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Matthew 5:5-16

Taught on | Topic: The Beatitudes | Keywords: beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount, kingdom, kingdom living, similitudes

The economy in God's Kingdom is quite different from that of the world: it's paradoxical; it's progressive. Let's consider the Beatitudes and discover what kingdom living looks like, and how it impacts those around us.

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10/19/2011
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Matthew 5:5-16
Matthew 5:5-16
Skip Heitzig
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The economy in God's Kingdom is quite different from that of the world: it's paradoxical; it's progressive. Let's consider the Beatitudes and discover what kingdom living looks like, and how it impacts those around us.
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40 Matthew - 2011

40 Matthew - 2011

From its opening genealogy through its careful record of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, Matthew's gospel forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In this in-depth study by Pastor Skip Heitzig we'll consider Jesus' ancestry, birth, public ministry, death, and resurrection, and we'll gain a clearer understanding of Jesus as both Messiah and King.

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Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Setting
      1. Teaching of Jesus
      2. On rolling hill on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee
      3. Near Capernaum (Jesus' headquarters)
    2. Named
      1. Sermon on the Mount (tells us nothing about the message)
      2. Mountain of a Sermon
      3. Sermon of the Monarch: Jesus telling us about the Kingdom of Heaven
        1. How to enter it
        2. What life's like in it
        3. The Kingdom Manifesto
    3. Blessed: happy, happiness, blissful, contented
      1. Americans are less happy than they were 30 years ago (according to a Reuters article)
        1. Long hours at work
        2. Less satisfying relationships
      2. Not giddy, but an inner steady blissful contentedness
      3. Amplified Bible: happy, to be envied, spiritually prosperous
      4. Everyone has some idea of what happiness is:"What would make you more happy?"
        1. More money
        2. Own something you value
        3. Get married
      5. Bible says a lot about true happiness
        1. 56 times joy and God (or joy and the Lord) are coupled
        2. The way to happiness is holiness
    4. Beatitudes
      1. Nine sayings of blessed
        1. Proclamations: not emotions
        2. Paradoxical: don't make sense
          1. Poor in spirit, morns, meek, persecuted: from a worldly perspective it sounds not like a recipe for happiness, but misery by another name
          2. The world's perception
            1. Blessed are the healthy
            2. Blessed are the wealthy
            3. Blessed are the beautiful
        3. Progressive: one leads to another
          1. If poor in spirit, mourn
          2. If poor in spirit,  mourn, meek
          3. If poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness
      2. First and second Beatitudes address how to enter the kingdom
        1. Poor in spirit
          1. Poverty-stricken, destitute
          2. See God and self and recognize you're spiritually bankrupt
        2. Mourn over that condition
          1. Repentance
          2. Sorrow that you've failed God
          3. Desire to do something about it
  2. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (v. 5)
    1. What it is not
      1. Gutlessness
      2. Emotional flakiness
      3. "Happy are the spineless, for they shall be doormats for God"
    2. What it is
      1. Power under control
      2. Like a powerful horse harnessed and under control
    3. Blessed are God's gentlemen (or gentlewomen)
      1. Have power
      2. Choose to be careful about exercising it
      3. Under God's control
    4. Uncontrolled power doesn't do any good: explosions and outbursts devastate relationships
    5. Idles your motor when you feel like stripping your gears
    6. Little girl in essay: "Quakers are very meek people: they never fight—they never yell. My mother is a Quaker. My father is not."
    7. Me-Ek!
    8. Flow:
      1. Look at self realizing you are poor in spirit
      2. Mourn
      3. Don’t want to dominate
      4. Let self be controlled by God
  3. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (v. 6)
    1. Flow
      1. Poverty stricken in God's presence
        1. No hope of your own
        2. No claim of your own
        3. No righteousness of your own
      2. Mourn over your condition (true repentance)
      3. Brings meekness (surrender to God's control)
      4. Develop a hunger: new appetites
    2. Difference between spiritual maturity and spiritual immaturity: appetites
      1. What are you hungry for?
      2. What's your spiritual passion?
      3. What drives you?
    3. Not: "Blessed are those who casually snack after righteousness
  4. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (v. 7)
    1. Notable characteristic of the world: merciless
      1. Political slurs
      2. True mercy in stark contrast to what the world offers
      3. "Those in my kingdom are not condemners, but givers of mercy"
    2. Still condemn and speak out against sin
    3. General take on life: mercy
    4. God is merciful
    5. Flow:
      1. Realize poverty-stricken before God
      2. Mourn over your condition
      3. Become meek (God controls life)
      4. Hunger and thirst after righteousness
      5. Like God, become merciful
        1. Take on His characteristics
        2. More mature
  5. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (v. 8)
    1. The Heart
      1. Western culture
        1. Pit the heart against the mind
        2. As if what we feel is more important that what we know
      2. Biblical perspective
        1. The heart is the mind, not emotion
        2. Where  you think, develop motivations, seat of your will, includes emotions
        3. Emotions from the bowels
        4. Thoughts
          1. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)
          2. "Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart," (Proverbs 3:3)
          3. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (Matthew 15:19)
    2. Purity focused on the heart
      1. Not  focused  on pure in actions
      2. Not  focused on pure in vocabulary
      3. If God has the heart, He has everything else
      4. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)
      5. Watch your thoughts: they form the blueprints for all else in life.
    3. Pure
      1. Καθαρός; katharos-cleanse, clean by removing dirt
      2. Applied to the heart
        1. Inward purity before God
        2. Unmixed sincerity before men
          1. "Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God!" (Phillip's Translation)
          2. "Happy are those who live life in the open!"
  6. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (v.9)
    1. Mission: stepping into the lives of others; like a bridge making access for two parties to meet each other
    2. Calling as a Christian
      1. Make your own peace with God: Salvation
      2. Help others make peace with God: Evangelism
      3. Make peace with people: Reconciliation
        1. See Matthew 18
        2. "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." (Romans 12:18)
      4. Help other people make peace with people: Mediation
    3. Note: the verse does not say "For they shall become sons of God"
      1. Not a means to be saved
      2. Not a means to be right with God
      3. If you live like this, others will recognize you are related to God
    4. Flow
      1. Humble, poor in spirit
      2. Mourn over your spiritual condition, ask God for forgiveness
      3. Meek, surrender your power to God's control
      4. Develop an appetite for spiritual things
      5. Become like God: merciful, pure in heart, sincere
      6. Help others make peace with other people and with God
      7. People recognize you as child of God
  7. Life in the Kingdom
    1. The King speaks to subjects of the King
    2. Characteristics of those in the kingdom
      1. If you live this way, heaven will notice
      2. If you live this way, people will notice
      3. If you live this way, hell will notice
  8.   "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (vv. 10-12)
    1. When we live the way Jesus describes the world will notice, not like it, and we will receive persecution
    2. Persecution
      1. The inevitable clash between two irreconcilable value systems
        1. Value system of the Kingdom of God
        2. Value system of the world
      2. Natural consequence of those who live with a supernatural focus
      3. "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12)
        1. "Are persecuted" not "might be"
        2. "When persecuted" not "if persecuted"
    3. Qualifier: "For righteousness sake" and "For my sake"
      1. Not because of weirdness or obnoxiousness
      2. God wants sharpshooters, not machine gunners
        1. Aim for the heart
        2. Aim for the life
        3. Aim for change
        4. Get to know a person, find out what you are aiming at before pulling the trigger
    4. Your Part
      1. "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad"
      2. "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!" (Luke 6:3)
      3. The Reason:
        1. Great reward (look ahead)
        2. Great company: the prophets
  9. How do kingdom dwellers live? Differently
    1. Counter-culture; contra-mundum; against the world
    2. Jesus used metaphors to describe us
      1. Salt of the Earth
        1. Stop decay and corruption
        2. Adds flavor
        3. Creates thirst
        4. Implies the world is decaying, corrupt, rotting
      2. Light of the World
        1. Dispels darkness
        2. Implies the world is dark
    3. Believers are:
      1. Different:  values from those of the world
      2. Noticed: A city on a hill cannot be hidden
      3. Responsible: salt keeps its flavor
      4. Necessary: important mission (emphatic plural)
        1. You and you alone are the light of the world
        2. You and you alone are the salt of this earth
        3. No one else has what you have
        4. No one else can do what you do
        5. If they don't see Christ through our lives, they won't see Christ
      5. Living ambassadors: dwelling in the kingdom of God
        1. Soon Jesus will establish a literal kingdom
          1. Not just in our hearts
          2. Not just a brotherhood
          3. Allegiance to Christ
        2. We will be rewarded

