Beatitudes and Woes Luke 6:20-26

If you have your Bibles with you, I hope you do, you turn with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter six, Luke chapter six, beginning in verse twenty.

We're going to be reading just a few verses out of the Sermon on the Plain.

Luke chapter six, beginning in verse twenty.

Luke chapter six, verse twenty, if you'd follow along as I read.

And turning his gaze toward his disciples, he began to say, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and insult you and scorn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man.

Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.

For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for the chance to gather.

Lord, we need you.

I need you.

Lord, I thank you for this sermon that you gave us so many years ago.

And I pray, Lord, as we listen, that we would hear you.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

You know, I really haven't given it much thought, but uh that never stopped me from commenting on it.

Have you ever have you ever have you ever thought about how many times you make a choice?

How many choices you make on a daily basis?

Just over the last few hours, how many choices, just as a random guess in your brain, if you could, if you could think it through.

And I get it, if it's too early, you're you've got too many other things on your mind, so you can just kind of zone out for a second.

But just just on a general, on a general day, how many choices do you make?

Do you had to choose whether or not to come to church, of course, but you had to choose breakfast, you had to choose what to wear, you had to choose um how you were going to get here, what time you were going to leave.

Some some choices are not really left up to you.

And I'm speaking especially to those who are 18 and younger.

Some of you didn't have a choice to be here, and some of you are spouses and whatnot, I get that.

But you have so many choices that you go through on a daily basis.

And the scripture is very clear that we have choices as well.

That there are there are some things that as we get through and we we see from the very beginning when Adam and Eve in the garden, they had the choice of whether or not to obey God, whether to walk with him or to rebel, whether they're going to be with him or against him.

And you go through passage after passage and example after example of having that choice.

You go through the Garden of Eden and into Abraham and the sons of Abraham and Israel and struggling with God, whether or not you're going to do the right thing or you're going to try or make that choice or make that this choice.

And as you're going through all of those, you get to Joshua, saying, Choose for your this day whom you will serve, and and through the Psalms about making a choice to follow God versus the evil ones, and all the things that happen as you go through the Old Testament into the new.

And then you see these blessings where it seems that Jesus is giving us kind of a snapshot of whether or not we could be blessed, whether we could be considered fortunate, happy, whether we would be with him, or we would whether or not we would be against him, the woes, the woe is me's, the horror, the disaster, the calamity.

And especially here in the Sermon on the Plant uh the Plane, you've got this idea that you could be either wise or foolish, life or death, eternal life or the ways of the world, you could have a blessing or you could have a curse.

Now, when we get to this these verses, and and as we've gone through this, Pastor Adam was able to kind of set the stage a few weeks ago going through chapter six and and where Jesus begins the sermon on the plane plane, where he is trying to, he is uh accomplishing the sense of putting everybody together.

The disciples are there, the throng of people are there, the crowd has come to hear what Jesus has got to say, and now he's getting to this point, and he he's going to give us some insight into what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Now, before I I jump into the passage, it's only a few verses.

So for some of you that may be, phew, good, it's going to be a short morning.

That's great, good.

Uh for others, you know better.

So what we're going to do is we're going to talk just for a second, we're going to talk just for a second, about where the sermons go.

And what I mean by that is sometimes, especially as Christians, sometimes we get the idea that when Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount or the Sermon on the Plain, that's the Matthew version, the Mark version, and there's debate over if it's the same sermon or what I know.

Okay.

Anyway, when Jesus gives this sermon, is he giving us the entrance requirements for heaven?

Is he telling you that if you're not poor, if you're not hungry, if you're not weeping, if you are not miserable, hated, then does that mean that you are not going to go to heaven when you die?

You've got to be really careful when you come to passages like this.

We did it in the Old Testament, we're going to do it in the new as well, where we come to passages like this and we say, well, okay, this is what I've got to do.

As long as I get rid of all my property, I'm going to go to heaven when I die.

I just got to be poor.

As long as I'm sad all the time, in a really bad mood, then I'm going to go to heaven when I die, right?

Is that that's that's as far as we can take this.

