Stranger Things - Part B

56 times in the Scripture, the words of God and joy show up together for the Lord and joy. In other words, there is a direct correlation between your experience of joy in your relationship to God tells you how you can be happy for the little one, but it has no real answer to be joyful in the long term today on connect with skintight scriptures. I have God's constant joy even when you experience life's ups and downs know what to tell you about a recent that will help them grow stronger in your faith.

Listen to what Sean McDowell said about the tactics. This is the book I've been waiting for. I enthusiastically recommend tactics Skip right thing to comment on how Jesus spoke out for truth we might think that Jesus never raised his voice that he would never call anybody out.

However, there was a side of Jesus that was contentious.

The Jesus that took tables in the temple, and overturned them and took out a whip and throw people out of the temple that Jesus equipped to defend the gospel and guard against false teachings. With thanks for the house.

Six message theories to the continued with skintight teaching series on CD to keep the Bible teaching ministry on $35 or more. Today the book by Gregory Kunkel called tactics your game plan for communicating the truth about Christianity with confidence and grace to give this a connect the skip.com or call 892 Matthew chapter 5 Heights expects today's. I believe that perhaps the greatest work has always been and certainly is today need to be taught the Scripture. In fact, I'll take it a step further.

I honestly think most of the church is been preached at death is all about preaching in most churches. The preacher gets up and preaches at that is its exhortation and admonition an explanation and agitation, very little explanation, and what is that do it creates frustrated believers. I think you have churches filled with frustrated believers and they hear every week. The agitation you need to love God more. You need a lot of your life more. You need to obey God more. You need to do this more.

You need to do that work at all the water going preacher, teacher, show me how teach me how to do it.

That's the shepherd's role.

Ephesians tells us we are to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. So this brings up an issue here is the multitudes coming following Jesus wherever he goes.

Jesus takes his disciples away, guys come over here so that or stand up a minister that he started teaching them. Why me when you have that big of a crowd and that much interest, why not give an offer call Jesus you got that many unbelievers. For whatever reason, whether they're just curious, are they they want free line. Sure, they're really interested now is the time for you to challenge them to make a commitment. Why do you teach your disciples. I'm so glad you asked. I want answer that turn with me to Matthew chapter 9 just go to for four blocks right for chapters to the right John chapter 9 this. This is the answer to that question of the altar call and how evangelism takes place in the world.

Verse 35 Matthew chapter 9 then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people reads just like what we just read, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were wary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.

Jesus heart broke. He saw the multitudes, for whatever reason they were hanging around him. He knew they needed healthy. They needed a life they didn't need a free meal. They needed spiritual help.

So what is he do he said to his disciples he sees the need but instead of like I'm in electricity with the crowd. He tells his disciples to his disciples said to his disciples, the harvest, speaking of the multitude is plentiful but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest.

Okay, I'm guessing just my guess. I'm guessing the disciples obey Jesus at some point. Maybe this was spoken of them on an afternoon or evening. They went to their tender home or on their bedroll wherever they were and I'm guessing they prayed so I picture Peter James and John.

Lord just like Jesus said father we pray that you'd send laborers out into the harvest field. This multitude of people send out laborers or reasonably. I and we get to the very next verse chapter 10 verse one therefore gets answered when Jesus called his 12 disciples to him. He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out to heal all kinds of sickness all kinds of disease. Names of the 12 apostles are given verse five these 12 Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying, what's the solution to the multitude who has such heavy spiritual need. Here's the answer. Trainer disciples and send them out so there's Peter, James, and our Lord send out laborers into the harvest. Amen.

And then Jesus said, voice, your prayers have been answered. Go. So the solution is, is to pray for evangelists and then to practice evangelism be the ones that you pray for. That's his solution so naturally the answered altar calls. I do give altar calls quite frequently but I'm passing the baton on to you. You have the privilege to go out and do your own altar calls bringing people to to the kingdom.

So that's the strange emphasis that may be 1/3 strange thing about the sermon is a strange truthfulness on he is he is focused on essentially one gigantic theme I wanted to see what it is in verse three Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Verse 10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 12 rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven heaven and now go back to chapter 4 yard. He read it. Verse 23.