Greek Terms: Καθαρός; katharos-cleanse, clean by removing dirt
Cross References: Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 4:23; Proverbs 23:7; Matthew 15:19; Matthew 18; Luke 6:3; Romans 12:18; 2 Timothy 3:12

Transcript

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I was going to say open your Bibles to the Sermon on the Mount but its pretty dark except lights in few places.  So, we're going to put the scriptures this week up on the screen so that you can follow along and that is Matthew Chapter 5, we call it the Sermon on the Mount.  And if you were with us a couple of weeks ago, I explained to you that it's called the Sermon on the Mount because it was preached by Jesus on a rolling hill by the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  The northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum where Jesus had his headquarters is this beautiful, you can see it today if you come with us in Israel in the spring, we'll show it to you and we'll actually go over the Sermon on the Mount there.  But it's really not a mountain.  It's just a little hill, and I never like the title, the Sermon on the Mount because there's no information in that.

It's like me saying, "My message title today is Sermon from the Pulpit."  It doesn't really tell you anything about it, and so I don't like the title, The Sermon on the Mount.  It's much more than that.  This is a mountain of a sermon you might say, this is the sermon of the monarch, this is King Jesus telling us about the kingdom of heaven, how to enter it and what life is like in it.  So this is the kingdom manifesto.  And one of the things you'll notice as you go through the sermon right off the bat is how often it talks about blessed, that's the word "blessed."  Blessed are the poor in spirit.  Blessed are those who mourn.  Blessed are the meek.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

And essentially, the word means happy or happiness or blissful or contended.  I read an article from Reuters' news that said Americans today claim to be less happy than they were 30 years ago, and that's because long hours at work, less satisfying interpersonal relationships make people less happy.  Now, I think I can speak for you, at least I hope I can and say that that is not the case with you that you are less happy today that you're happier today.  That doesn't mean you have to be giddy and crazy about everything.  That's not the happiness I'm speaking about, the ideas in inner steady blissful contentedness.  Now, I realized that the word "blessed," that's a kind of a stuffy sounding word.  But the word "blessed" speaks of -- as I mentioned, an inward contentedness, the amplified Bible renders it this way, blessed, happy, to be envied and spiritually prosperous.

Everyone has some idea of what happiness is.  Everybody in the world if you were to say, "What would it take to make you happy?"  In fact, you may want to ask people that you know that very question.  Hey, what would it take to make you happy?  You probably have answers like, "Well, I would be happy if I made this much money or I would be happy if I owned something I've really wanted for a long time or I would be happy if I could only marry that person, if I was married to that person."  Some others might say, "If I wasn't married to that person."

The Bible has a lot to say about true happiness.  I discovered that 56 times in the Bible.  The word "joy and God" are coupled together or "joy and the Lord" are coupled together.  And essentially, I'm not being glib, but essentially, from the Bible's perspective, the way to happiness is holiness.  True happiness comes from holiness.  Now, I know that's another Bible word like "blessed."  You go, "Yeah, great holiness, yeah."  Sort of sounds like cod liver oil, it would be, "Okay, I know I got to take it and I really don't like it but it will make me feel better," and that's how people feel about holiness.  I really don't like it.  I know I should do it.  You have no clue then what holiness is if that's what you think.