But what happens, especially as we we look at passages like this, is we think to ourselves, okay, Old Testament, Ten Commandments.

As long as I keep God first, don't have any idols, I don't take his name in vain, keep the Sabbath, honor my mother and father, steal, kill, destroy all the things that it's talking about, as long as I follow those rules, then I'm going to make it to heaven.

That's not what the Ten Commandments were for.

As a matter of fact, the Ten Commandments were given to us so that we could see how holy He is and how in desperate need we are as His creation, as His creatures.

And you get to passages like the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain, He isn't giving us the requirements to get into heaven.

He's speaking to His disciples.

He's speaking to those who are already following Him.

And the choices that we have here when we talk about blessings versus woes is a reminder of who we are in Him and what that means for how we walk with Him.

So this isn't about let's just do the best we can, just pull ourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps, and we're going to just make the best of it.

We're going to fail.

We'll get over it.

We'll start again tomorrow.

That's not what this is doing.

He's not giving us an outline, a pattern so that we can just feel worse and worse in shame and guilt and manipulation down the road.

What he is doing as he begins this, he's just finished.

If you look, if you'll glance up in verse 19 of Luke chapter 6, he's just talked and healed.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

People were trying to touch him for his power is coming from him and healing from them all.

But then you begin in verse 20, turning his gaze toward his disciples.

So what he is doing, Jesus is as only Jesus can, in his perfection and his absolute mastery of being able to teach, he's taking the opportunity of some coming for the wrong reasons, but still saying, I want to show you, I want to tell you what's true.

Looking toward the disciples, he began to say, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Not be poor, so you will have, but blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Now, what I want to do this morning is you probably noticed it as you were reading.

I want to take these blessings and these woes, and I want to parallel them as we go through it.

So you see verse 20 about talking, blessed are you who are poor, then scoot down to verse 24, blessed, but woe to you who are rich.

So there you go, you've got the verse 20, blessed are those who are poor, but those of you who are rich, woe to you, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

And so what I believe he is doing, and I I love the way that Jesus teaches us, I believe that he is going through, he's looking toward his disciples.

He's looking past his disciples, and he sees the throng, the crowds coming to be healed.

He sees the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the spiritual leaders, the elders, the scribes.

He sees everyone, and he focuses in on the disciples.

He says, You understand that who you are in me is going to mean more than anything else that you can get on this earth.

And those who come to heal, and that's all they want is just a temporary physical healing.

They're going to get what they want from me, but just for temporarily.

But there's something deeper and there's something wider and there's something stronger that they're going to get, that you're going to get if you will follow me and listen to me in this.

So what he's doing here, he's saying, I want you, I want you to choose.

I want to I want you to choose your treasure.

I want you to decide whether being with me is going to be more important than anyone or anything else.

And brothers and sisters in Christ, and that's who I'm speaking to now, brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I have to make the daily decision, the daily determination, the daily choice of taking up our cross, denying ourselves and following him.

You and I have to make that decision of whether or not we want him to be the front.

We want him to be the number one, the audience of one, whether we want him to be glorified more than anyone or anything else.

We've got to decide whether or not our treasure is going to be in him or if it's going to be in someone or something or somehow other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

You say, Well, preacher, that's you're getting kind of heavy and you're kind of going full throttle here.

Just slow down a little bit.

Can't we just talk about how beautiful things are and life is good and we're going to be okay?

Listen to what he's doing.

He's saying, in the midst of trying to meet your physical needs and trying to understand where you fit in this world and who God is and who you are, what it all boils down to is whether or not you are going to be arrogant and haughty and desiring to have everything for yourself, or whether or not you're going to humble yourself before God and realize that the only way you're going to be spiritually rich is to be humble and poor in the eyes of God.

The only way that you and I are going to be right with our Savior is not when we come with the arrogance, with the dishonesty, the oppression, the criticism of wealth.

We're going to come with a spiritual humility of poverty.

Blessed are the poor.

Blessed are those who don't have, because I'm the one who provides for you.

Now, I get it that you could take a verse like this and you could think to yourself, well, what he wants me to do is sell everything.

That's not what he's talking about.

