 4:8

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What did Jesus mean when He said the pure in heart will “see God”? How would you explain “seeing God” to a brand new believer?
What does controlling your thoughts have to do with purifying yourself? How are these connected?
Which of the “things to think about” from Philippians 4:8 do you personally find the hardest to dwell on? Why?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

March 2, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Congratulations to the Merciful

Jeff Miller

March 2, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Introduction:

Who Are The "Merciful"? (Matthew 5:7)

Ephesians 2:4 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us...

Titus 3:5 - he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy...

Acts 7:60 - And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."

Why Are We Congratulating the Merciful?

Matthew 6:12 - and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:14 - For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you...

Luke 6:37 - ...forgive, and you will be forgiven...

Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 3:13 - ...forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

How Can I Be Merciful?

Matthew 18:21

5 Excuses People Give for Not Forgiving:

They have to Come To Me .
I'll forgive but I won't Forget .
They'll just do it Again .
They don't want to Reconcile .
I just Can't .

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:03
Open up your Bibles with me, please, to Matthew chapter five.
00:05-00:19
And we are in the middle of like an eight week long party, a congratulations party that comes from Matthew chapter five.
00:19-00:24
We're gonna be going through the Sermon on the Mount and this is Jesus' first sermon.
00:25-00:29
And this is the introduction to his first sermon.
00:29-00:33
and over and over and over you see a theme, right?
00:33-00:41
Look at verse three, Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
00:42-00:46
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
00:47-00:50
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
00:51-00:55
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
00:57-01:00
Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.
01:01-01:05
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
01:06-01:11
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.
01:12-01:17
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
01:19-01:26
Now that word blessed, most people say, well, that just means happy, but it actually means more than just happy.
01:27-01:40
What Jesus is doing here is congratulating his followers to say, "If you're this kind of a person, "then this is what is going to result from that." There's a glorious promise attached to it.
01:40-01:50
And in these Beatitudes, you have to see these, it's not like Jesus was just randomly coming up with cool little proverbs he was throwing out.
01:51-01:55
There's a spiritually logical flow to all of this.
01:55-01:56
These are like a ladder.
01:57-01:58
It's describing a journey.
01:59-02:01
This is what Christians are meant to be.
02:03-02:13
And something we're going to see in the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes specifically, and it's our theme for this whole series, is God wants your heart.
02:15-02:17
It's not about the externals.
02:20-02:27
A Christian, listen, a Christian is something before he does anything.
02:29-02:45
And today we're looking at verse seven, where Jesus says, "Blessed are the merciful, "for they shall receive mercy." Will you bow your heads with me for a moment?
02:45-02:53
And I just ask that you would pray for me, please, as I will pray for you, as we get into God's word together.
03:00-03:00
(P)
03:09-03:12
Father in heaven, this is a message for all of us.
03:13-03:19
I suppose there are some messages that people can sort of excuse themselves from.
03:21-03:22
Not this one.
03:23-03:24
This hits us all.
03:29-03:54
So I pray, Father, that you would help us to shelve any distractions in our hearts, and that, Father, you would help us to silence our own objections to what you've said, and that as true, obedient followers of Jesus Christ, we are just, right now, we are poised, to do whatever it is you said in your word.
03:55-03:59
And I thank you ahead of time for the fruit of righteousness that comes from that.
04:00-04:05
I pray in Jesus' name and all of God's people said, amen.
04:05-04:12
So we would like to say congratulations to the merciful.
04:14-04:14
(congregation applauding)
04:19-04:20
Wait, there's another wave.
04:20-04:21
Okay, there it is.
04:26-04:27
That is who we are celebrating today.
04:28-04:32
That is who we blew all these balloons up for, the merciful.
04:32-04:42
If you are merciful, that on behalf of our Lord and on behalf of the leadership of this church, I would like to say congratulations.
04:43-04:46
And you're like, who are the merciful?
04:48-04:51
Well, on your outline, Who are the merciful?
04:52-04:53
Are you ready?
04:54-04:56
We're gonna get really technical here.
04:57-04:57
Who are the merciful?