Jesus is speaking about the state.  He's making a declaration about the inward, spiritually, prosperous, joyful, contented state of those who are in the Kingdom of God.  And its best summed up by the word "blessed."  So, in Chapter 5:1, "And seeing the multitudes --," and we only made a couple of verses on this Chapter last time but we're not going to make it through the Chapter tonight because we're going to take the Lord's Supper.  We're just going to read down to verse 16, Lord willing.

"And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him and He opened His mouth and He taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted."  And on and on, it goes nine times, nine sayings of blessed, something that I want you to mark in your minds.  These are proclamations of the Lord.  These aren't feelings.  These aren't emotions.  The idea isn't I really feel blessed.  It's not the idea.  Whether you feel blessed or not, Jesus is making a proclamation that you are if these things are part of your life.  This aren't surface emotions, these are proclamations.

The second thing to note about all of these nine proclamations is they're all paradoxical.  They don't make sense.  Let's see.  The happy person is the poor in spirit, the one who mourns over a sin, the one who is meek, and the one who gets persecuted.  Excuse me, but that does not sound like the recipe for happiness, at least from a wordly perspective, would you agree?  That sort of sound likes to a worldly person.  That sounds like misery in another name.  And that's not the stuff that makes for happiness most people think.

If the world were to write this, they would say, "Blessed are the wealthy, blessed are the healthy, blessed are the beautiful, blessed are the always tanned."  So these are proclamations and these are also paradoxical.  Here's something else to note, these are progressive.  One leads to the other.  If you're poor in spirit, you will mourn.  If you're poor in spirit and you mourned, you will be meek.  If you're poor in spirit, you mourn and you're meek, you will hunger and thirst after righteousness, et cetera, et cetera.  They all lead to another.

Now the first two beatitudes they're called because of the word, "blessed," the first two beatitudes, speak about entering the kingdom, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."  The word we noted last time means poverty stricken, destitute.

I see God and I see myself and I recognized I'm spiritually bankrupt.  That leads to the second beatitude.  I mourn over that condition, and both of these speak of true repentance, that feeling of sorrow that I have failed God and I want to do something about it.  And now, we come to verse 5, the third beatitude.  Blessed, oh how happy, to be envied, spiritually prosperous, or the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Okay, when you hear the word meek, probably not the right definition comes to your mind.  A lot of people hear the word meek and they think it means gutless, spiritually flabby, as if Jesus is saying, "Happy are the spineless.  They would be doormats for God."  That's not what the term meek means.  Here's what it means.

It means power that is harnessed.  Think of a horse that is extremely powerful but that horse is put under a harness.  It's got a lot of power but it's under control and that's the idea of meekness.  It's power that is under control.  You might say it this way.  Blessed are God's gentlemen or blessed are God's gentlewomen, they have power but they choose to be very careful about exercising their power.  It is power that is under God's control.  Listen, uncontrolled power doesn't do anybody any good.

Do you every feel like exploding at someone, they make you so angry and some people that don't just feel like exploding, they explode.  It's just, the atom bomb goes up.  The relationship is devastated because of it.  So, to be meek is to have power but to say "I'm going to be very careful here, I'm not going to blow up."  One person put it this way, it's when you idle your motor when you feel like stripping the gears.  You just going to let that either idle, have the motor idle a little bit and you're not going to get too carried away.  That's the idea of being meek.

There's a little girl who wrote an essay for her class at school and she said this, "The Quakers are very meek people.  They never fight, they never yell.  My mother is a Quaker, my father is not."  Here's another way you could look at it.  You could take the word meek and cut it in two and you will get a suitable definition, "Me" - "ek" (Laughter), and I say it's a suitable definition because when you look at yourself after realizing you're poor in spirit and you mourn over your condition, now you look at yourself in that condition and you don't want to dominate.  And so instead of domineering, you let yourself be controlled by God.  "Me" - "ek", me out of the way, God is in control.

Then Jesus says in verse 6, "Blessed, oh, how happy to be envied, spiritually prosperous are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."  Now stop for a moment and consider the flow of the passage.  If you recognized that you are poverty stricken in God's presence, that you have no hope of your own, no claim of your own, no righteousness of your own, it causes you to mourn over your condition that's through repentance that brings a meekness where you are surrendered to God's control and then you start developing a hunger, new appetite.  You crave something different now than you craved before.

Hey, you know what the difference is between spiritual immaturity and spiritual maturity?  One word, "appetite."  What are you hungry for?  Lot of times we ask people, "Dude what's your passion in life, what's your passion?"  Let me ask you a question, "What's your spiritual passion like?"  What do you crave?  What do you want?  What drives you?  That's the idea.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, those are drives but notice it says, hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness?  Notice it doesn't say blessed are those who casually snack after righteousness?  You know when you snack, when it's evening, dinner is over, but hey, there's food lying around.  It would be kind of nice to snack and I really don't want to eat too many of those chips but a Hansel would be cool.  Okay, that's a casual snack.  That's different than saying, "I haven't eaten all day and I'm starving.  I'm really hungry."  That's an intense, spiritual passion.

We continue, verse 7, "Blessed, oh, how happy to be envied spiritually prosperous are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."  Now, one of the notable characteristics of our world is that it is merciless, it doesn't have much mercy for people and we're in a political season.  On one hand I enjoy watching it, on the other hand, I winced every time I watch it because it seems that candidates even on the same team and the same political party aren't very merciful toward one another, they take slap shots and pot shots because what they want people to realize is that, I'm a better candidate than that guy.

So unfortunately, what happens is people in the back rooms, the spin doctors, the strategizers, come up with information about the opponent to put him down, to put her down, to slur them so that, whenever someone comes along who is filled with mercy, they are in stark contrast to everything people have seen that this world has to offer including politics.