That's secondary, third, fourth.

That's way down the list of how we're stewards of his resources.

What he's doing here, he's saying, you're going to treasure things of this earth, or you're going to treasure things of God.

You are going to be wealthy toward God, or you're going to be wealthy toward the world.

But you can't have both.

You're going to put your heart, your worship, your idolatry, or your true devotion toward where it goes, that's going to be determinative of what you are and who you are in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He does this, and I'll do this real quick, but he does this in a number of ways in the Gospel of Luke.

Just scooting down a few chapters in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

He has he has the story he's trying to explain.

And in Luke chapter 12, verse 21.

Luke 12:21

In the midst of talking to the to the man who was wealthy, who said he got he wanted to, the brother who wanted to have his inheritance divided, Jesus said, Who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?

Then he tells them a story, a parable about the rich man who had so much he had to build bigger barns.

He thought to himself, I'll eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said, You fool, this night your soul is required of you.

I'm in Luke chapter twelve, but what have you prepared?

And so the man who, verse 21, so the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

It isn't about economic, it's it isn't about dollars and cents.

It's it's about how you and I view our Lord and how we view the things of this world.

He you scoot down to verse 34.

I love the way he summarizes this toward the end.

He says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And what Jesus is doing is he's looking at these disciples, he's saying, You understand that the only way you're going to win is to lose.

The only way you're going to be a victor is to be a loser.

The only way that you're going to gain is to subtract.

And as he's doing this, as he's going through this, the disciples realizing that that he is our treasure, that he is what's worth living for.

The blessing, it isn't about feelings, it isn't about status, this is about our situation.

Where regardless of what the account balances say in our bank, regardless of what our property value is, regardless of what we look like or where we were who we associate with, what he is doing is so countercultural because what the world would tell you is that it really is important that you have as much as you want, that we have we satisfy our earthly desires, that we are never hungry, that we're that we're never poor, that we that we are able to be happy all the time, that we we we want to look out for number one, that we want to be, we want to be popular, we want to have friends, we want people to like us, we want people to be engaged, and when we walk in the room, we'd rather not they just walk out as soon as we walk in.

We want to be with people and we want people to enjoy being with us.

What is so wrong with that?

You see what Jesus is doing, he's saying, what you've done is you've put your priorities, you put your desires on the things of this world, and it's it's caused you to invest your treasure, your heart, your desire in the things that aren't going to last, and you're gonna lose sight of the things that really do.

So what he's doing is he's going through this, he's saying, This attitude of humility rather than pride, this attitude of being wealthy toward God rather than wealthy toward the things of the world, this is what allows you to walk with him.

So, brother and sister in Christ, where's your treasure?

Who is it?

What is it that you're seeking?

What matters most to you?

And the reverse, the other side of that coin is the psalmist when he says a number of times, Psalm 40, I am afflicted and needy.

Um let the Lord be mindful of me.

Psalm 86, incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy.

Psalm 109, but you, O Lord, the O God, the Lord, deal kindly with your for me for your name's sake, because your loving kindness is good.

Deliver me, for I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

When we we see how the psalmist is crying out to God, I I can't do this without you.

Bingo and amen.

When you and I come to that point of desperation, you see, the wealth of the world that would it would confuse us, it would it would make us think that as long as I have enough money in the bank or I have enough property, I have enough friends, or if I have enough of a position or power or prestige, as long as I have enough of that, then I'm gonna be just fine.

And I'll give a little bit to God as long as it's convenient, it doesn't cost me anything.

Jesus comes along and he turns the tables, he turns the world upside down and says, this is really how you were created to be, not to invest in things that are so temporary, but to see what the value is of those things that are eternal.

So that's that's the main thing, choosing your treasure, of realizing who you are in Christ.

But then, as if that's not enough.

What he's going to do over the next three comparisons, the blessings and the woes, he's gonna say, now this is how this is going to flesh out.

This is what it's going to look like.

So you choose your treasure, you realize that following Christ is worth every sacrifice, it's worth everything, because the wealth that we have in him, the true riches we have in him, are so much greater than anything temporary here.