04:57-04:59
They are people who show mercy.
05:03-05:05
I didn't put a lot of time into this this week.
05:08-05:09
That's what I came up with.
05:12-05:15
But that's what the merciful really are.
05:16-05:17
It's people who show mercy.
05:17-05:19
We don't need to overly complicated, do we?
05:19-05:20
It's people who show mercy.
05:22-05:24
But the question is, what does that mean?
05:26-05:35
I don't know about you, but when I hear mercy, sometimes my mind goes to this more, I don't know, like this magnanimous place.
05:36-05:56
When I hear merciful, for some reason, just that concept, that word, it makes me think of like, please back me up here, if you're like me, but it makes me think of like some like 80s kung fu movie where the good guy finally has the bad guy or he wants them.
05:58-05:59
And he deserves it.
06:00-06:01
This guy definitely deserves it.
06:03-06:12
And he's like, "No, I'm going to show you mercy." You know, roll credits.
06:14-06:16
That's where my mind goes when I hear merciful.
06:21-06:26
But I think what we're more concerned about here is what does the Bible mean by that term, right?
06:27-06:28
And here it is.
06:28-06:29
Don't miss this.
06:30-06:31
Don't miss this.
06:32-06:34
Do you know what mercy is biblically?
06:35-06:37
Mercy manifests as forgiving other people.
06:39-06:40
That is biblical mercy.
06:40-06:44
It's forgiving other people who have sinned against you.
06:46-06:47
That's mercy.
06:49-06:52
And I heard a illustration many years ago it's from Pastor Bob actually.
06:54-06:55
I wanna share it with you quickly.
06:55-07:02
Some of you've heard this before, but this helps me understand mercy more than anything else.
07:02-07:05
But in this illustration, just imagine you have a teenage son.
07:05-07:08
Some of you do, some of you did, some of you will.
07:09-07:19
But imagine you have a teenage son and he goes to this party and there's another teenage boy at this party that he just hates your son, hates him.
07:20-07:29
And it got to the point this other boy's like, when your son goes to this party, this other boy's made up his mind, he's gonna murder your son.
07:29-07:30
He hates him that much.
07:32-07:33
Imagine that's what happens.
07:33-07:40
Your son shows up at this party and an act of just cold-blooded wickedness.
07:41-07:44
This boy murders your son.
07:47-07:59
If you track that kid down and you killed him for murdering your son, that's called vengeance.
08:01-08:10
But if you track that kid down and apprehended him and took him to the authorities, and he was arrested, that's justice.
08:13-08:36
But if you were in court while this young man is standing trial for the murder of your son, if you were in court and somehow, somehow, the judge leaves the sentencing up to you, since you are the victim, and you say, you know what?
08:36-08:37
I wanna let him go.
08:38-08:39
Just let him go.
08:40-08:41
And the judge grants that.
08:41-08:45
They open the door and this young man goes, he just walks out the door.
08:46-08:48
That is called mercy.
08:50-08:56
But if you, again, courtroom scene, kid on trial, judge says, it's all up to you.
08:56-09:03
If in that moment, you said, your honor, what I would like to do is I would like to adopt this young man and raise him as my own son.
09:04-09:05
That's called grace.
09:08-09:12
And you see what we're talking about here today is mercy.
09:13-09:21
The, you severely wronged me, but I'm gonna let you go.
09:22-09:23
That's mercy.
09:25-09:28
And note this, mercy is a feeling.
09:29-09:33
is feeling pity for someone's condition.
09:35-09:37
Okay, so that's what mercy really is.
09:37-09:42
Somebody has sinned against you and now they're coming to you for forgiveness.
09:42-09:44
I've wronged you, I am so sorry.
09:45-09:47
And they are under your power.
09:48-09:50
Maybe it is like the Kung Fu movie.
09:50-09:52
They're under your power now.
09:54-09:57
And mercy manifests as forgiveness.
10:00-10:05
Mercy is actually imitating God, because that is the gospel, right?
10:05-10:07
God felt pity for us.
10:09-10:13
God felt pity because of the miserable consequences of our sin.
10:13-10:14
What did sin bring us?
10:14-10:18
A life of misery and death and separation from our creator.
10:19-10:20
Miserable.
10:20-10:28
So God says, "I'm going to show mercy." and his mercy moved him to deal with sin and grace.
10:29-10:30
But look at these Beatitudes again.
10:31-10:34
Do you notice the first four that we looked at here?
10:35-10:41
Being poor in spirit, mourning, being meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
10:41-10:49
Do you notice all of those are about God moving in me, God changing me, God going after my heart.
10:49-10:57
But now we've sort of turned a corner here because now when we get to mercy, This is God moving through me to other people.
11:01-11:08
And Jesus says on this journey, on this spiritual journey, when you get here, you don't see people the way that you used to.
11:11-11:20
Now that you have this new nature that we talked about last week, this new nature, God's spirit in you makes you want to imitate God.
11:21-11:23