When true mercy is seen, it's absolutely marvelous.  And here is Jesus saying, "Those who are part of my kingdom are not to be condemners but givers of mercy."  Now we should condemn sin and we should speak up against it, it's not what its saying but our general take on life should be that of mercy because God is merciful.

So, you get the flow so far?  I realized I am poverty stricken before God, I mourn over that condition, I become meek, God I want him controlling my life, I start hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and I become like God, I'm growing now and God is merciful and so, I take on those characteristics, you take on those characteristics.  You're now becoming more mature because as you've hungered and thirsted for God's righteousness and to be holy and to be like him, you do become like him.  And one of the things is He's merciful.

Jesus continues in verse 8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  Now I'd like to explain to you what is from the Bible's point of view, the definition of the heart and I think we need to do that because here in the United States, in western culture, we have unfortunately pitted the heart against the mind.  We do it even in church.  We say things like, "Dude it's not about head knowledge, we need heart knowledge.  You can know things in your head but not in your heart."  I see Christians do that all the time, they talk about the heart versus the head as if to say, how you feel is more important than what you know.  It's not about the mind.  It's about the heart.  Did you know that from the Bible's perspective, the heart is the mind?  It's not the emotion.  The heart isn't the emotion in the Bible, only in western civilization like here.

Now in the Bible the heart is where you think, it's where you develop you motivations.  It's the seed of your will.  It might include some emotions but the Bible doesn't talk about the emotions is coming from the heart.  By the way, does anybody know where the Bible speaks about the emotion's coming from?  Anybody know?  Shout it out if you know.  The bowels.  Who said that?  Do you really believe that?  The bowels?  It's he believes that, he's been around long time.  Yeah the Bible speaks about your emotions coming from your gut, your bowels, your intestines.  In the King James, the Bible says, "Have bowels of tender mercies."  When was the last time your bowels were merciful and tender?  Now that's very close to what we consider to be the heart.  When Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in heart," he's speaking about your thought processes.

Let me give you an example of that just so you think, I don't know if that's true or not.  In Proverbs 23 the Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."  When Solomon wrote to his son in Chapter 1, 2 and 3 he said, "My son, write these truths(ph) on the tablet of your heart."  In other words remember them and the metaphor he used is "write them on the tablet" like you would write something down on paper, the tablet of your heart, remember them.  Jesus Christ said "From the heart come evil thoughts and adulteries," et cetera.  So it's where we think.  So, here's Jesus saying, "Blessed, oh, how happy to be envied, spiritually prosperous are the pure in heart."  The seed of your will, the seed of your thought processes.  Notice He does not say, blessed are the pure in action, blessed are the pure in vocabulary, but blessed are the pure in heart.

You know why?  If God has your heart, he has everything else.  If he begins with the core, the inner you, the outer you will typically follow.  Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it precede the issues of life.  My translation, watch your thoughts, your thoughts form the blue prints for everything else in life; what you do and what you say.  Now, the word pure, blessed are the pure in heart, is a Greek word "katharos," we get the term "catharsis," it means to cleanse something or to clean something up by removing the dirt.  When it's applied to the heart, it speaks of an inward purity before God; number one, an inward purity before God and number two, unmixed sincerity before men, inward purity with God, unmixed sincerity before people.  In fact, one translation of the Bible puts it this way, "Oh, how happy are those who are utterly sincere."  Another translation I like better, "Happy is the one who can live life out in the open," pure before God, utterly sincere before people.

Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God.  Verse 9; blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called sons of God.  Now, when we deal with this verse, blessed are the peacemakers, we're now stepping into mission.  Now, that God is changing our lives or we're becoming like him, we have that deep spiritual hunger and thirst.  We're now stepping into other people's lives, look at it this way.  We become like a bridge making access for two parties to meet each other.

Now, this is our calling as Christians.  Did you know that you are to be a peacemaker?  You'll say, "Well Skip, how can I do that?  What do you mean exactly a peacemaker?"  Well, let me give you four quick categories.  Category number one, you make peace with God yourself.  You make sure that everything is clear between you and God, that's salvation.  Now, I take that most all of you have done that.  You have made your peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Number two, you help other people make peace with God.  Now, that's evangelism.  When you help people get right with God, you are now sharing the gospel of grace helping them to do that.  So number one, you get right with God, that's salvation.  You help people get right with God.  That's evangelism.

Here's the third way to do it.  You become a peacemaker by making sure you're right with other people.  You make peace with other people.  Maybe something isn't right between you and a brother or a sister.  You do whatever you can, Matthew Chapter 18, to reconcile.  So the first is salvation, the second is evangelism, the third is reconciliation with people that you've offended or who have offended you.  Do the best you can and the Bible says this way, "As much as lies in you, be at peace with all men."  I'm glad it said "as much as lies in you" because sometimes you can do everything you can do, you try and you try to make peace with people, they just want to have it.  But at least try, put out the effort.  And number four, help other people.  Be at peace with other people.

You see, those are the four categories.  When you enter into that, now you're a mediator.  You're the bridge, you're helping one person who's offended and another person come together and by your mediatorial words and actions, you bring peace between them.  So peace with God, helping other people get peace with God, yourself peace with people and helping other people have peace with people.  That's what it means to be a peacemaker.

Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called Sons of God.  Now, notice it says they shall be called sons of God, it doesn't say they shall become sons of God.  This is not a means to go to heaven.  This is not a way to get saved or to be right with God.  It says people who live like this will be called sons of God.  In other words, if you really live like this, if I really live like this, people is going to look at your life and go, "You must be related to God."  By the way, you act in making peace toward other people.

Okay.  So let's put it altogether before we get to the next beatitude.  You start out humbly poor in spirit, you mourn over your spiritual condition asking God for forgiveness.  You become meek, you surrender your power to God's control instead of being out of control, meekness is God's power under his control or your power under God's control.  Then, you start developing a new appetite for spiritual things, you hunger and you thirst after righteousness.  And when you do that, you become like God, merciful.  You become pure in heart living life out on the open, utterly, truly, sincere before men and before God.