He says, Now I'm gonna I'm gonna show you, as he's continuing, I'm gonna show you what this looks like for God's people.

This is what following Jesus does for us.

Continue with me in Luke chapter 6, verse 21.

Luke 6:21

He says, Blessed are you who hunger now.

Now wait a minute, this is what what Jesus, you just fed the 5,000, you got all sorts of things happening with the ministry, and you want to heal the sick, you want to feed the hungry.

I I don't understand what's happening here.

But then he says, For you shall be satisfied.

Then he compares a few verses down, we're going with the parallel with the blessings and the woes.

A few verses down in verse 25, he says, Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry.

Wait a minute.

I thought it was a good thing to have a full belly.

I thought I thought it was a good thing to be satisfied on this side.

He says, No, no, no.

God's people.

God's people are hungry.

God's people, God's people know that this is not the end, that we're not home yet.

God's people know that this is just the beginning.

That yes, physical appetites can be can be satiated, that they can be taken care of, satisfied every once in a while, but there's a spiritual hunger.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness that's going to be deeper and broader and greater than anything we can have temporarily.

That even those who starve to death on this side of glory will never starve in eternity.

That we understand that there is temporary hungry, but there is eternal satisfy.

Now he is not saying we need to go around and make sure that we don't eat anything so that we're always hungry.

Please don't stop there, don't go there.

The same thing with the money.

The issue isn't the money, the issue isn't the food, the issue is our heart of our treasure of whether or not we're going to want more of him even beyond the things of this world, the love of this world and the love of the things of this world.

Because you can't be a friend of the world and friend of God at the same time.

So as he's getting into this, he's digging into this, it's not evangelistic.

He's not saying, hey, if you want to follow me, get rid of everything.

He does it in a sense with the rich young ruler, but what he's doing here, he's saying, this is a reality check.

Are you following Jesus for the signs and the wonders and just so that you could have a full belly and a full bank account, just so you could have the physical blessings?

Or do you realize that entrance into the kingdom of heaven, what you have right now, gives you the words of comfort and encouragement so that you can know him better, and part of knowing him is always being hungry for more, of realizing that the gospel satisfies the smallest to the greatest, that there is something in the truth of God's word that no matter who you are, there is always this need to know him greater, to love him more, to serve him faithfully.

And as we get to know him, as we as we walk with him, the treasure that he is and who he is, and that humility of poverty of spirit, we say, I want you, Jesus, more than I want the things of this world.

And so every once in a while he'll call us to fast.

Every once in a while he'll call us to get rid of the physical pleasures for a season, so we'll realize that we don't need to be addicted, we don't need to be controlled by the things of this world, but we want to and need to know him greater.

See, that's the first one.

God's people are hungry, not as an evangelistic where you have to turn everything around, but but as a reality check, how we need him desperately.

So continuing in 621, he says, Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

And then scoot down in verse 25.

He says, Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Once again, what's he talking about?

He wants us to be unhappy, he wants us to be sad.

Shouldn't we shouldn't we choose joy?

Shouldn't we be with him and happy all the look look at what he's doing?

He's saying, if you desire to be entertained, to be satisfied in this world, it's going to cause you spiritual mourning.

But but if you desire to follow me, Jesus says, This this weeping is not from it's not from your sin, it's weeping caused by oppression.

Uh show you what I mean.

We're going to go through these quick.

But there are a couple of verses.

Psalm 126.

If you got your Bibles, turn with me, please, to Psalm 126.

Let me show you what the psalmist does here.

These are the children of Israel.

After they had gone into captivity in Psalm 126, he says, When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were like those who dream, couldn't believe that we got to come home.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting.

Then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them.

The Lord has done great things for us.

We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

I bet some of you know the old song Bringing in the Sheaves, but you understand you understand what he's saying here.

The children of Israel that came back from captivity like a dream.

We can't believe this is happening.

We can't believe that he fulfilled the promise of us coming home.

Then he says, The Lord has done great things for us, verse three, the Lord has done great things for us, we are glad.

Verse 4, restore our captivity, O Lord, as in the streams of South, verse 5.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

So there's a reality check here.