And that makes you wanna show mercy.
11:28-11:35
Speaking of God's mercy, and if we're going to imitate it, look at Ephesians 2, 4, we'll have it on the screen here.
11:36-11:38
Look at this, follow this flow here.
11:39-11:58
It says, "But God being rich in mercy "because of the great love "with which he loved us." So you see in this verse, it's God's love that produced mercy.
11:59-12:13
All right, hold that thought because then you jump to Titus 3, 5 that says, "He saved us, "not because of works done by us in righteousness, "but according to his own," what?
12:15-12:15
Mercy.
12:17-12:26
So you see, when you put these verses together, what we see here is love produces mercy and mercy produces forgiveness.
12:29-12:33
That's what Jesus is saying at this point in the journey, I have the love of God in me.
12:34-12:36
And that means I want to show mercy.
12:37-12:39
And showing mercy means that I forgive people.
12:41-12:43
Those who wronged me.
12:46-12:47
I feel bad for them.
12:50-12:52
I want to restore the relationship with them.
12:54-12:58
I want to show mercy to them by forgiving them.
13:01-13:02
Like, but they sinned against you.
13:02-13:03
Yeah, yeah, they did.
13:05-13:05
They did.
13:06-13:08
But you know, I don't want to retaliate.
13:10-13:12
I don't want to hold a grudge.
13:14-13:18
And I don't wanna spend my life being bitter towards someone.
13:21-13:25
I wanna show mercy by forgiving, right?
13:27-13:35
A great example of that is Stephen in Acts chapter seven, martyred for his faith while he was being killed.
13:35-13:36
Do you remember the story?
13:36-13:37
We went through the book of Acts.
13:37-13:38
This was years ago.
13:38-13:42
But while he was being killed, what did Stephen do?
13:43-13:46
He prayed for his attackers.
13:48-13:57
Acts chapter seven, verse 60, it says, "And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice." These are people that were pelting him with rocks, by the way.
13:59-14:07
He cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Why would Stephen say such a thing?
14:10-14:12
Well, first of all, doesn't that sound kind of familiar?
14:14-14:21
Can you think of anybody else that said something like that while he was being killed, praying for forgiveness?
14:22-14:23
Can you think of anybody else?
14:24-14:25
Oh, Jesus, right?
14:27-14:30
You see, Stephen, like his Lord, knew.
14:32-14:35
These people, they're lost.
14:37-14:39
These people are blind.
14:40-14:47
And these people are literally, they're literally mad with sin.
14:47-14:49
And when I say mad, I don't mean angry.
14:49-14:51
I mean the right sense of the word.
14:52-14:57
These people are literally crazy because of their sin.
14:57-15:00
And he says, "I pity them." That's what our Lord cried out on the cross.
15:00-15:02
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
15:03-15:05
Stephen, I pity them.
15:05-15:06
God have mercy on them.
15:07-15:08
Forgive them.
15:08-15:09
Don't hold this against them.
15:13-15:15
Sin has blinded them and they just, they don't know what they're doing.
15:17-15:18
I feel bad for them.
15:22-15:24
And you see that falls onto our laps, my friends.
15:27-15:55
When people lie to you, or people lie about you, or people are out slandering you, spreading stories about you that aren't true, making up what they don't know, when people steal from you, when people lose their temper and you become the brunt of their rage.
15:58-15:59
Do you know who the merciful are?
16:01-16:12
They're the people, like Jesus Christ, like Stephen, that say, you know, they're mad with sin right now, I feel bad for them.
16:13-16:15
I want to show mercy.
16:17-16:18
That's who the merciful are.
16:21-16:23
Like, all right, so why are we congratulating them?
16:25-16:26
Why are we congratulating the merciful?
16:27-16:29
Well, what does your Bible say?
16:30-16:40
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." Like, hang on, time out, time out.
16:40-16:52
Is Jesus saying here that if I, that if, if I give mercy or forgiveness, then, then, then, and only then will I receive it.
16:52-16:54
Is that what, is that what Jesus is saying?
17:00-17:04
Well, you can't earn salvation.
17:05-17:07
We already talked about that, poor in spirit.
17:08-17:10
You are guilty and helpless.
17:11-17:12
You can't earn your salvation.
17:13-17:14
You can't do a thing.
17:16-17:29
And when it comes to mercy, when you think about it, mercy isn't even something you could technically earn, because mercy is when you don't get what you actually do deserve.
17:31-17:34
So that's not really technically something you can earn.
17:36-17:46
But when you go through the New Testament, there's a theme about mercy and forgiveness.
17:47-17:49
This is all through the New Testament.
17:49-17:51
Let's see, let's play a game here.
17:51-17:53
Let's see if you can catch the theme.
17:53-17:54
You ready?
17:54-18:01
Matthew 6, 12, Jesus teaching us to pray Give us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
18:01-18:02
Matthew 6, 14.
18:03-18:07
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
18:08-18:09
Luke 6, 37.
18:09-18:10