And you help people make peace with one another and with God.  And when you live that way, people go, "You must be a son of God.  You must be a daughter of God."  So look at that beatitude again.  Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God.  Okay, so here's the deal, Jesus is describing life in the kingdom, here's the king speaking about you and I subjects in the kingdom and he's describing us, describing the characteristics of those who live in the kingdom.  And He's saying a couple of things, number one, if you live this way, heaven will notice, heaven will notice.  That's the world blessed, you'll be blessed.  Heaven will notice.  Number two, people will notice.  They will call you sons and daughters of God.  Number three, if you live like this, hell will notice.  Not just heaven, not just other people, hell will take notice and that brings us to our next beatitude.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the profits who were before you.  See, when you live the way Jesus just describe the world is going to notice, they're not going to like it and you're going to get persecution.  One leads to another.  Here is the progression of all that is gone before.

Now, persecution is the inevitable clash between two irreconcilable value systems.  Let me say that again, persecution is the inevitable clash between two irreconcilable value systems.  The value system of the Kingdom of God, that's what we live in, the value system of the world.  Those two will clash or you might say that persecution is the natural consequence from living a supernatural kind of a life for having a supernatural focus.

Do you remember what Paul said to Timothy?  All those who live godly in Christ Jesus, finish it up, all those all those who live godly in Christ Jesus -- come one.  Does anybody know that verse?  All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, will suffer persecution.  If you live godly in Christ Jesus, you will be, not might be, you will be persecuted.  And so Jesus says. "Blessed are those who are persecuted."  He assumes that you will be for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when, not if, when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my name sake.

Now, there's a qualifying phrase here.  You have to be persecuted for what?  Righteousness sake, and then in verse 11, Jesus said, "For My name's sake."  Jesus does not say, "Blessed are the persecuted, period."  There's no blessing in being persecuted.  And some people are just weird and obnoxious, and in your face, and then people go, "Dude, you're weird.  You're obnoxious, you're in my face.  Get out of here."  And then that person might walk away going, "Oh, I've been persecuted for righteousness sake."  No, you were persecuted for weirdness sake, for obnoxiousness sake, for being in your face sake.

Years ago, I remember growing up, there was this guy in Huntington Beach California, who used to yell at people going, "You're going to hell."  I never notice that people were attracted to him.  He was even known for grabbing people by their coat, grabbing them, he said "Come here!"  It didn't worked that way and that's not righteousness sake and that's not for the cause or sake of Jesus.  That's just for being nuts, bad approach.

Listen, God wants sharpshooters not machine gunners.  He wants you to aim for the heart, aim for the life, aim for change.  Get to know that person, find out what you're aiming at before you pull the gospel trigger.  There's something else Jesus says in verse 12 about that.  He declares you blessed, that's the proclamation but He says, "Here's our part.  Here's the hard part, here's the toughest part of this."  He says, "Rejoice, rejoice, and be exceedingly glad."  I'm not going to ask you when but I wonder the last time somebody persecuted you, yelled at you, called you a Jesus freak, laughed at you because of your faith in Christ if you went away going, "Yes, awesome!"

In Luke's Gospel, when Jesus gives the beatitudes, He says this, "Rejoice and leap for joy."  Excuse me, yeah, get really happy.  Why?  That's the question I want to ask, why?  Two reasons He gives.  Look ahead, Jesus says, "For great is your reward in heaven."  If you're persecuted because you love Jesus and you're living the way it's described here for Jesus and they persecute you for that, you have a reward coming in heaven.  Well, you just have to wait to find out how great it is, but its great Jesus said, it's not small, it's great.

And there's the second reason you should rejoice, not only do you have a great reward but you're in great company.  He said, "For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  They persecuted Jeremiah and they persecuted Daniel and they persecuted Hosea and Habakkuk, et cetera.  So you're in great company and you have a great reward.  Therefore, Jesus says, "Rejoice."  So, to sum up this portion, how our kingdom dwellers to live in a word different, we're different than the world.  We're countercultural to the world.  We are contra mundum, against the world, different from they are.

Now, the last few verses that we want to look at tonight, down to verse 16, the next three or four verses, four.  Jesus goes from what this person is like to the kind of influence they are going to have and He says this, "You are the salt of the Earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how should it be seasoned."  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  "You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

I wonder if you were asked to describe your world, your state, your city, your environment.  I wonder what words you would choose.  I ask you that because here, Jesus describes the world in a fact by using a metaphor for us.  He says, "You are the salt of the Earth, you are the light of the world."  Now since salt, 2000 years ago, was primarily used to stop decay.  Before the days of freezers and refrigerators, they would take their meat and they would salt it because salt stops corruption, stops decay.

When I was a kid, I worked in a place called Hugo's Italian Delicatessen.  And I was the guy who stacked the shelves and I was learning how to cut the meat and I remember a couple of times, meat that was left in a place too long and maybe covered up by some boxes and nobody knew and after a while, it started wreaking, it was just like, "What is that smell?"  That smell is rotting, corrupting, decaying flesh.  And in the old days, they used to rub salt in it to prevent that.

So for Jesus to say you're the salt the Earth implies that the world is decaying and corrupt and rotting.  And then he says, "You are the light of the world," and since light was used to dispel darkness, he's implying that the world is dark.  So here is Jesus saying the world is rotting, decaying, corrupt and dark.  Tell us how you really feel, Jesus.  But here's our influence.  We're salt.  Here's our influence.  We are the light of the world.

Something else about salt, salt adds flavor.  Sometimes food is pretty dull and tasteless, flat, insipid, but if you sprinkle a little bit of salt, they say it brings out the flavor.  Now I've always thought that chili does that.  But people outside of New Mexico don't quite get that.  "No, that sort of ruins the taste."  "No, no, it accentuates the taste.  It makes it even better."  But in those days, salt brought out the flavor.