If you're going to choose the treasure of Jesus Christ, this world is not going to satisfy you.

Physically, emotionally, you are not going to be able to get at the end of the day, lay your head on the pillow and say, I've got everything I need.

I'm just fine.

Because when you follow Jesus Christ and you have that kingdom of Jenna and the treasure of his treasure means more to you than the worldly treasure, there's always going to be this angst.

There's always going to be this body of Christ who is hurting, who is suffering, who are being martyred, who are being persecuted.

There's always going to be those who are in prison, those who are hungry, those who are in need.

And there's always going to be this sense of a family member who is far from God and having that weeping, that, that, that, that yearning that they come to Jesus.

There's always this sense of anticipation.

Now, it doesn't steal your joy.

It doesn't mean that we aren't supposed to count it all joy.

It doesn't mean that you are looking depressed all the time.

What he's saying is your full satisfaction is not going to happen here.

It's not going to be in signs and wonders.

It's not going to be with a full belly.

It's not going to be with life being perfect.

If you are, and I hate to be a part of this category, I hate to admit it out loud, but I've done this so many times in my life.

But if you are in the idea that all you got to do is have a full, healthy family and just enough money in the bank and accomplish this degree or go this direction, then everything's going to be fine.

How's it going to work out for you?

Because as soon as one thing comes down, the other thing comes up, as soon as somebody gets healthy, somebody else gets sick, you will never in a fallen world achieve all of the peace that we, some sort of fantasy land, think that we're going to achieve on this side of glory.

But Jesus comes to us and says, you're happy about the right thing, wrong things, and you're sad about the wrong things.

And as we go through this, he's saying, This is what you must do.

God's people are weeping.

Not weeping just for what the world weeps for, but weeping because we're groaning, we're yearning, we're knowing.

As he's promising this in Psalm 126, he who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

This is the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

That we yearn for salvation of our loved ones.

We yearn for his gospel to advance.

But we also know it's not going to be easy.

He does it again in the book of Revelation.

If you had trouble finding Psalm 136, Revelation is going to be really easy for you.

Just go to the very back and then turn left two chapters.

Psalm Revelation 21.

Look at what he says.

Revelation 21.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

And there will be no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain.

The first things have passed away.

You understand, brother and sister, that's that's what we're living for.

It isn't to try to find heaven on earth, it's to realize that earth is on our way to heaven.

That we're strangers, we're aliens.

We don't belong here.

Now I'm not saying we shouldn't be good stewards, and I'm not saying we shouldn't have joy, and I'm not saying we shouldn't be content in whatever our circumstances.

What I'm suggesting to you this morning is that as a follower of Jesus Christ, we're always hungry.

We're always seeking to know more of him.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, we're always weeping because we know that this earth is not going to satisfy, and there are those who are blinded right now by the evil one thinking that all they've got to do is just enough on this earth and everything's going to be fine, and what happens after death is nothing at all, or an absence of anything, or darkness, or a void, or or they're going to start all over again, or whatever their beliefs that aren't from the Bible are going to have, and we weep because we realize they're not going to make it.

They're not going to be with us in eternity.

God's people weeping because the way that this world is broken, but the hope that we have that someday, blessed are you who mourn, weep now, for you shall laugh.

Someday we will be full of joy.

Now this isn't laughing like laughing at a joke.

This is laughing, and I've I've never understood this, but I've so appreciated it.

Have you ever been around a few of your friends, and you just start laughing?

You just you just enjoy each other's company.

You just enjoy the conversation.

And I try to dissect it and I say, you know, what that one guy said over there, or that girl over there said over there.

It really wasn't that funny, but it wasn't just about what they said.

It was that you were together and you were enjoying the fellowship.

And you knew that that you were safe.

And the time just kind of flies by.

And what Jesus is doing is kind of a roadmap.

He's saying, He's saying, this is how it is, this is reality.

The world would tell you, just look out for number one, the world would tell you, just figure it out yourself, and you just take care of your own needs and don't worry anybody else about anyone else.

But my kingdom, my kingdom, the the treasure that truly lasts.