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
18:11-18:21
Ephesians 4, 32 says, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you." Colossians 3, 13.
18:22-18:26
Forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you.
18:26-18:29
So you also must forgive.
18:30-18:31
Did you see a theme?
18:31-18:32
There's more by the way.
18:34-18:35
But did you see a theme?
18:37-18:46
There's a definite connection between forgiveness from God and forgiveness to other people.
18:49-19:04
And Jesus is teaching in this beatitude consistent with the rest of the New Testament, that if I give mercy, it's evidence that I've received mercy.
19:07-19:10
In other words, forgiving people, forgive.
19:14-19:17
See, mercy isn't the plan of salvation.
19:19-19:20
Mercy is the proof of salvation.
19:23-19:26
So now it makes a little more sense celebrating, right?
19:27-19:33
Because people who are merciful are just simply demonstrating that they know God.
19:34-19:36
And what bigger thing would there be to celebrate?
19:37-19:41
You know your Creator, your Savior, your Lord.
19:41-19:42
You know Him personally.
19:42-19:44
You've been forgiven by God.
19:44-19:45
Well, congratulations.
19:49-19:50
Blessed are the merciful.
19:51-20:00
Therefore, on that day, When the merciful stand before God, they'll receive mercy.
20:00-20:03
That's why we're congratulating the merciful.
20:04-20:09
So, let's bring it home here.
20:09-20:11
How can I be merciful?
20:15-20:20
I want you to turn over to Matthew chapter 18.
20:21-20:22
(congregation laughing)
20:24-20:26
The question is, all right, all right.
20:27-20:28
How can I be merciful?
20:28-20:34
Well, that's not a hard question to answer because we already saw this.
20:36-20:40
God's love produces mercy and mercy produces forgiveness.
20:40-20:42
So if you wanna be merciful, do you know what you have to do?
20:43-20:44
You don't wanna say it.
20:47-20:49
If you wanna be merciful, Do you know what you have to do?
20:51-20:52
You still don't wanna say it.
20:54-20:56
I'm gonna give you one more chance.
20:59-21:01
If you wanna be merciful, do you know what you have to do?
21:03-21:04
You have to forgive.
21:06-21:18
When you've been sinned against, no matter by who, no matter how they did it, no matter why they did it, you, you have to be ready and willing to forgive.
21:19-21:19
(audience laughing)
21:21-21:34
Yeah, many years ago I was teaching a high school boys, we're doing a purity class, and I was on my way to the church, and I was driving past Dunkin' Donuts.
21:35-21:38
I thought, I'll get a couple dozen donuts for the boys.
21:38-21:39
Like, who doesn't love donuts, right?
21:40-21:42
I mean, really, who doesn't love donuts?
21:43-21:53
So I pull into Dunkin' Donuts, and I was kind of in a hurry, So I go through the drive-through and I said, I'll just, I want two dozen donuts, any kind.
21:53-21:54
I don't care what kind, it doesn't matter.
21:54-21:56
I don't want to get into the, okay, you have three left.
21:56-21:58
All right, a Boston cream, okay, you have.
21:58-22:00
I don't want to get into all that stuff, all right?
22:00-22:02
Just two dozen donuts, whatever.
22:03-22:06
Okay, so that's it, just two dozen donuts.
22:06-22:07
So I'm sitting at the drive-through.
22:08-22:14
I tell them that and they're silence, like waiting, waiting.
22:17-22:31
And finally, the guy comes back on the speaker, he goes, "Hang on." He says, "I have to see if we have that." So I lean my head out the window.
22:33-22:40
I'm like, "I'm not in Taco Bell, am I?" I'm like, "No, Dunkin' Donuts.
22:40-22:48
No, I'm in the right place." Like, you have to see if you have that.
22:51-22:56
Like, look, pardon my ignorance, but isn't this a donut store?
22:58-23:01
Shouldn't you have, I don't know, donuts?
23:05-23:09
We laugh at that because we're like, well, how foolish is that?
23:09-23:11
Like Dunkin' Donuts, donuts is their thing.
23:12-23:12
You got donuts, right?
23:14-23:16
Like they should understand donuts more than anyone, right?
23:18-23:24
And I would say, we laugh at that, but Christians, what's our thing?
23:26-23:27
You're like, still donuts.
23:27-23:29
No, no.
23:31-23:32
What's our thing?
23:33-23:34
Our thing is forgiveness, right?
23:35-23:40
Didn't we just stand and sing to the God who forgave us in Jesus Christ?
23:40-23:41
Isn't that why you're here?
23:41-23:43
Isn't that why you go to small group?
23:43-23:44
Isn't that why you pray?
23:44-23:46
Isn't that why you're in his word?
23:46-23:52
Because we're all about this God who I have sinned against has forgiven me in Jesus Christ.
23:53-23:54
Doesn't that change your life?
23:55-23:57
Isn't like forgiveness our thing?
24:01-24:08
But sometimes, church, if we're honest, we're a lot like the donut store that day.
24:11-24:16
If someone sinned against us and all of a sudden, we don't know a thing about forgiveness.
24:19-24:20
That should be our specialty.
24:23-24:34
I have to ask you, is there someone in your life right now that if they were here in this room, you would try to avoid them when church is over?
24:35-24:37
You're making your exit strategy.
24:37-24:39