This world, have you discovered is pretty flat and dull.  You're to add flavor to it.  People are to see your life as the salt, something that attracts them toward the meal because you're bringing out the real flavor in the Christian life.  And something still else about salt, salt creates thirst.  If salt is doing its job, people get thirsty.  Several years ago when I was younger and more pernicious to my close friends, I would play tricks on them when we go out to eat.  In one particular occasion, he was a close friend and so he sort of just picked it up but it took him a while, he left the table and I put some salt in his coke.

And he came back to the table and he started drinking his coke and he didn't say anything.  He just tasted it and he kind of looked a little bit funny.  But then, he's got really thirsty after, he's like "I'm really thirsty today."  And so he drank more and more which made him thirstier and thirstier.  Then I said, "You know what, I don't want you to drink the whole thing.  Let me tell you what I did.  I put salt in your coke.  Let me get you water.  The meal is on me.  The next coke is on me."  He said, "Par for the course."

But if salt is doing its job, it creates a thirst.  This world lives in spiritual dehydration.  We come along and hopefully, are creating a thirst for people to want to know who God is and live the kind of a life that we profess.  So to sum it all up tonight in our study and expound, exposed, the gospel of Matthew.  First of all, we're to be different.  All of the things outlined in the beatitudes show that it's different from the value system of this world.  And the fact that we're salt in a decaying place and light in a dark place shows that we're different.

Number two, we're to be noticed.  Jesus said, "When you put light upon a mountain, everybody sees it.  A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden."  So you're different.  You're noticed.  Number three, you're responsible.  The salt Jesus said must keep its flavor, its savor.  Otherwise, it's really not fulfilling its purpose.  It's not really good for much if it's not doing its job.  So we have a responsibility.  If we are salt, to create a thirst; if we are light, to lead people out of darkness, which leads us to the fourth and final thing we are.  We are necessary.  We are needed.  We are here on this Earth for a very, very important mission.

When Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt.  You are the light," in Greek, it's in the emphatic plural.  And permit me translate that in its best form.  You and you alone are the light of this world.  You and you alone are the salt of the Earth.  In other words, no one else in this world has what you have.  No one else in this world can do what you can do.  If people don't see Christ through our lives, guess what, they won't see Christ.  We are living ambassadors.  We are very necessary.  And we are dwelling in the kingdom of God.

And someday soon, the Lord is going to return.  And he will establish a literal kingdom, not just a kingdom in our hearts, not just a kingdom of brotherhood and allegiance to Christ, but a literal worldwide kingdom on this Earth.  And you will be rewarded and you will have a position in that kingdom.  Pause with me before we take communion and the Communion Board will get ready to distribute.  Let's bow our heads and just, in thought, in our hearts, in our minds consider these things.

Lord, just in going over some of the things we have heard tonight as You described the blessed man or the blessed woman, the happy life, the life it is to be envied, You described it at someone who is humble, lowly, in recognizing how great You are and that we have nothing to offer.  It causes us to realize our poverty and to mourn over our spiritual condition and to ask Jesus to be our righteousness, for His blood to cover our sins.

We rely upon that finished work.  And so doing Lord, we find that our lives are changed.  Instead of seeking our own agenda and trying to promote our own power scheme or power base, we submit ourselves to your power, our power under your control.  And then Lord, we discovered that our appetites change accordingly.  We're not hungry for the same things we used to be hungry for.  We really crave spiritual growth and Your righteousness.  And then we find ourselves becoming like you're merciful, sincere before men, pure before God, pure in heart.  And living that way Lord, we incur the wrath of the world around us, persecuted.

Lord, I pray that you would encourage the persecuted church around the world.  We've just been thinking of this world and thinking of them just now, we know that we are brothers and sisters around the globe like we've heard tonight from Slavic(ph) and Macedonia and the Balkans and all over the world who are suffering greatly, simply because they go to church and they love Jesus and they worship Him.  And in some places like the pastor who faced the death penalty in Iran.  They pay the ultimate price.  We pray You to encourage them.

And we pray Lord that You would help us.  When somebody laughs at us or scorns us or marginalizes us to get so excited because that's what happened to all of the saints throughout history.  We're in good company.  And one day, You're going to say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  And we're going to enter into the joy of our Lord and You're going to give us and lavish upon us great reward, so strengthen us, strengthen Your people, people in Your kingdom around the globe.

Lord, we also pray for anyone tonight who doesn't know Jesus here personally.  They've been struggling with this.  They've heard the gospel.  They've come to church, and over and over again, they've just said no.  They put it off.  They put it off.  Lord I pray that You would put it off no longer.  I pray that tonight in this place, they would say to Jesus.

If that describes you, if your heart is crying out to be forgiven by a holy and perfect God who will take your sin and erase it because He'll put your sin on the Lord Jesus Christ who took your sin and took your punishment once in for all, if you want to know what it's like to be forgiven, you just right where you're seated pray in your heart these things.