In chapter 16 of Luke, uh there's the story of the rich man in Lazarus.

We'll get to that at the rate we're going in 2029, but the story of the rich man and Lazarus and the wrath instead of the blessing and understanding what this is all about and what truly lasts forever and what doesn't.

There's one more, one last one in Luke chapter 6, verse 22.

Luke 6:22

So not just the hungry and weeping.

Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and insult you and scorn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man.

Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

And then scoot down to verse 26, you see the woe.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

Okay.

Once again, if all you do with this these verses, with all you, if all you do with the sermon on the plane, is all you do is just take away and say, Well, okay, preacher told me that I don't need to have any more food or happiness or popularity or friends.

So I just, as long as I'm a grouchy old man that goes around hungry all the time, everything's gonna be great.

That's not what Jesus is saying.

He's saying in the economy of God, in the in the kingdom of God, seeking his treasure, you are either going to seek the popularity and the love of man, or you are going to walk in the love of God.

You're either going to treasure who he is, or you're going to treasure the things of this world, which honestly really don't add up to much, but we're we are deceived into thinking that they really do.

God's people are hated.

Now it's not hated, and Peter talks about this really well, it's not hated because you are hateworthy.

Please hear me on this.

I don't know how many times someone who has acted, I think the Greek term is like a jerk, and they've acted like a jerk and they say, Well, I'm just being persecuted.

No, actually, you're acting like a jerk.

That's why they're treating you that way.

That's not what this is about.

He's saying that your allegiance with Jesus, you come alongside with Jesus, and you say that those who say any truth can be truth for you and my truth can be truth for me, your allegiance with Jesus is gonna make you unpopular.

It's gonna make you lose opportunities.

It's gonna cost you positions, it's gonna cost you friends, it's gonna cost family members not talking to you the way they talk to everyone else.

It's gonna mean that you're gonna be pushed to the outside when everyone else feels like they're on the inside.

And he says, God's people are hated that way, not because it's right, but because that's the world, the way the world treats those who follow the light, who are not in the dark, who are not, who don't understand who God is.

When the light exposes the sin, they get angry, they get mad, they get vengeful.

And in the midst of that, you're going to be part of the damage of that of following Jesus wholeheartedly.

Let me show you what he's talking about with the prophets.

We'll re we'll start to wrap this up.

Jeremiah chapter twenty three.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.

They are leading you into futility.

They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord.

They keep saying to those who despise me, the Lord has said, You will have peace.

And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, they say, Calamity will not come upon you.

But who has stood in the counsel of the Lord that he should see and hear his word?

Who has given heed to his word and listened?

Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest, it will swirl down on the head of the wicked.

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has performed and carried out the purposes of his heart.

In the last days you will clearly understand it.

I did not send these prophets.

Did you see it?

I did not send these prophets, but they ran.

That's how they would would get their message out.

They ran.

I did not speak to them, but they prophesied.

But if they had stood in my counsel, then they would have announced my words to my people and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.

There were prophets who were very well liked in the Old Testament, but not because they listened and reported as God called them to, but because they scratched itches the people thought they had.

They said with the itching ears what they wanted to hear, and in the midst of those lies, they were very popular on this side, but not on the other.

Very popular with the world, but not popular with God.

Consider your source.

You think about it, and I asked you a really hard question at the beginning about how many choices you make on a daily basis.

It's not a fair question.

I think I think I think there's so many that we think do just not even considering them, but consider this.

Who are your biggest fans?

And if you don't want to hang out with them, you might want to wonder why.

You gotta be careful.

Consider the source.

Are you are you are you accepted or rejected dependent upon your walk with Christ?

And if those around you don't even know you're a follower of Jesus, is your treasure with him, really?

God's people are hungry, they're they're weeping, they're hated.

But there's something that happens with us, and I'll finish with these couple of verses real quick.

There's something that happens with us when we put Jesus at the center.

Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16.

2 Corinthians 4:16

It says, Therefore we do not lose heart.

But though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Can I can I just stay on 16 for just a second?

You probably you you're aware of this.

I I'm aware of this.

And if you're not, I'm about to surprise you.