If I walk this way, I won't run into them.
24:40-24:41
Is there somebody like that?
24:44-24:45
You're like, yeah, they're sitting over here.
24:47-24:48
It might be for someone.
24:49-25:02
Is there someone in your life right now that if they tried to call you and you pick up your phone and you see their name on your phone, you immediately send it to voicemail?
25:02-25:03
Is there somebody like that?
25:06-25:17
Is there anyone that I would go to that would say about you, yeah, we have issues.
25:21-25:28
Matthew 18, Matthew 18, look at verse 21.
25:28-25:43
It says, "Peter came up and said to him, to Jesus, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him as many as seven times.
25:44-25:49
You see in the previous verses, Jesus was addressing how to forgive someone.
25:49-25:54
Now Peter comes and asks, how often do I forgive someone?
25:55-26:00
Because you see the rabbis in this day, they taught the three strike rule.
26:01-26:04
I always wondered if that's where like baseball got it from.
26:05-26:06
I don't know, somebody looked that up.
26:06-26:10
Not now, but they had a three strike rule.
26:10-26:17
If somebody's sinned against you three times, you were only on the hook to forgive them three times, but strike three and you're out, pal.
26:19-26:26
So Peter, I think Peter here probably thought he was being pretty, he was going to impress the Lord with his righteousness.
26:27-26:29
Like, hey, Jesus, how often?
26:31-26:32
How about seven?
26:32-26:34
Boom, mic drop.
26:34-26:39
He's probably looking around at the other guys like Jesus about to pat me on the back.
26:40-26:43
Jesus about to give me a yogi button.
26:44-26:45
So what did Jesus say?
26:47-27:00
Verse 22, Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but 70 times seven." I don't think Peter was expecting him to say that.
27:02-27:05
70 times seven, don't worry, I did the math ahead of time.
27:05-27:07
That's 490.
27:09-27:10
So is that the magic number?
27:12-27:14
Is that the magic number, 490?
27:17-27:18
Oh, Jesus didn't stop there.
27:19-27:27
He says, "Therefore the kingdom of heaven "may be compared to a king "who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
27:28-27:33
"When he began to settle, one was brought to him "who owed him 10,000 talents.
27:34-27:47
And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be made." Stop there.
27:48-27:51
Now, you know how much a talent is worth?
27:53-27:55
A talent's worth about 20 years wages.
27:57-28:03
And this man owed 10,000 talents.
28:04-28:06
So again, we'll do the math here.
28:08-28:14
So a talent is one year's wage times 20 years, we already said, right?
28:15-28:17
And this man owed 10,000 talents.
28:18-28:24
So this man owed the king 200,000 years wages.
28:25-28:29
Now this is math you can do on your own, not now, but write it down.
28:29-28:30
This is math you can do on your own.
28:30-28:36
just calculate how much you make in a year and multiply that times 200,000.
28:37-28:38
That's what this guy owed the king.
28:41-28:46
I think it's safe to say it was an unpayable debt, right?
28:47-28:50
You're like, how does that even happen?
28:52-28:54
How does somebody get that far into debt?
28:54-28:58
Like, at what point did you put away the credit card?
28:58-28:59
Come on, man.
29:00-29:10
200,000 years wages, that is so irresponsible and that is so unpayable, and that is so much like every single one of us before God.
29:11-29:16
We have before God an irresponsible and unpayable debt.
29:21-29:22
Look at verse 26.
29:24-29:47
He says, So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, "Have patience with me, "and I will pay you everything." I want you to listen to this statement really closely.
29:49-29:57
A person who needs forgiveness can never properly calculate what is really owed.
29:59-30:01
I'm gonna say that again, you need to write that down.
30:04-30:12
A person who needs forgiveness can never properly calculate what is really owed.
30:13-30:15
I want you to think about that.
30:17-30:30
Moving on, verse 27, "And out of pity," ding, ding, ding, "out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
30:32-30:33
Do you see that?
30:33-30:34
We've been talking about that.
30:35-30:38
Pity, mercy, forgiveness, right?
30:38-30:39
That's the flow.
30:40-30:42
And he released him from the debt.
30:45-30:47
Oh, we don't need to read the rest of this story, huh?
30:47-30:49
We can probably guess what happens next, right?
30:49-30:53
This guy went out and he was doing back handsprings all the way down Galilee.
30:54-30:54
Woo-hoo!
30:55-30:55
Can you believe this?
30:56-30:59
I was just forgiven 200,000 years wages.
30:59-31:01
I was just forgiven of all that.
31:02-31:06
He was probably high-fiving and hugs and handshakes.
31:06-31:10
And he was probably, probably had a big congratulations party, right?
31:17-31:19
No, not in this story.
31:19-31:20
Look at verse 28.
31:21-31:29
It says, "But when that same servant went out, "He found one of his fellow servants "who owed him a hundred denarii.
31:30-31:41
"And seizing him, he began to choke him, "saying, 'Pay what you owe!'" What?
31:42-31:45