Lord, I know that I am a sinner.  I recognize that.  I'm sorry for my sin.  I'll pray You'll forgive me.  I believe that Jesus shed His blood for me on the cross and then He died and was buried and rose from the grave.  I turn my life to you.  I turn from the past.  I turn from my sin.  I give You my life.  I want my life under Your control.  Help me Lord.  Give me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit and give me Your power to live a life that pleases You from this night onward, in Jesus name, Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/7/2011
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Matthew 1:1-18
Matthew 1:1-18
Skip Heitzig
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As we turn our attention to the New Testament, Pastor Skip explains what transpired during the 400 years of silence since the Old Testament. Our firm grasp of the political setting, language, and Matthew's purpose and perspective establishes a solid foundation for understanding his gospel. In Matthew 1, we see Jesus revealed as the royal Heir to the throne of David—the Messiah, Immanuel: God with us.
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9/14/2011
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Matthew 1:18-2:23
Matthew 1:18-2:23
Skip Heitzig
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Every year people around the world recognize the birth of a poor Jewish child born in an insignificant city. The birth of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Scriptures, beckons us to worship and obey the King of the Jews. Let's examine Matthew's account of the miraculous circumstances of the nativity and the prophecies it fulfilled.
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9/21/2011
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Matthew 3
Matthew 3
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest man among those born of women. John saw himself in the light of who Jesus is: not even worthy to loose His sandal. From the womb, he was filled with the Spirit, continually pointing people to Christ. Let's consider this powerful prophet, his ministry, and the message he preached.
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9/28/2011
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Matthew 4:1-17
Matthew 4:1-17
Skip Heitzig
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Prior to the start of Jesus' public earthly ministry, He was led up to be tempted by the devil. As we review His encounter with Satan, we uncover important principles of spiritual warfare. We consider not only when and how Jesus was tempted, but also how He fought—and the ministry that began on the heels of the battle.
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10/5/2011
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Matthew 4:18-5:4
Matthew 4:18-5:4
Skip Heitzig
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Leaving life as they knew it, the disciples followed Jesus and became intimate witnesses of Jesus' teaching, preaching, and healing. As we dive into this portion of Matthew, we turn our attention to their calling and listen in as Jesus begins the greatest sermon ever preached.
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10/26/2011
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Matthew 5:17-32
Matthew 5:17-32
Skip Heitzig
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The multitudes listening to Jesus teach were undoubtedly shaken by His powerful statement: "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). How, then, could one be saved? As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we remember that salvation is not available through human achievement--only by divine accomplishment.
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11/2/2011
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Matthew 5:33-6:8
Matthew 5:33-6:8
Skip Heitzig
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As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we'll grow in our understanding of the contrasts between the world and the kingdom of heaven. Followers of Jesus are called to a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees—a righteousness based on our genuine relationship with Christ, rather than mere outward obedience.
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11/9/2011
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Matthew 6:9-34
Matthew 6:9-34
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus taught His disciples to pray in this manner: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we learn that when we make God's kingdom our focus, He provides everything we need.
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11/16/2011
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Matthew 7
Matthew 7
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus calls His followers to live differently from the world -- to live a kingdom lifestyle. In this study from the Sermon on the Mount, we consider what kingdom living looks like in both our relationships with others and our relationship with God.
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12/7/2011
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Matthew 8:1-26
Matthew 8:1-26
Skip Heitzig
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Throughout his gospel account, Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah. Building upon the foundation of fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' identity is authenticated by miraculous signs. As we examine Matthew chapter eight, let's consider the compassion and grace Jesus demonstrates.
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1/18/2012
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Matthew 8:23-9:9
Matthew 8:23-9:9
Skip Heitzig
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Matthew carefully crafted his gospel to speak directly to the hearts of his Jewish audience. Through his detailed record of Jesus' genealogy, fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' actions, instructions, and miracles, Matthew proves that Jesus is Messiah. Let's take a close look at several of those miracles, and gain a firm grasp of His Deity.
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1/25/2012
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Matthew 9:10-31
Matthew 9:10-31
Skip Heitzig
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To the Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners were part of a lower, unpleasant class. But Jesus longed for fellowship with all people. He shared intimate meals with them, ministered to their needs, and reached out to the unlovely. As we study this passage in Matthew 9, we learn how we are also called to be heralds of the good news that brings spiritual health and enduring joy.
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2/1/2012
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Matthew 9:32-10:31
Matthew 9:32-10:31
Skip Heitzig
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The Lord calls His followers to proclaim His message to the world—we are appointed to carry out a divine purpose. We learn in this study that we, like the apostles, find abundant life only in letting go of our own ambitions, plans, and comfort.
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2/8/2012
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Matthew 10:32-11:19
Matthew 10:32-11:19
Skip Heitzig
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In His second major discourse of Matthew, Jesus equips and instructs His apostles about going into the world and reaping the spiritual harvest. In this passage, Jesus expounds on the courage needed to complete the mission and warns His followers of certain persecution. He reminds us that while not all who hear will believe, God's wisdom is powerfully demonstrated in changed lives.
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2/15/2012
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Matthew 11:16-30
Matthew 11:16-30
Skip Heitzig
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In order to truly worship God, you must know Him. Speaking clearly and openly in this passage, Jesus proclaims some of His strongest warnings and makes some of His most intimate promises. He reveals the Father to His followers and assures us that life lived under His rule yields peace and rest.
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2/22/2012
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Matthew 12:1-21
Matthew 12:1-21
Skip Heitzig
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Though God intended the Sabbath to be a day of rest, keeping the Sabbath became difficult work by New Testament times. The oral traditions of the Pharisees had become weighty burdens-burdens the Lord did not mean for His people to bear. In this passage, Jesus demonstrates mercy and the true intent of the Sabbath as He and His disciples meet physical needs in the face of strong opposition.
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2/29/2012
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Matthew 12:22-42
Matthew 12:22-42
Skip Heitzig
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Though our current culture embraces a form of spirituality, the biblical view of God, Satan, and good versus evil has been dismissed by most. Ignorance and indifference cause them to relegate Satan to the stuff of fairy tales and myth. In this study from Matthew 12, Jesus demonstrates His authority over the devil and his minions--giving us a glimpse into the supernatural and a reminder that, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
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3/7/2012
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Matthew 12:43-13:17
Matthew 12:43-13:17