The average age of our congregation is not young.

I don't mean to hurt I don't I mean no offense.

And if you're younger, 20s, uh teens, youth, you're still you're still part of the body.

What I'm saying, the average age, it's getting on up there.

And sometimes we think to ourselves, uh please leave the verse on there.

Um sometimes we think to ourselves, well, I have a I have a right as I get older, I have a right to be grumpy and selfish and have my own way.

It's funny how we kind of pervert that hymn.

But anyway, you gotta be careful because God knows that we're decayed.

Do you see what he says?

Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying.

See, there's not one of us in this room who isn't a day older than we were yesterday.

There's not a person in this room who's not gonna age a day later, Lord willing, if he doesn't come back or if you don't die between now and tomorrow, that you're not gonna age a day more.

All of us are decaying.

All of us.

What the Bible does for us so beautifully is that it prepares us at every season and every stage for us to be faithful in regardless of what stage.

And sometimes, honestly, we have to grieve what we're losing as we get older.

And he's saying, now look, you're you don't want to lose heart because the outside is getting weaker and weaker and older and older, but the inner man, the treasure, the heart, will last forever, the eternity, salvation, union with Christ, the part of you that truly matters, that will be forever and ever and ever, do you see what it says?

Is being renewed day by day.

So instead of seeking to be physically young the rest of your life, the inner man is being renewed day by day.

Instead of trying to be fully satisfied on this earth and fully happy on this earth and fully loved on this earth, your inner man is being renewed day by day.

As you get older on the outside, the inside is getting stronger and stronger and newer and newer and younger and younger because what you are doing is you are following him.

And as you are becoming more and more conformed to his image, things are happening on the inside.

The outside, it's not keeping up.

I get it, it's not keeping up.

But the inside, what God is doing inside of you, he's going to continue looking, verse 17.

He says, for momentary light affliction uh affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

So this momentary verse 17, light affliction producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

So if you invest, if you choose to follow the things of this world, you're gonna be, you're gonna be so dissatisfied at the end of the day.

But if you choose to follow Jesus with everything that involves hunger and thirst for righteousness, not being content with people dying and going to hell, of seeking others to know the kingdom of God, the gospel advancing, of weeping over oppression and lostness.

If you understand that this is going to cost you, it's gonna cost you friends, positions, popularity, it's gonna cost you on this side of glory, but you say that's nothing.

That's light affliction.

Somebody killing me physically can't kill me spiritually.

Understanding that this this may look big and it may look bad and may look ugly on this side, but the eternal weight of glory is far beyond all comparison.

While we look not, verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Can I ask you this morning?

Is the Spirit of God using the Word of God to open your eyes?

That you have been consumed with some very temporary things, and he has some very eternal things that he has for you, that he wants you to enjoy and revel in and celebrate joyfully.

See, when we're persecuted, we rejoice.

They did it to the prophets, they did it to Jesus, and the saints in every age, they do too again and again and again, because of who we are in Christ.

And so what Paul does in Philippians chapter 3, final verse, says, But whatever things were gained to me, these things I have counted as lost for the sake of Christ.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being comforted to his conf conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.

Let me read that again, especially verse verse 10 and 11, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

The good news is no matter where you are right now, this is temporary.

The great news is that in the midst of the temporary, there is an eternal that is budding up within us, a fire that is being turned from flame to rage and rage more of our understanding, knowledge, and joy of the Lord, so that we realize that this is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal, and there are things that are happening and going to happen that we want to be with Christ because that's our assurance, that's our confidence, that's our union, so that we can know him and love him and walk with him.

So whether things are really well and I'm well fit, back into Philippians chapter 3 and chapter 4.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Whether I'm well fed, I'll praise him, whether I'm hungry, I'll praise him, whether I have plenty or want, whether I have clothing or not, whatever it is, whatever it is, I know that Jesus Christ is more important to me than anything or anyone else.

So here's the bad news, the horrendous news.

If your goal in life is to be happy, well loved, and physically satisfied, one of the worst things that could ever happen to you is that you get what you want.