At least look at chapter 4 verse 23 Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

I just wanted to get this one of the great themes of Jesus holding ministry is this the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is among you, preach the kingdom and end the sermon on the Mount is the kingdom manifesto now here's what you gotta know this is a strange kingdom. This is a kingdom that the clouds had never heard of before. The rivers and exceeded kingdom like this. This is a kingdom without any armies. This is a kingdom with no weapons. This is a kingdom with no taxes. Hallelujah, this is a kingdom that has no pomp, no ceremony, no castles, no pageantry is completely different than any kingdom they had heard of or seen. In fact, when Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate and Pontius Pilate says so you are a king then Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world. My subjects would rise up and would fight but they won't because my kingdom is not of this world so he's he's speaking about the great truth he is bringing is is the kingdom of God is very very different.

John Stott who wrote, is one of my favorite authors is now in heaven, but he wrote a commentary in this. He said I could sum up the entire sermon on the mount with Stuart, so if you're taking notes right these two words that Christian counterculture. That's the sermon on the Mount Christian counterculture. This is the kingdom and the kingdom is completely contrary to the culture that is around us is counterculture and says John Stott, the church ought to be the ultimate expression of that counterculture not just another version of the world. Yeah, come on, come, come into the tortured person like you guys when they will use different words of this is a completely different kingdom, completely different culture radically different and you can go to the sermon on the mount with out picking that up in literally every paragraph. Every paragraph of things like this you have heard that it was said, but I Sandy uses that formula a lot.

You've heard the people said this about that but I Sandy Buford other things about the other things that I say that any contrast what they had heard from the religious world from the world at large around them and says, but you are different. In fact, in Matthew chapter 6 sermon on the Mount. He says therefore do not be like them, don't take your cues from the world. That's what that's kingdom people when you are part of this strange kingdom are those who don't let the world or its standards or its values or its rock stars or its movie stars or at sports icons tell us how to think and live, we march to a different drum beat of a different drummer rented different kingdom. So Christianity is right, I should ought to be the ultimate counterculture. Sadly, however, are our biggest danger is not standing out. It's fitting in, and I say to danger because all of the messaging. All of the time on all of the platforms are telling you to fit in. Don't be different.

Think like us to be like this go along with our narrative be be like we are. And because everybody likes to be like nobody likes to be unlike what he wants.

The popularity of the crowd that kind of pressure makes it hard to go against that flow were in a different kingdom. So I call this a strange truthfulness. It's a kingdom, but it's a very different kingdom, which leads me to the fourth and final strange thing about the sermon on the Mount strange happiness know was the first word in verse three. What is overshadowed out ahead. Blessed and was the first word of verse four yeah and it goes that way. 9×9 times Blessed Blessed. Blessed is the repeated word and would you agree if ever there was a churchy sounding word. It's this word Blessed I mean you don't talk like that. Outside of biblical parlance, you don't say this is a blessed loaf of bread at the grocery store.

Just don't write it so word nobody gets and I understand that some Christians like to use that word he said are you doing it's we always a good but sometimes they don't like Citigroup and blessed that's okay you can be blessed and glad you are just know that nobody knows what that is in lesser part of the kingdom. I so it is a kingdom word. It is a kingdom declaration to let me explain the word. The word blessed is the Greek word Mark Harvey Diaz, which means happy happy could it could be translated. Oh how happy are those who, and then the Beatitudes continue means happy, fortunate, blissful.

It speaks of an inward contentedness. It speaks of the satisfaction of your soul. We sing to him it is well with my soul that sorta sums up the word blessed the amplified Bible translated blessed happy to be envied, and spiritually prosperous. You're thinking what so strange about that. Here's what's so strange about that. Here's Jesus saying, let me describe happiness to you, but the description doesn't sound like happiness, like we think about happiness look at it verse three Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are all how happy are those who mourn whale and sound like happiness, they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, they will obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

These don't sound like a recipe for happiness. These sound like misery under another name and here's a point everything you thought you knew about what it means to be happy is challenge right here everything the world says will bring you deep satisfaction is contradicted right here.

Most people have an idea of what it is to be happy.

And certainly they would include any of these most people would say visit will make you happy well if I only owned fill in the blank, whatever. If I own that I do really have. If I lived there got to move there, live there like to have. If only I could marry that coyote be happy if only I wouldn't marry that guy I be have some idea what it takes to make a person happy and it changes geographically, an article that I found said and I'm quoting Austrians which is my background Austrian say health is the most important precondition for happiness. Those in Finland say it's kindness. The Greeks sought for honesty that Dodge say beauty and women and handsomeness and men make for happiness.