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Jesus consistently brought His message of hope to the common man: He spoke in parables to bring revelation to His followers and to conceal heavenly truth from the hard-hearted. In this message, we examine parables of our Master Teacher and Holy Judge, and discover that truth can be a blessing, but also a curse--we must be diligent to understand and apply God's Word to our lives.
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3/14/2012
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Matthew 13:18-52
Matthew 13:18-52
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus often used parables to explain spiritual truth to His followers. In Matthew 13, His seven kingdom parables are recorded--word pictures which explain the beginning, opposition, expansion, and culmination of His kingdom. Let's consider His teachings and apply these lessons, so that we may be fellow workers with Him in spreading the good news.
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3/21/2012
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Matthew 13:53-14:36
Matthew 13:53-14:36
Skip Heitzig
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In this passage from the gospel of Matthew, we see powerful examples of the results of both faith and the lack of it. Those who might have known Jesus best failed to trust in Him and missed out on His work in their lives, while others were carried through the storm in His care. As we consider our own trials, we should rest in His hands, knowing He has power to change us and use our lives for His glory.
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3/28/2012
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Matthew 15
Matthew 15
Skip Heitzig
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God is less concerned with the outward appearance than He is with the inward attitude. In this passage, Jesus boldly proclaims truth in a confrontation with the Pharisees, warning his followers to avoid hypocrisy. We also witness His tender response to the persistent faith of a Gentile woman, and His mercy for the multitudes. As we study Matthew 15, let's consider our own approach to Him: Do we recognize that we cannot live without Him?
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4/11/2012
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Matthew 16:1-20
Matthew 16:1-20
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Through stern rebuke, gentle prodding, and powerful teaching, Jesus instructs those around Him about who He is and how we can know and serve Him. Matthew 16 records several lessons in faith - warnings and wisdom which encourage us in our own spiritual journey.
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4/25/2012
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Matthew 16:21-17:27
Matthew 16:21-17:27
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Jesus calls His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. From this passage, we gain a clearer understanding of what it means to exalt Him as King in our lives and also get a preview of His future glory, when He will reign over all the earth.
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5/2/2012
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Matthew 18
Matthew 18
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How should sin be dealt with? As we examine Matthew 18, we learn not only to deal radically with sin in our own lives, but also the steps toward reconciliation with a sinning brother.
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6/13/2012
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Matthew 19
Matthew 19
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In the U.S., the lifestyle of Christians often mirrors that of unbelievers--divorce, self-indulgence, misaligned priorities. Using God's Word to teach lessons about divorce and eternal life, Jesus exhorts his followers to enter the kingdom of heaven--to live in wholehearted faith and obedience to the Him. Let's consider what Scripture says about godly living and the reward Jesus promises to His faithful followers.
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6/20/2012
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Matthew 20
Matthew 20
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As followers of Christ, what awaits us in eternity? In this study, we consider not only our eternal home but also our eternal reward. Saved by grace through faith, we must see beyond the circumstances and status of this world, and look toward our future glory.
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7/11/2012
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Matthew 21:1-32
Matthew 21:1-32
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In this intriguing passage, Jesus enters Jerusalem in a precise fulfillment of prophecy. It's an exciting study, where those who know they need forgiveness find refreshment and hope—and those who rely on their own righteousness receive a stern rebuke.
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7/18/2012
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Matthew 21:33-22:22
Matthew 21:33-22:22
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Jesus taught with complete authority, denouncing the misconceptions of the religious leaders of the day. With skill and precision, Jesus uses parables and their own words to silence their challenges and expose their motives. Let's consider His words, heed His warnings, and remember that He alone is righteous and worthy of praise.
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7/25/2012
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Matthew 22:23-23:39
Matthew 22:23-23:39
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In dealing with the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus speaks wisely, uncompromisingly, and with the authority of heaven—His Words shoot straight to the heart. Though many try to fit Jesus into their pre-conceived mold—to accept Him and His Words only as far as they are comfortable—we learn here danger of that the perilous position.
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8/1/2012
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Matthew 24:1-30
Matthew 24:1-30
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In this passage—the Olivet Discourse— Jesus provides a summary of end time events: the future of the world. We look forward to the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus, but those found outside of Christ face unparalleled suffering and judgment. Let's contemplate the wrath of God that's in store for this world—and share the hope of the gospel with those who don't yet know Him.
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8/8/2012
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Matthew 24:31-25:46
Matthew 24:31-25:46
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In this section of the Olivet Discourse, we consider Jesus' Warning Parables. As we examine the text, let's remember that while the church escapes judgment, many are left to suffer the Great Tribulation. We must be righteous, be ready, and be responsible.
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8/15/2012
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Matthew 26:1-30
Matthew 26:1-30
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As Jesus gathered with His disciples to observe the Passover one last time, He brought fresh meaning to a festival which had been celebrated for thousands of years. Rather than a memorial to their physical deliverance from bondage in Egypt, the meal represents His broken body and shed blood—and spiritual deliverance from sin for those who believe.
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8/22/2012
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Matthew 26:31-75
Matthew 26:31-75
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Following the Last Supper, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane and willingly surrendered Himself to the will of the Father: Jesus was crushed for our sin, abandoned to the Cross, so that we might have fellowship with Him. As we study Matthew 26, we consider the spiritual battle before us, the choices we make, and the ultimate victory that is ours through Jesus Christ.
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8/29/2012
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Matthew 27:1-50
Matthew 27:1-50
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In this message, we see the ultimate demonstration of God's love—the cross. Jesus, the King of the Jews, was betrayed, falsely accused, illegally tried, scourged, and ultimately crucified. As we consider the details of His crucifixion and death, how could we be anything except amazed and humbled?
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9/19/2012
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Matthew 27:50-66
Matthew 27:50-66
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As He hung on the cross, betrayed by his friends and separated from His Father, Jesus declared "It is finished!" Victorious, not defeated—He completed the work the Father gave Him to do. In that dark hour, the grave gave up some of her dead, the earth quaked, and in the temple, the curtain that separated men from God was torn from top to bottom. As we study this text, let's consider the price Jesus paid to redeem us and the personal, intimate fellowship with God now available.
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9/26/2012
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Matthew 28
Matthew 28
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Jesus' resurrection: great news for His disciples—troubling news to his enemies. As the chief priests grappled with a cover up, the disciples met with the risen Lord and were commissioned to "Go and make disciples of all the nations." As we consider our text, we discover the good news for ourselves: Jesus is not dead—He's alive and has all authority in heaven and earth.
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There are 36 additional messages in this series.
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