Because Jesus comes, he walks on the scene, and he says, if that's what you're shooting for, even if you don't make it, but if that's what you're shooting for, you're gonna miss out on the true satisfaction.

You're gonna miss out on the true joy, you're gonna you're gonna miss out on the true reward.

May I suggest to you this morning that if you're not satisfied with the things of Jesus, it isn't because Jesus is not worthy, it's because you've got a lousy palate.

You have not tasted and seen, you've not understood.

If you are satisfied with the things of this world yet spiritually bankrupt, it means that today is the day of salvation.

It means today is the opportunity not to please hear me.

You don't just sell everything, get rid of all your food, be depressed all the time, and make sure everybody hates you to be a follower of Jesus.

That's not what he's saying.

He's saying, as a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ, your treasure is going to be in him.

And in this world that hates Jesus, I mean they're they're friendly until you tell them he's the only way.

They're friendly until you tell them they're gonna die and go to hell, even though they're good people, moral people.

They're friendly until the truth of the gospel convicts of the sin and realize that they are falling short of the glory of God.

They're friendly until you tell them the truth.

This world is not gonna make it.

His kingdom is forever and ever.

God's people are poor, they're hungry, they're weeping, and they're hated.

And what a beautiful place to be.

I want to ask if the music would start playing.

I want to take us into a time of invitation.

With every head bowed and every eye closed.

I'm gonna pray in just a few moments.

But before I pray, I want to ask you just some heart questions.

The psalmist says that uh may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock, my redeemer.

And it's very Possible that this morning, looking at these beatitudes, looking at these woes, God, through his word has shown you, his child, that you're picking the wrong treasure.

That you're more consumed with physical appetites and man fear of man than you are of truly seeking Him.

I want to tell you that we don't have a mean, cruel God.

We have one who exposes the sin.

Not just to beat us over the head with a Bible, but because He loves us so much.

He wants us to know true joy, true love, true satisfaction.

We're going to stand in just a moment and the altar is going to be open.

We won't belabor it, but the altar will be open.

Deacons, pastors will be at the front to pray with you if you'd like to pray with someone.

Or just to talk.

But these next few moments are for you, for me.

Not to get into heaven, because this is not an entrance exam, but just to check our heart.

Reality check.

Are we truly hungry for the things of God?

Are we truly mourning, weeping over the things of God?

Are we truly loving the things of God?

Lord, as we come into your presence in prayer, it occurs to me we've been in your presence all along.

But as we come to you in corporate prayer, I thank you that you know the right way.

You're a shepherd.

You know what matters, what lasts versus what doesn't.

And you know what it is to mess up, to get our values, our priorities out of whack.

And your grace is more than enough.

This morning I thank you that you love us enough.

If we confess our sins, you are faithful and just, righteous, to cleanse us, to forgive us.

I thank you that as your children, we have this privilege as well as responsibility that gives us that entrance, boldness, into the throne, throne room.

And I pray the next few moments be times of repentance and faith, of seeking you.

I pray for the individual here this morning who is living for things that aren't going to last and aren't going to matter.

And maybe that self-consciousness, maybe that selfishness, that pride has blinded them this morning.

Blinded them to what matters versus what doesn't.

And you're starting to remove the scales, you're starting to strip away the exterior, and you're showing them what truly matters.

And I pray for grace and comfort, peace, and repentance.

Pray, Lord, that today be the day.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

If you'd stand with me, please, we're going to spend just a few moments.

Welcome you to come to the front, the altar, speak and pray.

We won't be long.

If you're here this morning and you'd like to make a decision, you'd like to spend some time at the altar, I encourage you to come.

It might be that you're standing here and you're thinking to yourself, I'm good, I'm good, everything's fine.

Then you have a spiritual obligation and accountability to pray for the people around you, because I guarantee you, we're not all good.

And we need help.

We need Jesus.

Just for a few moments.

Thank you for your son, Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the sermon that we've heard.

Thank you that our pastor opened up your word and preached from it faithfully.

We thank you for the treasure that we have in Jesus Christ.

Help us to hold dearly to him.

Thank you for this reminder how we can move forward day by day, living in union with you.

Amen.