Oh, you're like, well, hang on, Pastor Jeff, let's not pass judgment so quick.
31:46-31:47
How much is a hundred denarii?
31:49-31:51
That's about three months' wages.
31:53-31:57
The denarii was a day's wage, so 100 days wages, that's about three months wages, right?
31:58-31:58
Is that payable?
32:00-32:00
Yeah.
32:02-32:10
Yeah, and compared to what this man owed the king, it was pennies.
32:12-32:13
But what did this servant do?
32:16-32:17
Says he choked him out.
32:17-32:19
I need a volunteer to come up here, I wanna demonstrate.
32:20-32:21
(congregation laughing)
32:23-32:25
No, I don't wanna demonstrate.
32:30-32:31
But look at verse 29.
32:36-32:45
He says, "So his fellow servant fell down "and pleaded with him, "have patience with me and I will pay you." Does that sound familiar at all?
32:47-32:48
It's kind of ironic, isn't it?
32:49-32:53
Now this man is hearing the same speech that he just gave.
32:53-32:54
Same speech.
32:59-33:04
It says, "He refused, went out and put him in prison "until we should pay the debt.
33:05-33:10
"When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, "they were greatly distressed.
33:11-33:13
"And they went and reported to their master "all that had taken place.
33:15-33:23
"Then his master summoned him and said to him, "You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt "because you pleaded with me.
33:24-33:39
"And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant "as I had mercy on you?" And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt.
33:40-33:51
"So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you "if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Like, what's the point of Jesus' story here?
33:51-33:52
It's a pretty clear point, isn't it?
33:55-34:05
I show mercy by forgiving, listen, not because people deserve it, not because I think they're really sorry this time.
34:08-34:10
The story has one point, and that's this.
34:10-34:14
I forgive because I am forgiven.
34:17-34:19
And if you're someone that says, you know what?
34:20-34:22
I can't forgive that person.
34:22-34:25
I can't do it, I can't forgive.
34:26-34:31
Then I have to respectfully ask, do you really understand the gospel?
34:33-34:37
Do you really understand the death that you've been forgiven?
34:38-34:41
for you to not be willing to forgive someone else.
34:45-34:47
This is where it hits us all.
34:49-34:56
But you know, even Christians think that they've found personal loopholes.
34:56-34:58
'Cause I know how this goes right now.
34:59-35:12
That there are people that are like, "I hear what he's saying, I see what the Bible says, "but honestly, if Jeff really knew, I mean, if Jeff really knew my situation, he would understand why I can't forgive.
35:13-35:20
Like if we were like at Pantera Bread or whatever and talking about this and I explained, Jeff would be like, yeah, I can see why you can't forgive.
35:26-35:28
I don't see loopholes in this.
35:30-35:31
But even Christians give 'em.
35:33-35:35
Write these down, five excuses people give for not forgiving.
35:39-35:40
Here's one.
35:40-35:41
People say, "You know what?
35:41-35:42
"They have to come to me.
35:44-35:49
"They have to come to me." Well, jot these verses down.
35:50-35:54
Matthew 5, 23 through 24.
35:54-35:55
Just jot that down.
35:55-35:58
And then jot down Matthew 18, 15.
35:59-36:03
Also two passages very close to the two passages we looked at today.
36:03-36:06
Jot them down, but here's a paraphrase of the passages.
36:08-36:24
In the Matthew 5 passage, Jesus says, "If you have sinned against someone, you need to go to them." And in the Matthew 18 passage, Jesus says, "If someone sinned against you, you need to go to them." So whether you did the sinning or you've been sinned against, both times Jesus says go, so you're not off the hook either way.
36:25-36:28
You have a responsibility either way.
36:31-36:33
Second excuse people give for not forgiving.
36:33-36:35
Number two, I'll forgive, but I won't forget.
36:38-36:41
I'll forgive, but I won't forget.
36:44-36:48
That is such a backward statement.
36:50-36:54
You can't forget if you won't forgive.
36:55-36:57
You know why you can't forget?
36:57-37:00
Is because you're making a choice to dwell on the offense.
37:01-37:07
And forgiveness means, you know what, I choose to stop thinking about it.
37:08-37:13
Didn't God in the gospel promise, "I will remember their sins no more"?
37:13-37:15
God is willing to forget.
37:18-37:18
Why aren't we?
37:23-37:24
Another excuse people give for not forgiving.
37:27-37:30
Well, they'll just do it again, right?
37:31-37:33
"Oh, I'll forgive them, but you know what?
37:33-37:41
They'll just do it again." Like, "What do you think about that, Pastor Jeff?" "They'll just do it again." And I say, "Yeah, you know what?
37:41-37:45
They might." That's their problem.
37:46-37:47
Don't make it yours.
37:50-37:51
70 times seven.
37:52-37:54
He's really counting at that point.
37:57-38:01
Number four, excuses people give for not forgiving.
38:02-38:03
They don't want to reconcile.
38:05-38:16