The British claim, a sense of humor is the indispensable requisites for sounds British but the Italians, the Japanese and the Americans agree that money is no guarantee of happiness, but that it sure helps get this I read this the other day, two days ago, NBC news said, I'm quoting Americans are the unhappiest they've been in 50 years is very interesting article. It was post-pandemic are sort of on the edge of the pandemic. So you know we kind of understand that that we've gone through a lot. The world is gone through a lot there's been economic issues go along with that, but the article and on to say, the reason people are more unhappy now than ever is at this time. Even though they're coming out of it.

They don't see things getting much better.

So there feeling trapped there feeling isolated. There feeling very hopeless. Why got good news.

God is a lot to say about happiness. You know that in fact did you know God invented it was his idea. Happiness was his idea was God who created you with the central nervous system was his plan to his idea.

It was God who created pleasure receptors in your brain. It is God who put a limbic system in your body. It is God who came up with the idea of dopamine in the brain all that's got so that you can be pleasurable, happy he created you with that capacity.

And get this 56 times in the Scripture, the words God and joy show up together, or the Lord and joy show up together.

In other words, there is a direct correlation between your experience of joy in your relationship to God. What's sad is so many people connect Christianity with something that takes joy out of life.

When I told my friends that I have accepted Jesus and I was a Christian so many of them said, I'm so sorry I never forget the two of them said, I'm so sorry your sorry wife I mean them saga happy life to me, following Jesus, but I'm having the time of my life now or at a time and we can get into all these obviously so the meat just make a few observations about these Beatitudes. First of all their proclamations is not a surface emotion. Jesus is not declaring necessarily what people feel as much as what God thinks blessed.

That's his proclamation, so their proclamations another observation there paradoxical you want to be happy.

Blessed are the poor, those who whale and mourn those were merciful those who are insulting to get persecuted that such a paradoxical way of thinking, but if you're a Christ follower this morning and you've been in those places you get it, you know that you can be completely independent of external circumstances favorable ask circumstances and beef fail with a sense of joy and happiness that the world can't touch so there paradoxical and then another observation is there progressive. That is, they begin and then they take you somewhere. So the first step in a relationship with God is that you are poor in spirit.

That's a you get in the kingdom. The first step in the kingdom is to be poor in spirit. What is that mean for experiments on I realize I'm poverty-stricken before God I got nothing I can earn my way I can talk God into liking the I am broke. I am poverty-stricken because I'm a sinner and that leads me to have an opinion about what I just discovered and that is I mourn over repentance, realizing spiritually broke. I mourn and then as I do that I I come to that experience meek. Blessed are the meek leads me to a gentleness of humility, meekness is where I realize I'm small before a holy God. I'm inadequate before a holy God. By the way, meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under control and then what happens is I start hungering for righteousness.

I know I need desperately. But I cannot produce on my own. It has to be given to me by hunger and thirst for that righteousness and that righteousness is manifested in me being merciful, having a pure heart. Being a peacemaker when I start living that way people notice it when they notice it.

I get persecuted because I'm different than they are and I don't like different so I start getting insulted and start getting misjudged and now blessed.

Oh how happy are persecuted, so one leads to another.

Their progress so this is God's kingdom. And this is a strange kingdom. This is an upside down kingdom of the world says happy all the rich Blessed are the thin Blessed are the tanned Blessed are the powerful Blessed are those who push others out of the way. Make a name for themselves. Jesus that now actually poor morning. You know, and in these persecuted those of the blessed. It is just completely different.

The strangest thing is that you can be hated by the world and so full of verse 11 and we just looked at it, but verse 1112 we closed. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake to hate when that happens I had a death a lot. Look at verse 12 rejoice and be exceedingly glad, why for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you listen you've got something coming up ahead, you're connected to those who went behind before profits you're in good company. Jesus all the prophets all the godly men and women of history development, hated and persecuted by the world welcome to church so joy joy is not the absence of trouble.

Joy is the present and joy is perhaps the most infallible sign the present subscription message from the series now screen right now want to share about an exciting to do you have to take your knowledge of God's word even deeper.

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