I would forgive them, you know what, I would, but they don't wanna reconcile, so I'm not gonna, you know what, that's their problem, don't make it yours.
38:19-38:30
You need to see it like, you ever stayed in a hotel where there's the two doors joining the rooms?
38:30-38:38
You know, like if a bunch of people are staying, you need two rooms, and then like, you have your side of the door that you can open, but then there's another door.
38:38-38:39
Have you ever seen that?
38:40-38:41
You know, I thought that was a closet.
38:42-38:43
I'm like, I can't fit anything in here.
38:44-38:45
(congregation laughing)
38:46-38:48
My shoes are too big.
38:48-38:51
No, it's to join the rooms, right?
38:51-38:53
Like a big family or whatever.
38:54-38:59
You need to have your side of the door open, right?
38:59-39:01
To say, "Look, my side of the door is open.
39:01-39:08
When you wanna talk, I'm ready to talk." You can't kick their door down, but you can ask them to open theirs.
39:09-39:10
But regardless, yours has to be open.
39:13-39:15
They don't wanna reconcile.
39:15-39:19
They don't want to, oh, by the way, by the way, they don't wanna reconcile.
39:20-39:22
Are you sure about that?
39:26-39:27
Have you seen their heart?
39:28-39:29
Have you been in their mind?
39:30-39:39
Maybe they are just so hoping that you'll reach out to them because they're afraid.
39:42-39:43
So let's not make assumptions.
39:44-39:46
Five excuses people give for not forgiving.
39:48-39:53
last and maybe most used, maybe least amount of substance.
39:54-39:54
I just can't.
39:56-39:57
I just can't.
39:58-40:02
Like I hear what you're saying about all this, but look, I just can't.
40:03-40:06
And here I have to remind you that forgiveness is a matter of the will.
40:08-40:17
And I want to lovingly say to you, if that's where your heart is, if your heart is like, you know what, I know I need to forgive, but I can't, I would lovingly say to you, You need to get with God on that.
40:18-40:21
You need to get with God on that and confess that to him.
40:22-40:24
Say, "God, I know I'm supposed to forgive, "but I'm not there.
40:25-40:30
"God, I need you to get me there." Do you think the Lord wants you to get there?
40:30-40:31
Do you think he will help you get there?
40:32-40:33
Get with God on that.
40:36-40:41
Because I can tell you by the authority of his word, he's expecting you to forgive.
40:46-40:52
So Christians, how many sins have you been forgiven?
40:54-40:54
Anybody know?
40:55-40:59
Could you ballpark how many sins you've been forgiven?
41:03-41:04
You're like, oh, it's at least a dozen.
41:07-41:08
What, this morning?
41:13-41:14
How many sins have you been forgiven?
41:16-41:20
Oh, by the way, in Christ, you're forgiven of the sins that you haven't even committed yet.
41:20-41:21
So you gotta count those.
41:23-41:24
So how many sins have you been forgiven?
41:27-41:36
So how in the world can we hold one or two or even 490 sins against someone else?
41:39-41:53
Because not only were your sins more in number, but your sins were greater in kind because you sinned against a holy, perfect God.
41:57-42:07
The only way you're going to be merciful is to live in the understanding and freedom of Christ's mercy on you.
42:09-42:14
So today, today I would encourage you, Send a text.
42:18-42:20
You can do it right now, I won't even care, go ahead.
42:24-42:24
Send a text.
42:29-42:31
Or if you're older, send that email.
42:35-42:39
Or if you're really old, make that phone call.
42:39-42:40
(congregation laughing)
42:41-42:42
Get on your rotary phone today.
42:43-42:44
(congregation laughing)
42:44-42:45
Send that pigeon.
42:53-42:55
However you get word out.
42:56-43:01
Can you send a text today to whomever you have unfinished business?
43:03-43:05
Look, you're like, I don't even know what to say.
43:05-43:06
Well, I'll tell you what to say.
43:06-43:07
Write this down.
43:08-43:16
Look, I know we had some problems and I'm sorry something has come between us and I would love to have everything be okay between us." Something like that.
43:18-43:19
Start the process.
43:22-43:23
Start the process.
43:24-43:31
We are called to show the same mercy that we have been shown.
43:33-43:40
And when you truly understand what God has done for you, the mercy he's shown you in Jesus Christ.
43:41-43:49
Now, I'm sympathetic towards lost people, towards people who sin against me.
43:50-43:58
I'm understanding towards people who sin against me because I've sinned against people.
44:00-44:05
And I'm willing to forgive because I've been forgiven.
44:06-44:16
So, based on Jesus' definition and explanation, are you merciful?
44:19-44:35
Well, for those of you who are, I would say again, on behalf of our Lord, on behalf of the elders of Harvest Bible Chapel and our AV team, I would like to say, congratulations to the merciful.
44:37-44:37
(congregation applauding)
44:44-45:02
And I gotta tell you, this could be the most heartfelt congratulations of this whole series so far for me because if you're merciful, someday you are going to stand before God and you are going to receive mercy.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:7 and Matthew 18:21-35

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Is Jesus teaching that receiving mercy (from God) is contingent on giving mercy (to others)? Why or why not?
What does it mean that the word “mercy” is associated with feelings? In other words - what role do feelings play in being merciful?
Give a short summary of the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35). What’s the main point of the parable?
How would you respond to someone in your small group who says “I will never forgive that person for what they did.”?

Breakout
Pray for one another. Who do you need to forgive? Hold each other accountable to pray for that person and reach out to them.

You Are God's Influencers

Introduction:

As Salt and Light, I Am God's Influencer (Matthew 5:13-16)

Congratulations to the Hated

Introduction:

The Heart of the Disciple: Congratulations to the Hated! (Matthew 5:10-12)

Who Are “Those Who Are Persecuted”?

Why Are We Congratulating Those Who Are Persecuted?

How Do I Respond to Being Persecuted?

Three Reasons to Rejoice in Persecution:

Congratulations to the Peacemakers

Introduction:

Congratulations to the Peacemakers! (Matthew 5:9)

Who are the Peacemakers?

Why are We Congratulating the Peacemakers?

How Can I Become a Peacemaker?

Congratulations to the Pure in Heart

Introduction:

Congratulations to Pure in Heart! (Matthew 5:8)

Who Are the "Pure in Heart"?

Why Are We Congratulating the Pure in Heart?

How Do I Become Pure in Heart So I Can See God?

How to Purify Yourself (Philippians 4:8):

Congratulations to the Merciful

Introduction:

Who Are The "Merciful"? (Matthew 5:7)

Why Are We Congratulating the Merciful?

How Can I Be Merciful?

5 Excuses People Give for Not Forgiving:

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Introduction:

As Salt and Light, I Am God's Influencer (Matthew 5:13-16)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

The Heart of the Disciple: Congratulations to the Hated! (Matthew 5:10-12)

Who Are “Those Who Are Persecuted”?

Why Are We Congratulating Those Who Are Persecuted?

How Do I Respond to Being Persecuted?

Three Reasons to Rejoice in Persecution:

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Congratulations to the Peacemakers! (Matthew 5:9)

Who are the Peacemakers?

Why are We Congratulating the Peacemakers?

How Can I Become a Peacemaker?

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Congratulations to Pure in Heart! (Matthew 5:8)

Who Are the "Pure in Heart"?

Why Are We Congratulating the Pure in Heart?

How Do I Become Pure in Heart So I Can See God?

How to Purify Yourself (Philippians 4:8):

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Who Are The "Merciful"? (Matthew 5:7)

Why Are We Congratulating the Merciful?

How Can I Be Merciful?

5 Excuses People Give for Not Forgiving:

Audio Transcript